127-2 
■'THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
Woman and the Home 
From Day to Day. 
THE CHRISTMAS TREE. 
It blooms one day in all the year 
Not when the roses blow, 
But when the fields are brown and sere 
Or robed in gleaming snow. 
Upon its branches bending low, 
All beautiful to see, 
Both flower and fruit together grow, 
Oh, wondrous Christmas tree! 
And children dance in merry glee 
And lovers whisper vows ; 
And trembling age draws near to see 
And rest beneath its boughs. 
And up above, in starlit space, 
Beyond the gates of gold, 
Perchance through all the heavenly place 
Rolls round the song of old. 
‘‘Peace on the earth—to men good will,” 
That sweet and glad refrain— 
Should not the angels sing it still 
When Christmas comes again? 
Green be thy branches, Christmas tree, 
Thou plant of heavenly birth, 
Thou hast the Summer’s heart in thee 
Though Winter rules the earth. 
—Author Unknown. 
* 
Stuffed cookies are a delectable 
novelty. The ingredients for the cookies 
are one cup of white sugar, one-half 
cup of butter, one egg, one-half cup of 
milk, one teaspoon vanilla and three 
and one-half cups of flour with which 
two teaspoons of baking powder have 
been sifted. Make a filling of one-half 
cup white sugar, one-half cup water, 
one cup of chopped raisins, the juice 
of one lemon and one teaspoon flour. 
Cook this until it becomes thick—and 
it will bear much watching during the 
process! Roll the cooky dough very 
thin, as usual, and cut into small 
rounds; place these in pans, place a 
teaspoon ful of the filling in the center 
of each and place another cooky gently 
on top. Bake in a moderately hot oven. 
* 
One thing is quite clear; the elusive 
Christmas spirit never yet visited any¬ 
one who was willing to ignore all 
humankind for his own selfish personal 
affairs—unless it was Mr. Scrooge, and 
he reformed immediately afterward. It 
is the one season of all when personal 
happiness depends upon our attitude to¬ 
ward others rather than ourselves. We 
may ignore the great day as the Puri¬ 
tans did, or turn it into a purely secu¬ 
lar period of jollity, without any recog¬ 
nition of its character as holy day first, 
holiday afterwards, but it is not our 
own comfort and pleasure, but the hap¬ 
piness we have given others, that must 
distinguish it from all other feasts. If 
we are not willing to give this recog¬ 
nition to the Feast of the Nativity, bet¬ 
ter let it slide in among all unconsidered 
days, for when we kill its spirit we only 
leave an idle mockery in its place. 
* 
Are you a Spug? In other words, 
are you in sympathy with the Society 
for the Prevention of Useless Giving? 
The word Spug has not yet been em¬ 
balmed in the dictionary, but it seems 
to fill a long-felt want. It started as 
a newspaper joke, but a number of 
prominent and wealthy women, who see 
Christmas debased into a mere com¬ 
mercial investment, came forward in the 
formation of the society whose initials 
have been condensed into the expres¬ 
sive word given above. It is not in- 
tended to discourage moderate giving 
that is prompted by affection, but only 
the gifts of vanity, ostentation and 
blackmail. Among those who attended 
a meeting of the Spugs in New York, 
one was a mere child, who feeds a ma¬ 
chine in a factory, and she wanted to 
be a Spug because they had tried to 
make her contribute $5 toward a Christ¬ 
mas present for the superintendent of 
the factor}^, and she couldn’t because 
she got only $6 a week, and her father 
was sick. Not one of her mates at the 
December 21, 
factory had spoken to her since she re¬ 
fused, but she was quite a heroine 
among the Spugs. We think many 
writers who depict whole families worn 
to the verge of nervous prostration by 
the terrible strain of buying Christmas 
gifts for all their friends and relations 
are either drawing on their imagination 
for their facts, or else are acquainted 
with more feeble minded people than 
most of us would willingly ownj still, 
these exaggerations touch upon a real 
evil, and we may all take counsel from 
the good sense and moderation of the 
Spugs. 
* 
The Atchison Globe doesn’t agree 
with George K. Holmes, the Department 
of Agriculture expert who intimates 
that farm women are now becoming too 
much interested in “social functions,” 
which are “incompatible with the per¬ 
formance of household labor,” and who 
also asserts that “it is rare that one of 
the younger women knows how to knit.” 
The Kansas editor remarks: 
Mr. Holmes has bis nerve, but we can’t 
concede him anything else, particularly 
sense and the facts in the case. For a man 
holding a soft snap at the government pie 
counter to accuse farmers’ wives and 
daughters of laziness is going too far. 
There is, on some farms, less of the drudg¬ 
ery that seemed necessary in the brave 
days of old, when women spun the yarn, 
wove the cloth and fashioned the family 
garment. Most of that has passed, and 
more and more prosperous farmers provide 
modern conveniences in the homes, al¬ 
though they are still more likely to tfe 
found in the barn or the fields, where a 
walking implement and strong arm power 
are viewed with scorn. 
But it is an ungallant and unfair indi¬ 
vidual who won’t rejoice in the change in¬ 
stead of deploring it. If called for an 
opinion based on somewhat extended ac¬ 
quaintance with farmers’ wives and 
daughters, we should say they still work 
too hard, and get too little return for 
their labor as a general proposition. A 
farmer is too apt to want the latest in 
implements and machinery, and believe a 
washboard is still sufficient for laundry 
purposes. Homes with baths and lighting 
systems are still in the minority in the 
country, and churns and washing machines 
continue to run largely by main strength. 
Not to mention the fact that the farmers’ 
wife frequently tackles a large task as a 
side line, in addition to her domestic duties, 
such as raising a garden, chickens and long 
and rangy turkeys which afford more grief 
than the agricultural department knows. 
George K. Holmes, to be properly punished, 
should be sentenced to cook for harvest 
hands until further orders. 
Breakfast Bacon. 
First, to the uninitiated, let me say 
that there is a decided difference in the 
flavor and tenderness of pork. I men¬ 
tion this because I have known many 
people who seem to have the idea that 
“pigs is pigs” and that is all there is 
to it. The quality of the pork is de¬ 
termined in a small way perhaps by 
the breed, but largely by the way the 
animal has been cared for; so in order 
to produce a first-class article you must 
first see that you have a piece of pork 
excellent in flavor and tenderness, of 
fine grain. Given this, your next step 
is to see that it is properly cured. 1 
am sure you will like this recipe for 
sugar-cured hams and bacon, given by 
Andrew Boss in Agricultural Bulletin 
No. 183: “When the meat is cooled, 
rub each piece with salt and allow it to 
drain over night. Then pack it in a 
barrel with the hams and shoulders at 
the bottom, using the strips of bacon 
to fill in between. Or put on top. Weigh 
out for each 100 pounds of meat eight 
pounds of salt, two pounds of brown 
sugar and two ounces of saltpeter. Dis¬ 
solve in four gallons of water, bring to 
a boil, cool thoroughly and cover the 
meat with the brine. Bacon strips 
should remain in this brine four to six 
weeks (we leave them only four weeks). 
Hams, six to eight weeks. Remove from 
the brine and let soak in clear water a 
few hours, then wash thoroughly with 
a clean brush and hang the pieces up 
to drain for two or three days. The 
meat is now ready for smoking. Hang 
so that no two pieces touch. Build your 
fire of hickory or maple wood and smoke 
with a steady fire for 24 or 36 hours 
if the fire is kept going constantly, or 
let hang in the smoke house two weeks, 
building a light fire once in two or three 
days. 
The following is a recipe used by Vir¬ 
ginia neighbors for curing pork dry; no 
brine is used: To 1,000 pounds weight 
of meat one bushel fine salt, three pounds 
of saltpeter, two quarts hickory ashes, 
two quarts black molasses, three teacups 
red or black pepper. Mix all the in¬ 
gredients together in a tub and rub into 
the meat thoroughly. Then pack the 
pieces tightly in the pork barrel, follow¬ 
ing directions given in the recipe above 
for packing. Let remain for six weeks, 
then take out of barrel and hang up. 
If you do not care for the smoke flavor 
the meat will keep without further treat¬ 
ment; or, if preferred, it may be smoked 
in the usual way. 
Everyone who has anything to do 
about handling meat on the farm should 
procure a copy of the bulletin referred 
to above. It treats of all kinds of 
meat and can be had for the asking 
from the Agricultural Department at 
Washington, D. C. Ask for Bulletin 
No. 183, “Meat on the Farm.” 
Martha’s niece. 
Keeping Pork Fresh. 
The tenderloin of pork can be kept 
until the early warm days of Spring, at 
least, by cutting into serving pieces, 
pack as tightly as possible in enamel 
tins or earthen jars and pour over hot 
lard to a depth of an inch. Do not pack 
more into one receptacle than you will 
want to use for one or two meals, as 
it will not keep when the lard is re¬ 
moved. Loin and side meat sliced and 
fried until a little more than half done 
may be packed and covered with lard 
in the same way, and when thus pre¬ 
pared will keep longer than the tender¬ 
loin packed without cooking. It is quite 
customary in this section to make sau¬ 
sage into cakes for serving, and then 
fry nearly done, pack in stone jars and 
cover with boiling lard, cover tightly 
and set in a cool place. The first of 
November a neighbor sent in a can of 
sausage prepared in this way packed in 
an airtight coffee can and covered with 
lard as in the case of that packed in 
stone jars. The sausage had been made 
and packed in January, but it was quite 
as nice in November as when first 
packed. 
Another method of keeping sausage is 
to pack small jars tightly to within a 
half inch of the top, then place in the 
oven and bake until nearly done, fill the 
jars with hot lard, cover and set in a 
cool dark place. 
Of course in cool weather the larger 
pieces of pork may be kept for a short 
time by rubbing lightly with salt and 
pepper or salt and flour and hanging 
or laying in a cool place. I know of 
no way to keep pork for a long period 
besides that mentioned above other than 
to salt it down. Various ways of doing 
this have already been given in The 
R. N.-Y. martha’s niece. 
The dead there are, who live; 
The living, who are dead ; 
The poor, who still can give; 
The rich, who lack for bread; 
To love it is and love alone 
That life or luxury is known. 
—Father John B. Tabb. 
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wood or coal, works smoothly and evap¬ 
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We carry a full Hue of sugar camp sup¬ 
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Hard¬ 
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Llnesville 
Pa. 
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A f <t 1 C an acre and up raise 60 bushels 
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CANADA’S OFFERING 
The American Rush to 
Western Canada is Increasing 
Free Homesfeads lD new 
Districts of Manitoba, Saskat¬ 
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thousands of Free Homesteads 
left, which to the man making 
entry in 3 years’ time will be 
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These lands are well adapted to 
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Excellent Railway Facilities 
In many cases the railways In 
_Canada have been built in ad- 
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I there will not bo a settler who need be 
I more than ten or twelve miles from a line 
[ of railway. Railway Rates are regulated 
by Government Commission. 
SOCIAL CONDITIONS. The Ameri¬ 
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lie is not a stranger in a strange land, 
having nearly a million of his own people 
already settled there. If you desire to 
know why the condition of the Canadian 
Settler is so prosperous write to any of 
the Canadian Government Agents and 
6end for literature, rates, &c., to 
J. S. Crawford 
301 E. Genesee St. 
Syracuse, N. Y. 
or address 'Supt. of Immigration, 
Ottawa, Canada. 
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