ers 
THE RURAb NEW-YORKER 
April 19, 
Woman and the Home 
From Day to Day 
ASH TREE AND HAZEL. 
“Pray that your flight be not in wintry 
weather,” 
So has He warned us, tender for all 
other; 
Yet it was Winter when they fled to¬ 
gether. 
He and His mother. 
“Trees of the woodland, give me now your 
fuel, 
That warmth and comfort His sweet life 
may cherish ; 
Else In the midnight dark and cold and 
cruel 
My Son will perish.” 
Answered the ash, “My branches grow too 
greenly, 
Less fit to kindle than to quench a fire; 
Yet to give all is not to offer meanly, 
Have thy desire.” 
Answered the hazel, “Though no more I 
flourish, 
Though leaf and blossom fail the copse 
to gladden, 
If the world’s Saviour thus my death might 
nourish, 
I should not sadden.” 
Therefore the hazel bears her catkin token, 
Long ere the chilly Winter has departed; 
Therefore the ashwood burns when freshly 
broken, 
Ever warm-hearted. 
—London Spectator. 
* 
Italian fricatelli is very nice-made as 
follows: Chop half a pound of pork 
(uncooked) in the meat chopper, and 
mix with it half as much bread crumbs, 
salt, pepper, and two small onions 
chopped very fine. Then stir in two 
well-beaten eggs and enough milk to 
soften. Mold into oblong patties and 
fry in hot fat. This will make a change 
as a breakfast dish. 
* 
When measuring doorways or win¬ 
dows for curtain rods or poles, where 
the measurements must be exact, always 
use a rule instead of a tape measure. 
This advice is given by a curtain sales¬ 
man, because it is more accurate. Tape 
measures are often stretched, either 
through use or because of the fabric 
being broken; they also shrink some¬ 
times when stamped. They may not be 
held perfectly tight when used, permit¬ 
ting them to sag. All these disadvan¬ 
tages are obviated by the use of a rigid 
rule, and this often prevents disappoint¬ 
ment and delay, especially when order¬ 
ing by mail. 
* 
A correspondent of the New York 
Sun tells how he strops his razor in a 
manner so simple that, as he says, it 
may be despised by many shavers, yet 
it is so effective that he has long dis¬ 
carded all other plans: 
Get a strip of straight grained, soft white 
pine wood. Make it perfectly smooth with 
sandpaper, and use it as a strop. The most 
convenient and effective size I find to be 
a strip 12 inches long, and half an inch 
wide. If the razor is very dull hold the 
edge while “stropping” at a more oblique 
angle than when it is fairly sharp. A few 
strokes on this wooden hone will give the 
edge of the razor a “bite” equal to a newly 
ground one. After stropping on the wood 
refine and finish the edge on a strop com¬ 
posed of one thickness of leather, glued on 
to a fiat strip of wood. Most razor trouble 
arises from using too soft a strop. Learn 
to present the dulled edge at the proper 
angle to a smooth unyielding surface, and 
a very few strokes will suffice to bring back 
all its keenness. 
This sounds so easy that it is worth 
trial, and it has the merit of economy, 
too. 
* 
For wear with Spring jacket suits we 
see a great variety of simple blouses 
made of very sheer materials, silk or 
cotton, batiste, voile, marquisette, silk 
mixed madras, etc. They look very 
simple and are usually made without 
lace, hand-run tucks, little frills or a 
little hand embroidery being used. From 
the viewpoint of a frugal woman they 
are most absurdly expensive, but a 
woman handy with her needle, and espe¬ 
cially one skilled with hand sewing, will 
not find such blouses difficult to make. 
One smart model has a pleated front, 
rounded at the bottom, just like the stiff 
front of a man’s shirt; others have the 
whole front of small pleats. Some have 
a yoke, and many have the shoulder and 
arm-hole seam outlined with fine briar- 
stitch. Sometimes there is a little em¬ 
broidery in color on them. Some have 
standing Medici collars, some turn-down 
Byron style, and some of those with the 
shirt-front effect have little close Picca¬ 
dilly collars with a little bow. Many 
of them are quite baggy in fit, and are 
worn bloused all around at the waist. 
This looseness of fit and uncertain waist 
line is the new note in the Spring fash¬ 
ions, and is not unbecoming to a slim 
young figure; it is not to be recom¬ 
mended to plump matrons, however. 
This bagginess above does not apply to 
the skirt below, however, which has as¬ 
sumed the general outline of a mer¬ 
maid’s tail. 
The Wise Woman Says. 
“Country people get a pretty clear 
understanding of some of the old 
proverbs,” remarked Mrs. Sage yester¬ 
day. “For instance, they know very 
thoroughly the folly of counting chick¬ 
ens before they are hatched. Now it is 
never well to be doubtful; no one ever 
got anywhere by counting there’d be a 
washout on the road if he started. But 
a certain percentage of loss and waste 
has to be reckoned with in every under¬ 
taking. I suppose large factories have a 
figured-out basis on those lines to be 
deducted from earnings. But isn’t the 
farmer rather too ready to write his 
losses in coal-black ink and keep them 
over the sitting-room mantelpiece, all 
framed and ready to show to visitors? 
He does have a good many odds to 
reckon with; in fact, you could fill a 
book with lists of the moulds and 
blights, bugs and worms, night ma¬ 
rauders and daytime thieves he must be 
constantly on the watch to outwit. And 
after that he has the weather uncer¬ 
tainty, like the lions in Pilgrim’s Prog¬ 
ress, ready to upset in a few hours every 
calculation of safety he had trusted in. 
No, it doesn’t do for the farmer to 
look too hard upon the discouraging 
side of the account. He has friends. 
Everywhere the forces of health and 
growth stand ready to help replace his 
losses. 
“The great difference between the old 
settler and the back-to-the-lander lies in 
this business of rosy expectations. Each 
scorns the other. To the newcomer the 
old fogy, who croaks and hangs back, 
seems a coward; to the man battered in 
many hard experiences, people who have 
less caution than he seem fools. Now 
if the two could be shaken up together 
in a bag and the dive-aheadedness of 
one exchanged for some of the other’s 
deliberateness, and if the half-paralyzed_ 
man of many discouragements could 
have the crust of inertia worn off his 
hide, they might both tumble out ready 
shaped for success. 
“We would better not count our chick¬ 
ens before they are hatched, but it is 
also wisdom to make preparations for 
hatching as many as we can take care 
of.” _ A. t. s. 
The Back Porch. 
No feature of the farm home adds so 
much to the comfort and convenience of 
the housekeeper and the pleasure of the 
family as a suitably contrived back 
porch. Call it veranda or piazza, if you 
wish, but among friends and neighbors 
it will always be known as your back 
porch. Concerning the American farm¬ 
house kitchen porch, its achievement, 
fortunately, is not dependent on the 
building of a new house. It can be 
added as a happy after-thought to the 
porchless dwelling. Or the inadequate 
“stoop” of former days may be replaced 
by such a structure as shall prove a 
continual joy to its possessors. 
As suggesting what may be secured in 
the building of such an addition to the 
farmhouse, allow me to describe my 
own, which extends the full length of 
house at back, its dimensions being 
12x43 feet inside measurement. It has 
an outer glass door and steps at each 
end. A solid wainscoting 31 inches high 
extends entirely around, except at door¬ 
way openings. This wainscoting is 
topped by a continuous window stool. 
The space between stool and ceiling is 
divided into openings. These openings 
are filled in Summer by hanging a pair 
of screen doors in each, doors being 
hinged to the square posts and meeting 
in center of openings. In cold weather 
these screens are taken down and re¬ 
placed by sash work, glazed doors, a 
pair in each opening, hung on the same 
hinges that support the screen doors 
during Summer. 
Two mistakes were made here which 
should be avoided, or remedied if al¬ 
ready made. Screens and glass doors 
should be hung independently of each 
other so that, during Spring and late 
Fall at least, both may remain in posi¬ 
tion at same time. During the change¬ 
able weather of these seasons it may be 
desirable to have all the glass doors 
open one day, and part or all of them 
tightly shut the next. If I were build¬ 
ing such a porch again I should on no 
account have the sash doors hung on 
hinges, for the reason that if they are 
fitted loosely enough to open and shut 
readily rain and snow will find their 
way in, the best you can do; and if so 
tightly fitted that neither can enter (if 
a carpenter can be found who can ac¬ 
complish this) it is practially impossible 
to open and shut them. 
If a porch is to be enclosed by glass 
the one best way is to have continuous 
windows all the way around, hung with 
weights exactly as ordinary windows are 
hung. In times of storm or severe 
weather such windows can be promptly 
closed, making the porch weather tight. 
That the porch effect may not be lost, 
these windows should be so cased or 
framed that, when open, they may be 
pushed up entirely out of sight. 
Now as to the uses of this porch. The 
part on which kitchen door and windows 
open is partitioned from remaining por¬ 
tion by a lattice-work screen, which cuts 
off view of kitchen end of porch satis¬ 
factorily from that part abutting on 
living room and hall, an opening the 
width of an ordinary doorway being 
left at outer end of screen, so that com¬ 
munication is not cut off. Against this 
screen, on kitchen side, four shelves, 
each nine feet long, are fastened on 
neat iron brackets. These shelves are 
covered with white enameled cloth and 
serve as a fresh air pantry in all but 
thd coldest weather. From this part of 
the porch entrance to cellar is had, and 
here a pump and sink are located. In 
one corner two boxes with hinged lids, 
covered with enameled cloth, serve the 
purpose of a corner seat when needed, 
and hold such things as the kerosene 
can, stove blacking, etc. In warm or 
mild weather but little time need be 
spent in the kitchen by houskeeper. 
All vegetables can be prepared for the 
table or for cooking on the porch; here 
the gasoline or alcohol stove can be 
used, not only for preparation of meals, 
but for fruit canning as well. Here the 
ironing can be done, and here, in an 
out-of-the-way place, the unobtrusive 
fireless cooker may be left to its own 
devices. 
Now for the other side of the lattice 
screen. Here are the hammock and easy 
chairs, or, in such times as threshing, 
when many hungry men gather, a long 
dining table where, in the shade of gay 
striped awnings, the meal may be eaten 
in cool comfort. On occasions such as 
this the dining end of porch is as con¬ 
veniently served from the kitchen end 
as would be the dining room proper 
from the kitchen proper. Such an ar¬ 
rangement is more restful and refresh¬ 
ing for the tired men than the indoor 
dining room, while equally convenient 
and more comfortable for the women 
who do the work. Family meals are 
delightful served on such a porch. In 
fact, if you build it two stories high, 
as we did ours, and use the upper porch 
—screened, of course—for sleeping pur¬ 
poses, you can almost live out of doors 
both waking and sleeping, without in¬ 
terrupting schedule of domestic work or 
disarranging in the least the daily round. 
The screened-in back porch, large enough 
to be used as kitchen at one end and as 
dining and living room at the other, 
comes close to being a continuous picnic 
and vacation. mrs. m. e. underwood. 
CANNING AT HOME 
The tremendous -waste In fruits and vegetables 
and big loss from low market prices and quick ripen¬ 
ing is entirely saved by canning at home in a NA¬ 
TIONAL Steam Pressure Canning Outfit. The 
“Steam Pressure Way” carries Government En- 
dorsement, and thousands of satisfied users will 
back up our statements, 
BIGGER PRICES FOR 
FRUITS AND VEGETABLES 
A NATIONAL Canning Outfit enables you to put 
up what you raise yourself, start a small canning 
factory and make good money or establish a com¬ 
munity canning plant among your neighbors for 
mutual protection. Canned fruits and vegetables 
are easily sold in the fall and winter at good prices. 
NATIONAL Canning Outfits are the same as used 
in modern commercial canning factories, only 
made in smaller sizes. They preserve anything 
you grow either In glass jars or cans. Complete 
Home Outfits *10 and up; Hotel Sizes *26 and up; 
Factory Sizes *110 and up. 
Write at one for descriptive circular and state 
what size you are interested in. 
northwestern Steel & Ironworks, 821 SpnngSt.EauOhire.Wis, 
incw xorK-tra 
tailors make c 
ing to your v 
ure in these l 
—you save all< 
er’s profits. 
MADE-TO-MEASURE 
Suits and 
Overcoats 
$10 to$22 
worth 
$18 to$30 
All-wool fabrics in 
rich patterns,fine¬ 
ly hand tailored; 
fit, material, work¬ 
manship,guaranteed on money-back plan. 
Delivered free anywhere. Send post 
card for samples and book. 
GLEN ROCK WOOLEN CO. 
203 Main St., Somerville, N. J. 
BUY GOOD PAINT DIRECT] 
AND SAVE 50c A GALLON t 
SO years’ experience, a modern factory, 
pure materials and selling direct is 
why it will pay you to buy 
Brown Seal Prepared Paints 
Shipped on approval. Write for color 
card and prices. 
THE YUMA PAINT CO. 
460 E. First St.. DAYTON, OHIO 
B Need little attention and pay big profits 
0 P C if you aro interested in them send for a 
*“* sample copy of Gleanings in Bee Culture, 
for th6 AIbo a bee supply catalog. 
THE A. I. ROOT CO. 
Farm Box 350. Medina, Ohio. 
iiPIIII A ” kills Prairie Dogs, 
Woodchucks, Gophers, 
and Grain Insects. 
“The wheels of the gods 
grind slow but exceed¬ 
ingly small.” So the weevil, but you can stop tiieir 
'■“‘‘Funia Carbon Bisulphide”. 
TAYLOR CHEMICAL CO.. Penn Van, N. Y. 
FUMA 
Running Water 
AT 
Little Expense! 
Don’t think that running water on your 
farm means big expense and lots of trouble. 
You can now have running water in every build¬ 
ing at small first cost and almost no upkeep 
exponso. Snve work, money and time by install¬ 
ing one of the 300 
Goulds Pumps 
You and your family can 
enjoy tho luxury and protec¬ 
tion of running water. No 
more tramping through 
the snow on a winter's 
morning to reach the 
wellorspring. Nomore 
big risk of fire. 'The 
water can be right 
on tap in the house 
or barn ready for 
instautuso. Yoacau 
havo a private water 
works system at very 
little exponso. Just l! 
twist of a faucet and 
water will gush forth. 
Get the Facts 
Our big illustrated book,Water Sup¬ 
ply fur the Country Homo.” is packed 
from oover to cover with good ideas for 
CY©rr farmer with a water problem on hla 
bands. Writ© for It today—NOW, Tells 
thlnge that you want to know about wa¬ 
ter aud pumps. A postal brings it froo. 
The Goulds Mte.Co.. 6«W.Fall 
St.. Seneca Falls, N.Y. 
