J913. 
THE RURAL- NEW-YORKER 
901 
The Rural Patterns. 
When ordering patterns always give 
number of pattern and measurements de¬ 
sired. 
The first group shows 7923 fancy 
tucked blouse, 34 to 42 bust 7899 fancy 
blouse, 34 to 40 bust. 7911 loose coat in 
sport style, 34 to 44 bust. With or with¬ 
out belt that can be full length or over 
the back only, with cutaway or straight 
fronts. 7900 two-piece draped skirt for 
misses and small women, 14, 16 and IS 
years. 7916 two-piece draped skirt, 22 
to 32 waist. 
The second group includes 7908 fancy 
yoke blouse, 34 to 40 bust. 7919 Nor¬ 
folk outing blouse, 34 to 42 bust. 7813 
blouse with Robespierre collar. 34 to -14 
bust. 7798 five-gored skirt, 22 to 32 
waist. 7888 two-piece skirt, 22 to 30 
waist. 7909 two-piece draped skirt, 22 
to 30 waist. Price of each pattern 10 
Cents. 
The Bread Mixer and Bread. 
As a rule labor-saving devices are 
cheaper than hired help, and especially 
is this true in the farm home. On the 
hirm it is always inconvenient to buy 
baker’s bread, and besides this bread can 
be made at home cheaper, cleaner and 
more wholesome than the commercial 
product. While a loaf of baker’s bread 
is palatable now and then as a change, 
who would not rather have an honest 
loaf of homemade bread? 
1' or more than six years I have used 
a bread-mixer in my home, aud it has 
paid for itself many times over in the 
M\ing of time and labor. I always make 
b> (, ud twice a week, and often three times, 
"lien extra work is done on the farm. 
1 bus this saving of time amounts to 
something every week, and then, too, the 
time is saved in the morning, when it is 
most precious to the housewife with a 
family of little children. No busy farm¬ 
er’s wife would think of making her 
every-day apron by hand, and why does 
she waste time every week by making 
her bread without a machine? There are 
few of these machines used in some coun¬ 
try districts, and many hardware dealers 
in our small towns do not handle them 
at all. One reason housewives do not 
take kindly to them is that bread is usu¬ 
ally made by guess, and to use the ma¬ 
chine successfully it is necessary to meas- 
use each ingredient. Also, the mixer, to 
be successfully used, must be securely 
fastened to something that stands firm 
as a rock. 
One competent housewife I know dis¬ 
carded her mixer because it could not be 
fastened to her kitchen cabinet, for when 
the bread is being kneaded it seemed 
fairly to pull the cabinet to pieces. No 
woman can use a maker without a small 
wrench as the “arm” cannot be securely 
fastened with the fingers, neither can it 
be fastened to board or table without a 
wrench. These are some of the reasons 
of failure. When I purchased my ma¬ 
chine I thought it would be a failure, 
as the “arm” pulled out of the 
dough as soon as it was mixed and 
commenced to knead. The good man 
(who, by the way, has much more ma¬ 
chinery to do his work than I, has more 
experience) saw this; he got a bolt with 
a bur and nut and gave me a wrench and 
that solved the whole problem. And I 
have never had my hand in bread dough 
either-to mix or knead for six years. 
The bread-mixer is not a workless 
worker as there is no machine that is. 
It takes “elbow grease” to turn a mixer, 
and it will not thoroughly mix and knead 
a large baking in three minutes, a claim 
that is sometimes made for it, but it will 
knead the bread just as well as by hand, 
and in a fraction of the time, and what 
more can be desired? Another advantage 
of the mixer is that a child or anyone can 
turn the machine and have just as good 
bread as mother. One of my little chil¬ 
dren. 10 and 12 years old, often mixes 
the bread for me in a busy time. I usu¬ 
ally mix the bread first thing on arising, 
as it takes but a few minutes, and by 
the time the breakfast and milking are 
over it is ready to put into loaves, by the 
time one can mix it if made by hand. 
“Well begun is half done” when using 
the machine, for if the ingredients are 
not accurately measured when put into 
the reservoir the work cannot be per¬ 
formed as quickly, and often the result 
is not as good, as it is very difficult to 
add just enough liquid or flour to have 
it exactly right. When too much liquid 
is used and more flour is required turn¬ 
ing the machine backwards will often 
incorporate the flour more quickly than 
turning right. The best way to addfinore 
liquid is just to sprinkle the bread, using 
only a little liquid at a time, for if the 
whole amount is used the bread becomes 
so wet on the outside that it will not 
cling to the mixer and be kneaded. If 
this condition occurs rubbing the sides of 
the kneader with flour will remedy this. 
It is always easier to add flour than 
liquid. But to measure accurately, or 
better still, weigh the ingredients, is by 
far the safer and better plan, in fact it 
is the only successful way. I bought two 
quart measures with the pint and half 
pint marked on them. One I keep in 
the flour bin and the other for liquid. A 
good rule, and the one that came with 
my machine, is to use one part liquid to 
three of flour, counting all the ingredi¬ 
ents used in bread liquid except flour. 
But there is a difference in flour; some 
kinds require a little more flour, and 
some will not take quite three times as 
much flour as liquid. 
Yeast is an important factor in bread 
making. It is well to remember that 
there is no witchery about yeast; that 
yeast is just a plant, and like any plant 
will grow when given the proper soil, 
warmth and moisture. To test yeast 
place if in a cup of water and add a tea- 
spoonful of sugar; in the course of an 
hour if the water shows a number of 
minute bubbles the yeast is growing, but 
on the other hand if only a few bubbles 
it is well to discard it. or if it must be 
used it is better to take more yeast than 
usual. When bread must be hurried, 
more yeast can be used, although the 
bread will not be so nice. I have suc¬ 
cessfully baked the over-night loaf dur¬ 
ing the Summer, when I kneaded the 
bread about S o’clock, putting the yeast 
to soak only a short time before mixing 
the bread, and putting into loaves about 
five o’clock in the morning. This is a 
good method to follow when the bread 
must be baked early in the day. An au¬ 
thority on culinary questions states that 
there nlay have been a time wnen flour 
needed potatoes for bread, but that the 
flour of to-day needs no potatoes. The 
flour we are using now makes better 
bread when we use potatoes, but potatoes 
are not necessary to bread, and when 
many duties are pressing building a fire 
and cooking potatoes for bread can be 
omitted. 
When we know the why of making 
bread we know the when and how. The 
woman who is willing to apply herself 
can always master the art and science of 
bread making. Every housemother should 
send a postal card to the Department of 
Agriculture, Washington, D. C., with a 
request for Farmer’s Bulletin No. 389, 
“Bread and Bread Making,” by Helen 
Atwater. This bulletin is free, is inter¬ 
esting and will prove a real help in mas¬ 
tering the science and art of bread mak¬ 
ing. m. c. B. 
Buffalo Moths. 
Will you tell us how to rid a house 
of Buffalo moth? mrs. z. b. b. 
This troublesome pest is the larva of 
a small beetle which hibernates out of 
doors, but early in the season flies in at 
open windows, and lays its eggs wher¬ 
ever there is a supply of woolens. Thus 
early screening of all windows is one 
precaution. A liberal use of napthalene 
crystals or balls is a preventive. Where 
there is serious infestation, gasoline will 
destroy the insects, using it, of course, 
with proper care to avoid risk of fire. It 
evaporates quite quickly, and is an ex¬ 
cellent insecticide. When the insects 
are in or under a carpet, they can be de¬ 
stroyed by laying several - thicknesses of 
damp cloth over the place infested, and 
then pressing with a hot iron until dry. 
The steam passing through the fabric de¬ 
stroys the insects. This should be re¬ 
peated so as to kill later hatches, as it 
does not affect the eggs. 
Testing Woolen Goods. 
Two good ways of telling whether or 
not the cloth you buy for “all wool” is 
really what it is represented to be, are 
given by Miss Annabell Turner of the 
home economics department of the Uni¬ 
versity of Wisconsin. 
“Unravel a sample of the material ex¬ 
posing the warp and weft threads sepa¬ 
rately,” she says. “Wool fibres are more 
curly than the cotton. Then burn some 
of the threads; if cotton, they will burn 
quickly; if wool, more slowly with an 
odor like that of burning feathers or 
bone. 
“If cotton and wool have been spun 
together in the same thread the above 
test is not reliable. In such a case, the 
alkali test should be used. Mix together 
one tablespoonful of Lewis lye and one 
pint of water. Place the sample of goods 
in a granite dish, cover with solution, and 
boil for five minutes. At the end of this 
time all the wool will be dissolved out, 
leaving the cotton intact, so that it is 
very easy to see how much cotton was 
used to adulterate the ‘pure wool’ fa¬ 
bric.” 
Canning Lima Beans. 
Could you tell me how to can Lima 
beans? Most people dry them, but in 
this way they are large and mealy. I 
should like to be able to can them when 
they are small and tender. 
MRS. E. R. A. 
Fill jars with shelled Lima beans, 
which should be young and tender, then 
fill with cold water. Put on rubbers 
and tops, but do not screw down. Place 
in boiler, on a rack: pour in enough cold 
water to come half way up bottles. Cover 
boiler, place over fire, and let boil stead¬ 
ily for three hours. Take out jars, see 
that they are filled to overflowing with 
boiling water, see that the tops are 
screwed tight, and put away to cool out 
of a draft. Or, instead of completing 
the boiling in one process, cook one hour 
after the water comes to a boil, set aside 
until the next day, and repeat the hour’s 
boiling, doing this again the third day. 
This progressive sterilization is very sat¬ 
isfactory in canning vegetables and many 
fruits. 
