1910. 
176 
The Rural Patterns. 
Another of the simple jersey dresses 
is shown in No. 6547. The dress con¬ 
sists of the jersey portion and the skirt. 
The jersey portion is cut in tabs at the 
lower edge which are faced and turned 
over to form the trimming. The skirt 
is straight and plaited. The trimming 
portions on the waist are separate and 
6547 Girl's Dress, 6 to 12 years. 
are attached and the simple sleeves are 
made with upper and under portions. 
If the jersey portion is desired separate 
the skirt can be joined to a second body 
portion, preferably cut from thin lin¬ 
ing material. The quantity of material 
required for the medium size (10 years) 
is 554 yards 24 or 27, 4^2 yards 32, or 
3J4 yards 44 inches wide with 54 yard 
of all-over lace, 54 yard of silk for pip- 
6548 House Gown or Wrapper, 
34 to 44 bust. 
ing and trimming. The pattern 6547 is 
cut in sizes for girls of 6, 8, 10 and 12 
years of age; price 10 cents. 
A simple and practical house gown is 
shown in No. 6548. The wrapper is 
made with fronts, backs and side-backs. 
The turned-over collar is joined to the 
neck edge. The full sleeves are cut in 
one piece and are gathered into straight 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
cuffs and the plain sleeves are made 
with upper and under portions. The 
quantity of material required for the 
medium size is 10 yards 24. 27 or 32 or 
654 yards 44 inches wide when material 
has figure or nap; 7 yards 32 or 5)4 
yards 44 inches wide when it has not. 
Yhe pattern 6548 is cut in sizes for a 
34, 36, 38, 40, 42 and 44 inch bust meas¬ 
ure; price 10 cents. 
Public Schools and Parents’ Duties. 
I have just finished reading a speech 
by the dean of one of our agricultural 
colleges before an audience of Grangers. 
He tells them that their country schools 
are behind the times. I wonder how 
many times those people have heard and 
read that? And I wonder how many 
more times they will hear it before they 
will act. I do not often leave my country 
home, but right here I have heard it 
sounded many times. Have I seen any 
change in the attitude of the country 
people towards their district school? 
None since I can remember, unless it is 
to neglect it more utterly, to leave it to 
run itself. I know the teachers in a 
great many district schools, was parti} 
schooled in one, and have taught in one. 
I think the children in the country (and 
I have had taught them aged from six 
to twenty-one), are easier to deal with 
than town children. Nevertheless the 
country teacher has a striving time. She 
is often young and teaching her first 
school. She usually has some distance to 
walk to and from boarding house and 
-school, the school-room to keep in order 
and children of all ages to manage and 
instruct. She may grade her school ever 
so well, her plans are bound to be upset. 
This or that one will be absent a few 
days or weeks, and coaching will not al¬ 
ways put the child in its grade again, 
and so on until by the end of the year, 
she will scarcely recognize her earlier 
plans. I am inclined to believe that in 
a great many instances, the absence of 
pupils from the school might be avoided. 
I have seen them kept at home on very 
slim pretext, often the disinclination of 
the farmer to take his “team” out in the 
rain. He may say: “O, if the children 
were older, it would be different, but it 
does not make so much difference when 
they are little.” 
I suppose the school that I taught had 
a school board, which changed from time 
to time. I saw none except the “clerk” 
to whom I gave my reports and from 
whom I received my pay. I complained 
to him once that no one visited the 
school and his reply was: “O, they would 
go soon enough, if there was any dis¬ 
satisfaction.” T doubt it. Here at home 
last year a neighbor of mine told me sev¬ 
eral times during the year of faults he 
found in our teacher and her dealing 
with his boys. He had never seen her. I 
learned that he was speaking the same 
ill of her through the neighborhood. 
Finally, he said: “What would you do, if 
you were in my place,” and in disgust, 
T replied: “Go to see the teacher.” ?Ie 
did, and she explained the affair to his 
satisfaction, and he voted for her return 
to the school. However, we have a new 
teacher, and she was so cordially re¬ 
ceived that she could not find -a boarding 
place closer than one mile and three- 
quarters from the school. I am sure 
that not more than three of the parents 
know her by sight, and I am just as 
positive that not more than that number 
have visited the school in years. 
So retprn to my own life as a teacher. 
There was a mother and father of two 
of my pupils, strangers to me, who, each 
year, sent me a cordial invitation to vis¬ 
it their home. They were the only ones 
in the district who thought it wise and 
kind to do so. Well, let me tell you how 
much I appreciated it; after I saw those 
children in their home and saw what 
those parents were expecting of them 
and of me, I would have given up all of 
my holidays and vacation, but that those 
two should have been properly prepared 
to enter the high school in a certain 
town. I found out what the requirements 
were, and they were filled. 
Am I not stating a truth when I say 
that the district school is shunned, neg¬ 
lected utterly by the parents in the com¬ 
munity? We should not complain of the 
schools, rather wonder why we should 
receive so much for nothing. The pay 
is not all the teacher needs. She and 
the parents should be the best of friends; 
she should know our homes. We can 
help her and she can help us. Once a 
month during the school year is not too 
often for one adult member from each 
family to meet with the teacher, in com¬ 
pany, or better, just the two. Women in 
the same number as men should serve 
on the school boards, and should feel it 
compulsory several times during the 
year to visit the school. If you do this 
you will see for yourself a great many 
things that are needed. You will be 
quite ready with your vote when the 
teacher insists that shades are needed at 
the room windows, which at present let 
in such a glaring light. It may even be 
suggested that a visit from an eye- 
specialist occasionally would save many 
a child punishment or pain. You may 
never again find fault with the teacher 
when she allows the little tots to play 
on the school ground all afternoon. You 
may have said that you “thought the 
children were sent to school to study,” 
but when you see that little baby head 
lying on its hard desk fast asleep, you 
realize that it is a drowsy afternoon, and 
that it can scarcely be expected for the 
little six-year-old to stay awake all day 
indoors, and that he may learn enough 
in the half day. You will see also that 
there is no way to ventilate the old 
school-house. The room is warm and 
close, but an open window will bring the 
cold air directly on a child. Some of the 
windows should be fixed to lower from 
the top and a screen should be provided 
for the school-room. But the main thing 
is in doing things. L. s. 
Smithfield Hams. 
The Smithfield ham is cured and 
packed at Smithfield, Isle of Wight 
County, Va., on the south side of 
James River, about 16 miles from 
Newport News, and probably the recipe 
for the original and genuine article is 
a carefully guarded secret known to but 
one family, though a number of people 
in that community pack and sell what 
is known as Smithfield hams, and as to 
the flavor of the products of the sev¬ 
eral packers the writer (who does not 
pose as an authority on this meat) has 
never been able to distinguish any dif¬ 
ference between those cured by Jones 
or Brown or Smith. The ham in ques¬ 
tion, I have always heard is from hogs 
pastured in peanut fields and fattened on 
the nuts found there after the crop has 
been harvested, and probably if Mrs. 
J. E. W„ whose inquiry appears on page 
86, could give her hogs the run of such 
a field, and would pack her meat by the 
recipe you gave her, she would be able 
to have a very satisfactory Smithfield 
ham. The ham when boiled is not 
white and firm like corn-fed meat, but 
oily and similar in appearance to that 
of hogs fattened on beech mast. The 
flavor is rich and the hams sell readily 
in local markets at from 22 to 25 cents 
per pound retail. L. c. T. 
Wiilv you write advertisers mention Thh 
I t. N.-Y. and you’ll get a quick reply and 
‘a square deal.” See guarantee page 16. 
FOOD FOR A YEAR 
Meat.300 lbs. 
Milk.240 qts. 
Butter. 100 lbs. 
Eggs. 27 doz. 
Vegetables.500 lbs. 
This represents a fair ration 
for a man for a year. 
But some people eat and eat 
and grow thiilner. This means 
a defective digestion and unsuit¬ 
able food. A large size bottle of 
Scott’s Emulsion 
equals in nourishing properties 
ten pounds of meat. Your Phy¬ 
sician can tell you how it does it. 
FOR SALE BY ALL DRUGGISTS 
Send 10o., name of paper and this nd. for our 
beautiful Savings Bank and Child's Sketch-Book. 
Each bank contains a Good Luck Benny. 
SCOTT & BOWNE, 409 Pearl St.. New York 
^DIRECT from FACTORY at^ 
Wholesale Prices, Freight Paid 
We sell to you at the same price we would sell to 
the dealer—pay the freight besides. Stove pol¬ 
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Then, 
ONE YEAR 
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money if 
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Gold Coin 
Stoves and Ranges 
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■ 3 Oak St Troy. N.I. 
8,000 Money-Making Farms. 
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"Guide No. 28 ” free. Buyers’car fare paid. E. A. 
STROUT CO., Dept. 1090,47 West 34th St., New York. 
Victor 
The 
Victor 
is first //A 
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hearts 
offiis 
countr\jmeri? 
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