18 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
Woman and the Home 
From Day to Day 
NEW YEAR’S DAY. 
With mirth and joy the New Year comes 
again, 
Fair aspirations hover in its train, 
And golden hopes of peace and righteous¬ 
ness 
That show the good to which we might 
attain. 
Why lingers Peace? Why groans the 
weary earth? 
And why ’mid splendors do men die of 
dearth ? 
How long for harvest must the sowers 
wait? 
When shall the longed-for New Year Day 
have birth? 
Be patient, brother; let us do our best. 
And strive amain at Brotherhood’s behest 
To raise the fallen and to cheer the weak ; 
And leave to rip’ning Time and Heaven 
the rest. — W. E. A. Axon. 
sje 
In a breadmaking contest in connection 
with the farmers’ institute at Oberlin, 
Kan., Beta Moore, aged seven, made 
bread that was given a score of 91 by th- 
judges. A seven-year-old bread-maker is 
certainly a wonder, when she can attain 
such a score as this. 
* 
Making a large batch of fruit cake is 
a toilsome process, because of its weight 
and stiffness. After butter and sugar is 
creamed, and eggs beaten, ours is mixed 
in the bread-mixer, which incorporates 
the materials thoroughly, with a great 
saving of labor. After putting into the 
tins, our fruit cake is steamed for two 
hours, and then baked in the oven one 
hour. This insures the proper cooking, 
without drying it as hard as a paving 
stone, and there is a fragrant richness of 
flavor that is very deStrable. The steam¬ 
ing may be done just like brown bread. 
One of our friends does this in a closed 
baker, with about 2% inches of water in 
it. She puts the cake in the usual tins 
and ties cheesecloth over the top to pre¬ 
vent drips of steam from falling on the 
dough, then closes the baker. This is a 
practical way of steaming things in the 
oven, leaving the top of the stove vacant 
for other cooking. 
* 
We made reference recently to the 
new vegetable, dasheen, which may be 
grown in the South as a substitute for 
potatoes. The Department of Agricul¬ 
ture gives the following recipe for using 
dasheens as a dressing for poultry : Two 
parts of riced dasheen, one part of bread, 
one egg, butter, according to quantity of 
above. Season to taste with salt, pepper, 
sage and onion. The dasheens should be 
boiled and riced in the same way as are 
potatoes. We wonder whether any of 
our readers have used the tubers of Jeru¬ 
salem artichokes in this way? In our 
experience they have been but little used 
in the household, though they are easily 
grown, and prolific enough to be trouble¬ 
some in a great many localities. The 
dasheen is said to have a pleasant nutty 
flavor. We have never been able to 
acquire a personal taste for the Jeru¬ 
salem artichoke. It has often been urged 
as a substitute for potatoes, and is like¬ 
ly to come up again with the quarantine 
against the latter vegetable, though rice 
is always available as a cheap and nu¬ 
tritious potato substitute. 
* 
One of our friends, who is much in¬ 
terested in household art, says she al¬ 
ways starts to decorate a room by taking 
a lot of needless “junk” out of it. A 
good many houses present an oppor¬ 
tunity for such reform. We may multi¬ 
ply ornament until we lose real beauty. 
Nowadays decorators are going back with 
enthusiasm to the Colonial period, elimin¬ 
ating all sorts of gimeraeks, and adopt¬ 
ing the simple lines and severe ornament¬ 
ation of the eighteenth century. When 
we study the restful effect of a Colonial 
interior we notice that comfort and use¬ 
fulness predominate over ornament; that 
there is no multiplicity of adornment. 
Perhaps the ugliest period of house dec¬ 
oration was during the seventies and 
eighties, a time when woman’s dress 
reached an acme of ugliness too. In ar¬ 
ranging a country home, we can get some 
ideas from the Summer homes of city peo¬ 
ple in mountain or seaside resorts, and 
the old-fashioned simplicity of Colonial 
times, or the modern “craftsman” type 
are both suggestive models. Comfort 
and beauty need not mean great cost; 
it is the “know-how” that is needed. We 
have got away from nailed-down car¬ 
pets and multitudinous tidies, and it is 
a propitious time to study for beauty, as 
well as comfort and convenience, in the 
farm home. 
Heating Upstairs Room. 
In a recent issue you asked for in¬ 
formation regarding the more effective 
heating of stoves. Certainly a large part 
of the heat goes up the chimney. We 
have solved the problem by attaching a 
radiator to the pipe. This makes the 
second floor room nearly as comfortable 
as the first. The radiator idea is a good 
one also where furnaces are being placed 
in old houses where there is no chimney 
to the cellar, and the smoke pipe has to 
pass to the second floor. The radiators 
may be purchased for from $3 to $12. 
Ours cost $6. m. ii. l. 
Lard Does Not Keep. 
Will those with experience tell us why 
our lard becomes rancid by early Sum¬ 
mer? One gallon crock, often used before, 
kept perfectly sweet till early Fall Some 
of the lard was put in new tin pails, at 
time of rendering, but was not fit for 
use. II. m. B. 
Trying Out Leaf Lard. 
Instead of cutting up the leaf lard in 
pieces and then being obliged to squeeze 
the lard out when done, try this way: 
Put the leaf lard through the meat 
grinder, using the coarse knife. Fill the 
kettle nearly full, with a little water. 
Put on cover, stir occasionally and when 
done there will be no moisture on the 
underside of cover. Pour all out into 
cheesecloth, put in colander over the jar, 
the scraps will drain dry and will not 
need to be squeezed. They are in nice 
shape for either using in cooking or for 
feeding chickens. I found this plan 
worth much to me. I can try out 50 
pounds of lai*d and make same amount 
of sausage in a day, whereas it took two 
or three days the old way. c. M. B. 
Old-fashioned Apple Dumpling. 
F. J. F. F. asks for a recipe for ap¬ 
ple dumpling. I remember as a child 
after a walk of a mile, how fragrant the 
kitchen was when mother had apple 
dumplings for supper, which was at five 
o’clock, after our cold lunch at noon on 
school days. These were often made 
when the old-fashioned boiled dinner was 
cooked. And no dinner ever seemed like 
those. But we must remember that there 
is nothing like mother, and never fail to 
appreciate her. My own mother was 
taken from us when I was IS years old, 
leaving me as housekeeper and mother to 
the children, two brothers and a mother¬ 
less little cousin who lived with us, and 
today my heart often aches as I see 
children treating their mother with scant 
respect; not children alone, but young 
people who seem to forget the patient lov¬ 
ing mother ever ready to give, with noth¬ 
ing given in return. These apple dump¬ 
lings were made as follows: One cup rich 
buttermilk, one teaspoon salt, one tea¬ 
spoon soda (scant) dissolved in hot 
water, two tablespoons melted butter. 
Flour for stiff batter that can be spread 
with spoon in a buttered basin. Spread 
a thin layer of dough, then a thick layer 
of apples sliced thin, dot with butter and 
cinnamon, cover with the rest of the 
batter, steam over kettle two hours. It 
will be white, puffy, and delicious; served 
with sugar and cream. 
Another equally delicious dish was 
cornmeal pudding boiled in a bag. This 
usually also accompanied a dinner of 
boiled ham or pork and was made by 
using one cup buttermilk, one spoon salt, 
one egg, one small spoon soda in water to 
dissolve. (Too much soda causes a yellow 
tinge and disagreeable taste.) One cup 
raisins rolled in flour. Thicken with one 
part white flour and two parts cornmeal 
sifted (not bolted meal) until like fruit 
cake, and two tablespoons melted butter 
stirred in last. Tie up bag, place in a 
roomy bag, giving place to expand, and 
lay on the meat in the water it has 
cooked in and boil about one hour. Serve 
with sugar and cream. This may be 
steamed if preferred as the dumplings 
were. mrs. james lamphan. 
The Rural Patterns. 
When ordering patterns always give 
number of pattern and measurements 
desired. 
8104 Guimpe with or without sleeves 
34 to 42 bust. 8076 Waistcoat in three 
styles, 34 to 44 bust. S074 Waist 
garniture with under sleeves, one size. 
S071 Sleeveless over-waists in bolero and 
jumper styles, 34 to 42 bust. Bolero to 
be made with coat back or finished at 
waist line. S0S7 Set of tunics, 22 to 30 
waist. 
8089 Boy’s suit, 4 to 8 years. 8077 
Boy’s single-breasted overcoat, 8 to 14 
years. 7914 Girl’s Russian dress, 10 to 
14 years. With two-piece skirt, scalloped 
or straight edges, elbow, three-quarter or 
long sleeves. 7235 Girl’s yoke apron, 6 
to 10 years. With high neck with or 
without collar, or with square neck, with 
or without sleeves. 7956 Child’s feeding 
apron, 1, 2 and 4 years. 
Who Can Dress on §15 a Year 
Sometime ago a writer in a woman’s 
periodical mentioned $15, as a yearly 
dress allowance. One woman asserts that 
she considers herself well dressed upon 
that amount—wears mittens and a hood 
during cold weather, and a cape costing 
less than $10, and lasting some six or 
seven years. The woman who can hide 
herself in a big city; or take to the 
woods, or is so situated and sonstituted 
that she can keep her best dress in the 
closet, and her best hat in a box, can 
dress on a very small income. She may 
be a law unto herself and dresses as she 
pleases. But for the woman who goes 
among people, and keeps somewhat in 
touch with the prevailing modes and re¬ 
spects at least a few social demands, the 
adjusting of her needs to so limited 
amount of money as $15, is indeed an 
January 3, 
impossibility. Women having had the bene¬ 
fit of a liberal dress allowance, can at a 
period demanding no heavy outlay, dress 
for a few years upon a surprisingly small 
amount of money, and remain well 
dressed ; but when the time comes for a 
really good garment then it is that the 
purchasing power of the small income 
merges from the experimental stage. 
The greatest possible help towards 
dressing on a small income, comfortably, 
and according to business and social de¬ 
mands, is to take a careful inventory of 
clothing, once a year during the month 
of December, then make out, not one list, 
but three, a list for each three years to 
come with estimated cost, placing the 
pressing necessities in the first list, and 
then adjusting the items in each list to 
larmonize with the yearly allowance for 
dress. So many articles of clothing, 
with care, will give good service for three 
years and even longer, and make it possi¬ 
ble to avoid more than one large item 
during one year, and in this way a better 
article, and a more lasting material can 
be secured. Unless a woman knows the 
full extent of her dress wants for the 
coming year, she cannot possibly know 
how much money she can invest in any 
one garment. For instance, a very small 
allowance can only carry two large items, 
the best dress and the Winter wrap, dur¬ 
ing a period of three or five years, and 
the amount that can be invested in either, 
must leave from the allowance a balance 
sufficient for all the other necessary dress 
items for the whole year. 
If a woman with a small income should 
by fire or flood, be deprived of all her 
clothing, she would be obliged to take 
advantage of cheap material in order to 
be comfortably and presentably dressed. 
But with more or less of clothing at hand 
—to spare the new—there is no economy 
in cheap shoes, black dress goods, or hat 
trimmings. Wool dress material less than 
42 inches in width and one dollar a yard 
is a questionable investment for street 
wear, when a skirt pattern can be ad¬ 
justed to wide goods, requiring only two 
breadths, or two skirt lengths for a plain 
walking skirt; and one yard and a half 
for a waist or a short jacket. Good felt, 
or straw hats will each last three sea¬ 
sons; and good satin finished trimmings 
from three to five years. One pair of 
$3.50 shoes a year, for two years, will 
last three years if re-heeled and re-soled, 
and shoes of that quality—the welt sewed 
—will stand repairing and never need 
an apology. Black brilliantine from 50 
to 70 cents a yard makes an economical 
and most satisfactory petticoat for the 
housewife, and the business woman, for 
best and for every day wear; $5 worth 
of Winter underclothing with good laun¬ 
dry care and mending, should last three 
Winters, and $3 worth of knit cotton 
garments should last three years. As no 
two women dress alike, or need the same 
amount or kind of clothing, it is not 
thought helpful to consider more than a 
few items of dress. Every womau should 
for herself, discover between necessity 
and desire; and discriminate between 
cheap goods and expensive goods; and so 
far as she can confine herself to the 
standard grades, with prices that vary 
but little from year to year, that she 
may be able to look ahead and to esti¬ 
mate her wants and the costs, and thus 
have the full benefit of the purchasing 
power of her small income. 
ME DORA CORBETT. 
A Candy Suggestion. 
The article on homemade candy by 
Rosamond Lampman, on page 1371, was 
fine, but I wish to add just a bit that will 
aid the candy maker greatly. When 
ready to dip the molds for the chocolate 
place in small saucepan two good-sized 
tablespoonfuls of butter to one quarter 
pound bitter chocolate. Place right on 
stove and stir constantly until chocolate 
is melted. It is not necessary to cut 
chocolate in pieces unless desired. When 
too cool reheat again. The result is de¬ 
licious, and as it makes the chcoolate 
thinner expedites dipping greatly. I 
have made Christmas candies for years, 
but just thought out this idea recently. 
M. II. L. 
Over the trackless past, somewhere. 
Lie the lost days of our tropic youth— 
Only regained by faith and prayer, 
Only recalled by prayer and plaint; 
Each lost day has its patron saint! 
—Bret Harte. 
