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Tt-IE) RURAL NEW-YORKKR 
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“Short Stories” 
All Sorts of Personal Experience With Food, Friends and Fixtures 
Care of the Canary Bird. 
T ill'] canary for busy folks is no doubt 
what R. Y. N. is asking about. If 
most farm women would pretend that the 
canary was just a plain hen, and see that 
clean, mixed seed, grit in form of coarse 
sand, to be found on most farms, green 
food such as apple, celery, lettuce, chick- 
weed or plantain, and fresh water were 
furnished the bird, all might keep these 
beautiful singers. They like a daily bath 
and clean cage but once a week will an¬ 
swer. But you cannot feed the canary 
to the cat and still keep it, for we tried 
it. They will endure quite an amount of 
cold, but draughts must be avoided. Any 
one who places the canary on the porch 
runs risk of both draughts and cats. In 
the Summer the birds moult like any com¬ 
mon ben. A hard-boiled egg, mashed -with 
a fork and fed mixed with cracker 
crumbs or alone will help at this time 
and also build up the bird for early Fall 
singing. Clean seed should be bought di¬ 
rect from bird store if that is possible, as 
the package goods are inferior. I learned 
these necessary hints in regard to the 
care of canaries from Germans who have g 
bred them in their own country. I have g 
raised canaries for ourselves and our g 
friends for some years, and think any g 
farm woman can do so. A. B. gilbert. 
New Jersey. 
"Women on Health Boards. 
HE Woman’s Journal comments on m 
the fact that women should serve g 
on boards of health. At Xutley, N. J., g 
the report is that when Miss Annie L. g 
Van Winkle was chosen a member of the g 
local board three men resigned: 
One choleric old gentleman in England g 
declared that he would resign from a lo- g 
cal Board of Poor Law Guardians if a 1 
woman were placed on the board, be¬ 
cause, he said, no woman could under¬ 
stand accounts. But a woman was elect¬ 
ed, and he had to submit. At the first 
board meeting that she attended, the ac¬ 
counts were rendered, as usual, and the 
lady’s attention was attracted by an 
item of £5—about $25—which was set 
down as the price of a soup tureen bought 
for the paupers. The sum seemed to her 
excessive. She looked into the accounts, 
and unearthed a whole series of frauds. 
The board was being systematically over¬ 
charged for all the housekeeping supplies. 
When these facts were brought out, the 
choleric old gentleman said, with disgust. 
“How can you expect me to understand 
all those little domestic details?” The 
lady answered quietly: “I don’t expect 
you to understand them. But, since you 
do not, isn’t it well that there should be 
somebody on the board who does?” 
Inexpensive Comforts. 
N the inevitable strenuous life on the 
farm, why not add a few holiday 
features for the Summer weather? With 
slight expense, a camper’s tent, wire 
screened, could be put up under the trees 
near the working room, where the meals 
could be eaten, removed from the heat 
and the turmoil of the kitchen. This pic¬ 
nic life would rest and help the busy 
housewife, and the hard-worked farmer. 
Then, too, there is the old porch with the 
flat roof. Why not enclose the top with 
woven wire fencing, fill some ticks with 
straw, and use it for a hot weather 
sleeping porch—with or without an awn¬ 
ing? Only those who have tried it, know 
the comfort and invigoration that come 
from sleeping in the open air. Don’t get 
so busy with your work that you can’t 
take a little holiday as you go along. I 
would also suggest, that the farmer’s 
wife who wishes to attract Summer 
boarders, could find no more attractive 
“bait,” than the “outdoor meals”—and 
the “sleeping porch.” 
II. E. FOULKE. 
T HE “CHRONIC KICKER.”—Farm¬ 
ers who feel free to walk into the 
kitchen and tell mother what they want 
for dinner, should consider the case of 
William Morningstar, who got into trou¬ 
ble with a Buffalo Hotel. Mr. Morn¬ 
ingstar it appears got tired of the hotel 
fare. He went out and bought some 
spa reribs of pork, and gave them to the 
hotel chef, requesting him to cook them 
and send them up to the room. This was 
done, but the next Mr. Morningstar knew 
he was charged $1 for this service, in ad¬ 
dition to his other hotel bill. The case 
went into court, and the jury decided 
against Mr. Morningstar, but as a mat¬ 
ter of principle he carried the case up to 
the Court of Appeals, and this court has 
decided in his favor. The court decides 
that a hotel guest has a right to have 
spareribs cooked for him without being 
charged an excessive price, at least the 
court orders a new trial, chiefly on the 
ground that the jury decided the first 
case on evidence that Morningstar was 
what is known as “a chronic kicker.” It 
evidently does not pay to have that kind 
of a reputation. 
Plug the Melon and Eggs. 
ELATIVE to Geo. A. Cosgrove’s ex- 
perience and inquiry on page 790, 
I would relate the following story 
my father tells. We had been using a 
bunch of boys hoeing corn—my father 
working with them. It had been his cus¬ 
tom, when coming in from work, to stop 
at our melon patch nearby every evening 
and give each boy a melon. A few days 
after one of these occasions one of the 
smaller boys came over to where my 
father was milking one evening and after 
hanging around for some time with seem¬ 
ingly something on his mind finally 
blurted out: “Mr. Post you mind that 
watermelon you gave me the other day?” 
“Yes,” said my father. “Well, that 
melon was green.” replied the lad. Fath¬ 
er hardly thought it could be, but as he 
had not plugged it he told the boy he sup¬ 
posed he owed him another then, so they 
went out to the patch and picked out 
another. A couple of days later the boy 
came back and after hanging around a 
little while finally said: “Mr. Post you 
mind that melon you gave me?” “Yes,” 
said my father, “was that one all right?” 
“No,” said the boy. “that melon was rot¬ 
ten.” Well, my father took the boy out 
to the patch again, but he said. “Sonny, 
we’ll just plug this one this time.” If 
Mr. Cosgrove could only contrive some 
way to plug his eggs. By the way this 
boy’s brother told me later that the little 
fellow didn’t get to eat any of bis melons 
—he had taken all three down town and 
sold them. c. u. post. 
Missouri. 
O NE delightful day our Florida crowd 
were starting off for a day’s outing. 
We were to drive to the boat land¬ 
ing. Four teams were full of happy 
people, and the driver of the first team 
had got in and spoke to the horse to start. 
Still he didn’t move and every one won¬ 
dered. On investigation he was still 
hitched to the post! B. 
A utomobile notes.— Up in the 
hills of Western Massachusetts, 
back from the railroad, live a young 
married couple, special friends of ours. 
The man drives a mail and passenger 
route of 30 miles six times a week. Last 
Winter he kept three horses and it took 
all his time. This Spring he put on a 
five-passenger touring car and now has 
four hours a day at home to attend to 
his farm. Also he has taken a number 
of parties out in the evening. The lo¬ 
cal storekeeper has also purchased a sim¬ 
ilar car, as it will save so much time 
on his weekly trips to the nearest town. 
The storekeeper carried only a few stand¬ 
ard articles in stock, but every Saturday 
makes a trip to the city where he will 
get without extra charge, whatever is 
wanted. The rural driver intends to 
buy horses next Fall, when they are 
cheap, use them during the Winter and 
sell them in the Spring. The bill roads 
are now filling during the Winter. s. 
E xtracting beeswax.—i no¬ 
ticed inquiry how to extract bees¬ 
wax. Here is the plan I have used 
several times: Pack the comb in a small 
flour sack as tight as possible. Put a 
rack made of lath in bottom of boiler, 
place sack on it. and weight down with 
flat stones. Put in water so that it 
stands two inches above rack, and boil 
for an hour. Set off and let cool till next 
morning. The wax will be in large cake 
on top of water. Break it up and put in 
small dish on back of stove to melt and 
then let cool again. If you wish some 
small cakes pour some in teacups while 
melted. c. E. degroff. 
Missouri. 
A NEIGHBORHOOD GARDEN — 
Mary Ann is a young factory girl 
nearly 20. she looks about 12. She 
is one of a family of five brothers and sis¬ 
ters whom a big-hearted Irish cousin of 
their mother’s took in to keep them from 
“going on the State.” Mary Ann has al¬ 
ways worked very hard, and finds factory 
work easier than what she did at home. 
She wanted a garden, but had no money 
to spend on it. The fact being known, 
the next-door neighbor contributed Pet¬ 
unia and hollyhock plants, some Iris 
roots and lilies-of-tlie-valley. From the 
old Fairbanks homestead came periwinkle, 
day lilies, columbine and four kinds of 
old-fashioned roses, which all decided to 
live. Mrs. Cook gave Sweet William, 
some nasturtium seed and several kinds 
of hardy Phlox. Cousin Grace planted 
her first garden this year and put in the 
seed about 10 times too thick, she was 
very glad to contribute superfluous plant^ 
of Verbenas, Drummond’s Phlox and Ja¬ 
pan pinks. Mary Ann’s brother got ths 
ground ready, the neighbor who knows 
how showed her how to plant her gifts, 
and her garden is an established facl^ 
with little time and trouble and no ex¬ 
pense. Perhaps there are other Mary 
Ann’s who would like a garden. k. 
Beef Pies. —Our family like little pies 
made of cold roast beef, chopped and 
thickened in a gravy. Make a rich bis¬ 
cuit dough, roll as thin as pie crust and 
cut in six-inch squares. Put one square 
into a gem or pastry pan. with the four 
corners hangin., over, fill with the beef 
mixture, and fill the corners over to cover. 
These can be easily warmed over. b. 
When Silks Split. —The Wisconsin 
Station gives the following test for silk: 
“Why did your last year’s silk split and 
crack? Because it was weighted. You 
might have tested it easily before pur¬ 
chasing and saved both money and worry. 
A bit of the silk and a match are all 
you need for a sure test. Light the 
match and apply it to the fabric. If it 
holds its shape the silk is adulterated 
with some of the various minerals so 
used. If it melts down in burning and 
runs together in a puffy mass the silk is 
pure.” 
Keeping the Milk. —One farmer has 
solved the problem of keeping his butter 
and milk cool in the hottest of weather 
though many miles from ice. From the 
pantry down to a depth of four feet be¬ 
low the cellar floor he built a dumbwaiter 
shaft. This hole below the cellar floor 
was cemented on the bottom and all the 
sides, and being below the surface of the 
cellar it was always very cool. Not only 
did this method keep things cool, but it 
was such a step saver to be able to put 
all the supplies on the dumbwaiter and 
simply lower it into its under-cellar. 
Iowa. MBS. C. a. RHOADS. 
County Volunteers. —In Massachu¬ 
setts the Hampton County Improvement 
League has started what is called an 
Organization of County Volunteers. This 
moans working among the boys and girls 
of Hampton County. The plan is to in¬ 
terest them in their homes, on the farms, 
and through the school and church, as 
a foundation for a larger organization. 
T e League started with five towns as 
an experiment, but is spreading rapidly. 
The boys and girls will he taught to play 
as well as to work, and all that, and the 
present outlook is for a most successful 
organization among these volunteers. 
For the Invalid. —A strap or rope 
suspended from the ceiling or fastened to 
the foot of the bed is often a great help 
in enabling the patient to raise or to sup¬ 
port himself if confined to the bed on ac¬ 
count of a disabled limb. For the nurse 
it lightens the burden of the patient’s 
weight in lifting him. A clean blotting- 
paper placed under cups, glasses and ice- 
pitcher on the invalid’s table will keep 
the cloth fresh and tidy and lessen the 
laundry work. Mechanical puzzles often 
afford excellent entertainment to a con¬ 
valescent whose eyes are not strong 
enough for reading or writing. 
Wisconsin. Josephine e. toal. 
Mail Box on a Wheel. —One ingen¬ 
ious farm woman who disliked to see her 
corner decorated by the unsightly row of 
mail boxes which were placed at all sorts 
of heights and angles, induced the man 
of the house to construct a new arrange¬ 
ment for them that would prove more at¬ 
tractive to the passerby. Horizontally 
on the top of a post he fastened an old 
wagon wheel, bolting it on so that it 
would revolve. The mail boxes were fast¬ 
ened on the rim of the wheel at certain 
intersections. From the spokes of the 
wheels were hung short straps with snap 
ends, so that parcel post packages could 
be snapped securely on. Boxes and 
wheel were painted red, with the owners’ 
names put on in neat white letters. Be¬ 
side being a good-looking arrangement it 
delighted the mail man, as he could sit in 
his buggy and turn the wheel to any box 
he desired. mrs. c. a. riioads. 
Iowa. 
Training Children. —I think that a 
good study for the “Woman and Home 
Department” would be the care and man¬ 
agement of home and children. I think 
perhaps it might be a help to some. A 
child should be taught from childhood— 
girls as well as boys—to be familiar with 
all kinds of work, both in the home and 
on the farm. They can attend to small 
duties while young, and what they are 
taught in childhood they never forget. 
They should have a small task set aside 
for them each day, and their mother 
should see that they do it right. Your 
home work can be planned to suit your¬ 
self a good deal, giving you days that 
you can spend with your children, and be 
young with them. There can be many 
interesting hours spent with your chil¬ 
dren right on the farm. And they are a 
good deal better right there with you 
than you not knowing where they are. 
I have a grandson and two granddaugh¬ 
ters, and I sincerely hope they may be 
brought up on the farm as my two daugh¬ 
ters and son were. mrs. c. w. c. 
Rhode Island. 
“The Favorite Hen” 
When we offered to enter a number of hens at one of the egg-laying g 
contests we had no idea that the suggestion would prove so popular. We §§ 
were limited to 30 hens and a few substitutes, but within three weeks of the m 
offer the following named women made application : M 
1. Mrs. Daniel Thomas. Cortland, N. Y. 36. 
2. .Mrs. Carrie Chaffee. Sullivan. N. Y. 37. 
3. Miss M. E. Pierce, New Haven. Conn. 38. 
4. Mrs. S. O. Travis, 'Westchester, N. Y. 39. 
5. Mrs. K. II. Smith, Tioga. Pa. 40. 
6. Mrs. E. P. Andrews. Ontario. N. Y. 41. 
7. Mrs. F. M. Earl. Fairfield, Conn. 42. 
8. Mrs. C. F. Weaver, York. Pa. 43. 
9. Mrs. Lewis J. Ilappich, Chenango, N. Y. 44. 
10. Miss Mary B. Brooke. Montgomery. Md. 45. 
11. Mrs. Stephen Wilson, Steuben, N. Y. 46. 
12. Mrs. L. G. Robison, Otsego. N. Y. 47. 
13. Mrs. Alice G. Parsons. Hampshire, Mass.48. 
14. Mrs. A. B. Thompson. Bergen. N. J. 49. 
15. Mrs. Clara Eddy. Ritchie. W. Ya. 50. 
It!. Mrs. Robert II. Wood. Herkimer, N. Y.51. 
17. Mrs. Walter Fletcher, Madison. N. Y. 52. 
18. Mrs. Carrie M. Bliss, Loudoun. Ya. 53. 
19. Mrs. Edwin Walker, Middlesex. Mass. 54. 
20. Mrs. W. R. Merrick, Norfolk. Mass. 55. 
21. Mrs. E. S. Marlatt, Warren. N. J. 56. 
22. Mrs. Josephine Hollenback. Berks, Pa. 57. 
23. Mrs. Theo. F. Lees, New Haven. Conn. 58. 
24. Mrs. W. E. Phelps, Bradford. Pa. 59. 
25. Mrs. R. W. Stevens, Saratoga. N. Y. 60. 
26. Mrs. Cecil Farnham. Hancock. Me. 61. 
27. Mrs. R. L. Predmore. Middlesex. N. J. 62. 
28. Mrs. A. J. Skellie, Otsego, N. Y. 63. 
29. Mrs. Eldin Landers, Oneida, N. Y. 64. 
30. Mrs. Edgar Chaffee. Orleans, N. Y. 65. 
31. Mrs. J. F. Kabl. Wexford. Mich. 66. 
32. Mrs. E. C. Gabriel. Suffolk. N. Y. 67. 
33. Mrs. Chas. Timerman, Cortland, X. Y. 68. 
34. Mrs. Joseph di Fabrlzio. Atlantic, N. J. 69. 
35. Miss Elizabeth A. Woodman, Bucks, Pa. 70. 
Make a Fair 
Now we regret that we cannot accommodate all in this contest. It will j§ 
be necessary to select 30 or a few more out of this number. We wish to g 
make such selection as fair as possible, and it seems to us the wisest plan || 
to ask the women who are here named to suggest a method which will prove §| 
satisfactory. Some of these women have already volunteered to withdraw. = 
Others have made only a tentative application. We find that some may be : 
chissed as breeders or professional poultry women, while others are quite M 
well-to-do. It was our original plan to limit these entrances to farm women §§ 
who have developed good farm flocks, yet cannot be called professional breed- g§ 
ers. We wish to be fair and just to all. and our regret is that we cannot g 
find room for all the hens that are offered. In making a final selection we g 
wish to be absolutely square and select the most deserving applicants, and so, g 
ladies, we will leave it with you to select the requisite number. Will you |§ 
please give us your suggestion? || 
Ill!IIIIIilillllll!!l!li!l!lil!llililll!lll!l!llll!l!lliI!!ll!illlllllM 
Mrs. Andrew J. Wilson. Hartford, Conn. = 
Mrs. Edwin C. Smith, York, Me. 
Mrs. N. D. Rand. Ulster. N. Y. 
Miss Edna M. Porter, Niagara. X. Y. 
Mrs. L. D. Prindle, Chittenden, Yt. 
Miss Ethel A. Pierce. Sullivan. N. H. 
Mrs. Emma H. Wood, Washington, N. Y. = 
Mrs. A. N. Conell, St. Lawrence. N. Y. = 
Mrs. J. Schwenk. New Haven. Conn. 
Miss Jessie A. Close, Cayuga. N. Y. 
Mrs. O. E. Leach, Fulton, N. Y. 
Mrs. C. J. Leach. Fulton, N. Y. 
Mrs. L. E. Hilborn. Steuben. N. Y. 
Mrs. G. L. Rotbgeb, Frederick. Ya. 
Mrs. W. S. Walters, Berrien. Mich. 
Mrs. V. D. Miller, Geauga, Ohio. = 
Mrs. W. W. Shay, Haywood. X. C. js 
Mrs. J. N. Lndington. James City, Ya. 
Mrs. D. F. Hiler. Steuben, N. Y. 
Mrs. C. D. Wood. Vigo, Ind. 
Miss Martha A. Small. Waldo, Me. 
Mrs. L. C. Litchfield, Addison, Yt. 
Miss Tillie B. Cloud, Chester, Pa. 
Misses Osier & Wilcox, Chemung. N. Y. == 
Mrs. W. A. Paust. Saint Clair, 111. 
Mrs. F. Hansen, Mercer. N. J. 
Mrs. N. M. Cougdon. Madison. X. Y. 
Miss Julia Bartlett, Tolland, Conn. = 
Miss Althea M. Sliter, Broome, N. Y. 
Mrs. C. L. Todd, Henrico, Ya. 
Mrs. Herbert Hood. Caledonia. Yt. 
Mrs. Effie Mann, Columbiana, Ohio. 
Miss Lillie J. Babcock, Litchfield. Conn. = 
Mrs. Fred Millward, Mercer. N. J. = 
Mrs. H. G. McElheney, Allegany, X. Y. ^ 
Selection 
