880 
THE RURAL, NEW-YORKER 
WOMAN AND HOME 
* From Day to Day. 
Just Little Things. 
The little, common things of life— 
A kindly word, a little trust. 
A friendly smile amidst the strife 
That crushes souls into the dust; 
A flower for some tired eyes, 
Or music for a weary heart— 
“Just little things”—not any size, 
But, ah, the sweetness they impart! 
—Edith McKay. 
★ 
Plain furniture that has become 
shabby may be brought up to date by 
painting with black enamel paint. This 
is now very much in vogue, often orna¬ 
mented with bunches of flowers, in bril¬ 
liant colors, after the old-fashioned style. 
Chairs painted in black enamel with 
cushions of gay cretonne, are very pretty, 
especially Windsor or rocking chairs. 
Drop-leaf tables are seen painted in the 
same way. 
* 
Tiie National Coffee Roasters’ Asso¬ 
ciation has been conducting a scientific 
investigation into the proper method of 
making coffee, realizing that much injury 
is done to their business by improper 
methods. The following statement is 
made by Edward Aborn. chairman of the 
committee in charge: 
Roasted coffee, a cooked product, is in¬ 
jured by further “cooking.” Correct brew¬ 
ing is not cooking. It is a process of ex¬ 
traction of already cooked aromatic oils 
from the fibre containing such oils. The 
aromatic oil is instantly soluble with 
water at the boiling point. This oil, 
stored in the cells of the roasted berry, is 
made accessible to thorough and instan¬ 
taneous fusion with boiling water by the 
thorough breaking open of the cells by 
very fine granulation, in other words, pul¬ 
verization (fine as a fine meal). By plac¬ 
ing pulverized coffee in a muslin filter bag 
(cheese cloth is too coarse, metal sieves 
are also too coarse and subject to corro¬ 
sion) and passing quickly through the 
coffee water at the absolutely boiling 
point the full aromatic value, the purest 
and best strength are obtained with a less 
expenditure of coffee than by any other 
known method. 
Coffee tannic acid, which, however, is 
not the commercial tannic acid, is the un¬ 
desirable element. It is extracted by the 
time of contact of water and coffee. 
Coffee tannin is extracted by water at 
any temperature, but fresh water at the 
full boiling point is necessary to the ex¬ 
traction of the aromatic oils. 
Essential brewing principles therefore 
are: 
Pulverized coffee. 
Fresh, fully boiling water. 
Unretarded filtration of the water 
through the grounds. 
The filter bag should be made of tin- 
bleached muslin, sufficiently large to allow 
very free passage of water through, and 
should never be allowed to dry. It sours 
in the drying process and will keep sweet 
if kept wet. It should be rinsed after 
using and stored in clean cold water. 
The chemical analyses given below 
show the comparative proportions of 
coffee tannin produced by the various 
methods tested: 
Boiling method (boiled five minutes), 
2.40 grains coffee tannin to one cup. 
Steeping method (brought to a boil), 
2.40 grains coffee tannin to one cup. 
Percolator method (water raised 
through a tube and sprayed over the 
grounds held in a sieve), 2.00 grains 
coffee tannin to one cup. 
Filtration method (boiling water pour¬ 
ed through pulverized coffee held in a 
muslin bag), 0.20 grains coffee tannin to 
one cup. 
Thus it will be noticed that the filtra¬ 
tion method practically eliminates the 
tannin and extracts 1.000 per cent less 
coffee tannin than the percolator. This 
filtration method is used by all first class 
hotels, is not new or difficult, and assures 
the highest quality as well as the highest 
health value to the brew. 
* 
There are two things that are a vital 
need in every farm home at this busy 
time; they are a screened porch with 
abundant shade, and comfortable beds, in 
airy well-screened bed-chambers. There 
must be some place where everyone may 
rest, if but for a brief nooning during 
work, and in the evening, and there must 
be every facility for comfortable sleep. 
Now that sleeping porches are in fashion 
it does not sound so revolutionary for the 
boys to want to sleep out of doors, and 
we would give them every convenience for 
doing it if they so desire. Single beds 
are a great comfort at all times, but es¬ 
pecially so in Summer; where two chil¬ 
dren share one bed we usually find that 
one is restless or inconsiderate, destroy¬ 
ing the comfort of the other. Small iron 
beds of the hospital type take up little 
room, and are inexpensive and comfort¬ 
able. As for the screened porch, it may 
well serve as dining-room and sitting- 
room, and the housewife’s comfort will be 
much increased if there is a screened out¬ 
door kitchen too. 
* 
We get many inquiries for literature on 
the preparation of peanut butter. The 
Department of Agriculture will send, 
upon request, Bureau of Plant Industry 
Circular 98, entitled “Peanut Butter,” 
and Farmers’ Bulletin 431, “The Pea¬ 
nut,” which will be found very helpful 
and instructive. - 
Seen in New York Shops. 
Pyrex glass is a heavy clear glass used 
to make cooking vessels. It is said to 
stand heat like heavy earthenware, to cook 
evenly, and it is certainly clean and sani¬ 
tary. Bakers for loaf cake are 75 cents, 
small individual bakers 20 cents, pie 
The Rural Patterns 
In ordering patterns, always give 
number of pattern and size 
desired. Price of each 
pattern 10 cents. 
8677—C i r c u 1 a r 
Flounced Skirt. 24 
to 32 waist. 
8669 — Four-piece 
Skirt, 24 to 34 waist. 
8654—Girl’s Three- 
piece Petticoat, 8 to 
14 years. 
8665 — A Fancy- 
Bodice, Short or 
Long Sleeves, High 
or Low Collar, 34 to 
44 bust. 
8668—Girl’s Dress, 
10 to 14 years. 
8678 — Empire 
Dress for Misses and 
Small Women, 10 
and 18 years. 
plates 50 cents; covered casseroles, $1.25. 
Men’s khaki riding breeches are offered 
for $3, Government olive shade, with re¬ 
enforced seat and legs. 
A coffee-pot that is really a percolator 
is made of aluminum. The section for 
holding the coffee has a perforated bot¬ 
tom, and a hollow metal rod runs up from 
the bottom to the top, so that the water 
can bubble through the coffee grounds. 
The lid has a heavy glass center. It is a 
nice-looking coffee-pot that will outwear 
a number of agate ones; three-pint size, 
$1.25. 
A very convenient cake-maker consists 
of a pan of one-gallon capacity that is 
screwed to the table like a bread-mixer. 
Two paddles, like those of an ice-cream 
freezer, are operated by the handle above 
the bridge crossing the pan. The paddles 
or beating fliers can be removed, and a 
kneading rod substituted, so that the cake 
maker is turned into a bread mixer. This 
cake maker costs $2 and $2.75, according 
to size. 
Stout boxes of cardboard for packing 
away Winter clothes are treated with tar 
or cedar to keep away moths; they cost 
85 cents for the 36-inch length. 
Dainty vestees are made of very fine 
cross-barred organdie, fastened with cro¬ 
chet buttons. 
Forms of cardboard covered with mus¬ 
lin are used to keep freshly ironed 
blouses from wrinkling while hanging in 
the closet. They cost $1.25. 
Non-crushable linen is an improved fab¬ 
ric ; skirts of this material are $4.50. 
Cretonne is used as dress material both 
for women and children. A loose coat of 
flowered cretonne, with black velvet col¬ 
lar and cuffs and silk lining, was priced 
at $10; it is meant for wearing over thin 
light gowns. The cretonne making this 
coat had a black ground, with large 
American Beauty roses scattered over it. 
A little girl’s dress, made like pattern 
No. 8668, had a pleated skirt of blue 
chainbray with the long bodice of pink- 
flowered cretonne, and sunbonnet to 
match. Some of the girls’ dresses of cre¬ 
tonne are made rather like an apron with 
a white guimpe underneath; there is a 
sunbonnet or hat to match. For their 
elder sisters, cretonne skirts are made to 
wear with the English smocks that take 
the place of middy blouses. 
Seasonable Preserves. 
Spiced Cherries.—One gallon seeded 
cherries, five pounds sugar, one pint of 
vinegar, and spices. Spread the sugar 
over the cherries and let stand over night. 
Next morning drain off juice. Scald and 
pour over cherries. Repeat three times, 
the last time heating the cherries thor¬ 
oughly. Dip out cherries, boil down juice 
until there is just enough to cover cher¬ 
ries, add spice, two tablespoonfuls of cin¬ 
namon and one of cloves, tied in cheese 
cloth. If properly made this rule cannot 
fail, and they will keep indefinitely. 
Spiced Currants.—Six pounds cur¬ 
rants, one level tablespoon cinnamon, 
four pounds sugar, one level teaspoon 
cloves, two pounds raisins, one level tea¬ 
spoon allspice, one cup vinegar. Pick 
over the currants, wash, drain and re¬ 
move the stems. Put into a preserving 
kettle. Add the sugar, raisins and vine¬ 
gar, and cook until it commences to thick¬ 
en ; add the spices and cook to a thick 
sauce. 
Cherries and Currants.—Stone fine 
large cherries, boil in one and one-half 
pints of water, one pound of sugar to 
each pound of fruit, cook 15 minutes, add 
the fruit and cook twenty minutes more; 
strain the syrup, add to it the juice of 
one pint of currants to each pound of 
cherries; cook 10 micutes rapidly; pour 
c. er tl 1 fruit and seal hot. 
Che y and Raspberry Jam.—Put eight 
pounds of cherries in a preserving pan, 
add one quart cf cold water and cook un¬ 
til the fruit is al off the pits; then strain 
through a jelly bag. Put the juice back 
into the pan and add six pounds of rasp¬ 
berries (or strawberries) and nine pounds 
of sugar and boil for 30 or 40 minutes. 
Doilies and Table Runners. 
I was interested in the experiments of 
the “Cousins,” on page 711, with the 
small doilies for table service, instead of 
using always a large cloth. 
The very newest thing of the kind 
might appeal to the aunt, as it does away 
with the “dinky” little mats. It is an 
oblong doily 10x16 inches. The nar¬ 
rower ends admit of a special decoration 
in line with the finish chosen and with a 
table runner or long center make fewer 
pieces. 
They might be very economically made 
of old table damask, hemmed and edged 
with torchon, cluny, tatting or crochet 
edging. An insertion across the narrower 
end is a vei’y suitable addition. If the 
work is done with neatness it is very 
pretty, and will be found a saving of 
work in keeping a table inviting in its ap¬ 
pearance. 
A set made of the old linen is easily 
finished, and while the family are getting 
over their surprise a set from new linen, 
more elaborately decorated, if desired, can 
serve for pick-up work to fill up the min¬ 
utes. But in ordinary life too much time 
should not be bestowed on mere decora- 
July 3, 1915. 
tion as simplicity is a sterling mark of 
good taste. m. f. 
R. N.-Y.—We may add to these sensi¬ 
ble suggestions a reminder of the pretty 
table linens made from Japanese towel¬ 
ing, which have already been described in 
The R. N.-Y. This “toweling” is 14 
inches wide, a combination of white and 
color—blue, yellow or dull rose—printed 
in Japanese designs. Runners made the 
full length and width of the table, the 
ends hemstitched, are very attractive, and 
easily made as “pick-up” work; square 
doilies are made to match. Such sets, 
made with machine sewing, are offered 
especially for “bungalow” use, but are 
much nicer hemstitched by hand. The 
material costs 90 cents to $1.30 per piece 
of 10 yards. 
“Easy Money.” 
Some country people regard town cus¬ 
tomers as a nuisance, but others carefully 
cultivate them and say that selling to peo¬ 
ple who have their own vehicles is exactly 
like “finding money.” It does take a lit¬ 
tle of a woman’s time to wait on the cus¬ 
tomers, but there is the pleasure of meet¬ 
ing new people, and the fact that owners 
of automobiles usually have money to 
spend for fresh things without haggling 
over prices. One woman says that keep¬ 
ing her own utensils at home is a great 
inducement to sell to town folks, as when 
she delivered the things often she had to 
leave her crocks and baskets because her 
customers were not at home. 
At home we often had people stop for 
butter, eggs, chickens, fruit, flowers, vege¬ 
tables and buttermilk. In the Spring we 
raised vegetable and flower plants and 
sold many dollars worth of them. A 
small sign on the gate-post brought more 
customers than an advertisement in the 
county paper could have done in those 
days. Whatever we had to sell was ad¬ 
vertised in this way. We sold second-hand 
furniture, harness, buggies and anything 
we did not need, while our neighbors al¬ 
lowed these things to decay because they 
were too busy to be troubled with small 
items. People always paid cash, and we 
had no trouble in disposing of everything 
we had to sell. Sometimes elderly people 
would stand and talk and talk, after pur¬ 
chasing five cents’ worth of something, 
but as a rule our customers were busy 
people who were as anxious to get back 
to work as we were. 
Now I know personally many women 
who take in “easy money” each year by 
this plan. They sell little things that 
they never would think of taking to town, 
and fill their purses from Spring to Fall 
with money. No woman wants to carry 
five cents’ worth of lettuce to town, but 
in two minutes she can pull it and wrap 
it in a wet paper for a customer who will 
cari-y it to town herself. A dollar a day 
throughout the Summer sounds attractive 
to most farm women, but thei’e are 
women who have been in this business a 
number of years would never be satisfied 
with this modest amount. They get the 
highest market prices for their chickens, 
their eggs, their butter, their vegetables, 
their spare fruits and everything they 
have to sell, and never have to carry any¬ 
thing to town themselves. This fact off¬ 
sets all the inconvenience of having peo¬ 
ple call for the stuff, in their minds. 
Then, too, they form many desirable and 
pleasant friendships among their custom¬ 
ers, and these friendships make life very 
sweet and helpful to all farm women. 
HILDA RICHMOND. 
Spinach in Various Ways. 
I wonder if many of the good house¬ 
wives who are readers of The R. N.-Y". 
realize the value of this early Spring 
vegetable, that comes along about “pinch 
time?” It is easily raised, simply pre- 
pai-ed and although of little food value it¬ 
self, it is refreshing and slightly laxa¬ 
tive, and is a valuable adjunct to the 
more substantial foods. 
The market spinach is generally pulled 
up by the roots, so quantities of dirt get 
mixed among the leaves, and it tak.es 
much labor to clean it. If the cook has 
anything to do with the picking she will 
see that the large leaves are pulled from 
the growing plants. This is economy iu 
two ways; it stives time in preparation 
and the small leaves left on the plant 
will soon furnish another supply. Like 
many other vegetables it is rarely cooked 
to perfection, although the manner of 
