002 
WOMAN AND HOME 
From Day to Day. 
The Wheatfiela. 
Field of wheat so full and fair, 
Shining with thy sunny hair, 
Lightly moving either way, 
Graceful as the breezes play; 
Looking like a Summer sea, 
How I love to gaze at thee! 
Marshaled by a skillful hand, 
All together bow or stand ; 
From the footing to the ear, 
All in order strict appear; 
Like a well-trained company, 
All in uniform agree. 
IIow thy strength in weakness lies! 
Not a robber bird that flies 
Finds support whereby to put 
On a stalk her lawless foot; 
Not a predatory beak, 
Plunges down thy stores to seek. 
What a lesson do we find 
Open here for eye and mind. 
In it, who can offer less 
Than to wonder and confess 
That on this high-favored ground, 
Faith is blessed, and Hope is crowned; 
Charity her arms doth spread 
Wide from it with gifts of bread; 
Wisdom, power and goodness meet, 
In the bounteous fields of wheat. 
—Credited to Mary Iiowitt (1799-18SS). 
* 
The much-petted kitten had inflicted 
some deep and painful scatches, and wo 
prepared to cleanse the wounds with per¬ 
oxide of hydrogen. The physician at 
hand, however, at once advised tincture 
of iodine, stating that this is now freely 
used to disinfect injuries. Peroxide is 
more superficial, the iodine penetrates 
deeply. 
* 
Some of our friends who like elder¬ 
berry jelly say they often have trouble 
in making it stiffen properly. We are 
told that this trouble is overcome by 
mixing with green grapes. Cook and 
strain the two fruits separately, then 
use half as much green grape juice as 
elderberry. Use a pound of sugar to 
every pint of mixed juice, and make like 
any other jelly, boiling 20 minutes. Per¬ 
sonally we do not like elderberry pre¬ 
parations, but those who do say the 
mixed jelly retains the characteristic fla¬ 
vor with an added sprightliness, and the 
stiffness is naturally improved by the 
green grape. 
❖ 
Ouk friend the school-teacher, discus¬ 
sing the need of instruction in spelling, 
remarked that some children are “eye- 
minded,” while others are “ear-minded,” 
to reduce scientific terms to simple lan¬ 
guage. In other words, some children 
receive the stronger impression from 
sight, others from hearing. Hence some 
children will learn to spell an unfam¬ 
iliar word after seeing it in print, while 
quite unable to remember it if read or 
dictated to them, and vice versa. This 
little fact is worth considering in a 
child’s home instruction, for what seems 
like inattention or stupidity may really 
result from the manner in which knowl¬ 
edge is presented. 
* 
Remember, if you would like early 
blooming pansies next Spring, you can 
sow the seed in August, and leave the 
little plants out all Winter, with a slight 
protection to prevent heaving. Prepare 
a fine well-pulverized seed bed, free from 
depressions in which water might lodge 
and form ice during the Winter. Sow 
the seed broadcast, cover very lightly 
with line soil, and press the seed in with 
a small board. Then lay a piece of damp 
burlap over the bed, and if drought pre¬ 
vails, sprinkle from time to time. In 
about two weeks the little seedlings will 
show, when the shading may be removed. 
If the weather is very bright and sunny 
it is well to lay a little brush over the 
bed, so as to give partial shade, removing 
this gradually as the plants grow larger. 
When the plants get large enough they 
should be pricked out and transplanted, 
so as to have plenty of room, and the 
bed should be mulched later, just as one 
would treat a strawberry bed. Such 
plants, carried over Winter in frames, in¬ 
stead of outside, come in bloom early, 
and are sold very largely by florists and 
market gardeners. Even without a 
frame one may produce fine sturdy 
plants, both for home use and for local 
sale. 
THE R U R A L> NEW-YORKER 
July 10, 1915. 
The Ideal Baby. 
The Indianapolis Medical Journal 
gives the following specifications to guar¬ 
antee an ideal baby : 
At birth he should weigh at least six 
pounds; at one year about 21 pounds. 
At birth he should measure 20 inches; 
his sister may be slightly shorter. 
The first year he should increase sev¬ 
en inches; the second three more, and 
the third to the tenth year two inches 
each year. 
The fontanel]e or soft spot on the head 
should close about the nineteenth mouth. 
Three to Four and a Half Months— 
Grasp an object that is placed before 
him. Hold his head ei’ect, alone. 
Seven Months.—Sit alone, unsupport¬ 
ed, and reach for toys. 
Eight to Ten Months.—Start to creep. 
The Rural Patterns 
In ordering patterns, always give 
number of pattern and size 
desired. Price of each 
pattern 10 cents. 
8628—Two or Three- 
piece Skirt for M se¬ 
es ami Small Wom¬ 
en, 16 and 18 years. 
8663 — Boy’s Suit, 
4 to 8 years. 
8620 — Five-gored 
Petticoat. 24 to 34 
waist. 
8642—Girl’s Dress, 
6 to 12 years. Sep¬ 
arate Embroidery De¬ 
sign 885 
8643 — Five-gored 
Petticoat for Misses 
and Small Women, 
16 and 18 years. 
8645 — Jumper 
Dress, 16 aud 18 
years. 
Some babies never creep, hut start to 
walk instead. 
Ten Months.—Should start to stand, 
holding some object. 
Eleven Months.—Stand entirely alone. 
Twelve to Fourteen Months.—Start to 
walk. 
One Year.-—Say mamma and papa. 
Two Years.—Talk quite plainly, know 
names of animals, persons, and objects, 
and put two words together. 
Should distinguish one object from an¬ 
other at Tour months. He must hear 
well and his teeth must make their ap¬ 
pearance at from five to seven months. 
Seen in New York Shops. 
A “slip-on” bathing suit is all in one 
piece, buttoning on the shoulder. Made 
of mohair, trimmed with soutache braid, 
this style was recently offered for $2.25, 
complete with jersey tights. Men’s two- 
piece bathing suits of worsted, in at¬ 
tractive heather mixtures or stripes, are 
$2.95. Bathing suit caseSTTHatting cov¬ 
ered and oilcloth lined, cost 95 cents; 
they hold suit and b vels. 
The “Boy Scout” shoe with damp-proof 
sole, made of very stout leather, is $2.75 
up; it is meant for camping and rough 
wear generally. 
The smocks and artists’ blouses that 
suddenly came into vogue this Summer 
are offered in great variety. A French 
artist smock of ramie linen, delft blue, 
rose, leather color or white, hand- 
smocked, costs $3.95; the same model in 
pongee silk is $5.95. Tattle girls’ 
smocks of white galatea or drill are from 
$1 up. These smocks are so comfortable, 
practical and pretty that they have quite 
supplanted the long popular middy 
blouses. 
For picnics or outdoor meals on the 
lawn or porch crepe paper lunch sets are 
desirable; they include a tablecloth, 12 
napkins and 12 doilies, price 25 cents. 
They are bordered in colors, floral, pa¬ 
triotic and festival designs. Plain white 
paper napkins cost 10 cents per 100. A 
great variety is offered in picnic dishes of 
papier-inachd, which include ice cream or 
berry sets of 10 serving dishes, 10 small 
metal spoons, 10 napkins and 10 doilies, 
the whole inclosed in a compact pack¬ 
age. Picnicking is a much simpler af¬ 
fair when there are no heavy soiled dish¬ 
es to bring back. 
Roman stripe blankets, Summer 
weight, size 54x72 inches, are 99 cents; 
they are in brilliant stripes of several 
colors, green, blue, red, yellow, etc., soft 
and warm. They are meant for camp 
and bungalow use, and would be desir¬ 
able for single beds both for the family 
and Summer boarders, as they would 
not soil as easily as white blankets, and 
yet look attractive. Gray all-wool camp 
blankets are $6 and $8 each; plaid blan¬ 
kets, 90 per cent, wool, $5 a pair. A 
standard make known as “Physician s 
Favorite” is $5 a pair. 
Collar and cuff sets of broad awning 
stripes are made of linen and crepe de 
chine and cost 50 cents to $1.50 a set. 
Fichus, again in style, are copied from 
old pictures in polka-dotted materials, 
with cuffs to match. 
Planks, on which to cook planked fish 
or steak, are oval slabs of hard wood, 
hickory or oak. Little channels cut in 
the wood lead to a depression to hold 
the gravy or melted butter, used in bast¬ 
ing. The planks cost from about 27 
cents up, according to size. In serv¬ 
ing, some slide the fish or steak off the 
plank, to a dish, but oftener it is served 
directly on the plank with a border of 
browned mashed potatoes around it, the 
plank lying on a platter in a' nest of 
parsley. 
Notes from Colorado. 
One of our county papers advanced 
the idea that a rest room should be pro¬ 
vided for the farm women who come into 
town in large numbers on Saturdays. 
As no one seemed to provide a way or a 
room a business woman took it in hand. 
She had a large and pleasant room in one 
of the business blocks, which was not in 
use during the day. She had several 
rocking chairs, a large table and stools 
for children put in, together with some 
games if they wished. She kept it open 
three Saturdays but only two women 
availed themselves of the room, so the 
woman closed it, as it did not pay her 
for the trouble of keeping it swept, etc. 
There was no charge whatever; a quiet 
restful room free. Any time from ten 
to five o’clock Saturdays scores of farm 
women will be seen on the street corners, 
in the stores, with babies in their 
arms and little children hanging to their 
skirts, or running about helter-skelter 
where their fancy leads them, oftentimes 
in the way and in danger. Why did not 
these women go to the rest room? Be¬ 
cause they came to see and he seen. 
From my observation the farmer’s wife 
has more artificial sympathy than she 
needs in a majority of cases. In the 
government reports on “Needs of Farm 
Women” there seems a great difference 
between the letters published and the real 
life as I have found it among New York, 
Nebraska, Illinois, Michigan and Colo¬ 
rado farm women. Of course I only 
knew of a small portion of each State, 
but I lived among farm people and was 
one for over 30 years in New York. I 
knew of the conditions in our and ad¬ 
joining towns. To say the old-time 
houses were not convenient, etc., was not 
so there. For instance my grandfather’s 
house (and my father’s after) was built 
in 1820. The kitchen was large, used 
for dining room also. The stove was 
but a few steps from the pantry, sink 
and water. Very few but had cisterns 
with either the pump in the sink or in 
woodshed close to the door. A drain 
usually carried off waste water. I lived 
in Western, Southern and Northern New 
York. In very few cases was the farm 
woman overburdened, or the husband un¬ 
kind. It was far more the lack of means 
to do with than the spirit of not caring 
or wanting to do. The same conditions 
I found in the other States mentioned. 
In Nebraska where we farmed nearly 
19 years, I only knew of one instance 
where the wife was an underling or 
afraid of her husband. She had to ask 
for whatever she got and seemed to have 
no mind of her own (nor dare have). 
In Colorado I do not know so many, 
but as far as I do know the wife has as 
much to say as the husband; usually 
has her own pocketbook, and uses her 
own judgment in management of house 
and children. The cream or butter, poul¬ 
try and egg money is hers. She may 
(and usually does) furnish the grocer¬ 
ies, but if she wants a new dress or hat 
she gets it and doesn’t ask John if she 
may. She votes as she thinks best, and 
does not in most cases ask John how she 
shall vote. One woman in Colorado I 
see in the report, wishes the government 
to issue bulletins about how to plant 
and care for fruits and gardens, what 
kinds are best adapted for different parts 
of the State, etc. The Experiment Sta¬ 
tion at Fort Collins has published all 
these bulletins, on every question asked, 
and they are sent free to all who ask 
in the State. If this woman had read 
very much in the papers she would not 
have asked such questions. In fact as 
I look over these four reports on “The 
Needs of Farm Women,” I find many 
such inquiries; if they had read the agri¬ 
cultural papers they would have been 
answered in most cases. 
The caring for “greasy kerosene lamps 
and lanterns that after being cleaned 
give no light” are some of the trials 
enumerated of the farm woman. They 
must he good indeed, hut usually a good 
lamp is found in most farm homes, and 
perhaps a mantel burner. I have never 
heard or complained of poor lights from 
a good kerosene lamp, neither have I ever 
heard complaint made of the great work 
to care for them. To read these reports 
one would judge the farm women were 
a vast army of slaves to work. They 
work because they must. The last year 
has brought a wonderful change in the 
lives of people on the Great Plains of 
Colorado; a big wheat crop and good 
prices, have put many a poor household 
above board, and new houses, furniture, 
pianos, automobiles, have been purchased 
with a lavish hand for the pleasure and 
comfort of home and family. In most 
cases it is not the will, but the lack of 
means to do with. In conversation with 
a farm woman, not long since she re¬ 
marked that “Farm life is hard at times, 
but not all the time, and I believe we 
have as good times taking all things into 
consideration as town women. We cer¬ 
tainly are more independent.” In some 
cases if the wife would use more tact 
and system in management of husband, 
children and work, it would be better all 
around. It seems to be the thing to do 
to have big dinners on Sunday, more 
particularly in this Western country, 
and Nebraska particularly. It needs a 
woman of nerve to say, “I will not,” hut 
she can put a veto on this useless custom. 
It was not practised in the East as it is 
farther West. I do not ask people for 
Sunday dinner, I say lunch, so not so 
much is expected. I also inform thorn 
I was not brought up that way, that the 
Sabbath was a day of rest as far as 
possible. There are exceptions to all 
rules. I have been in families where the 
children were brought up to help them¬ 
selves, and wait on others; all had their 
tasks, and they made no trouble or up¬ 
roar in doing them. It rests so much 
with the parents, and mother particular¬ 
ly, what the family life shall be. 
MRS. FREDERICK C. JOHNSON. 
