1040 
WOMAN AND HOME 
From Day to Day. 
The Scythe-tree. 
Farmer Johnson strode from the field 
With an eager step that was long and 
lithe; 
The Summer sun. like a blazing shield, 
Burned on high in the hazy sky. 
A forked bough, as he hastened by, 
Seemed a fitting place for his scythe. 
So he .wung it up in the balsam-tree; 
“There let it hang till I come,” said he. 
Then he homeward hied him, humming 
a tune, 
But he heard a word at the farmstead 
gate, 
I’nder the fervid heat of the noon, 
A ringing call to each volunteer, 
For all the land was alive with fear, 
Doubt and fear for the country’s fate. 
So Farmer Johnson shouldered his gun, 
And left his scythe to the rain and sun. 
Fifty years have sped since then, 
Fifty hastening years and more; 
By Southern wood and brake and fen 
Faithful he fought, and in gallant 
wise, 
Fought and died, and now he lies 
Bv the far-off Carolina shore, 
Where the long trades blow, and the 
grasses wave 
Over the loam of his sunken grave. 
“There let it hang till I come,” he said 
Of the scythe he left in the balsam- 
tree ; 
And thev let it hang, as the fleet days 
fled, . , 
Till the small bole, fed by the kindly 
earth, 
Clasped the scythe with a mother¬ 
ing girth, 
Today whoever so will may see 
The starry emblem of freedom flow 
Over the tip of the scythe below. 
lie gave his all, and he never came, 
lie that was strong and young and 
lithe, 
But the balsam-boughs seem to name 
his name. 
Name his name both late and long 
To the tuneful beat of a Summer 
song. , , .1 
To the undul ant swav-song of the 
scythe; 
And the banner swings to the rhythmic 
ba rs. 
The banner lie loved, the Stripes and 
Stars. 
—Clinton Seollard in New York Sun. 
* 
We wonder whether many women make 
use of hand sewing machines, where the 
foot movement causes undue fatigue? 
One of our friends tells us that she has 
just been having her machine altered to 
hand power, and that several women sin* 
knows assert they would not go back to 
foot power, after a trial of the other 
method. The change was recommended 
where there was some physical disability 
that rendered the use of the treadle un¬ 
wise. Small hand sewing machines that 
can be packed in a trunk are sometimes 
used by women who board or travel, but 
seem more popular abroad than in this 
country. 
* 
We are promised an enthusiastic cam¬ 
paign to promote the consumption of 
Fastern apples next Fall, and individual 
housekeepers can help by using apples 
in as many different ways as possible. 
We wonder how many methods of cook 
ing apples are used in the ordinary house¬ 
hold? Apple jiie, pudding, sauce, baked 
apples, fritters and brown Betty, express 
the range in many cases. If you have 
some extra good apple recipe, this is an 
excellent time to pass it on. 
* 
A homemade mop for hardwood floors 
is made of narrow strips, about 10 inches 
long, cut from old black stockings, 
stitched through the center in close rows 
to a stout piece of cloth about four by 
six inches. This slipped into a mop 
holder, and sprinkled with a little furni¬ 
ture polish before using. With such a 
mop dust and lint can be gathered up 
under beds or in other furniture and the 
floor quickly cleaned. No one who has 
had experience with hardwood floors 
would ever willingly go back to taeked- 
dowu carpets and matt.i :> 
One of our neighboring bakers makes 
a great variety of combination tarts that 
are very pretty to the eye. as well as 
tempting to the palate They are open 
tarts made m six-inch tins Each tart 
has in the center half a peach, rounded 
side up. and this is surrounded by other 
fruit, strawberry, currant, raspberry or 
pineapple, so that the yellow peach shows 
up like the yolk of an egg in the center 
<f the contrasting syrup. Pineapple 
T HE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
August 21, 191b. 
tarts had thick red raspberry syrup over 
the central peach, so as to show a ruby 
red. The peach used is canned, as un¬ 
cooked peach would shrink and discolor 
in cooking, and the other fruit is cooked 
in a thick syrup. Served as an individual 
portion these little tarts make a very 
pretty dessert and they are very rich and 
delicious. 
* 
We have always cleaned brass or cop¬ 
per cooking vessels with salt moistened 
with vinegar, rubbing thoroughly, then 
washing and drying afterwards. This 
removes any taint of verdigris. We are 
told, however, that one tablespoonful of 
salt to three of flour, made into a paste 
with vinegar is even better used in the 
same way. We use bath brick for the 
final polish, but there are several good 
powders and pastes prepared especially 
for polishing brass. 
Seen in New York Shops. 
Sports or tennis suits for women are 
of waterproof striped canvas, costing $5 
for the coat, and the same for the skirt. 
They are very fashionable. Chevy Chase 
flannel skirts for golf and tennis or coun- 
The Rural Patterns 
In ordering patterns, always give 
number of pattern and size 
desired. Price of each 
pattern 10 cents. 
S7 42. — One-piece 
Dress fur Misses 
ami Small Women, 
16 and IS years. 
8727. — M i d d ' 
Biouse for Misses 
and Small Women, 
l(I and IS years. 
8735 —Girls Nor- 
folk Suit. S to 14 
years. 
8731.—Dress with 
Three-piece S k i r t 
f or Misses a n d 
Small Women. 10 
and IS years. 
try wear are hunter’s green or < berry 
red. fastened with pear! buttons the size 
of a silver dollar; price $7.75. 
Little boys’ play smocks are like a 
plain overall pinafore: made of fine blue 
or brown chambray, cuffs and pockets 
piped white, and white pique collar, price 
$1,50. 
Table pads that are heat-proof and 
moisture-proof insure full protection to 
a dining table of polished wood; round 
-12-inch mats are $2.97, increasing in 
price to $4.S9 for the five-foot size. Ex¬ 
tra leaves cost 89 cents each, 12 inches 
wide, in length from 42 to 60 inches. 
Such pads are made up in any size or 
shape desired on special order. 
Wooden “trees” on which to stretch 
babies’ or children's stockings while they 
dry are insurance against shrinkage. 
A very nice ice cream freezer has an 
extra wire beater, which induces more 
rapid freezing; six to eight minutes’ 
cranking is sufficient. Some of the new 
freezers have galvanized pails, instead of 
the heavy wooden ones; we are assured 
that they do not rust, and last longer 
than the wood. 
String-bean slicers are among the small 
conveniences, also “turbine” egg-beaters, 
which are recommended for the rapidity 
with which the work is clone. 
No doubt some among our readers 
cherish an old grandmother’s tea set of 
sprigged china, lustrous fine white ware 
with, a small slightly raised sprig of lav¬ 
ender blue. These old sets, if perfect, 
possess considerable value, apart from 
the sentiment attached to them as heir¬ 
looms, but modern English ware is made 
in the same style. We saw this recently, 
in open stock, a single cup and saucer 
costing 50 cents. The same ware is 
seen with a mulberry-colored sprig. 
Many of the old patterns of Staffordshire 
and other English ware used in old New 
England are still manufactured, such as 
the Indian tree and the “blue onion,” 
etc., and are sold in inexpensive open 
stock ; they are always in good taste, and 
especially desirable in an old-fashioned 
house. We must confess a p'*’*sonai liking 
for willow pattern, though collectors tell 
us that even old willow pattern china has 
no real value, and some of the modern 
is very carelessly printed; however, it 
has the interest of old associations. This 
year there is a vogue for black and white 
china, as well as draperies, furnishings 
and dress. Some is simply banded in 
black ; other styles have geometrical de¬ 
signs or conventional patte-ns. Candle¬ 
sticks and vases as well as table china, 
show these black and white effects. Some 
of the old Staffordshire china has a land¬ 
scape printed in black on a white ground, 
and there are some examples of this now 
sought after by collectors. Some of the 
quaintest pottery we have seen lately 
was peasant ware from Brittany; rather 
thick, dull white, roughly glazed, decor¬ 
ated with figures in peasant costume, 
crudely painted in bright colors. We no¬ 
ticed among these pieces a shallow oval 
bowl, which had a semi-circular piece 
taken out of one side of the brim, like 
a large bite. On inquiry we learned that 
this was a barber's bowl ; instead of cov¬ 
ering the customer with a sheet. Amer¬ 
ican fashion, the Breton barber holds this 
bowl under his client's chin to catch the 
lather, the depression in the brim fitting 
close to the neck. Qandle-sticks. pitch¬ 
ers and tankards of Flemish ware, rather 
heavy pottery in dark green with smooth 
shining glaze, are quaint and artistic, 
making odd pieces for gifts, but impor¬ 
tations have ceased for the present. 
When looking at tlie quaint foreign nov¬ 
elties in some of New York's gift and 
curio shops, we are reminded <>f a friend 
who purchased, in some out-of-the-way 
corner of Europe, a piece of china that 
was, she was sure, a most unusual nov¬ 
elty. She carried it everywhere, for the 
rest of her trip, at considerable incon¬ 
venience, and her disgust may be im¬ 
agined when, soon after her return to 
America, she saw a duplicate of her cher¬ 
ished curio, in a New York shop, at a 
lower price than she had paid for it 
abroad! 
Apple-sauce Cake ; Canned Corn and 
Beans. 
Will you give me a couple of recipes 
which I cut from your paper some time 
ago but which were borrowed from me? 
1. Recipe for apple sauce cake 2. The 
method of canning corn with sugar and 
salt, printed some time last season. Also, 
can you tell me how beans are canned 
in cold water? F. J. o. 
We have given several recipes for ap¬ 
ple sauce cake; the following was printed 
last year in the same issue as the canned 
corn recipe asked for. One cup of sugar, 
two cups of sifted flour, one-half cup of 
shortening, one level teaspoon of soda, 
one-half teaspoon each of cloves and nut¬ 
meg, one cup of chopped and seeded rais¬ 
ins, sprinkled with flour, one cup of un¬ 
sweetened sour apple sauce beaten 
smooth. No liquid, baking powder or 
eggs are used. Sift together the dry in¬ 
gredients, except the soda. Cream the 
shortening, beat till light with the sugar, 
add the soda dissolved in one tablespoon¬ 
ful of warm, not boiling, water. Beat in 
the apple sauce, add the raisins, then the 
dry ingredients. Bake in a loaf or in 
layers. 
This method of canning is said to he 
very successful : To 10 cups corn, cut 
from the cob, add one cup sugar and one- 
half cup salt. Add a very little water if 
it seems dry, and cook in a kettle till 
heated through ; let it bubble, but stir to 
avoid scorching. When thoroughly 
heated through, pack in glass cans, with 
new rubbers. It does not need freshen¬ 
ing when prepared for the table, merely 
seasoning with milk and butter. 
We have never tried canning beans in 
cold water, but the following recipe is 
given us: Scald the beans, drain, pack in 
glass jars with new rubbers, pour in 
cold water until it overflows, driving out 
any air bubbles, then seal. This same 
process is used for canning rhubarb, but 
we feel doubtful of the results with beans. 
Beans are also canned in brine, without 
cooking, and this is considered satisfac¬ 
tory ; we are told the beans keep well, 
and require little freshening, being conk¬ 
ed just like the fresh vegetable. 
Dustless Dusters. 
r. D. asks on page 945 for recipe fur 
dustless dusters. This was printed in 
1914, on page 1162, under title “Saving 
Time,” as follows: “Dustless dust cloths 
and mops save much time as no dust is 
scattered. They can be made at home 
by soaking a flannel cloth in paraffin oil 
over night, then hang out to dry. These 
can be washed many times in hot soap 
vsuds without fresh oil. Equal parts of 
coal oil and turpentine also make good 
dustless dusters.” M. C. B. 
The Housewife’s Vacation. 
I have decided, like a great many other 
women that for a woman who has a 
home: 
“There is no place like home, 
O! there’s no place like home.” 
for her to rest, and spend a happy vaca¬ 
tion in. I planned July and August for 
my vacation time. It was much too loug 
a time for a woman in my circumstances 
to spend away from her family, so 
through May and June I kept thinking 
of the nice tilings I would do in my va¬ 
cation and the hard things did not seem so 
hard, for I have not grown up yet, and 
you know what fun it is to make plans, 
and even if the castle falls, be thankful 
that you can have the dear delight of 
building another one, even more grand, 
and so on to the end. 
No matter how poor one’s friends and 
neighbors may think she is, no one is 
poorer than she feels. 
"It is the mynde that maketh good or ill. 
That maketh wretch or happie. rich or 
poor.” 
Part of my vacation plans were to 
eliminate as many distasteful duties as 
possible from my housework, so I planned 
to send away my washing. You can al¬ 
ways ease your conscience when you 
spend money like that by saying you are 
helping some one who is poorer; and buy 
some bakers’ pies and cookies. Some of 
the bake houses send carts out into the 
country on certain days each week. 
Then I promised myself that I would 
not invite anyone to dinner or supper 
and get up a spread for them, but if any 
of my friends wished to come, they might 
without any special invitation from me. 
I planned to spend more time with the 
children, reading to them on rainy days 
(it’s really surprising what grown-up 
books they enjoy) and taking them on 
picnics, where we find mushrooms and 
flowers, and bugs and all sorts of inter¬ 
esting things to talk about. We have a 
Boy Scout book, which we paid 25 cents 
for; from this we learn many things of 
out-door life. 
Some nights after supper we go up 
into the cow pasture, where we have 
built a stone arch, and the boys build a 
lire, while I read to myself. When it gets 
real dark we put out the fire. Little 
Man goes ahead, down the crooked cow 
path with his little lantern, to show us 
the way home. 
I suppose everyone has work to do 
which is distasteful. What I might like 
to do other women might dislike very 
much, so each must decide for herself 
what can be left undone in her home, and 
