RURAL NEW-YORKER 
25 t 
Farm Women’s Experience Club 
Early Garhemng. —The garden work 
really begins in the Fall, when the rnb- 
bi.sh is cleared away and the land is 
plowed, and the children sift small boxes 
of fine soil to put into the cellar for use 
long before .Tack Frost has loosened his 
grip outdoors. But it seems to begin in 
January when the .seed catalogs come. 
8ome people wait until the garden is 
ready to plant and then send to town 
for .some seeds, more or less reliable. 
They do not realize what they are mis.s- 
ing. 1 know that many of the catalogs 
are highly decorated frauds, but send to a 
dependable firm and then have a good 
time making out your seed order. Be¬ 
fore sending it. examine your seed-box 
to see what is on hand that is good. It 
is well to experiment a little with new 
varietic's. but when a thoroughly good 
variety is found, it is best to stay by it 
knowing that it can be depended upon. 
We have found no better kind of garden 
Ix'ans than two kinds we chose nearly 
twenty years ago. On the other hand, 
two years ago we hapiiened to try a to¬ 
mato that we con.sider the best ever for 
some i)urposes. Cigar-boxes are just 
right for starting the early plants, such 
as toimito. [tepper, iiansy. Verbena, etc. 
'^I'here is a temptation to plant more than 
one can take care of. but often a neigh¬ 
bor is glad to get a box of young plants 
if you have too many. 
Asparagus And Fruit. —I notice that 
very few farmers' have an asparagus bed, 
though this may not be true of other lo¬ 
calities. About IS years ago we set out 
TIKI two-year-old roots, and it was cer¬ 
tainly a good investment, for year after 
year it has supplied the table from the 
first of May until July. It is so easy to 
start and take care of an asparagus bed, 
and it bi'gins to furnish green food when 
the other vegetables are barely above 
gi'ound. Barrs !Mammoth is the variety 
we set out, and it is entirely .satisfactory. 
On going through the country, it is cur¬ 
ious to see how few farmers have straw¬ 
berry beds and berry bushes. It seems 
as if we are all so busy that we just 
cannot add anything extra to the work. 
The only way I can suggest is to plan 
for them beforehand. If itne waits until 
questions that concern it, therefore the 
farm girl especially should take an in¬ 
terest in it, and surely she should know 
how to milk a cow. 
Pancakes. —If ever there was a 
kitchen utensil that is like woman, “un¬ 
certain, coy and hard to please,'’ it is 
an aluminum pancake griddle. It must 
be scoured every day, scalded with clear 
water, scoured again with fine .salt just 
before using, and then heated just right. 
It must have batter of a certain stiff¬ 
ness, it prefers lard or dripping to cream 
for shortening, and too much graham 
flour with the buckwheat is not to be 
thought of. “Do they stick?” is the 
burning question every morning. But 
when conditions are all perfectly right, it 
is certainly “a thing of beauty and a 
joy forever,” for it is so light to handle, 
there is no smoke nor smell of over¬ 
heated grease, for none is used, and the 
plump brown cakes slip from the griddle 
as if by magic. This is the recipe we 
use: 1% cups of buckwheat Hour, % cup 
Chair whose History can be Traced to 1582 
Spring, there is such a ru.sh of all kinds 
of work. But if one has the variety se¬ 
lected. the money laid aside and the or¬ 
der written out early, then when the 
plants arrive, one can somehow manage 
to set them out and get them well start¬ 
ed. For our locality. Senator Dunlap 
strawberry gives the best results. We 
have not yet found a satisfactoi'y red 
r.Mspberry, but the Oolumbiau and any 
of the hardy blackcaps do well here. 
Much of the work of .starting and trans¬ 
planting the young plants can be done 
by the children, and S(>lling the surplus 
jdants is a good way foTi' them to earn 
money. If they learn the .seed catalog 
habit when they are young, in their old¬ 
er days it will always be a pleasure to 
them. 
Girls JIii.king.— Should country girls 
learn to milk? So many times mothers 
say, “Xol If they do not know how to 
milk, they will not have to.” .lust as if 
girls were going to be sohl into slavery 
when they go to homes of their own on 
th<‘ farm ! Better let them learn to milk 
when they are young ani when it is 
fun for them. It is fine for developing 
.strong arms, and it is a good thing for 
boys and girls to learn how to do as 
many useful things as pos.sible. As to 
girl.s being obliged to milk, it would be 
better for them to know how, and also to 
know when they are doing enough for 
their strength. Sometimes menfolks do 
not realize that a woman has not much 
strength but great endurance, and is lia¬ 
ble to overtax heiself. I believe that a 
girl should be taught woman’s rights 
physically as well as politically. Girls 
will have a better understanding of farm 
work if they have a ))ersonal share in it, 
even if the share is not very heavy. 
Brothei's and sisters get along together 
better if they share each other’s work to 
some extmir. C)f course girls do not like 
the smell of a stable, but such things 
mn.st be, a)id soa)) and watei’ are as fi'ee 
for girls as for boys. Dairying in this 
country is a business of some size, and 
before many years girls will be voting on 
of graham flour (better for the health 
than to use buckwheat alone), 1 tea.spoon 
of salt, 1 teaspoon c>f soda, 4 tablespoons 
of melted dripping or gravy and butter¬ 
milk to make rather a .stiff batter. 
TVashing Fruit ,Tars.—Washing glass 
fruit jars is one of the little things that, 
^vhen well dom*. is a .source of .satisfac¬ 
tion later on. It is such a comfort, when 
one begins the canning .season, to have 
a cupboardful of jars all sparkling and 
clear, each with its own cover fitted on 
ready to _u.se. An ea.sy and effective way 
to care for the cans is to give them a 
preliminary rinse as soon as emptied, 
wash carefully in dean h(»t soapsuds, then 
a final rinse in soft water, hot or cold. 
Turn the jars ui).side dnwn to dry on a 
rack or a shelf with holes in it, keep¬ 
ing each jar with its own cover. Many 
i-anges have a shelf that is just the 
thing. No wiping is neci'ssary. The can 
rubbers are washed, dried and put away 
by themselves. The cans simply need 
the usual rin.se in boiling water when 
you get ready to fill them again. 
MRS. G. A. DORE.N. 
Roasting a Sucking Pig 
I would like to know how to prei)are a 
small i)ig for ro.-isting. .\re the ears, eyes 
ami the nose to be removed befoi'e filling 
and roa.sting, or are they to remain? 
I’eniLsylvania. ii. e. l. 
In preparing a sucking pig for roasting 
tlie head is left on. The pig is caie'ully 
scraped and i;ubbed with a coarse cloth, 
dressed as usual, the eyes careftilly re¬ 
moved, the ears well scrai)ed and the 
snout thoroughly cleansed. Fill with any 
preferred dressing flavored with sage and 
onion, such as one us(‘s for dti<-k or goose. 
Some use mashe!l potatoes, highly sea¬ 
soned. Stuff i)ig t(t original size and 
shape, sew iqi; Ix'ud foreh'gs backward, 
and b.ack legs forward under it, and 
skewer into shaiie. Hub all over with 
butter, pepper, salt and flour. But in a 
l)an with a little wjiter. and bake slowly 
at first,, as the jdg must warm through 
before it begins to brown. ITaste very 
often, at first using melted butter to make 
the skin tender. Be caia'ful tlnit it does 
not burn, and cook two and a half or 
three hours. Serve it in a bed of parsley 
or celery leaves; old-fashioned cooks put 
a red apple in its mouth, and a garland 
of parsley around its neck. In carving, 
cut oft’ the head, then the hams and shoul¬ 
ders : split down the back, and separate 
flic libs. 
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All investment in a Milwaukee Air Power 
Water System does away with a lot of hard work 
around both the barn and the house. Thus the 
farmerandhis wife share about equally in its benefits. 
The time used each day in pumping and 
carrying water, in heating water in pans and kettles 
and in driving the stock to water is time that is 
saved by a good water system which gives all the 
water you want aizywhere you want it by merely 
turning a faucet. This time can be used to better 
advantage in other work when you have a 
TRADE 
MARK 
-Our new book “PRI- 
VATE WATER 
Send for This FREE Book 
SYSTEMS” tells all about the Milwaukee Air Power Water System 
—how it enables the farmer to save money and to fnakemorii money. 
It is interesting reading for a winter evening. We have a copy for 
you. Just fill out the coupon and mail it now. 
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Milwaukee Air Power Pump Co. D 
863 Third Street, Milwaukee, Wis. 
Pays for Itself in the First Year or Two 
It is the best investment any farmer can 
make whether considered either from the point of 
cutting out hard work or preventing waste of time. 
For the Fanner _The average farmer spends at least 
30 minutes every day of the year 
watering the stock. This is 182 hours, or 15 working days 
of 12 hours each. How much additional time does he spend 
in carring water for house uses.^* All this is hard work and 
work that no one likes, especially in bad weather. 
For the Housewife-?'"'’^''- wjter in the 
house IS one of the fondest 
drearns of every farm woman. No more buckets of water 
standing about the kitchen. No more lugging of water when 
the men folks are away. Just turn a faucet and you have all 
the hard and soft, hot and cold water you can use for cooking, 
washing and scrubbing. Then think of the bathroom and 
the inside closet—conveniences just like city people have. 
Pifa PrAf^pfinn _Insurance does not prevent fires. It 
111 c I ruit^Liiua 
not proteet that 35,000 to 310,000 investment which you 
have in buildings.^ 
COUPON 
MILW.AUKEE AIR POWER PUMP CO., 
863 Third Street, Milwaukee, Wis. 
Centlcmen:—Please send me your new book "PRIV.ATE W.ATER 
SYSTEMS.” Also Information Blank. 
Name 
Town, 
Street or R.F.D., 
-State. 
