903 
■Ghe RURAL NEW-YORKER 
Things to Think About 
Farm Women’s Experience 
Sleeping Tents.—S leeping outdoors 
has become a regular institution in our 
family. In the Spring as soon as the 
ground dries out thoroughly, the tents 
are pitched in the backyard, the cot beds 
are brought down from the store-room 
and the bedding hunted up. With only 
the usual resources, it is something of 
a problem to supply bedding for the cots, 
for there must be extra thicknesses un¬ 
derneath the blankets. Fur robes, clean 
rag carpets and old woolen quilts take 
the place of mattresses. Woolen blan¬ 
kets with a light comfortable make the 
best covering, but woolnap or outing 
blankets and old quilts do very well. 
Cotton sheets are too chilly for outdoor 
sleeping. The bedding stays on better 
if two cots can be placed side by side 
A Sleeping Tent 
and made up as one bed. Sleeping in 
tents solves the fresh air at night prob¬ 
lem for at least five months of the year. 
Airy as bedrooms can be, they are not 
like a tent. It makes less work in the 
house, and when one must take to Win¬ 
ter (piarters, the demand for fresh air 
i.s greater and consequently the windows 
are more likely to be open in Winter. 
If the equipment is acquired a little at a 
time, the expense need not discourage 
anyone. Doubtless it would be saved in 
im])roved health and reduced doctor's 
bills. And it is such a pleasure to 
awaken with nature’s orchestra in full 
swing, the wind among the leaves, the 
patter of rain on the tent-roof, the chorus 
of bird music in the branches over your 
head. 
The Mop-wringer. —The mop-wring¬ 
er is a friend of the farmer’s wife that 
is not always recognized. Every woman 
who uses a 'mop should own a mop- 
wringer. The one illustrated has been 
in u.se about six years, and is none the 
worse for wear yet. It is of ii'on with 
a wooden handle, and cost $1.75. The 
pail should be strong and have a .stout 
wire around the top. 
A Pantry Whetstone. —An article 
that should be found and used in every 
pantry is a good coarse whetstone. 
Doubtless you will have to keep it hid¬ 
den from the men-folks, but it is a great 
help to a busy woman always to have 
sharp knives and not have to haggle the 
bread or the meat or the potatoes. 
A TEiiPERANCE Talk. —The neighbor’s 
hired man says on booze: “There are 
lots of men who never have used it and 
I don’t see but what they get along just 
as well and better than those who think 
they ought to have it.” 
MRS. A. G. DOREN. 
Homemade Cheese 
On page 842, A. C., Connecticut, 
asks for a recipe for making cheese. I 
have a recipe that I think v/ill be satis¬ 
factory—one that has been used in the 
family ever since I, as a little girl, 
watched the process with wonder, eagerly 
waiting for a treat of the curd which v/e 
always expected, and were never dis¬ 
appointed. If directions are followed, I 
think there will be no disappointment. 
Fse a hoop 10 or 12 inches in diameter, 
with a follower, a tub and a press. 
Take the milk fresh from the cow and 
strain through a cloth into a cheese-tub. 
One gallon of milk will make one pound 
of cheese, so the i>recise quantity to be 
used can be noted. Warm a part of the 
milk so that the temperature of the 
whole, when in the tub, will be raised to 
83 degrees Fahrenheit. Thoroughly 
olean.se and prepare the rennet and add 
enough to cause curdling in about 40 
minute.s. -\s soon as the curd will break, 
cut with a curd-knife into squares and 
allow it to stand until all of the whey 
will run off. I’art of this whey should 
then be heated, the mass of curd lifted 
and broken into minute pieces and the 
warm whey added, until the temperature 
of the whole is raised to 98 degrees 
Fahrenheit. When cool, this operation 
should be repeated until the curd becomes 
crumbly, easily falling to pieces when 
pressed in the hand. The whey is then 
all drained off and the curd put into the 
cooler and cut up with curd knives. 
When the temperature has fallen some¬ 
what, it should be turned over and left 
until it a.ssumes a flaky condition. When 
nearly dry, add salt, using four ounces 
to 10 pounds of curd, and mix thoroughly 
with a curd knife. Then put the curd 
into a bandage inside the hoop and put 
it on the press. Let it remain from two 
to four hours, then take out and turn. 
The next day it may be taken from the 
press and put on a shelf to cure. While 
curing it should be turned daily and 
greased with melted butter. Care should 
be taken to exclude all flies. It will be 
fit for u.se in eight weeks from time of 
pressing. The follower is a block of 
wood of same diameter as the hoop so it 
will just fit down inside and is used dur¬ 
ing the operation of pressing, being well 
weighted. 
We have always found ready sale for 
cottage cheese in local market, small 
balls selling for 10 cents a ball or about 
30 cents per pound. J. M. w. 
Michigan. 
Winter Storage of Vegetables 
There is a flood of talk about canning 
and drying food, and the result will be 
vast stores of good material carried over 
into Winter. That is good, but let us 
not forget the regular supply of garden 
stiilT. iluch of this is wasted through 
poor storage. The result is that after 
Christmas few farmers have anything 
but potatoes, turnips and cabbages left 
on hand. M'ith better storage these 
vegetables would be better, and others 
could be kept. Now we want to know 
how to keep vegetables to the best ad¬ 
vantage. The following questions will 
serve as a target. Will you give your 
experience either with this plan or any 
other you have tried? 
I am desirous of knowing how I can 
store my Winter vegetables, potatoes, 
s(iuash, cabbage and turnips. Having in¬ 
stalled a hot water furnace in cellai-, the 
The Handy Mop Wringer 
pipes though covered, warm the entire 
cellar, where forimudy I had a fine stor¬ 
age for them. I have an old barn, but 
it is full of cracks and hardly serviceable 
in Winter. Would a sort of closet built 
adjoining a cellar window where cool 
air could be let in at intervals be the 
best plan? I have a front cellar which 
is farther from heater and connects by a 
door opening some four feet wide. 
New York. E. L. a. 
Breach of Promise Suits 
Will you settle an argument? A friend 
insists that only a woman can sue a imin 
for breach of promise to maiTy. I claim 
that both sides can do so. Who is right? 
I. n. 
Surely a man can sue for breach of 
promise if he thinks he has a case and 
can stand the ridicule. Why not? What 
would be the justice of denying any such 
privilege to either sex? Most men would 
be very shy about advertising the fact 
That they were rejected; still there are 
several cases on record. Usually they 
are brought by young men who became 
“engaged” to wealthy widows—old 
enough to be their mothers. The chil¬ 
dren of such women interfere and break 
up the “match,” and the man brings suit 
for damages. Several of these have actu¬ 
ally won good-sized sums in this way. 
Principle of the Iceless Ice Box 
In a I’ecent R. N.-Y. you mentioned a 
small iceless* ice box. Wfuild it work on 
a larger scale? I am a milk dealer in a 
small way ; could I make one to keep 200 
to 400 bottles of milk cool, especially over 
night? AVould it do any good to put ice 
in the water on top? i’. ii. 
New Y'ork. 
While I have had no experience in 
using an iceless refrigerator on a large 
scale I see no reason why it would not 
answer the purpose if the milk was thor- 
Homemade Fly Trap 
oughly cooled before it was put into it. 
The size of the frame would depend on 
the type of bottle case you use and the 
relative number or quarts and pints 
handled. Our cases are 17i/^xl3i/4xl0i/^ 
inches. Figuring on 400 quarts in quart 
bottles one would need a box of 500 to 
000 cu. ft. cai)acity; something about G 
ft. high by 10x10. 
iMake a tight wooden or galvanized iron 
tank about 0 in. deep for the frame to 
set in, and a .similar tank, preferably 
made of galvanized iron, to set on top of 
the frame. This tank need be only half 
as big over as the top of the frame. Make 
the frame out of 2x4 in. material and 
cover it with chicken wire. Then cover 
all with burlap, tacking to .studding and 
tieing to wire occasionally as a quilt is 
tacked. Take four wide strips of burlap 
and fasten one end of each in pan on top 
of frame and let hang down on all four 
sides of frame. Tack by thread these 
strips to the burlap on the sides of the 
frame. These strips are simply large 
wicks which siphon the water out of the 
tank on top of the frame down over the 
sides to the tank at the bottom. Evapor¬ 
ation of this water keeps the milk cool. 
It would be advisable to put a little ice 
in the upper tank to keep the water cool. 
The cooler the water which saturates the 
sides of the frame the more efficient the 
cooling. Y'ou would, of course, put a 
door in one side of the frame and make 
frame so one case could be piled on an¬ 
other at a height to suit your conven¬ 
ience. II. F. j. 
A Defense of the Surplus Rooster 
For several years you have been ad¬ 
vising your readers to kill off their 
roosters after the hatching season is 
over. I have no doubt that you are sin¬ 
cere, and consider it good advice. It is, 
for city farmers. Why not label it. "For 
city poultrymen only?” I tried it one 
year, and I never lost as many chickens 
from hawks as I did that year. I esti¬ 
mated my loss at fifty dollars. I’erhaps 
I estimated it too high, but one-half that 
amount would feed a rooster until he 
died of old age. In a recent issue you 
challenge anyone to give a good reason 
for keeping surplus roosters. Here is 
mine. I keep tw’o and 32 hens. A few 
weeks ago I had a fine litter of pigs 
come to town. The pen is arranged so 
they can go in and out as they please. 
One day I noticed there were only 11 
when there should be 12, and was con¬ 
siderably puzzled as to where my pig 
could have gone. While getting my sup¬ 
per I heard my roosters making a great 
hiss over something. Doing to the door 
I noticed the hens standing around as 
unconcerned as you please, while the 
roosters were greatly worried. Nothing 
in sight. Stepping to the back door, I 
perceived the cause. There stood a fox 
not 10 rods from the house. “Rack after 
another pig, arc' you? Won't something 
else do as well?’’ and picking up my 3()- 
30 1 made a good fox of her the first 
shot. I have missed no more pigs or 
hens since that time. 
Kill my roosters? Well scarcely. Kill 
your own if you like, but a farmer who 
follows that advice is not apt to do it 
again. C. z. GRANT. 
Herkimer Co., N. Y. 
R. N.-Y’.—In this cUvSe we must apolo¬ 
gize to the rooster. He must have been 
a Game. At any rate he was a real 
head of the f amily. _ 
Leaky Chimneys 
I have read of several cases where peo¬ 
ple are troubled with the black liquid 
running out of flues and down the pipe. 
Men differ very much as to the cause. 
Some masons argue that hard bricks are 
the cause and I think they are right. 
We have one flue built of the old red 
so-called soft brick, which does not 
cause us any trouble. The other is a 
hard gray brick, and it does not absorb 
any moisture; theref e, the liquid runs 
down and at times down the pipe. If I 
were to build a new flue I should u.se a 
stone to start the foundation and cut out 
a basin in center to hold the moisture. 
This is claimed to stoj) the trouble. We 
had the trouble when burning dry wood. 
It .seems to be mostly in the Winter 
and coldest weather. p. ii. fick. 
How the “ Slick Agents” Work 
I always read “Publisher’s Desk” with 
great interest, and have done so for years. 
On page 718 you speak of the Chicago 
I’ortrait Co. Y’our warning is well timed, 
and the only criticism is that it is not 
long nor pungent enough. I am not ac¬ 
cusing this company of indictable crook- 
edne.ss; they are t<x> shrewd for that. I 
accuse them of selling millions of farm- 
el’s something they do not want. 
The writer says they are “slick-look¬ 
ing.” He might have added that they 
were trained to be slick acting, that they 
were on to their job far better than he is 
on to his. Almost any man with the ear¬ 
marks of neatness, city bearing, friendly 
smile and tactful sympathy can win a re¬ 
spectful hearing from a fanner, when he 
would be kicked out of a city oflice. Sum¬ 
mer is now here, and this means 
that thousands and thou.sands of slick 
talkers will travel the North, selling the 
farmer something he does not want, never 
thought of, and cannot use to advantage. 
Many of these are trained for a week by 
agents who travel from college to college 
and recruit the boyg who wish cash and 
experience. I never did this myself, but 
I personally know of very mediocre men 
who made a net gain of $10 per day off 
farmers during the Summer vacation. 
It was my privilege a short time ago 
to read entirely through the confidential 
salesman’s book of the Chicago I’ortrait 
Co. They cover all the ground from be¬ 
ginning to end, from the time you pull up 
to the hou.se till you get out of sight. 
Really, they have it so arranged that it 
seems a religious duty to buy one of the.se 
“beautiful pictured forms of those who 
though gone before, still beam beneficent¬ 
ly upon us.” This book is founded on 
correct selling psychology. A farmer 
who will listen, stands little chance of 
getting away unstung. After I read it 
I did not wonder at the thousands and 
thousands of these ghastly morbiferous 
remnants of gullibility, that I have seen 
in something like one-half of the States 
in the Union. The pictures are made by 
a reflectoscope on sensitized paper at a 
cost of a few cents, the frame is gaudy 
and outrageous, the glass is of good (jual- 
ity and it is the highest-priced thing in 
the outfit. 
I listened to one of these most pro¬ 
ficient salesman who endeavored for two 
hours to land me recently. I worked 
him along till he wore out all of his .stock 
argument.s, for I acted like a good “pros¬ 
pect.” I do not blame the farmers for 
falling in the trap; it is a wonder any es¬ 
cape, and few there be who do. He was 
faultless and perfect in his attack, flank 
movements, etc. The R. N.-Y. does more 
good than it will ever know in exposing 
the men of this cult, be they legitimate 
or grossly illegal. However, it has 
seemed to me that while you expose the 
effects of the rascally work, you never 
have exposed how they go about it. their 
insidious appi’oach, smoothness and fine 
arts. It is an error to blame farmers for 
falling in many cases. As a class they 
feel that any city man looks down on 
them, and when one comes along and gets 
their confidence by skillful methods, they 
feel flattered and fall. It seems that the 
present seasox will be even more fniitful, 
especially should there be a good crop, 
with these prices. ii. c. S. 
Alabama. 
Utilizing Old Bags. —Having several 
bags that the commercial chicken feed 
came in I decided to put them to som(* 
use. After ripping them I dyed five of 
them a dark navy blue with cotton dye. 
A pattern of a one-piece dress was pur¬ 
chased ; care was taken to cut .so that 
any letters that showed would come on 
the wrong side. The piecing was made 
under a wide belt and a large collar of 
white union linen that I had on hand was 
used ; also buttons that had been on an¬ 
other dress. So that the actual cost of 
dress was 15 cents for pattern, 10 cents 
for dye and five cents for cotton. -\nd 
the result is a comfortable good-looking 
house dres.s. g. m. F. 
