RURAL NEW-YORKER 
99S 
Facts for Reflection 
Ink Patriotism 
Just lately I have been out to Bristol 
Valley, to visit Sister and her family, and 
found them all out of patience with the 
quantities of silly things that are being 
written to and about the farmer, and his 
family and affairs. For years past the 
papers have been loaded down with this 
kind of nonsense, but just now it seems 
fairly to run riot, and we read hysterical 
demands for the farmer to do the queer¬ 
est and most impossible things. Sister 
and I talked and argued round and 
round the subject, but could come to no 
conclusion as to how the farmer was to 
secure justice or appreciation. 
After I had washed the breakfast 
dishes I followed Sister to the milk- 
room. I always like to be "among those 
present” at the rites and ceremonies of 
Sister’s milk-room, especially if I am 
ecpiipped with cup and spoon to taste all 
the good things with. While we worked 
we still talked over the same subject and 
were still hard at it when we heard the 
familiar honk of the R. F. D. man’s ma¬ 
chine, and soon the children came running 
in with a big armful of mail which they 
laid in my lap. I picked up the daily and 
was looking at the weather prediction, 
which had stood so long at "Showers to¬ 
day, probably fair tomorrow,” that I be¬ 
gan to think the type was immovabb 
All at once Sister’s hand, armed with 
the big spoon out of the salt jar, ap- 
^peared between my face and the paper, 
and the tip of the spoon pointed to the 
heading of the second column which said : 
"The Farmer a Shackle to the Liberty 
Loan.” 
“There,” said Sister wi-athfully, "is 
the kind of thing that makes me perfect¬ 
ly furious. I wish I had the man who 
wrote that here, this very minute.” 
"Why, Sister,” said I, "that man is 
one of the ‘way-ups’ in the financial 
world, and just think how he would look 
when you finished putting him through 
that butter worker.” 
In that same paper, in the column de¬ 
voted to free-for-all discussions, I found 
that we were instructed to save every 
scrap left from one meal and make it 
over into a nice dish for the next meal. 
At the same time we were to increase the 
number of pigs and chickens kept and 
feed them on the “table scraps,” Neither 
Sister nor myself are strong on mathe¬ 
matics, so we failed utterly to figure out 
the above proposition. On yet another 
page appeared an inexpensive menu con¬ 
taining a balanced ration for a family of 
five, supposed to consist of two adults and 
three children, and the first recipe be¬ 
gan with “Boil four cups of rice.” How 
we laughed as we tried to figure out how 
there would be any “balance” to a meal 
where five people ate four cups of rice 
after it was boiled! Evidently the farm¬ 
er and his wife know their husineas bet¬ 
ter than these irresponsibles, for they pay 
just about as much attention to such ar¬ 
ticles as they do to the patent medicine 
ads. with which some papers are filled. 
The next paper I took up was a farm 
paper, and in that we found a cartoon 
which plea.sed us very much. In the pic¬ 
ture the farmer is seen with his trusty 
hoe in the center of a large cornfield. 
On the fence around him are comfortably 
seated the e<litor, the lawyer, the doctor, 
the preacher and the statesman, all of 
whom are shouting "Food conservation!” 
and "Increased production !” The farmer 
leans on his hoe, scratches his head, and 
says right out loud, so they all can hear, 
“What we need is more hoein’ and less 
hollerin’,” and I venture to say that 
every farmer who sees that picture will 
laugh and breathe a fervent amen. 
Then I began to turn the tempting 
pages of the August number of Good 
Housekeeping, and soon I came to Ilashi- 
mura Togo’s usual contribution, and I 
said to Sister: “Hashimura has sized up 
this very situation we are talking about,” 
and this is the way Wallace Irwin has 
Hashimura begin : "To the honorable edi¬ 
tor of Good Housekeep Magazine, who 
makes much delishuss cookery with ink.” 
So many, many people ai-e making "much 
delisshus patriotism” with ink. It is so 
easy to write something that sounds glo¬ 
rious, and so hard to live gloriously in 
these trying times. 
But I have found out today that the 
time is right at hand when we are going 
to find out if there is "ink” or any other 
Every Man His Own Housekeeper. 
foreign matter in our patriotism, and this 
is how I know: Yesterday I stopped by 
the front porch of my neighbor across 
the road, to admire a beautiful climbing 
rose, and as I started on she said to me: 
"Don’t be in such a hurry; I want to tell 
you something. What do you think we 
have heard from .John?” (,Tohn is her 16- 
year-old son, whb enlisted early last 
Spring and was supposed to be well and 
busy in a Southern training camp.) “We 
heard this morning that he has arrived 
safely in France, and the notification 
came from Washington.” Well, I was 
speechle.ss for a minute with the shock of 
it. To think that the first soldier lad 
anywhere in this section, to be officially 
reported as "somewhere in France” should 
come from the home across the road from 
mine! This morning, side by side with 
the flag on their front portch, •hangs the 
•red, white and blue card bearing this 
legend, "A man from this house is fight¬ 
ing in France.” It is the first card of 
that kind to appear in this town, and as 
I sit on my porch sewing and look across 
at it, I am surprised to find that I have 
new thoughts and new feelings about the 
war. I have been trying to “do my bit” 
at helping the Red Cross work along, but 
all at once it seems to me a matter of 
vital importance that John and his com¬ 
rades have everything they need, no mat¬ 
ter what sacrifices we have to make to 
provide them. I cannot help shivering 
when I think of the time when the cards 
are quite common, and appear on many 
of the homes of our loved ones. This 
flood of ink-patriotism will cease, and 
the real thing will take its place, as we 
are obliged to feel a personal interest in 
the matter. Our country will be full of 
women like John’s mother, who say.s, “All 
this thunder this Summer sounds like 
drums to me, and I keep dreaming about 
drums,” but all the same she goes quietly 
about her business of caring for John’s 
seven brothers. As I watch her T think 
of Christine Terhune Herrick saying: 
“When the war is done there will be 
many a woman in her kitchen, well qual¬ 
ified to have a cross of honor pinned on 
to her kitchen apron. 
CLARA RICKETSON ROPER. 
Fann Women’s Exchange 
Some Home Suggestions 
The Farmer’s Vacation. —Farm pa¬ 
pers often suggest that farmers take their 
vacation in the Winter, when times are 
not so busy. If they cannot possibly take 
a vacation at any other time, probably 
one in the Winter is better than none at 
all. But surely a hard-working farmer 
and his family are just as worthy of a 
day off (or a’week if he can manage it) 
in pleasant weather as any city man. It 
does not .seem fair for the farmer to 
spend every single day of the beautiful 
Summer weather in hard work, and ex¬ 
pect him to wedge in his scrap of a vaca¬ 
tion when the thermometer is at zero or 
below. The farmer and his family cer¬ 
tainly work hard enough through the 
Summer to deserve to get some enjoy¬ 
ment out of it. And doubtless it is the 
same enterprising city editor of the farm 
paper who so frequently suggests that Mr. 
Hayseed come to the city for his vacation, 
where he will find so much that is new 
and interesting (and purchasable). I no¬ 
tice that the city family flees to the coun¬ 
try for its outing. But the hills and riv¬ 
ers and lakes are just as attractive to 
Mr. Hayseed as to Mr. Banker, and he 
should not be persuaded to the con¬ 
trary. It is up to us country women to 
plan as much recreation as we can for the 
family. How will the work get done? 
Men who claim to know say that a rea¬ 
sonable amount of rest and recreation 
increases efficiency. Since so many farm¬ 
ers own automobiles, many little trips 
can be taken where almost none were 
taken years ago. An automobile is not a 
necessity, however. In many ways there 
is more pleasure in taking a trip with a 
horse and buggy. I know of a family, 
poor as to money and laud, but rich in 
the things that really count—a home and 
children—who start off eve'ry Autumn 
w-ith their old horse and patched buggy to 
visit relatives 20 miles away. Sometimes 
their neighbors criticize them, saying, “X. 
could earn good money by staying at home 
and working out,” but I believe X is 
right in giving his family this one outing 
every year. If only one day can be spared 
at a time, a good way is for one, two or 
The Deacon and the Calf 
more families to take a picnic dinner (not 
too^ elaborate) and visit some road or lo¬ 
cality that can be reached in a half-day’s 
drive. Sometimes it can be arranged for 
the mother and children to camp out for 
a few days, and the father can spend a 
day now and then with them. The idea of 
Summer camps for boys and girls is very 
good, if properly supervised, but the family 
camp is a great deal better. Country 
children who do not live near the water 
should have a chance to learn to swim 
and row. Many unexpected adventures, 
acquaintances and friendships result from 
little outings like these. If any of the 
family own a camera, it should be taken 
along and used freely, for such pictures 
will be real treasures in future years. 
Family Birthdays. —Every family 
has birthdays, but not every family ob¬ 
serves them. There are, doubtless, better 
ways of celebrating than ours, but as we 
get considerable pleasure from it, I pass 
it on. For weeks ahead, we try to notice 
what are the needs of the next person to 
have a birthday. The gifts, therefore, 
lean toward the useful rather than the or¬ 
namental, and they are never expensive. 
At breakfast time on the morning of the 
birthday, the person who is a year older 
finds his plate covered with a lai’ge paper 
which he does not remove until all are 
seated. Then he is at liberty to uncover 
his plate, which is filled with several bun¬ 
dles. As he removes the wrappings, he 
guesses who is the giver, and this is 
where' considerable fun comes in. The 
gifts always include something that can 
be passed around as a treat for all, such 
as home-made candy, sweet chocolate, 
nuts, fruit, etc. The recipient often finds 
such plebeian articles as soap, wash¬ 
cloths, towels, underwear, stockings, 
aprons, toothbrush, comb or anything that 
i.s really needed. Something that will 
give especial pleasure to the recipient is 
chosen also, as a magazine, jack-knife, 
piece of music, ribbon or tie. Sometimes 
the gift is so very simple and inexpensive 
that many would not consider it worth 
giving at all, such as a penny pencil, a 
paper of needles, or a pair of shoe laces. 
Rut it is not the value of the gift that 
counts; it is the thoughtfulness in notic¬ 
ing what is needed. After breakfast, the 
young folks claim the right of adminis¬ 
tering the usual spanking, which is not 
so bad if the victim is only four or five, 
but alas for the person whose years num¬ 
ber forty or fifty! Then there is the mak¬ 
ing of the birthday cake, which is of a 
kind especially^ liked by the hero of the 
day, and contains a nickel or dime (care¬ 
fully scrubbed) as a lucky piece. Need¬ 
less to say, each member of the family 
makes a special effort to render the day a 
happy one. 
Dryino Sweet Corn. —An easy way to 
save the surplus sweet corn is to dry it. 
When there are a few boiled ears left 
over from dinner, cut off the kernels with 
a sharp knife, scrape the cob and spread 
the corn on plates or granite pie-tins. 
Dry in the oven as rapidly as possible 
without browning, stirring occasionally to 
hasten the process, as corn is likely to 
sour if not dried rapidly the first half 
day. When thoroughly dry, store in a 
dry place. When you prepare it for the 
table, •soak over night or for two or three- 
hours in a little water. As the water Is 
absorbed, or evaporates, if the di.sh of 
corn is on the stove, add milk. When 
hot, season with butter, pepper and salt. 
The TTsefiil Double Boir.ER. —The 
double boiler is a great help to the busy 
farmer’s wife in getting breakfast, espe¬ 
cially if she has little children to dress, 
or must help with the milking. The cereal 
can be cooked the night before, and only 
needs warming in the morning. Two fa¬ 
vorites are coarse oatmeal (sometimes 
called steel-cut or Canada oatmeal), and 
cracked wheat. The former needs five 
cups of boiling water to one cup of oats, 
and the latter four cups of water to one 
cup of wheat, with salt to taste. Steamed 
rice is very fine made in the double 
boiler, using one cup of rice to four of 
hot milk, with salt to taste. 
MRS. A. G. DOREN. 
Bulletin Board ; Women and Telephone 
I enclose a clipping about a plan for 
bringing together the villagers who have 
things^ to sell and those who want 
them in Old Lyme, Conn. Do you know 
of any other place where it' is being 
tried? Does it work well? They intend¬ 
ed to try a similar plan, but by mail at 
the Suffrage Headquarters in Boston, I 
have been told. e. s. knapp. 
The clipping is taken from the Hart¬ 
ford (Conn.) Courant, and refers to a 
plan for distributing surplus products. 
We would like to know if such a plan 
has ever been tried elsewhere: 
The latest move is to bring together 
those, who desire fruits and vegetables 
for canning or for immediate consump¬ 
tion and those who have such fruits or 
vegetables for sale, and it is being 
worked out in a simple and effective way 
through the assistance of a bulletin 
board, a woman and a telephone. Every¬ 
body goes to the post office in Old Lyme, 
just as they do in other small towns, so 
the bulletin board is located th<>i-.*. The 
woman does the rest by the aid of tiio 
telephone. If a housewife desire.s to buy 
strawberries, cherries or beets fo; can¬ 
ning, she telephones to the woman be¬ 
fore 9.30 a. m. The farmer or house- 
Reproduced from the N. Y. Evening Telegram 
wife with fruit or vegetables for sale 
telephones in the same manner and thus 
the bulletin board shows the wants of 
each. It is a perfectly simple process 
so long as the clearing house woman 
cares to give of her time for the common 
good, but simple as it is. Old Lyme is 
the only town in the State reported as 
trying it out. 
