The RURAL NEW-YORKER 
WOMAN AND HOME 
When the farmer’s wife went “to the 
store” in 1918 she paid 178 per cent more 
for sheeting than she did in 1914, 176 
per cent for brooms, 257 per cent for 
calico, 121 per cent for dinner plates, 
150 per cent for dishpans, 49 per cent 
for fruit jars, 94 per cent for kitchen 
chairs, 77 per cent for lamps, 210 per cent 
for muslin, 108 per cent for stoves, and 
99 per cent more for wooden washtnbs. 
That statement is given out by the De¬ 
partment of Agriculture. Thousands of 
farmers’ wives will vouch for its truth. 
They will also prove that «the money al¬ 
lowed them for buying things for the 
house has not increased in proportion. 
* 
The following big sign is seen over the 
door of a grocery on Eighth Avenue in 
New York : 
‘‘By parcel post, direct to me, 
Pennsylvania eggs ire guarantee .” 
This man also sells the old-fashioned 
water-ground meal from a country grist 
mill. While the people of this big city 
have changed in habit during the past 20 
years, there are still a good many who 
have a desire for fresh country food. It 
still pays to attract their attention. As 
prohibition comes nearer many of the sa¬ 
loons are fading away and most of them 
are being reopened as Irnch rooms. Near 
this office there are a dozen of such places. 
One of them has the following sign : 
"You're trial tb*> rest. 
Now try the best.” 
$ 
The problem in child feeding discussed 
on page 890 is a very difficult one. F. 
F. C. offers some useful suggestions from 
actual experience, which are far more 
useful than mere theory. Bottle-feeding 
of infants brings some problems that are 
not presented when an infant is nursed 
by the mother, and nothing is more harm¬ 
ful. or more productive of trying and dis¬ 
agreeable habits, than offering the bottle 
at all hours merely to keep the child 
quiet. It is very possible that, in this 
case, the child’s teeth will be impaired, 
and the mouth given an ugly shape, by 
persistent use of the bottle. Every child 
ought to learn to take food or water from 
a spoon, and to drink from a cup, at a 
very tender age. This habit, learned 
while an infant is still nursing, may save 
its life in illness. Most of us have seen 
cases where it was almost impossible to 
administer remedies to a child, because 
it was accustomed to the bottle only, and 
too* ill to learn new ways. It may be, 
too. that in this instance unwise com¬ 
ment has given -the child a pride in her 
peculiarity. We think that moral sua¬ 
sion may be used to remove this idea, 
by pitying the child as one far behind 
other children of her age. remaining a 
baby while others advance. It should 
also be treated as a disease: there is 
little doubt that her teeth will need at¬ 
tention. and a visit to a sensible dentist 
may be very helpful. If the child likes 
such fruit as figs, dates or raisins, they 
may be served with cereals, and thus in¬ 
duce her to eat suitable food. We would 
not give the child meat under any cir¬ 
cumstances. As a rule an infant natur¬ 
ally reaches out for the bits of crust or 
zweiback that soothe the swelling gums, 
and thus learns to masticate by the time 
teeth appear. 
One thing I have noticed on riding 
around the country is that people seem 
to want to visit. Almost invariably if 
we stop at a farmhouse pump someone 
wants to talk, and it is hard to get away. 
Do you suppose a lot of people are so 
dependent on sources of enjoyment out¬ 
side themselves that they are lonely most 
of the time? For instance, what do peo¬ 
ple do who do not like to read ? F. F. c. 
Probably those who do not like to read 
must express their companionship by 
talking. They obtain their knowledge of 
the world by listening to others and 
where they live lonely and weary lives 
they are thrown back upon themselves. 
They do not make good companions for 
themselves . Some people seem to be on 
too good terms with themselves in public, 
but there must be times when the com¬ 
panionship is like slavery! 
* 
This labor question not only makes 
farmers gray from worry, but it affects 
city people as well. A writer in the 
New York Sun tells the following: 
A friend recently went to an old ser¬ 
vant to see if she could get her a laun¬ 
dress. but was told that the woman was 
looking for some one to do her own wash¬ 
ing, as her family were now getting $400 
a month in offices and Government jobs 
and she “wasn’t doin’ no work.” 
Another went also to an old servant 
on the same errand, and the woman said : 
“I'd be glad to ’commodate you. Mrs. 
N-, but my husband and two brothers 
is all in the army, and sent me their 
elopements, and I am living on that, so 
don't have to do no work.”- 
Mrs. N- said: “But the war is 
over and they are coming home; then 
wb t will you do?” 
“Well, they all have their lives insured 
for my beneht. and you know it isn’t at 
all likely that a wise and merciful Lord 
is goin’ to let all three of them men come 
back.” 
Thus the war and the changes it brings 
will reach down into every walk of life 
and turn things upside down ! 
* 
When I see a child fighting its mother 
and running the whole outfit I feel like 
taking the “critter” over my knee and 
using the shingle. h. c. 
Our friend is probably what they call 
“old-fashioned,” and not quite up to 
date, yet there are many who will say 
“Me, too!” The spectacle of a spoiled 
child showing off his manners and bad 
training in public is hardly calculated to 
make “an angel weep,” but it does make 
many a hand itch to handle a stick. And 
yet it is probably true that the child is 
not half so much to blame as its parents. 
The chances are that he has inherited 
little meannesses from one parent, while 
the other parent has cultivated them by 
example of lack of restraint. 
I moved from the farm, but through 
God's grace came back again, and with 
Mis help will stay here with my two 
fatherless babies. a. r. 
And it is doubtful if you can find a 
better place for your home. There are 
some disadvantages to farm lift 1 —we must 
all admit that. We all know that Milton’s 
picture of life in the garden of Eden will 
not prove an exact photograph of life on 
the average American farm. There are 
troubles and trials, but they can be faced 
and overcome, and there is making of 
character in the hard and simple life 
which farming represents. 
* 
The Hope Farm man talks about the 
tractor being injurious to a woman’s 
health if she runs pne. lie talks about 
his hills, but we have lewd land, and no 
stony ground, and I think it would be as 
easy to run a tractor as a mowing ma¬ 
chine. J did most of the cutting of the 
hay <xn 70 acres of land for two Summers, 
besides raking. I want a tractor so I 
can help farm, and would love to hear 
from any women through The R. N.-Y. 
Ohio. MIX NIK HORN FORD, 
An excellent question, and we all want 
to have the answers. We have seen 
women operating tractors at field demon¬ 
strations. They did good work at driv¬ 
ing the machines, but it seemed to us 
that the jolting and jarring will prove 
too much for a woman, unless she hap¬ 
pened to be unusually well and very 
compactly built. We may be wrong in 
this, and that, is why we shall be glad to 
hear from women who have had experi¬ 
ence with tractors. 
Have Something! Have an Apple 
As president of the Apple Consumers’ 
League, you may be interested in the en¬ 
closed clipping which was published in 
the Boston Herald: 
WHAT THEY THOUGHT OF JIM’S CIGARS. 
“It is becoming quite the fashion among 
isalesmen to tender their visitors red 
apples in lieu of cigars. “Jim” Gordon, 
of the .Tones, McDuffie & Stratton Co., 
started it. He gave his customers the 
choice between apples and cigars, and 
apples went nine times out of ten. Half 
a dozen other salesmen at Pittsburg last 
month fell in with the idea, and it looks 
as though the red apple would become 
a craze.” 
For a number of years we followed 
something of this plan. It was easy to 
leave home with several good apples in 
the pocket. New York City is a town 
of “tips." For many little services you 
are expected to give a dime or a cigar 
or a “drink.” We formed the plan of 
giving an apple, and it became popular. 
Some of these people have confided the 
information that they feel obliged to ac¬ 
cept and smoke some of the most awful 
specimens of tobacco, or drink more 
liquor than they can carry, rather than 
refuse a tip. A good apple is a grateful 
surprise. In several case we have done 
business with people who fully expected 
a free drink to help bind the bargain. So 
after concluding the trade we say: 
“Now then —have something.” 
You should see such men rub their 
hands, wet their lips, clear the throat and 
say: 
“Well, I don’t care if I do.” 
“Have something —have an apple”— 
and you produce a good mellow Baldwin 
or Winesap! They get the point and are 
well satisfied—far more so than if they 
had the drink. As a substitute for the 
Cigar or the “drink" a good apple is 
ahead! 
An Orphan Girl Wanted 
Somewhere 1 have seen an advertise¬ 
ment wanting homes for orphan girls 
from a soldier’s home, but am unable to 
find the paper that contained it. I have 
thought it was in an issue of The R. 
N.-Y., but cannot remember. I am very 
anxious to find a good, strong, faithful, 
young girl, who is willing and able to 
earn for herself a home. I am very much 
887 
in need of such a girl. She must be at¬ 
tractive enough to make me love her, or 
I couldn't keep her, as my nerves are in 
very bad condition, having been through 
a great deal, both in hospital and home. 
New York. mrs. c. a. w. 
This did not appear in The R. N.-Y., 
and we have not heard of any such hos¬ 
pital. It will be difficult for you to find 
such an attractive child as you desire. 
The organizations which have charge of 
placing such children are very' careful, 
and it is right that they should be. You 
must remember that there is a great de¬ 
mand for the bright and attractive or¬ 
phans. Homes are readily found for 
them where they can have advantages 
and grow up with a good chance. As a 
rule, the suggestion that the child is 
wanted for work does not appeal to the 
organizations or guardians. They all 
recognize that work is a necessity, yet 
they also feel that the child should go 
where it can have a fair childhood. The 
finest thing that people with good homes 
can do is to take some unattractive or 
backward child and give it opportunity. 
The Bag Wash 
Great Britain is planning great reforms 
in housing as part of the after-war recon¬ 
struction. and has very sensibly appoint¬ 
ed a women’s committee to go into details 
of home planning. Recently this com¬ 
mittee reported in favor of establishing 
municipal laundries, and recommended 
the provision of the bag wash, which 
would, they considered, solve a number 
of the housewife's difficulties. The “bag 
wash ’ is worked out as follows, accord¬ 
ing to a Scottish correspondent: 
"What is a bag wash? It is a bag of 
soiled white clothes which the laundry 
arranges _ to wash for a fixed sum of 
money. The clothes are returned damp, 
and the housewife dries and irons them. 
“The laundry provides you with a cot¬ 
ton bag of a certain size, and into it you 
pack as many as you can. Counterpanes, 
sheets, pillow slips, towels, table napkins, 
everything and anything that will boil go 
into the bag. 
“The laundry has a special plant for 
the bag wash. The washing machine is 
divided into receptacles of sufficient size 
to hold what your bag contains, therefore 
1 warn you not to pack your bag too full, 
or the clothes will be packed too tightly 
to get washed properly. After being 
washed and rinsed, the evlinder is 
opened, the clothes are taken out and 
placed in a perforated wooden drum, di¬ 
vided into the same number of compart¬ 
ments as the cylinder. This drum is then 
spun at several hundred revolutions a 
minutes, thereby extracting the water.” 
1 hroughout the whole process the bag. 
bearing the name and address accom¬ 
panies the clothes, and is washed with 
them, being ready to contain the clean 
clothes when returned to their owner. 
I he cost of a wash done in this way 
seldom exceeds 48 cents. A central laun¬ 
dry. where the family washes could be 
done in this way. would be a blessing to 
most rural communities. 
Treatment of Pyorrhea 
When the gums are sore, red and swol¬ 
len. and the teeth feel a little loose, look 
out for pyorrhea, a most distressing, and. 
shall we say filthy disease, the father also 
of many other troubles. A skilful surgeon 
dentist should be sought at once. but. alas, 
in remote sections of the country such 
help may be a long time in coming. While 
waiting, use a 50-50 solution of iodine 
and witch hazel, the latter only as a di¬ 
luent ; water will do. It may be ap¬ 
plied with cotton swab, finger or tooth¬ 
brush. once per day for a week or more. 
If used at the very first consciousness of 
the trouble it may form a permanent cure, 
but at all events iodine will arrest and 
bring great relief from suffering. It is 
well to apply iodine as far removed from 
meals as possible, as it forms insoluble 
compounds with starch and might dis¬ 
turb digestion if used continuously. 
A. H. B. 
One of the leading dentists in New 
York City, who has had long experience 
in treatin° r diseases of the gums, tells ns 
that the use of dilute tincture of iodine in 
the early stages of pyorrhea, or in any 
condition of inflamed gums, would be 
beneficial. It ought to be employed prop¬ 
erly. for three or four days, say once a 
day, and then after a lapse of two or 
three days, for another light period It 
should not be used continuously. This 
treatment, however, even in early stages, 
will not cure pyorrhea. There is no cure 
for it except surgical treatment by some¬ 
one who understands the disease thor¬ 
oughly. and no local treatment by means 
of drugs alone will really cure it. 
We are also told that as a general 
wash for the mouth, a dilute mixture of 
vinegar and water is very good. The 
acids of the pure vinegar are of consider¬ 
able service in helping an acid condition 
of the mouth, and there seems to be no 
question but that eating a raw. sour ap¬ 
ple will also have a good effect upon the 
gums. This suggestion for using a sour 
apple as a tooth brush ought to give some 
of our advertisers a new suggestion for 
interesting the public in farm products. 
“The Sunny Side of the Horn”—The Boy Who Keeps the Woodbox Filled Should 
Have His Reivard 
