D* RURAL NEW-YORKER 
1329 
Homemade Yeast 
Yeast Cakes.—Boiling water, two cups ; 
salt, one teaspoonful; loose hops, one- 
third cup. Cornmeal enough to make a 
thick mass. Steep the hops in hot water 
15 minutes. Strain ; return to fire, add 
salt. Stir in cornmeal, cook until well 
done. When cool to the temperature of 
blood heat, add one yeast cake, set in a 
warm place, let rise quite light. Work in 
enough graham flour to make it hard 
enough to handle, roll out, cut in rounds 
or squares. Spread on clean boards or 
squares, cover with cheesecloth - to keep 
off dust and flies, set in a warm place to 
dry; not on the stove or in a hot bake 
oven, as that will kill the yeast germs, 
but where it will dry rapidly. Every 
two or three hours turn as you would 
griddle cakes. When thoroughly dry, put 
away in a dry place. Use the same as 
yeast from the store. Be sure the cakes 
are dry or they will sour or mold. 
Liquid Yeast.—Boiling water, two 
cups: salt, two teaspoons; sugar, two tea¬ 
spoons; loose hops, one-quarter cup; flour, 
one cup. Steep hops in water; strain, 
return hop tea to fire. Sift salt and 
sugar in the flour. Stir cold water enough 
into flour to make a thin batter. Beat 
out all lumps, stir into hot hop tea, cook 
as you would for gravy, but do not scorch. 
Cool, add a yeast cake you have soaked 
until light and fluffy. Let get light and 
fluffy, stir down, let rise again, stir down, 
turn into a small jar or fruit can (not 
tin). Fill your can only half full, as it 
will rise again and might run over. Use 
one cup of the yeast for four loaves of 
bread, but do not use it until it is light 
and fluffy. Use as you use any yeast. 
Keep in a cool, dark place, and always 
stir up before taking any out to use. The 
last -cup in the can use as a starter. 
Potato Yeast.—One medium-sized po¬ 
tato, sliced; water, one pint; hops, one- 
fourth cup; salt, two teaspoons. Steep 
the hops in boiling water, strain, return 
to the fire. Cook potato in hop tea 
until done, mash or run through a po¬ 
tato press, return to fire, put a half cup 
of flour in bowl, add salt, thin with water 
to a batter. Beat out all lumns, stir into 
hop tea ami potatoes, cool, add any kind 
of yeast you prefer. Let rise, stir down, 
let rise, stir down, put in a jar or glass 
can. Fill the jar or can only half full, 
as it will rise and run over if the can is 
too full. Keen in a dark cool place. Use 
one cup for four loaves of bread. Bake 
and proceed as you would with any other 
yeast. The last cupful in the can can 
be used for a starter, and will make better 
yeast than the first. 
Salt Raising.—Another kind of yeast is 
salt raising or “salt emptins.” When 
rightly made is the easiest and most de¬ 
licious bread made. At night, after th>» 
supper work is done, into a quart dish 
(preferably a bowl) turn a pint of hot 
water. It should be about the tempera¬ 
ture of a cup of tea for drinking. Add 
one-fourth, scant, teaspoonful of table 
salt. Beat in flour enough to make a stiff 
batter, as you would for a bread sponge. 
Cover and put in a warm place. In about 
15 minutes beat hard, set back, let stand 
about 15 minutes more, beat again. It 
should be beaten about three times. Let 
stand over night. After it warms up add 
a scant teaspoonful of soda, one-half tea- 
spoonful sugar. Keep in a warm place; 
on top of the warming closet is a good 
place. Keep just below the scalding point. 
It must not scald, as that kills the yeast 
germ. It should be light and fluffy in 
about three hours. A pint of water 
makes a medium-sized loaf ; three quarts 
of flour and a quart of water will make 
three medium-sized loaves. 
When the yeast is light, put three 
quarts of flour in a pan. Make a hole 
in the center of the flour, turn in the hole 
a quart of warm water, add a teaspoonful 
of flour, add the yeast, beat up from 
sides of hole flour enough to thicken in 
good batter. With a knife or spoon 
lightly cover the sponge you have with 
some of the remaining flour. Set in a 
warm place to rise. When the flour 
cracks and you can see a little of the 
Sponge dissolve a scant teaspoon of soda 
and a teaspoon of sugar in a very little 
warm water; turn in the sponge. Mix 
and knead the whole into loaves and put 
in the tins as quick as you can. Look to 
vour oven, as it will be up before you 
know it. The secret of having the bread 
good is to keep it as warm as you can 
and not scald. If not warm enough it 
will sour; if scalded, it will not riise. If 
you have your dish of yeast, as some do, 
in warm water, it will rise quicker, but 
will have, a rank smell, ns bad as Lim- 
burger cheese. 
When the dough is ready for the tins 
finch off a small piece of dough and tint 
in a cold place. The next day cut the 
piece of dough in small pieces in the dish 
you raised your starter in. proceed as yon 
did with the starter, only add a little 
soda to the salted water. One can bake 
ui this way every day for several days 
before the yeast gets stale. 
MRS. J. H. B. 
Investing in Labor-savers 
L I had that $20 to spend for the pur¬ 
pose of making my work easier. I should 
just got a bread-mixer. Second, linoleum 
tor the kitchen, dining-room and pantry 
floors. I am deciding thus from my own 
point of view, as my floors are bare, and 
it is very hard for me to wash them. But 
as I do not know of anyone else who has 
floors to scrub. I presume the fortunate 
possessor of $20 in question lias her floors 
covered. In that case I would get a 
ree-burner gas stove, as it is one of the 
tnest thing*, that woman can have in 
her kitchen. It saves its price in fuel' 
alone every Summer, to say nothing of 
woman’s strength and time. I would not 
get a hand vacuum cleaner, as those I 
have seen are very hard to use. I have 1 
used them, and have heard several women 
who have them say they wished they had J 
not bought them. The constant pulling 
and pushing is very tiresome, and much 1 
harder to do than sweeping with a broom, 
besides being very much slower. I take 1 
it for granted that she has a sewing- 
machine, or I should prefer a good sec¬ 
ond-hand machine to the linoleum. 
ISA GERTRUDE BOWEN. 
Controlling Household Insects 
A. L. Lovett, head of the entomology 
department of the Oregon Agricultural 
College offers the following suggestions to 
housekeepers: 
House ants—red and black—are com¬ 
mon pests. If the colonies of ants can 
be located, the usual treatment is to pour 
a tabespoonful of carbon bisulphide into 
the ant hill. The active work of destroy¬ 
ing the ants is done by the fumes con¬ 
tained in the solution. These fumes are 
heavier than air. and have a tendency to 
settle down. By pressing the earth of the 
hill with the heel of one’s shoe the fumes 
are kept in longer than if no pressure is 
applied to the otherwise loose formation. 
Carbon bisulphide is used frequently in 
the extermination of insects in the house. 
It is inflammable and while using the so¬ 
lution no fire should be burning in the 
house, nor should there be any smoking 
near it while it is being applied. 
When ant hills cannot be located, tartar 
emetic—three grains to four tablespoonfuls 
of any sweetening agent—is the best 
Standard remedy. Mix the material thor¬ 
ough! and smear over china, glassware, 
small bits of wood, and any convenient 
surface and place on shelves where ants 
frequent The ants carry the substance 
to their young, and often the pest will be 
destroyed in as short a time as three 
days. The tartar emetic should bej 
weighed out in exact doses of three grains, | 
for larger amounts somehow repel ants. 
Cockroaches are controlled by the use 
of one part of sodium fluorid to one part 
of flour, or sodium fluorid may be used 
straight. Scatter about baseboards, sinks 
and places frequented by cockroaches. 
This insect, though a dirty pest, keeps 
its feelers clean. In cleaning their feelers 
they may eat some of the poison and are 
killed. Cockroaches are in a class with 
the fox and the crow. 
Cloth moths are a serious pest in Ore¬ 
gon. because the climate favors their ex¬ 
istence. The following treatment is 
recommended for valuable furs and wool¬ 
ens: Hang the article out in the bright 
sunshine for half a day. Then beat the 
garment thoroughly and place it in a well- 
made. durable pasteboard box or carton. 
Seal the open joints carefully with ad¬ 
hesive paper tape. This will keep the 
articles in good shape, as long as the seals 
are not broken and the packages remain 
entirely closed. Should the goods that 
are attacked by cloth moths be part of a 
room’s furnishings, such as curtains and 
rugs, get two pounds of naphthalene 
flakes and scatter under the rug and 
around the baseboard, preferably when 
the temperature is GO degrees Fahrenheit 
or over. Close the room up for 24 hours. 
Then beat the rugs and sweep up the 
naphthalene for future use. The flake 
form of naphthalene fs faster working 
than the same in balls. By scattering the 
flakes in bureau drawers the moths are 
repelled. 
Training for Nursing 
I am a farm girl, and am anxious to 
become a trained nurse. What education 
is required, and do nursing schools re¬ 
quire an entrance examination? G. B. 
Educational requirements in all nurses’ 
training schools demand a full grammar 
school course, and preferably high school; 
in some high school training is necessary. 
Hood health and high moral character are 
demanded. All candidates are first taken 
as probationers for a specified time, and 
this “tries out” the weakly or inefficient, 
for much hard and disagreeable work falls 
to the probationer. Any girl desirous of 
taking up a nursing course should first 
consult a local physician ; he will be able 
to suggest a hospital where such training 
is given, and advise the candidate as to 
requirements. Farm girls are usually 
welcome candidates, because of their good 
health and practical training. It is a 
fine profession, but not an easy one; how¬ 
ever. it offers many opportunities to an 
earnest and ambitious girl. 
A Help in Ironing 
It saves much fuel, as well as discom¬ 
fort in hot weather, to cover irous while 
they are being heated. I use an old pan 
about six inches deep, on the bottom of 
which has been riveted a strip of tin for 
a handle. If I did not have tnis, I should 
use an old pail or kettle, removing ears 
and bail from it. and adding a handle on 
the outside of bottom, to lift it by. One 
of the little knobs which can be bought 
for a penny would do, but a strip of tin 
is better. g. a. T. 
Modern Magic.— This is the title given 
to a very useful little personal and house¬ 
hold account book, which divides expendi¬ 
tures into different classes, and enables 
one to prepare a family budget. There 
are blanks for the leading expenses of 
each month, so that the housekeeper can 
plan her averages, and know just where 
there is a leak. Published by Whitcomb 
& Barrows, Boston, Mass.; price 50 cents. 
Four well-known Westclox 
Y OU like an honest clock 
for the same reason you 
like an honest man. You 
can depend on what it says. 
Westclox alarms make and 
hold so many friends because 
they run and ring on time. 
The secret of their de¬ 
pendability is inside the case 
—Westclox construction. 
The wheels turn on 
needle-fine pivots of pol¬ 
ished steel. Friction is 
greatly reduced; the clock 
runs more smoothly and 
gives you longer service. 
Big Ben, America, Sleep- 
Meter and Baby Ben are 
the four top-notchers of the 
Westcloxline. But allWest- 
clox alarms have this same 
construction. The men who 
make Big Ben take pride in 
' making every Westclox right. 
It will pay you to look 
for the Westclox mark of 
good timekeeping on the 
dial and tag of the clock you 
buy. Then you will have a 
timekeeper that you can de¬ 
pend on for honest, faithful 
service. 
WESTERN CLOCK CO., LA SALLE, ILLINOIS, U.S.A. 
Makers ofJVcstclox: Big Ben, Baby Ben, Pocket Ben, Glo-Ben, America, Sleep-Meter, Jack o’Lantem 
Factory: Peru, Illinois. 1 n Canada: Western Clock Co., Ltd., Peterborough, Ont. 
Why not save money ? 
3 1 lbs. of Best Ol nn 
4 Combination 9 1 "— 
(Ground Only) 
PARCEL .POST FREE WITHIN 300 MILES 
r o combat the high cost of 
coffee we have combined the 
finest coffee grown zvith health¬ 
giving roasted cereals and the 
highest grade chicory. 
The flavor is delicious ! 
MONET BACK IF NOT SATISFIED 
VAN DYK 
51 BARCLAY ST., NEW YORK CITY 
Branch Stores Everywhere. 
“ TURKISH TOWELS” 
Mill Seconds that are Good Value 
We will send you POSTPAID FOR FOUR 
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Towels—Retail V’alue Five Dollars. 
Full Value Ciuaranteed 
Money Hack If Dissatislied 
STERLING TEXTILE MILLS Clinton, Maas. 
DRY YOUR FRUIT 
end Vegetables by steam in two hours on the "Urunfrrr” 
Evaporator. Cheaper than fanning—No jars—No sonar 
Less work—No loss—Cost $S.OO up. Send for cataW E 
EASTERN MFC. CO., 259 S. 4th St., PHILA., PA. 
Save Your Money 
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SHOE 
No. 22536 
CO. 
Boston 
QU1CKSTEPPERS 
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Active, reliable, on salary, 
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Rural New-Yorker in New 
York State. Prefer men 
who have horse or auto. 
h Address: 
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