1896 
December 18, 1920 
l 
WOMAN AND HOME 
From Day to Day 
The Glory of the Grass 
“And she brought forth her first-born son, and 
wrapt him in swaddling clothes and laid him 
in a manger. * * —Luke ii, 7. 
In what far. green Judean field 
Did those upgrowing grasses yield 
Their promises of strength 
AYheu the} - Should cradle Him at. length? 
What secret grace did earth produce, 
That made those grasses for Ilis use? 
What glory from the sun they drew, 
And what of pity from the dew? 
What lad with sudden singing heart, 
From all the other lads apart. 
Cut them and bound them in the sun 
And went his way—his work all done? 
What tender girl, dark-haired and brown, 
Carried the sheaves into the town ; 
Nor felt the weight of all that load 
Along the narrow hilly road? 
And then the night, when Mary’s face 
Grew pallid in that lowly place, 
Who filled the manger, made the bed. 
Where only dumb beasts long had fed? 
The humblest thing that grows on earth— 
You gave Him comfort at his birth. 
And kept Him warm, and made a nest 
Wherein His tiny limbs might rest! 
Still with strange blindness have we trod 
Among the common fields of God, 
Seeing but dimly as we pass 
The ancient glory of the grass! 
-CLAIRE WALLACE FLYNN. 
* 
Our Winter flower garden is restricted 
by limits of space, but there is always 
something bright and cheerful to look at. 
Bulbs are the chief flowering plants, with 
palms and ferns for a background, and 
two large speciments of the never-failing 
Aspidistra for decoration. We always 
grow the Narcissus known as the Chinese 
sacred lily in bowls of pebbles, bpt pre¬ 
fer the Paper White Narcissus grown 
in earth, though it blooms cheerfully in 
pebbles also. One of the showiest things 
we grow is a pan of the Parrot or Dragon 
tulips, which always force well, and also 
do well out of doors. But we do not be¬ 
lieve in filling window space with crip¬ 
pled invalids from the flower beds, which 
have bloomed outside during the Sum¬ 
mer. and only give bare stalks and sickly 
leaves when brought indoors. For this 
reason we strike cuttings of geraniums in 
August, which root easily in the flower 
bed. and make stocky little plants to 
pot and bring indoors, discarding the old 
ones. Among familiar house plants the 
most ordinary care will give results with 
Begonias of several varieties, and these 
are always to be recommended. We pot 
some of the outdoor plants of Begonia 
Vernon each year, as they are a con¬ 
venient height for the table. Primulas 
and Cyclamens are purchased from the 
florist, as they are too long in reaching 
the flowering period to be convenient for 
home raising, and plants are cheap. 
Christmas cactus (Epiphyllum) is so gor¬ 
geous in bloom that it makes up for its 
angular look at other times, and it is 
easily kept in an odd corner. In handling 
house plants one of the commonest errors 
is over-watering. No plants, except those 
whose natural habitat is a swamp, will 
enjoy standing water at the roots. Good 
drainage is essential. A florist, when 
asked for advice, always tells the inquirer 
to water plants “when they need it.” 
and this seems very indefinite to the ama¬ 
teur. What is needed is a thorough appli¬ 
cation of water when the soil is dry. but 
not frequent, little waterings that keep the 
soil pasty. Poor success with geraniums 
especially is often the result of a soil too 
rich and too loose in the pot, with too 
much water and too close a temperature. 
Overpotting—that is a pot too large for 
the plant—tends to retard bloom. 
* 
Meat on the Farm 
Now that the cold weather is at hand, 
some of the old-time methods of caring 
for Winter meats might not come amiss. 
All containers for meat should be sweet 
and clean. Tubs that are smaller at the 
top are best. 
Beef.—Remove all bones. Pack 100 
lbs. in barrel with a little salt sprinkled 
through it (about two cups). Pack tight 
in barrel, weight down with some heavy 
weight. Leave it about 24 hours. Draw 
off the brine. To this add water. 6 gal¬ 
lons ; salt. 8 lbs.; saltpeter, 2 ounces. 
Boil and skim until no more scum comes 
on top of brine. Put heavy weight on 
beef: turn on hot brine. If the brine 
does not cover the meat draw off next 
day. add two more gallons of water, a 
•Vh RURAL NEW-YORKER 
cup of salt. Heat and turn over the meat 
again. Will keep a long time, or until 
the first of June if it lasts so long. Some 
of the meat may be taken out in 10 days, 
smoked, strung on strong strings and 
hung to dry iu a warm place where the 
flies cannot find it. and you have nicer 
beef chips than you can buy. Corncobs 
are best for smoking. 
Hams were cured in the same way. 
When the hams and dried beef were w T ell 
cured, they were wrapped in several 
pieces of heavy paper and packed in a 
box of wood ashes in the storeroom or 
other cool, dry room. They always kept 
nice and sweet until used. 
Salt or Pickled Pork.—Cut the pork in 
suitable sized strips for packing in the 
barrel. Let it get thoroughly cold, all 
the animal heat out. not frozen. Cut off 
all the lean you can (for sausage) ; put 
a heavy layer of salt on the bottom of 
barrel; pack the pork on edge tight iu 
the barrel. Begin with a row with the 
skin or rind next to the barrel. Be sure 
to have about an inch of salt between 
The Rural Patterns 
In ordering always give number of pattern 
and size desired, sending price with order 
9004. Girl’s coat, 
6 to 10 years. The 
8 -year size will re¬ 
quire 4 Yj yds. of 
material 27 in. 
wide, 394 yds. 36, 
2% yds. 44. 2 % yds. 
54. 20 cents. 
2017. Press witli 
or without applied 
trimming, for miss¬ 
es aud small women, 
16 and 18 years. 
The 16-year size 
will require 4^4 yds. 
of material 27 in. 
wide. 3*4 yds. 36 or 
44. 20 cents. 
2047. K i m o n n 
blouse, 34 to 42 
bust. 2045. Skirt 
with tunic and dra¬ 
pery, 26. 28 or 30 
waist. The medium 
size blous# will re¬ 
quire 1% yds. of 
material 36. 40 or 
44 in. wide. The 
medium size skirt 
will require 2Vi yds. 
of material 30, 40 
or 44 in. wide, with 
216 yds. 40 extra 
for the tunic and 
sash. 20 cents. 
201S. Top coat 
with convertible col¬ 
lar. 36 to 46 bust. 
The medium size 
will require 6*4 yds. 
of material 36 in. 
wide. 5 yds. 44. 4\(j 
yds. 54. 20 cents. 
the meat and barrel. Put the first layer 
all iu on edge, crowding it in tight. 
Put a couple of inches of salt on top of 
the layer of pork. Pack the whole of the 
meat in the same way, with salt between 
all the layers of meat and between the 
meat and barrel; cover with salt. Weight 
down with a clean board and stone. Now 
into a pail of fresh water turn all the 
salt the water will dissolve and a little 
more salt. If one pail does not cover 
the meat prepare another. There should 
be about 6 in. of brine over all meat. 
When wanted to cook cut off just what 
you want. Put the rest back under the 
brine and weight down. If there are 
any small bits of meat floating around 
iu the brine skim them off, as they will 
sour and spoil the whole. 
It is a good plan in June to draw off 
the brine, scald and skim it. Let it get 
cold and turn back over the meat. This 
is the way the old folks kept their meat. 
There was plenty of it. and it was always 
nice and sweet. 
Part of the sausage was stuffed iu 
skins, smoked, wrapped in paper and 
stored in a cool place. Some was stuffed 
in small long bags; to keep longer in 
large tin cans.^covered about 4 in. deep 
with boiling hot lard, closed with a tight 
cover and stored away. When what was 
wanted was used hot lard was again 
turned over the remainder to keep it 
fresh. 
Our present way is as follows: The 
cured ham is sliced, packed in gallon jars, 
placed in hot oven and baked until done. 
When done cover with a plate and weight 
until cold. When cold take off plate, 
cover thickly with warm lard, close jar 
and set away in a dry, cool place; never 
in the cellar or it will mold. 
Sausage is made into cakes, packed in 
jars, cooked iu the oven, weighted until 
cold, then covered with warm lard, the 
same way. Always remember when tak¬ 
ing out any for use to cover the meat 
in the jar with warm lard : there will 
always be lard enough left iu the dish 
you heat the meat in for the table to 
cover the meat. 
Another way is to cut the ham from 
the bone. Leave the pieces as large as 
you can ; crowd them in a jar very tight. 
Bake in oven until done. You can try 
it with a sterilized hatpin or knitting 
needle to make sure. When done, weight 
down until cold ; cover with lard and set 
away. Sausage may be packed and 
treated the same as the ham. We have 
some that was put down last year. It is 
as fresh and sweet as when put away. 
Some of the meat we canned by the cold- 
pack process, and found it nice and handy 
when we were in a hurry to get a quick 
dinner for company. 
Wheu we have chicken we kill three 
or four, cut out the bones and coarse 
pieces, pack the best pieces in the glass 
cans, cook by usual process, and put away 
for emergencies. The bones and coarser 
pieces we use for soup or stew. When one 
has home-canned meat, peas, corn and 
nice jelly or fruit, one can get an emer¬ 
gency dinner fit for the President- in a 
Burry. mrs. ,t. h. b. 
Brined Beet Tops 
When the beets were gathered I found 
that the prolonged growing season had 
forced a new growth of tops wlyeh were 
tender and just in the right size for beet 
greens. Probably the old leaves had died 
away and the new growth had taken 
place. I pulled the beets, cut the tops 
off and looked them over, washed thor¬ 
oughly and cooked in salted water until 
tender, then packed solidly in a stone 
jar and covered them with the hot salted 
water in which they were cooked, weighted 
them down to keep solidly packed, and 
set away in a cool storeroom. Wheu I 
want them to use they are ready cooked, 
aud I simply take from the brine the 
amount needed, press out all water, chop 
and add a little butter and pepper if I 
want to serve them as a vegetable: if for 
greens, I add a little vinegar, and in 
either case heat very hot and serve. The 
advantage of this method over the salted 
greens is they can be served at a 10- 
minute notice. I used to can them, but 
like this way better, as it conserves the 
cans for other uses. The beet roots I 
cooked also in slightly salted water and 
pickled, some sweet, some sour aud some 
I canned to use later as a vegetable, 
minced aud seasoned with butter, pepper 
and a little vinegar if liked. jessie. 
. Ham Dumplings 
The following recipe is iu response to 
Mrs. ,T. E. W.’s request: Chop fine y 2 lb. 
raw, lean ham. Soak 2 oz. bread (free 
of crust) in milk ; then soft, pour it in a 
clean towel aud squeeze dry: add 2 oz. 
butter, the chopped meat and the yolk of 
two eggs: add a few drops of onion juice 
or small amount parsley. Shape into 
balls about the size of a pullet's egg and 
cook in soup stock. They should be as 
light as sponge aud may he served iu 
consomme. MRS. G. A. M. 
Distrust the man who would persuade 
you that he would do you good by trying 
to do any other man harm.—Theodore 
Roosevelt. 
Stop Wasting 
Dollar Bills 
Dollars saved are as good 
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Write for the 
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and see what you can save 
on the finest stoves, ranges 
and furnaces ever made. 
_nick shipment. We pay 
reight. Cash or easy pay¬ 
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paints, roofing, indoor 
closets, etc. 
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Address :— 
The Rural New-Yorker 
333 XV. 30th Street New York Ctty 
