43!) 
A Teacher on Hot Lunches 
On page 242 I notice “Some Objections 
to the Hot School Lunch.” As I am a 
country woman, a farmer’s widow and a 
mother, and I am in my fourth year of 
teaching experience. I wish to defend my 
profession from what I know to be un¬ 
fair criticism. 
It appears that the writer is ignorant 
of many facts concerning schools and ap¬ 
parently never has taught nor visited 
school often. I say this because she 
makes the statement that a teacher works 
five and one-half hours a day and doesn’t 
think the recess a part of the teacher’s 
work. Every good teacher knows that 
there is very important work to be done 
at recess, and she puts in many hours 
before and after school and in the eve¬ 
ning putting lessons on the board, cor¬ 
recting papers and planning lessons. If 
teachers receive such good pay for so lit¬ 
tle work, as the correspondent thinks, 
why is there such a scarcity of teachers? 
It is due to this shortage that I am teach¬ 
ing : no teacher was secured here the day 
before school opened. 
As for teaching games, the writer has 
never learned by experience how much 
quicker childrt n will learn by such a 
means than by confining all their time to 
a book. When geography is taught two 
days a week and history two days more 
concentration is put on the lesson and 
just as much ground is covered. Compare 
what you learned in these subjects with 
what the children learn now, and see if 
they know as much on these subjects as 
you do. 
Before these innovations were intro¬ 
duced the order in the schools was not 
so good, the children did not put their 
minds on their lessons while studying so 
well as now. It is not necessary for a 
grammar school teacher to be able to 
teach algebra. Teachers in high schools 
study mathematic thoroughly all through 
high school and college, and study to keep 
it fresh in their minds. 
Now as to the hot lunch. We serve hot 
cocoa, and it doesn’t take any of the pu¬ 
pils’ time, because I do it mostly at noon 
and recess, and do not let it interfere with 
school work. However, I think that it is 
more important for our future mothers to 
learn how to make soup and cocoa prop¬ 
erly than it is to learn algebra and cube 
root, because many mothers do not teach 
their daughters that sort of thing. The 
cocoa contains much milk, and because of 
it I know the children do not eat as much 
rich pastry as they did before they had 
the cocoa. Children do not bring milk to 
school of their own accord except rarely. 
I never saw it when I attended country 
school, and but rarely as a teacher. In 
The TL N.-Y. for February 12 we read 
on the editorial page: “Go into the coun¬ 
try schools of any town and you will find 
a good proportion of the children under¬ 
nourished.” I need yet to be convinced 
of the truth of the statement often heard 
that children ’■ ■'d to be more healthy than 
now. Can it ne proved by statistics? 
If the correspondent is dissatisfied with 
the school she should visit it often. That 
is the only way to find out whether these 
new things really are worth while, or 
only a waste of time and tax money. She 
should talk with the teacher and super¬ 
visor and ask questions about what she 
doesn’t understand. If she does it in a 
truly liberal, broad-minded way it will be 
gladly received, and do more good than 
sitting back and grumbling. 
MRS. e. n. K. 
Raising Canaries at Home 
My mother raised canaries for pastime 
for 15 jrears (until the grand-babies came 
to furnish amusement for her), and has 
been much interested in the inquiries of 
women who would like to try raising 
them. She. has raised as many as 80 
young birds in a season, rarely losing even 
one a year. She offers the following sug¬ 
gestions : 
From February to June is the best 
nesting time, the Winter and early Spring 
birds being more rugged. Those - hatched 
later are apt to be a larger percentage of 
females, which do not sing. The temper¬ 
ature of the room should be kept at 50 
or 00 degrees or even warmer. Give them 
a roomy cage and hang about four or five 
feet from the floor, where it will get the 
direct rays of light from a window. If 
the cage is entirely covered with white 
muslin, with front like a curtain to be 
lowered after lamplight, the birds will be 
much better contented. A nest of wire 
can be bought at bird store. Fill this 
with white cotton batting, press into 
shape of nest, and overcast around edge 
and fasten securely to wire with needle 
and thread. This will save you the trou¬ 
ble of refilling the nest, as they do love 
to pull cotton, but do not want their nest 
to come to pieces. . This nest can be 
fastened to wire of cage in a corner, and 
would best be braced with a perch placed 
in front of it. 
Give the nesting birds hard-boiled egg 
(boiled at least a half hour) and toasted 
bread or cracker crumbs, equal parts, 
mixed to a paste with a fork and made 
fresh daily. This should be fed to them 
for two weeks before nesting, as well as 
all through the nesting season, and to the 
young until they are four months old. if 
you would have the plumage of richest 
color. 
As to seed, be sure to avoid boxed 
seeds. Buy bulk seed from a reliable 
bird store. Get canary seed and the pure 
German rape. This is very important. 
The German rape is a small brown seed, 
much like turnip seed, but not so dark. 
Stock rape is a larger seed, and black, and 
if fed to your birds will kill them. Do 
Tht RURAL NEW-YORKER 
not let anyone persuade you to feed hemp 
seed. The birds love it. but it will make 
the song of older birds harsh, and will 
kill nestlings. For nesting birds the rape 
seed should be scalded to soften it and 
clean the hull. Put sufficient for one or 
two days’ feeding in a thin cloth, tie 
loosely as you would a pudding, place in 
a cup, pour boiling water over it, and 
when cool rinse in clear water by rubbing 
between the hands. This is the best and 
the only seed the young birds should have 
if you would have their song the sweetest. 
This is what the famous German “roll¬ 
ers” are fed. 
Do not under any circumstance give the 
young birds green food, such as lettuce. 
A red pepper placed between the wires is 
enjoyed as a relish, as well as a crust of 
bread or a cracker. To keep the cage 
clean the easiest method is to place eight 
or 30 thicknesses of paper on the bottom 
of cage and remove a layer whenever the 
cage needs cleaning. A small dish of 
clean sand may be put in. or a pinch of 
sand on the paper. Do not put bath pan 
in while there are young birds in the 
cage. They will flounder into the water 
and drown before you can rescue them. 
Embroidery Designs 
029. Four Designs for Cross-stitch Em¬ 
broidery. Transfer 20 cents. 
Young birds should be kept out of all 
draughts until six months old. The mus¬ 
lin cover is sufficient protection. 
They are dear little things, and I hope 
these words will help someone to succeed 
as well with them as I did. They are 
more enjoyable than any faneywork. I 
should be glad to answer any questions 
that the readers would wish to ask. 
MRS. E. E. L. 
Sailor Cake 
Two cups brown sugar, one cup butter, 
one-third cup chocolate, grated, one cup 
sour milk, two cups flour, three eggs, one 
teaspoon soda, one tablespoon baking 
powder. Cream butter and sugar to¬ 
gether, add the chocolate, which has been 
melted over hot water, then beaten eggs, 
sour milk and dry ingredients sifted to¬ 
gether. Use the following icing: Two 
cups white sugar, three-fourths cup sweet 
milk, one egg, butter size of egg. Cook 
until thick. This makes a large cake and 
a delicious one. ruth w. Gordon. 
Cape Cod Stew 
Fry out two or three thick slices of fat 
salt pork and brown about 3 lbs. of stew 
beef in this. A thick piece from the neck 
or the upper part of the shin is generally 
used. Cover this with cold water and 
cook slowly for a couple of hours. Then 
salt and pepper well, and add four or five 
medium carrots and small white turnips, 
half a dozen onions. Be sure to keep 
enough water in the kettle so that it 
won’t burn on. and to make about a quart 
of gravy when it is done. Three-quarters 
of an hour before dinner add half a dozen 
peeled white potatoes and add dumplings 
the last half hour. When they are done, 
take everything up carefully and arrange 
on a large platter—like an old-fashioned 
boiled dinner, the meat in the center, 
'•'hen thicken the gravy well; there should 
no about a quart, and sorve it from a 
bowl. This dinner is easily cooked and 
a great favorite on the Cape. 
MABEL HOWARD. 
Scrapple 
A correspondent advises using buck¬ 
wheat flour for making scrapple. I 
strongly advise using cornmeal only. Save 
your buckwheat for cakes, where it is 
good, but never use it in scrapple, which, 
made with meal, is one of the best things 
made* at butchering time. I took some 
to a neighbor, and they all liked it so well 
that she hunted up a recipe for making it 
but unfortunately it called for buckwheat! 
and not knowing how mine was made she 
made it according to her recipe, and they 
could not use it at all, but had to throw 
it out. I have the heads cleaned very 
carefully ; then I go over them again and 
trike off all the fat I can get for lard. 
I ut on the heads and boil until very ten¬ 
der and dropping from the bones. Partly 
cool and pick the meat in strings with the 
fingers. It is better so than when ground 
and you will find all the little bones! 
b-train the liquor and return to kettle 
and add the meat. Bring to a brisk boil, 
season with salt, pepper and sage to suit 
taste, and thicken with meal as you would 
for mush. When ready to take off taste 
again to see if it is seasoned right, and 
take up in proper molds for slicing; when 
cold fry like mush. It will frv itself like 
sausage with no other grease/ It browns 
quickly and is fine. Keep in cool place, 
but do r> c allow to freeeze, as that makes 
it crumbly. mrs. j. m. t. I 
OJL 
si 
Before you decide 
investigate the merits of 
42 * 
Should you contemplate installing a 
water system in your home at any time 
during the next year it is to your interest 
to acquaint yourself with the merits of Hoosier Water 
Service installations. We can aid you in securing an outfit 
which will give you the right kind of service. 
Easy to Install and Operate 
Hoosier Water Service installations may be operated by any 
power—electric motor, gasoline engine or windmill. Motors 
supplied for use in connection with farm electric power 
plants. Outfits are easily installed, and 
once installed require but little attention. 
Expense for operating is very low, and 
the service obtained is the equal of that 
furnished by city water service. 
Do not continue to pump and carry by hand all 
the water needed in and about the home. 
A Hoosier installation will free you from this 
drudgery. 
Illustrated Bulletin describing 
Hoosier installations will be 
sent upon request. Write today. 
FLINT & WALLING MFG. CO. 
Dept. Y 
Kendallville, Indiana 
1 j! 
ASPIRIN 
Name “Bayer” on Genuine 
Warmth For The 
Entire 
Home 
■I -,/*/// < 
Beware! Unless you see the name 
“Bayer” on package or on tablets you 
are not getting genuine Aspirin pre¬ 
scribed by physicians for twenty-one 
years and proved safe by millions. Take 
Aspirin only as told in the Bayer pack¬ 
age for Colds, Headache, Neuralgia, 
Rheumatism, Earache, Toothache, Lum¬ 
bago, and for Bain. Handy tin boxes of 
twelve Bayer Tablets of Aspirin cost few 
cents. Druggists also sell larger pack¬ 
ages. Aspirin is the trade mark of 
Bayer Manufacture of Monoaceticacid- 
ester of Salicylicacid.’ 
Use Dandelion 
Butter Color Now 
From one big warm air reg¬ 
ister or from warm air reg¬ 
isters throughout your 
home. Make your plana 
k wowfor this comfort and 
convenience in your 
home. And save money 
by buying direct from 
the factory. Post your¬ 
self and protect your 
pocketbook by get¬ 
ting the Kalamazoo- 
Direct-to-You. 
Cathor Ess, Piymenls—Taka 
10 Months or I Tear lo Pay 
on Fnmaceo, Rannos, Com¬ 
bination Coal and Gas RanKos, 
Kitchen Kabinets, Washing 
Machines, Paints, Roofinir, 
Rugs, Sewing Machines, 
Cream Separators and scores 
moro farm and homo necessi¬ 
ties. Just send name and ad¬ 
dress on a postcard and Aik 
for Catalog Mo. 910 . 
Kalamazoo Stove Co.. Mfra. 
Kalamazoo, Mich. 
A Kail am ft 700 
Registered Direct to You’ 
Add a half-teaspoon- 
fit 1 to each gallon of 
winter cream and out 
of your churn comes 
butter of golden June 
shade to bring you 
top prices. 
All stores sell 35- 
eent bottles of Dan¬ 
delion. Butter Color, 
each sufficient to keep 
that rich “Golden 
Shade” in your butter 
all the year round. 
Standard Butter Color 
for fifty years. Purely 
vegetable. Meets all 
food laws, State and 
National. Used by all large creameries. 
Will not color the buttermilk. Tasteless. 
Wells & Richardson Co., Burlington, Vt. 
“ Dish Toweling ” 
Direct from Mill 
15 yds. of best quality 14" checked Cotton Dish 
Toweling sent postpaid for Two Dollars. 
Full Value Guaranteed 
Money Back if Dissatisfied 
STERLING TEXTILE MILLS, CLINTON, MASS. 
COFFEE 
A lbs. of Best 01 AO 
“ SAN BO 
Pure Coffee Cround or Bean) 
Sent Pared Post, Free Delivery 
within 300 miles. Add extra 
postage for longer distances. 
MONEY BACK IF NOT SATISFIED 
JAMES VAN DYK CO 
50 BARCLAY ST., N.Y. 
tOO Van! £>yk Stores in 30 ctfj.es- :? 
IAGENTS I 
I WANTED| 
Active, reliable, on salary, 
to take subscriptions for 
Rural New-Yorker in New 
York State. Prefer men 
who have horse or auto. 
i Address: 
1 ‘The Rural New-Yorker I 
1 333 W. 30th St.. New York City i 
When you write advertisers mention The R 
N.-Y. and you’ll get a 
# -- yuu II utT C 
quic rep y and a “square deal. ’ ’ See guarantee editorial page 
