346 
The  RURAL  NEW-YORKER 
March  3,  1923 
WOMAN  AND  HOME 
From  Day  to  Day 
Cowbells 
The  tinkle  of  the  cowbells, 
Oh,  I  shall  hear  no  more 
When  evening  comes  up  golden 
Beside  my  cottage  door! 
A  happy  little  melody 
That  sings  at  end  of  day — • 
The  twilight  sound  of  cowbells, 
A  joyous  roundelay ! 
The  mist  upon  the  mountain, 
The  shadows  as  they  fall, 
The  moon  an  arc  of  silver, 
The  crickets  as  they  call. 
The  tinkle  of  the  cowbells, 
Serene  and  sweet  and  clear, 
Oh,  I  shall  miss  its  music 
When  I  am  far  from  here. 
Amidst  the  city’s  fever, 
In  some  light-fretted  tower. 
Oh,  I  shall  dream  of  cowbells 
At  every  twilight  hours. 
- BLANCHE  SHOEMAKER  WAGSTAFF 
In  New  York  Tribune 
* 
Who  can  give  us  information  about 
preparing  ash  splints  for  seating  chairs 
and  making  baskets.  An  inquirer  asks 
Do  you  use  w'hite  ash  or  the  black  va¬ 
riety?  When  does  the  tree  have  to  be 
cut?  Does  it  have  to  be  pounded  to 
loosen  the  layers  of  wood?  I  remember 
my  grandfather  used  to  pound  a  log,  but 
cannot  remember  further.  I  feel  con¬ 
fident  among  The  It.  N.-Y.  family  there 
will  be  someone  who  can  answer  this. 
Also,  I  would  like  to  know  if  the  splints 
have  to  be  soaked  previous  to  using. 
Doubtless  they  do. 
Information  in  this  line  wall  no  doubt 
be  of  interest  to  many  besides  the  in¬ 
quirer  we  quote. 
* 
Another  puzzling  inquiry  is  from  a 
reader  who  wants  to  work  up  a  barrel  of 
flax  which  is  ready  for  spinning.  He 
says  the  flax  has  been  waiting  ai-ound 
for  several  years,  but  there  is  no  one  now 
who  knows  how  to  work  it  up.  Perhaps 
our  readers  include  someone  who  knows 
where  this  flax  can  be  utilized.  When  we 
see  how  much  we  have  to  pay  for  manu¬ 
factured  linen  products,  we  feel  that  this 
flax  should  not  go  to  waste. 
* 
As  we  write  New  Jersey  is  smothered 
in  snow,  a  cold  wave  is  on  the  way,  and 
the  weather  man  is  predicting  another 
snowstorm.  The  immediate  prospect  is 
not  cheering,  for  New  York  is  so  deep  in 
slush  and  icy  water  that  those  fur-topped 
rubber  boots  the  girls  are  wearing  are 
extremely  seasonable.  But  under  its 
depth  of  snow  our  lawn  is  all  ready  to 
surprise  us  with  a  sheet  of  purple  and 
yellow  Crocuses,  the  snpwdrops  are  pre¬ 
paring  their  waxen  drops,  and  the  deli¬ 
cate  little  bloodroot  will  unfold  its  pearly 
petals— 
“Fair  against  the  draggled  drift — ” 
as  Kipling  describes  it  in  his  tribute  to 
the  wild  flowers.  To  a  gardener,  every 
season  brings  pleasure,  for  we  look  on 
our  succession  of  indoor  bulbs  while  the 
snow  is  making  a  safe  blanket  for  our 
nurslings  outside.  There  is  always  some¬ 
thing  to  look  forward  to,  year  after  year, 
so  long  as  one  loves  the  garden,  and  the 
poorest  home  is  enriched  by  a  setting  of 
flowers. 
Another  Dumb  Waiter 
The  accompanying  pictures  give  plans 
for  dumb  waiter  to  run  from  kitchen  to 
cellar,  which  I  planned  and  built  myself, 
though  that  is  far  from  my  line. 
Cut  holes  in  floor  size  needed  for  waiter 
and  %  in.  extra  on  all  sides  to  allow 
for  the  casing  up  of  ,  waiter,  and  case  up 
from  cellar  bottom  to  top  of  kitchen.  Ex¬ 
actly  in  middle  of  each  side  on  inside 
nail'  strips  2  in.  wide  to  make  guides  for 
waiter.  Make  top  and  bottom  of  waiter 
of  %-in.  stuff,  slatted  with  %  in.  on  both 
sides  and  back,  leaving  front  open,  and 
making  two  of  these  slats  on  each  side 
fit  loosely  to  the  strip  nailed  to  side  of 
chute.  This  makes  guide  for  your  waiter 
carriage. 
Cut  your  door  at  convenient  height  in 
kitchen.  Slip  your  carriage  into  box,  but 
leave  one  of  the  nailed  strips  loose,  so 
you  can  slip  into  slot  in  carriage  and 
nail  after  it  is  in  place.  Now  you  will 
find  this  altogether  too  heavy  when 
loaded  to  pull  up  by  hand,  also  a  weight 
to  raise  carriage  from  bottom  of  cellar  to 
middle  of  kitchen  in  height  would  have 
to  go  through  floor,  so  I  have  made  cut 
to  show  plan  of  counterbalance  and  pull 
line, 
After  you  have  done  this,  if  you  want 
it  extra  nice,  put  another  box  around  the 
waiter  in  cellar  about  twice  as  large  as 
waiter.  Have  waiter  in  one  end  and  ice 
in  other  end,  with  plenty  of  slats  between 
to  keep  out  the  ice  and  let  in  the  cold 
an.  Make  your  icebox  a  few  inches  from 
cellar  bottom  to  allow  for  drip  from  ice. 
If  you  wish  to  go  further,  make  frame 
around  all  and  pour  in  cement,  and  you 
have  the  best  icebox  possible^  Have  the 
top  of  the  carriage  become  the  top'of  the 
icebox  when  down,  so  it  closes  it  tight 
to  keep  in  the  cold.  E.  E.  F. 
Mettwurst 
A  few  days  ago  I  saw  an  inquiry  for 
mett  sausage.  As  I  have  had  it,  it  is  a 
German  pork  sausage,  homemade,  using 
the  mett  meat,  or  part  of  the  loin,  and 
all  the  trimmings  of  hams  and  shoulders, 
three  parts  of  fresh  lean  meat  and  one 
part  of  fat.  Grind  fine,  add  to  each  100 
lbs.  of  meat  1%  to  2  lbs.  of  salt,  2  oz. 
fine  sage,  1  oz.  ground  nutmeg,  4  oz.  black 
pepper.  We  use  about  an  ounce  of  salt¬ 
peter,  so  the  meat  keeps  its  color,  dis¬ 
solved  in  a  little  water ;  mix  thoroughly. 
Mett  sausage  is  stuffed  in  large  casings 
Method  of  Attaching  Counter  Balance 
and  smoked  thoroughly.  When  stuffed 
in  casings  a  little  water  is  necessary  to 
soften  the  meat  so  it  will  slip  through  the 
stuffer  into  casings.  We  store  in  jars, 
using  only  enough  water  to  dissolve  the 
saltpeter,' and  cover  the  jars  with  lard 
or  parowax,  and  fry.  mbs.  k. 
An  Ohio  Woman’s  Garden 
Part  I. 
I  wonder  how  many  of  the  women  who 
read  The  R.  N.-Y.  are  looking  over  the 
seed  catalogs  today,  wondering  just  what 
vegetables  must  be  ordered,  what  new 
ones  would  be  worth  the  working  with, 
and  after  the  necessaries  are  listed,  just 
how  much  can  be  spent  on  flower  seeds 
or  plants.  I  have  recently  had  a  letter 
from  a  reader  way  up  in  New  York  State, 
and  she  tells  of  wind  and  drifted  snow 
all  Winter  through.  Gardening  does  not 
seem  so  close  to  her.  But  we  here  in 
Southern  Ohio  have  scarcely  realized 
Winter  is  with  us.  We  have  had  a  few 
elays  when  the  mercury  hovered  around 
20,  but  invariably  it  became  animated  and 
-climbed  back  to  the  forties  and  even  to 
the  sixties.  We  have  had  unusual  ex¬ 
tremes  of  temperature.  One  day  the 
ground  would  be  frozen  solid  and  the  next 
afternoon  the  bees  would  be  tempted  out 
for  a  fly  in  the  warm  sunshine.  .Tust  at 
this  writing  the  mercury  is  at  56,  the 
ground  a  veritable  sponge,  the  clouds  low 
and  gray,  and  the  air  full  of  a  fine  misty 
rain.  Robins  are  singing  from  all  the 
trees  about,  bluebirds  come  every  day,  the 
“tea-kettle”  wren  has  been  exploring  the 
out-buildings,  and  it  seems  quite  in  keep¬ 
ing  to  get  out  the  catalogs  and  plan  for 
the  garden. 
Last  Spring  I  had  a  most  interesting 
correspondence  with  a  R.  N.-Y.  reader  in 
Vermont,  a  stranger  to  me,  but  we  soon 
struck  up  quite  a  friendly  acquaintance 
with  exchanging  our  garden  experiences. 
I  have  not  heard  from  her  this  Winter, 
but  hope  she  profited  as  much  from  my 
letters  as  I  did  from  hers.  I  wish  there 
The  Rural  Patterns 
In  ordering  always  give  number  of  pattern 
and  size  desired,  sending  price  with  order 
99  03 
99-8?  A 
9903.  Brassiere, 
30  to  46  bust.  9489 A. 
Knickerbocker  draw¬ 
ers,  24  or  26,  28  or 
30,  32  or  34  waist. 
The  medium  size 
brassiere  will  re¬ 
quire  %  yd.  of  ma¬ 
terial  36  in.  wide, 
%  yd.  44.  The  me¬ 
dium  size  bloomers 
or  drawers  will  re¬ 
quire  2%  yds.  of 
material  27  in.  wide, 
2  yds.  36  or  44.  20 
cents. 
9875. 
2  to  10 
inserted 
pockets, 
urn  size 
2%  yds. 
36  in.  w 
44.  1% 
cents. 
Boy’s  coat, 
years.  With 
or  patch 
The  medi- 
will  require 
of  material 
ide,  2y$  yds. 
yds.  54.  20 
Wll 
9971.  Blouse  with 
Eimono  sleeves,  34 
to  42  bust.  The 
medium  size  will  re¬ 
quire  1%  yds.  of 
material  40  or  44 
in.  wide.  20  cents. 
?751 
9757.  Girl's  dress 
with  bloomers,  4,  6 
and  8  years.  The 
medium  size  dress 
will  require  3%  yds, 
of  material  27  in. 
wide,  2  to  yds.  36, 
2;V  yds.  44,  with 
1%  yds.  27,  1% 
yds.  36,  1%  yds.  44 
extra  for  the  bloom¬ 
ers.  20  cents. 
were  more  letters  giving  garden  experi¬ 
ence.  We  all  have  our  difficulties  in 
finding  just  the  special  varieties  suited  to 
our  own  soil  and  climate.  We  all  would 
like  to  try  new  things  if  we  only  had  a 
bit  of  advice  or  experience  from  others 
who  have  tried  them  out.  There  are  so 
many  seeds  we  might  exchange  in  the 
Rural  family  if  we  only  knew  each  other 
a  little  better. 
Each  year  we  like  to  try  something  new 
in  our  own  garden.  Sometimes  we  do  not 
care  £^r  the  new  food,  and  it  is  not 
planted  again.  Other  experiments  are  a 
real  joy,  and  add  greatly  to  our  table.  It 
was  in  an  experimental  way  that  we 
first  tried  kale,  Swiss  chard,  pe-tsai.  and 
the  “banana’--  squash.  We  have  liked 
them  all,  and  particularly  the  Fordhook 
squash.  They  might  not  do  so  well  in 
other  localities,  'but  we  think  they  are 
worth  anyone’s  time  to  try.  We  have 
found  it  hard  to  raise  the  young  cabbage 
plants,  and  very  hard  to  save  them  from 
the  insects.  But  kale  is  easily  planted, 
doing  quite  well  with  just  thinning  and 
no  transplanting,  grows  rapidly,  is  not 
troubled  greatly  by  insects,  and  is  as  good 
as  cabbage  for  Summer  use.  For  those 
who  like  very  mild-flavored  greens  Swiss 
chard  is  very  good.  It  grows  rapidly  and 
is  as  beautifully  erect  and  lovely  to  look 
upon  as  the  catalog  pictures  show  it.  But 
it  has  not  the  flavor  of  spinach  or  some 
of  the  other  greens.  Pe-tsai  sounded  dif¬ 
ficult  .and  we  tried  it  with  misgivings. 
We  like  it  very  much.  It  also  fulfilled 
the  promises  of  the  advertisements,  grow¬ 
ing  easily  and  rapidly,  standing  erect, 
bleaching  white  in  the  heart  and  being  a 
very  good  substitute  for  cabbage  or  salad. 
It  does  make  the  best  cold  slaw  I  ever 
tasted.  The  little  Fordhook  squash  came 
near  being  deserted  the  first  year  we  tried 
it.  They  were  prolific  and  not  so  hard 
to  prepare  when  half  ripe.  But  when  I 
took  some  from  the  cellar  late  in  the  Fall 
and  tried  to  pare  them  I  found  the  rind 
had  hardened  till  it  was  almost  like  iron. 
It  seemed  impossible  to  do  anything  with 
them.  One  day  I  happened  on  a  tiny 
item  in  an  out-of-the-way  corner  of  the 
daily  paper  which  said  to  split  the  little 
squashes  in  half,  scrape  out  the  seeds, 
and  turn  the  halves  open  side  down  in  a 
pan  to  bake  them.  I  tried  it,  and  in  half 
an  hour  we  had  the  tenderest  squash  you 
could  ask  for,  the  meat  unusually  rich, 
and  the  rind  soft  and  as  thin  as  paper. 
It  was  one  of  those  things  so  simple  it 
made  me  ashamed.  Since  then  we  have 
put  away  in  the  cellar  each  Fall  three  or 
four  bushels  of  the  little  Fordhook 
squashes.  They  keep  till  late  in  the 
Winter,  much  later  than  the  other  kinds, 
and  require  not  any  special  care.  We 
prefer  them  to  sweet  potatoes. 
Last  year  we  were  given  some  seed  of 
what  we  were  told  was  the  “banana” 
squash.  It  was  supposed  to  be  very  hard 
to  raise,  and  since  we  could  not  give  it 
more  than  ordinary  garden  care  we  did 
not  expect  much  from  it.  The  season 
was  exceedingly  dry  and  unfavorable.  But 
we  had  a  very  good  crop  of  squashes,  each 
of  which  was  a  yard  or  more  long  and 
the  shape  of  a  banana,  and  the  same  color. 
The  rind  is  a  rich  orange,  but  so  thin 
we  were  sure  it  would  not  keep  well. 
However,  on  this  first  day  of  February 
we  still  have  three  nice  ones  in  the  cel¬ 
lar,  and  they  appear  to  be  able  to  stand 
several  weeks  more.  I  think  they  are 
richer  than  the  Hubbard  or  the  crook- 
neck  squash,  although  the  meat  is  not  so 
thick.  It  might  be  thicker  with  a  more 
favorable  season.  The  rind  is  as  thin 
and  as  easily  pared  as  a  potato  skin, 
but  so  far  the  seeds  have  turned  out  only 
about  one-third  mature.  We  shall  try 
it  again  this  year. 
After  much  experimenting  and  many 
failures  we  have  at  last  decided  upon 
the  Early  Ohio  as  the  best  white  potato 
foi;  our  soil.  It  has  several  advantages, 
and  has  in  each  case  turned  out  better 
than  the  other  varieties  we  have  tried. 
Grand  Rapids  lettuce  is  the  nicest  very 
early  variety,  and  I  have  yet  to  find  a 
good  Summer  kind.  They  run  to  seed 
so  early  for  us.  We  tried  many  tomatoes, 
and  even  some  which  had  been  raised  in 
the  locality  for  years,  but  did  not  seem 
to  have  any  name.  But  the  Success  has 
been  the  most  satisfactory  all  round  for 
all  kinds  of  seasons,  for  early  and  late, 
for  table  and  canning.  We  like  a  few 
Ponderosas  just  for  their  size,  but  they 
are  so  mussy  to  cut  and  can. 
I  wish  some  of  the  women  folk  would 
tell  of  their  experience  raising  celery 
plants.  Some  years  we  can  get  very  nice 
plants,  and  have  had  an  abundance  of 
home-grown  celery  until  after  New  Year’s. 
Last  year  we  could  not  get  nice  plants 
at  all,  and  I  have  wondered  if,  with  our 
small  cold-frame,  I  could  raise  our  own 
plants.  I  have  been  told  they  require 
several  transplantings  and  careful  water¬ 
ing.  We  lost  some  of  the  celery  that  we 
put  in  the  cellar  one  year  by  letting  the 
water  get  up  around  the  stalks.  The  next 
year  we  took  some  large  jars,  eight  and 
ten  gallon,  and  putting  a  couple  of  inches 
of  soil  on  the  bottom  set  the  celery  plants 
with  roots  on  them  in  the  jar,  standing 
erect  but  not  too  closely  packed.  When 
How  the  Dumb  'Waiter  is  Hung 
they  needed  water  we  poured  it  in  very 
carefully  so  that  it  moistened  the  soil  but 
did  not  wet  the  stalks.  The  celery  con¬ 
tinued  to  grow  and  bleach  until  the  last 
stalk  was  gone,  some  time  after  Christ¬ 
mas.  MBS.  E.  E.  L. 
