Jht  RURAL  NEW-YORKER 
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All  Sorts 
More  About  Basket  Splints 
Some  time  ago  a  reader  asked  about 
how  to  make  chair  splints.  To  that  in¬ 
quiry  I  reply.  Get  a  fresh  green  ash  or 
white  oak  log  6  or  10  in.  in  diameter  at 
the  butt,  10  or  12  ft.  long,  straight¬ 
grained  and  as  free  from  knots  as  pos¬ 
sible.  Start  at  the  butt  and  split  the  log 
first  in  two  halves,  and  then  resplit  it 
into  staves  of  the  thickness  you  want 
your  splints  to  be  in  width.  Next  take 
a  strong  knife,  like  a  butcher  knife,  and 
peel  off  the  bark  from  the  outside  edge  of 
the  stave.  Next  take  a  wooden  mallet 
and  with  it  beat  the  barked  edge  of  the 
stave.  This  pounding  process  will  cause 
the  annual  growths  to  let  loose,  and  en¬ 
able  you  to  peel  them  off  one  by  one. 
These  annual  layers  are  the  splints,  but 
they  require  a  little  trimming  up  and 
smoothing  down,  which  is  most  easily 
accomplished  with  a  sharp  knife  and  a 
piece  of  No.  2  sandpaper.  The  staves 
will  soon  dry  so  they  cannot  be  peeled 
into  splints,  and  should  be  put  some  place 
where  water  will  cover  them.  If  the 
splints  become  too  dry  to  weave  easily, 
they  are  quickly  softened  with  warm  (not 
hot)  water,  to  which  a  little  soap  has 
been  added. 
White  oak  or  ash  make  the  best  splints. 
All  splitting  of  staves  or  peeling  of  splints 
should  start  at  the  butt  of  the  stick.  If 
splints  do  not  peel  readily,  use  the  mallet 
more.  Don’t  let  your  staves  get  dry  or 
scald  your  dry  splints.  A  little  practice 
and  patience  will  make  you  as  good  a 
splintmaker  as  anybody’s  grandfather  ever 
was.  and  it’s  just  heaps  of  fun.  n.  c.  d. 
I  notice  the  query  about  preparing  ash 
splints  for  seating  chairs  and  making 
baskets.  The  query  carries  me  far  back 
to  my  childhood.  My  home  was  in  New 
Hampshire,  and  very  near  what  was 
known,  locally,  as  White  Ash  Swamp. 
How  I  longed  for  a  cold  Winter  with  a 
good  crust  on  the  snow,  for  it  was  only 
then  that  the  swamp  could  be  entered.  As 
a  rule,  grandfather  went  into  the  swamp 
the  latter  part  of  January  and  all  through 
February,  and  it  was  with  wonderful  an¬ 
ticipation  that  I  looked  forward  to  the 
first  Saturday  when  I  could  go  with  him 
into  the  swamp.  He  selected  a  tall  white 
ash  about  7  to  10  in.  in  diameter,  and  cut  it 
down,  making  the  lengths  between  cuts  as 
long  as  possible,  yet  convenient  to  handle, 
presumably  5  or  6  ft.  in  length.  He 
scored  the  outer  bark  through  to  the  cam¬ 
bium,  then  with  a  wooden  maul  or  mal¬ 
let  he  began  the  pounding,  which  loosened 
the  sections  of  wood,  up  and  down  and 
round  and  round  until  the  sections  could 
be  stripped  up.  He  fastened  the  ends  on 
a  hook  driven  into  a  board  and  stripped 
the  ash  the  desired  widths.  Each  width 
was  placed  by  itself  in  a  basket. 
-  The  outer  layers  were  darkened  by  the 
pounding,  and  these  were  stained  with 
stain  made  by  boiling  walnut  shucks  and 
bark.  The  stained  splints  were  used  in 
making  farm  baskets,  while  the  white,  sil¬ 
very,  inner  ones  were  used  in  chairs. 
After  the  supply  had  been  cut  and  strip¬ 
ped.  they  hung  on  hooks  in  the  “corn 
chamber”  over  the  woodshed. 
On  stormy  or  windy  days,  and  often  in 
the  evenings  during  March,  the  washtub 
was  brought  in  by  the  big  fireplace  and 
filled  with  tepid  water.  Then  a  bundle  of 
ash  was  put  into  the  water  to  soak  until 
pliable.  Many  were  the  happy  hours 
spent  helping  grandfather  “tongue  and 
groove”  the  splints  as  he  swiftly  wove  the 
shining  strips  in  and  out,  thereby  making 
a  worn-out  chair  bottom  “as  fit  as  a  fid¬ 
dle”  again.  I  hope  that  this  will  help.  If 
not  clear,  I  will  try  to  make  the  ex¬ 
planation  clearer.  C.  M.  P. 
Has  the  Quality  of  Flour  Changed? 
Is  there  any  change  in  composition  of 
the  standard  brands  of  American  flour 
a-<  compared  with  10  years  ago?  U?ome 
of  us  think  there  is  less  gluten.  Can  this 
be  taken  out  and  sold  separately  as  such? 
The  loaves  of  bread  seem  to  be  smaller, 
and  housewives  complain  that  they  can¬ 
not  make  as  good  gravy  as  formerly,  s. 
My  inquiries  developed  the  fact  that 
with  one  exception  the  criticisms  of  your 
correspondent  were  groundless.  Mr.  Ad¬ 
ams  of  the  Federal  Food  and  Drug  Labor¬ 
atories  of  Boston  said  they  had  recently 
given  considerable  attention  to  commer¬ 
cial  flour,  and  that  in  the  case  of  a  few 
small  mills  they  seemed  to  be  pushing  the 
bleaching  farther  than  in  the  past,  and 
were  thus  able  to  incorporate  rather  more 
middlings  than  in  ordinary  milling.  But 
he  said  that  if  this  exists  at  all  it  is  only 
in  the  case  of  a  few  small  millers ;  that 
the  standard  advertised  flours  were  un¬ 
changed  in  quality. 
The  resulting  flour  depends  upon  the 
character  of  the  wheat,  and  soft  wheats 
of  necessity  produce  flours  lacking  in 
gluten,  and  hence  make  a  small  loaf.  But 
the  large  millers  are  very  careful  in  the 
selection  and  blending  of  wheat  so  as  to 
make  their  flour  run  ev  .  despite  sea 
sonal  and  other  varying  conditions. 
It  is  the  starch  in  the  flour  that  is  the 
constituent  that  thickens  gravies.  Were 
the  flour  robbed  of  gluten,  the  starch 
would  be  relatively  increased,  and  its 
thickening  qualities  improved.  The  con¬ 
sensus  of  opinion  seems  to  be  that  flour 
is  practically  unchanged  in  character, 
and  that  the  large  mills  are  very  careful 
to  keep  their  flours  uniform  year  in  and 
out.  a.  w.  G. 
Philadelphia  Pepper-pot 
What  is  Philadelphia  pepper-pot?  I 
ate  some  in  a  restaurant  and  liked  it  very 
much.  e.  c.  o. 
One  knuckle  of  veal,  1  lb.  plain  tripe. 
1  lb.  honeycomb  tripe,  bunch  of  pot  herbs, 
one  onion,  44  lb.  of  suet,  two  medium 
potatoes,  one  bay  leaf,  three  quarts  cold 
water,  two  tablespoons  of  butter,  two 
tablespoons  of  flour,  salt  and  pepper  to 
taste,  half  a  red  pepper.  Wash  the  tripe 
well  in  cold  water,  put  in  kettle,  cover 
with  cold  water,  boil  eight  hours.  Do 
this  the  day  before  you  use  it.  Wipe  the 
knuckle  with  a  damp  towel,  cover  it  with 
water  in  soup  kettle  and  simmer  for 
three  hours.  Strain  and  return  to  the 
kettle,  without  the  knuckle.  Wash  the 
pot  herbs,  chop  the  parsley,  rub  off  the 
thyme  leaves,  cut  the  red  pepper  small, 
cut  the  potatoes  into  dice ;  add  all  these 
to  the  soup.  Cut  the  tripe  into  pieces  an 
inch  square,  cut  the  meat  from  the 
knuckle  into  small  pieces,  and  add  them 
to  the  soup.  Now  bring  it  to  a  boil,  sea¬ 
son  with  salt  and  cayenne.  Rub  the  but¬ 
ter  and  flour  together,  stir  them  into  the 
soup  while  boiling.  Then  add  50  small 
dumplings  made  as  follows :  Chop  the 
suet  fine,  take  double  the  quantity  of 
flour,  44  teaspoon  of  salt ;  mix  together 
with  44  cup  of  ice  water,  form  into  dump¬ 
lings  the  size  of  a  marble ;  simmer  them 
15  minutes  in  the  soup  and  serve.  If  well 
mad  it  is  worth  while.  j.  G. 
Value  of  Printed  Stationery  for  Farmers 
All  farmers  should  use  printed  envel¬ 
opes  and  letterheads.  They  are  con¬ 
venient,  economical  and  an  indication  of 
progressiveness.  Printed  envelopes  and 
letter  heads  give  the  outside  world  a  good 
impression  of  farmers  as  successful  busi¬ 
ness  men.  In  short,  it  is  doing  business 
in  a  businesslike  way. 
A.s  business  men.  farmers  are  not  in¬ 
fallible.  They  now  and  then  make  mis¬ 
takes.  Everyone  does.  A  frequent  mis¬ 
take,  and  one  which  costs  time,  money, 
worry  and  vexation  to  both  writer  and  ad¬ 
dressee,  is  the  mistake  of  mailing  letters 
unsigned  or  with  incomplete  or  no  ad¬ 
dress  at  all  being  given.  Here  is  where 
Printed  letterheads  play  an  important 
part  in  the  business  world. 
If  everybody  would  use  printed  sta¬ 
tionery  (and  it  costs  little  more  than  un- 
printed)  in  writing  business  letters  and 
in  ordering  supplies,  the  many  unavoid 
able  delays  incident  to  unsigned  letters, 
incomplete  or  incorrect  address,  would  be 
eliminated  and  business  firms  could  ren¬ 
der^  quicker  and  a  more  valued  service. 
Virginia.  wm.  a.  good. 
Country  Scenes 
Do  you  mind  telling  me  where  that 
picture  appearing  in  your  May  12  issue. 
“Noontime  in  the  Woodland,”  was  taken? 
If  there  is  any  country  around  New  York 
State  that  looks  like.  that.  I  would  be 
tempted  to  move  to  the  farm.  m.  j.  r. 
'We  believe  the  photograph  from  which 
this  picture  was  engraved  was  taken  in 
Central  Illinois.  All  through  the  central 
part  of  New  York,  in  the  dairy  counties, 
are  numberless  places  even  more  beautiful 
than  the  one  shown  in  the  picture. 
How  “Snow  Rollers’  Are  Formed 
Could  you  explain  what  we  here  term 
a  phenomenon?  It  is  this:  On  the 
night  of  March  28  there  came  a  brisk 
snowstorm,  a  covering  of  2  in.  of  light 
snow,  followed  by  rain  and  high  wind. 
In  the  morning  there  appeared  upon  the 
ground  many  rolls  of  snow,  making  a 
path  about  12  in.  wide.  The  rolls  had  all 
the  appearance  of  the  old-time  cotton  bats, 
with  the  exception  they  (many  of  them) 
were  tubes.  No  person  hereabouts  ever 
saw  this  thing  before.  My  only  explana¬ 
tion  is  that  snow,  light  and  dry,  formed 
on  top  a  crust  which  the  wind  caught  and 
rolled  over  and  over;  but  why  all  same 
size  and  width?  Can  you  tell  us  about 
this  freak  of  the  Winter?  c.  S.  b. 
The  interesting  muff-shaped  rolls  of 
snow  to  which  you  refer  have  often  been 
seen  and  frequently  described  in  scientific 
journals.  They  are  formed  by  a  strong 
wind  when  the  surface  of  a  light,  fluff v 
snow  is  so  run  together,  and  at  such 
temperature  (practically  the  melting 
point)  as  to  form  a  coherent  flexible  cov¬ 
ering.  Here  and  there  the  wind  turns  a 
piece  of  this  cover  over,  then  rolls  along 
the  obstruction  thus  formed  until  it  be¬ 
comes  too  heavy  to  move  farther,  when 
the  roll  is  done. 
Naturally,  then  the  individuals  in  any 
cluster  of  “snow-rollers,”  as  they  are 
technically  called,  have  all  traveled  in 
the  same  direction,  that  of  the  wind,  and 
have  roughly  the  same  size.  They  are 
rolled  straight  forward,  not  tumbled  end 
over  end,  and  hence  are  muff-shaped,  with 
a  hole  running  through,  about  which  the 
layer  of  snow  is  spirally  wrapped. 
A  striking  characteristic  of  these  roll¬ 
ers  is  their  softness  or  flufliness,  which 
condition  is  owing  to  the  fact  that  they 
were  rolled  in  the  gentlest  possible  way. 
and  never  compressed  by  heavy  packin' 
forces.  c.  f.  makvin, 
Chief  of  Weather  Bureau. 
Washington.  ,D.  C. 
Crisp  in  I 
the  Cream 
-DtPROy 
FLAKES 
’Postum  Cereal  Company-1"0, 
Battle  Creek.MicWjm.USA 
«  07S-— 
WEIGHT 
Post  Toasties 
Improved  CORN  FLAKES 
Made  by  Postum  Cereal  Company,  Inc 
Battle  Creek,  Michigan 
THE  delicious  crispness  of 
Post  Toasties  lasts  after 
cream  or  milk  is  added.  That’s 
one  of  the  reasons  why  every¬ 
body  prefers  them. 
A  special  “body”  and  texture, 
exceptional  crispness,  and  their 
own  never -forgotten  flavor 
make  Post  Toasties  distinctive. 
That’s  why  they  are  called  Post 
Toasties,  not  just  “corn  flakes.” 
Ready  to  serve  in  a  moment, 
no  cooking,  no  preparation — a 
splendid  source  of  energy-giving 
nourishment.  A  serving  usually 
costs  less  than  a  cent. 
Be  sure  you  get  Post  Toasties. 
A  distinctive  food — with  a  dis¬ 
tinctive  name — in  the  distinctive 
Yellow  and  Red  package. 
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and  Power  Lawnmower 
A  Practical,  Proven  Power  Cultivator  for 
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2565  Uni.  Av.S.E. .Minneapolis, Mina. 
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