American Agriculturist, September 15,1923 
183 
With 
An<l Other Suggestions For the Home-keeper and Busy Mother 
M RS. JONES comes over to my 
house and says: “Have you finished 
with your Agriculturist, and it so, 
could I take it? Mrs. Brown has bor¬ 
rowed mine and I’m almost sure John 
will ask for it this evening. „ 
“I hope I’m not unneighborly, she 
says, “Mrs. Brown is a sweet little 
woman and I wouldn’t hurt hei fee 
ings for the world, and I m suie if she 
knew just how many annoying things 
crop up from that habit of borrow¬ 
ing the paper, she wouldn’t do it. but 
it happens each week and I always 
think of something I would like to 
look over as soon as it’s gone, ana 
John always grumbles. Of ^course she s 
welcome to anything else.” 
Now Mrs. Jones is a fine woman and 
a good neighbor and. I,, too, would 
rather be guilty of an insincerity than 
a rudeness, so I tell her we are quite 
through with it and she is perfectly 
welcome. , 
The “head” comes in that evening 
and asks: “What is the date of that 
sale of Durocs?” 
“I don’t know,” I tell him m a very 
small voice for I know what’s coming. 
“Where’s the American Agricul- 
“I loaned it to Mrs. Jones.” 
“Doesn’t Jones take a farm paper? 
“She loaned theirs to Mrs. Brown, 
I answered, sagging a bit. 
“Well, I hadn’t read that paper, con¬ 
tributes another member of the. family. 
“I’ll get it in the morning, ’ I 
promise, apologetically, and the etber 
member” asks sarcastically if I think 
I can catch up with it, and I tell him, 
none too gently, not to be impertinent, 
and he goes out and slams the door. 
Then I tell the “head” that I’ll have 
the paper there to-morrow morning and 
• he says “Humph” if nothing more. I 
think'over Mrs. Jones’ comment about 
the disagreeable things that can hap¬ 
pen from one person’s thoughtless habit 
of borrowing the paper, and the next 
morning 1 I go to Mrs. Robinson s, h&lf 
a mile up the valley, and borrow hers. 
_Mrs. R. G. Armstrong. 
you’ve been very naughty, and 111 
certainly punish you if you do it 
again!’” 
That is the mother who at one time 
pounces upon a child and punishes her 
for some mere trifle, and at another 
time overlooks a much more serious 
fault for which the child herself ex¬ 
pects to be punished. 
Are you a “blow hot, blow cold, 
mother whose children never know 
what to expect, or are you by your 
own poise, fairness, and self-control 
cultivating the same desirable qualities 
in them?— Ethel G. Peterson. 
SEVEN ECONOMIES I HAVE 
LEARNED 
1. To buy coffee in the green berry, 
and to buy these berries in large quan¬ 
tities. The berry keeps much longer 
than the bean, besides improving with 
age. Just before making my coffee, I 
roast and grind the berries and, in 
this way, get full benefit of the aroma 
and strength. Buying and making 
coffee this way is economical and, 
what is just as important, it tastes 
better. 
2. To dry my celery leaves and use 
them as flavoring. Whenever I buy a 
bunch of celery, I clip off the leaves, 
dry them in the oven or in the sun¬ 
light, and, when they are completely 
free from moisture, run them through 
the meat grinder and place in tightly 
closed jars. It makes a spicy season¬ 
ing and doesn’t cost a penny. 
3. To save the water in which as¬ 
paragus has been cooked. It makes an 
excellent soup when milk and season¬ 
ing is added and is worth keeping in 
the icebox over night. 
4. To make my eggs 'do double duty. 
When eggs are‘high, as they usually 
are in cold weather, I make one egg 
do the work of two. I substitute a 
spoonful of cornstarch instead of one 
egg, or else beat the white and yolk 
separately. 
5. To grow parsley in pots instead 
of buying it at the store. I have three 
big pots of parsley in my kitchen, one 
in each window. It is ornamental and 
grows nicely. 
6. Always to boil my potatoes, no 
matter how I serve them. In boiling 
potatoes I save my fingers from being 
discolored by peeling and also save 
more of the potato, for the peel, after 
a few minutes’ boiling, can be removed 
skin-thick. 
7. To use left-over ice cream. It 
may not look very appetizing in its 
melted stage, but when a little gelatine 
or tapioca is added, it makes a splen¬ 
did pudding. This method saves both 
milk and flavoring.—I. R. HEGEL. 
“BLOW HOT—BLOW COLD”— 
MOTHERS 
Last evening I saw a six-year-old 
rush down the walk, to throw both 
arms about his mother, who was re¬ 
turning from a shopping trip; his face 
was aglow, his eyes shining with joy. 
Then I was dismayed to hear the 
mother say pettishly, as she pushed him 
aside, “For goodness sake, leave me 
alone. Can’t you see that I m tired, 
and have my arms full?” 
No, a six-year-old doesn t otteri 
notice such things. I watched his 
bright face change, his lips quivering, 
and his eyes filling with tears. 
Now, as it happened, a few days 
that same young mother was romping 
on the lawn with her boy and girl, 
and I had seen her end the game by 
gathering them both into her arms with 
passionate affection. 
I know she really loves her children, 
but she is a “blow hot, blow cold,” 
mother, who, when tired or nervous, 
treats her children with something- al- 
some like dislike; then, perhaps, the 
next day she bestows extragavant ca¬ 
resses upon them.. Poor children, they 
never know what they are. going to 
receive at the hands of their mother! 
Punishing for a Trifle 
I heard another mother of this same 
general type scolding her little daugh¬ 
ter one day unsparingly for what—a 
tear in her glove! I wondered at her 
harshness, and was amused when the 
child looked up at her, and asked re¬ 
spectfully, “Mama, what would you 
have left to say if I stole something? 
I wondered, too. 
A week later the same child dis¬ 
obeyed a strict order of her mother’s, 
and came tremblingly to tell me about 
it. I advised her to go to her mother 
at once and have it over with. She 
finally promised to, though she said, 
“I know Mama will whip me, for she 
said she would.” A few days later I 
questioned her as to the outcome. She 
laughed, and said, “Oh, Mama was 
busy sewing, and she just said, Well, 
WASHING DISHES 
Some weeks ago sickness made it 
necessary to get help of some sort for 
a short time, and a neighboring woman, 
who had a long tale of misfortune and 
bad luck, applied for the job. 
At once she set to work to wash the 
accumulation of dishes. Without scrap¬ 
ing a single dish or sorting or stack¬ 
ing them she went to work, with luke¬ 
warm water, a little soap and no hot 
water to rinse. At least fifty times she 
ran to the back yard to throw out a 
little coffee, some bread crusts, or a 
few scraps to attract flies, and every 
time the door banged. First a glass, 
then a frying pan, then a cup, and so 
on through the list. She would wash 
a few and then wring out . the dish¬ 
cloth and wipe them with it, thoaigh 
there were plenty of clean towels. It 
was her way and she could not get 
used to anything else. 
Finally she had to go home and an¬ 
other woman came who had once been 
our hired girl. She is now the owner, 
with her husband, of a property valued 
at ten thousand dollars, and they have 
money in the bank besides. This they 
made by their own efforts during the 
last fifteen years, handicapped by ill¬ 
ness and by the support of dependent 
relatives. She went quietly and effi¬ 
ciently to Work to get everything in 
order and then washed and scalded the 
dishes, getting through in half the 
time. Everything else was done in the 
same orderly fashion and the house 
was soon reduced to order without 
slamming and banging. 
And now we are wondering if the 
first family could not put a little or¬ 
der and system into their home, inside 
and out, and reduce the bad luck by 
half, as well as add to their happiness 
and success.— HOUSEWIFE. 
T HE two-in-one housedress is fash¬ 
ion’s answer to • the woman who 
would be ready both for hard work in 
her kitchen and for “inspection” if 
necessary. No. 1620 is as serviceable a 
pattern as we know. The one-piece 
housedress (the diagram shows its sim¬ 
plicity) is pretty and becoming. De¬ 
signed for gingham, it may be made 
of warmer material if desired. The 
apron snaps on and pulls off in 
a second. Either pattern may be 
used independently of the other, yet 
you get them both for the price of 
one. 
No. 1620 is cut in sizes 36, 40, and 
44 inches bust measure. To make the 
dress and apron in the 36-inch size will 
require 2% yards 36-inch material with 
lVs yards 36-inch contrasting. Price, 
12c. Address your order to Pattern 
Department, American Agriculturist, 
461 Fourth Avenue, New York City. 
STRAIGHT BACKS—LESS 
FATIGUE 
Keep the back straight and do your 
work with less fatigue, is one sugges¬ 
tion made by home economists at the 
State College at Ithaca. 
Nature’s bending places are the hip 
joints and knees. If the strain is put 
on the back, undue fatigue will follow. 
In leaning somewhat forward, as in 
sweeping, in washing, in all kitchen- 
table work like kneading bread, rolling 
pie crust, pi*eparing tmgetables, and 
washing dishes, the movement should 
be from the hips, keeping the back in 
nearly the same position in which it 
is when one stands easily ei-ect. 
To avoid undue strain even when 
bending forward in the right way, 
kitchen tables, ironing boards, sinks, 
and washtubs should be made consid¬ 
erably higher than they usually are. 
Tables sould be made to fit the women 
who work at them. If two women of 
different height must use the same 
table, it is much better for the shorter 
woman to reach somewhat upward than 
for the taller woman to stoop. 
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