Chapter VII: Part I: Motherly Talks with Young Housekeepers (4)

In ironing a shirt-collar, pass the iron rapidly over the wrong side, then iron the band, lastly the right side of the collar, which should be well polished, and ironed till perfectly dry.

Gentlemen’s linen or duck pants should be ironed on a pants-board, prepared like the soft side of a bosom-board, and as nearly the full length as possible. The pockets must be turned outside before ironing, that they may leave no crease on the pants. Hang pants to air by the straps or the waistbands.

In ironing a skirt, slip the skirt-board through by the round end. Have a clothes-basket or clean sheet on the floor under the skirt-board, so that the skirt may fall on it as you iron.

Have a large piece of mosquito net over the clothes-bars to protect the articles already ironed from flies, dust, etc.

Cake-napkins, doilies, or towels that are fringed, must be well snapped while damp, to leave the fringe smooth and untangled. Some use a fringe-comb. This is very well occasionally, but we think, if often used, it tears the fringe, and soon gives a thin, worn-out, ragged look to the article.

Muslin dresses need to be about as stiff as new muslin, the starch being strained into the last rinsing water. White gum-arabic added to the starch is very nice for muslin dresses; they iron easier, and look newer. Dark muslins must be starched in rice-water or gum-arabic, as common starch leaves white patches over the dark color after ironing. Iron, as far as possible, on the wrong side.

To make good rice-starch, boil a pound of rice in four or five quarts of water; let it boil until perfectly soft, adding boiling water as fast as it boils out, so as to keep up the same quantity of water all the time; stir frequently and break it up as much as possible while boiling. When the rice is as soft as it will boil, pour the whole into a gallon of water and strain through a thick cloth. It is said that eighty drops of elixir of vitriol put into three gallons of clear spring water and one of rice-water, thus prepared, is excellent to set the color. We have never tried it. Ox gall _we know_ is good to fix the color in calico or muslin, as well as to cleanse grease and dirt from woolens. There is nothing better to clean broadcloths, coats, vests, and pants. Get the butcher to fill a bottle with the gall, and put four or five spoonfuls into about three quarts of hot soapsuds, and sponge the garments with it, carefully rubbing every spot. When dirt and spots are removed, sponge in clear hot water, and hang the garment up by seams of the arm-holes of coats and vests, and waistbands of pants, where they will dry quickly. Press on the wrong side when about half dry. Woolen dresses may be cleaned in the same manner.

XXIII.

A TALK ABOUT BEDS.

AS we look around silently among the many young housekeepers, we think we hear some of them say, or, if they don’t, they ought to, “I am ashamed to ask any one into my chambers, for my beds are a perpetual vexation to me. They look as if tossed up by a whirl-wind; the mattress laid on unevenly, every inequality as visible as if the occupants had just risen. The sheets and blankets never find their proper place, and the pillows are as hard and knotty as if made of cotton batting. I try to teach my girl how to do the work properly, but unfortunately am too ignorant myself to speak with authority, and I have no doubt she is aware of my deficiencies, so my words are idle breath to her.”

If you don’t know how to _tell_ a girl, go to the rooms with her and _show_ her how you wish the work done. That will be the easiest mode for you, and more likely to be remembered by the pupil.

“Alas! I don’t know how to make a bed neatly myself. I never attempted it in my life, until I was married. Ah! if I ever have daughters, they shall be taught how to care for their own rooms, and make their own beds neatly, however rich we may become, or however many servants we may employ.”

That is wise and right. Though riches may relieve one of much hard labor, they should not enervate, or incapacitate for such an amount of exercise as is necessary to secure a vigorous muscular development, and also enable one, in an emergency, to step in and perform with ease and independence whatever there is to be done. Riches cannot insure us against a “hitch” in the domestic machinery now and then, and every girl should be so taught that, in her father’s house or in her own, she can bring “order out of confusion” by an independent use of her own hands.

It is, as I have said in an earlier talk, important that once a week, at least, everything should be removed from the bedsteads in order that all the dust and lint, which will lodge about them, may be removed, and occasionally they need a faithful washing, to rid them of the dust and lint which will settle in the slats, about the joints, springs, and moldings.

The mattress should be thrown up every morning for a good airing, and when this is done turn it over, under side up, and then proceed to make the bed.

Making beds is a very simple thing. Every housekeeper may have some rules differing from her neighbor in this as well as in every department of labor; but there are some that are common to all.

Having placed the mattress evenly on the springs or palliasse, beat it hard to remove lumpy places, and next spread over the under sheet _right side up_, with the wide hem at the top, and raising up the mattress with the left hand, fold the sheet smoothly under at the top and bottom; then fold under at each side, bringing the sheet very tight and smooth across the mattress. By having a wide hem at the top and a narrow one at the bottom, there is less danger that by any one’s carelessness you may some time sleep with that part of the sheet to your face which the night before covered your feet. Now spread over the upper sheet, _right side down_; then as you put the finishing touch to the bed, in turning the upper sheet down on the spread at the top, the right side of the hem will be outside. In spreading on the upper sheet, bring it well up to the head of the bed, that you may have a handsome, generous width to turn down; lay it very smooth and straight, then put on the blankets, folding both upper sheet and blankets nicely under at the foot; but bring them only so far up at the head as will cover the shoulders, and not turn down doubled across them.

The bed-spread comes next. It should be put on very evenly, the middle fold of the spread coming just in the middle of the bed, drawing it up toward the head about as high as the upper sheet, a full foot above the blankets. Now lift the top of the blankets with one hand and fold the spread smoothly under them, on one side of the bed, then pass to the other side and proceed in like manner. By this mode, the spread will prevent you from being annoyed with the rough blankets, should the sheet get misplaced during the night. This done, turn the upper sheet down over all, drawing it as smoothly as possible, and tuck all down at the sides, between the bedstead and the mattress. When tucking under the last side, draw the spread, blankets, and upper sheet as taut and straight as possible, giving the sides of the bed as even and true a line as you can. Now put on the _sheet tidy_, if you use them; and they are desirable, even if made of cotton, and perfectly plain, as after one night’s use the upper sheet becomes wrinkled and tumbled, and the bed cannot be made to look as neat as one could wish. Then lay on the bolster, well beaten up, in its clean, white case, placing the pillows, which have also been faithfully beaten, above all, and dress them with tidies, to match the sheet tidy.

Some prefer to have the bolster put on beneath the under-sheet, in which case the sheet is drawn so high up as to allow plenty of room to fold under the lower side of the bolster, before turning under the head of the mattress.

A bed thus made will be smooth and level on the top, without a wrinkle, and as square and straight at the sides as if boxed in wood.

This is all so very simple, after one becomes accustomed to it, that the old ladies, who have all the mysteries of housekeeping as familiar and entirely at their command as the alphabet, will shake their heads and vote this a very stupid waste of time and space; but they have forgotten how acceptable minute directions were in their young days. So we will encourage ourselves by hoping that some tired young housekeeper, who has groaned over ill-made beds, may find a few crumbs of comfort here, which will remove a part, at least, of her many annoyances.

XXIV.

MARKETING.

IT is very important that every lady should understand how to select and purchase such stores as may be needed in her family. This knowledge must be acquired in girlhood. Mothers should allow their daughters to accompany them occasionally in their market expeditions, quietly explaining, as they pass from one stall to another examining the various articles needed, their reasons for rejecting or purchasing. We are all inclined to put off, from day to day, this part of our domestic instructions which our daughters greatly need; “we are too busy,” “in a great hurry,” and “can’t be hindered,” by answering the thousand whys and wherefores with which young children follow us. It is, to be sure, something of an annoyance, but very trifling compared with the pleasure our daughters will take in going with us through our daily rounds, if we begin this training while they are small. Let them occasionally make a few purchases themselves; give them their choice from among certain unimportant articles, and then explain the rule by which they will know how to select the best or reject the imperfect. Such lessons must begin early, or, ere we are aware, our little girl has discarded her dolls and stands by our side, a lovely woman; and before we realize this bewildering change the voice of the charmer has awaked another love in her heart, for which she leaves father and mother for a new home and new cares. Happy for us, if we have so taught her that this new yoke shall be easy and these new burdens light.

In marketing, we would not advise roaming from one store or market to another, after one has become sufficiently acquainted in a city or village to have a correct idea of the quality of the produce and the character of the vender. Until this knowledge is well acquired, it is important for one’s own security to make trial of many; but when well assured that you have gained a fair estimate of both quality and character, it is, we think, better to make most of the purchases at one place. The grocer, butcher, fish and poultry dealer will take greater interest in faithfully serving a regular customer, at reasonable rates, than one who may not buy of him again for weeks; and it certainly is a greater saving of time and trouble to purchase of one than of many. If they cannot supply your present needs, it is for their interest to send out and procure what you want; and we think they generally do this with pleasure, and with a hearty wish to give you the best.

In buying _Beef_, remember that ox beef is the best. The animal should be five or six years old before it is killed, if you would have the best beef. If well fed it will be fine grained; the lean should be of a bright red color, and well mingled with fat. If there is not a good quantity of fat running through it, the beef will be tough and not well flavored. The fat should be a rich clear white, just tinged with yellow, and firm, and the suet also. Heifer or cow beef is paler than ox beef, firmer grained, the fat a clear white, and the bones smaller, but it is not as rich or juicy. When the animal is too old or badly fed, it is of a dark red, the fat skinny and tough, and in very old beef a horny substance will be found running through the ribs. When it is pressed, if the meat rises quickly from the finger it is good; but if the finger-dent rises slowly or not at all, do not buy it; it is poor meat. The sirloin and the middle ribs are the best for roasting. If you buy a sirloin, have it cut from the “chump end,” which has a good undercut or fillet. The rump is often preferred by epicures, but being too large to roast whole, a roast is usually cut from what is called the “chump end.” Porter-house steak is the best for broiling, but not the most economical. One rib is too small for baking; it dries in cooking, and is not good economy, unless you take out the bone, roll the meat and stuff it, when it makes a nice dish for a small family.

_Veal_ should be small and white, the kidney well covered with fat. If the calf is over ten weeks old the meat will be coarse. The flesh should be dry and white. If coarse-grained, moist, and clammy, have nothing to do with it. The fillet, loin, and shoulder are the best for roasting. The breast, well cut and jointed, makes a fine stew or pot-pie, and is better economy than when baked or roasted. Veal is excellent to make “stock” for soups; the knuckle or the poorer parts of the neck are just as good for soup as the more expensive parts.

_Mutton_ should be dark colored, and have plenty of fat. The color determines the age, and age is considered a mark of excellence in mutton. It should be five or six years old to satisfy a lover of mutton. All the joints may be roasted but the saddle, and next to that, the haunch; the leg and loin undivided are the best; chops are cut from the loin, cutlets from the leg, the best end of the neck, or thick end of the loin. The leg and neck are often boiled.

_Lamb_ should be small, pale red, and fat. It is best roasted. The leg, when the lamb attains a good size, is excellent boiled.

_Pork_ should never be bought except from a butcher whose honesty you are sure of, and who knows where the pork was fattened. It is not a very healthful meat at the best, and none should be used unless corn-fed. There is much bad or diseased pork sold, and it is very dangerous food. If the flesh feels flabby or clammy to the touch, it is not good, and should not on any account be used. If there are kernels in the fat, let it alone. The fat should be hard, the lean white and fine in the grain, and the rind thin and smooth.

As soon as your meat of any kind is brought home from the butcher’s, wipe it with a clean dry cloth. If in summer you find any “fly-blows,” which is very common, cut them out at once, and no harm will be done. In the loins a long pipe runs by the bone; that should be taken out immediately, or in a few hours it will taint and spoil the whole joint. If the meat is not to be used at once, dredge it with pepper. Powdered charcoal dusted over meat will help to keep it sweet, or will remove any taint already begun. It is wise to keep charcoal on hand during warm weather; it is wonderfully efficacious in preserving meat, and, if dusted over it while hanging, it can all be washed off when you are ready to cook it. Most meat is more tender and easily digested if kept hanging some time, and charcoal is a great and reliable aid in preserving it. Lamb and veal cannot be kept as safely as beef and mutton.

In choosing _Fowls_, bear in mind that the male bird, if young, will have a smooth leg and a short spur, eyes bright and full, feet supple. The hen may be judged by the same signs, and if these are not found, be sure the birds are stale and old.

Ducks, geese, and pigeons should have pliable feet; if stiff, they are old. In all the vent should be firm; if discolored or flabby, they are stale. This last sign should be remembered in judging of all poultry or game.

The eyes of _Fish_ should be bright, the gills clear red, body stiff, and smell not unpleasant,--or rather, not stale, for we imagine that fish can never be of a pleasant smell, however palatable it may be to the taste.

As far as possible, buy all stores by the quantity; if nothing else, you save the weight of paper, no small item in the course of a year; but there is always some reduction when an article is purchased at wholesale. You save the retail commission, if nothing more.

In warm weather, meats, of course, cannot be bought in large quantities, unless for a large family who are in possession of a good ice-house. Rice, tapioca, raisins, etc., are an exception to this rule, for they should never be bought in large quantities, except for boarding-houses or hotels, as they are very easily filled with insects.

A store-room should be very dry, and supplied with a good number of shelves and drawers for stores of all kinds. A thick slab should be placed across from one end to the other, so high that nothing suspended from it will hit the head in passing through it. In this it is well to have some strong hooks to hang hams, dried beef, tongues, baskets, etc. A neat step-ladder should be kept in one corner, by which you can easily reach whatever is needed. These hooks are a great convenience, not only to put away your marketing, but so many things keep better for being suspended where there can be free circulation of air; and a store-room must be well ventilated. Eggs keep well hung up in a basket, or in _nets_ made for that purpose. Buy your lemons in June and July, when freshest, cheapest, and most plentiful, by the box, and suspend them on these hooks in nets, and they will keep all summer.

XXV.

TRUST YOUR CHILDREN.

THERE is no lesson that so well repays the teacher as that by which children are taught to feel that they are _trusted_; that father and mother commit matters of importance to their care, with confidence that they will not disappoint them. Begin this teaching while the child is yet young. Of course you must gauge the importance of the trust by the age of the child, taking care that you do not tax the little one beyond its capacity, but being just as careful to have it understand that you are in earnest. It is a great event in a child’s life when it first feels that you look to it with loving confidence for the performance of certain duties that you have trusted to its honor. The feeling of responsibility which comes with this knowledge awakens self-respect, and the care and faithfulness which the youngest sees must be necessary to the satisfactory execution of the work will be good seed sown, which in after years will bear fruit, amply repaying all the trouble it cost to prepare the soil for its reception. That such teaching is not the easiest duty one can accept, every mother knows full well, and would much prefer to do the work herself, if conscience permitted, than be subjected to the tediousness and annoyance of drilling a child to do it. But this is a mother’s mission, which it is not wise to delegate to another.

When a child has been repeatedly shown precisely how to do certain things, begin to leave these little _chores_ for it to do alone when you are not near. Let it be something trivial at first, of course. Say to the little two-year-old, “Mamma must go out for a little while. I am sorry to leave the nursery in such disorder; but Eddie is such a helpful little man, he will put all the blocks and ‘Noah’s Ark’ up just as I like to see them; and little Kitty, too, knows how I wish her to fold the doll’s clothes and lay them in the drawer, when her play is over; I am sure this room will look very nice when I return.”

If this kindly training is begun early, do you not know how proud and happy these miniature men and women will feel when this work is intrusted to their care,--a token of mother’s confidence in their ability? Of course, it may be necessary to be a little _short-sighted_ when you return, and pass over for the time some few items that will bear improvement; but let these wait. Appear pleased--_be pleased_--with their efforts; give as much sweet praise as is judicious, to gladden their little hearts. It will be time enough when the next trial is made to say, “I think I would fold this little dress so,” or, “Put those books here.” Gentle hints, interspersed with all possible approval, will fix the lesson, so that you can soon feel safe to put the play-room almost wholly in the care of quite young children, except the sweeping or other work beyond their strength. But these lessons, as we said before, must begin early, else the child will learn to prefer being waited upon to doing the work itself.

As your child can bear it, add year by year to the trust and responsibility. Accept the labor as a love-offering to save your time and strength, and it will not be long before willing hands and happy hearts will really lighten your labors, and save you many weary steps, while at the same time they are learning a lesson that will do them good through life. Vary the teaching, by sending the child, by and by, out to do a little shopping,--some small thing, but such as will call for the exercise of taste and a little judgment; nothing of much importance, so that, should there chance to be a slight mistake, no great harm will follow; yet so much that the child, by thus learning to judge and discriminate in small things, will be preparing for greater ones.

An expedition of this kind stands out among the brightest of our childhood memories. It was in a season of severe sickness both at home and in the vicinity. Our mother was ill, the older children either on the sick list or absent. It was quite necessary to send to the _shire town_, twelve miles distant, where, in those “long-ago” days, the most important shopping was done, and the foreign groceries purchased. Father had his buggy at the door just ready to start on this tour, and was making a list of the last items, and directions from mother, when he was summoned in great haste to a patient. Here was a dilemma! The purchases _must_ be made; the patient _must_ be cared for. What was to be done? We were sitting in the south hall-door, playing with the baby, so near to the sick-room that we could not help hearing the consultation. Father must go to his patient; but who was to go for the articles so greatly needed? The “tailoress” would be on hand in the morning, and the cloth must be had for her work; a tailoress was an important character in those days, and if we lost _our turn_ there would be weeks to wait before we could secure her again. That would never do, for “the boys” must soon return to school, and their clothes be ready, anyhow. What could be done? We heard the hurried talk, with a kind of dreamy wonder as to how they would settle the troublesome question; but, as one who could have no personal interest in the solution, went on with our frolic with baby, when mother said, “Write out a list, with full directions, and send E----.”

What a bound our heart gave! We nearly dropped the baby. _We_, not twelve years old; and mother thought we could be trusted to do such a big thing! We felt a half-head taller only to think that mother--bless her!--thought us capable of it. Whether it was decided that we should go or not was, just then, quite a secondary consideration, yet we were “all ears” to catch father’s reply: “Send that child! What does she know of buying anything? And this is a very important errand.”

Ah! here our heart collapsed; we didn’t quite want to go,--the work seemed so great,--but we did want father to think us as trustworthy and capable as mother did.

“If you think it safe for her to drive alone so far, I think you may trust her to do the errand well, with suitable directions. The merchants and grocers are old friends, and will not take advantage of the child.”

“Well, it is the only thing we can do,” said father, with an anxious, dissatisfied tone, and this great responsibility was committed to our care.

How much we thought in that long twelve-miles ride to the town! What anxious thoughts on the return ride, fearing that we had forgotten something, or made some ill-advised purchase; but under it all there was a dull pain to remember that father didn’t quite trust us, which did not leave us until, safe at home, all the purchases laid out and examined, he drew us to his knee, close by mother’s sick-bed, and kissed us, with, “Well done, my brave girl! Hasn’t she done well, mother?”

How much good that day’s work did us, giving us courage when duties seemed too hard for us, we can never estimate; but the most precious of all was our mother’s trust and father’s approbation. It is only by love and gentleness that a child can be taught to find real enjoyment in later or important cares. Exact it as a duty; sternly command, watch, with constant suspicion and fault-finding, and labor is a drudgery, and cares of any kind a terror to the young. The child either becomes stubborn, or, if timid and loving, is so nervously fearful of being blamed, that this very fear insures the dreaded results. Ah, if young mothers could know how many hours of self-reproach the grandmothers pass as they look to the time when their little ones were around them, and see, too late, how many mistakes they made simply by their own impatience, over-strictness, and want of confidence in their children’s good intention and desire to do right, it might save them from much regret, and their children from many temptations. But each one must have an experience of her own. When young, we seldom are ready to profit by the experience of the old, or think them of much more importance than “old wives’ fables,” but when, after many mistakes, we arrive at middle age, we are able to estimate their value.

XXVI.

WHO INVENTED BREAD?

AMONG the countless varieties of food, bread, in some form or other, has been almost universally recognized as “the staff of life.” When it became so truly a necessity, or who was the happy inventor, we know not. How far before the creation wise men have pushed their researches and discoveries, we have not the skill to ascertain. The first mention of bread we remember is in the third chapter of Genesis, when Adam was driven from Paradise and compelled “in the sweat of his face to eat bread,” “because he hearkened to the voice of his wife.” Many of his sons have, since their forefathers’ time, regained Paradise, because they _did_ listen to their wives’ counsels. We wonder if men do not sometimes forget this, and cherish a little spiteful vindictiveness, because through the first mother their prototype fell, and he had to “work for his living.” Perhaps it is this memory which makes them so restive under the present efforts for a recognition of a broader platform for “women’s rights.” How silly, brethren! Let bygones be bygones. Did not the curse fall heavier on us for our first mother’s folly, than on you for Adam’s very ready participation in it? Don’t bear malice! Help us up,--not above you, for we do not belong there, but close by your side,--where we may do good to you, as you do good to us. If Adam had not been off on a council committee, public dinner, or at a club house, but working and caring for his farm in Eden with his wife, we don’t believe Eve would have been tempted, or, being tempted, would have eaten that miserable apple. But we shall never learn how bread was invented if we linger.

“Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground.” The production of grain for food has always been recognized as the sign of an advanced stage of civilization. Like most of the early traces of progress, the time when grain first began to be transformed into bread is quite obscure. For a long period the grain was eaten, when green, either raw, boiled, or roasted. The Greeks usually deified every new thing. Ceres was supposed to have first brought husbandry into some regular system; therefore they at once constituted her the goddess of Agriculture; and Pan, according to their belief, invented bread, and was forthwith exalted into a god; but long before Ceres or Pan were worshipped, the Egyptians cultivated the earth and made bread from the grain.

When the angels appeared on the plains of Mamre and foretold the birth of a son, in Abraham’s old age, he hastened into a tent and said to Sarah, “Make ready quickly three measures of meal, knead it, and make cakes upon the hearth.”

Many modes of preparing grain, either in cakes or bread, are seen in the paintings discovered in the tombs of the Egyptians; but doubtless for many years the chief food was fish, flesh, or fruit. The Indians used a kind of wild corn, when driven to it by the scarcity of game, or if unsuccessful in hunting; but they never attempted to cultivate it. They boiled it when green, or baked it on hot stones, or roasted it by their fires, as we do the cultivated Indian-corn. Maize or Turkish wheat and a kind of millet are still used, unground, among the poorer classes in Egypt, boiled in milk or water, or roasted.

At a later period, rude stones were made to separate the husks from the kernel; and not long since, it may be even now, in the remote parts of Scotland, a large block of hard wood was dug out smoothly, and after the grain had been well dried, the barley or oats was beaten in it till the husk was removed. When sufficiently broken or bruised to loosen the hull, it was scooped up into the hand, little by little, and blown gently with the mouth to remove all the husk, and then made into pottage or porridge. It now seems a small thing to have all our grain ground and sifted by machinery worked by steam; but how tedious must have been the ancient process! The _quern_ used in Scotland to remove the husk and prepare the barley for use is supposed to have found its way thither through the Romans, who always carried hand-mills in their marches or raids upon other nations. It is very simple, and perhaps the first kind of corn mill on record. “The quern was made of two stones,” says Dr. Johnson, “a foot and a half in diameter; the lower stone a little convex; to which the concavity of the upper stone was fitted. In the middle of the upper one was a round hole, and on one side a long handle. The grinder gradually shred the corn into this hole with one hand, and worked the handle with the other. Thus the corn slid down into the hollow of the lower stone, and by the motion of the upper was ground in the passage.” The quern acts so much on the principle of our mill-stones that our mills might be called querns, built on a larger scale, and run by steam or machinery. The meal thus ground was made into pottage or porridge, being boiled in milk or water, or “brose” when it was roasted, and boiled up in water in which salt meat had been cooked.

Who first conceived the idea of using yeast or leaven, or making bread by any process of fermentation, or at what period it was first so made, we do not learn. We know that the Israelites made leavened bread; so did the Egyptians and Grecians; but who first invented yeast or leaven? The Romans, it is thought, learned the art of bread-making, with many other valuable lessons, during their war with Perseus, king of Macedon. On the return of their armies from these wars, they brought Grecian bakers with them into Italy. This was two hundred years before the Christian era. Bakers were highly esteemed, and during the reign of Augustus there were three hundred and twenty-nine public bake-houses in Rome, chiefly under the management of Greeks, who were for many years the only ones who could make good bread. They enjoyed many privileges, and were put in charge of the public granaries.

The making of fermented bread then gradually found its way into Gaul; but it was a long time before it was known in Northern Europe. In the middle of the sixteenth century, unfermented cakes were the only bread known in Sweden or Norway. It was not till near the end of the sixteenth century that the use of yeast was much known in Northern Europe. About that period yeast from Flanders was brought into Paris as a substitute for leaven. This change greatly improved the bread; but in 1688 the College of Physicians declared that bread made from yeast was very injurious, and the government forbade its being used. But the shrewd Flemish people put up yeast in sacks to allow the liquid part to filter through, and privately sent it to Paris. The excellence of the bread thus made became so evident, that the College of Physicians and their wisdom were forgotten, and the government’s prohibition quietly allowed to sink into oblivion. Very soon this new and improved method of preparing bread extended into other countries.

Leaven is flour and water mixed to a paste and set in a warm place--from 70° to 80°--till it ferments, first passing into the vinous and then to the acetous state. Bread made from leaven differs from that made from yeast by almost always having an acid taste. A piece of dough, from well-raised bread, set aside on ice or in a cool place, and worked into the next batch to be made, gives the best mode of making leaven; and by working a little soda into it before setting the sponge, will make very fine bread, without the acidity common to leavened bread, if managed with care.

Wheat bread is now common in most countries. The best and whitest is made from the flour of the first grinding. _Gluten_ is a very important part of flour, and it is that which gives wheat the superiority over all other grains, it being found only in small quantities in any other. It is the gluten which helps to form the adhesive paste essential to secure fermentation. It is common in the animal kingdom, but rare in the vegetable, and therefore is sometimes called the _vegeto-animal principle_. The more gluten the better and more nutritious the flour. The loss of this principle, by sprouting, mildew, etc., destroys the adhesive power so necessary to making good bread. The best qualities of flour take up the largest quantity of moisture; the amount which can be absorbed depends on the quantity of gluten. In dry weather, flour requires more moisture than in wet, and long and faithful kneading will add to the power of absorption, without making the bread too thin. Common salt and alum are often used to give poor flour the tenderness and whiteness of good brands. A little salt is good, but too much is injurious, both to the bread and to the health,--alum still more injurious. Liebig recommends lime-water in bread-making. A quarter of a pound of slacked lime to a gallon of pure rain or distilled water, kept in closely stopped bottles; two and a half pints of the lime-water to nine pounds of flour, he says, will make a sweet, fine-grained, elastic bread of exquisite flavor. The lime-water to be mixed with the flour before the yeast is added. Of course, it will not be enough moisture for that amount of flour, and as much more water is added as is needed. Liebig claims that the lime will give the wheat a larger amount of bone-making element, and therefore be more nutritious.

Rice flour, or potatoes combined with flour, help to take up moisture, and keep bread from drying. Rye flour makes a dark-colored bread, but is sweet and palatable, retaining moisture longer than wheat. Indian meal, mixed with rye, and a spoonful or two of molasses added with the yeast, makes the New England brown bread; but to have that in perfection it should be baked in a brick oven, and remain all night; then, warm and fresh for breakfast, it is unrivalled.

Graham bread is made from unbolted wheat, the bran not separated from the flour. The coarse meal swells more in rising, and should not be made so stiff as fine flour. It sours more quickly, requires a hotter oven, and longer time to bake. Much kneading is essential to cement together the starch, sugar, albumen, and gluten found in wheat. It is not easy to knead bread sufficiently for a satisfactory result. Many machines for this purpose have been invented, but we have yet to see one that can be as fully depended upon as a strong arm and a skillful hand. The _hand_ only can decide truly when every lump is dissolved, and suitable combinations made. When the dough springs under the touch, instead of clinging to the fingers, when the fist bears its full impression in the dough, and none adheres to the hand, the cook may cease from the labor. This labor may be lightened by pounding and chopping at intervals, and with much benefit; but the hand is the chief dependence.

If the yeast is bitter, pour on water, and let it stand a few hours; then drain it off, and use the thick part which has settled at the bottom. The water will absorb the bitterness, unless it is from age, and not because of too many hops. In this case, a piece of charcoal heated through, but not so hot as to kill the yeast, thrown into the yeast jar, will correct it; but we should prefer to throw away the yeast, and make new.

When all the rules for making good bread have been faithfully followed, all will fail if not properly baked. We think nothing has yet been found that is equal to the brick oven; but in whatever oven you bake, one rule is common to all,--see that the heat is just right; from 350° to 400° is the proper range for bread. If fresh flour or meal is thrown on the bottom of the oven, and turns a clear brown at once, it is right; if it becomes black the oven is too hot.

We have been greatly indebted to Webster’s “Encyclopædia of Domestic Economy,” and Professor Youmans’ “Handbook of Domestic Science,” for our information on bread.

XXVII.

HOW ABOUT THE LITTLE GIRLS?

“A SHORT time since you advocated ‘teaching little boys to be useful’ by training them to do, indoors or out, whatever, for the time being, lay within the compass of their strength and ability. But now we wish to ask, How about _little girls_? The boys say it isn’t fair to call upon them to perform ‘girls’ work,’ unless the girls are made to reciprocate the favor, and are willing to take their turn in doing ‘boys’ work’ when necessary.”

Bless your little hearts, dear boys! Who objects to that? Not the little girls, certainly. Isn’t it just what many of the _big girls_ are seeking to do, and the _big boys_--“children of a larger growth” than you, my little man--are striving to prevent? Where is the girl, unless she has by fashion and conventionalities been unnaturally biassed, who would not gladly, once in a while, exchange sewing, sweeping, and dusting for a run out into the free air and glad sunshine, to take your place, and do your work,--feed the chickens, weed in the garden, hoe the corn, milk the cows, or rake the hay,--though modern improvements have of late cheated them of half such pleasures? Anything that little boys can do, little girls would think “such fun,” if they might occasionally have the privilege of doing it,--country girls, we mean,--God help those whose home is in the city! There are so few pleasures there that the young can enjoy in the open air. To walk on hard, cold sidewalks, dressed like little ballet-dancers, or ride over the rough pavements, with no free, untrammeled movement, or through the dirty streets, with their vile, impure smells, can give no such joys as our country damsels, with their larger inheritance and more abundant blessings, are in daily possession of. There is nothing equal to the pleasure our little folks may find, in any kind of outdoor employment, that is suited to their age and strength. These simple labors prepare them for larger and more important duties, and the knowledge will bring abiding comfort and self-reliance as they advance in age and intelligence.

“Will not such work make girls coarse, romping, and hoydenish? Rough, noisy boys are bad enough; would you have our girls become like them?”

Is it the outdoor work that makes them so? Is it not rather the overflow of animal spirits that can find no way of escape but by boisterous, wild action? It is not very agreeable to the old and staid, to be sure, and it certainly is less annoying outdoors than in; yet it promotes health, and is only what we all did, or longed to do, in our youth. Age will soon tame the wild spirits, or restrain a too exuberant overflow, and nothing keeps them in check like pleasant labor. There are, to be sure, sometimes unfortunate associations with really coarse, rude natures, which are very objectionable. We would never allow girls or boys to come under such influence if we could help it; but that evil is to be found in every position,--as often in the house as in the field,--and if not inherent in your child’s own character, the influence will soon be discarded, the dross be separated, and the purer nature rise dominant. You must go out of the world to insure safety from such contact.

“But country girls are not often ladylike and graceful; and work outdoors will tend to make them still more awkward. I couldn’t endure to see my little girl brought up under such influences.”

We have never found in the city more graceful, ladylike, intelligent, pure-minded girls than we have seen in the country; but we have sometimes noticed that those who live nearest to the city, or have spent much time there, too often acquire artificial habits, affectation, coquetry, loud, bold speech, or a fondness for dress, too stylish for a truly modest girl’s adorning, that is seldom seen in real country life. We do not think that any kind or amount of labor will make one less modest or ladylike. We believe that our girls should know how to do, with their own hands, everything that they have strength for, and thereby secure and establish vigor and capacity for duties that, in after years, may fall to their lot. We do not mean that outdoor labor should be their habitual employment. We wish them to have the actual knowledge; but the heavier work, which more appropriately belongs to boys and men, should be undertaken by girls and women only on an emergency. Then love or will, or both united, can make woman strong to do the hardest work, if she has the knowledge, while the necessity lasts. It is because such calls may be made on every one all through life, that we would have each one secure the knowledge early; but in extreme cases, the overstrain on a woman’s physical life, if long continued, will compel the payment of large interest in later years, and therefore should be undertaken through necessity only. God has not organized man and woman alike, physically; nor, do we believe, mentally either. We hasten to add, lest we should be arraigned for heresy, that we do not say they are not _equal_, but only _different_; the question of equality we wait for their own works to answer. Woman has sweeter, tenderer, dearer duties, demanding an organization distinct from that which fits man for his rougher, harder, more extended, more public, but not more noble work. We hear of women who have cut down their timber, built their walls, ploughed their fields, or done the blacksmithing for the neighborhood with their own hands, from choice,--a kind of work which we could not do, and would not if we could, unless driven to it by some pressing necessity; but we should like to store up the knowledge how to do it against the time of need. Still, we need not object if others take pleasure in it. Yet will not their own bodies, when they leave youth behind and go down to middle age, bear witness against the unnatural strain which they have been subjected to? Those whose office it is “to replenish the earth” cannot make these violent drafts upon their system with impunity. It is not for a regular, daily occupation that we would desire to have girls taught how to do their brothers’ work as well as their own, though much that pertains to that will always be pleasant and attractive, and light work in the open air will always furnish healthy exercise for our girls; but we want to see every member of the family so educated that there may never occur a vacancy about the home that some one, girl or boy, man or woman, is not able and willing to step into and fill satisfactorily. To this end, faithfully teach your little ones, girls or boys, to put their hands to any work that is necessary.

“Next you will tell us to let our girls saw and split wood, milk the cows, harness and unharness the horse, etc.”

Yes. Why not? They should know how to do all this, and do it well; and try it often enough to feel at ease and without fear in the effort, and that will be sufficient for the present. But suppose in a few years your daughter marries, and goes from you to some distant settlement where neighbors are scarce and “help” uncertain. Girls of wealth and refinement have done such things. Let the monotony of frontier life be occasionally enlivened by a real attack of chills and fever in which all take a part. When husband and “help,” if your daughter is so fortunate as to secure any, take their turn in _shaking_, will not the wife look back to the time when brother Will and she had their miniature saws and hatchets, and made much sport in preparing the kindlings? Won’t she see that the knowledge how to do this, which was simply amusement then, has been stored up for real service now? She little thought when grandpa taught her to milk old Brindle without fear of the gentle animal, how she would thank him for it in this far-off home. Are you sure that your little girl will never be placed in circumstances, for only a few hours perhaps, when she would be most thankful to know how to do any one of these things? Can you not imagine circumstances where it would be an incalculable blessing? We can, any number of them, not at all beyond the bounds of possibility. We have known cases where it was almost a matter of life or death, that a lady should have skill and courage to harness a horse and hasten for help. These cases may be rare; yet if they come but once in a lifetime, is not the lesson worth the learning? If you were driving a team--a very desirable accomplishment for any young lady--and the harness should break or become unfastened, ought you not, for your own safety, to know how to repair the mischief? Every girl should early learn how each part of the harness must be adjusted, else the pleasure and independence of being able to drive when older will be attended with much risk, and often with fatal consequences. Youth--early childhood--is the time to secure this knowledge, that you may be prepared to use it with confidence and self-control when needed. Even if it is never needed in later life, _knowing how_ will not injure any one.

XXVIII.

STEALING SERVANTS.

IN _The Christian Union_ a while ago, “Laicus” gives the history of a transaction between two neighbors, in which he thinks the indignation manifested by one of the parties was uncalled for, and her objection to the proceeding of the other “but a relic of the old-time slave system.” The case given was in this wise.

Mrs. Potiphar, it seems, “picks up a little girl in New York, and goes through all the trouble, discomfort, and anxiety of teaching her, until she becomes, at last, a very useful and efficient servant.” Those who have undertaken the training of young girls, not their own, will agree that Mrs. Potiphar’s task was not an enviable one, and that the girl owed her a debt of gratitude, which faithful, willing service alone could pay. As the child improved under this training, wages were given, until after five years’ education she received ten dollars a month. Mrs. Potiphar, appreciating the good qualities the girl had developed, failed not to give her ample praise; said she was “worth her weight in gold,” an expression very common, yet not usually taken literally; but she did not increase her wages. It may have been that she gave all that the work demanded of her was worth, or all that she could afford to give; it matters not which; it is no evidence, however, that she wished to defraud the girl of her just dues; it argues no injustice on Mrs. Potiphar’s part. But good friends, kind neighbors, behind her back, said it was a shame to pay Sophia so little; while to the lady’s face, however, they gave smiles and congratulations “upon her good luck.” Ah, what a pity that gossiping, meddling, and backbiting should be found in this beautiful world of ours. How much trouble and mischief these vices have caused! Much of the discomfort and disturbance in our households springs from this evil spirit, making servants fickle and unfaithful, and their mistresses’ life a burden. And it is all so needless! There is little fear, even when not tampered with, that girls will remain long on low wages, unless the privileges and kind care bestowed upon them are of more value than larger pay, and they have the good sense so to understand it. Every girl has a perfect right to seek the highest remuneration, and so that she gives her present employer reasonable notice, to enable her to secure other assistance, or to offer her larger wages, however great the disappointment to the lady may be, the girl has acted honorably and is worthy of no censure. But in the case cited by “Laicus,” Mrs. Chessleburg’s course is so repugnant, so foreign to all our ideas of honor, that we should hope there was some mistake in print, did we not know such acts are of daily occurrence.

Mrs. Potiphar has an excellent waiting-maid, just what Mrs. Chessleburg wants. Mrs. Chessleburg is much exercised in her mind because Mrs. Potiphar gives the poor girl such low wages.