Hilda's diary of a Cape housekeeper

Laundrywork at the Cape still continues to be largely done by Malay women in wash-houses put up by the Municipality in Cape Town. There are a few laundries, but they always seem to become insolvent. On farms the washing is always done by some local person. House rent near Cape Town is rather high, and living not so cheap as in England. Servants also are a difficulty, yet, notwithstanding these drawbacks, the housekeeper need not despair. The climate is beautiful, and makes up for much, and at Wynberg, and the other Cape Town suburbs, every requisite is brought to the door. Firewood is brought to the door, and a very expensive item it is ! I find coke and wood the most economical fuel. Paraffin stoves are a great boon and help to the housekeeper, and excellent toast can be made on a Beatrice stove by adjusting the flame and putting the slice of bread on the top, where you would place your saucepan or kettle. Give the stove a careful wiping beforehand, and the most dainty person would not detect any taste of paraffin, and a slice of toast can be made in a few minutes without the bother of lighting a fire. advantage of this sterilizing milk by steam rather than by boiling is that the best part does not rise to the top as a skin, which is skimmed off. [illustration: OLD COLONIAL HOUSES. ELSENSBERG- Jan.] Colonial houses. — The old style of building was admirably suited to this climate, the part in which the family lived being mostly on the ground-floor, the thatched roofs, so cool in summer and warm in winter, were very picturesque, with their ornamental gable-ends. All about Stellenbosch, French Hoek, and Ceres, these pretty homesteads still abound. Mrs. Trotter’s book. Old Colonial Houses (published by Batsford), gives many beautiful specimens, but I am sorry to say that, owing to a very high rate of insurance for reed-thatched houses, the ugly corrugated iron roof is put on whenever the thatch has become too old to repair, though a reed thatch will last about forty or fifty years if carefully attended to. On many of the pretty farms in the neighbourhood of Stellenbosch, fruit-growing, such as apples, pears and peaches, largely takes the place of vineyards. Rust in wheat and oats makes corn-growing very risky. (For the last two seasons the oat crops have been entirely destroyed by rust.) Strawberries and violets are a source of income on farms in the Stellenbosch neighbourhood ; dairy farming is also carried on very successfully. Near Stellenbosch the Cape Government have established an Agricultural College on the pretty old farm “ Elsenberg,” for many years the home of the Myburgh family. This place has great capabilities for providing excellent training for young men wishing to gain an insight into farming, for they have vineyards and orchards, corn of all sorts is grown, and cattle, horses and sheep successfully reared, and so an “ all round ” training is provided. The labour SERVANTS AND WAGES Jan. question throughout the Colony is a difficult one, and high wages are paid ; the labourers being mostly coloured men.