Hilda's diary of a Cape housekeeper

Circulating library of books on domestic economy. — “ Would it not be a good plan in some districts to have a circulating library, especially in the country, among local friends, of books and magazines on cookery, on gardening, dairy, nursing, poultry, the care of children, furnishing, and other domestic matters? and if sometimes an artistic subject could be added, so much the better. Every one cannot afford to have a large library, or to spend much on such everyday helps ; but if we club together with our neighbours to spend altogether say ten shillings a month between us on such books, we should soon get a very useful collection, and it would be very refreshing to have a circulation of new ideas on our home work. “ It would of course require people who should undertake the duties of treasurer and librarian ; this should be some one with a roomy house who could house the books when not in circulation, and keep a good catalogue, and a list to show who had the different books in reading; and also keep a list of fines payable by various members for keeping books overtime, losing or damaging them ; and there would have to be a fund for occasional rebinding. It would also be best at the end of each year to arrange to sell duplicate copies or any books no longer wanted, and the proceeds of this could be added to the expenses of re-binding or purchase of new books. “ The idea of circulating libraries for novels, magazines, and other literature is so familiar that I think it ought not to be difficult to get people to join ; and it has often ococcurred to me that, particularly in country districts, itt March would be a real pleasure to the heads of households to get new ideas in this way and keep up with the times. “ The books might be changeable once a fortnight, renewable then to previous borrowers if wished for another fortnight, but none to keep any one book consecutively for more than a month. “ The changing of the books might be made the occasion of a tea-party at the house of one or other of the subscribers, and if there were plenty of these, this would not recur often enough to be a tax. “ Another plan would be for the books at the end of the year to be divided among the subscribers for that whole year, and only renewing those found especially useful. Each subscriber should thus get, say, half their subscription returned in books.” I think the idea would be well worth trying. She then goes on to say — “ I always look at the bookstall at any station where I have to wait, to see if they have any cookery books that might be worth getting, and have in this way collected quite a little library of them. Here is the list with some notes on their contents, in case you care to have it. Of course there are plenty of more important books, but these are just ‘ my little lot.’ Everybody s Dinner-hook ; from One Shilling to Ten, by Lady C. Howard. Published by Henry & Co., Bouverie Street, London, E.C. (I think it costs about 2s.) In this book the very good dinner menus are arranged according to prices of cost per person, which varies from is. to lOi"., so that one can choose economical or more expensive dishes, as the cost of each dish is given. A capital plan. “ This is supplemented by a chapter on ‘ Prime Hints for Dainty Housekeepers,’ another of ‘ Wrinkles from my March