Therefore, she must (a) promptly indicate her preference
for any particular cut, if he asks her to do so, and (&) help
herself promptly to dishes that are passed her.
(3) That she should so manage all small details that the
possibility of accident is reduced to a minimum. Therefore,
(a) In sending a plate back for a second helping she
should put the knife and fork straight on the plate, and a
little to one side. This will give room for the food, and
obviate the possibility of their slipping from the plate.
(6) The spoon must never be left in the cup, but placed
on the saucer.
(c) The soup spoon should be filled by moving it away
from the person.
(4) That as host or hostess she should endeavor to make
all others comfortable.
Therefore, in a family each should remember the tastes
of the other members, and give to each the cut of meat, the
amount of sugar and cream preferred by each, without ask-
ing. In the case of guests, it is of course necessary to
ask.
With regard to passing things at the table, consideration
of the comfort of others demands that if there is a waitress
nothing whatever should be passed by any member of the
family. If there is no waitress, however, then with each
dish one must think of the possible wants of her neighbor,
and see that these are satisfied.
In the latter case some little courtesy of expression is
necessary in offering your service. Instead of saying
abruptly, '' Will you have the salt," for example, the phrase
may be softened into "Let me pass you the salt," or "Allow
me," or " May I," etc.
Plants and Flowers. — The dining room ought to be a
THE DINING ROOM 233
bright, sunny room. If it be so, by all means raise a few
plants.
The cheapest house plants are geraniums. In the houses
of the well-to-do they need intelligent care, but, as doubtless
others have observed, in the houses of the poor they flour-
ish in tin cans, and under what seems to be unfavorable
conditions.
The secret of this, it seems to me, is that the houses of
the poor are, perforce, cool to cold, and the geranium, like
most plants, cannot endure hot, dry air. Neither can we,
only we will not believe it.
The maximum temperature produced by artificial heat
should be 68° F. for ordinarily healthy people.
Geraniums intended for house blooming should be pre-
pared for it during the summer. To do this, follow the
following simple rules: —
(1) Keep them in their pots.
(2) As soon as they are five inches high, pinch off the
top, thus forcing them to develop side buds, and thus mak-
ing compact, bushy plants. Keep up the pinching process
until the shape of the plant suits you.
When you are satisfied with the plant, withdraw its
supply of water, giving it only enough to keep it from
drying vip.
Remove every bud.
These last two things give the plant the rest that it
needs, so that it can work hard during the winter.
Before bringing them into the house repot them. This is
done by shaking the plants out of the pot, shaking off as
much soil as possible, repotting in fresh, rich soil, with
plenty of broken crock in the bottom for drainage, and
watering them thoroughly.
The pots should be small. Otherwise the plants will run
to roots and foliage, and will not bloom.
234 HANDBOOK OF DOMESTIC SCIENCE
Leave them out-of-doors as long as possible.
Page 110
Presented as published in 1900. Historical recipes may not meet modern food-safety standards. Cook from the modern interpretation, not the original instructions.
AI-modernized reading of the original text
Therefore, she must (a) promptly indicate her preference for any particular cut, if he asks her to do so, and (&) help herself promptly to dishes that are passed her.
(3) That she should so manage all small details that the possibility of accident is reduced to a minimum. Therefore,
(a) In sending a plate back for a second helping she should put the knife and fork straight on the plate, and a little to one side. This will give room for the food, and obviate the possibility of their slipping from the plate.
(6) The spoon must never be left in the cup, but placed on the saucer.
(c) The soup spoon should be filled by moving it away from the person.
(4) That as host or hostess she should endeavor to make all others comfortable.
Therefore, in a family each should remember the tastes of the other members, and give to each the cut of meat, the amount of sugar and cream preferred by each, without asking. In the case of guests, it is of course necessary to ask.
With regard to passing things at the table, consideration of the comfort of others demands that if there is a waitress nothing whatever should be passed by any member of the family. If there is no waitress, however, then with each dish one must think of the possible wants of her neighbor, and see that these are satisfied.
In the latter case some little courtesy of expression is necessary in offering your service. Instead of saying abruptly, '' Will you have the salt," for example, the phrase may be softened into "Let me pass you the salt," or "Allow me," or " May I," etc.
Plants and Flowers. — The dining room ought to be a
bright, sunny room. If it be so, by all means raise a few plants.
The cheapest house plants are geraniums. In the houses of the well-to-do they need intelligent care, but, as doubtless others have observed, in the houses of the poor they flourish in tin cans, and under what seems to be unfavorable conditions.
The secret of this, it seems to me, is that the houses of the poor are, perforce, cool to cold, and the geranium, like most plants, cannot endure hot, dry air. Neither can we, only we will not believe it.
The maximum temperature produced by artificial heat should be 68° F. for ordinarily healthy people.
Geraniums intended for house blooming should be prepared for it during the summer. To do this, follow the following simple rules: —
(1) Keep them in their pots.
(2) As soon as they are five inches high, pinch off the top, thus forcing them to develop side buds, and thus making compact, bushy plants. Keep up the pinching process until the shape of the plant suits you.
When you are satisfied with the plant, withdraw its supply of water, giving it only enough to keep it from drying vip.
Remove every bud.
These last two things give the plant the rest that it needs, so that it can work hard during the winter.
Before bringing them into the house repot them. This is done by shaking the plants out of the pot, shaking off as much soil as possible, repotting in fresh, rich soil, with plenty of broken crock in the bottom for drainage, and watering them thoroughly.
The pots should be small. Otherwise the plants will run to roots and foliage, and will not bloom.
Leave them out-of-doors as long as possible.