Put this case on the packing in the middle of box and pack solidly around it until level with the top of case. Make a pad or cushion the exact size of box, when completed, and fill this well with wool or cotton batting. Have it thick enough to come three inches above the top of box, so that the cover, in closing, will crush it down. If, after awhile, the pack- ing material shrinks so that the spaces are not firmly filled, a little more packing may be added. After food is put into pail, cover tightly, pack all cracks around and on top of pail with newspaper, put on cushion, and fasten cover down tightly. Suggestions for Successful Use. — A large, rather than small quantity, of food is best for a fireless cooker, since a large quantity retains the heat longer. There should be food enough to nearly fill the pail, as a small quantity in a large utensil cools quickly. All foods should be boiled 10 to 15 m. before they are put into the cooker, and foods in solid form, such as large pieces of meat, hams, etc., should be cooked until thoroughly heated through, before they are placed in the cooker. Allowance for Cooking. — Much depends on kind of cooker, — (1) whether solidly or poorly packed, (2) what kinds of Digitized by Google 224 SECOND YEAR packing axe used, (3) amount of food to be cooked, (4) skill in getting food quickly into cooker, etc. Suitable Foods for Cooking. — Cereals, stews, soups, beef, lamb, mutton, ham, poultry, fish, steamed breads, and pud- dings, etc. When using a fireless cooker, it is well to have on hand some standard cook book which denotes time required for cook- ing various dishes in a fireless cooker. Vacuum Cleaners. — The electric power vacuum cleaners which are available for houses having electricity reduce the work of the housekeeper very greatly. By drawing up the dust and collecting rather than scattering it, the vacuum pro- cess tends to insure the purity of the air in a house, and thereby greatly improves its sanitary condition. A hand power vacuum cleaner is not expensive. It is of course very much more tiring to those who operate it than is the electric vacuum machine. But it does not cost so much, and it has some marked advantages over the broom and dust cloth cleaning ordinarily applied to rooms. Bread Mixer. — Every housekeeper having a large family to provide for should regard a bread mixer as an essential utensil in her kitchen. It is a great time and strength saver, and it is a thorough worker. The heavily tinned pails which are the bodies of the mixers range in dough capacity from two to six loaves. Clamps fasten these pails to a table. Each mixer has a curved metal rod, the kneader, carried through a flat cross piece to the rotat- ing handle. A few turns of this handle will knead the dough thoroughly. Thus the hard task of thoroughly kneading dough for six loaves may be accomplished at the cost of little time and little strength. After kneading, the dough may rise in the pail of the mixer. Food Choppers. — Food choppers may be so arranged as to cause the food placed in them to be cut coarse or Sue or Digitized by Google THE HOME MAKER'S DUTY TO HERSELF 225 to be pulverized. Such a machine is especially useful in pre- paring hamburg steaks, meat or vegetable hash, minced meat, chopped pickle, etc. This is again a time and strength saver and a boon to the housekeeper of heavy tasks. It is so easily cleaned, adjusted, and operated, that once used it will seem indispensable. Digitized by Google SCHOOL GARDENS The movement in regard to the establishment of school gardens is fast becoming a widespread one. A strong argu- ment in favor of it can be advanced in its importance in corre- lation with the work in Domestic Science.

AI-modernized reading of the original text

Put this case on the packing in the middle of box and pack solidly around it until level with the top of case. Make a pad or cushion the exact size of box, when completed, and fill this well with wool or cotton batting. Have it thick enough to come three inches above the top of box, so that the cover, in closing, will crush it down. If, after awhile, the packing material shrinks so that the spaces are not firmly filled, a little more packing may be added. After food is put into pail, cover tightly, pack all cracks around and on top of pail with newspaper, put on cushion, and fasten cover down tightly. Suggestions for Successful Use. — A large, rather than small quantity, of food is best for a fireless cooker, since a large quantity retains the heat longer. There should be food enough to nearly fill the pail, as a small quantity in a large utensil cools quickly. All foods should be boiled 10 to 15 m. before they are put into the cooker, and foods in solid form, such as large pieces of meat, hams, etc., should be cooked until thoroughly heated through, before they are placed in the cooker. Allowance for Cooking. — Much depends on kind of cooker, — (1) whether solidly or poorly packed, (2) what kinds of Digitized by Google packing are used, (3) amount of food to be cooked, (4) skill in getting food quickly into cooker, etc. Suitable Foods for Cooking. — Cereals, stews, soups, beef, lamb, mutton, ham, poultry, fish, steamed breads, and puddings, etc. When using a fireless cooker, it is well to have on hand some standard cook book which denotes time required for cooking various dishes in a fireless cooker. Vacuum Cleaners. — The electric power vacuum cleaners which are available for houses having electricity reduce the work of the housekeeper very greatly. By drawing up the dust and collecting rather than scattering it, the vacuum process tends to insure the purity of the air in a house, and thereby greatly improves its sanitary condition. A hand power vacuum cleaner is not expensive. It is of course very much more tiring to those who operate it than is the electric vacuum machine. But it does not cost so much, and it has some marked advantages over the broom and dust cloth cleaning ordinarily applied to rooms. Bread Mixer. — Every housekeeper having a large family to provide for should regard a bread mixer as an essential utensil in her kitchen. It is a great time and strength saver, and it is a thorough worker. The heavily tinned pails which are the bodies of the mixers range in dough capacity from two to six loaves. Clamps fasten these pails to a table. Each mixer has a curved metal rod, the kneader, carried through a flat cross piece to the rotating handle. A few turns of this handle will knead the dough thoroughly. Thus the hard task of thoroughly kneading dough for six loaves may be accomplished at the cost of little time and little strength. After kneading, the dough may rise in the pail of the mixer. Food Choppers. — Food choppers may be so arranged as to cause the food placed in them to be cut coarse or fine or Digitized by Google THE HOME MAKER'S DUTY TO HERSELF 225 to be pulverized. Such a machine is especially useful in preparing hamburg steaks, meat or vegetable hash, minced meat, chopped pickle, etc. This is again a time and strength saver and a boon to the housekeeper of heavy tasks. It is so easily cleaned, adjusted, and operated, that once used it will seem indispensable. Digitized by Google SCHOOL GARDENS The movement in regard to the establishment of school gardens is fast becoming a widespread one. A strong argument in favor of it can be advanced in its importance in correlation with the work in Domestic Science.

Household science and arts