THE HOME.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 11650, 11 May 1901, Page 6 (Supplement)

THE HOME.

HOW TO CHOOSE GAME,

In- choosing game the old and tough is easily avoided by the experienced, but for the guidance of the young housewife certain rules may be given. TVtke the lip of the lower part of a bird's beak between the thumb and the forefinger. If the bird be young the beak will bend, perhaps even break, but if it be old the beak will sustain its weight without yielding. Young partridges have yellowish lees, but they become darker with age. A voting rock pheasant has a spur without point ; in a two-year-old bird the point is there, but is quite short ; and in one of three years old and upwards the point is long and sharp. The plumage of both cock and hen pheasants becomes darker each year.

The age of hares and rabbits is best discovered by noticing their ears. If these be soft and easily slit one may be sure that they are voting, for old hares and rabbits have ears"as tough as leather, which can only be torn by using considerable force.

TO WASH WOOLLEN GARMENTS. It is a common complaint that woollen articles thicken and shrink and become discoloured in washing. If strict attention is paid to the following rules the difficulty will. I think, be obviated. First, what not to do. 1. Never use hard water, or water softened with soda or potash or anything of that kind. Soap should not be used. 2. Do not rub the articles. 3. Do not put in lukewarm water for washing or in cold water for rinsing. 4. Never allow them to lie still in the water for a single minute. 5. Never wring them. 6. When taken out of the water they should not be laid in a heap, but put to dry at once. The next thing is to know what to do. 1. Let the garments to be washed be first well brushed and shaken. 2. Have everything that will be required ready and within reach. 3. If several things are to be done let each be begun and finished separately. 4. Use only fresh rainwater if possible. 5. Prepare a strong lather of best yellow soap. If the things are very dirty two lathers will be necessary. It should be as hot as the hand can bear it, the hotter the better. Add boiling water the moment before using it. 6. Dip the article in this lather, dipping and rinsing for two or three minutes. By this time the lather will be absorbed by the wool. 7. Squeeze the article as dry as possible without wringing it. 8. Proceed in the same manner with the second lather when necessary. If the article is little soiled and appears quite clean after the first washing, it may then be put in hot water without soap. Pass the bluebag slightly through the second lather of water. 9. After squeezing as dry as possible spread light things, such as shawls, etc.. on a coarse dry cloth, roll up tightly, and let them remain an hour. Heavy things must be wrung out at once. If the weather is fine the drying is best done in the openair: but. if it is damp, dry before a fire or in a warm loom. The quicker the drying is done the better.

THE ART OF TIDYING UP. If people only realised how much the appearance and comfort of a household depended on tidying up. the art, for art it is. would receive much more attention than it usually does. For the benefit of those of my readers—and this will mean the great majority of them —who like to make the best of their belongings, a few hints may be found helpful. In order to have a tidy house, it is first of all absolutely necessary to have a place for everything. Thiol; out every detail carefully beforehand as to where every article will be most useful an!', most ornamental, and when you have decided on this do uql change without very good reason.

This is the first step in being tidy. The next thing is to see that you really do have things in the (daces you decided upon, and anyone who is in charge of a household will know that to ensure this requires constant watchfulness on the part of a housewife. There is no occasion, however, to be always in a bustle and annoying the rest of the house with your tidiness. In this, as in most of the things in life, the best results arc achieved with quietness and method.

Do not every now and then rush round the house in order to see that things ate in their proper places, but in which particular room you may happen to be look carefully round, and if anything is out of place set it right. In a short time you will find you do so instinctively, and your friends will wonder how you manage to keep such a spick-and-span appearance with so little effort. Remember that promptness is everything. Is there a little tear in the tablecloth"'.' Has a nail worked out of the carpet, leaving a loose cover to trip people up'.' A few minutes with a needle and thread or a hammer and tin tacks will remedy the defeels, and once more tidiness predominates.