TRAINING TO STAKES
Growing Vegetables and Flowers
Upright Saves Space.
Better Results Are Obtained From
Most Plants by Keeping Them
Off the Ground.
A good supply of large and small
stakes is not a had guess for the cot
tage garden. There are some vege
tables that will give better results by
being trained to stakes than if allowed
to spread out on the ground. Often
this is not only better for the vegeta
bles, but it saves the space for plant
ing some other crop. ITe same is
true of some flowering plants that oth
erwise might spread over several feet
of space. Most plants look better when
properly staked and kept pruned. Sun
r~—-——-—i
Easy to Cultivate.
anti plenty of air are necessary to al
most any vegetable or flowering plant.
HI likes can lie used for several sea
sons if cared for after the growing sea
son Ik over.
KEEP THE WEEDS OUT
Get After the Pests Before They
Take Your Garden.
General Weeding Every Few Days
Will Assure Grower Garden to
Be Proud Of.
"Keep the weeds out
To have a garden, either vegetable
or flower garden. It is necessary to
not only keep the weeds out, but to
kill them.
Weeds absorb the life of the soil.
They grow fust, and if allowed to get
a start are hard to light with any
degree of success.
Every cottuge owner or occupant
takes pride in his garden until lie sees
that it “has heen taken by the weeds.”
Then he loses interest and feels that
it is not worth while.
The best time to pet the weeds and
to keep them out of the purden Is to
r
Getting tr.e »V,:ecU.
pull them out as fust as they appear.
Hy weeding the garden and posy bed
every few days, there will he no trutt
hle from the obnoxious last.
SUNFLOWERS
Sunflower* are of easy culture. The
seed should bo planted in the open
•Carden In spring at about the time
that corn and beans are planted, or
about a week ufter the average last
fj jaL
BEES AND THE GARDEN
Honeymakers Gather the Sweet
From Blossoms.
Do Excellent Service in Carrying Pol.
len From One Plant to Another
—They Are Worth While.
Honey bees—two or three hives of
them—will prove a valuable invest
ment to the back yard gardener. Most
back yards have enough small fruit
trees, flowers and blossoming vegeta
bles to provide attraction for the bees.
They are among the busiest invaders
Homes of Hor.ey Bees.
of the growing vegetation, anti there
ure not many blossoms which they will
pass by—and, at the same time, they
carry the pollen front one plant to an
other. Tliis is absolutely necessary,
in some way, to cause the plants to
produce. When bees and birds do not
curry the pollen from one plant to an
other about the only other chance is
for the wind to jierforin the service.
Let the bees do tills important duty
whether they are houey or other kinds
of bees.
GET THE BUGS EARLY
Garden May Be Destroyed Un*
less Insects Are Killed.
Generous and Frequent Sprayings Are
Necessary to Insure Returns to
Industrious Gardener.
One of the principal of the numer
! otis slogans of tiie successful cottage
gardener is "Get the Bugs—and Get
| 'Em Early!”
Unless the bugs are killed before
they have time to breed, the gardener
has about as many troubles as he lias
when he has neglected the weeds.
The majority of young plants are in
fested with different kinds of bugs.
Flowers usually are as badly affected
Spraying Young Plants.
ns vegetables. The United States De
! partment of Agriculture says:
! One of the principal methods of com
: bating both diseases and insects which
attack plants is treatment with fuugi
! cides and insecticides.
Bordeaux mixture is used for a con
! trol of fungous diseases of many veg
etables and fruits and as a deterrent
| of flea-beetle attack. It can be pur
chased in convenient package form
i from seed dealers or prepared at home
from bluestone (copper sulphate),
which costs 10 to 25 cents |>er pound,
and fresh stone or lump lime (quick
lime).
Bluestone, four ounces; quicklime,
four ounces; water, 12 quarts. Or
bluestone. four pounds; quicklime,
four pounds; water, 50 gallons.
Dissolve the blue stone In a wood
en or earthenware vessel, using hot
water. Dilute with half the water.
I)o not use in tin or other metal con
tainers, as they would be spoiled.
Slake the lime by adding water, a lit
tle at a time. When reduced to a
milky fluid, dilute with the rest of the
water and strain through doubled
cheesecloth or a brass wire strainer
of 18 meshes per Inch and pour Into
it the bluestone solution. Stir well
and apply at once. This is best when
prepared fresb for each using.
SANDY AND CLAY SOIL
The chief virtue of sandy soil,
says the United States Depart
ment of Agriculture, is that the
roots of plants can pass through
it readily; its chief fault is that
It dries out too quickly. Clay
soil holds water well, but it
tends to pack and harden. Both
types of soil need stable manure
—it loosens up clay and helps
sand to hold moisture.
I
RECIPE FOR MIXING AND HANDUNG
DOUGH GIVEN BY FOOD SPECIALISTS
i--——-1
■
A Pie Like Mother Used to Make.
(Prepared by the United Staten Department
of Agriculture )
Every housekeeper, m the secret
places iu her soul, longs to* have some
one praise her pie. She can have pie
that can be praised if she follows
carefully the recipe for mixing and
handling the dough that is used by
food specialists In the United States
Department of Agriculture.
Plain Pastry for Double-Crust Pie.
P4 cupfuls flour 1-3 eupful'fat (a Ut
il 1-3 tablespoonful* tie more than u
water level tablespoon
fuls)
3-3 teaspoonful salt
Place the flour, salt and lard into
a bowl and cut with a biscuit cutter
until it looks mealy. Take out one
fourth cupful of the finely divided
flour-and-fat mixture to be used later
on the upper and under crusts. Add
the water gradually to the remaining
fiour-and-fat mixture, cutting with the
biscuit cutter until the water is even
ly mixed in.
Divide the dough into two approxi
mately equal parts, one for the upper
and the other for the under crust.
Shape each into a flattened ball and
roll until about five inches in diameter.
Take one of these flat cakes of
dough; place about one-eighth cupful
of the finely divided flour-and-fat mix
ture which was reserved, onto the
half of the dough nearest the worker,
and fold the other half over tlds,
pressing the edges together. Roll
slightly and fold the right side over
two-thirds of the way toward the op
posite edge; then fold the left side
similarly toward the right edge, thus
making an oblong piece of three thick
nesses. Fold this Oblong piece of
dough through the center to form a
square.
Shape tiie dough with the hands so
as to round the corners, thus muklng a
round cake. Roll lightly until the
dougli is large enough to cover the
pan. Cover the pan with the dougli.
taking pains to see that no air is in
closed between the pan and dough.
Put the pie filling In place.
Roil the upper crust in the same
manner as that described for the low
er. Cut perforations in the upper
crust to allow for the escape of steam.
Moisten the rim of the under crust
with water, place tiie top crust in po
sition, and press the two edges to
gether with tiie thumb. Trim the
edges with a knife aird press the edges
together again, using the tines of a
fork.
Bake 25 to 30 minutes in a mod
erate hot oven, 1. e., at about 450 de
grees F.
special romu 10 oe voserveu.
No more water should be added
than the recipe calls for. The proper- !
tious given have been tested lnnuruer- i
able times, and the addition of extra
water will only result in a cracker- j
like pastry. Extra flour will not off- i
set extra water because the propor
tions of the isitire recipe will then be
altered. If handled and measured cor- i
rectly this recipe is always satisfac- j
tory.
The old Idea that only ice water
should be used for all kinds of pastry
Is more or less of a superstition. On
the contrary, if the fat is very cold, as j
it will be if it is kept in a cold room
or out-of-doors In freezing weather,
hot water is better than cold for mix
ing the dough. In very warm weather,
however, it is well to use cold water
if the fat seems very soft.
In putting the pie crust on the pan
it should he cut enough larger than |
the pan to allow for shrinkage. It '
should be well pressed into the pan j
and around the bottom with the tin- ;
gers so that no air can be enclosed I
beneath it. A single pie crust or j
shell, baked as undercrust for a lemon
or chocolate or custard pie, should be
pricked with a fork ln*many places to
allow any air that Is below the crust
to escape; otherwise it will puff up In
the middle. The upper edge of this
undercrust should be rolled under the
edge of the pan. This gives a good
appearance to the finished pie.
In making custard pies, or those
containing juicy Iruits like cherries or
blueberries, a soggy undererust can he
avoided if, before tlie filling is put in,
tlie crust is baked for about ten min
utes or until the color starts to change.
It must not be baked until brown be
fore filling, for fear that the pie would
be dark and unpalatable. The fruit or
custard should be heated and added
to the partially baked crust while the
lutter is still In the oven; the baking
is then finished as usual.
When making a number of pies it is
worth while to glaze them by brush
ing the upper crust with a mixture of
three tablespoonfuls of uiilk to one
well-beaten egg. For a single pie it
would hardly pay to use the egg un
less what remained of the mixture
could be utilized for pudding, French
toast, or some other cooking. Brush
the glaze on with a fork wrapped in a
bit of clean muslin.
Custard Pie.
!■£ cupfuls milk Mi icaspoonful va
1 ess* nilla
■14 ’ »• Ni.’n^g
4
Prebake the crust for ten minutes
or until tbe color starts to change. Put
the milk and sugar in the double
boiler and bring to the scalding point.
Add the well-beaten eggs, salt and
flavoring. Pour tills into the previ
ously baked crust. Place in a mod
erately hot oven (450 degrees F.).
and allow the oven heat to reduce to
350 degrees F. Bake until the custard
is set.
A good spiced cornstarch pie
l>e made with vinegar flavoring.
Vinegar Pie.
can
lVs cupfuls water
V4 teaspoonful. cin
namon
V* teaspoonful mace
Vi teaspooaful nut
meg
Vi teaspoonful salt
2 eggs
3 t a b le s p oonfols
cornstarch
1V4 cupfuls brown
sugar
2 table spoonfuls
butter
2 table spoonfuls
vinegar
Mix tlie cornstarch with enough of
the water to make a paste. Mix the
remaining water, sugar, vinegar and
salt in a saucepan. When the mix
ture reaches the boiling point stir in
the cornstarch and allow it to cook for
several minutes in order to completely
cook the cornstarch. Add the beaten
egg yolks, butter and spice. Place in
a baked shell. Spread the top with a
meringue made of the two egg whites
well beaten, two tablespoonfuls of
sugar and one-fourth teaspoonful of
salt. Place tbe pie in an oven regis
tering 250 degrees Fahrenheit and
bake for 15 minutes. Increase the
heat slightly at the end of this period
and hake to a delicate brown.
SILKS AND LACES IMPROVED
At a Rule Color Obtained by Tinting
is Not as Permanent as That
From Dyeing.
Sometimes, especially with light
colored silks and georgette crepe, it is
convenient to give delicate tints by
some simple method. “Bluing” and
“pinking” are most often resorted to.
The United States Department of Ag
riculture find that, as a rule, the color
obtained by tinting is not so perma
nent as that from dyeing. There are
soup dyes on the market which may
be used for tins purpose, or a tinting
water may be made by soaking col
ored crepe or blotting paper, nr by
mixing a few drops of colored ink in
clear water.
A glass of tinted water held to the
light will show about the same color
that It will give to the material. A
piece of red crepe wrapping paper
will easily impart enough color to a
busin of water to restore a faded pink
crepe de chine waist to its original
shade. Violet or green ink or ordi
nary bluing will act similarly. A
small amount of regular dye can also
he used without boiling to tint silks.
The color of deep cream or ecrn lace
may be restored by tinting with tea.
Coffee is sometimes used, but it is less
desirable as it leaves an odor and
does not give so clear a tint. A cheap
grade of black tea is good for tinting,
or left-over tea may be used.
SALT AND WATER IN COOKING
Considerable Variation in Amount of
Moisture Absorbed by Cereals—
Table Will Help.
Cereals vary considerably in tbe
amount of \ruter absorbed as they are
rooking, specialists in the United
States Department of Agriculture
state. This fact accounts for the thin
oatmeal or the too thick grits which
sometimes appear from the hands of
an inexperienced cook. A cupful of
hominy grits should be cooked in twice
as much water as a cupful of Scotch
oatmeal, and it requires twice as much
salt as any other cereal. The table
below gives the proportions of salt
and water to use In cooking one cup
ful of cereal of the various kinds:
Salt. Water
Tea
Cereal. spoon- Cup
fuls. fuls.
Corn meat .1
Hominy (frits .2 4
Oatmeal (Scotch) .1 2
Oatmeal trolte-.l oatsl .1
j Cracked wheat .1 4
Household ®
1 @ Ques/Ions
Young carrots are nice mixed with
string iieans or peas.
• • •
An old sheet will often make a nice
pair of pillow cases.
* * •
Individual souffles of ham are nice
for the porch supper.
* • •
Oily water can be clearer] by adding
ing a few spoonfuls of cornmeai.
• • •
Buns will be nicely glazed if you
brush them lightly with evaporated
i u:,v.
l
Where Your Taxes Go
How Uncle Sam Spends Your Money
in Conducting Your Business
By EDWARD G. LOWRY
Author "Washington Cloie-Upi," "Bank* and Financial Systems/’etc. Contributor
Political and Economic Articles to Leading Periodicals ana a Writer of Recognised
Authority on the National Government’s Business Methods.
Copyright, Western Newspaper Union
XI.
OUR COSTLY NEGLIGENCE
“Co-ordination” is a tired, haggard,
nervous wreck of a word that was
nearly worked to death at Washington
during the early days of the war. It
was the first of the dollar-a-year words
to come forward to do war work, aud
It was worn to a frazzle. 1 hate to
drag the poor wan thing out from the
quiet retreat in my dictionary where
it has been resting ami recuperating,
but I must suy that this lack of co
ordination, iack of organization, du
plication, inefficiency, waste, and hap
hazard hodge-podge structure of the
national governmental machine is no
secret to those at Washington, who
run and manage it for us, and who are
even more directly responsible tliau
we are for the condition into which
it has fallen.
I submit pleas of avoidance and
confession from both Democrats and
Republicans, it is not a matter of
politics. It is a matter of proved and
confessed negligence on the part of
the men we have hired to run the ma
chine, and have kept year after year
In places of trust and power und re
sponsibility. They haven’t kept up
the plant. The form of organization
is grotesquely inadequate. The mor
ale of the working force is badly im
paired, as 1 have set forth at length
in previous articles. We have paid
the price for this, grossly and hugely,
in money and in poor service. This
has been costly negligence on our part.
I said I had confessions. Here they
are, Reed Smoot, Republican and a
senator from Utah, speaking:
The administrative branches of the
government have undergone no funda
mental change since the organization was
devised by Alexander Hamilton.
No other government in the world
could have gone on as ours has done, and
paid the bills Involved In our wasteful
methods of administration. We have been
able to do It because this country has
had resources and wealth unparalleled.
But the war has brought us at last to
realize that these will not last always.
We need a complete survey of the whole
situation de novo by a committee of men
willing to recognize that it is a task of
day and night for a year, and very likely,
two years. . . .
There is endless duplication of work
among different departments, and even
In the same department. ... It is
the same through all the government
functions, and now, when the burden of
carrying "our enormous debt is weighing
on tlie people, we can no longer neglect
to give It consideration.
When he said these things, Mr.
Smoot was urging a concrete proposal
I -
to bring about the reformation so bad
ly needed.
And now Franklin D. Roosevelt, for
seven years assistant secretary of the
navy and recently the Democratic can
didate for vice president:
The entire system of relationship which
exists between congress and the execu
tive departments Is fundamentally wrong.
L*t me illustrate: I made an otTer one
spring to the appropriations committees
of both house and senate, telling them
that 1 would tomoriow discharge 16 per
cent of tiie employees of the Navy de
partment if they, the committees, would
give me complete authority to take one
half of the salaries of the employees so
discharged and add It to the. salaries of
the other 85 per cent of the employees
still left in the department. ... Of
course, however, under the present sys
tem congress would not think of giving
executive discretion of this kind.
Congress, for various reasons, haB so
tied the hands of the executive officers
of the government that they have no dis
cretion in the fundamental Questions of
employment. ... My own wonder Is
that, considering the existing circum
stances, the employees of ths govern
ment are as efficient as they actually are.
Congress legislates for every minute Item
of employment. . . . There Is a lot
of work being done In other departments
which ought properly to be under ths
Navy department, and In the same way
there is a lot of work done by the Navy
department which could perfectly prop
erly be transferred to other departments.
After seven years down here In an ex
ecutive position ... I cannot help ths
conclusion that our governmental meth
ods are cumbersome and wasteful. Ths
first Improvement must come lh what is,
after all, the source of governmental ac
tivities- that is, the legislative branch. . . .
This must come from congress. We need
also a reclassification and redistribution
of the work of the executive depart
ments. This can only come If congress,
working In accord with itself and with
the executives, will discuss the whole
question simultaneously and not merely
piecemeal.
Well, there you are! A Republican
who lias been in the legislative branch
of the government for seventeen years,
and a Democrat who has been In the
executive branch for seven years, both
telling the same story of how badly
the national business Is managed.
The odd thing about It Is that our
agents and representatives at Wash
ington who let this waste and inef
ficiency run on, year after year, pay
no penalty. We pay the piper to the
tune of millions and billions—literally
that much. And the condition will en
dure until we make a real roar about
it. Congress increasingly shakes Its
head over the situation and briugs in
various proposals of reform, and says
how wrong It all is; but lacking a
lively, Inflamed public pressure, noth
ing gets done.
WE RE COLD TO REFORMS
!
We liave not had In our time a Presi
dent who was a business man or who
had close acquaintance with business
methods. The Chief Executives have,
for the most i>urt, not been executives
as that term is now understood. Any
thing but. They regarded the govern
mental machine os oue regards a hired
motor car—a piece of mechanism in
which to get somewhere, und with no
thought of its power-transmission
system or economy of operation.
Mr. Taft did sense the fact that he
was at the head of an organization
whose activities ure almost as varied
as those of the entire business world.
Mr. Harding. 1 believe, shares this
feeling.
As Mr. Taft pointed out, this great
organization lias never been studied
lu detail as oue piece of administra
tive mechanism. No comprehensive
effort lias been made, until very re
cently, to list its many activities or to
group them in such u way us to pre
sent a clear picture of what the gov
ernment is doing. N’o satisfactory
statement lias ever been published of
j the financial transactions of the gov
ernment as a whole. With large in
terests at stake congress and the ex
ecutive have never had all the infor
mation which should he currently
available if the most intelligent direc
tion is to be given to the daily national
business.
Congress, the President and the ad
ministrative officers have been at
tempting to discharge their duties
without full information as to the
agencies through which the work of
the government is being performed,
lu the past, services, agencies, bureaus,
what not, liuve been created one by
one as exigencies have seemed to de
mand, with little or no reference to
j auy scheme of organization of the gov
ernment ns n whole.
Mr. Taft poiuted out uil tills und
made an earnest effort to change it.
With what result? Why, just exactly
none. Congress was cold. The pub
lic—meaning you and me—was colder.
We didn't take any tuterest In the
project, and therefore congress po
litely yawned it away into the lull
grass and out of sight. Mr. Taft was
given enough money to employ an effi
ciency and economy commission and
to make inquiry “into the methods of
transacting the public business of the
executive departments and other gov
ernment establishments.”
The inquiry was made and the
chnnce"! recommended, but nothing
| Uv» cl cl UkClt ilbuu ttLvul il. XU1*
economy and efficiency commission was
very conservative and cautious. It
took Mr. Taft’s view that the prob
lem of good administration Is not one
that can be solved at one time. It is
a continuously present one. This
commission, made up of excellent men,
suggested that the revenue-cutter serv
ice be abolished and Its activities be
taken over by other services. It was
estimated that by so doing a saving
of not less than $1,000,000 could be
made.
Another report recommended that
the lighthouse and life-saving services
be administered by a single bureau in
stead of as at that time, by two bu
reaus located In different departments.
It was estimated that this consolida
tion would result in a saving of not
less than $100,000 yearly.
The abolition of the returns office of
the Interior department was recom
mended, at an estimated direct saving
of about $25,000 a year, in addition
to a large ludirect economy in the
reduction of work to be performed in
the several offices.
The consolidation of the six auditing
offices of the treasury and the inclu
sion in the auditing system of the
seven naval officers who audited cus
toms accounts at the principal ports
was urged. The change was expected
to produce au inunyiiute saving of at
least $135,000 yearly.
From this modest start other changes
and reforms and savings were to be
made
But we weren’t interested in the
! high cost of government or the high
cost of living eleven years ago. Mr.
! Taft didn't get a rise out of us. He
! didn’t have much of a pull with cou
; gress. either, poor man, aud all his in
! qulry went for nothing as far as any
| action was concerned.
| He and his commission did bring out
! and establish, however, certain facta
' aud conditions, it was a trustworthy
: aud competent Investigation as far as
; it went. That la something to the
; good.
There Is a patent disposition iu con
gress now to take the whole problem
of the routine administrative processes
of the government*under consideration
and see how best to improve them.
Whether anything really worth while
will come out of it will depend en
tirely on the degree of Interest you
display. If you will take the trouble
to show that you know that ihe na
tional business Is mismanaged and
costs too much, and that you si re tired
I ui it, 4k