RHUBARB ONE OF
BEST PRODUCERS
Early Spring Vegetable Responds
to Liberal Supply of Best
Soil Available
PLANT IN OUT-OF-WAT PUCE
Along Garden Fence Where Roots Will
Not Be Injured in Cultivation
of Rest of Garden Is
Good Location.
Rhubarb, or “pieplant,” as it Is
sometimes called, cannot be grown uni
versally, but is limited to certain defi
nite sections. Information as to
whether rhubarb will or will not grow
in a given locality can be obtained
from the local seedsmen or from neigh
bors who have had experience in grow
ing it.
Rhubarb is propagated by planting
pieces of the roots secured by divid
ing older bills, and six to ten bills will
usually supply plenty of rhubarb for
the average family, states the United
States Department of Agriculture.
Rhubarb should he planted exactly
lhe same way as asparagus, that Is.
the roots or crowns should be covered
four or five inches in deeply spaded
* ry
'___I
Rhubarb a Generous Producer.
and wi*U enriched noil; tlicre Is little
danger of having the soil too rich for
rhubarb. The hills should be three
and a half to four feet apart, if more
than one row is planted.
This wonderful staple of tlie* family
garden can generally he planted ulong
the fence where it will be out of the
way of cultivation.
The thick leaf stems are the part
used, and none should he pulled from
the plants the tirst year after seeding,
but ti large supply w ill be available
the second season, and the hills will,
us a rule, continue to produce satis
factory crops of stems for several
years, after which they should be di
vided and reset.
Ithubarb should receive the same
attention and treat me ;t during win
ter as asparagus, and the plants
should never be allowed to ripen and
seed. The roots may be brought Into
the greenhouse, pit, coldfnune, or cel
lar during the winter and forced.
By placing a barrel over a rhubarb
plant much longer and tender stalks
may be grown.
This is one plant that does not thrive
In warm climates. It is most popular,
especially III the sections where it is
grown, in the early part of the spring.
The use of rhubarb is principally for
making pies and sauces, and many
housewives can the stems for winter
use.
CHICKEN FENCE WIRE HANDY
Small Gardeners Will Find the Woven
Two Inch Mesh Valuable—Takes
Place of Stakes.
Many vegetable and (lowering
vines can he successfully grown on
chicken fence wire. In the fall the
wire can he taken down and used for
succeeding years for similar purposes.
It will enable the small gardener to
ruise more vegetables ami flowers titan
If they were allowed to lie on the
ground aud spread out over valuable
apace.
Cucumbers, limn and climbing string
licit ns. nasturtiums and numerous oth
er vegetables of spreading variety, ns
well as almost any vine-flowering
plants can he successfully tnilued on
the wire trellis permitting of the use
of ttie grouutl space ordinarily covered
by vines being used for something else.
? (live the vine plants plenty of alt amt
sunshine, and water when needed, and
they will give an excellent accounting
oJ . vi vi. the "e
*
TO GROW EARLY CABBAGE
ot
::i: ,lH
Cabbage is one of the most de
sirable of our early green or leaf
crops and should be Included in
every home garden. The seeds
should be sown indoors and the
plants set in the garden about
the time that danger of frost is
past, or a few plants can be pur
chased from the seed store. Cab
bage requires a rich soil, and the
plants of'the smaller curly sorts
should be set 18 inches apart in
eacli direction for hand cultiva
tion. It Is a good plan to pour
a little water around the roots
of each plant as it is being set in
the garden.
TOOLS THE BUST
GARDENER NEEDS
Hoe, Rake and Spade, the Com
bination Soil Tillers Find Abso
lutely Necessary.
WHEEL HOE IS LABOR SAVER
Little Implement Suitable for Small or
Large Garden; Trowels Are Handy;
Spraying Outfits Are Es
sential.
Willi the first warm days of spring
sounding the earth call, there is a
hasty scurrying around for the tools
of the gardening cult. A gardener can
get along fairly well with four, a spade
or spading fork, a hoe, a rake, and a
trowel. It is even possible to get along
without the last, but who wants to?
The art of gardening is reaching
such a point of special development
that there are tools for almost every
thing and the wise gardener by a care
ful selection will ease his work as
much us possible by securing appro
priate working Implements.
The greatest labor saver for gardens
of any extent Is a little wheel hoe.
Tills saves many a heudache. does tlie
work thoroughly, and has appliances
for various purposes which are inter
changeable from a little plow share
to cultivators of various kinds. It can
be used in the smallest garden.
There are numerous hoes of various
types and designed for different pur
poses. The pointed hoe for making
rows is a convenient tool. The hoe
with rake teeth on the hack of tile
blade is one of the very handiest all
around garden tools for light work
there is. It Is particularly well adapt
ed for women gardeners. Three toothed
cultivator hoes do a tine job of stir
ring the soil. Scuffle or shove hoes as
they are sometimes called that can he
pushed instead of pulled, permit hoe
ing rows which are too close to walk
between conveniently.
Trowels of various shapes to suit
various plants are now on the market,
stiff, sharply angled small bladed trow
els are ideal for splitting off pieces
from perennials which have grown so
large they need dividing for their best
growth. They are line to set under a
recalcitrant carrot or parsnip whose
leaves are so tender they part com
pany from the root, leaving it in the
ground.
Long bladed trowels ure especially
adapted for digging holes for gladiolus
or other bulbs in the spring and tu
Necessary Carden Tools.
lips and fall bulb«> later in the season
and equally useful In digging theiu up
There are little hand rakes which
are just the thing for hand cultivation
urnong plants which need special care
uud the earth kept stirred.
Sprinkling cans and sprays must he
added to every well regulated garden
outfit, especially a spray.
While lookiug over spraying outfit?
get iu a supply of poison for the pests
that devour and for the fungus that
blights. The seedsman will tell you
what to get. Bordeaux mixture for
fungus pests, purls greeu or some other
arsenical poison for those that eat the
leaves, and a tobacco poison of some
kind for plant lice are standard. Often
they cun be bought In, combination —
National Garden Bureau.
FRESH VEGETABLES EVERY DAY
What is a back yard good for? It
may be made to supply the uverng*
family with fresh vegetables througl
Jiv ^c-.suu.
FEED FURNACE DURING WINTER
TO CONSERVE SUPPLY OF FUEL
mm i;
TM 1
Of Much Importance That Heating Plant Be Thoroughly Understood.
(Prepared by the T'nited Stat?« Department
ot Agriculture )
The Average house owner burns too
much coal, principally because lie does
not know how to regulate his heater,
say engineers of the United States De
partment of Agriculture in Farmers’
Bulletin 1104, “Operating Hoine-Iieat
ing Plant," published by the depart
ment. Many rural homes are now pro
vided with furnaces, and the publica
tion was prepared as a guide to their
efficient operation, particularly in get
ting the most heat out of the fuel used
and in making the home as healthful
ns possible.
The satisfactory and efficient heat
ing of homes, according to the bulletin,
requires that the chimney due he of
proper size and in the proper place,
that the proper beating equipment be
installed correctly, that the plant be
understood thoroughly and operated
so that it gives the most heat from
tlie fuel consumed, that the house be
constructed so tliat the heat is held
In. that the air be kept moist, and ihat
enough fresh air be admitted either
continuously or from time to time to
avoid tlie discomfort or unhealthful
conditions due to accumulation of car
bonic-acid gas. In selecting fuel, the
bulletin suggests that different kinds
and sizes of coal should be Iried out.
Should Be Properly Installed.
The best and highest-priced heater
i improperly Installed may give less sat
j isfaetlon than the poorest and cheap
! est put in correctly, says the bulletin.
For this reason a man known to un
; derstand Ids business should install
I tlie plant. In selecting the furnace,
consult owners of homes who have
had experience in operating furnaces
of different types.
Practically all heating plants have
four dampers. A draft damper in tlie
door of the ash pit is opened to admit
air through tlie fire, which causes It
to burn rapidly. A check damper lo
cated in tlie smoke pipe Is opened to
admit cold air into tlie flue, tints in
terfering with tlie draft and retard
ing tlie burning of fuel in the heater.
Tlie damper located in the feed door
is used for tlie same purpose. Through
j it cold air Is admitted directly over
I tlie tire, and If opened wide it acts
j as a check. When reguluted properly
it admits just sufficient air to supple
ment that admitted through tlie draft
damper and causes more perfect com
bustion of I lie fuel. The smokepii>e
damper is located between the furnace ,
and the check draft and can be used j
to control the draft above the fuel In
windy weather or at night.
Ashes should not be permitted to ,
accumulate in the asli pit, as tills re
tards the draft and the heat causes
tlie grate bars to become warped and
bent. As a rule It is not necessary
to shake down the ashes more than
once or twice a day, except in very
cold weather, and shaking should be
'topped as soon as live sparks begin
to fall Into the ash pit. In mild
weather coal can be saved by permit
ting an accumulation of ashes in the
grate.
Sealing Cracks Saves Heat.
It is economy to seal the cracks
about doors and windows with weath- ;
er strips, and where the weather is
unusually cold, storm sasli is recom
mended. With a wind velocity of 15
miles an hour a crack of three-thirty
seconds of an Inch, which is much less
than the average for doors and win
dows, permits the passage of about
l1* cubic feet of air a minute for ev
ery lineal foot. An ordinary double
sash window (fid inches wide and 72
inches high) would thus admit HO cu
bic feet of air a minute. In a room
10 feet wide by 20 feet long, having
two windows of this kind, there would
lie required approximately 80 per cent
more heat units to heat it properly
than if the entrance of the air was
controlled and a complete change al
lowed once every hour.
In addition to maintaining a proper
temperature, tlie* moisture present in
the air Is a great factor in heating
homes. The water pan in tlie furnace
should always lie kept tilled, and oth
er means provided for the evaporation
of water in the living room. Not only
are rooms In which the air lias a high
percentage of moisture more econom
ically heated, but living conditions are
more healthful.
Copies of ttie bulletin may be had
upon request of tlie United States De
partment of Agriculture at Washing
ton, D. C.
CALORIMETER SHOWS
HARDEST HOME WORK
Washing, Sweeping and Scrub
bing Most Laborious.
Scries of Experiments Made on En
ergy Expended by Woman in Per
formance of Household Taeks
—Ways of Lightening.
(Prtpared by tbs United States Department
of Agriculture.)
It does not require a laboratory ex
periment to convince any woman that
washing and scrubbing are about ttie
hardest work she lias to do; hut it will
be interesting to many housekeepers to
know the order In which their tasks
rank when tested under laboratory
conditions. For this purpose a spe
cially designed respiration calorimeter
was used by the United States Depart
ment of Agriculture. The results were
measured in calories, for a series of Mi
experiments on energy expenditure in
.lie performance of household tasks.
It was found that such light tasks
is sewing, crocheting, knitting, darn
ing, and embroidering required an av
erage expenditure of nine calories per
hour more than that when the same
subject was sitting quietly in u clialr.
Washing, sweeping, and scrubbing
floors caused an Increased energy ex
penditure of about fifty calories per
hour over the expenditure at rest.
Ironing, dressing a child, and dish
washing each required about twenty
four calories per hour.
Ways of lightening the labor of va- \
rlous household tasks were also stud
ied. It was found, for example, that
when the height of the dishwushiug
table was varied the energy expendi
ture varied. If the subject worked In
a comfortable position ttie expenditure
of energy wus 21 calories un hour. It
was 25 calories when the wash pan
was set too higli so tiiat tier anus
were raised during work, and .SO cal
or!ts when she was old I gad to bend
I
i
INCREASE SEATING CAPACITY
Extension May Be Added to One or
Both Ends of Kitchen Table—
Illustration Explains.
An ordinary kitchen tulde may have
an extension at one or both ends that
will greatly increase its seating capa
city. When not required, (lie extension
is easily removed. Use the same thick
ness of hoard from which the table
is made for the extension. Cut tlie
VJ
Addition to Kitchen Table.
exact width of the table and as wide
as required—about one foot Is prac
ticable.
Cut two strips of wood four inches
wide, seven-eighths inch thick and
two and one-half feet Ions. Screw the
strips to tlie under side of the ex
tension so they will just come inside
the framework of the table. Well
fitting slots are cut in the sides of the
table through which the strips are
pushed to hold the extension securely.
KlOf INTEREST TO I
1diTHE HOUSEWIFE 1
l-'Ine sandpaper is u neat eraser for
ink.
• • •
Crease in the sink Is a very prolific
cause of disease.
# • •
Salad plants should be planted in j
relays, so that there is always plenty, j
* * *
Retain the full flavor of new p»- I
I taiocs L•} bw.iiUti Uieio iU Um( Skills. ,
Where Your Taxes Go
How Uncle Sam Spends Your Money
v in Conducting Your Business
By EDWARD G. LOWRY
Author "Washington Close-Ups," "Banks and Financial Systems," etc. Contribute*
Political and Economic Articles to Leading Periodicals and a Writer of Recognized
Authority on the National Government's Business Methods.
Copyright, Western Newspaper Union
IX.
NO REWARD FOR LOYALTY
What can a limn hope for who en
ters the government service as a
career? Let us 'look at some actual
cases. Here is the story of one as
told by E. J. Ayers, chief clerk, De
partment of the Interior. He cites it
as a case similar to that of many oth
ers in his department, and says there
are many others who are In worse cir
cumstances :
. “’I he records of our department
show that he entered the«**rvlce as a
laborer at $G60 a year, after a service
of three and a half years in the Uni
ted States navy as a first-class fire
man, with an honorable discharge. He
has been with us for more than thirty
three years, and is sixty-six years
old, and has given more titan half his
life to the service of the government.
‘‘He owns a little property three
miles beyond the Chesapeake Junc
tion, and he gets up early in the morn
ing. before daylight, and comes in to
work and goes out after dark at night.
Today he Is getting $840 a year. He
lias raised a family of nine children—
three of whom are now dead—eight
boys and one daughter. His elder
sons are married and have established
homes of their own. Two of his sons
were iu the military service in France,
and his daughter, twelve years old,
lives with her grandmother, where tie
is supporting, educating and clothing
her.
“He is a white man, a very intelli
gent man, eminently qualified for tills
particular line of work. His wife Is
dead. He is his own housekeeper and
he does the cooking and the washing
mid the ironing.
“His home was established In its
present location because it was not
thought practicable to raise a family
in the district, and he bought a piece
of property in Prince George’s coun
ty throe miles beyond tlie railroad
terminal, which distance, as I said, he
walks twice a day, leaving in the morn
ing most of the year before daylight,
and returning home by dark. This
small place consists of a shack and a
few acres of land on which he has a
morlgage of and you can judge
that lie enjoys no conveniences other
than the small house, which protects
him from the elements.
“The house is divided into four
rooms, the partitions being of paper
tacked to the framework, there being
no laths or plaster.
“The small stove standing in the
center of the room he lias used for
more than twenty years, and the pot
on the stove contains his Sunday din
ner, which lie has prepared for him
seif, consisting of white navy beans
and fatback. These beans are now
costing him twenty-five to thirty cents
a quart, and the fatback costa him
forty cents a pound. It could have
been purchased a few years ago for
seventeen cents a pound, and the beans
for ten cents. He does not get uny
fresh meat because he cannot afford
to buy it.
“To my mind it seems a pity that
the United States government should
employ men of that type, or any other
type for that matter, and not give
them enough to live on decently. It
is particularly a pity in this case be
cause lie is somewhat superior to
many of the employees. He has
stayed with us as a matte'* of faithful
ness to the government, and has
stayed with us when he could make
more in one week outside of the gov
ernment than we pay him for one
month.
“Others have left us, but instance*
of that kind have been very few. At
one time I had in our uuditorlum oor
employees and I made an appeal to
them to stand by us during the war
period, and there were more than 300
of them present, and they all of one
accord assured us that they would
stand by us and would give us the
benefit of their labor In our depart
ment during the war period, notwith
standing the fact that the price for
labor outside was a great deal mure.”
This curious pride in their work and
loyalty to the government and the
government service was a thing that
cropped up In the most unexpected
places.
As one employee put it: "I think you
will find that every service seems t«
be quite proud of Its work. I know
you will find It in our service as far
as compensation and such as that are
concerned. The pay in this office is
small, but that element, that feeliug
In a man's mind that he is really help
ing to accomplish good work and
helping tills government to function
well, Is really part of It. 1 find in all
my talks with employees that they
really feel proud of their work, and
that pride is really what gets things
done. 1 think that is true everywhere
in the whole service, and particularly
throughout the executive depart
ments.”
That is curiously true, and It is oue
of the reasons, possibly the chief ren
son, why men stay on in the depart
ments year afier year at a low rate
of pay and not much possibility ot
promotion.
READ LANE'S DIAGNOSIS
In hi* final report to the President,
upon completing his work as secre
tary of the interior, Franklin K. I.ane
sketched with a sure hand out of the
abundance of his experience the pres
ent Washington condition:
The call 1* for thinking, planning, engi
neering. statesmanship. For we are quick
ly passing out of the rough-and-ready
period of our national life, in which we
have dealt wholesale with men and
things. Into a period of more Intensive
development, in which we must seek to
final tiie special qualities of the individual
unit, whether that unit he an acre of
desert, a barrel of oil. a mountain
canyon, the flow of a river or the capac
ity of the humblest of men.
"To conquer and to master—the same
old tusk Is ours, but not In the same old
way. We have discovered this land and
made It ours, but this Is not the end
of our journey, for now we are to give
thought, the deepeet thought, to the waye
In which it may be made to yield most
abundantly In the things which a com
plex society with a most imperious curi
osity demands.
Washington is a combination of politi
cal caucus, drawing-room and civil serv
ice bureaus. It contains statesmen who
ure politicians and politicians who are
not statesmen, it Is rich In brains and
in character. It is honest beyond any
commercial standard. It wishes to do
everything that will promote the public
good, lfut it is poorly organized for the
task that belongs to It. Fewer men of
larger capacity would do the task better.
Ability is not lacking, but it Is pressed
to the point of paralysis because of an
infinitude of details and an unwillingness
on the part of the great body of public
servants to take responsibility. Every
one seems to be afraid of everyone. The
self-protective sense Is developed abnor
mally, the creative sense atrophies. Trust,
confidence, enthusiasm—these simple vir
tues of all great business are the ones
most lacking in government organisation.
We have so many checks and brakes
upon our work that our progress does
not keep pace with the nation’s require
ments. We could save money for the
government if we hud more discretion ae
to how we should use that given us.
For the body of the civil servants there
should be quicker promotion or dlechurge
and a sure Insurance when disability
comes. For the higher administrative
officers there should be salaries twice as
high as those now given, and they should
be made to feel that they are the ones
responsible for the work of the depart
ment, the head being merely an advleer
and a constructor of policies
As mutters are now devlged there are
too few in the government Whose busi
ness it is to plan. Kvery man la held to
detail, to the narrower view, which comes
loo often to be the department view or
some sort hr parochial view. We need
for the day that la here and upon us
men who have little to do but study the
problems of the time und test their ca
pacity at meeting them. In a word, we
need more opportunity for planning, en
gineering, statesmanship above, and more
fixed authority and responsibility below.
The employment methods of the sov
cruinent could he Improved. Under
tli* civil service law of 1SS3 s good
system of competitive examinations
and appointments on merit has been
built up fur the classes of positions
covered by the law. But beyond cer
tlfiearion by the civil service counnis
sion for appointment of those appli
cants who are proved by examination
to he eligible, the merit system is net
fully operative even in connection with
the positions to which it applies. Hap
hazard practices in assignments of
work and in promotions, over which
no central authority has Jurisdiction,
have brought about Inequalities which
are discouraging to the workers. This
condition and the relatively low sal
aries paid by the government cause
a “turnover” in government force*
that could not long be withstood by
a private business.
The readjustment of government
salaries in the District of Coluinblu
lias recently received the uitentiou
of the joint commission on reclassifi
cation of salaries, which was author
ized by a provision In the legislative,
executive and Judicial appropriation
act approved March 1, 1910. The re
port of this commission is now in the
hands of congress and its fate remains
to be seen. The report represents
many months of work and an effort to
present data which will enable con
gress to understand conditions as they
exist.
The present civil service law was
enacted to correct the evils of the
“spoils system” which had become in
tolerable. That the plan provided bjr
the law, that of appointments through
competitive examinations for certain
positions, has been a vast improve
ment over the old patronage method
is generally conceded; but the law
failed to be u completely effective in
strument by not providing for the ap
plication of the merit system to th*
more responsible and, therefore, tl»*
more remunerative positions.
The administrative offices, aside
from the cabinet, which do not tome
within the scope of the civil service
law, are postmasters at offices of the
first, second and third classes, col
lectors of internal revenue, collector*
of customs; registers, receivers, and
surveyors general of tiie land office;
assistant treasurers, surveyors, special
examiners, appraisers aud naval offi
cers in the customs service; super
intendents of mints, assayers in*miut*.
supervising inspectors in the steamboat
inspection service, commissioners of
immigration and naturalization, •»
slstant secretaries and heads of bu
reaus of the departments at Washing
ton, etc—about 15.000 positions la a%