Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1883-08-03

There is period in almost all households
when the desire to cut down expenses be-
comes a necessity, As the children grow the
cost of their maintenance increases They
must be educated more, and perhaps better
material is required for their clothing and
they consume a greater amount of God.
The income which was amply sufficient to
supply all their needs while they were tod
oilers must be made to cover the enlarged ex
pensos Of enlarged bodies. Tho income it.
self may, from one cause or another, have
been reduced, or the prop of the family may
have laid his burden down Just Mt the time
when the fruits Of his busy brain and indus
trious hands were most needed TO supply the
wants of hungry young mouths and active
young miuds and bodies Whatever may be
the cause which makes retrenchmont seem
necessary, the first thing that generally oc
ours TO the heads Of tho family il to cut down
the cost Of eating and drinking. 1t may be
that there is little scope for cutting down
these items of expenditure, but, neyerthe-
less, how to still further reduce the amount
Of the butchers and grocer's bills becomes
the primary consideration.
Many books have recently been written on
tho art Of economizing and the columns Of
the daily press have teemed with suggestions
as to how to reduce the price of living to "A
'dime day" or even less. These have all
been eagerly read showing how real is the
desire to obtain the greatest amount of com
fort from the smallest outlay. Whether they
have ever been productive Of any great
amount of good is another question, but it is
fair to assume that they have not been entire
ly without their result. Undoubtedly, some
of these experiments are well enough. AS ex
periments, to show that life may be sustained
on a very mengre supply Of food But as
rula fbia ~ NJ biat 90 bor1ty Ia, uaid 10
answer the purpose of furnishing the requi.
site amount Of bone and sinew to enable one
to go on indefinitely. However, the extrava-
gance of American housekeepers is notorious
1t has been frequently said, and probably
with some shadow Of truth, that q French or
German family would live comfortably on
what an American family in the same station
in life throws away. This is not as it should
be. In the first place. If the housewife truly
desires to reduce the expenditure Of the fam
lily cuisine ii is necessary that she should have
all of her stores under her own supervision.
The maid cannot be expected to save in small
things AS will the mistress who has something
10 gain from economy. She will throw away
the bones from roast meats and the water
from boiled meats, which make excellent
soups. She will waste pieces of bread and
pare away large proportion Of apples or po
tatoes with their skins. Iu hundred WAYS
she will waste where she might save. Prop
erly stewed meats are a. pelatable and per
hRps more nutritious than roast meats. 1t will
be readily seen that in the stewing process
none Of the juices are lost. The vegetables
left from dinner may be converted into tooth
some salads or made to enter into the compo-
stion of the next days soup or stew, with no
detriment to the delicacy of its flavor. Rem
nants Of cold meat recooked with goodly
quantity of rice form dish not to be de-
spised. In fact, there is no end to the econ
omies Of the kitchen, and it il not beneath
the dignity of any wise woman to bestow her
attention upon these apparently trivial mat
tiers. Nor need she fear that in expanding
some part of her energies in this direction
she will become small and sordid There IL
a wide difference between economy and
meanness. Philadelphia Record