New-York tribune., 1906-08-05
DELIGHTS OF COUNTRY.
Food PrOUes Dearer and Poorer
than in City. =

The gospel of the Simple Iife' in the country
has been preached so persistentIy that one who
had never been there would imagine that the
country was the panacea for all the ills Of the
city. When judged from the views Of one man
who has tried 1t in the heart Of New Jersey,
this is not quite accurate.
1--WE anticipated said he, 'living on the fat
Of the land at almost no expense. judging from
statements heard and read on the low cost OF
living in the country. To be sure. we paid a
very small rent for the shack we occupied. but
then we were paying for the unOccupied apart
ment in the city, so adding them together the
item Of rent a month was more. not less, than
usual.
Our first sad discovery was that bread was
eight cents loaf IN that little. forsaken Jersey
town. whereas we had never before paid more
than five cents
Being very fond Of lettuce, we counted on
frequent salads, but, to our surprise, no lettuce
was raised by the man ON whose farm Of more
tnan three hundred acres We were settled. We
must go mile and a half for head of lettuce.
Berries, sold by a truck farmer who lived
within two miles OF the place and who passed
once q week, were II cents and 10 cents a
quart. We had been paying 10 cents at home
But were not these berries better? you ask
Sometimes they were. and sometimes they were
not
"Ours was mostly vegetable diet, but at long
intervals, for a change, we INDUCED in little
meat Visiting the butcher shop, the best thing
for quick cooking that could be found was a
sirlOin steak 1t was not eaten because Of its
condition, and we did not again visit that shop.
Learning there was another market in the ad-
Joining town, We patrOnized it.
'The place had a clean, well kept look and
the chops bought were very nice and tender.
In the city. The second visit to this place was
a warm day, and the customer saw meat
about and wondered why IL was not in the ice
box. In preparing for dinner the chopped steak
bought on that occasion, four flies were counted.
ground up with the meat. These were the only
VOIa oo11IA ho0 Va6
I'VE decided to stick to a vegetable diet, with
variations Of canned fsh-being afraid OF canned
meats since the recent disclosures.
Planning picnic supper under the trees one
Sunday evening. opened box Of sardines,
obtained at the only grocery store. They looked
most unappetizing, being in small scraps. Not
one whole fish distnguishable They were
gingerly sampled. which proved them not to be
sardines What they were it IS hard TO saw
They were thrown to the chickens
"An order was sent to this same grocery store
for the best creamery butter. Il was found to be
not only almost tasteless. but malodOrOus and
IN appearance was most dfsagreeable- 1t was
in small. crumbly. dirty chunks and cost what
was paid for the best butter sold in rectangular
cakes in the city.
''In a country where butter is made, and living
on a farm where there were thirty cows. we did
think we should have Jared better. But no but
ter was made on the place. Later it was learned
that there had been a mistake in filling the Or
der. This was not the best grade. After that
only a shade better than that first sent. It was
still in small, crumbly chunks, and much in-
ferior TO that Obtainable in the city.
"The New Orleans nnOlasSes (sO-called) was
worth studying. There seemed 20 be a black
sediment in It. The gingerbread made with it
though the oven was in most excellent baking
color, in spite OF the fact that real cream was
used.
Eggs, which were delicious. cost the same as
those in New York. Milk, also delicious cost
five cents quart. 1t eight in the city But
one member Of the family did not like milk and
the other was forbidden 20 drink it.
All the water came from we'll about sixty
feet from the house There was no drain so
after being used the water was thrown from the
door
"But we did not starve. and no one could take
from us the liberty Of dressing as we pleased
and the luxury of lying under the great shade
trees. on the grass or in the hammock and in
haling all we could Of the glorious air. QTor we
were more than eleven hundred feet above the
sea level) That was free and priceless"