The ranch. [volume] (Seattle, Wash.) 1902-1914, 1909-02-01
II THE HOME q
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ing in recent years. 1t has permeated
from our Agricultural Colleges to the
Universities, Normal Schools, High
Schools and private schools of the
country. 1t has come to be the case
that while riding on the train or street
cars one frequently hears the older
school girls chatting about their ex-
periences in pursuing this line of
study. 1t is in every way an encour-
aging feature.
At one of our Agricultural Colleges
the following are some of the practical
problems worked out by the girls:
What proportion of the family in
come may go for food and what is the
relation of expenditure for food to that
of clothing, shelter, education and
amusements?
Tabulated outlines for individual
and household accounts are worked
out under the general heading-Ne-
cessities, higher life and savings.
What Is the minimum cost per indi-
vidual of food sufficient to give nee.
essary nourishment? How much shall
this minimum cost be exceeded for the
sake of added attractiveness, in.
creased digestibility or adaptation to
individual taste?
Work out comparative cost of foods
considering cost Of raw material,
waste, preparation and serving. Elk
amples: Tender and tough cuts of
meat, eggs and meat, beans and meat,
rice and potatoes, etc. Which will
yield the greatest food value for the
money expended, potatoes at &c per
pound or rice at &C. Rice at 10c or
or eggs at 25c per dozen, etc.
Make out list of food from which
to choose for 10, 20, 80 and 80 cent
dietary. Plans of the well balanced
menu.
Make out a list of foods for a fam
lily of six allowing S. per individual
per month. Material bought at whole
sale and retail prices.
Each girl is given a dinner to pre-
pare for eight guests at given price
per plate (this last year the prices
ranged from zoe to 81 per plate).
The girl plans the menu, selects and
purchases the food, prepares and
serves the dinner.
Wooden, cotton, linen and silk ma
terials are studied from the stand
point of wearing quality. An itemized
list with cost of the articles necessary
for girls wardrobe for one year is
worked out.
Economy of labor as well as money
is considered in purchasing home fur
nishings.
Under the direction of Mrs. Ellen P.
Dabney, instructor in domestic sci
ence in the Seattle public schools, a
summer class in the same subject was
established at the State University for
the first time. Twenty young women
enrolled. Mrs. Dabney came here
from New York. She is a graduate of
the domestic science department Of
Columbia University, to which John
D. Rockefeller recently donated ST.
100000. She says:
"The result of instruction in domes-
tic science is to create a new interest
in things pertaining to the home.
Women are surprised to learn how in
teresting housekeeping may be made
If 1t is intelligently pursued. The
average college girl knows little or
nothing about housekeeping. She
drifts on toward matrimony with the
idea that she can learn how to keep
house in few weeks when she has
to, and then she finds to her chagrin
that she is at sea. The girl who is
absolutely averse to homework is an
exception, but most of them are woe
fully ignorant.
"Of course, there is drudgery in
housework, but no more so than in any
other line of endeavor. A woman who
has mastered domestic science, how
ever, can save enough money through
the knowledge thus obtained to
amount to $25 or $50 a month in a
large household, and this is enough to
hirn 10, Il IL