Evening star., 1915-12-18

worth Of that. One should always
first inquire the price by the pound.
and then see that the dime or the
quarter buys the proper fraction.
There is a recently enacted amend
ment to the famous pure food law,
known as the 'net-weight amend
ment" The net-weight amendment
was intended to protect the purchaser
of package goods of all sorts. but the
bureau Of standards finds that the
| thoughtlessness of the housewife robs
law. the net weight of the contents
| of each package of food must be
printed on the surface. The apparent
size of package is often deceiving.
tell exactly what she is getting.
Not enough attention is paid to the
| inconspicuous line of fine print that
tells met weight of contents 4
glass jar of olives, or beer, or fruit,
may look liberal. and really be large
| ly glass jar and not much contents.
The printed net weight tells the story.
You should always look for this. little
indicator. and calculate the net cost
of the commodity per pound. to be
| the same article sold in bulk.
Package goods have. of course, GER
tain advantages of their own. The
purchaser knows that they come to
often even packed by machinery. She
knows that the package article. es-
pecially of standard brand, is usual
Ily of high quality. Under such cir
dime for a ten-ounce box of
crackers, when crackers are selling
in bulk for 10 cents a pound. That
| is matter for Individual decision; but
the evil in. the present practice lies
| in the fact that few women realize
that they are making choice between
quality and quantity. They never stop
to figure out what their purchases
Treally cost.
| X
| Vigilance in this connection IS nee
| watching tlse
Dry Measures Often various meas
ures that are
Vehicles Of Fraud used to 1adle
out dry bulk commodities and liquids
Most false measures are the result of
simple fraud, but there is one prac-
tice so hallowed by custom that many
dealers seem to get the best of the
housewife with a clear conscience
This is the substitution of the liquid
quart measure for the dry quart. The
lquart for measuring dry commodities
a
than the liquid quart. Hence. to see
the measure marked 'One quart and
lheaped to the brim is not enough
safeguard. Take your purchase home
and see if it fills your standard dry
tQuart measure.
| Besides this little precaution. you should
see that dry measures are Of the right
shape-broad and shallow. rather than
tall and deep. Most state laws provide
that in measuring a quart OF onions. TOT
<I,4 clon he
full A deep measure with small cir
conference will not support nearly SO
much Of .heap' as a measure with
the same capacity that is lower and wider
Another Objectionable way OF buying
staple fruits and vegetables is by the bag
or sack Experts strongly recommend that
all dry articles be sold by weight ex-
cMsively
Not satisfied with convicting the house
wife Of primitive methods in her market
| ing, the investigators proceed to tell her
| a few things about the kitchen itself
which she probably never suspected. In
the matter of refrigeration. for example,
the common practice Of saving ice by
covering it with paper is condemned as
proceeding on exactly the wrong principle
The only way ice can cool anything Is
by melting; If you save it from melting
you keep it from cooling. The one really
efficient way to save ice is by getting a
good Notwithstanding -icebox in the first
place.
I The lady of the house is urged to eX-
plore her icebox and become familiar
with it's Individual idiosyncracies. She
will find that some parts of it are II to
IA degrees colder than others. Add to
| this the fact that difference of 10 de-
grees in the temperature of milk has an
immense effect On the time it will keep
bacteria will develop in milk fifteen times
as fast at 60 degrees as at 50-and II
becomes evident that the common prac-
| nf ANYHOW ir
the ice box is a serious mistake. Milk
and meat should have the coolest place
as shown by a thermometer.
There is little instrument, bearing a
but quite different in purpose. which
should really find a warmer welcome
In the kitchen, according to science
This is the hydrometer, a device for
measuring the specific gravity of liq-
uids. Specific gravity is the scientific
term for the thickness of fluid. The
hydrometer will tell you when your
jellies or candy sirups have boiled down
enough, and whether or no your milk
has the proper proportion of fat and
just drop it into the milk or sirup and
read the depth to which it sinks by a
little scale on the side.
Another piece of scientific apparatus
already found in every kitchen, but
| rarely worked
| Alarm Clock Usefnl to its full ca
in Every Kitchen. fn,nsss is the
everyday alarm clock The time ele-
ment in baking and boiling is largely
a matter of estimate with all but pro-
fessional cooks, and even the housewife
|
blindly follows a cook book, which has
| no means of being posted on the pecu-
liarities of her own particular range. It
| 10 he nj