contrivance many scraps of meat and bread can be utilized; the cost of one is 10s. 6d.  A pestle and mortar, too, will be found of great use in making up odds and ends into dainty tit-bits; these, too, cost about 10s. 6d.  Wire and hair sieves are invaluable for preparing soups and many other dishes; sieves with a wooden rim will be found the most durable; they cost 2s. 6d.  Each.  Agate iron saucepans are light and durable and very easy to keep clean; they are much better than the blue enamelled ware, as they do not burn so readily or chip so soon.  Frying pans are nice, too, of the same ware.  A set each of wire and metal dish-covers must not be forgotten; the latter should be of plain blocked tin, and as the fluted ones soon get shabby, these should be well washed inside and out with scouring soap and polished with Goddard’s plate powder.  A French fryer is invaluable; it will cost 7s. 6d.  Three or four pounds of dripping clarified should be put at first; this will require straining.  After being used once or twice, the fryer should then be washed out with soda water, well dried, and the fat put back; it can be renewed from time to time with some fresh fat, and it will keep good for weeks.  When it looks very dark throw it away and start with a fresh lot of fat; it can be used for fish, rissoles, fritters, &c., and one can never tell that anything has been fried in it before, if it attains the right heat before the FRITURE is put in.  It should be between boiling water heat (212 degrees) and boiling fat (600 degrees), 385 degrees being exactly right, and can be tested by dropping in a small piece of bred.  If it browns instantly it is ready; whatever is put into it will fry in two or three minutes.  Food cooked in this way will not be so greasy and indigestible as it often is if cooked in a frying pan.

And now, last and most important of all, the stove; for although we may do without a great many things which are nice and useful to have, without a stove it is impossible to cook well.  It may be for gas, wood, or coal, but it must act well.  Gas stoves are extremely simple, clean, and easy to use, there are no flues to get choked, and in towns where gas is cheap it is no doubt the easiest and pleasantest heat to use.  To keep them clean and sweet they should be well washed inside and out with soda and water at least once a week and polished with a little Electric black lead.  The flues of wood and coal stoves should be thoroughly cleansed out once a week, and the oven cleansed with soap and soda; this is very necessary work, for if the ovens are not clean whatever is cooked in them will be spoilt.  A little thoughtful care in these matters will often prevent much trouble when cooking.  Let a housekeeper, therefore, thoroughly master her stove first, and understand the flues and dampers, for only in this way will she be able to successfully cook the dishes she has skilfully prepared.  Cleanliness and care in respect of the stove and kitchen utensils generally