ttle. If more than one kettle is
used a cushion should be made for each. The cushion must be thick enough
to fill the box when the kettle is in place. Cut two pieces of muslin or
denim the sizes of top of box and join with a strip which is four or
five inches wide; fill with same material used in packing the box. There
should always be a slight pressure when the lid is closed.

The box is now ready for cooking. If the whole space is not firmly
filled after considerable use, more stuffing should be added. If a
covering is wanted for the stuffing, the simplest thing to use is a
sheet of very heavy paper, at least one inch larger than the top of box;
draw a circle in center of it the size of the pail. From center of
circle cut with sharp scissors to edge, to strike it at intervals of
about 1-1/2 inch. Fit paper over top of packing so that circle will come
just over nest for pail. Place pail in nest and it will crease the paper
down at exactly the right place.

Since it is very important for the food to be placed into the cooker
while it is still boiling, the box should be placed as near to the stove
as possible. Everything should be ready before the food is taken from
the fire; the cooker open and the cushion removed. The box must be kept
tightly closed from the time the food is put in until it is entirely
done. If it is necessary to open the box before appointed time, the
contents must be reheated to the boiling point before it is replaced.
Though the time necessary to cook the foods on the stove is very short,
they must be boiled until heated to the center. Thus the denser and
larger the food, the longer it will take to heat.

THE ADVANTAGES OF THE FIRELESS COOKER.

One of the advantages of the fireless cooker has been mentioned--the
small amount of cooking over a fire, which means a great saving of fuel
and attention. The housekeeper may put the food into the cooker and
forget about it until meal time comes, busying herself in the meantime
with other things, or perhaps leaving home. She knows that the food is
not being ruined by burning, and that it will come to the table with its
full flavor unimpaired.

The pails used in a fireless cooker are easier to clean than pans which
have had the food burned into them, and the kitchen is never made a
degree warmer by use of the cooker, which is certainly agreeable during
the hot summer weather, and even onions may be cooked without the odor
pervading the house.

Nearly