ften necessary that she should
first be a learner. The agent of a New York charity tells of a
friendly visitor who was consulted by the agent about a family applying
for relief. They were found to have an income of $20.00 a week.
"Well," said the visitor, "that is very little money on which to raise
a family." The agent felt that this visitor had not only a great deal
to learn, but a great deal to unlearn.

Not every visitor is skilled in buying and preparing food, or in
arranging a household budget, and the visitor that is skilful in doing
this on one scale of expenditure may be quite ignorant and helpless in
dealing with another and much smaller scale. One who is really in
earnest, however, in the desire to help another, will never give up
because there are difficulties to overcome. The visitor may not know,
but as compared with the homemaker in a poor family, has far more time
and a greater facility, perhaps, in learning. The visitor's best
teachers are friends that have had experience, and the poor themselves.
One can learn a great deal from the more frugal and industrious of the
very poor, and these are proud to explain {66} their small economies,
when our reasons for wishing to learn are made clear to them.

Lacking these teachers, there are books, though books have the
disadvantage of never meeting the needs of any one locality.
Variations of climate, custom, and the local markets make specific
suggestions about buying difficult. For this reason I shall not
attempt to go into detail, but suggest that, as our relations with our
poor friends should be as natural as possible, when we do not know
anything, it is always best to frankly say so, and then think out with
them some way of learning. For instance, it would be natural enough
for a visitor to say to the homemaker: "We both feel that there is a
lot to learn about the best way of buying and preparing food. I have
an acquaintance that has made a study of the subject, and, with your
permission, I am going to bring her here, to give us both some
suggestions."

Scientific dietaries have been prepared with a view to teaching the
poor to use nutritious and economical foods. Professor J. J. Atwater,
Edward Atkinson, Mrs. Juliet Corson, and Mrs. Mary Hinman Abel are
authorities on this {67} subject. The Bureau of Associated Charities,
Orange, N. J., publishes a leaflet on foods, prepared by Mrs. S. E.
Tenney of Brooklyn. Taking Orange prices, a dietary is