e
before her she is so absorbed in them that no question put to her by any
one standing at the door of the cage would any more reach her mind than
if she were dead. In a moment she hands the papers to the proper person
with the correct statement; then that is over and she is ready for the
next. She has done this work every day for sixteen years, and she looks
young and blooming. This woman is working for herself; but she is doing
her work so excellently that it becomes a universal benefit, inspiring
us to imitate her efficiency.

As the home is the reason for being of the farmstead, the woman therein
is making good her partnership if she is taking care of her housekeeping
and family duties. Her contribution is being made. But the farm and the
home are so closely interwoven that she is of far greater importance
than this shows. She is a true partner and is worthy of all the rights
and duties that this indicates. If the woman is not the keeper of books
for the farm business, it is at least her right as a partner to have the
books of the business always open to her. To see the books would be the
first request of any partner.

One of the best farmers, who was also one of the best of men, affirmed
that he was not in the habit of confiding his business matters to his
wife. She on her part was one of the most loyal and most refined of
women, the mother of wonderful children, and the very effective though
unencouraged worker by his side for many years. His thought was that he
would take the whole responsibility for the support of the family; he
did not want to bother the rest of the household about details of
business. One summer he lost a thousand dollars through the bad outcome
of a bargain, but he did not tell his wife of this. Then after a while
he made five thousand dollars more than usual--but neither did he share
this news with her. Do you not think that if that wife had known that
summer that there were four thousand extra dollars that might be
depended upon for the use of the home, she would not have used two of
them in the development of an efficient kitchen, placing a set of
machines there that would have given her hot and cold water at hand,
some form of power for the washing-machine, dummies, dust-chutes, ice
chests, fireless cookers, lighting, wheeled trays, and all the necessary
paraphernalia to put her household on an efficient basis--by this means
not only lifting her own work up to the place of a scientific l