ing of her childhood a half-century ago, incidentally remarks: "I
should have as soon thought of smoking my father's pipe as of reading
his newspaper. There were no papers at all for women and children, if I
except the _Court Journal_ for women of rank."

Just when cookery and household affairs became a part of the newspaper's
province, I do not know, nor is it my purpose to give its history. My
earliest recollection of anything in this line is connected with _Hearth
and Home_, an illustrated paper, the forerunner of the many household
periodicals of to-day. A leading feature was "Mrs. Hunnibee's Diary,"
furnished by Mrs. Lyman, afterward on the staff of the _New York
Tribune_. Her work was a worthy model for us to follow. Let us look at
the work as it is, and as it ought to be.

Count Rumford--one of the pioneers in the study of foods--has said: "The
number of inhabitants who may be supported in any country upon its
internal produce depends about as much upon the state of the art of
cookery as upon that of agriculture--these are the arts of civilized
nations; savages understand neither of them." Naturally, therefore, the
agricultural papers were the first to give space to cookery, and have
ever been generous in that way.

Newspaper cookery is not an inappropriate phrase, since too often the
"Home Column" in half our papers is simply a rehash of what has
appeared in the other papers of the country. The results of warming over
in the kitchen are very diverse, and they are equally so in newspaper
cookery; a rechauffe may be very sloppy or very dry, and give no hint of
its original components, when it should be a savory combination, the
ingredients of which have suffered no loss of flavor.

This does not include the class of articles which are made by careful
study of books of reference and form a new setting for fragmentary
information, such as is often lost if not rearranged; but what can be
said in favor of the sort of work where a standard recipe forms the
basis for a wishy-washy story?

Another variety of newspaper cookery to be avoided is the reporting of
demonstration lectures by those who know nothing of the subject and have
no conception of the lecturer's methods, or by those having a
superficial knowledge who attempt to interlard their own opinions
throughout the report.

Reporters having little or no knowledge of the literature of the kitchen
are apt to make rash claims for their favorite lecturers or for