For the young housekeeper, beginning with little or no knowledge, but
eager to do and know the right thing, not alone for kitchen but for the
home as a whole, the list of topics touched upon in Part I. became
essential. That much of the knowledge compressed there should have been
gained at home, is at once admitted: but, unfortunately, few homes give
it; and the aim has been to cover the ground concisely yet clearly and
attractively. As to Part II., it does not profess to be the whole art of
cooking, but merely the line of receipts most needed in the average
family, North or South. Each receipt has been tested personally by the
writer, often many times; and each one is given so minutely that failure
is well-nigh impossible, if the directions are intelligently followed. A
few distinctively Southern dishes are included, but the ground covered has
drawn from all sources; the series of excellent and elaborate manuals by
well-known authors having contributed here and there, but the majority of
rules being, as before said, the result of years of personal experiment,
or drawn from old family receipt-books.

To facilitate the work of the teacher, however, a scheme of lessons is
given at the end, covering all that can well be taught in the ordinary
school year: each lesson is given with page references to the receipts
employed, while a shorter and more compact course is outlined for the use
of classes for ladies. A list of topics is also given for school use; it
having been found to add greatly to the interest of the course to write
each week the story of some ingredient in the lesson for the day, while a
set of questions, to be used at periodical intervals, fixes details, and
insures a certain knowledge of what progress has been made. The course
covers the chemistry and physiology of food, as well as an outline of
household science in general, and may serve as a text-book wherever such
study is introduced. It is hoped that this presentation of the subject