In this point the woman without a domestic has the advantage over the
woman with a servant, and she with one maid-of-all-work is better off
than she who keeps two. Every extra mouth counts, and the waste caused
by each added Bridget or Gretchen is incalculable. The only redress
which the housekeeper with a servant has, is constant vigilance and
personal supervision, and even then she is the loser. At the South the
servants are used to having provisions kept under lock and key. Each
day the mistress deals out the requisite flour, butter, eggs, etc.,
and the cook is perfectly satisfied. Were a Northern housekeeper to
adopt this system she would soon have the misery of engaging new
servants. The Irish and Germans among us are not accustomed to such
restrictions, and will not tolerate them.

To utilize the little "left-overs," then, Mary must make up her mind
to do much of her own cooking. If she has a servant in the kitchen,
she may frequently so exchange work with her that the preparation of
dainty dishes will fall to her share. Norah may sweep the parlor, wipe
up the hall floor, or wash the windows while her mistress is attending
to cooking too delicate for the domestic's fingers. The servant may do
what I call the heavy kitchen-work, such as preparing vegetables for
cooking, chopping meat, peeling potatoes, etc., and she should always
be allowed to wash pots, pans and kettles, after the cooking is done.
But if the mistress will spend half an hour in the kitchen before each
meal, John will soon discover that his food has a delicacy of flavor
and is served with a daintiness imparted only by a professional French
cook,--or a lady.

Another of the petty economies which is not belittling is the washing
of one's own dining-room dishes. The money saved by this process is