DOMESTIC MANAGEMENT, financially considered, may be defined as the art of making a given income go the furthest possible in procuring for a family the means of word living being understood in its wider and higher sense. It being assumed, as a fundamental maxim, that the outlay shall be within the income, the lead ing object of the art is rightly to apportion the outlay among the different requisites. How this is best to be done, can be discovered only by large experience; and if a young housekeeper were to begin her career without some indications of the path she should follow, she must fall into serious mistakes, occasioning loss and discomfort. Not that any amount of previous instruction, whether written or oral, can give the skill of expe rience; but attention to some of the more important maxims may help to avert very serious errors while the lessons of experience are being learned. By way of outline charts for this rather intricate navigation, we give here four schemes of household ex penditure, based upon experience, and adapted to some of the more extensive classes of the British community, prefacing the schemes with a few general and miscellaneous observations.
It is a very safe rule, that the best quality of food is the cheapest in the end: "it goes further"—i.e., it gives more nourishment; but those who require to practice economy may, by going to market themselves, purchase good meat at a cheaper rate than they would if they sent for it, from reasons known to experienced buyers, such as the pieces they select not being called prime cuts, not being so well-shaped, etc., which in no way takes from the wholesomeness of the article. Again, good cooking renders things more digestible and nourishing; bad cooking is absolute waste, to say nothing of the injury it does to the stomach. How meat is rendered tender by boiling or broil ing, without having its nutritive qualities extracted, is described in the articles Bothixo and BROILING. For the time necessary for roasting, baking, stewing, and frying, good instructions are given in the very useful works, The Dictionary of DailyWants, and Mrs. Beeton's Book of Household Management, where not only the mode of cooking, but the actual cost of each dish, is given.
Some books on housekeeping recommend that coal should be bought when cheap, and that groceries should be purchased in large quantities; but this is open to objections, that coal occupies a larger space than can be spared in small houses; that many articles of grocery waste in quantity or deteriorate in quality by keeping, as sugar, which loses weight, and tea, which loses aroma; and that both coal and grocery in masses, are apt to be wasted by servants, children, and thoughtless persons, from the circumstance of having large quantities to go to. Groceries may be bought cheaper in this way; and it is only personal experience that can decide in every case as to their being really cheaper.
Candles and soap are the chief things that certainly improve by keeping. Candles should be hung up, if dips, but molds should be stored in boxes, and covered and kept in a dry place. Soap bought in bars, in as dry a state as possible, should be cut in lumps, six to the bar, and laid on shelves, to harden slowly.
A thorough knowledge of the art of choosing material for clothing, and making and cleaning articles of apparel, is also highly necessary, and, like good marketing for food, can only be acquired by practice. Many things must be considered in this kind of purchase; the evenness of the threads in cotton and linen fabrics, softness of texture, freedom from what is called "dress." In printed goods, the same rule is to be observed as to evenness of weaving, in addition to which, those kinds should be selected that have the pattern printed through, so as to show on the wrong side, and of a lilac or dark-blue color, as being the best for washing. Flannel goods should be chosen for their regular make, good width, and softness; and flannel articles should be made larger and longer than necessary, to allow for shrinking when washed. Good patterns for making from should be obtained, well-fitting and appropriate dress lasting longer and looking better than what is put together iu an inconsiderate, slovenly manner; a clever needlewoman, like a clever cook, is the most truly economical one. The same remarks apply to furniture chintzes and linens for sheetings, etc. Articles chosen for glare and show, without regard to their being in keeping with the general style of the room or house, of a flimsy, irregular, or ill-printed make, must certainly turn out unsatisfactory and wasteful.
The accompanying scales relate to prices in London and other large English towns, and reckoned on the allowance of a loaf and a half of bread (weighing 4 lbs. to the loaf) for each individual. Young children consume less bread than full-grown persons, but they require more milk and sugar; therefore the scale can be equalized according to circumstances. Puddings and vegetable food for the children must also influence the amount for butcher's meat. It is supposed in these scales that the husband dines at home; if he dines in the city, or elsewhere, a reduction must be made in the butcher's, baker's, grocer's, and publican's bills. Half a pound of butter, and half a pound of sugar, are the usual weekly allowances for each person. If the children are too young to be educated, the money allowed in the following scales should be saved till they are Older.
[This income could be improved by having lodgers, who would help to pay the rent, and also if a plot of kitchen-garden ground could be obtained. Since the above scales were prepared, the price of butcher meat, butter, and sundry other articles has risen considerably. This must therefore be considered.]