The ordinary coffee cup, which holds half a pint, is the common standard of domestic measure. A common-sized tumbler holds the same amount. Cups and tumblers, however, vary more or less in the size, and are not well adapted for use as measures on account of their curvature. A cup is smaller at the bottom than at the top. Hence to measure half a cup ful in a coffee cup it must be ffiled a little more than halfway up. The ideal utensil for this purpose is a standard measuring cup, having straight sides divided into fourths and thirds, and containing half a pint. Measuring cups of glass are the most convenient, as it is easier with them to see when the measurements of small quantities are level. Also they do not rust and can be more eas ily kept clean. A common tin meas uring cup is, however, useful and convenient. Either of these can be obtained at any good 5- and 10-cent store or mail-order establishment.
Spoons also vary in size. Hence it is well to use the same spoon in meas uring or to use the small measuring scoop spoons, which are obtainable in different sizes. The use of the same spoon throughout in making up any recipe will keep the proportions correct. A heaping spoonful is all the spoon will hold. To get a rounded spoonful, fill the spoon and shake it until it is slightly rounded on top.
Tables of Domestic Measure.—The following are tables of domestic liq uid and dry measure with compara tive measurements by spoonfuls, cup fuls, and the weight of distilled water. It will be noted that a tablespoonful, liquid measure, is divided into four teaspoonfuls, but that the tablespoon ful, dry measure, is divided into three teaspoonfuls only: Domestic Liquid Measure 10 drops 1 saltspoon.
4 saltspoons 1 teaspoon.
4 teaspoons 1 tablespoon.
4 tablespoons 1 basting spoon.
2 basting spoons 1 gill.
2 gills 1 cup.
2 cups 1 pint.
2 pints 1 quart.
4 quarts 1 gallon.
Domestic Dry Measure 4 saltsPoons 1 teaspoon.
3 teaspoons 1 tablespoon.
12 tablespoons 1 cup.
8 tablespoons, heaping 1 cup.
Measurement by Water I oz 1 teaspoon.
i oz 1 tablespoon.
2 oz 1 basting spoon.
4 oz 1 gill.
8 oz 1 pint.
16 oz 1 quart.
Measurement by Spootur 10 drops 1 saltspoon.
4 saltspoons 1 teaspoon.
4 teaspoons 1 tablespoon.
oz. water 1 tablespoon.
1 basting spoon 4 tablespoons.
1 gill 8 tablespoons.
1 gill 32 teaspoons.
1 cup 64 teaspoons.
1 cup 16 tablespoons.
1 cup 4 basting spoons.
Measurement by Coffee Cup or Common Tumbler 64 teaspoons 1 cup.
16 tablespoons 1 cup.
4 basting spoons 1 cup.
2 gills 1 cup.
pint 1 cup.
8 fluid oz 1 cup.
1 pint 2 cups.
1 quart 4 cups.
Weight of Food Stuffs 'Used in Cookery.—The following is ti com parative list of the bulk and weight of different articles of common do mestic use. These will be found to vary slightly, but are as accurate as can be given and have been proved by universal experience to be suffi ciently correct for a.11 practical pur poses: Cooks' Complete Time Table.—The question which is frequently asked by housekeepers, How long is it necessary to cook this article or that? is not easily answered. Several factors enter into the calculation. Among these are size, especially as to thickness; age, as effecting the tenderness or toughness of meat and the softness or hardness of vegetables; temperature, and others. Closely allied questions are the degrees of temperature at which different substances cook, tem perature produced by different kinds of fuel, time required to digest differ ent articles of food, and the like. It
is not possible to answer all these questions exactly without a knowledge of all the conditions surrounding the individual case. Hence it is always necessary for the housekeeper to use good judgment. But the following table is based upon the practical ex perience of the best cooks and other authorities, and will at least afford a basis of comparison. The various con ditions likely to be met with in pra,c tical experience are, as far as possi ble, indicated: Paper Measure.—The mode of meas urement by counting and otherwise employed by paper manufacturers and dealers, printers, and the book and stationery trade is a source of confusion to many persons. Paper, like other commodities, can be most accurately measured by weight, and it is accordingly bought and sold at wholesale by the pound.
Paper can be made to order in any desired size, and with large orders this is customary, to avoid waste. For convenience, however, in defer ence to custom, paper is ordinarily kept in stock by wholesale dealers, cut to various eonvenient sizes, and sold by count according to the follow ing table: 24 sheets 1 quire.
20 quires 1 ream.
2 reams 1 bundle.
5 bundles 1 bale.
1 bale contains 200 quires or 4,800 sheets.
480 sheets 1 ream.
A somewhat different table of meas urement is used between printers and paper manufacturers (on account of the waste of paper from soiled sheets and otherwise in printing) as follows: 24 sheets 1 quire.
20 sheets 1 quire, outsides.
25 sheets 1 quire, printers'.
20 quires 1 ream.
21* quires 1 ream, printers'.
2 reams 1 bundle.
4 reams 1 bundle, printers'.
10 reams 1 bale.
60 skins 1 roll of parchment.
Now, for convenience in counting, 500 sheets are more often called a ream, and the word quire is used only for the folded note paper, other paper being usually sold by the pound. Quotations are ordinarily made in cents per pound. But the number of pounds in a given ream of paper is de termined by the thickness of the in dividual sheets, and the weight in turn determines the price per ream. Hence it is eustomary in the paper trade to refer to paper as 40 pound, SO pound, or 100 pound stock, mean ing the number of pounds required to make a ream of O. known sized sheet of the stock in question. A bill for paper properly expresses all of these particulars. For example: 32 X 45 /500/105 @ 5 cts., $5.25, signifies that the sheets in question are Sr X 45" in size, that 1 ream, containing 500 such sheets, will weigh 105 pounds, which, at 5 cts. per pound, would amount to $5.25 a ream.
Stock Sizes of Paper.—The follow ing sizes of vt,rious grades of paper were formerly recognized generally by the trade and kept on hand in most wholesale printing houses. This is still the case to some extent; but the sizes recognized by these trade terms vary considerably, and the present tendency in the trade appears to be in favor of dropping the use of these trade terms, and in buying or selling to quote, in all cases, the size of the sheet only: Printing Paper (Used in Printing Newspapers and Books)