Ontario Teachers Manuals: Household Science in Rural Schools | Page 7

possible infection
to the next food that is put in. Every part of the kitchen and store-rooms
should be kept clean, dry, and well aired. Light is the best germicide
and purifier known.
Covered receptacles should be secured for all foods. Those that are
mouse-proof and insect-proof are essential to a well-kept pantry. All
bottles and cans should be neatly labelled and so arranged that each one
can be conveniently reached. The outside of the bottle or case should
always be wiped off after it has been opened and food has been
removed from it. The shelves on which the cases are kept should be
wiped off every day. If supplies of fruit or vegetables are kept on hand,
they should be looked over frequently, and whatever shows even the
slightest suggestion of spoiling should be removed. Bread should be
kept in a covered tin box, and the box should be washed out once or
twice a week and frequently scalded and aired.
PRELIMINARY PLAN
If cooking lessons are to be given, it will be well to take this lesson on
the care of foods in connection with the first cooking lesson, and to
make it a means of arranging for the materials that are to be kept on
hand and of determining how everything is to be handled.
METHOD OF WORK
Devote a large part of the lesson to a discussion of the necessity for
care in the handling, storing, and keeping of foods. If facilities permit,
devote a few minutes to the putting away of foods that are to be used in
the next cooking lesson or in the school lunch, discussing the reasons
for such care.

LESSON IV: DISPOSAL OF WASTE
SUBJECT-MATTER
If the daily disposal of waste is attended to, there will be no undesirable
accumulation of garbage. Scraps of food that cannot be utilized for the
table should be fed to the pigs or the chickens and should not be
allowed to stand and gather flies. A covered pail or pan should be used
for holding the garbage, until final disposal is made of it. Those
portions that are badly spoiled and will be of no value in feeding the
stock should be burned at once. Waste vegetable substances, if suitable,
should be fed to the stock, and if not, should be buried in a thin layer on
the ground at some distance from the house, so that they may enrich the
soil.
Old papers that are badly soiled should be burned, but all others should
be kept for use in cleaning the stove, starting the fires, etc. Empty cans
should be well washed and buried, so that they will not prove a
breeding-place for flies. It is well to pierce them through the bottom
immediately after opening them, so that they will not hold water.
Dish-water should be emptied at some distance from the house, unless
there is a drain nearby. All receptacles that hold water should be
carefully emptied, and all depressions in the soil should be filled, in
order to prevent mosquitoes from breeding. All waste water should be
used on the garden.
Protection of the water supply.--Only the water from deep wells should
be used for drinking purposes, because all surface water and water in
shallow wells becomes dangerous through seepage from compost,
pig-pens, privies, and other places where decayed organic matter may
accumulate. In order that the water may be kept clean, the well must be
supplied with a tight-fitting top which need not be opened and a metal
pump to bring up the water. A well platform that allows the water
spilled on it to run back into the well is unsafe, for any filth carried on
the platform in any way will be washed directly into it. Rats, mice, and
other animals get into the well if the top is not tight, and these, in

addition to being unpleasant, are liable to introduce disease germs.
Simple disinfectants.--Sunshine and fresh air are nature's disinfectants
and should be freely admitted to every part of the house. Windows
should be left open whenever possible. The windows in the sleeping
rooms should always be opened at night. The interior of the house
should be kept perfectly dry. Decay does not easily take place in dry
places. A damp cellar should be drained, and the grounds around the
house should not be allowed to drain into the cellar. Coarse coal ashes
should be used to fill in around the house, on the walks, etc., to help in
securing thorough drainage. Wood ashes may be used as a simple
disinfectant to cover decayed organic matter. Whitewash is a good
disinfectant and should be frequently used both inside and outside the
house and on all out-buildings. Kerosene and creosote also make good
disinfectants.
Care of out-of-door closets.--The