How many a step has been wasted looking for a yard measure, etc. Why not have a measuring corner in the kitchen and add to it 1 yard measure or a tape 3 to 6 feet long? Isn’t that easy enough? A yard stick of course should be of well measured wood plus metallic ends or all of metal. It is most convenient if sub-divided not only into feet, inches and fractions, but into fractions of a yard. The more fractions really the less fractious will be your measurements. PRESERVING ETC. For testing accurately water densities, hydrometers are used. If in your community you intend to do a lot of preserving or candy making, even in your own home the saccharimeter (a kind of hydrometer) will take the guess work out of the necessary thickness of a syrup’s density. This is a short weighted spindle graduated from 0-70. When placed in water, the spindle rests on the bottom of the vessel and the reading at the surface is zero. As the density is increased, the spindle rises until when the solution is saturated with sugar at the temperature indicated--the reading is 100. This is an inexpensive one, another type mercury weighted is more expensive and more accurate. The vessel must be same depth as saccharimeter. A narrow vessel is best, so if you are doing much preserving a 250 cubic centimeter glass cylinder or a brass saccharimeter cup is the “easiest way.” Buy the cylinder and thermometer with hydrometer. Temperature affects densities; with the three tools you are sure. THERMOMETERS Thermometers are useful things, if they are _accurate_ and as nearly unbreakable as possible. There are a few good ones on the market. We cannot advocate the oven-door thermometer as there is hardly one which can stand the onslaught of banging and remain in on its accurate pinnacle! Many a good stove and many a bad one have inveigled purchasers because of their neat little thermometer on their oven doors. They work all well and good for a while but you know a thermometer is a “dainty” instrument and must be kept well to keep well. However, there are many good thermometers built for pretty rough use--rough as any good instrument may be treated, which of course should never _be_ rough. The home could really afford the bath thermometer, the house thermometer, the kitchen and last and least the clinical thermometer, but the kitchen thermometer takes the guess work out of ovens’ heat and prevents the “Fall of Doughs” a catastrophe like unto few in awfulness! It does away with thrusting one’s hand in an oven to find out through our uncertain senses how hot is the oven, and often prevents a well burned finger, tongue when tasting or whole body when carelessness creeps in.