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Show LEAVES' mm Tyj "fry Q PZ AP R I HT MAY WI LSONJj Sheets, Blankets, Towels Unless finances make it necessary for you to consider the price alone when replenishing your stock of bed linen, there are a number of other factors which should be taken into account Sheets are obtainable in five general grades: muslins in light, medium and heavy weights, fine counts, and percales. The percales per-cales provide the extreme of softness soft-ness and fineness, and make the most beautiful appearance. If, however, how-ever, you are buying, as most housewives house-wives do, for durability, the sheet of heavy rnuslin is the best selection. Good sheets are of a firm weave and should be practically free from sizing, which is the starch or other material used in the manufacture of the article to give it a smooth finish. If a sheet is heavily sized it means that the extra sizing had been used to fill up the looseness of a poor weave. Such an article, after il has been laundered, will be sleazy and of poor wearing quality. Sheets said to be "linen-finished" may either be made of mercerized yarns, in which case the finish is permanent and adds greatly to the appearance of the sheet, or they may have been given just a temporary tempo-rary gloss. Ask, when you buy, whether or not the sheet is made oi mercerized stock. In buying, you should remember that the length labeled on a sheet indicates in-dicates the length before hemming, and buy accordingly. Sheets to give real satisfaction, should be from 99 to 108 inches, the longer length being preferred. It is important to know, also, whether the label on the sheet specifies "torn" length or not. If the sheet was torn from the bolt, it will keep its shape after laundering launder-ing and will have flat hems. If it was not torn off, it will launder crooked and probably with puckered hems. In the matter of pillow-cases, the same requirements as for sheets hold good. If your pillows measure 21 by 27 inches you may buy cases either 42 by 36 or 42 by 38"; if the pillows are 22 by 28, the cases should be either 45 by 36 or 45 by 38Mj. The case should be a little larger than the pillow, but not too lose. BUYING BLANKETS Every housewife desires both warmth and durability in her blankets. blan-kets. Warmth depends on the ability abil-ity of the fabric to keep out cold drafts and to keep in the body heat of the sleeper; this, in turn, depends de-pends upon the kind and quality of the fabric, its nap, and the closeness of its weave. In 1932 a group of blanket manufacturers agreed to certain rules for labeling all-wool and part-wool blankets. Under this 'agreement, blankets must contain a minimum of 5 per cent wool before the, word "wool" can be used in labeling them. Consequently, the buyer knows that if a blanket is labeled la-beled "part wool" it must contain at least 5 per cent of that fabric. If it is labeled "all wool" it must contain con-tain 98 per cent or more of wool. When buying for warmth, choose a blanket containing as much wool as you can afford, notice whether it is well napped or not, since napping increases warmth by increasing the number of air pockets. However, if the blanket is to be used out of doors, it should not be napped, because be-cause napping increases wind permeability. SIZE OF BLANKET Blankets should be long enough to tuck in well at the foot and to come up well over the shoulders of the sleeper; they should be wide enough to hang down over the sides of the mattress, covering it completely. It is usually preferable to buy single blankets rather than those which are woven double. Single ones are much easier to launder and with them the desired warmth of bed covering is more easily adjusted. BUYING BATH TOWELS In a bath towel, the buyer seeks one which is durable and good-looking, and especially one which has highly-absorbent qualities. A good towel will have a thick, fluffy surface sur-face but it will have, also, a firmly-woven firmly-woven foundation cloth. If it is loosely woven it will not stand up to laundering but will become sleazy and non-absorbent. Actually, about the only criterion by which the purchaser pur-chaser may judge, at the prLnent time (lacking the sort of labeling now found on sheets and blankets) is the price asked for the towel. As a tentative rule it may be said that those priced under 35 cents will be of rather inferior value. (For valuable in 'imation concerning the buying of sheets, biankets and towels, send Eve cents to Superintendent of Documents, Washington, D. C, asking for Farmers' Bulletin No. 1765. mm THE TEVIBER BAMBOO The timber bamboo, introducea into the United States by the department de-partment of agriculture some 40 years since, is a native of the temperate tem-perate regions of China and Japan. It is a beautiful evergreen ornamental, orna-mental, effective as windbreak or screen. Actually it is a giant grass even though, when a bamboo grove is finally established, the stems shoot up to a height of 60 to 70 feet, with poles four to five inches in diameter at the base. It has many commercial uses. |
