The pantry shelf with its contents is responsible for many acute diseases and ptomaine poisoning by unhygienic and careless handling and preservation of foodstuffs.

A closet for the preservation of food should be located on the north or east side of the house if possible. It should have several long and narrow windows from top to bottom, so as to allow plenty of air and light. The shelves should be constructed of wire, zinc or wooden slats, and be removable.

Raw fruits and vegetables should never be kept in the same closet with cooked food. Milk and butter should not be kept near meat or other cooked foods. Potatoes, carrots and underground vegetables should be kept out of doors or in a dry basement. They may be preserved in a box with dry sand.

Onions should not be left in. a paper bag; hang them up in the sun or keep them in a flat box in a dry place. Onions which have been cut should never be used again for food, unless the cut side has been preserved in vinegar or oil.

All raw foods which have a thick skin have better keeping qualities than those with a thin skin; therefore, fancy summer fruits should be eaten while fresh on the same day they were picked. No more should be bought than can be eaten the same day, or else they should be preserved by sterilization-Green vegetables should be used fresh if possible, and not kept longer than three or four days. Never keep them in the house or pantry.

Apples or other winter fruits should be kept in a dry store room out of doors, in the attic or in a dry basement.

The white film that often gathers around grapes is a breeding place for diphtheria germs. Wash thoroughly before eating all fruits which have been stored in houses or at the market. Do not prepare more raw food than can be eaten at one meal. Never allow it to stand after it is cut.

Many housekeepers think it important to scald their dishes, but do not know that it is far more important to sterilize or reboil cooked foods which have stood on the shelf for 18 or 24 hours and sometimes longer. Such foodstuff is dangerous long before the process of fermentation can be detected by the sense of smell or taste.

Some foods begin to undergo changes immediately after cooling; therefore, cooked foods left over, with the exception of a few, should be reboiled before serving again. Rice or other cereals should be stirred over the fire for a while and then baked in the oven until they are thoroughly sterile. The care of milk has been discussed in the chapter on food. Soups which are preserved with fat will keep wholesome for several days without reboiling. Fruits and fruit juices should not stand longer than 24 hours. Eggs are best preserved in bran or lime-water or on ice if kept for a week or longer. Boiled or thoroughly roasted meats will keep wholesome for 36 hours in a cold place. During the summer meat should not be kept from one day to another.

If left-over meat is cut from the bone and cooked up in gravy or soup stock or preserved in gelatine ( with fat to cover it), it can be kept wholesome for 4 or 5 days and longer, according to the manner of preservation. Half cooked chops and beefsteak should never be kept in the same manner they are served. They should be cooked thoroughly in fat or gravy before being put away. All meats should be freshly cut and cooked the same clay after delivery, or be preserved by partly cooking or roasting, until the next day. Many housekeepers keep roasts, chops and beefsteak until it looks blue and green with putrefaction before it is cooked. Never buy meat which has an unnatural color. Be sure that your butcher does not use poisonous substances to keep the meat from decomposition. Visit your butcher often and investigate how often he gets a fresh supply of meat. This is of more benefit than to save time by telephoning.

Never allow sliced bacon to lie in the ice box or pantry for several days. It becomes rancid and is unfit for food. Buy your bacon in bulk and slice it with a sharp knife when wanted.

Do not keep sliced meat of any kind longer than one day in cold weather. Do not keep it in hot weather without preserving it in gravy or fat or by sterilization.

Do not keep a tight cover on a dish, jar or bottle which contains raw or cooked food, unless the air within is sterile.

Allow cooked food to stand open until it is cool, then put the cover over two-thirds of its opening or cover with a cheesecloth or a colander.

If milk or cream is delivered in bottles, remove the cover immediately after delivery. If the air where it stands is dusty, protect the milk with cotton or cheese-cloth. Treat boiled milk in the same manner.

Cooked foods which have poor keeping qualities should not be kept for further use, or no more should be prepared than can be eaten at one meal. To this class belong cooked underground or leaf vegetables, custards, soft puddings, milk and egg foods and gelatines. Damp or rainy weather is more favorable for decomposition of foodstuffs than dry weather.

Whites of eggs should not be kept longer than 18 or 24 hours. They must be preserved in a very cold place and be utilized at the earliest opportunity. They are like all proteins, more dangerous than starches if left to ferment, whether the fermentation begins on the pantry shelf or in the stomach. White of egg can be used in many different ways. It may be beaten to a froth and served on fruit-soups or fruit pies, or it can be taken in place of broth at the beginning of a meal. Add a tablespoon of water and a few drops of lemon or orange or apple or cranberry juice to one white of an egg and beat up with a fork, or drink without beating. White of egg can also be utilized for brancakes.

If a variety of left-over food is on hand which cannot be combined into one dish, it is better to serve different food to each member rather than to divide each article for all; the latter custom may be more polite, but it is not wise to mix a great variety of foods at one meal.

Left-over skim-milk is best utilized for cheese, pancakes, whey gruel, whey or milk sauce, or be boiled and served with stale rye or corn bread. Vegetables prepared with milk do not make a good combination. Soft puddings prepared with skim-milk, sugar and eggs, are not very wholesome unless the necessary amount of fat is added in the form of butter or suet. Skim-milk and fruit is not a good combination.

Left-over potatoes can be utilized in many different ways: for fish-cakes, pancakes, hash, potato-dumplings, creamed potatoes or for salad. Fried cooked potatoes are not a good food for the noon meal, especially for children or people doing active work.

Baked legumes if preserved with fat meat or oil can be kept on hand for a week and be rebaked two or three times per week.