I find that the chief secret of good bread is mixing the dough soft. Use any favorite bread recipe, but use more wetting. Mix it so soft that you can easily beat it with a strong spoon- so soft that you cannot handle the dough except with well floured hands, and so soft that you cannot shape it into round loaves. I mix bread in a large granite-ware pail, cover with a tin cover, and wrap the whole thing snugly in an old comforter, set it on top of a high stool, which in turn I place upon the top of a chair, and put all in a warm corner of the room. This arrangement keeps the draughts off, and as the upper layers of air in the room are the warmest it secures for the bread a uniform degree of warmth throughout the whole process of fermentation. This is not always easy to get, particularly in winter. In the morning I turn the dough into nicely buttered bread tins, smear the top with melted butter, and let stand until it is double in bulk. Have the oven pretty hot for the first 20 or 30 minutes, and then reduce the heat somewhat. This gives a deliciously crisp crust.-[Mrs. W. J. T., Vt.