"First catch your clams; along the ebbing edges Of saline coves you'll find the precious wedges."

Few people succeed in making good tasty soups, for the reason that few understand the making of stock, the foundation of soups. To make a good soup it is essential the stock be well flavored.

Stock is a necessity in every well-ordered kitchen, forming, as it does, the foundation for soups, sauces, gravies, stews, and made-up dishes. It is the liquid into which the juice and flavor of various nutritive substances have been drawn by means of long, slow cooking.

An explanation of the principle underlying all stock-making, together with the rules to be observed, will be found useful by every housewife. Since it is a fact that stock partakes more of the nature of a stimulant than of a food, the value of good stock depends upon the amount of "extractives" that have been obtained during its cooking, these "extractives" being that part of animal food which gives distinctive flavor, acting as the stimulant to appetite and an aid to digestion.

The principle in stock-making is extraction - to obtain the "extractives" contained in meat and bones.

The aims in stock-making are:

1. To obtain strong, well-flavored stock.

2. To make it a good color for the purpose required.

3. To keep as clear and free from grease as possible.

All rules for making stock are formed to carry out the principle of extraction and the aims set forth above.

Stock, and especially stock made with meat of any kind, should always be made the day before it is required, as a good result can only be obtained by long, slow cooking; it is only by this means, too, that the fat can be successfully removed from the top of the stock.