How can the methods which are known in factories in
America as " Efficiency Methods " and " Scientific Management " be applied to domestic work ? If an " efficiency expert " or a " speeder up " can cut down the labour of turning forty pairs of boots a day out of a factory, could not a competent adviser cut down the labour of turning four meals a day and a contented family out of a home ? This is the problem which Mrs. Frederick —who appears to be the Mrs. Peel of America—considers in Scientific Management its theHome (Routledge. 12s. 6d. net). She has written a book which no woman ought to miss who does the whole or a part of her own work or who employs intelligent and adaptable women to do it for her. That she explains a good many admirable minor domestic appliances which are not in general use in this country is the least important part of her book. Her forte is in general principles. She asks, for instance, What is each household working for ? A spotless house ? A well-educated family ? A well-fed family ? Leisure ? Secondly, she considers all the appliances, human and inanimate, with which the household is trying to achieve its particular end. Scientific Management in the Home is Undoubtedly one of the best and most interesting of the books which have yet appeared on modern methods in the house. It is fully illustrated with photographs and diagrams of good and bad fittings for kitchens and pantries. Though it is a book which would prove very useful to architects, the case of householders who cannot afford struc- tural alterations is fully considered.
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