2 
9 
The Motherless Turkeys. 
The white turkey was dead! The white 
turkey was dead! 
How the news through the barn-yard 
went flying! 
Of a mother bereft, four small turkeys 
were left, 
And their case for assistance was crying. 
E ’en the peacock respectfully folded liis 
tail, 
As a suitable symbol of sorrow, 
And his plainer wife said, “Now the old 
bird is dead, 
Who will tend her poor chicks on the 
morrow?” 
And when evening around them comes 
dreary and chill, 
Who above them will watchfully 
hover?” 
“Two each night I will tuck Tieatli my 
wings,” said the duck, 
“Though I’ve eight of my own I must 
cover!” 
“I have so much to do! for the bugs and 
the worms, 
In the garden, ’tis tiresome pickin’; 
I’ve nothing to spare—for my own I must 
care.” 
Said the hen with one chicken. 
“How I wish,” said the goose, “I could 
be of some use, 
For my heart is with love over-brim¬ 
ming; 
.The next morning that’s fine, they shall 
go with my nine 
Little yellow-backed goslings, out 
swimming!” 
“I will do what I can,” the old Dorking 
put in, 
“And for help they may call upon me, 
too, 
Though I’ve ten of my own that are only 
half grown, 
And a great deal of trouble to see to; 
But these poor little things, they are all 
head and wings, 
Aik their bones through their feathers 
are stickin’!”’ 
“Very hard it may be, but, Oh, don’t 
come to me!” 
Said the hen with one chicken. 
“Half my care I suppose there is nobody 
knows, 
I'm the most overburdened of mothers! 
They must learn, little elves, to scratch 
for themselves, 
And not seek to depend upon others.” 
She went by with a cluck, and the goose 
to the duck 
Exclaimed with surprise, “Well, I 
never!” 
Said the duck, “I declare, those who 
liave the least care, 
You will find are complaining forever! 
And when all things appear to look 
threatening and drear 
And when troubles your pathway are 
thick in, 
For some aid in your woe, beware how 
you go 
To a lien with one chicken.” 
—Marian Douglas. 
Selecting Vegetable Seeds For 
Spring Planting. 
' BY ISAAC F. TILLINGHAST, LA PLUME, ?A. 
’Sl'.J'N TIMES of peace, prepare for war,” 
fcA, is a trite old saying whose wisdom 
our farmers and gardeners should not for¬ 
get. The year’s work has now been com¬ 
pleted, the crops laid by, and both the soil 
which yields so bountifully, and the farmer 
who has so long been keeping up a constant 
warfare to produce and secure his crops, 
have a season of rest. While enjoying this 
peaceful repose, the calculations and pre¬ 
parations for next year’s warfare should be 
going on. Now is the time to decide what 
is to be grown next summer and where you 
are to grow it. The winter, long, dreary 
and cold as it is, will rapidly pass away, 
the powerful rays of the sun will soon ban¬ 
ish these icy fetters, and the pent up veg¬ 
etation will again spring forth. Before we 
are aware Seed-Time will again be upon us. 
If we sow not, neither shall we reap. Shall 
we all be ready? It is none to early to 
make our selections of seeds, especially 
those which are to be sown under glass, and 
a little talk about varieties will now be in 
order. About the first wanted will be our 
Early Cabbage. The plan of sowing in Sep¬ 
tember, and wintering over in a cold-frame 
is not so extensively practiced in the North 
as formerly. It is found to be much less 
trouble and usually more satisfactory to 
sow the seeds in February or early in March 
in a moderately warm bed, under glass and 
keep them growing vigorously, until the 
weather permits their being set in the gar¬ 
den or field. Once transplanting into a 
cold-frame, at about four weeks from plant¬ 
ing, where they can be protected, if neces¬ 
sary, and properly hardened, will render 
