14 
9 
Country Life. 
It is a significant fact that many of the 
greatest lights of the literary world have 
resided in the country. It is a universally 
admitted fact, by those competent to judge, 
that a residence away from the centers of 
commercial activity, in other words, a sub¬ 
urban residence, is most conducive to phys¬ 
ical health. So, it would seem, is it to the 
mental health and activity of man. Conti¬ 
nuity of thought, in the first place, is very 
essential to literary progress. If a man de¬ 
sires to accomplish a certain problem in 
physical life, it will require a certain time, 
according to the rapidity with which he is 
capable of performing mental labor. If a 
man starts out to walk a given distance, it 
will require a certain time, according to the 
ability he possesses for walking. If, now, 
in either pursuit interruptions occur, the ac¬ 
complishment of the proposed task will be 
delayed, just in proportion to the number 
and duration of these interruptions. In the 
ever-changing panorama of city life, in the 
almost inevitable and numerous demands 
upon the time of a resident of a large city, 
from one source or another, the absence of 
such interruptions is well nigh impossible. 
In the second place, communing with na¬ 
ture and all its wonderful works, certainly 
does have a refining, elevating and purify¬ 
ing influence on the thou lit that may have 
been suggested by more worldly surround¬ 
ings. The country air of Gad’s Hill enabled 
Dickens to perpetuate his wonderful pict¬ 
ures of metropolitan life. The pure air of 
small New England villages has enabled 
our great American poets to sing the songs 
of beauty that will make their names forev¬ 
er revered; while it was stated at a recent 
meeting of the British Medical Association 
that some of the greatest elements of prog¬ 
ress in the •medical profession had been 
contributed by country doctors ; indeed, the 
very founder of that time-honored Associa¬ 
tion was himself a country doctor.— Ex. 
-- 
Modern Accomplishments. 
In the city of New York the people appear 
to be returning to first principles, and now 
instead of learning to play the piano^in the 
public schools, the girls want to|learn to sew. 
The Judge , the great American comic paper 
of the country, is at the head of the move¬ 
ment and has set the ball a. rolling with a 
poem not quite as pathetic as Hood’s “Song 
of the Shirt,” but almost as true to life as 
that great ballad. We take pleasure in quot¬ 
ing a specimen stanza of this reform-inspir¬ 
ing ditty: 
She can buy a fancy bonnet, and she knows the use 
of dye; 
She can singi'a seven languages at sight; 
She can talk aesthetic chatter and the art that's 
known as “high,” 
She can do a ball or concert every night; 
She can paint on silk and velvet, and knows Swin- 
burn’s works by heart; 
She can angle, she can snub and she can flirt ; 
But she can’t put down a carpet, and she cannot 
make a tart, 
And she cannot sew a button on a shirt. 
In order to make the accomplishments of 
the new York girl complete, sewing is about 
to be introduced into the public schools, 
when needles and grammar, spools and syn¬ 
tax, yarn and history will jostle each other 
all day long, while the “sweet girl graduate” 
will study out the problem of putting a 
patch on her big brother’s pants at the same 
time that she lays the foundation for her 
essay on the “Hereness of the Heretofore,” 
—Joaquin Miller in Scranton Republican . 
- - 
SQUASHES. 
Good, palatable squashes, as prepared in 
any of their many styles of cooking, make 
a very acceptable dish, several kinds nearly 
equaling the sweet potato in richness and 
flavor. 
We have had good success in raising the 
squash. Planting in a rich, moist loam, 
with a little careful tillage, generally brings 
an abundant crop. 
Although some cannot keep them for any 
length of time, we never have any difficulty. 
Take them off the vine when ripe and store 
them in a dry place until cold weather sets 
in when those you wish to keep should be 
taken and put where they will not freeze, 
(the second story of a building is the best,) 
being careful no t to have them too warm 
or bruise them while handling. We have 
now two squashes as sound as when first 
ripened, the one two years and the other one 
year old.— J. W. V., Milton y Pa., June , ’83. 
