432 
f November, 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
What Shall We Read? 
A monthly magazine has become almost in¬ 
dispensable to every one who desires to read 
the writings of the best contemporary authors, 
and. to be informed of the most important 
events in literature, science, and art. More and 
better reading, and handsomer illustrations, can 
be supplied at far less cost in this form than 
in any other. For instance, the numbers of 
Scrtbner’s Monthly for one year contain 
almost two thousand large octavo pages, filled 
with essays, stories, poems, descriptive articles, 
and reviews by the first American and foreign 
authors, and illustrated with more than six 
hundred original wood engravings. When 
bound, the twelve numbers make two large, 
handsome volumes which contain more matter 
than a dozen of the ordinary subscription 
books, and which can take their place on the 
library shelves as permanent records of the 
best literature of the year. 
Attractions of Recent Volumes. 
This is especially true of Scribner’s Month¬ 
ly during the year just closed, the two volumes 
XV and XVI, being more rich in pictorial inter¬ 
est than any which have preceded them. The 
first of these volumes has as frontispiece a Por¬ 
trait of Abraham Lincoln, drawn from a 
rare photograph by Wyatt Eaton and engraved 
by T. Cole; the frontispiece of the second is a 
Portrait of William Cullen Bryant 
(from life), by the same artist and engraver. 
The two volumes contain the whole of 
Edward Eggleston’s “Roxy,” the concluding 
chapters of Adeline Trafton’s “ His Inheri¬ 
tance,” and the beginning of H. H. Boyesen’s 
“ Falconberg ; ” the exquisitely illustrated 
papers, by Mr. Brewer, on Bird Architec¬ 
ture ; articles on American Sports, profusely 
illustrated,including “Canvas-Back and Terra¬ 
pin,” “Deer-Hunting on the Ausable,” “Fox- 
Hunting in New England,” “Moose-Hunting 
in Canada;” papers on American Farm 
Life, illustrated by some of the leading 
artists of the country; Maurice Thomp¬ 
son on Archery; Mary Hallock Foote’s 
Descriptions of California, illustrated by her¬ 
self; Col. Geo. B. Waring on Horses; John 
Burroughs on Birds and Out Door Life; W. M. 
Tileston on Dogs; Dr. Morton on the South 
African Gold Mines; Stories by Bret Harte, 
Saxe Holm, Rebecca Harding Davis, Henry 
James, Jr., Frank R. Stockton, George P. 
Lathrop; Poems by R. H. Stoddard, E. C. 
Stedman, Bret Harte, II. H. Boyesen, H. H., 
Celia Thaxter, J. T. Trowbridge, etc. 
Special Arrangements for 1878-9. 
“ Haworth’s,” by Frances Hodgson Burnett, 
the author of “That Lass O’Lowrie’s” will 
be the leading serial of Scribner for 1878-9. 
It is the longest story Mrs. Burnett has 
written, and will be more profusely illus¬ 
trated than any serial which has yet appeared 
in the magazine. Mr. B jyesen’s “ Falconberg ” 
will run through a part of the year; to be fol¬ 
lowed by a serial from a new writer, Mr. 
George W. Cable, of New Orleans. His novel 
will exhibit the state of society in Creole 
Louisiana, about the years 1803-4-5, the time 
of the Cession, and a period bearing remarkable 
likeness to the present Reconstruction period. 
The series of portraits of American poets 
will be continued during the coming year, 
the next being that of Longfellow (in 
November). These portraits are drawn from 
life by Wyatt Eaton, and engraved by T. Cole. 
They will appear as frontispieces of four dif¬ 
ferent numbers, during the magazine year. 
The magazine is now having prepared several 
articles on the leading Universities of Europe. 
They will be written by an American College 
Professor—Mr. H. H. Boyesen, of Cornell 
(author of “Falconberg,” etc.),—and will in¬ 
clude sketches of the leading men in each of 
the most important Universities of Great Britain 
and the Continent. 
Among the illustrated papers in preparation 
are “ Studies in the Sierras,” by John Muir, the 
California naturalist. The series of eight or 
more papers now to appear will sketch the 
California Passes, Lakes, Meadows, Wind- 
Storms, and Forests, including the first descrip¬ 
tion ever given of the coniferous trees of the 
Sierras. Mr. Herbert H. Smith, of Cornell Uni¬ 
versity, a companion of the late Prof. Hartt, is 
now in Brazil, with Mr. J. Wells Champney 
(the artist who accompanied Mr. Edward King 
in his tour through “ The Great South”), pre¬ 
paring a series oL papers on the present condi¬ 
tion,—the cities, rivers, and general resources 
of the great empire of South America. The 
“ Johnny Reb” Papers, by an “ ex-Confederate ” 
soldier, will doubtless be among the raciest 
contributions during the coming year. They 
are written and illustrated by Mr. Allen 0. Red¬ 
wood, of Baltimore. Illustrated contributions 
are also announced on Canada, American Art 
and Artists, American Archaeology, American 
Inventors, Lawn-Planting for Small Places; 
also, Essays by Prof. Sumner, Horace White, 
and others, on the National Banking System, 
the Patent System, the New South, etc., etc. 
Tlie Latest Number. 
We desire to call especial attention to the 
November number of Scribner’s Monthly, 
upon the preparation of which great care and 
expense have been bestowed. We shall print 
as a first edition 90,000 copies. The number 
will contain the opening chapter of “ Ha¬ 
worth’s,” and the continuation of Mr. H. H. 
Boyesen’s “ Falconberg." A biographical paper 
on Longfellow, with a large frontispiece portrait 
by Wyatt Eaton, engraved by Cole; “ A Night 
with Edison,” the fullest and most authentic 
account yet published; “Johnny Reb at Play,” 
the first of several non-partisan papers of life in 
the ex-Confederate Army ; “ Farm-Life in New 
York,” by John Burroughs; “The Spelling 
Bee at Angel’s,” by Bret Harte; “ Fort Cham- 
bly, on the Richelieu River,” by Henry Sand- 
ham ; “A Wind-Storm in the Forests of the 
Yuba,” as observed from a tree-top, by John 
Muir; “ A Modern Playwright (Eugene Scribe); 
“ The Apparition of Jo Murch,” and “ Our 
Patent System, and what we Owe to it,” by an 
expert; “Parsons and Parsons,” by Edward 
Eggleston, etc., etc. For terms, see paragraph 
“ How to Subscribe,” at foot of the page. 
What Do Our Children Read. 
The reading, which, unknown to parents, 
finds its way into the hands of their chil¬ 
dren, is often of the very worst kind. It is 
stated that there are twenty-five pernicious story 
papers for boys and girls, published in New 
York City, alone, and their popularity is shown 
by the fact that these vicious sheets have a cir¬ 
culation of over 375,000. They arc printed on 
cheap, poor paper, are widely advertised, and 
are offered for sale at prices which enable even 
the poorest children to obtain them. Prof. W. 
G. Sumner, of Yale College, speaking of the 
effect of this literature upon the young, says: 
“We may generalize the following, in regard 
to the views of life which these stories inculcate, 
and the code of morals which they teach : 
The “Dime Novel” Code. 
“The first thing which a boy ought to 
acquire, is physical strength for fighting pur¬ 
poses. The supposed code of English brutality 
prevails, but it is always mixed with the code 
of the revolver, and iu many of the stories, 
the latter is taught in its fullness. These 
youngsters generally carry revolvers, and use 
them at their good discretion. 
“ A boy ought to cheat the penurious father 
who does not give him as much money as he 
finds necessary, and ought to compel him to 
pay. A good way to force him to pay liberally, 
and at the same time to stop criticising his son’s 
habits, is to find out his own vices (he always 
has some), and then to levy black-mail on him. 
“ As to drinking, the bar-room code is taught. 
“ Quiet home life is stupid and unmanly. 
Boys brought up in it, have to work hard and 
to bow down to false doctrines which parsons 
and teachers, in league with parents, have in¬ 
vented against boys. To become a true man, 
a boy must break with respectability and join 
the vagabonds and the swell mob. 
“ No fine, young fellow, who knows life, 
need mind the law, still less the police. If a 
father is rich, the son can easily find smart 
lawyers who can get him out of prison, and 
will dine with him at Delmonico’s afterward. 
“It is impossible that so much corruption 
should be afloat and not exert some influence. 
Great harm is done to boys by the nervous ex¬ 
citement of reading harrowing and sensational 
stories. Parents and Teachers ought to know 
what the character of this literature is.” 
An Ideal Children’s Magazine. 
It was to counteract this poisonous element 
in children’s literature, that Messrs. Scribner 
& Co., in 1873, began the publication of St. 
Nicholas, an Illustrated Magazine for girls 
and boys, with Mrs. Mary Mapes Dodge as 
Editor. Five years have passed since the first 
number was issued, and the magazine has won 
a position second to none. It has a monthly cir¬ 
culation of over 50,000 copies. It is published 
simultaneously in London and New York, and 
the transatlantic recognition is almost as gen¬ 
eral and hearty as the American. Although 
the progress of the magazine has been a steady 
advance, it has not reached its editor’s ideas of 
best, because her ideal continually outruns it, 
and the magazine as swiftly follows after. To¬ 
day, St. Nicholas stands alone in the world of 
books; and in Europe, as local critics admit, 
there is no magazine for young people that can 
at all compare with it. It is not surprising that 
the New York Tribune said of it: “ St. Nich¬ 
olas has reached a higher platform, and com¬ 
mands for its service wider resources in art and 
letters than any of its predecessors or contem¬ 
poraries ; ” or that the London Literary World 
has said : “ There is no magazine for the young 
that can be said to equal this choice production 
of Scribner’s press.” 
Good Things for 1878-9. 
Mr. Frank R. Stockton’s new serial story 
for boys, “A Jolly Fellowship,” will run 
through the twelve monthly parts—begin¬ 
ning with the number for November, 1878, 
the first of the volume—and will he illustrated 
by James E. Kelly. The scene of this story, 
like that of the very successful one, “ What 
Might Have Been Expected,” published in 
St. Nicholas, is laid in the South. For the 
f irls, a continued tale, called “ Half-a-dozen 
lousekeepers,” by Katharine D. Smith, with 
illustrations by Frederick Dielman, will begin 
in the same number; and a fresh serial by 
Susan Coolidge, entitled “Eyebright,” with 
plenty of pictures, will be commenced early in 
the volume. There will also be a continued 
fairy-tale called “Rumpty Dudget’s Tower,” 
written by Julian Hawthorne, and illustrated 
by Alfred Fredericks. About the other familiar 
features of St. Nicholas, the editor preserves 
a good-humored silence, content, perhaps, to 
let her five volumes already issued, prophesy 
concerning the sixth, in respect to short stories, 
pictures, poems, humor, sketches, etc., etc. 
The November Number. 
Attention is especially invited to the Novem¬ 
ber number now ready. It contains 72 pages, 
and its illustrations throughout are fine and 
varied. It begins two splendid serials:—Its 
shorter papers represent a wide range of subject 
—History, Travel, Fun, Poetry, Adventure, 
Science, Natural History, Home-iife, Sport, and 
lively narrative—the whole crowned by an ap¬ 
propriate Thanksgiving story. 
One long article and two poems hear the 
signature of Mary Mapes Dodge, the Editor. 
One very “ taking” feature of the number, is 
a fine portrait of Frank R. Stockton, accom¬ 
panied by a sketch of his life. Then there is a 
beautiful poem by Lucy Larcom; a finely illus¬ 
trated account of the new style of city railroad 
in San Francisco, and many other good things. 
How To Subscribe. 
These magazines are for sale by all Book¬ 
sellers, Newsdealers, or Post-Masters, or they 
will be sent by us at following prices. Scrib¬ 
ner’s Monthly, $4.00 a year, 35 cts. a number. 
St. Nicholas, $3.00 a year, 25 cts. a number. 
Persons wishing to subscribe direct with the 
publishers, should write name, Post-Office, 
County, and State, in full, and send with remit¬ 
tance to Scribner & Co., 743 Broadway, New 
York. All readers of this advertisement, not 
now subscribers, may, upon sending their sub¬ 
scriptions, deduct 10 cents to pay cost of check, 
P. O. Order, or Registered letter, and Send 
$3.90 for Scribner’s Monthly, or $2.90 for 
St. Nicholas. We will send, as a specimen, 
a copy of Scribner’s Monthly for February, 
1878, for 15 cts., or St. Nicholas for Dec., 
1877, for 10 cts., or both for 25 cts., which 
amount may be deducted if a yearly subscrip¬ 
tion is afterward sent. 
Scribner & Co., 743 Broadway, New York. 
