BOORE’S RURAL NEW- 
MY FEATHERED FRIENDS. 
The fashionable season in bird-life is 
over—my garden is being deserted. Whole 
families of aristooratio songsters are daily 
bidding adieu to familiar places and turn¬ 
ing their faces Southward. With them go 
much of the brightness of tho landscape. I 
miss their merry chattering, thoir trills of 
melody and their beautiful plumage. Only 
a few of the most quiet ones aro left, and 
they, sobered by the signs of approaching 
Winter, have forgotten their saucy Hum¬ 
mer ways and hop silently about in little 
groups of two or three, quietly picking seeds 
along the fence rows aud garden walls, their 
sober brown plumage hardly discernible 
amid the grow lag gray ness of tho weeds aud 
flowers. 
There is a largo brown fellow, with a gold¬ 
en-brown cap, and a black shield on his 
breast, standing all the length of his long 
lees in the wet grass, digging his long bill 
into the ground in searoh of worms, just 
under my window. His rich plumage is 
considerably ruffled from exposure to the 
rain, but it appears to cause him no uneasi¬ 
ness, from which I infer that he is not a 
dandy. Not being an ornithologist I must 
plead guilty of Ignorance of his proper 
name, but acknowledge blni a graceful and 
interesting visitor, aud regret tlmt the ap¬ 
proaching cold weather must soon drive him 
to warmer climes. 
A pair of yellow birds that set up Sum¬ 
mer house-keeping in an apple tree at the 
foot of the grape walk, where they amused 
me with their quick, flirting ways and hap¬ 
py songs have long since taken thoir depart¬ 
ure with their live children, whoso downy 
cradle in the gnarled branches of the old 
tree is still a monument to their parents’ 
ingenuity and industry. Very prettylittlo 
neighbors they wore, but not quite respect¬ 
able. They wore addicted to petty larceny I 
In vain did 1 watch for seeds of choice 
plants, in vain determine to be first on the 
ground when that capsule should ripen. 
Approaching, with scissors in Imud, a little 
flutter warned me, there was a quick little 
exclamation in bird language, a flirt of two 
yellow' wings as my neighbor gracefully 
sailed away, only to alight at a convenient 
distance and watch me innocently, while I 
inspected the cmpty seed vessels and sor¬ 
rowfully admitted that “tho best laid plans 
of mice and men gang aft aglee.” 
And then the robins —thievish too! It 
seems there arc no compunotions of con¬ 
science among birds. There was a neat lit¬ 
tle habitation in a fracture of the garden 
wall, neat, albeit made of mud—which as a 
building material has no rival amoug rob¬ 
ins—aud lined with the softest of white 
feathers, with four deep blue eggs in, and 
then one morning—presto I four little ugly 
birds, whose mouths seemed always empty 
aud always open! 
For a time the robins quietly attended to 
their own business and devoted themselves 
to the rearing of the four junior robins, 
which were quietly snuggled down in the 
home-nest. Many were the caterpillars 
that Mr. and Mrs. Robin carried home, 
many the insects they gleaned from tho 
fruit trees in the garden. Nuver were birds 
more useful or peaceable neighbors. 
By-and-by the currants and cherries be¬ 
gan to ripen, and tken the redbreasted res¬ 
idents began their predatory excursions. 
By this time tho baby robins were full- 
fledged aud out of the nest, and had evi¬ 
dently been carefully trained by their pa¬ 
rents in the way they should go. Aud tho 
way they went was to tho cherry trees l Not 
only Mr. and Mrs. R. and thoir four chil¬ 
dren, but friends, neighbors, relatives 
flocked to the scene; robins on tho wall, 
robins in the currant bushes, robins in the 
cherry trees, robins everywhere! Worms 
were forgotten—evidently they did not ap¬ 
prove of a flesh diet in warm weather, and 
breakfasted, lunched, dined and supped o» 
cherries. 
The robin is an epicure. Catch him eat¬ 
ing Inferior fruit! Where the sweetest and 
best-flavored varieties are, there is he also, 
eating away with a dainty relish, and, uo 
doubt, full of gratitude to the horticultur¬ 
ist for the valuable addition of size and 
flavor which his oare and attention have be¬ 
stowed. John, the gardener, proposed to 
shoot the birds. Shoot them, indeed! 
When all the year they had been busily 
prospecting after insects, aud tirelessly de¬ 
stroying them—to kill them now because 
they wanted a little fruit! No, no; let the 
robins eat. 
“ The laborer is worthy of his hire.”. 
The blue birds puzzle, me. An industri¬ 
ous pair have tenanted a little cot built for 
their especial use, and perched on a pole 
secure from wandering cats, this season, 
aud there, reared two pretty broods. Oc¬ 
casionally a king bird, whose nest was in a 
clump of pines not far distant, made sus¬ 
picious visits to the blue-bird mansion, but 
was invariably driven off by the watchful 
inmates. At length the last, brood was 
safely out of the nest, and withdrew with 
the parents to the woods and fields, rarely 
approaching nearer, unless tempted by 
some unusually tine spot for building; he is 
a strange contrast to the robin, yellow, aud 
bush birds who frequent your very door¬ 
step. 
For a long time I missed my little blue- 
clad songsters, but at length they are back. 
Not singly, not in pairs, but in a troop, ten, 
lifteen, being present at once, fluttering 
about the cot, alighting on it, entering it 
singly or in pairs, living, diving, wheeling, 
with a continual chatter and twitter that 
tills the Autumn air with subdued melody. 
Daily, for a fortnight, they have visited the 
place, sometimes once, sometimes twice a 
day, and one or two remaining near most 
of tho time. It is a strange contrast to 
their usual exclusiveness, for the bluebird 
is jealous, even of his own kin. where his 
nest is concerned. A pair which for throe 
consecutive Summers builded in view of 
my window, jealously guarded their nest 
from other birds, the male keeping up a 
continual warfare against a brother blue¬ 
bird that desired to locato a few rods dis¬ 
tant, finally conquering his opponent and 
forcing him to seek another locality for his 
Summer residence. Hence tho friendly 
relations evidently existing betwoen the 
members of this bird band, and their curi¬ 
ous maneuvers, puzzle me. For w hat do 
they frequent the place? Are tin y about 
to leave us and are come with all tlmir rela¬ 
tives to bid farewellV Do they dislike to 
leave and so linger, day after day, while tho 
days shorten and .the forest reddens? No 
matter ! They are pretty little neighbors, 
and their musical chatter on frosty morn¬ 
ings is so pleasant 1 shall sorely miss them 
when they are. gono to return no more, 
until another Spring brings tho flowers and 
woos them back. Lettik A. Irons, 
Pine Grove, Mich. 
Unglue (Information. 
FISTULA REMEDY. 
Having once been a sufferer from fistula, 
I urn in duty bound to give the treatment 
1 received. There was a consultation of 
doctors on my case. Home of them wanted 
to lay the fistula open with tho knife; but 
tho older physicians said, “No; tho man is 
a working man, used to plenty of exercise, 
so the exercise will keep it open; and if 
there is anything wrong with the lungs this 
fistula will carry it, away." 
So the physicians left my fistula to run it¬ 
self out, which it did in about two years, 
and left me a sound, healthy mail. I rec¬ 
ommended tho sarno treatment to a man 
named Patrick Ford, Flatbush, L. I„ last; 
Winter. And Mr. Wm. E. Madden, who 
asks for a cure through the Ritual New- 
Yorker can write to Mr. P. Ford, or fol¬ 
low the directions here given:—Wear a belt 
of muslin around the waist, under the shirt 
—that is, if the fistula is in tho looality of 
the fundament. Take a piece of flue mus¬ 
lin—about three-fourths of a yard—tie it to 
tho belt behind, bring it under, and tie it 
in front. This muslin should be changed 
every night, and the fistula washed with a 
sponge, and a clean piece of muslin put on 
again. Let the fistula run all it will; drink 
plenty of cod liver oil, but avoid drinking 
intoxicating drinks, and all will be well in 
about one year. John White. 
New Brunswick, N. J. 
-- 
THE AGUE POISON. 
M. P. Bolestra has communicated to 
the French Academy some observations on 
ague poison. He says that in examining 
marsh water he always finds, in proportion 
to its degree of putrefaction, a granular 
microphyte somewhat resembling in form 
the Cactus Peruvianas. It is always ac¬ 
companied by a considerable quantity of 
small spores 1-1000 of u millimeter in di¬ 
ameter, greenish-yellow and transparent, 
and also sporangia or vesicles containing 
spores from 2-1.00 to 2-300 of a millimeter in 
diameter, and of very characteristic form. 
This plant grows on the surface of the 
water; wheu young, it is rainbow-like in 
tints, and looks like spots of oil. At the 
low temperature of cellars and in water 
containing no vegetation, it develops slow¬ 
ly, but in contact with air and exposed to 
solar rays in the presence of decomposing 
vegetation, it grows fast, disengaging small 
gas bubbles. A few drops of arsenious acid, 
sulphite of soda, or, still better, neutral 
sulphite of quinine, stops its vegetation at 
the surface of the water, the spores become 
thin aud transparent, and the sporangia 
alter so that they would not be recognized. 
These changes may be seen under tho mi¬ 
croscope. M. Bolestra states that these 
spores oau be found in marsh air. He caught 
agues twice during liis researches— once 
after having been exposed to air from water 
in fermentation covered with fresh algre in 
full vegetation, mixed with an extraordi¬ 
nary quantity of spores. He thinks these 
spores constitute tho ague poison. 
-- 
HYGIENIC NOTES AND QUERIES. 
How to Have Bound Teeth.—The Sci¬ 
ence of Health says:— Mushes, gruels, 
puddings, and soups, may be made hygicn- 
ically. But they should also be eaten hy- 
gienically. They must be chewed, not bolt¬ 
ed. The nursing Infant masticates it’s 
mother’s milk, for which purpose it takes 
it slowly, drop by drop. Mastication is for 
the purpose of insallvfttlon. Unless food is 
properly insalivated, it cannot bo well di¬ 
gested. The teeth are the finest, densest 
structure of tho body, and this means that 
they are intended for hard work. Fat solid 
food at every meal; and when you take 
seinb-liqUid, or very soft food of any kind, 
eat very slowly and take a bit of hard bread, 
crackers, a green apple, or something simi¬ 
lar, with it. Then will your stomach please 
and be pleased, and your teeth, like your 
eyes aud nose, aud fingers and t,oos, will re¬ 
main to bless and comfort you to the last, 
if all persons after being weaned, would 
Oidy chew their food enough, wo would 
hear very little of aching and rotting teeth, 
and dentists would be nowhere. 
Host and W orst Climate For Consump¬ 
tion.—Prof. Andrews of the Chicago Med¬ 
ical College, has been classifying medical 
faots contained in the census reports of 
18«;o and 1870, aud from these he finds that 
consumption and cancers aro two diseases 
which are similarly affected by and prevail 
in the same regions, and that the two laws 
governing their prevalence arc as follows: 
I 1 irst, these two diseases are abundant near 
the sea, and diminish us you recede from it; 
aud second, at equal distance from the sea, 
they prevail most at tho North, and dimin¬ 
ish as you go South. From this it follows 
that the best resort for a consumptive or 
cancer patient is some point which is at tho 
same time as far South and as far from the 
sea us possible. Such a place is Now-Mox- 
ioo, where tho deaths from consumption 
aro only three per cent., or Arkansas, 
where they are five per cent.; while in New- 
Euglaud* which is colder and sea-girt, they 
arc twenty-five percent. Entirely in accord¬ 
ance with this rnlo, but contrary to the 
popular opinion, Minnesota is a worse place 
than any other Stuto, having fourteen per 
cent, of deaths from consumption, though 
this may be because consumptives are sent 
there to seek health. Mississippi, Alabama, 
and Florida have each six percent.; Georgia 
and South Carolina live per cent. 
6irtomfll0f[ic;il. 
WALKING STICK. 
I herewith inclose an insect, the name 
of which I am anxious to learn. We placed 
a drop of camphor on its head aud it soon 
died. Please give us some information 
concerning the thing—its name, habits, etc. 
—C. C. McIntyre, lilvcr Fall , Wis. 
The curious insect, two or more inches in 
length, very slender body, with long slen¬ 
der legs and antennae, is the well-known 
“Walking Stick” (Spectrum fomoratum, 
Say), although, according to the law of 
priority, it should be known aa Amiso- 
murpluL liwprcMoides , us Stoll figured 
and described it in his great work on Or- 
thoptara, long before Mr. Say s descrip¬ 
tion appeared. Packard, in his “Guide 
to the Study of Insects,” p. 573, figures it 
under the name of IHapheromora ferno- 
vala, Say. it. also lias other synonyms, 
and you cau take your choice. It is a great, 
lazy fellow, doing no particular harm or 
good, and being so near the color of the 
stems of grass and weeds, upon which it 
is usually found, that few persons ever 
notice it. 
irj5icmc-|§qil. 
HOGS IN NEW YORK MARKET. 
MissMidy Morgan, Live Stook Reporter 
for the N. Y. Times, publishes the following, 
which willl be read with interest by swine¬ 
herds: After careful inquiry among the 
largest dealers in hogs in this city, we find 
their opinions to be as follows:—First, that 
Illinois, Ohio, aud Indiana forward East¬ 
ward the best quality of hogs, both as to 
the packing and fresh trado-that is, the 
hogs aru most uniform in weight, the flesh 
is finest and most firm, while tho lard is 
most abundant aud yields a tino quality of 
both oil and stearin©. Second, that New 
\ork State furnishes a very poor, washy 
quality of pork, bud for packing, and still 
worse for city daily consumption. Finally, 
that tho State of Michigau forwards ooarse- 
bouod hogs, rail- quality Tor packers' use, 
but fully $1 per owt. less in value than tho 
corn-fed hogs of Illinois, Ohio, and Indiana. 
I be chief cause of the marked inferiority 
ot our own State hogs is that they are fed 
largely on whey. This poor, innutritions 
feed is the cause of the soft, flabby flesh of 
these hogs, which is difficult to preserve 
when packed, and most unwholesome as 
food either fresh or pickled. The hogs 
from Michigau are generally grass-fed, and, 
I I improved in quality— that is, bred finer 
in borne and heavier in flesh-would speedily 
come up to the first in rank. 
The great point of value in the high- 
blooded animal is that he thrives on mixed 
Iced and does better on it than a oonrse- 
bred animal on the finest and most nu¬ 
tritious keep. Thus a, clean-bred Berk¬ 
shire, ted on roots aud allowed to grub for 
worms iu stubble fields, will fatLen more 
readily when put up for the market tbau a 
course, common bred hog will, although the 
latter has been liberally fed trom his birth 
upward, if this were not the case, then 
high bred animals would bo of no more val¬ 
ue than ooinmon, cold blooded-ones. 
The dealer in hogs looks to his profits 
Iron, the lard only. He has to pay expeu- 
scs with the profit on the dressed animal. 
That is. If he pays $5 per owt., live weight, 
the increased price per cwt., on the dressed 
animal, guos to cover the expense of rent, 
labor amt capital invested. Therefore, the 
im profit arises from the sale of lard 
lias being granted, it Is clear that the hog 
which yields the finest flesh, the least bone, 
and the largest quantity of lard is the most 
profitable for the city dealer, and, being so, 
ho is tho proper description of hog for our 
Western hog-raisers to produce. 
U a farmer would successfully compete 
with other merchants, (for wo contend 
farmers are merohunta.jho must know his 
market, and knowing it, he must supply 
precisely that which it moat needs. Doing 
this ho cannot fail of success. 
The loss by shrinkage is a large item in 
the hog trade, and as this loss has invaria¬ 
ble to be borne by the farmer rather than 
by the dealer, care must be had to raise 
breeds of hogs that lose little weight in 
dressing. As matters now stand, Illinois, 
Ohio and Indiana hogs lose from eighteen 
to twenty per cent, by shrinkage, Michigan 
frmn twenty-two to twenty-four per cent., 
aud State hogs even still more. In finely 
bred Essex and Berkshire hogs, the shrink¬ 
age ou dressing is far leas. It has been 
brought down ,to twelve per cent, iu ordi¬ 
nary cases. Call it from fourteen to sixteen 
per cent, loss, and when we take as we 
should, into our calculations that these 
same families of hogs are ready fut tellers and 
thrifty at ail ages, aud also that their blood 
improves all other families, we havo said 
much in their favor. 
The old Berkshire hog was black and buff 
color; to-day when bred pure he is all black. 
J he Essex is entirely black and almost free 
from hair. Both these families are gentle 
in disposition, aud not given to rauge, so 
that wheu put up for fattening they do not 
fret at confinement but betake themselves 
kindly to their now mode of life, sleep aud 
feed alternately, aud grow rapidly fit for 
tho butcher's knife. 
Hogs dressing from 200 pounds upward 
are, iu such a climate as ours, only suited 
for packing. Light pigs for city consump¬ 
tion, bad better not exceed 120 pounds. In 
the Brittish Isles light pigs, quoted aa pork¬ 
ers, sell freely to bo used fresh, but Ameri¬ 
can markets aa yet are not suppled with 
such food, although tho profit on them 
could not fail to bo fair, as when properly 
fed the flesh is equal to fine veal, and would 
sell readily. . 1 
