ncattoital. 
WRITING, AND WRITING MATERIALS. 
BY A. ZAI.IA. 
I believe there is no habit into which 
wc fall more insensibly, or more commonly, 
than that of careless writing. How rare it. 
is in these days, to timl, even among our 
business men, those who write a smooth, 
legible hand; not that there is a 
lack of knowledge, in most cases, ’'l 
but it is so easy a thing to lose, in 
the hurry of this busy world, what 
one gains in one’s school-days. I 
have in my mind a young lady, fine- 1 
]y educated and accomplished, who 
took lessons in penmanship from 
one of the best masters the country 
affords. She bccamesoaccomplished 
in the art that her services were de¬ 
sired in a large business, where she 
filled for two years a responsible 
position. At the end of that time 
she married, and as her days began 
to be filled with the thousand and 
one duties of housekeeping, she ne¬ 
glected everything else, and her fine 
education seemed to have been ac¬ 
quired in vain. She wrote home 
regularly, because she had promised 
her friends to do so, but her letters 
Wore hurried and brief, and after a 
while, no one could have recognized 
in the miserable scrawl, any trace 
of the once beautiful baud. 
Writing is not taught in the 
schools as it should be; indeed, in 
many schools it is not taught at all: 
but 1 speak to those whose school¬ 
days are over, and who find them¬ 
selves growing careless in the re¬ 
spect, i have mentioned. The fault 
may easily be corrected by taking 
a little pains, being careful in the 
forming of each letter, taking a few 
moments for practising on those 
which wc fail to make well, and 
always avoiding a hurried way of 
writing. For the good of little 
ones under our care, ns well as for 
our own sakes, we cannot be too 
particular in this matter. “ Why, 
what are you doing, Azalia?” said 
my fit tie sister yesterday, coming 
to my desk, as I sat busily forming 
capitals down one page of my note 
book. u I am trying to learn bow 
to make a pretty E,” I replied, smiling, 
whereupon she brought her little slate, and 
begun making E’s up and down one side, 
occasionally glancing at mine, and compar¬ 
ing notes. Was it. in vain that I spent that 
little half-hour improving my hand-writing? 
Such little things it takes to influence the 
liitle folks 1 God pity us if we lead them not 
aright! 
A few hints about the proper materials 
lor writing. I believe that half the dread 
of writing letters is occasioned by the 
lack of a suitable place and suitable im¬ 
plements. Have paper and pens, ink, and 
pun wiper, (a bit of chamois skin makes 
the best wiper,) within convenient reach, 
so that you will not be obliged to spend 
fifteen or twenty minutes in a search for 
these things. I have a stand with three 
drawers which I keep especially for this pur¬ 
pose. The drawers hold my paper, and 
loose scraps, and on the stand I have a 
large glass ink bottle, self-acting, a high pen 
rack which receives my pen-holders, paper 
weight, etc, 1 use a gold pen, which is al¬ 
ways ready, does not corrode, and will last 
a life-time, with careful use. 1 find a bottle 
of carmine ink vOry useful at times, and I 
use the okl-fashioned sand-box in preference 
to blolling paper, which is often too smooth 
to absorb the ink. One of the most useful 
articles for the writing tabic is a bottle of 
“flox,” an ink solvent manufactured in 
Hoehester, N. Y. It will take ink stains 
from paper instantaneously, leaving the 
paper perfectly clean and smooth. I have 
found it invaluable, and, after three months’ 
trial, should hardly know how to do with¬ 
out it. 
Many other hints might be given on the 
subject of writing, but my article is too long 
already. Should it be deemed worthy to 
appear in some humble corner of the Rural, 
I should like to say a few words concern¬ 
ing “ Reading, and Books to be Read.” 
-•--*•♦- 
PARTOif ON OVER- SCHOOLING. 
From an article entitled “ Over-Schooling 
ami L nder-Truiuing,” communicated to the 
Fiil/lie School Journal by James Pauton, 
v. e segregate the following paragraphs on a 
subject ot importance to all interested in our 
public schools—and especially parents and 
teachers j 
No people need reminding of the physical 
conditions of welfare so much as we do. 
pon the shores of this continent, land, ev- 
u 3 year, thousands of parents who, in their 
ybutb, had no opportunity of getting knowl- 
o( " Lut, catching soon the spirit of their 
new country, and perceiving the power which 
comes of the possession of knowledge, they 
resolve that their children shall have the ad¬ 
vantages of education, at any cost. It is a 
most commendable resolution. And yet, 
such parents, ignorant of the laws of health, 
and without, experience of their own in the 
acquisition of knowledge, are almost sure to 
urge their children to an injurious excess of 
mental labor. All around me I see lovely 
children who are victims of their parents’ 
unenlightened ambition. At school from 
arating the innuendoes from the incipient 
beginnings, I will simply state ttiat the cob¬ 
bler’s pony ate a potato from a peddler’s 
wagon which was gauged by a Sibyl on an 
unparalleled trestle work.” These sentences 
are old, and may look very simple, but there 
are very few persons who can write them 
off quickly and correctly without references. 
•-- 
HOW TO SPELL. 
Often, in writing, a simple word is rc- 
Rcbtftocr. 
NEW PUBLICATIONS. 
‘ 
[Tub author of the People’s Practical Poultry 
Book som copies of it to so mo ot our most prom¬ 
inent Agriculturists, Ilortiitulttinsts, Breeders 
and Pouilry Fanciers. From one nf them, emi¬ 
nent ns u breeder, and President of one of the 
most influential Poultry Associations in the 
country, (whoso name wo are requested not to 
DON’T YOU 
nine to two or three; then, perhaps, piano i 
and dancing till dark; and in the evening, 
study till nine or ten. What a massacre of i 
the innocents is this I Even on Sunday, t hey 
have no rest. Wlmt is rest to a school boy ? ; 
It is not to go to school. 
Nothing saves some children from utter 
destruction, but their ceaseless rebellion 
against our murderous requirements. They 
will not sit still in ill-ventilated rooms 1 They 
will not learn those long lessons out ofschool! 
They will coax excuses and holidays from ! 
their mothers. We compel them to disobey 
and misbehave, in order to save their lives. 
Our children are the victims of several 
distinct and powerful ambitions. Their pa¬ 
rents, first of all, are ambitious that they 
should rank high in their school; the teach¬ 
ers are properly ambitions that the school 
should rank high in the district; the trustees 
are ambitious that the schools under their 
charge should he distinguished in the school 
system of the State. 
The Stale authorities naturally desire that 
iho State should be honorably spoken of for 
the excellence of its schools. And, unfor¬ 
tunately, the standard by which scholars 
and schools are judged is one that takes no 
account of the body. If a pupil wins the 
prize, both he and his teacher are held to 
have been succestful, though the poor child 
goes forth to lake his place in the world, a 
bent, dyspeptic wretch, devoid of vivacity 
and vigor, and passes his life in hireling 
service to a robust, victorious ignoramus. 
It is for you, my dear Editor unknown, to 
stand between these co-operating ambitions, 
and the tender brain and body of childhood, 
and give the children of America a chance 
to grow. “ The chief basinet!# of child)'toad is 
to pro to,” Bays the noble author of “ Three 
Hours’ School a Day,” a book I would like 
to have put into the hand of every teacher 
aud parent in the country. 
- *■++ - 
HUNT UP YOUR “WEBSTER,” 
There are fewer people who are correct 
in their orthography than one would suppose 
possible, and the mistakes made by the large 
majority of people in spelling the words of 
which the subjoined sentences are composed 
are by no means few: 
“It is an agreeable sight to witness the 
unparalleled embarrassment of a harassed 
peddler in attempting to gauge a peeled 
onion which a Sibyl lias stabbed with a poi- 
nanl regardless of the innuendoes of the 
lilies of the cornelian hue. 
“ Considering tlie cornelian hues and sep- 
D R E 
WISH YOU Sid 
'4 
.ogntpt 
[ING. 
CHILD AGAIN 
quired, of the orthography of which the I 
writer is not sure. The dictionary may he 
referred to, but it is not always convenient. 
An easy mode is to write the word of which 
you are In doubt on a piece of waste paper, 
in two or three ways. Nine Limes in ten, 
the mode which looks right is right. Spel¬ 
ling, particularly English spoiling, is more 
assisted by the eye than by the memory. 
There Is no reason why “ receive” and “ be¬ 
lieve” should bo spelled differently, yet 
sounded alike in their second syllables. Yet 
write them “ recieve” and “ bcleive,” aud the 
eye shows you the mistake at once. 
Another good way to spell common, but 
difficult words—difficult for the above reason 
—is to associate them in the mind with ap¬ 
propriate objects. For example, we were 
taught to spell “piece,” aud to remember 
Lhe orthography by associating it with “pie 
thus: pie- ce of pie. Could anything be easier? 
We have never since been troubled with that 
word. An ingenious mind can devise many 
such illustrations. 
—--♦♦♦- 
LITERARY AND JOURNALISTIC ITEMS. 
Walt Whitman will have a poem in the 
June Galaxy on France. 
The national House of Representatives 
contains eleven journalists. 
Alas. Emma 1). E. N. Southwortii has 
just published her 65th volume. 
There are 197,688 volumes in the Con¬ 
gressional Library at Washington. 
The Illustrated Christian Weekly is said 
to have a special fund of .$20,000 to back it 
In July next, the Crown Princess of Prus¬ 
sia will publish her book on “Female 
Labor.” 
Miss Elizabeth Stuart Phelps, author 
of The Gates Ajar, is about to be married to 
a young clergyman. 
Kate Field and Gait, Hamilton will 
bathe in the delightful atmosphere of Pitholc 
during the dog days. 
A History of Nebraska, the youngest 
State in the Union, will soon be published by 1 
W. R. Vaughan, Omaha. 
Mr. George S- Hillard is said to be en¬ 
gaged in writing the life of that once dis¬ 
tinguished Boston lawyer, Jeremiah Mason. 
A new daily paper, whose special feature 
will he that it will ho published 1 three times 
a day, is to be issued in Berlin on the 1st of 
June next. 
Prop. Greeni.eaf, the author of Green- 
leaf’s Grammar and other school books, died 
at Burnham, Me., recently, aged seventy- 
nine. lie was a highly educated man. 
give,) we have received the following notion, 
wlilcli wo herewith insert. It la from (ho pen oi 
ainrtu who only writes wlmt lie thinks, and is 
well known ns writing forotbly and honestly on 
any subject, nuo matter who it hits. - Eds. Rural 
Nkw-Yohreh.] 
The Peoples* Practical Poultry/ /look) by 
Wm. AI. Lewir. (New York: t). I). T. MOOiitS, 
Uu a a l New-Yorker Office.) This is an Ameri¬ 
can work, recent in publication, anti of native 
authorship. Truthful, yet teas elaborate In its 
descriptions of the domestic poultry family, 
than some others which have preceded it, It la 
sufficiently so to designate distinctly the pecu¬ 
liarities of the ill If ere nt breeds ami their varie¬ 
ties, with Jllustintivc plates. TUo book docs not 
profess entire originality In the way of uiilliof- 
ship, but it is sufTiciently so to show that its 
compiler understands his subject, aiul has skill¬ 
fully arranged Ids selections from the best 
authorities- This, by the way, we consider much 
wiser ihuii to strike out iuim unbeaten, origi¬ 
nal track, when little ttiat. is new could be in¬ 
troduced, and many possible errors avoided. 
Poultry dissertations existed as early as I ho 
Christian Era, by Coi.UMOLLA, Alluiavanx, and 
other ancient and learned writers, and tittle as 
to their modes of treatment has since boon dis¬ 
covered. Still, now breeds have originated, 
been widely disseminated, and their various 
qualities examined mid discussed, down to tljo 
present time,with all tbo new light.: and dis¬ 
coveries which Imvo tended to tlioir various 
classification and adaptation to either domestic 
purposes, or (tie different tastes and fancies of 
those who admire and cultivate them in the 
higher qualities whtuti they me capable of attain¬ 
ing. Therefore, any publication, honestly treat¬ 
ing of itiolr advancement as articles of household 
economy, taste in their display of I tout tty, sym¬ 
metry, excellence, or gratification iu their pos¬ 
session, is worthy both ol'patronage and study. 
Such we consider ilie “People's Practical Poul¬ 
try Book "to be, aud wish for Ic a wide cite illa¬ 
tion. The taste-for the cultivation of poultry 
which has been rapidly increasing iu the United 
States for the lust twenty years has been mis¬ 
takenly considered by many otherwise Sensible 
people trifling and childish—an opinion in which 
these Sensible people arc not only wrong, but 
ignorant. An indulgence in taste for the fine 
arts, or sculpture, painting, architecture, music, 
etc., is thought by tlio enlightened wdr)d com¬ 
mendable, elevating, reflulng. it is so. Why, 
also. Is the taste l’or developing to its highest 
degree of excellence or ornament the several 
beautiful species of domestic fowls which a kind 
Providence has bounteously provided us, not, 
equally worthy of commendation? It only 
needs a due consideration of the subject to 
make it so, and none but the thoughtless or ig¬ 
norant will treat it with levity or contempt. 
Wo welt recollect that some twenty years ago, 
or less, « “Poultry fever,” «o called by soum 
over-wise people, ranged to moro or lets* extent 
over our Easteru nud Central States, Numer¬ 
ous exhibitions were gotten up by assoela- 
tionsof amateurs, and much gratification result¬ 
ed, not only among the amateurs themselves, 
but to the public generally who witnessed and 
profited by their praiseworthy efforts. Yot, like 
some other new things, the “fever” gradually 
died away, and the “ improved ” poultry fastes 
of the country Blcpt. The mo3t contemptible 
result of this temporary slumber was that one 
who had been the most conspicuous of ail in 
promoting the good work—even writing a book 
to give prominence to his endeavors- afterwards 
wroto another book, throwing l'tdlettle upon the 
whole proceeding, at the same tunc showing 
himself a qjinrlutun. and, of dour so, a knave; 
and strangest of all now, as we see by (hii papers 
and his own recent circulars to the poultry fan¬ 
ciers, the same author is about to Issue anoliicr 
book, commendUffe the new enterprise, and him¬ 
self a hero in its progress, presuming,we suppose, 
that Die public have forgotten both his early 
commendations mid his subsequent shameless 
ridicule of them. “Boston folk,” according to 
the adage, “aro full of notions," and if the Bos¬ 
ton poultry lovers do not indulge their “ notion” 
of treating such impertinence with 
tho contempt it deserves, an insulted 
public oulsirioof Massachusetts might, 
so to do In tho entire avoidance of hla 
proposed book. 
It may he said that we had “Poultry” 
books enough before this. Perhaps so 
for the less progressive,but. not for those 
who Incline to work up to tho mark in 
their endeavors «t still further im¬ 
provement. Jt is true that several books 
of the kind have been Issued within tho 
past twenty years, both of European 
and American origin, and although tho 
merits of Some of them bitty tie com¬ 
parative, yet all luxvo proved beneficial 
to those who have attentively studied 
them with a desire for improvement. 
Tho second hundred pages of tho 
work under notice we consider particu¬ 
larly valuable in their treatment of dis¬ 
eases, the construction of poultry 
houses, mid accommodation, with the 
many illustrations of plan interspersed, 
together wiih various other miscellane¬ 
ous# mutter important to an understand¬ 
ing of tho entire subject. No matter 
how many Other authorities one may 
luivo at. hand, tho trifling price of one 
dollar and fifty edits, at which this 
book Is afforded, should not deter any 
true lover and ciillivalor Of poultry 
from its possession aud reading. In 
1 addition to whatever they previously 
knew, the readers of this book can 
certainly lirtd Ilnur money's worth in the 
instruction it will impart. A pnulieal 
word to those Intensely sensible, dlgnl- 
fled people, who took contemptuously 
upon “enthusiasts." as they are pleased 
to term our Poultry Amateurs, llavo 
not the poultry meats provided for 
your tables — even tlm eggs used in 
your household manifestly Improved, 
in quality, within the past twenty 
years? If such result has not boon ap¬ 
parent to your own tastes, and those 
of your families, your poultry purvey¬ 
or will assure you ol' the tact. And your 
children boys, and even girls alike- 
Wherever they have been Indulged in 
their propagation, will assure you of 
tho gratification they have enjoyed iu 
rearing and earing for their welfare, 
flow many idle It' not mischievous 
hours have been rescued in these 
" chicken " reereat ioiiH, which would 
have otherwise been lost in pursuits or 
associations worse than useless! Our 
Poultry Societies lire compoaod not 
only of the amnlours and household econo¬ 
mists, of various other pursuits than of the 
farm, but of high functionsrit s in State, church, 
and the professions generally. They do not 
consider it beneath their dignity or exam¬ 
ple to associate with tho less conspicuous, yet 
equally respectable ranks of society — line, 
manly boys, even—in tho encouragement and 
promotion of so worthy an object. Such asso¬ 
ciations, in this way, deserve to be ranked ns 
benefactors, and every publication tending to 
assist their endeavors aliouId meet with the 
welcome It deserves. 
Stow florae* tint tie font anti Patti Horae* 
made Patter, ist.llO title of a book, which claims 
to bo “a historical view of the American Trot¬ 
ter, with approved and successful methods of 
developing the speed of horses;’* and It is claim¬ 
ed to contain “exposures of fallacious methods, 
secrets, tricks of Jockeys and frauds of tho 
turf.” (New York: Jesse Haney & Co.) This 
work la handsomely illustrated, and contains 
matters which will Interest every horseman 
especially those Interested in trotting stock. 
That it confutes Information that will emildo 
ono to make a slow horse last, wo are not pre¬ 
pared to assort. 
.Tterhaniem In Thought anti Jllorala, by Ol.t- 
VP.it WgfroEJ.ii Holmes, .(Boston : Janus U. Os¬ 
good & Co.,) Is the title of an address delivered 
before \ ho Phi Beta Kitppil Society oT Harvard 
University, with notes and afterthoughts. Wo 
have dipped into this lUUo volume Just enough 
to desire to read it through. It will not “moot 
tho wants ” of all orthodox people, but whoever 
reads it Will be seta thinking, and will certainly 
be none the worse for such exercise. 
The Human Peel, (Now York: S. R. Wells, 
Is the title of a little volume of -02 pages, which 
trouts of their dress aud care, showing the natu¬ 
ral, perfect shape and construction; their pres¬ 
ent deformed condition ; and how flat feet, dis¬ 
torted toes and other defects aro to be proven ted 
or corrected, with directions for dressing them 
elegantly yet comfortably, and hints upon vari¬ 
ous matters relating to the whole subject, with 
illustrations. 
Intemperance—Its financial, physical, mental, 
social aud moral evils, and its causes and reme¬ 
dies—is treated by Thomas W. Dekrino, M. D., 
in a compact little volume published by Cowan 
& Co., New York. It is a grouping of startling 
facts ami data, showing what intemperance costs 
individuals and society. It will do no harm to 
any one tef read it, and ought to accomplish 
much good. 
Albion and tto*amonet, and fttnaer Poem, 
by Robert Burton Rodney, U. S. N. These 
poems are above u mediocre standard. They do 
not exhibit so much strength ot thought uor of 
poet ical fancy its of descriptive power. 
Prank Spencer’* llute at life, (New York: 
J. N. Stearns,) seems to have been “Fear God 
aud take the consequences;” and this little story 
for youth is designed to Illustrate how he did It, 
and tlie consequences resulting. 
Itarne*’ JYole a on the Ad* of the .Ipoatlcs 
are revised and published by Harper & Brothers. 
Biblical Students understand their value too 
well to require that we should commend them. 
The Americ.an Agricultural Annual for 1871, 
though issued late, contains fifty cents worth of 
information for almost uuybudy. (New York 
Orange Judd & Cod 
f 
