pother fall like a benediction on the glorious 
plant-lifo below, where the flowers are all 
blooming with a total disregard of the white 
covering that lies, shroud-like, over the hills 
without. We have had so innny bitter storms 
this winter that T found my Frame took a great 
deal from the unpleasantness of the picture I 
saw through my window, r have written my 
“experience,” thinking it might be perhaps an 
aid to some who wished to beautify their homes 
with no expense. Cora. 
seldom at a le*s for something to do. Will the 
girl that made so many kinds of tatting please 
put her full address In your paper? I wish to 
write to her. -Carrie, Ohio. 
From an English School-CIrl. 
Dear Editor j —My sister sent, me u Rural, 
and I saw the little girls' and boys' letters, and 
I thought. I should like to write one. I am a 
little English girl, and 1 am now at boarding 
school, nt Gravesend, Eng., and I am looking 
forward to the Easier Holidays. I live ill Hart¬ 
ford. We have a nice, large garden, and beau¬ 
tiful flowers. 1 have plenty to do: we begin 
school in the morning at nine, and leave off at 
twelve, and If it is (Inewo go out for a walk, 
and in the afternoon we begin at -two o’clock 
and leave off at four, and then we have our 
French class till five, and then we have tea, and 
after that we study our lesson for the next day 
for an hour. I should like to come over to 
America for a lit tlo while. 1 ant t welve years 
old.— Amy F., Gravesend, tSng. 
BY HOSE GERANIUM 
1 KNOW a little boy. 
Ami I’ve often heard it said 
That b« never was so tired 
That ho wished to go to bed. 
Though he scarcely can hold up 
His ilr«wsy little, head. 
Yet this very foolish boy 
Cannot, boar to go to bed. 
When the big. golden sun 
Has laid down to sleep; 
When the lunibs every one 
Arn lying hy the sheep; 
When underneath its wing 
Every chick tucks its head, 
Still this odd little boy 
Does Dot like to go to bed. 
Drifting along on Ufa’s current. 
Leaving the baby-shore mild. 
Floating far out into childhood 
Wandereth Nobody's child. 
Little bare feet on the roadside. 
Tattered clothes—soiled, puny face ; 
Under them can ye discover 
Pencils of something like grace ? 
Sunshiny, wind-tangled ringlets, 
Scorn on the lip am) the eye ; 
Phantasy strangest that Nature 
Scatters so careless her dye! 
Strange that such singular touches— 
Features high bred, should run wild 
Hide on th it cheek and that forehead- 
Linger with Nobody’s child ! 
Helpless and friendless and loveless. 
Weary head propped on a stone 
Nobody’s offspring is resting 
Out by the wayside, alone. 
Helpless and friendless and loveless 1 
Ah ! there is agony wild— 
Ah ! there’s n legacy feurful 
Waiting for Nobody’s child 
It shall be snre of its portion. 
•No one shall cheat It nwny j 
Misery’s store-house Is open 
Faithful and true every day. 
WOMEN AND WAR 
Ruskin, at flic close of a lecture upon “ War,” 
addressed to the Royal Military College, Wool¬ 
wich, Eng., thus addressed the women present: 
You may wonder, perhaps, that T have spoken 
this night In praise id war. Yet truly, if it 
might be, I, for one, would falnjotnthe cadence 
of hammer-strokes that should beat swords 
into plowshares; and that this cannot be, is not 
the fault of ns men. It la vour fault. Wholly 
yours. Only by your command, or by your per¬ 
mission, can any contest take place among us. 
And the real, Anal reason for all the poverty, 
misery, and rage of battle throughout Europe, 
is simply that you women, however good and 
religious, however self-sacrificing for those 
whom you love are too selfish and too thought¬ 
less to take pains for any creature out-of your 
immediate circles. You fancy that you are 
sorry for the pain of others. Now. 1 just tell 
you this, that if the usual course of war, instead 
of uprooting peasants’ houses, and ravaging 
peasants’fields, merely broke I’hina upon your 
own drawing-room rubles, no war In civilized 
countries would lust a week. I tell you more; 
that at. whatever moment you choose to put a 
period to war, you could do it with loss trouble 
than you take any day to go out to dinner. 
Yon know, or, nt least, you might, know, if you 
would think, I hat every battle you bear of has 
made many orphans and widows. Wo have 
none of ns heart enough truly to mourn with 
these ; but, at least, we might put on the outer 
symbols of mourning with them. Let but every 
Christian lady who has oonseionco towards 
God vow that she will mourn, at lea 1 inwardly, 
for his killed creatures. Your prayer is useless, 
and your church-going mere mockery of God, 
if you have not plain obedience In you to your 
conscience. I.et every lady in the happy classes 
of civilized Europe simply vow that, while any 
cruel war proceeds she will wear hlack—a 
mute’s black—with no jewei, no ornament, no 
excuse for an invasion into prettiness: I tell 
you again, no war would last a weak. 
LETTERS FROM BOYS AND GIRLS 
How to Feed Hons. 
Editor Rural: 1 have always meant to 
write to you when I g®t old enough. I am nine 
years old, and would like to tell the Rural 
boys howto feed hens to make them lay. Take 
n pan of corn meal and wheat bran, mixed, and 
after they have boiled meat, pour the liquor 
over It while hot enough to scald. (They gen¬ 
erally take tin* grease off, but T would leave it 
on.) Feed this while warm, put in some red 
pepper, and keep plenty of corn by them for 
luncheon and a box of old lime nr plaster for 
them to pick at, and see If It, don’t keep you 
busy to carry in the eggs. Wo have been 
troubled with lice on the fowls, but last year 
when wo set a hen we sprinkled ashes over the 
hen and in tho nest, ami they all left .—F. L. J., 
Lakeside, N ../. 
From a Delaware Boy. 
Dear Mr. Editor:—1 have been thinking 
for a long time of writing to you, to tell you 
how much we prize your paper—my father hav¬ 
ing taken it over since It has been published. 
We woidd not know bow to get along without 
the Rural, and tho Picture (Premium F.ngrav- 
iug) is very nice, for which you have our sincere 
thanks. We live in Delaware; havo been here 
four years. We came from Now York State, In 
hopes of finding n milder climate. This winter 
lias been the most unpleasant of any since we 
came ; very changeable, with so much rain and 
very cold winds from tho North, with the ther¬ 
mometer down to 4* above zero that Is the 
lowest it has been tlds winter; last year it. wont 
to 1° above. When It is cold here, we feel it as 
much as we did further North, on account, of 
the winds being so piercing, in the summer 
the cool breeze is very pleasant, aiul wo do not 
feel the heat as much as we did In New York 
State. Wo have all kinds t>r fruit in abundance, 
and plenty of sea food. \ like t.o read the boys’ 
and girls’ letters, and feel sorry for Hie girl that 
churned all night. I think I should give the 
cream lo the pigs before T would churn all 
night. If I could give her any Information on 
the subject 1 would do so, for she certainly has 
my sympathy.— Fred. W. T\, Milford, Del. 
Drifting along on life’s current, 
Tossed by the pitiless wild— 
Angels in Heaven ! have mercy 
Watah over Nobody’s child ! 
OUR CONSERVATORY 
The Rural and Its Premium Picture. 
Dear Mr. Editor:—Wo are happy to write 
to let you know that we have received the dear 
old Rural, and the beautiful Picture. I am 
but ton years old, but I wish to let you and the 
cousins know that I like to see pretty pictures 
and road good papers. 1 attend Sunday school 
and day school, and lovo my teachers very much. 
I have no live pets, as we live in tho city and 
have no plnee to make t hem comfortable ; but 
if 1 lived in (lie country 1 should make pets of 
everything I could. T like the horse best, of all, 
and wish T had an organ. F will hid you good- 
by now, but may write again some time.—E. L. 
J., Chicago, 111. 
A Box of Stones. 
A few weeks since, when I returned from a 
trip in Central New York, I was both surprised 
and delighted at finding my letter in print. 
Now, I want to tell you what T brought home 
with me. Not what most of you would have 
brought, for no doubt some of you would have 
hesitated about carrying a box of stones under 
your arm a couple hundred miles; but that Is 
what 1 did. The stones were chiefly fossil sliolls, 
from a kind of rock, In which they abound, 
called by geologists the Hamilton group, which 
belongs to the Period or the same name. These 
rocks belong to the Devonian Age, or Age of 
Fishes. It is a light, shaly sandstone, and 
rather hard ; and t he fossils belong to an order 
• if tnolluskri called Drachlopods, which means 
arm-footed ; and they are so called because 
they use their arms to stir the water, In order 
to bring their food within their reach. My 
“cabinet.," of which I spoke before, now num¬ 
bers, with the addition of these fossils, nearly 
two hundred specimens. I would like very 
much to correspond with some young Rurnlist 
upon Natural History, and exchange specimens. 
Will not some one do so? 1 would like to ex¬ 
change rock specimens with others, In different 
parts of the country. All letters will reach me 
directed to— Young Naturalist, Dojc 844, Spen~ 
cerport , N. I'. 
Lambs and Sugar. 
Mu. Editor i am a little girl nine years old. 
Wo have got four little lambs. The first two 
were twins, and one of them died. We have 
got a cat and a dog. It Is almost sugaring time; 
we have tapped a. few trees.- Nellie V. H., 
Kent Co., Mu h. 
A WOMAN’S PROBLEM 
Tub following extract, from a letter from 
Jean Inoklow IOLucy Stone will be read with 
interest by American women : 
“ You bn,ve, I venture to think, more than one 
problem to work out hi America, on which, in 
a great degree, depends the welfare of woman. 
In one of these l take a keen Interest, and I 
hope to see you settle It for yourselves and for 
us. I want you to discover how domestic work 
Is to be combined with high culture. 
“Ho long as household work is thought de¬ 
grading (and nowhere is this so much the ease 
as In America) there never eon bo anything like 
universal education; there must always be some 
who work all their lives, because others will not 
work at all. ft. is to bo one of the great tilings 
that you Americans, I believe, are raised up for, 
to teach tho world how this is to be done; but 
the teachers can never be those who are poor; 
t hey must be those who are not obliged to work 
at all. 
“How to make clear-starch mg and ironing 
graceful and pretty occupations (And such they 
were thought by our great-great-grand mothers), 
how to keep a house dean, cod to assist, even 
In a kitchen, Without the least sense of being 
lowered, or the slightest personal deterioration, 
might surely be managed if women gave their 
mindS to it—if more delicate machinery was 
invented for helping them, and If it could even 
be made the fashion for ail women, young and 
old, to pride themselves on their domestic skill,” 
sicirms—ruggeu, gnarled iUUl twisted, ho much 
the better. Then he fixed them securely in the 
form of a rustic I power over the window. How 
miserably they looked ; not one bit romantic or 
graceful. If wo looked at them olonely, to be 
sure there were little coral sprigs and patches 
of bJ 1 very-gray lichen,” beautiful exceedingly," 
and tiny mosses—but still they looked so odd 
in my neat, room. Ooa iilie, dear fellow, rallied 
me a little, but a very little, for lie saw that I 
was not altogether contented with my plan 
thus far. 
A good while I debated with myself in regard 
to a center piece for ray garden; I was really 
puzzled, when one clay a package came to me 
in the mail, labeled “alive." I gazed upon it 
with questioning wonder. What could It be? 
And very carefully 1 unrolled the papers sur¬ 
rounding it, lest the “ alive ” thingshouid prove 
formidable. I clapped my hands with delight. 
It was a small Amarnnlhus saltHfoliuH— Foun¬ 
tain Plant — with the exquisite coloring of its 
graceful foliage gleaming already us tho sun’s 
rays fell upon it. I recognized in this, almost a 
“special providence," the hand of my good 
brother, who well knew my weakness. 
A small, round box, with the bottom removed, 
was then placed in tho center of my garden, 
filled with earth, and my cherished treasure 
elevated t o a due post of honor. Then T plant¬ 
ed delicate Heliotropes, Geraniums, Verbenas, 
and (’alia Lilies. Around the edge I made a 
border of Lobelia, with it*< (lowers like azure 
stars,and delicate vines. Throughout my garden 
at intervals f grouped, where it would best add 
to the effect, rich-colored Coleus, and a Japonica 
with i:s dark livery. Then in the corners I 
planted Climbers, the rapidly-growing German 
Ivy, Madeira bulbs, the inimitable Cypress, and 
a thrifty plant of the Maurandia hnrlsyano, 
which a kind friend sent tome. Then I left it 
to grow. 
Now let mo tell you just, bow it looks this 
bright, sunny spring morning. Those ugly, 
bare branches are each one a “ t hing of beauty " 
now; first, the ivy threw out a delicate, pale 
green arm, then the Cypress, with Its charming, 
delicate foliage. The others followed till they 
seemed to be having a merry race for the top: 
and what a bower of beauty they have alto¬ 
gether made for me; the pure white flowers 
of the Madeira and the pink and purple bells of 
die Maurandia harleyana mingling with the 
d> Jirate fi>1 1 age. My canary’s cage hangs in the 
center, and as he shakes the sunlight from ids 
wings and the melody from his throat, they to- 
IILLUSTRATED PROVERB. No. 1 
From a Jayhawker. 
Mr. Editor: —I suppose. I might be called a 
Kansas Jayhawker, because I was born here, 
and arn nine years old. My parents have lived 
here sixteen years. We have a pretty home. 
It has all been made since I was born, ami I 
will tell you something about it. Pa first plant¬ 
ed a large orchard of fruit trees, and then black 
locust. The locust, grew to lie large trees and 
made a beautiful shade, but the borers went to 
work on them and they soon fell down; then 
It was hard work to grub them out. Then we 
planted cottonwood, maple, walnut, and many 
other kinds, and they arc now large trees. The 
borers and gophers killed a great many of the 
fruit trees, too. but now we watch for them. It 
is real fun to trap the gophers. Pa gives brother 
twenty-five cents for every one he gets: he has 
trapped fifty. They destroy hedges also. They 
are queer-looking things, with pockets on either 
side of their neck which they fill with dirt and 
throw out in piles.— Maud. 
Answer in two weeks 
MISCELLANEOUS ENIGMA. No. 5 
FEMININE FELICITIES, 
I am composed of 14 letters : 
My 1, 7,11, 5,1, 14,11 is a place of amusement. 
My 12, 5, 4, 0 is an important article of house 
use. 
My 9, 14, tt, 12, 7 Is a numerous race of people. 
My 13, 5, 3,4, 11 Is a post town in Michigan. 
My .7,3, 11, 2, H, p, 5 was a noted king of ancient 
times. 
My 3, 5,10,10,12 Is an art icle kept by druggists. 
My whole was a king of ancient times. 
Z'^" Answer in two weeks. H. F. Geyek. 
Why do girls kiss each other, and men not? 
Because girls each have nothing better to kiss, 
and men have. 
“I sympathize sincerely with your grief,” 
said u French lady’s recently widowed friend. 
“To lose such a husband its yours.” “ Ah, yes, 
he was very good; and then, you see, such a 
misfortune is always great, for one knows wlmt 
kind of a husband she has lost, but cannot tell 
what kind of a man one will find to succeed 
him.” 
Here is an authentic Instance of true and 
faithful love : A Pittsfield (Mass.) school-girl, 
in order to convince a jealous boy that she 
liked him better than some other urchin, ex¬ 
claimed; “Of course T like you better than I 
do Bill, for don’t 1 miss words in my spelling 
lesson on purpose so as to be down to the foot 
of the class where you are ? ” 
Miss Emily Faithfull recently visited the 
Western Union Telegraph offices in New York 
City, to inspect the female department thereof. 
Before her departure. Miss Snow, the Superin¬ 
tendent, presented her with a beautiful basket 
of flowers from tho lady operators In token of 
their appreciation of her labors in behalf of 
women. 
Girls Cutting Corn. 
Dear Mr. Editor: -I have read, with great 
interest, the letters written by the boys and 
girls, and thought, I would tell what I can do. 
I am fifteen years old. I have a sister eleven 
years old, and a brother, who is a young man. 
My brother is not livingat home, so. as my father 
has no other help, sister and I very often have 
to act as boys. Last Fall wo cut a field of corn, 
of perhaps two and a half acres, without fath¬ 
er’s help. We have a sewing machine which 
we both sew on, and a cabinet organ which we 
both play on, so you see we can either entertain 
company nr work at boy’s work, just whichever 
suits. We can both do housework, crochet, 
make tatting, knit stockings, Ac., Ac., we are 
ANAGRAM. No. 3 
Th aw rea hhttgson ! a dnwi-pewst rmvodea 
Gnmmcikii a tredublo aes, 
Rea tno flol dan detail a aodwah, 
Morf het kroc ttyvreei. Enigma 
fjsF' Answer in two weeks. 
PUZZLER ANSWERS. March 8 
Puzzle No. R— lsptdagigantea. 
Miscellaneous Enigma No. 4.—Mark Twain’s 
Innocents Abroad. 
Illustrated Rebus No. Secretary Bout- 
well has resigned the Treasury portfolio. 
