this Vivian, the enthusiastic) little reporter for 
the Daily Oral broke out in such delighted en¬ 
cores that a sudden confusion was the result, 
and the convention hastily adjourned sine die. 
SPRING 
WHISTLE AND HOE 
ANOTHER LETTER TO BOYS AND GIRLS, 
BT RUNE BLUFF, 
There's a boy just over tho garden fence, 
Who Is whistling all through the livelong day; 
And his work Is not just, a mere pretence, 
For you see the weeds he has cut away. 
Whistle and hoe, 
Sing as you go, 
Shorten the row 
By the songs you know. 
Not a word of bemoaning his task 1 hear, 
fie has scorooly time for a growl, r know, 
X* or his whlstlo sounds so merry and clear. 
He must tlnd some pleasure in every row. 
Whistle and hoc, 
Sing as you go, 
- Shorten tho vow 
By the songs you know. 
But then while you whistle, he sure that vou hoe 
For If you are Idle the briars will spread; 
And whistle alone to tho end of the row, 
May do for tho weeds, but is bud tor the bread. 
WhlBtle and hoe, 
A bird came flying over the hills, 
Over bare forests and ice-bound rills; 
He sang a song so glad and true. 
It floated up to tho sky of blun, 
And down where the young buds waiting lay 
For the wooing sun to come that way. 
Then be darted down to a brown old tree, 
And sang it the news right merrily : 
“ The grasses will grow and flowers will bloom, 
Tor Spring Is coming! Is coming soon : 
The Sunbeams bright will warmer grow. 
The rivers aud rills will faster How; 
Be glad ! tie glad for the news l bring, 
An i welcome t j<s coming of beautiful Spring.” 
A few snow-flakes that lingering slept 
Where the warm sunshine but seldom crept. 
Waked up at the notes of the wild song-bird, 
Trembling with fear as the song they heard ; 
Then clung to old Earth, and weeping they lay. 
Their home, to the la.-t, on her hosoin of clay. 
Hark! there's a stirring among the trees. 
And a breath of flowers in the. whispering breeze 
Itcomes to us from the balmy South, 
With fragrant kis-es in its mouth— 
Its touch is aa soft and warm to me 
As an Infant’s dimpled palm could be. 
See! o’er tho hills In the morning bright. 
There’s a deeper glow and a rosier light. 1 
And a fair, sweot show of ooniing queen, 
Along the mountain Mde Is seen. 
Bloom bright, ye flowers, yo wild birds sing ! 
All hall, she comes, beautiful Spring! 
gt-i* i"M Ming w iuioui among ter it, and some¬ 
times not then. If she Is depressed, do you 
kindly inquire Into the cause, or does she bear 
ail her burdens alone and yours also? If she 
fcOtnplainfl of physical weakness, do you see 
that she hastinj rest and attention she needs, 
or do you enll if a woman’s nervousness, and 
forget it the moment you close the door after 
you V In those days you used to tell her how- 
dear to you she was. Perhaps it is years since 
you have told her anything of the kind, al¬ 
though there are many reasons why site should 
be dearer now than then. 
If your wife is silent and undemonstrative, it 
may bo because she is too proud to beg for 
what yon do not voluntarily yield. If she is 
changed irom what she once was, thero is some 
good reason for it ; and it, would be well if 
every man knew that the best part of a womun’B 
life ilies out when she discovers t hat, marriage 
is tho end instead of the beginning of Jove. 
THE “RURAL” THEN AND NOW 
My flrst, acquaintance with the Rural began 
in 1857, seventeen years ago, and in looking at 
that volume I cannot help contrasting It with 
the Rural of to-day; and It is really interest¬ 
ing to notice Iho change# since that time. 
Many who wrote Tor it t lion are dead or subject 
to Other changes, so that it hardly looks rainll- 
iar. We thought it perfect then, but now how 
great the improvement! it has not only 
doubled in size, but has so increased In Inter¬ 
est. that It has in reality become a household 
companion—a place where wo can llnd Informa¬ 
tion suited for every department in life, and I 
think, too, that the Itmt ai. has helped a groat 
many to become writers, and in that way bene¬ 
fited themselves, if not others. You know, in 
writing, all depends on getting start ed, and In 
those days wo have so many scribblers (hat 
editors are obliged to be very particular what 
they take, and this gutting started is some¬ 
times hard work. Now, 1 saw in this Rural an 
Invitation from Mr. Mooke to consider It a 
family paper, and if any young person had any 
ideas to communicate be promtsaii to road 
them carefully, and if of any worth to put 
them in the paper; so I wrote a little piece, 
and no politician over waited more anxiously 
for news of his election than did I for the fate 
A FEW W0RD3 TO HUSBANDS 
BY FA1T1I LEIGH 
We have frequently read advice to wives, and 
very good advice too, and as it costs- nothing 
but a little arrangement of ideas often upper¬ 
most, in our mind, we would like to bo allowed 
the privilege of saying a few words to hus¬ 
bands. 
We know there are many husbands, noble 
men, who faithfully perform their part, who 
cherish their wivos as themselves, and whose 
lives are above reproach. And wo know there 
are worthless women living lives of selfish ease, 
recklessly spending what their husbands earn 
by hard work and care-fraught days and nights; 
but it is not of these we speak, but tho far 
greater class of working women who boar more 
than au equal proportion of life's burdens. 
»Y CLARA CKKSWELL. 
imvu (mu muon on imu Buojeri or matting 
home happy, and it is generally considered to 
be something the responsibility of which rests 
wholly with t he wife. Ah, but we don’t believe 
it. It takes more than one to make home 
happy, although one can make it miserable. 
One great cause of unhappiness in tho'house- 
hold seems to be that women do not smile 
enough. What if there be nothing to smile for? 
We have certainly seen some overworked and 
unappreciated ones who, to our thinking, had 
not much to smile for, unless it were that the 
good God would presently take them home to 
rest; who made home near, always, and taste¬ 
ful, as far as they had time and means to do It; 
whose meals were well cooked (if that will 
preserve love), and who were models of econ¬ 
omy; but it was a thankles •service, patiently 
rendered. . And their husbands wore not in¬ 
tentionally unkind, but unthinking, and prob¬ 
ably indifferent, Just such men as the world is 
full of—men who would very quickly detect 
the first symptom of overwork in a horse, but 
would suffer the women they call their wives 
to toil on until a malady, physical, mental, and 
perhaps moral, Is fastened upon them that no 
earthly power can remove. We have often 
wondered that h unbuilds could not see and 
value more the services of a wife, Into every 
One of which is woven so much of her life- 
strength and vitality, and why they could not 
sometimes bear with a hasty word uttered in 
weariness or weakness, for which they claim so 
much toleration themselves—why they cannot 
sometimes see what it ia that takes the fire 
from the eye and the elasticity from the spir¬ 
its; and, in short, why so many men must 
expect so much in the way of comfort and 
encouragement and givo as little as possible in 
return! * 
It is said that a man comes in at night, tired 
from business cares and annoyances, to rest; 
and, no matter how cross ur abstracted he may 
be, bis wife must be all smiles and pleasant¬ 
ness. What right have you, husbands, to drag 
In your cares and place the burden upon her 
who. perhaps, was up half the night with the 
teething child while you slept, and whose whole 
day has been one round of never-ending, weary¬ 
ing work? And, worse yet, what moral right 
have you to bring home the ill-temper others 
have caused and vent on the woman you pro¬ 
fessed before God and man tu love better than 
all the world beside? Why should you give 
her sharp answers and hasty language that, 
ir given to business acquaintances, would jug. 
ttfy them In putting you from their presence, 
simply because she has no one whose right it Is 
to protect her from you, and if she oompla'ns, 
lament that her temper is not as good as it used 
to be when you married her? 
Surely it was not so with you In your courting < 
days! Were you not very thoughtful of her i 
then ? Were you not interested If she had only ’ 
, ■ * *** ** **•»/>* «uu mien mio j/ujjur camt 
, and I found It really printed, 1 felt as if every 
, one looking at me must know how famous I 
, had become. 
, That was a long time ago, and that litt le piece 
looks very foolish to me now; still I must over 
feel thankful to Mr. Moom. for allowing mo 
i the first clianco to expose my ignontneo, for 
i that is the only way wo can ever learu ; and I 
presume I speak the sentiments of many others 
when I say I hope the “ Rural's shadow may 
never grow less I” Amelia. 
Cayuga, N. Y.. 1874. 
My Dear Old Friend Rural:— I read in 
your issue of Feb. 14 a letter front Miss Addie 
A., Swanton, Vt., and was much pleased with 
its pent al, yet I confess that some pangs of 
jealousy were aroused. I, too, welcome you 
with endearments. “ You dear old Rural ! 
bow glad I am to see you 1” Is the usual excla¬ 
mation upon your arrival. Indeed, you are the 
oldest of my newspaper friends. You are the 
first paper I ever read. I have now in my pos¬ 
session Rural's containing choice stories at 
least twenty-one years old. 
Addie must not think me boastful, for Idid 
not receive them so long ago. My father was 
also one of the early subscribers. Our family 
has been olieored and aided very much by its 
motherly pages, directly or indirectly, for 
twenty-one years. I have often wondered how 
any family could afford to be without the 
Rural. Mother says she can’t keep house 
without the Rural. I hope to welcome you 
Into our home drole for twenty-one years to 
come! With a wish for your prosperity, I am 
your Young Friend, Florence L. 
February, 1874. 
- ■ . - 
ONE OF THE MIBERIE8 OF MARRIAGE. 
“There is a form of misery,” says the Satur¬ 
day Review, “with which most of us have to 
make acquaintance at least once in our lives. 
Mankind has agreed to surround the marriage 
ceremony with observances of a distressing, 
not to say ridiculous, nature. It is generally 
assumed, we need not ask with what accuraoy, 
tb-at a marriage is in itself a cause for congrat¬ 
ulation to the persons most immediately inter 
ested; and therefore, it is inferred that they 
shonld suffer cheerfully the small deduction 
from their satisfaction which is Involved in 
making themselves a show to t.hefr acquaint¬ 
ances and to the public generally.” It thinks 
that, as the world grows more civilized, the 
quantity of ceremonial is diminishing; “and it 
may be hoped that in time two human beings, 
performing the most solemn act of their livse, 
will be allowed to get through the business 
quietly and seriously, without being exposed 
to the impertinent intrusions of the outside 
world.” 
Sing as yon go. 
Shorten the row 
By tho songs you know. 
[Faith Ainslie. 
NEST BUILDERS’ CONVENTION, 
REPORTED FROM A MULBERRY STUMP. 
by rose geranium. 
The opening session was characterized by a 
full attendance, and unusual interest, and har¬ 
mony prevailed. 
I be meeting was held in tho ninpln rooms of 
Ilic Association located on tho southern slope 
of the law n, immediately adjoining the Orchard, 
and comfortably furnished with walnuts, ma¬ 
ples and locusts. Although every reasonable 
etl’orl. had been used to have the necessary re¬ 
pairing done away by tho appointed date, -8th 
of February, 1 observed that tho floor painting, 
which la, of course, to be green, was only about 
IimII' complete. In broken patches, and still 
quite damp. A troop of golden-liveried, brisk 
.itl lo pages, sent down by Overseer Sun, were 
tip toeing uround, brushing out, the last traces 
of remaining snow from the fence rows. 
Doubtless it was much owing to the prudent 
use of his ill-gotten gains that Go 1. Wood Peck 
was nominated and almost unanimously elected 
to the presidency. [ will remark hero that 1 
grrevo to .c.iilze tho fact that, monopolies arc 
gaining such a formidable footing In our 
feathered circle*. Col. Wood Feck is a bluff 
hearty, middle-aged personage, eminently more 
ill home in sporting assemblies than among 
those cluf. sea distinguished for polished exterior 
and Intellectuality. lie Indulges a brilliant- 
style of dross and Is extremely garrulous, evi¬ 
dently Ilia tone hors havo boon at fault that- Ids 
dialect flavors so strongly of the backwoods. 
lie hopped to iiia seat in the top of a locust 
tree, besting savage taps upon a tender twig 
and calling out in arrogemc, “Che-air! che- 
air”! [ presume hts lady took it. as a matter 
of course that she was elected secretary, for 
she skipped sidewise up the tree, declaring 
that she was the “olavok—clavok.” 
The various methods of construction, the 
newest authority on nests, position, locality 
and tlie like were alt warmjy discussed. Nobody 
seemed inclined to make a. bona fide purchase, 
notwithstanding the advice or the Chair and 
the excellent recommendations Esq. Quail 
gave as his personal experience after many 
years In the climate. You know very few like 
to act entirely upon even the very best authori¬ 
ty and every bird waits for the other. 
Mr. Robin threw in a triflo of discourage¬ 
ment from the gate post, by relating a very 
touching Incident of one of his illustrious race 
who perished in a daring attempt to survive the 
Northern winter. “ It is all very well during 
the berry season” be- chipped, “ but I shan't 
attempt to pass October north of the Caroltmts. 
Then the self-interested and speculative trees 
began to stir uneasily, waving their boughs to 
and fro on the breeze and whispering, “See, 
see, see! ” Immediately there was a buzz, Rob¬ 
in who had all the wlitlo been eyeing a certain , 
locality. In great fear lest bo should ioso hl« e 
bargain, gave a twist and a flit up between two f 
branches, crying, “Hear dear! hear dear”! 1 
and Mrs. Robin sang out “ O, sweet! sweet! ” r 
in testimony of her usual good temper and 
genuine approval. 
Agent Wren, who has held the appointment 
for several years, used every exertion to suit 
hl3 customers on good terms. He sprang about, 
calling attention to the various sites and con- C 
stantly proclaiming that they were all “to let ” 1 
and “cheap”! A 
Quito a number of bargains were closed, but 
several families, including the whole relation¬ 
ship of Swamp Blackbirds, concluded to look 
further. 
One very nervous little creature, whose name 
1 did not learn Insisted, as he anxiously looked 
among the smaller twigs, that ho must have 
“tick.” Whereupon four or five wealthy and 
shoddy crows, who always, as we know, have 
had their living provided for them, sailed off in u 
scornful emphasis, laughing, “ ha-ha! ha-ha ” ! g C 
There was, I am glad to state, a general twit- I 
tering of disgust at their conduct, arid upon | b< 
Ok al] the evil qualities of human nature l 
consider sel llshnesa as one nr t he worst. It is a 
trait that should lie fought against with all the 
strength of our will, because tho older wo grow 
t ho stronger it grows, so that after a while we 
are nothing and think of n ithlng but self, self. 
And it is so mean to be selfish ! Boys, do not eat 
all tho nuts and candies you get from your 
filends; give some of thorn to your compan¬ 
ions. Do not do like 
Timothy Hutton, 
Tho glutton! 
Who p(it. a whole leg of mutton— 
All but the anunk— 
That he gave to Susie Frank. 
And do not expect people to make you pres¬ 
ents and give them nunc in return. Do not al¬ 
low your companions to spend money on you 
in the way of amusements as trouts of any 
I kind without, returning the favor in some way. 
.Some of tho smallest minded folks In t he worid 
are those who take everything and give noth¬ 
ing. You know the Good Book says that it is 
more blessed to givo than to receive, and you 
would find that the more you practiced gener¬ 
osity the easier it would grow and the happior 
you would be in doing good to your fellow 
beings. 
I And girls, I would say to you the same things. 
Do not snatch your dolls or playthings away 
from your little slater# or schoolmates—do not 
hide your bon-bons or sweet cukes, so as to eat 
them all yourself. No, that is too mean! Sharo 
them with your companions and you will feel 
happy In seeing how they enjoy them. I know 
a little girl once, I won't say it was me—who 
used to take her dinner basket full of poars to 
school to give to her playmates and leave her 
dinner at home, eating nothing but a pear or 
two Instead. That was not selfish, anyway. 
Would you do that, little girl, Tor tho sake of 
obliging others? On tin* contrary, we know 
80111,1 children, who, when they get anything 
particularly good, hide it away to gormandize 
I in private, the gluttons! “Cast your bread upon 
tho waters and It will return after many days,’’ 
says the Bible. Which means that good deeds 
always bless tho author of them In some unex¬ 
pected way. It Is a noble heart that- delights 
in making other* happy, rorgetful of self. And 
f *' !f ' !l •' often thuik what an unsel¬ 
fish creature our old ” Daily Rural Life” must 
be. You road hi* essays every week in this 
paper 1 presume. lie seems tu delight in im¬ 
parting useful information to his id low beings, 
without thinking it any trouble to answer tho 
most insignificant letter, if R is only on tho 
subject or science. Would tlmt there were 
more like him. How 1 should like to kuow 
him personally, for I, too, live in a beautiful 
rural home near New York City, and am not 
afraid of bugs and toads and caterpillars. In 
fact, l inn not afraid of anything but snakes! 
How ia it, with you, boys and girls? 
New Utrecht, L. I. 
SHte |l itsidcr. 
IFe are always glad to tecetve contributions 
for thus Department.. 
ILLUSTRATED REBUS.-No. 10. 
--- ■■ «r. 
In what state is this invalid ? 
Answer in two weeks. 
--*♦*- \ 
HIDDEN ANIMALS.-No. 1. 
1. He sold a yoke of oxen. 2. Do go awav 
from me t 3 He took from the crib'ear after 
fnn to J<* Cal- Urn- of any one. 5. They 
followed the demon, keys In hand. fi. Siam ’ 
bapg! wont the door. 7. They jumped over the 
pole, cattle and all. 8. i-Ie demanded pay. 
£33'” Answer in two weeks. E _ D 
MISCELLANE OUS EN IGMA.—No. 8. 
J t r 3, 2, 6 is fond of chicks; 
My 4, 5, 1 is flesh and bone. 
9,f bi <?*raphy strange things saith ; 
b, tbble he Jost his breath. 
And that he discovered the cause of his death. 
Rockford, Ill. Fourteen. 
-- 
PUZZLER ANSWERS. — March 7. 
Word-Square No. 4. 
O'V E R 
VALE 
ELSE 
REEL 
Anagrams of Flowers No. 1. — 1. Gerant- 
um. 2. Marigold. 3. Honeysuckle. 4. Tube¬ 
rose. 5. Carnation. (5. Violet. 7. Hydrangea 
8. Anemone, fi. Adonis. 10. Hyacinth. B ' 
bo I at LrSTRATED Rkbus No ' 8--A sinking steam- 
