and all things put forth a gay aspect. There is 
nothing prettier than all kinds of flowers In 
Spring. The farmers are out taking care of 
their sheep and cattle. The nurserymen nro 
trimming the trees and cultivating them. Tlio 
farmers are planting t heir corn and hoeing it. 
Spring is very beautiful indeed. All things seem 
to enjoy It very much. When the farmers get 
through seeding they are busy at other things, 
as there is always plenty to do. They are always 
pulling weeds au<l building fences. Spring is 
the most healthy season of the year wlieu all 
things look so fresh and green. The crops are 
very flourishing, and that, is what the fanners 
like to see; it makes them feel an Interest In 
laboring. We ought to bo very thankful for 
the pleasant SprLng and for tlu> fresh-growing 
things. In California they do not have such 
pleasant, Springs as we have here, but in Ire¬ 
land it is often much niore pleasant, and that 
is why Ireland is called the “ Rmerald Isle’’—It 
is so fresh and green.—E. M., DciiMl'Uk, .V. Y. 
nlng and making of dresses no frail that they 
lose their claims to respectability in as many 
weeks, and weeks of diligent embroidery upon 
a babe’s cloak or shawl, liable to be destroyed 
in as many hours. Cannot women see the love¬ 
liness of simplicity, the grace of long,sweeping 
lines, describing the natural Tall of drapery, the 
charm of pure tones of color, that they will 
weary themselves with endless endeavors to 
destroy them ? Let. them consider whether, by 
moderation and good taste, they may not effect 
a change in the customs w hich women only can 
make or unmake, and they will bo astonished 
to find how many years of usefulness may tie 
added to their lives by freeing themselves from 
the claims of utterly useless sewing. 
There are also social obligations which are as 
important, to say the leant, as pleasing our 
neighbor's eyes with complicate and astonish¬ 
ing trimmings. It Is something to be able to 
give a leisure hour to a friend something worth 
planning for, to have a mind free from care for 
the evening’s enjoyment of the last new poem, 
or t he latest magazine. Husbands, fathers and 
brothers would tlud home a more attractive 
place, if women were less interested lu matters 
which men cannot be supposed to understand 
or appreciate, and would allow themselves 
more liberty of thought In wider and higher 
fields. 
WHICH LOVED BEST 
A MOTHER’S JEWEL8 
BY AUGUST NOON. 
Upon my throat and bosom 
Sparklf no gems or gold. 
But the dimpled arms of my beautiful babe 
Around my neck enfold. 
And from my ears depending 
No costly Jewels shine. 
But ike rounded cheek of my innocent babe 
Is closely pressed to mine. 
No tall and stately mirrors 
Adorn my dwelling-place. 
But the smiling eyes of my precious babe 
Reflect his mother’s face. 
Ah. me I bow kind and sweet 
The mother’s fact! should bo 
That lives again In her Infant's eye 
And through childhood’s memory. 
And, oh I how pure and good— 
How Just, and yet how mild,— 
Should be the mother’s character 
Reflected 1 m her child. 
A Wild Duck’s Letter. 
[A letter received by my tamo Hr. non Ducks 
from a wild Mallard Duck :J 
Top op a Pint; TkkR, > 
Nov. ',’0.1874. 5 
Dic.ut FriendsW hy do you not Join us and 
fly away down South, where It is warm all win¬ 
ter and the snow tlocs not come and cover up 
all the green things? Where do you got food 
all winter long In this cold country where the 
snow rails so very thick? Does not I ho cold 
freeze your roes, or do you wear shoes and 
stockings, or do you have kind master-, who 
feed and take care of you and build nice u a-m 
houses for you to sleep In ? I low can you stay 
tamely in one place and be fed? It 1b a great 
deal nicer to fly around and get your own food : 
wo got bugs and wwrms and they ore nicer than 
Cornell the time. Comet Use your wings and 
join us and wo will have a jolly time. Wo all 
go South iit the fall and spend the Winter in 
our old habitations, and in the Spring wo emuo 
back and we build our nests in swamps and 
raise so mo baby birds; mid when It begins to 
grow cold if they are strong enough (as they 
usually are) wo fly away South again. You 
must have an easy time of It, yet you do not 
soe as much or the country as wo do ; but take 
it all around 1 guess our pleasures are pretty 
equally divided; don’t you think so? The 
other day asvvc were flying along we saw some 
bnVKoiit under the trees alter nuts ; I guess 
FITTERS FROM BOYS AND GIRLS, 
ABOUT SEWING, 
FRIENDS AND ACQUAINTANCES 
BY MRS. C. S. NOUBSE 
ville, N, Y., who Mays that the first Is by a boy 
ten years old, who is ambitious to surprise hi-s 
fal her by showing him his printed letter: the 
second by a little Irish boy from County An¬ 
trim, North of Ireland, who thinks the honor of 
publication In the Rural will add several 
inches to hla bight: and the third by an “Old 
Settler of Sparta,’’ aged twelve years, whose 
chief business in life Is to feed and pot his 
poultry, and wonder If any Rural Hoys have 
such splendid ducks and turkeys as his. The 
Indy adds:—“At their earnest request I for¬ 
ward their letters to you, and they will look 
with fear and trembling through the ItruAi. 
columns for weeks to come. The letters, wo 
may add, are too good to be omitted or longer 
deferred, and we gladly give them, in tho hope 
of inciting others to write something of equal 
interest and originality.—E d. It. N. Y.] 
of wasting their time; yet, if the truth wore 
told, women waste more time in sewing than 
in anything else. 
Sowing machines— biased be tho man to 
whom the Idea of freeing woman from her In¬ 
exorable bondage to the ueedlo first occurred 1 
_havo really rotldored It n possible thing for 
those who have large families toaccomplish all 
necessary sewing with such dispatch as to leave 
a margin for books and society, and that, rarest 
of all boons to an American woman—rest. But 
wbero ore t he happy women who avail them¬ 
selves of It.?—does anyone know? Once the 
woman who made and mended all the clothing 
c f her little flock had to be ever busy with the 
unending task, and no faithfully was the duty 
discharged, and so lined baa the habit become, 
tbu now t hat tho assietanoo of her little house¬ 
hold fairy enables her to accomplish the whole 
ol her work iu one-fourth of the l ime, she can¬ 
not by lie vo In her freedom, and has a lingering 
sense of puilllnerft when pho ha* 5 r.o needle¬ 
work. Indeed, so mightily have the demands 
of fashion increased, that In spite of machines, 
in rqdte of common sense. In spite of weariness 
of body and (ho depreciation of mind, women 
continue “tostitch, stitch, stitch" their lives 
away, over puffs nji<l ruffles and tucks, that 
have no possible use or beauty, while the world 
Is full of beauty nnd sweetness that they might 
enjoy, while their little ones are needing their 
aid and syeapathy, in lessons and in play, and 
homes that might be bright with smiles are 
darkened with frowns, born of dyspepsia, weari¬ 
ness and vexation of spirit. When will this 
cause? Never, certainly, until it Is felt that, so 
far from being a serious duty, much of the sow¬ 
ing which ia done now-a-days is a sin against 
the laws of Health, of Beauty, and of Religion. 
The old Methodist idea of plainness in dress, 
which la still held by the Society of Friends, is 
perhaps an exaggerated one, but there la sound 
senso in it, and even the sacrifice of beauty, 
much aa it would bo regretted, would be better 
than the present race of folly, which defeats 
every effort to effect a compromise between 
necessity and ornament, allowing only to each 
ltB rightful plaoo. But. without going to ex¬ 
tremes in any way, sensible women may do 
much toward this desirable end. By systematic 
arrangement of time, by always giving thepre- 
oedenoe to what U really necessary, and by seek¬ 
ing tbe beauty of simplicity in dress, rather than 
that of (labora’o ornament, and by choosing 
materials that by their harmony of color or 
richness of fabric, will supply any deficiency 
that the dressmaker may espy in the number 
of plaitings, or any of tljo3o numerous Inven¬ 
tions which render any description of the pres¬ 
ent stylo ol dress an enigma which none but 
the initiated can solve. 
All ages have had their pet vanities in dress, 
but at no time perhaps In the world’s history 
has there been such expenditure of needle¬ 
work on materials at inferior quality and slight 
durability. The Orientals possessed tho most 
elaborate taste in embroidery, but the elegant 
garments were of the most costly description 
and of colors that would last for a century. In 
tho days of Queen BESS velvet robes were cov¬ 
ered with scod pearl, sown upon them in Intri¬ 
cate and graceful patterns, hut they were in¬ 
lives by the sudden “ cold shoulder" ft/ many ft a(|) , t ^ n HO|U(J 0 
so-called “friend." bsink. They wil 
If love \< actually In tho heart. It aud hca(1 1IrHt? ,; nd , 
will show itself Itself In deed as well as w ord, , thcro an 
and manifest Its sincerity by numberless atten- bo “ bt a rutle 
tion« and watchful Cares which an acquaintance „j..ht and pi 
would never think of. Every heart craves some oDG Ume t , 
demonstration of tenderness on the part of a . who wop , 
friend—that is, hearts that are human enough tbohorse fm lb , 
to long and to yearn for sympathy in gladness t „ wen 
as well as sorrow. We do occasionally meet tled acr0£ 
persons who, as far as the least Cota of sensibll- „ tPU ,.i c it, It »n 
ity (or sensitiveness) Is concerned, might as djd not ‘, jurfc a 
well bo hewn from a block of stone or marble, u)()k at u . He8 w 
aud who neither give nor desire love or friend- b nohea and t | 
ship. But the world holds more of the other g;ime H( , mGt)l 
class, fortunately fonts happiness, and so there n .»\ ump8 •• t 
is hardly a kind or loving word spoken but . dowtl t h< 
finds its response in some loving heart. “, )U rklt> a 
With lips and with eyes, with hands as well , )ond aod ycm ^ 
as with hearts, wo should love our friend, when i loe . Tbt ,jr do ; 
once tbe friend is found, and since love ts val- I on i y , but ou la 
uable only for Its acta, we should not be stingy get a dr ,„ ot| n 
with those acts, but do always as we would be other take hol< 
Like heartily your acquaintance, (mQ w hi»tie ai 
PROBLEM.—No. 2 
A triangle having a perimeter of 100 rods 
has the area of the square described on one of 
Its sides equal to tbe area of tho rectangle) con¬ 
tained by the other two. The area of tho square 
is also four times greater than the area of tho 
trkmgle. Required, the sides of the triangle. 
done by. 
serve them kindly aud disinterestedly, but give 
your love, with all its warm, generous impulses, 
only to the true friend, tbe friend who la Dot to 
be frightened away by adversity or change of 
circumstances, hut who will cling in-thought, 
word and deed to every trait, every impulse 
which makes Friendship so sweet, so dear, so 
sacred a thing on earth. And when you love, 
do not bo afraid to show, to prove and also to 
be true to your colors. What pleasure ia It to 
one tc be told repeatedly that they are loved, 
when that love will calmly fold its hands and 
consider that with words its duty is done 1 
“Five hundred dear friends '’ indeed! That 
must bo 3 wonderful toad that can Hud room 
for such a tribe! that can divido Its own love 
into such Infinitesimal dosea as must needs bo 
to go the rounds of "‘five hundred " M- d. b- 
B C«C D- Area ACD E-Area A B G F. 
Area^ABG-F-ABOA. A B + BC+O A—100. 
gw Answer in two weeks. 
n W TO . . , c> v vcav 
ANAGRAM.-No. 1 
Yupnox hot giftlh fo math 
Obendy ttsh ealv fo thoae, 
Rethe ylusre s! muse ssldbee mielo 
Ehrwe ilnf si tno a rtbaeh ; 
Rno file’s faosefolct satinertn nfe 
Showo rapsks lyf rawpud ot repxie. 
Answer lu two weeks. D. v 
PUZZLER ANSWERS.-Jan. 18 
" Transpositions No. 1.— L 1 Tar-Rat. ~. khad- 
dash. 3. L- Over-lb > vc- l. P 7 an A’' a j^ r ja k« a 
Odor. 0. Grouse-Roguea. 7- Kale-Lake. 8. 
Plum-Lump. 
Charade No. 1. — Everlasting. 
MISCELLANF.OCJS ENIGMA NO. 2. — MOORE'S 
Rural. 
Double Acrostic NO 1. —Initials, Canary; 
Finals, Thrush. 
Anagrams or Animals.— 1. Elephant. 2 
American Bison. 3. Armadillo. 4. Hippopo¬ 
tamus. 5. Rhinoceros. 8. Antelope. 7. Cham¬ 
eleon. 8. Giraffe, 9. Alligator. 10. Fallow Deer. 
