RURAL  NOTES 
“PROGRESS  AND  IMPROVEMENT 
Ladies’  ITats  vs.  tlio  Birds.— A 
coiTGspond^^Tit  of  tlic  Londoix  TitnGs, 
Alfred  Neati’on),  tells  the  ladies  that 
thfiy  are  responsible  for  the  wholesale 
slaughter  of  birds  for  the  sake  of  orna¬ 
mental  feathers.  Tie  refers  to  a  smgle 
sale  of  feathers,  to  show  that  to  supply 
that  sale  alone  9,700  herons  (or  egrets) 
must  have  been  destroyed.  All  these 
featliers  are  said  to  hare  come  from  India 
hist  autumn.  Mr.  Nkivton  obserres  that 
no  country  could  supply  10,000  herons  in 
a  single  bn^oding  season  without  nearly 
rooting  out  the  stock.  3Iorcover,  16,000 
humming-birds  and  upward  trere  included 
in  the  sales,  of  which  740  ivcre  of  a  single 
kind.  As  far  as  we  know,  none  of  these 
birds  really  diminishes  the  stock  of  food 
debt  for  new  ones.  The  old  ones  are 
yours  ;  the  new  ones  unpaid  for  will  really 
belong  to  the  seller,  no  matter  what  legal 
color  the  transfer  may  take. 
There  is  nothing  more  disappointing 
than  store  bills  that  are  allowed  to  run  on 
from  montli  to  month.  At  the  first  glance 
at  the  sum  total  you  will  be  certain  that 
there  is  some  mistake.  If  it  he  not  in 
the  addition,  it  must  certainly  ho  that  an 
error  in  cliarging  the  items  has  occurred. 
It  cannot  be  possible  that  the  few  articles 
ordered  from  time  to  time  amount  to  such 
a  Slim.  But  a  careful  scrutiny  of  the 
whole,  line  by  line,  will  doubtless  prove 
Uiat  you  have  not  kept  in  mind  the  fact 
that  two  and  two  make  four.  Very  prob¬ 
ably  the  amount  is  more  tJian  the  same 
articles  would  have  cost  had  they  been  paid 
for  when  ordered,  for  cash  always  buys 
cheaper  than  credit.  This  would,  in  a  j 
year’s  time,  make  considerable  dilTe.rcnce, 
and  beside,  the  account  undoubtedly 
shoM's  many  purchases  that  would  not 
have  been  made  had  the  money  been  re¬ 
quired  on  deliveiy'. 
Much  as  we  abhor  the  credit  system 
and  much  as  we  desire  to  impress  the 
“Pay  as  you  go ’’idea  on  the  minds 
of  all  our  readers,  we  would  not  say 
it  is  unad^^8uble  to  go  in  debt  at  iuiy 
time  or  under  any  i>ossible  circum 
stances.  On  the  contrary,  there  are  hun¬ 
dreds  of  young  men  wdio  will  read  this 
to  whom  we  would  say,  instead  of  woi’kiug 
all  your  life  as  n  farm  hand,  use  the  nl- 
most  economy,  and  as  soon  as  you  are 
THE  RURAL  NEW-YORKER, 
A  NATIONAL  ILLU8TRATEP 
BURAl,  IITKBAM  AND  lAMlLI  lIBffSPAPlSB. 
ANDREW  S.  FULLER,  Editor, 
Associate  Editor, 
ELBERT  S.  CARMAN, 
X.  A.  WILLARD,  A.  M.,  Little  Falls.  N.  Y., 
EnrtoB  or  tu«  or  Daibt  Ho«b»nc«t, 
G.  A.  C.  BARNETT,  PubllMicr. 
TERMS  FOR  1877,  IN  ADVANCE, 
INCLUDING  POSTAGE,  WHICH  PUBLISHERS  PREPAY. 
Sinrfe  Copy,  «a.60  per  V ear.  To  Clubs  :-Kive  Copies, 
and  one  copy  free  ti;  Ascent  or  xetter  np  of  Club,  for 
811  2ft:  Seven  Oopler.and  onefret'.for  SKI  '*;  Cop¬ 
ies.  and  one  free.  $ao-only  *2  per  copy.  The  above 
rales  fneludr  poitar  (under  the  new  law)  to  any  part 
of  tbf  United  fitates.  uwd  the  Araert.-an  p.'Stage  on  all 
copies  maUed  tn  Cuuudn ,  On  i-apers  mailed  to  Lurope. 
by  Hteanier.  tUe  ivirtatre  wdll  be  oenta  cxiva  for  eaoll 
subscription.  Drafts.  Post-Omce  Money  Ord(^  and 
RoirieteiMjd  IjottorB  laay  be  miiUc-d  at  oiir  rifk.  IT^  Li  o- 
eral  Premiums  to  all  Club  Agent*  wlio  do  not  take  free 
eonles.  Spocimen  Numbers.  .Show-nUls,  Jtc.,  sent  free. 
A  SAFE  PROPHESY, 
Borkowing  trouble,  or  conjuring  one’s 
imagination  to  find  an  excuse  for  believ¬ 
ing  that  some  dire  calamity  is  likely  to 
Tiefall  yourself  or  friends  at  no  very  dis¬ 
tant  period,  is  not  u  mental  condition  in 
wdiich  a  person  can  take  much  pleasure. 
Still,  it  is  better  not  to  be  over-.sanguine 
of  proHiierity  mid  pleasure,  even  of  wlial 
may  reasonably  be  expected  in  the  future, 
for  tliere  is  very  little  of  wliat  we  might 
term  a  certiuiity  in  human  afiairs  in  this 
world  ;  oonsequently,  if  one  is  to  prophe¬ 
sy,  let  it  be  on  the  safe  sid<b 
For  once,  we  propose  to  turn  projAhet 
and  prophesy  that  tlie  approncliing  winter 
is  to  be  a  very  long  ami  severe  one  to  both 
man  and  beast.  It  is  not  ucce.ssary  that 
our  reasfHiH  should  bo  given  for  making 
this  prophesy,  but  we  can  asbure  the 
readers  of  the  Rural  New-I'orkkr  that 
they  arc  good  and  siilDcient  for  the  pre¬ 
diction  made.  It  is  just  possible  that 
time  will  show  us  to  be  a  false  proidiet ; 
but  as  this  can  onlv  be  “iiroven”  some 
Tlie  JYIedical  Director  of  the  Cen¬ 
tennial  Commission,  Avho  bears  the  pun- 
gGUt  uaiBG  of  PeppeRj  has  issued  a  labored 
report,  showing  statistically  that  Phila¬ 
delphia  is  the  healthiest  place  on  the 
globe.  While  we  have  no  desire  to  sneeze 
at  PErPBit’s  report,  we  are  obliged  to 
notice  that  he  takes  no  account  whatever 
of  the  fact  that  nine  out  of  ten  people  who 
go  to  the  Centennial,  return  ill  and  re¬ 
main  HO  for  a  considerable  time  after¬ 
wards.  Of  course  some  of  this  sickness 
may  ho  attributable  to  unusual  excite¬ 
ment  and  fatigue ;  stiU,  its  existemio 
should  bo  well  worth  considering  in  his 
report.  Though  I’etper  is  generally  very 
jieiiclrating,  in  this  case  he  seems  to  have 
circumscribed  his  resear cbes  by  the  limits 
of  the  village  of  Brotherly  Love  and 
Imdgings.  (to  further,  Mr.  Pepper,  and 
fair  better. 
Address  rural  PUBLISHING  CO., 
78  Duane  Street,  New  York  City 
The  Peanut  Trade.— The  cultiva¬ 
tion  of  peauuts  appeani  to  be  on  the  in¬ 
crease  in  those  States  where^  this  plant 
succeeds  best.  The  crop  in  North  Caro¬ 
lina,  Virginia  and  Tennessee  for  1875-76, 
is  reported  to  have  reached  nearly  800,000 
bushels,  and  it  promises  to  be  still  laiger 
for  1876-77.  From  these  statistics  wc 
may  safely  conclude  that  there  is  either  a 
large  quantity  of  peanut  oil  mode,  or  a 
good  many  peanuts  eaten  by  somebody. 
- — — i>i 
Tanning  Exlmct.— The  extract  of 
Sweet  Fern  (Comjotonia  asplenifoUa),  a 
low-growing  shrub,  with  hne  aromatic 
leaves,  found  over  vast  tracts  of  country, 
is  said  to  be  rapidly  coming  into  favor  f()r 
tanning  purTioses.  Extract  of  alder  is 
also  another  new  pr(idnct  used  for  the 
same  piiriiose,  and  it  is  liut  reasonable  to 
Huppo.se  that  many  other  native  plants 
will  yet  be  brought  into  requisition  for 
furnishing  a  supply  of  tannin. 
SATURDAY,  NOV.  4,  1876. 
It  is  reported  that  John  Randolph 
once  astonished  Congress  by  springing 
from  his  seat,  bending  forward  his  long, 
lean  body,  extonding  his  attenuated  fin¬ 
gers  and  speaking  in  his  thin,  high  tones, 
“Mr.  Speaker— Mr,  Speaker,  I  have  found 
the  Philosoiihor’s  Stone.  It  is — cis 
you  go." 
Now  few  and  small  as  these  Avords  are, 
they  are  worthy  of  the  careful  attention 
of  an,  and  auy‘  young  man  by  heeding 
them  will  find,  if  they  do  not  turn  every¬ 
thing  into  gold,  they  will  help  him  mate- 
ELEOTION. 
Just  now  the  two  contending  political 
parties  are  working  like  beavers  for  the 
KUCoesBof  their  respective  candidates.  We 
say  two,  because  the  thud  parly  api>ears 
to'be  but  a  sincere  protest.  The  lienrL- 
huruiugs,  the  quarrels,  the  bickerings, 
the  criminations,  the  lotty  scorn,  the 
haughty  contempt,  the  sliuiders,  the  li¬ 
bels  and  the  vu-tuous  indignation  of  each 
iiarl  V  against  the  other,  is  now  a  matter 
of  s(jlul  and  actual  reiJity.  With  some 
few  of  the  politicians  these  things  are 
matters  of  business  and  not  of  feeling ; 
blit  with  the  larger  part  of  the  voting 
population  they  are  for  the  t^e  being 
sincere  matters  of  feeling.  Prejudice  aud 
a  natural  desire  for  the  advancement  of 
his  own  peculiar  views,  make  all  these 
things  to  the  average  voter  stern  realities, 
and  we  are  not  prepared  to  say  that  this 
That  the  whole  matter  of  a 
rially  in  his  efforts  to  st^curc  a  sufficient 
amount  of  that  coveted  commodity  to 
raise  him  above  want.  Ho,  who  pays  as 
lie  goes  may  be  sure  of  one  thing— he  wiU 
never  live  beyond  his  income  and  wiU,  at 
least,  be  saved  the  mortification  of  duns 
and,  what  is  worse,  the  consciousness  of 
using  the  means  of  another  for  his  own 
benefit  or  pleasure. 
There  are  none  who  should  reflect  on 
these  words  and  put  them  in  practice  in 
theii-  daily  lives,  more  than  young  people 
newly-married,  who  are  together  com¬ 
mencing  a  new  life  and  who  should,  in  the 
beginning,  look  forward  to  future  years 
and  in  the  light  of  reason  aud  judgment 
and  of  the  experience  of  others,  determine 
on  such  a  course  of  action  as  will  most 
contribute  to  the  happiuess,  uot  only  of 
RURAL  BREVITIES 
is  all  wrong.  _  . 
Presidential  Election  could  be  earned  on 
in  a  much  less  partizan  and  personal 
spirit,  of  coui'se  is  true ;  but,  after  all, 
who  is  particularly  injured  by  it?  If 
injury  Tesults  at  all,  it  is  to  so  small  an 
integral  part  of  the  great  whole  of  the 
country'  that  it  is  swallowed  out  of  eight 
by  comparison.  By  all  means,  voting 
friends,  if  you  enjoy  that  sort  of  thing, 
do  it.  But  while  you  are  in  the  whirl  of 
the  excitement,  pause  just  a  moment  and 
smile  at  your  folly.  That,  too,  will  do 
you  good  if  you  can  enjoy  it.  J  net  think, 
for  a  moment,  of  the  good  time  to  come 
when  one  or  the  other  of  the  mneh-abnsed 
candidates  will  be  announced  to  be  the 
successful  man.  The  excitement  all  over, 
each  of  you  who  W'as  successful  will  say, 
“  I  told  you  so,”  aud  forget  the  struggle, 
while  each  of  you  who  belongs  to  the  los 
iug  side  will  begin  at  once  to  prove  to 
himself  that  it  is  not  so  bad  after  all— 
that  the  opiiosite  succiessful  side  Avill  not 
dare,  in  the  face  of  the  sovereign  people, 
to  do  all  tliose  homble  things  which 
you  BO  much  dreaded  before  election. 
Both  being  correct  in  your  after-election 
judgment,  here  is  where  the  laugh  comes 
in. 
In  the  meantime,  whichever  party  xsms, 
-  the  sun  will  continue  to  sliine,  the  heav- 
true  prophet, 
lost.  But  if  we  are  a 
there  is  httle  danger  of  an  overabundance  _ 
of  these  articles  being  laid  in.  The  wm-  frem^Oolura 
ter  also  aviU  set  in  quite  early,  and  every  amimotliH  ooUecteilii 
one  sliould  be  in  haste  in  making  the  nec-  |  mou  as  Nolcken,  B 
essary  preparations  indicated  above  ;  aud  known  na^nibGi’s  of  I 
as  there  are  to  bo  many  very  cold,  stonny  4hlfi7n,ni 
days  of  too  grrat  aevority  for  men  to  ^vork 
out  of  doors, during  which  the  children  will  Prof. 
bepreveutetlfromgoiugtosdiool,itwmb»  ;  rrS.  Mak 
both  Safe  ft-nd  prudent  to  have  a  supply  i  la  corUialy  d 
of  useful  riud  entcrtaiiiiiig  books  on  hiuid  pretieut  at*  wellus  i*ut 
and  especially  a  good  newspaper— for  in-  receive  the  cordial  su 
stance,  the  Rural  New  -  Yorker— with  of  soienco  and  progre 
which  to  fill  up  the  time  profitably,  that  N.  W.  Aybe  &  Son 
nothine  may  be  lost ;  for  even  a  leisure  phia  adverliamg  agei 
h^rZy  li  emplVcl  jo  gf -tog  ffoM- 
en  thought,  if  not  gold  itself.  Tliere  j^,jY(,oibcr  they  will 
is  seldom  danger  in  being  too  careful,  al-  fiiends  iu  the  new  Ti 
tliough  some  may  trouble  themselves  i  Eighth  Sta.),  where 
needlessly  about  what  is  to  come  ;  but  in  fine  oilicoa 
all  rural  affairs,  safety  on  the  score  of  In  the  condeused  ( 
extra  preparation  for  winter — care  of  ani-  the  Conunissioner  of 
mateiLmerttofno  »maU  e;;;.«erfun  | 
and  value.  If  oui‘  readcis  will  take  heed  ^  jbQ  f, 
