% 
THE 
RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
JAN.<5 
grafting for tire gowtg. 
THE WINDMILL. 
Behold, a giant am I! 
Aloft here in my tower 
With my granite jaws I devour 
The maize, the wheat and the rye, 
And grind them into flour. 
I look down over the farms; 
In the fields of grain T see 
The harvest that is to he. 
And I fling aloft my arms. 
For I know it i$ all for me. 
I hear the sound of flails 
Far off from the thrashing-floors 
In barns with their open doors, 
And the wind, the wind in my sails 
Louder and louder ro»rs. 
I stand here in my place, 
With my foot on the rock below, 
And whichever way it may blow, 
I meet it face to face, 
As a brave man meets his foe. 
And while we wrestle and strive 
My master tlie miller stands 
And feeds me with his hands, 
For he knows who makes him thrive, 
Who makes him lord of lands. 
On Sundays I take my rest; 
Church-going bells begin 
Their low and melodious din: 
I.cross my arms on my breast. 
And all Is pence within. 
Henry W. Longfellow. 
-- 
FARMING FOR BOYS AN J GIRLS.-NO. 9. 
HENKV STEWART. 
Methods of Draining. 
When the soil Is found to be so wet that It can¬ 
not be worked In a proper manner and the crops 
grown upon it Buffer, the farmer must take means 
to get rid of the water. This may be done Id vari¬ 
ous ways, as by piowlug the land Into ridges, 
leaving hollows between the higher pans In such 
a manner that the water will run off from the 
ridges into the hollows aud from these Into a ditch 
at the lower part of the Held, or by digging open 
ditches which gather the wa'er from the surrace 
and convey It away, or by tile draining, which con¬ 
sists In laying earthen pipes called tiles la deep 
ditches and covering them up bo that the surface 
is made level and smooth as before. For some 
purposes the first Is the best plan and It Is a very 
cheap and easy method. In farming It Is proper 
to look well to the spending of every dollar, but 
the cheapest Is not always the best way. some¬ 
times it is better to spend more money at first that 
more may be saved In the end. It is the tarmers’ 
business to know when money may he spent with 
the greatest benefit, and the better he knows how 
this may be done the better farmer, and the more 
prosperous he will be. 
The first method of dratntDg may be used for 
meadows and grass lands that are not to be 
plowed, or for other lands that He low but that 
have an open subsoil, it must not be lost sight 
of that some lands do not need expensive draining 
and that every purpose may be served by the cheap¬ 
est method. To spend more money than 19 needed 
then, Is waste. One cannot lay down rules for 
FIG. 29, 
every case, something must be left for the farm¬ 
er’s own judgment and he should be able to apply 
general rules to special cases as they may occur. 
If a piece of land Is so low and flat that there Is no 
good outlet for the water, it may happen that the 
best thing to be done Is to lift the land out of the 
water Instead of vainly frying to draw the water 
from the land. This Is what la done by ridging the 
land. For If a piece of level, smooth land Is raised 
Into ridges, as is shown in figure A, any water that 
may fall on It will run off lDto the hollows, and 
the land that Is raised above these will actu¬ 
ally be lifted out of the water and will be compara¬ 
tively dry even when the hollows are wet. If the 
ridges and hollows are made la the direction m 
which the laud slopes, however small that slope 
maybe, the water will In time run off, although 
the fail or slope may not be more than a few inches 
on a whole field. With such a small tall open ditches 
or tile drains would be useless, so that In such 
cases this manner of draining is the best that can 
be used. 
Where the fall is more than three feet, ditches 
or tiles may be used. Where land Is cheap and 
open, ditches are not dangerous, or in the way, 
these may be used. Swamp meadows or rough pas¬ 
ture or meadow lands may be thus drained. Where 
land is valuable and la to be plowed every year 
closed drains are the best. These are dug three 
feet deep, very even In the bottom, so that there is 
no bend or hollow In the line of the pipes, the 
pipes are laid with the ends close together and 
then covered up and the ditches filled even with 
the surface. If there Is any bond In the line of the 
pipes, sand or mud will collect (see fig. B) In them 
and close the drain. Such a fault should be avoid¬ 
ed with the greatest care. 
Water enters the tiles at the joints, and no mat¬ 
ter how close they may be placed, the water will 
find its way into them. To prove this, let the ends 
of two tiles be ground smooth and flLted together 
as carefully as possible, close the eud of one tile 
with a cork and set tne two on end, one upon the 
other, and try lo fill t hem with water. The water 
will escape at the Joint almost as fast as It can be 
poured In. And where water can get out of any¬ 
thing, it can get In with the same ease. 
As an example of the benefit of draining, and 
also of the advantage of knowledge to a young 
man, the early history of a well-known farmer may 
be mentioned. John Johnston, late of Geneva, N. 
Y., began to farm more than 50 years ago. The 
first crops he raised were poor. He saw that the 
soli was too wet. He knew something about drain¬ 
ing land, and procured tiles at a groat expense, 
borrowing the money to pay for them and to do the 
work. lie drained one field, and the next crop 
paid for the whole cost of It. Then he drained 
other fields until hia whole farm was free from 
water. Fifty years after thts he remarked to a 
friend, “I never made any money until 1 began to 
drain my land.” He soon became a very success¬ 
ful farmer and a rich man. In bis old age beloved 
to talk to young men and to give them advice 
about farm work, rie did not boast of his success 
as being due to his own skill or wisdom, but would 
say that It was due to the use of drains In a very 
large measure. Thus he modestly gave the credit 
to the means he used, rather than claimed It for 
his own superior wisdom and enterprise. It is so 
with all great men, who are as modest as they are 
successful. Mr. Johnston, although he was a 
farmer, was a great man, and has done more good in 
his own modest way than many men whose names 
have made far more noise In the world. Mr. Johns¬ 
ton died recently at a ripe old age, but his name 
will ever be held in esteem by those who knew or 
have heard of him, because of the good which he 
has done by his example of skillful and Intelligent 
farming, for he has pointed out the path by which 
any farmer, young or old, may reach success In his 
work, If he will only choose and determine to fol¬ 
low It. 
-*-4-4- 
THE HORTICULTURAL CLUB. 
Well, the holidays are passed, and were, doubt¬ 
less, enjoyed by all the nephews and nieces. I 
shall be very much surprised,yes, and disappointed 
too, If I do not receive many letters from members 
of the Horticultural Club, telling all about the 
nice presents which Santa Claus brought them, 
and what, gay times they had. Now the new year 
Is with us, and let us one and all try to make it a 
“happy year ” throughout* 
The years pass away very rapidly, and it won’t 
be long before the Kckal cousins will be men and 
women, but even then, we do not believe they will 
quite forget our pleasant Horticultural Club. 
During this year we hope, and expect, to add 
many new names to our list, and we s.,all try to 
make the children's page more interesting than 
ever. Uncle M ark 
LETTERS FROM THE COUSINS. 
Dear Uncle Mark I would like to belong to 
the family of cousins, will you accept me ? 1 have 
three real cousins hut no brothers or sisters. Eddie 
Is the only little boy cousin In our family; he is 
two years and a half old, and we think him very 
bright. I would like to tell you about my dear 
cousin Alice and our uncle Henry. He la 22 years 
old, but he plays with us and makes as much fun 
as If he was as little as we are. I would like to 
tell you, also, about my dear, good grandpa and 
grandma, but mamma said I must not write too 
long a letter or you would not print It. Grandpa 
lives on a farm and I am there a great deal or the 
time. I like to ride the horses to water, and yes¬ 
terday I helped to haul pumpkins. Oh, It was 
such fun; uncle Henry calls me ’Tommy, but I 
don’t like that name, for I am a girl and that Is a 
boy’s name. Grandpa has taken the Uveal for 
five years and thinks he can’t do without It. We 
thank you very much for the seeds. They all 
grew nicely. There is one plant which we are not 
sure of, as the name Is rubbed off the box, but 
think it is the Iris, the leaves look like giadlolus 
but there is no bulb, the roots being fibrous. 
Mercer Co. Grace Beatty. 
[It is the lrla. Please give me the names of your 
town and State. Your letter should have been 
published before.—U. M.j 
Dear Uncle Mark-.— We are two children of an 
ex-Unton soldier, living In Virginia. Our father 
came here from Ohio two years ago for his health. 
We live it miles from a railroad, and sometimes 
get pretty lonesome. We have taken the Rgkal 
one year, and have always taken a great Interest 
In the cousins' letters, and have long wished to 
Join the Horticultural Club, and we would be two 
happy girls If you would please Include us as mem¬ 
bers. We live m a northern settlement. We had 
a garden of our own this year, and Intend to have 
one next. Father has plowed a small piece of 
ground for us, In which we hive planted onions 
and potatoes. We plant them In the Fall here and 
cover them with leaves and brush till Spring. We 
had a very nice (lower garden this year, but wish 
to Improve It. The seeds we got from the Rural 
did not do very well, but we planted them in the 
shade, which was the reason, I think. We each 
have a pet sheep ana lamb. We like Virginia. The 
climate Is much warmer In Winter, and the birds 
sing all the year round. They live In the thick 
pines and cedars. We like the Rural very much, 
and aLl hands rush lor It as soon as it comes in the 
house. Your would-be nieces, 
Mecklenburg Co., va. Lizzie amd Josib. 
Dear Uncle It seems to me a good time to re¬ 
port, now tbat the season’s work la finished up, 
and one can see what the harvest has brought 
him. We usually have pretty good luck with the 
seed we receive from the Rural, although the soil 
is not adapted for some, and others do not get the 
proper situations. We raised a barrel of Hebron 
potatoes this year, and our oats and cow-peas did 
well. The co w-peas are delicious eaten green; the 
only fault with them being that there was not half 
enough of them, but we saved seed enough, so that 
we will have plenty next year. Yours, 
Mass. C. A. Butterworth. 
P. 8. The Phlox Drummondl and Chinese Pinks 
which you sent us had very fine flowers, and the 
musk-melon was almost ambrosial In Its flavor. 
Dear Uncle Mark I have Just been reading 
the letters from the cousins. I didn't have any 
little garden, but my father has a large farm aDd 
I have to put In all my time on It. I go to school 
in the Winter, but In the Summer there Is no 
school. I like flowers very much. I have a pair 
of very pretty pigeons, a shepherd dog and a pig. 
It has been very cold and we have had six inches 
of snow, one of our chickens got out of the chick¬ 
en-house and walked around in the wet snow 
which froze Into Ice an inch thick on Its feet. Last 
summer we planted 25 acres of corn, but the drouth 
and the chinch-bugs destroyed it. I raised some 
peanuts last Spring, and they were very nice. 1 
have not written tor so long that I am afraid my 
letter wUl be thrown id the waste basket. 
Your nephew, George. 
Wash. Co., UL 
(Will George please Blgn his name m full next 
time, and also give the name or the town In which 
he lives?—U. M. 
Dear Uncle Make My papa takes the Rural 
and we like to read the cousins letters very much. 
We have a good many flowers and a large flower 
garden. We have also about 100 plants in pots. I 
have two brothers and three sisters, and we all 
love flowers. 1 do not go to school for we live two 
miles from town where the school Is held. The 
seeds you so kindly sent last Spring to papa have 
all done well. Please may I ask you some ques¬ 
tions about some house plants? When you send 
seeds to t he cousins In the Spring, please remem¬ 
ber me. Flora. 
Pella, Marlon co., Iowa. 
[I shall be very glad to answer any questions, 
about flowers and plants, which may be asked.— 
U. M.] _ 
Uncle Mark Is mistaken about oallas requiring 
••thorough drainage.” I used to think so, and 
have had tolerable success with callas In drained 
pots ; but the first real triumph has been since we 
have grown the calla In a tight tub and kept at 
least an inch of water above the surface of the 
soil (mixed garden earth and flue peat) all the 
time, A plant In a bay window, within reach of 
my hand as I write, Isa wonder of luxuriance In 
growth and foliage, and has been almost constant¬ 
ly In bloom for a year. It has a fine show for the 
holidays. Lately, to keep the two-year-old baby 
from playing in the water, we have oovered the 
surface with moss (sphagnum) from the swamp. 
Newport, Vt. T. H. Hoskins, M. D. 
Uncle Mark If It will not be Intruding, I 
would like to tell you what a thirteen year old girl 
has been doing through the Summer. I took the 
Rural’s advice aud bought seeds; dahlia, gladi¬ 
oli, catalpa, etc. I now have twelve nice dahlia 
roots. The gladtoll did not come up. The Chi¬ 
nese yam did not either, but I have twenty-five 
catalpa trees some three feet high, and they are 
quite a curiosity here. Now, It you can tell me 
where I can get some chestnut trees I will try 
them. 1 have planted chestuuts several times, 
but rabbits take them. Etta A. Shafknbr. 
Wellman, Wash. Co., Iowa. 
Uncle Makk:-I am « boy thirteen years old, 
and have a list of four subscribers. I have 
worked hard to get them. It seems to me that a 
man can do better In getting subscribers, for peo¬ 
ple seem afraid to siga fora boy. 1 would like a 
scroll saw. How much more money will I have 
to send to get It, than the four subscriptions 
amount to? Charles Pooler. 
Meridian, Cayuga Co., N. Y. 
P. s.—My father has taken your paper for twenty 
years. 0 . p. 
[We can send you a very fine scroll saw, all com¬ 
plete, for a club of ten subscribers. r. m.j 
Dear Uncle Mark I am eleven years old and 
go to school and like ft very much. 1 five in West¬ 
ern Kansas, but my mother says she don’t like It 
as well as New York state because we have so 
many hot winds. Father planted a good many 
garden seeds, and so did I, but It was so dry that 
they didn’t come up. I love flowers and so does 
mother. The seed you sent out did not grow. 
Mamma had five old hollyhock plants which 
bloomed last year and were very pretty. Father 
ha8 Kto chickens and some cows. He has taken the 
Rural all but one year, since 1 can remember. 
Ellis Co., Kansas. Jerome Brightman. 
Dear Uncle Mark:— My brother takes the Ru¬ 
ral and I like to read the letters from the cousins. 
I am a Connecticut boy, but have lived in Kansas 
ever since l was two yeara old, 1 am nine now. 
There are some very pretty flowers on the prairie, 
■ and I like to gather them and make bouquets. 
We have In the Spring a great many kinds of roses, 
red, yellow, pink and scarlet, and some little tiny 
white ones. I would like to join the Horticultural 
Club, and when you distribute flower seeds, please 
remember me. Howard T, Ackley. 
Coffey Co., Kansas. 
Dear Uncle Mark 1 am a little girl ten years 
old. I would like to join your club. My papa has 
been taking the Rural for sixteen years. I have 
a cauary bird, and my mamma has quite a number 
of house plants. Please remember us when you 
send seeds. Your niece, Lillie M. Thomas. 
Davenport, Scott Co., Iowa. 
Dear Uncle Mark:— I am a little girl seven 
years old and would like to join tbe Horticultural 
Club. I have no little brothers or slaters like so 
many of the little cousins, but I have some pets. 
I have a cat named Tom that I can dress up with 
my old apron. I also have a nice doll that I call 
Jessie, I have never raised any flowers, but my 
papa says If you will send me seeds tbat I may 
bavo a little garden of my own. My papa has 
taken the Rural a long time, and mamma reads 
me all the letters from the cousins. 
West Camden, N. Y. Marion Curtiss. 
--♦ ♦ 4- 
Malarial fever, Ague and Biliousness will leave 
every neighborhood as soon as Hop Bitters arrive. 
Sabbat! ^tailing. 
WAIT TILL TROUBLE COMES. 
BY K. F.. 
WEjsit down, way-worn and weary, 
And think of the days to be, 
And forget, there’s a silver lining- 
To all the clouds we see. 
We fret over rare mid trouble 
Before it is begun, 
And think of stormy weather; 
We forget, the wnrm, bright sun. 
It were better to wait, my brother, 
Till the trouble aud care is here; 
Why should we cloud the sunshine 
When the day is bright and clear 
By dreading what may await us ? 
Better to laugh and sing. 
And bid the bird of foreboding 
From these hearts of ours take wing. 
What was the sunshine made for 
If not to make us gkul ? 
We are doing wrong to waste it 
In repiuiug, idle and sad. 
We are doing wrong to squander 
The sunshine of to-day 
In foreboding that to-morrow 
The sky may be cold and gray. 
Then I pray be wise, my brother, 
As you climb tbe hill of life. 
Enjoy the time to the utmost 
That is free from care and strife. 
Thinking only of blight aud failure 
We would sow no seedtime grain: 
Make use of to-day’s glad sunshine. 
And for to-morrow's rain. 
To-day is ours, but to-morrow. 
Perhaps wc may never see; 
Then why should we borrow trouble 
For a time that may not be ? 
Leave to the future, brother. 
The trouble it may bring; 
In the suushiuethat God gives 11 s 
Be glad of heart, and sing. 
--♦♦♦—- 
DR. ARMITAGE’S ADDRESS. 
extract from the address delivered at the 
FUNERAL OK DK. CHAPIN AT THE CHURCH OF THE 
DIVINE PATERNITY', NEW YORK CITY. 
Every thoughtful and careful reader of the life of 
the Lord Jeeus will gather this great truth to his 
own spirit; that the teaching of the Lord Jesus in 
the doctrine of the virtues which he established and 
the great principles which he laid down for the 
government of the church and the world, were 
the outcome of his own nature, the embodiment 
of his own characteristics. And so In a true 
Christian spirit and a true Christian doctrine you 
have the trueChrist life. 1 apprehend that this is 
true of all men, but pre-eminently true In the case 
of the loved disciple of Jesus who Bleeps at our feet 
this morning. Sometimes you can find in the acts 
and utterances of men a simple act or a simple 
utterance which Is the embodiment of the ex¬ 
istence of that man. And In dropping my eye 
yesterday upon the first book that was published 
as the product of Dr. Chapin’s mind, a volume of 
sermon’s, 1 find just such an epitome as this in 
file preface. It Beems to me that if you will look 
at a few sentences you will see that they embody 
a biography of the mao, although they were 
written as far back as the year lsu. This great 
preacher says: 
“The great end of preaching Is to reform the 
life, to reconcile man to d uty and to God. The 
great principle to be propagated and established 
In the souls of men is not this or that particular ism 
but the spirit of Christ. Without this no denom¬ 
ination can be right, no society can flourish, no 
soul can live.” 
Those utterances were the outcome of his life. 
That Is the text that he wrote in 1841, and here, 
to-day, we have the comment of Mb work In isso. 
And 1 don’t think, if you should fill a volume with 
Ills biography, you could find the princtple that 
moved him, the convictions that held him In a 
normal Inspiration, the broad philosophical or 
deep and high motives and purposes that con¬ 
trolled him, so perfectly Illustrative of his inner 
life as these words uttered when a young 
man, and the corresponding work of his life 
throws a brilliant ray upon every syllable. 
Two weeks ago to-day, just before the setting of 
the sun, I went from the stde or a loved friend 
whom 1 had burled, to the bedside of Dr. Chapin, 
not supposing that, a couple of brief weeks would 
bring us to the parting and Mm to the dust. As 
Is my custom In entering a sick chamber, espe¬ 
cially tho sick room of a rrlend, I enter very cheer¬ 
fully, trying to carry a beam of sunshine If I think 
It Is possible, and utter a word of cheer. How 
beautifully he greeted that visit. After a snort 
conversation I said, “ Doctor, do you realize now 
tne sweetness of the promise of Christ In your 
broken condition?” He looked at me with the 
simplicity of a babe ; but I saw a tear moisten 
his eye and a little tremulousness mingled with 
his voice, and he said, “ My dear bi’Other, what 
should I do without Christ. ChrlsttB everything 
to me now.” So he spoke of the loving Redeemer; 
1 said, “ Well, then, may I have this consolation, 
Doctor, or knowing that you who have been In the 
ministry so long, labored so hard, done so much to 
lift up other raioda and pour consolation into dis¬ 
consolate hearts, that you to-day realize the same 
breadth and fullness and sweetness of coosolatlon 
In Christ that you have ministered to others?” 
He simply made this answer : “ Doctor, Christ to 
me, is all In all.” 
Christians are the light of the world Just in 
proportion as men see their good works, that their 
works are good. Not works done to bB seen of 
men, but works so manifestly good that, men can¬ 
not help seeing them. They attest the saving 
an I divine power of the gospel, and thus con¬ 
vince men and lead them to Christ. As the beams 
of the moon tell us of the unseen sun, so do such 
lives reveal to men the unseen God. The dl- 
vlnest, the most supernatural tMog connected 
with Christianity In the world, la a godly life. 
