FEB. § 
^tailing for tjjc goitng. 
FIVE HUNDRED CATS. 
“ O mamma come to the window, quick ! 
Come to tlio window and see; 
Five hundred cats are in our yard,” 
Said little Willie Lea. 
" O no ! my son,” the mother said, 
“ I’m sure you can’t lie riirht; 
Five hundred cats ! why, that would be 
A most terrific siKbt.” 
” But ms,’ the yard is full of cats. 
Three hundred I should think,” 
” My son, whore could so many, find 
Enough to eat and drink ?" 
“ Well .Jifti/ then !" “ Count them my child, 
And see if ten you’ll find V' 
“ Well, anyway mammu. there is 
.1 'not her cat and 'mine." 
FARMING I OR BOYS AND GIRLS-NO. 12. 
HENRY STEWART. 
Manure, 
It Is to the manure made on the farm that the 
farmer looks for the meana of keeping Ills land fer¬ 
tile and productive. Manure la the refuse of the 
crops alter ihe farm stock has been fed. When a 
horse has eaten a ton of hay and 50 bushels of oats 
part of this food lias been spent In keepiug the ani¬ 
mal alive; part has beea spent In giving him 
strength to work, and the rest Is In the manure, 
bo that If all the crops grown on a farm should be 
fed on it, and the manure of the animals returned 
to the soli, there would be very little lost, and tbe 
soli would recover the larger part of what had been 
taken trom It In tbe crops. This must be evident 
because we know that all that has been taken 
from the soil Is in the crops, and whatever part of 
these ts not used up Ln making flesh or fat, milk 
or butter, will return to the soli those substances 
of which It was made up and which were taken 
from the soil. Hut an animal uses up a very small 
portlou of ihose parts of its food which were taken 
from the soil to sustain Its life, A horse Will con¬ 
sume about 22 pouods of bay and oats ln a day; of 
this only one pound and a bait is mineral matter 
taken from the soil. 4# ounces only are nitrogen 
which comes from tbe soil, and the remainder, 2ft# 
pounds, is derived from the air. But a large por¬ 
tion of tnis matter Is returned ln tne manure ; for 
Instance, of the pound and a half of the mineral 
matter consumed, the whole will be returned by a 
full-grown animal that is not gaining ln flesh— 
that Is, lean flesh and not. fat; of ihe 4% ouncfs of 
nitrogen, a \ are returned, and of the remaining 
20# pounds, 7# pounds will be returned. The 
horse, therefore, uses up to support life only that 
part of the food which was taken from the air, 
leaving all the mineral matter and nearly all the 
nitrogen to be returned to the soil ln the manure. 
It Is nearly the same with a cow, but she uses up 
a little more or the mineral matter, whleh goes 
into the milk, so that when the crops on a farm 
are fed to horses, cows or sheep, and the manure Is 
saved and returned to the land, the land loses so 
little that It would not be felt ln a great many 
years. 
But the farmer must sell something to procure 
money to purchase clothes and meet other ex¬ 
penses. If he is a dairyman and sells milk or but- 
ter only, the farm will become batter year by 
year, because nearly everything that Is taken 
from the land Is returned to it, and the constant 
working of the soil and the eiTect of the manure 
upon it, tend to free a larger quantity of the fertile 
elements of the soli than are needed to supply the 
growth of the crops. It he Is a grain grower and 
sells wheat and corn, he must make good the loss 
of these grains by buying some cheaper food and 
feeding this to his stock to make his supply of 
manure good, or ha must procure some artificial 
fertilizer for the same purpose. If the farmer 
sells hay and grain and animals whleh are sup¬ 
ported on pasture, and wastes or burns the straw, 
as has oflen been done ln the West, the farm will 
soon become worn out and useless, and crops can 
no longer be grown. As manure Is the support 
and food of uie land, the farmer should exert every 
effort to procure all he possibly can; he should 
care lor It ln the best manner and should know 
how to make the best use of It. 
Many farmers waste a large portion of the man¬ 
ure. It Is lelt to He ln the yard, where It la soaked 
and washed by the rains, which earry off ln dark 
streams the best pari#ir it. Others, more careful, 
but equally wasteful, put It up Into heaps ln widen 
It heats and dries until It loses Us most valuable 
qualities, and becomes a light, dry, whitish sub¬ 
stance that Is almost without value, it Is best 
kept ln low, flat heaps, ln which It may be moist¬ 
ened by tbe rain and yet not made so wet as to be 
damaged. One ton of the best kind of manure 
contains 1,500 pounds of water, and only 12# 
pounds of potash, five pounds of phosphoric acid 
and ten pounds or nitrogen; 100 pounds of good 
artificial fertilizer therefore contains as much use¬ 
ful matter as 2 ,ouo pounds of manure. 
- *-+-*■ -• 
DAISY’S YEAR IN SOUTHERN CALI¬ 
FORNIA. 
ALICE r. ADAMS 
Violet'if Home. 
Eight miles east of Los Angeles, the principal 
city of Southern California, Ues the ancient mis¬ 
sion ot San Gabriel Three quarters of a mile to 
the northwest Is a gradually sloping tract of land, 
which was, to all appearances, desolate and worth¬ 
less until live years ago, when Its enterprising 
owner consu uoted reservoirs lor the purpose of 
Irrigation, surveyed the land, divided it into 
live and ten-acre lots, and christened the whole 
the Alhambra Tract. 
intelligent people seeking rural homes heard of 
THE BUBAL HEW-YOBKEB. 
the Alhambra, only an hour’s drive from the city, 
and located there. First among these came Mr. 
Erman; but perhaps you would prefer to hear 
violet’s impressions rather than to listen to a tire¬ 
some description. 
“ Yes. we were the first people on the tract. 
There was a little house on the place, and tnat was 
all except the live-oak trees. Everything about 
the house and on the ten acres has been done ln 
three years and a half, and all the houses on the 
tract have been built ln tbe same time.” 
“ I don’t see bow It 18 possible for everything 
to grow so fast. Why, In a few years you could 
not see out at all If it were not for the avenue. Let 
us go out-doors; everything seems so strange, and 
I want to get acquainted as soon as I can." 
“Are you sure that you are rested 7” Inquired 
Mrs. Erman. “Fori am afraid violet will forget 
that you are not strong, and will hurry you around 
as If you were to leave on the train to morrow 
morning.” 
“ I do not feel at all tired.” “Oh, mamma, I’ll 
be careful and only show her the liowers and 
things about the house,” came from the Ups of 
both girls as they went out on the veranda. 
The house—one ot the cottages which Califor¬ 
nians seem to prefer for dwellings—had a broad 
veranda extending around three sides, and this 
was supplemented by a profusion of flowers and 
vines. 
“What a lovely view you have!” exclaimed 
Daisy, as They stepped out on the veranda. “ And 
those mountains 1 I would like to sit and watch 
them all day long.” 
“Yes,” answered violet; “when we first came 
it seemc d as it we spent most ot our time here on 
tbe verauda, talking about the view and watching 
the mountains. They seemed to change continu¬ 
ally, yet were never twice alike. It was all so new 
to Bert and 1, tor you know Illinois Is not noted for 
Us mountain ranges,” 
“1 should think not,” laughed Daisy, “Now I 
want to see the flowers. These geraniums look 
rather different from those mother was putting ln 
the bay window. What quantities ot blossoms I 
Would you care If 1 picked a cluster 7” 
"lwant you to understand, Miss Daisy,” said 
violet, solemnly, “that you are not to ask if jou 
may pick tbe flowers, if you see a blossom that 
you want, break it off. That is the way people do 
ln CaUtornla.” 
“Vasily different from our habit a homo. 
Whenever we picked a cluster from the gera¬ 
niums, mother always cautioned us to be careful 
not to pick one with buds on It.” 
“ Ab, but your geraniums are not covered with 
blossoms twelve months ln the year as ours are; 
neither do your roses grow to be such trees, come 
down here on the grass and tell me If you ever saw 
a heUotrope like this.” 
“ Why it Is clear up to the veranda roof! isn’t 
that magnificent?” and Daisy burled her face ln 
sirne ot tbe lragrant clusters. 
“Mamma grew it from a slip. Some of the 
plants and shrubs we bought; but the greater 
pari of them came from cuttings. For a year or 
so after we came It seemed as if we couldn’t go 
anj where without bringing home the wagon full 
ot cuttings and branches and roots that kli.d 
mends had given us; and then such a time as 
mamma had trimming, dividing and planting. 
But that la all through with, an i mamma has 
plenty for all the new comers. Now I want you 
to pick a bouquet from what we would call house 
plants. In Illinois, and we will see how many 
flowers you can get on this first flay of March. 
Begin with the heUotrope.” 
“ I hate to pick it. It seems almost wicked.” 
"Well, I haven’t aoy scruples”—and violet be¬ 
gan breaking off ihe fresh young spraj s. “ Then 
you must have a Marechal Nlel rose. Here Is a 
bud for beauty, and here Is a bouquet ln itself." 
As she spoke Violet reached up and picked afuU 
blown rose whose dimensions were those of a 
saucer. 
“ oh, oh!” cried Daisy In astonishment, “ that’s 
simply Immense! I have seen Marechal Nlel roses 
before, but they never looked like this.” 
“ A nd I don’t believe you ever saw seventy-five 
it one time, which 1 have counted on this very 
plant. Here are the carnations and geraniums. 
Help yourself to any amount of them, and you 
need not be particular about the buds.” 
Daisy was especially enraptured with the half 
dozen varieties of ivy geraniums which she had 
never beloi’e seen. 
“ Now I want you to see the abutllous. Here is 
one; see how many feet higher than the veranda 
roof It Is. And there Is the one with red blossoms 
Just around the corner. But the prettiest or all 
is the trailing variety with spotted leaves.” 
“It Is perfectly beautiful! How different the 
flower is from the other kind—almost like a 
fuchsia!” 
“ Here are the fuchsias on the north side of the 
house,” said violet. “But San Francisco lathe 
place to see them In their beauty. It Is too warm 
for them here ln the Summer.” 
“ I don’t see how you can ask for anything finer 
than these. What are the little blue flowers?” 
asked Daisy. 
“ English violets; see how sweet they are, and 
then come over to the rose bed, or mamma will 
call us In before you have any roses; she Is so 
afraid that you are tired.” 
Nearly all of the roses were pruned into tree 
form, and this was wonderful ln Dalsy’H eyes, lor 
the roses at home were bushesand these sturdy 
biown trunks with their Bpreading heads were 
something of a revelation. 
“ There'S a stalk bigger than my wrist! How 
long have these been growing?” asked Daisy. 
“ All or them have been grown from cuttings 
wl thin three years. This large rose Is the Safrano, 
and though It la one of the most common kinds, I 
think It one of the prettiest.” 
“ Do these roses bloom all the time ?” 
“Nearly aU the time. They do not blossom as 
fuH ln very cold or very warm weather; and they 
must have some time for rest; but I don’t beUeve 
there are half a dozen days ln the year when we 
can not And roses of some variety.” 
While the girls chatted they went here and there 
gathering the prettiest buds until Daisy cried. 
“Oh, don’t pick any more: My hand is so full I 
can’t hold another flower. How I wish mother 
could see this! When I go home I’m afraid I 
shall turn up my nose at her precious house 
plants.” 
“ Now, I want to show you—” 
“Come, girls 1” called Mrs. Erman from the 
dining-room door, “ supper Is almost ready.” 
•*Oh dear !” sighed violet, “I suppose we must 
go in, and you haven’t seen anytUlng but part of 
the flowers.” 
•‘Nevermind; I don’t want to see everything 
to-night. I have seen enough now to last me for a 
week.” 
“So Daisy has picked her first bouquet,” ob¬ 
served M r. Erman, as the girls entered the house. 
“I wonder If you can guess the name of this 
place?'* 
“ I should thlDk - Rose Cottage ’ might be as ap¬ 
propriate as any,” said Daisy, glancing at the 
wealth of roses she still held. 
“Pretty well done!” Mr. Erman exclaimed, 
while the others smiled. “That Is what my wire 
christened It three years ago when she commenced 
putting out cuttings. We all laughed at her then, 
lor the place looked so forlorn and desolate, but I 
think she was about right after all.” 
-♦♦♦- 
LETTER FROM THE COUSIN8. 
Dear Uncle Mark:— Will you please enroll my 
name on your Ust as a Rural cousin 7 My mother 
Is a subscriber, and Is much pleased with your 
paper. I would like to tell ihe Rural cousins 
about my California home. We live now ln the 
country but have been living ln San Francisco. 
The woods here abound with game, such as deer, 
grouse, quail, hare, and now and then a bear or 
panther by way ot variety. My mother writes for 
the papers, and has traveled considerably, and I 
have nearly always accompanied her. Did space 
permit, 1 would be pleased to tell tbe boy who 
“hasnever seen a railroad,” of my adventures by 
land and sea. I have much fun hunting deer,though 
1 do not kill a great many, as I am Just learning 
to shoot, I set traps for quails, hut catch more 
pigs than quails. I have a puppy I call Ranger, I 
am going to tral n him for a bear dog. My mother 
and I have begun our gardening; we have a nice 
lol gf plants ln a sunny, south window. We call 
our home “ Sunny Side.” Please Uncle Mark do 
not forget us ln your free seed distribution. I am 
thirteen years old. California Boy. 
Sunny Side, Cal. 
®t)f |ugkr. 
CHARADE. 
When ln our town my first you see, 
You need not pause to look; 
Nothing it has to gladden thee, 
Its gloom thou canat not brook. 
But still by many poor ’tls sought, 
To whom earth’s love Is cold; 
By them small comforts can be bought, 
They have no glittering gold. 
My next the rougher sex admire, 
If covering something neat; 
Ungainly, ’twill not them inspire 
Their glances to repeat. 
Our lovely maids oft gently raise, 
Oft gently put It down. 
Abandoning quick such dainty ways 
Should heaven’s cloud o’er them frown. 
Look 1 run! my whole comes on the scene. 
All grace the fair deriding, 
They ln my last escape, I ween, 
And to my first go hiding. k. j. d. 
-M l 
DOUBLE CROSS WORDS. 
In cope, not ln strive; 
In coast, not In drive; 
In nut, not ln grape; 
In twist, not In shape; 
In bees, not ln birds; 
In noun, not ln words; 
In test, not ln see. 
How many of us try to be 7 g. 
A SQUARE WORD. 
1. A species of earth; 2. an Inclosed space; 3. to 
know fully; 4. the mouth of a river. 
^"Answer ln two week9. Gus. 
-«*-*-♦- 
PUZZLER ANSWERS.-Jan. 22. 
Hidden Parts of a House 1, Banister; 2, wall; 
8, roof; 4, hall; 5, lath; 5, rafter; 7, cornice; 8. doors; y, 
windows; in, floors; 11, ceiling;; 12, plaster; 13.mortar; 
14, parlor; 15, dining room ; IS, kitchen; 17, bath-room ; 
15, attic; 19, i?arret; 20, cellar; 21, locks; 22, bolts; 23, 
stairs; 24, shutters ; 26, mantel. 
Name Puzzle;— Europa, Vic.oria, Asenath. Initials 
form ” Eva,” 
Pyramid Puzzle;— 
W 
U R E 
WHEEL 
S P O N B O R-Wren. 
Square 
BALT 
ASIA 
LIMP 
TAPE 
Indigestion, weak stomach, Irregularities of the 
bowels, cannot exist when Hop Bitters are used. 
RURAL BRIEFLETS. 
In the course of a well considered article in 
Scribner's Monthly for February, we find the 
following reference to the Rural Experiment 
Grounds: 
“ There are also several private experiment 
stations. Notable among these private stations 
is one owned and conducted by the Rural 
New-York uk. This consists of a farm on 
Long Island and a garden and nursery iu New 
Jersey, which are maintained solely for exper¬ 
iment; manures arc tested, new seeds and 
plants are cultivated, new tools are tried, new 
methods of culture are examined, and. in 
short, new questions are a>-ked of Nature. The 
results are lor tbe exclusive u«e of the sub¬ 
scribers to the Rural New Yokkkk, yet it 
is a real experiment statiou, and its work is of 
value to the general public. The subscribers 
ask questions concerning matters they have 
neither the time, skill, nor money to answer 
for themselves, and the paper puts the matter 
to practical test on its farm, and priuts the re¬ 
sult for the benefit of alt. We have only to 
substitute the State for the newspaper, and the 
public for tbe subscribers, and we have a State 
agricultural experiment station." .... 
Mr. Roe sends us a little box of bis High¬ 
land Beauty (Jan. 20), a seedling of the Lady 
Apple, of great beauty. An illustration of it 
was given in the Rural New Yorker of April 
19, ’79—hut. the specimens sent are nearly twice 
as large. The skin is a golden yellow with 
crimson streaks and blotches. The flesh is 
tender—neither sweet nor sour—and agree¬ 
able. Mr. Roe, says: “I have no proper 
place to keep apples, and these have been kept 
in a room where they have been subject to 
alternations of heat and cold. Properly cared 
for, they may bo had in good condition until 
May.". 
Mr. J. A. Foote, of Terre Haute, Ind., writes 
us:—“Your Corn Number is of great value, 
worthy the attention of any farmer in the 
laud, and worth in itself the cost of a year’s 
subscription. It puzzles me to account for 
the Immense yield on your farm. Here on the 
finest corn soil a crop of over 75 buBhels 
would be counted as extraordinary. The 
vaiiety must have had something to do with 
it.” Itpuzzlesus, too. We have no doubt the 
variety had something to do with it. And yet 
the common eight and ten-rowed yellow 
Hint yielded heavily, though raised without 
manure and planted too far apart for a kind 
that grows no taller. Let ua Bee what, light 
can be thrown upon it by auolher year’s ob¬ 
servations. 
We have received the following letter from 
John S. Harris & Son, of La Crescent, Minn.: 
“ We congratulate yon on the success of 
the late Corn Number. Your new departure 
in devotmg an occasional number to a special 
crop will accomplish much good. The great 
amount of information collected upon a cer¬ 
tain crop at one time will attract attention 
and lead to better cultivation. Your distri¬ 
bution of seeds cannot help but be a lasting 
benefit to the country. The Beauty of Ilebron 
Potato is the best early potato I have ever 
grown, and it is now better known and more 
extensively disseminated than it would have 
been in ten years had not the Rural brought 
it to notice in such a muoner. I failed to 
receive my potato through the distribution 
but had so much faith in the Rural that I 
procured three pounds, plauted four eyes; 
a hill, hoed them once, aud dug 290 pounds, 
45 6 bushels—all of good size and noue hol¬ 
low. Owing to the drought they did not yield 
quite as well last season as they might have 
done; but on the same Boil and planted the same 
day tbev turned out one-fifth better than the 
Early Rose or Vermont, matured ially as early 
and sold for a better price. Hotels would use 
no others while the Hebron could he had. 
Our seeds received last Spring gave veiy sat¬ 
isfactory results, but were somewhat injured 
by drought. Is the Edible Pine hardy enough 
to endure Minnesota Winters? We are keep¬ 
ing ours in pots in the greenhouse." 
We do not think it is known how cold a 
climate these pines will staud. Our own seed¬ 
lings have stood 20® below zero without the 
slightest harm. If hut for the 6weet nuts 
alone (about tbe size of a hazel nut) this pine 
is worthy of cultivation, and ihe Rural’s 
distribution of it muff in u few years test its 
hardiness aud adaptability to the various cli¬ 
mates of this country and Lower Canada. . 
• 
We are very sorry to learn of the continued 
indisposition of Conrad Wilson. We have re¬ 
ceived the following announcement of the 
Business Farmer, of which he is editor :—“In 
consequence of a relapse that has unexpected¬ 
ly overtaken its editor, his work is a/ain inter¬ 
rupted by physical prostration brought on as 
before, by unremitting application. Iu his 
anxious desire and purpose to improve aud 
extend the plan of his woik, aud iu the further 
effort required to regain the time thus lost, he 
has entirely overtaxed his power of endurance. 
As this, of course, involves a still further inter¬ 
ruption of the work in hand, It only remains 
for us to bow to tbe necessity that calls for a 
change of plan. Discouraging as such trials 
may well be to Mr. Wilson and his friends, it is 
yet gratifying to say that the most serious 
stage of his debility has pussed, and that 
nothing more seems now required than an 
interval of rest. But for this untoward event, 
the first year’s work ol the “Business Fanner" 
would have been completed within the time. 
How soon the work will be resumed, and under 
what conditions, will shortly be more fully ex¬ 
plained, aud the whole matter will be arranged 
tp the satisfaction of all parties. This point 
being assured, there is every reason to believe 
that the editor will soon be able to continue his 
investigations, though of course, under such 
conditions as will relieve the pressure of his 
labor.". 
