the grey bird ; the prevailing color of the plu¬ 
mage is brilliant green, but the back and un¬ 
der parte are tinted yellow. The fore part of 
the head is of a blue tint, and the throat- 
feathers are edged with a bluish green. This 
parrot talks well. A green parrot of an infe¬ 
rior kind comes from the West Indies. The 
pinion feathers are red and blue, and the head 
yellowish red. 
Parrakeets are smaller birds, and the prom¬ 
inent peculiarity is the length of the tall, gen¬ 
erally exceeding that of the body. The Yel¬ 
low-bellied Parrakeet, from Tasmania, is 
ha rd 3 r and well adapted for a caged life. The 
Rose-bill Parrakeet, from Australia and Tas¬ 
mania, is one of the most beauti ful birds of 
the Parrot family. Including the fine tail, it 
measuies about thirteen inches. The head, 
sides of the face, back of the neck, and breast., 
are of glowing scarlet, and a scarlet band 
passes over the shoulders; the upper part of 
the throat is of pure white; the feathers of the 
back are black-green, edged with light and 
very bright green. In the wings lilac-color is 
mixed with black, The lower part of the 
breast is y’ellow, changing into light green on 
the abdomen. The Ground, Ringed (the latter 
with a very long tail), and Grass Parrakeets, 
are also prett 3 T birds. Little Love Birds, so 
named from the affectionate manner in which 
a pair sit together, are pretty little creatures, 
scarely six inches long. 
Cockatoos come from the Eastern Archipela¬ 
go and Australia. The 3 T are large and power¬ 
ful birds, and the crest, composed of a number 
of feathers which lie along the neck, except 
when the bird is angiy, and then they are 
erected, and opened and closed quickly’, like a 
fan. The Gi'eat White and Sulphur crested 
Cockatoos are the best known in England. 
Most of these birds can be taught to utter sim¬ 
ple words and phrases. 
The magnificent Macaws, with their splendid 
blue and yellow, or green and scarlet plumage, 
are well known. 
Bread and milk is the staple food of all birds 
of the Parrot kind. Lay a slice of stale bread 
in a pan, and soak it in warm water for a 
quarter of an hour, and then pour enough 
scalding milk on it to moisten it, without mak¬ 
ing it pappy. Clean]inass of the cage, and 
plenty of dr 3 r gravel are essential to the health 
of the bird. 
Honeysuckle (Lonicera holliana); Virginia 
Creeper (Ampelopsis qninquefolia); Clematis 
(Clematis vilicella); and Dutchman's Pipe 
(Aristoloehia sipho.) 
Flora M., Cross Creek Village, Pa., asks 
how to keep the worms from working on the 
cabbage, not only the gi een worms, but the 
big, striped, brown ones. 
Ans. —An application of dry, unleached 
wood ashes has been effective. Drenching 
with hot water, decoctions of elder and dog- 
fennel, or dusting with powdered hellebore, 
lime, and ashes are recommended. 
Willie M ., Ilion, N. Y., asks for a descrip¬ 
tion of the plum curculio and its entomologi¬ 
cal name. 
Ans. —It is a dark brown, plump beetle, 
about one-fourth of an inch in length. Its 
wing covers are speckled with black and 
white and roughened by little lumps. It has 
a short, curved snout. It is known to ento¬ 
mologists as Conotrachelus nenuphar. 
Ilcut publications 
A QUINTETTE OF 
NEW MUSIC BOOKS. 
FARMING FOR BOYS AND GIRLS. 
No. 33. 
HENRY STEWART. 
Farm Crops. Wheat. 
W heat is the most important crop grown 
on farms. It is not the most valuable, but it 
is that which the world could least spare, be¬ 
cause it is the world’s bread. It is a farm 
plant; none is known to grow wild; we do not 
know its origin, or when it was first intro¬ 
duced into cultivation; but it is probable that 
it has been grown by men from the earliest 
ages and has never been able to exist except 
by the careful attention of the fanner. It re¬ 
quires the best cultivation aud ouly the best 
farmers can grow large crops of it. Usually 
the yield is very small as compared with what 
is grown under good culture arid even less 
than 12 bushels per acre Is produced, while a 
full crop may be more than GO bushels, and 
a fair crop may reach 40 bushels. 
Wheat requires a good soil aud that the 
soil should be very well prepared by plow¬ 
ing, harrowing, and rolling; if necessary. 
The best soil for wheat is a limestone clay and 
the soil is in the best condition where it is fine 
and mellow and well packed in under the sur¬ 
face and somewhat rough on the top. There 
is but one species of wheat, but there are 
many varieties. There are Spring and Fall 
wheat; white, amber and red wheats, so 
called from the color of the husk; but each 
kind may be changed, by varying the manner 
of cultivation for a few yeai's from one land 
to another. 
Wheat is one of the grasses. The plant has 
a root, a stem or straw, long, narrow leaves 
which clasp the stem and a head or spike. 
The spike consists of a number of spikelets ar¬ 
ranged alternately upon each side of the stem, 
which is bent from side to side to receive the 
spikelets. The spikelet consists of three pairs 
of glume, which are the chaff of the wheat, 
and which inclose the grain; but it. is rare that 
any one of these spikelets contains more than 
two grains, the middle glumes being nearly 
always empty. This of course lessens the 
yield of the crop and so does the smaller num¬ 
ber of the spikelets produced when the culti¬ 
vation is inferior. A head of wheat may con¬ 
tain but 20 or 24 grains, aud it may contain 
more than a hundred when it has been well 
grown upon good soil, and a good variety has 
been chosen for the seed. When grown upon 
good soil there are several stems proceeding 
from each root, audit is not unusual for a root 
to have from 10 to 20 or even more stems and 
heads glowing from it. 
These facts go to show how important it is 
in growing wheat for the farmer to procure 
good seed; to have the soil in good condition; 
and to put the crop in the ground in the be-st 
manner. For with a poor crop the grains in 
the spike are few, the spikes from each root 
are few or but one or two only, and the yield 
is very small. But with a good crop the grains 
in each spike may easily be multiplied three or 
four times, and the spikes increased four or 
five times above the yield of a poor crop; and 
thus the whole increase will amount to several 
times the quantity of the smaller yield. This 
gain is of the greatest importance not only to 
the farmer who grows the wheat, but to those 
persons who consume it, for the better aud 
larger the crop the cheaper will be the grain, 
and yet the greater will bo the farmers’ 
profits. 
Wheat is a very exhausting crop to the soil. 
It therefore requires the soil to be rich in all 
the elements of fertility, viz., nitrogen, phos¬ 
phoric acid, potash, magnesia, lime, soda and 
some others; so that the best farmers find it 
profitable not only to apply-abundance of good 
manure, but to use also some artificial fertili¬ 
zers with it as a help. The fertilizers common¬ 
ly- used are lime, superphosphate of lime, 
ashes or salt and sometimes all of them may 
be used with advantage. 
Emerson’!* IdUNU BCLL9.I (50 eta.) The 
new, genial and beautiful collection of Mchool 
Moiurs, 
Send 50 cts. for Specimen Copy. 
Te ST y I BEACON LIGHT. I 2 ®. 
(30 cts.) All radiant with beauty and full of the 
sweetest melody. Ko- Monday Schools. 
Send 30 cts. for Specimen Copy. 
tosh’s I LIGHT AMD LIFE • | tosli’s 
(35 cts.) A large, well filled, udmlrably selected 
and composed, and every way desirable collec¬ 
tion of •iuiMln> (School and Gospel fleet¬ 
ing IHnsic. 
Send 35 cts. for Specimen Copy. 
LETTER !! FROM THE COUSINS. 
Dear U yen: Mark :—I would have written 
sooner but have been very busy’, and I wish 
to tell you what I have been doing. To begin 
at the first, pie se go lmck with me to the cold, 
snowy’ day’s of Winter when I got the first 
Rural, and looked over the advertisements to 
see what nursery to send to for the seeds and 
plants that I wanted. I selected three, and to 
each one I sent a postal card asking for their 
catalogues, which came in due time. Then 
came the fun, there were so many pretty’ flow¬ 
ers and plants that 1 could scarcely make a 
selection, but after examining all the books I 
concluded to send an order to each, and I am 
well pleased with the results. Those who have 
seen our garden say it is the best in this vicin¬ 
ity. Uncle Mark would lie sure to throw this 
in the waste basket if I even coimnenced to 
tell what kind of seed I got, for there were two 
kinds of nearly every garden vegetable, 
besides many flower seeds. My brothers got 
several kinds of watermelon seed, also pop¬ 
corn, both of which are doing very well. The 
prettiest flowers in the whole lot are the China 
pinks sent by Uncle Mark. I started my 
tomato and cabbage plants in a hot-bed early 
in the Spring, but the worms are beginning to 
work ou the cabbage plants. However, some 
of the early kinds of cabbage have heads- 
large enough to eat. Your niece, 
Hattie Bell Primrose. 
Cross Creek Village, Pa. 
OLIVER DITSON & CO., Roston. 
CHAS. H. DITSON & CO. J. E. DITSON & CO. 
843 Broadway, New York. 1228 Chestnut St., Phila. 
THREE CAPITAL BOOKS! 
Longfellow Birthday Book 
A beautiful little volume, an excellent combination of 
gift-hook and album. On the left-hand pages are 
choice extracts from Longkfllow's writings; on the 
right hand pages, the names of famous persons born 
on the days given. bjhI blank spaces for the auto¬ 
graphs of one's relatives and friends. With a fine 
portraitof Longfellow and 12 beautiful illustrations. 
Price in cloth. $1; morocco, calf, or seal, $3.50. 
Emerson Birthday Book. 
A charming little book, similar to the Longfellow 
Birthday Book, containing choice Be'ections from the 
writings of Ralph Waldo Em kbson. With a full por¬ 
trait aud >2 excellent illustrations. Price In cloth, $1; 
morocco, calf, or seal, $3.50. 
On the Threshold. 
By T. T. Mungkr. $1.°0. A peculiarly readable and 
interns Lng boot, for boys Just becoming young men. 
‘ It Is not a volume of sage dullness, but full of stir¬ 
ring llltaud vigor. It is a book THAT SHOULD go by 
THOUSANDS IN TO THE HANDS OF THtt YOUNG,”—//llt/l- 
eran Quarterly. 
I wonder how many of the young readers 
of the Rural have a little plot of land set 
apart for their own special working-ground ? 
Surely', out of almost a thousand young people 
who are members of the Horticultural Club, 
there ought to lie a large number who have a 
“ little farm ” which is under their own care 
and cultivation, and in which they may pass 
many hours much more profitably than in idle 
sport. 
Now, methinks, some far off Western boy’ 
is saying to himself, “ I guess Uncle Mark has 
forgotten that all work and no play r makes 
Jack a dull boy but not so ! It's a proper 
combination, or relation of work and play that 
is most beneficial, and most to be desired for 
the young. There are many hours in the 
course of a week as for instance before school 
time in the morning and after school in the 
afternoon, or on Saturdays when there gener¬ 
ally is no school in tho country, when it 
would be “nothing but fun” to work in the 
little garden or whatever it might be called. 
The plot need not be a large one, the size will 
depend somewhat on the way “ father feels ” 
when the request for it is made. Remember 
oue thing which older farmers often forget, that 
the largest farms do not al way's produce most. 
Thorough cultivation goes far in the produc¬ 
tion of large crops, so even if you are allowed 
but little ground you can make that little pay 
a good interest. 
i am sure that a great deal of pleasure and 
satisfaction would come from raising “ big 
things” for tho fair, and competing, then, with 
father or the neighbors for the premium. But 
how very’ seldom wo hear of a little boy or 
girl who takes any thing to the fair—but a 
lunch. Yet, if “Master Johnny Gray” has 
the finest basket of potatoes or largest pump¬ 
kin there, he is entitled to the premium just 
as much as if he were “John Gray, Esq.” 
Nothing would please me better to read in 
some of the many letters that will l>e received 
this Fall, that the members of the Horticul¬ 
tural Club had really taken premiums at their 
local fair, for this would denote an interest, 
on their part, in agricultural aud horticultural 
affairs, and I should almost want to “ jump 
out of my boots ” if the premium articles were 
raised on their own plot of ground by their 
own cultivation. Uncle Mark. 
For sale hy all Dootse.ller*: or sent, post-paxd, on re¬ 
ceipt of price by the Publishers, 
Umcle Mark;— From the seed of the Crim¬ 
son Dwarf Celery, that you so kindly sent 
me, I have raised five hundred and fifty 
plants. Three hundred of which 1 have trans¬ 
planted into rows in the garden, and of the 
balance I have sold 75 cents w orth, and given 
away the remainder. The Pyrethum Roseum 
seed came up finely, and was transplanted to 
the garden. The dry weather was too much 
for some of it, yet I have four plants now grow¬ 
ing. You said you desired tho Cousins to save 
the seed. My- plants show no signs of flowers 
as yet. Of the Judas tree, or Red Bud, but 
one seed has thus far germinated. It has 
grown into a nice plant about seven inches 
high—large heart-shaped leaves, and seems very 
thrifty. It is still in the pot and I shall take 
it into tho house and W inter it. If my celeiy 
does well, (the weather is very’ dry), I expect 
to realize about ten dollara from its sale— 
enough to pay the subscription cost of the 
Rural for the next five years. Your 
nephew, Harry R. French. 
Ehnira, N. Y. 
HOUGHTON, MIFFLIN & CO 
BOSTON, HI ASS. 
l.s, grants, &c 
lTURSEKYMEN and DEALERS, send for terms o 
a The Duchess Grape for Kail and Spring. 
A. J. CAY WOOD & SON, Marlboro, N. Y. ‘ 
SEED WHEAT 
*)/Wl bush " Red Rogers,” a white chsff bald am- 
ber wheal of superior milling qualities, and 
for viold and hardiness equal to the best. l'rioe$2.00 
per bushel 
•inn titish. " Fultz Wheat," very choice. Price 
# 1 . 74 per bualiel. 
Also oil bush. ” Emporium Scott." Seed obtaiued 
from Can Avr’l Emporium Seed Merchants, Loudon, 
Out.. Can. Price 8 nil lter u’ishel. 
Delivered tree on board oars. B'gs 26c. All orders 
to bo iiccomnanied " Itli caMi. Address 
. C T.EET, Moorhendville. Pa. 
Dear Uncle Mark :—I should have writ¬ 
ten to you before to thank you for the beauti¬ 
ful present you sent to reward me for my’ 
efforts to take the prize for mathematical 
drawing. It is a splendid engraving and 1 
shall some day have it framed, to remember 
your kindness in sondiug it. Most of the corn 
about here tvas planted the first of June or 
thereabouts, and unless Jack Frost keeps off 
pretty late it cannot mature. Many farmers 
are not cutt ing their wheat, the scab and blight 
destroying most of it. Oats are the only good 
crop this season. My flowers are large and 
handsome. 1 have a fine show of lilies. I 
sowed but few flower seed tins Spring, but de¬ 
pended entirely on the plants that came up 
from last season’s seeds. The plants thus ob¬ 
tained are doing well. 1 have a handsome 
show of phlox and pinks from them, also a 
number of plants of tho pinks and carnations 
from the RURAL. The celery did not grow 
aud the Red Bud does not come up yet. 
Purple Cane, Neb. W. J. Mason. 
LEADING NEW&OLD VARIETIES 
x VENEER 
Layer Plant* at lowest prices. Semi for ueaeriptive 
Circular. Address 
B. L. RYDER & SONS, 
t'kuiiibersburg, Penu’u. 
Pretty Polly is always a favorite. The 
grey bird is the most docile and intelligent, 
and the best talker, as well as the largest- 
measuring from ten to twelve inches in length. 
The bill is black, strong, and much hooked, 
aud the orbit aud space between them and the 
eyes is covered with a bald and white skin. 
The entire body is of a combined pearl-grey 
and slate color, and the feathers of the head, 
neck aud under part of the body are edged 
with a greyish white. The toes are grey, 
tinged with red, and the tail is of a deep, light 
scarlet. The grey parrot is healthy and long- 
lived, sixty or seventy years being the aver¬ 
age. 
The Green Parrot, from the regions of the 
Amazon, South America, is nearly as large as 
liOOUlNGTON (Phoenix) N UltMKK V nnd 
(ill KKN HOtteKM. Lr-tabljahcil Is 2. ihhi .-Icrea. 
13 Greenhouses. Fruit ami ornamental Trees, Shrubs, 
Everwreens, Grapes Bulbs, Heedlimrs, Hedge Plants, 
Small Fruits, etc »Ticed catalogue for Fall of 'si mail¬ 
ed free. 81DNEF TUTTLE, Agt., Bloomington, Ill. 
It is manifest that from GOOD SKKDS 
/y.\/KX Sj ITP-Nv?^. ONLY can Good Vegetables be obi aim d. 
V Cr lti V The character of LANDIUSTHS’SEEDS 
j/ / S' * A haa been substantiated iicnoud all tints!inn. 
-C / \ They are the STANDARD fur Quality'. 
~Over ItiOO acres In Garden Seed Crops 
V VfM^tyr \ N \ under our own cultivation. 
Vyw/l |1 wMiN r. hi Ask your storekeeper for them in original 
*VjV * " y— sealedpacktwes, or ilmp u« a postal card for 
_ V - ■ prices emt Catalogue. 
Wholesale tiaae price* to -/a .y,j,.t, it*on. 
Founded 178 * DAVID LANDRETH A. 5 * 0 * 3,21 and 23 S.Sixth St.Pniladulphla. 
YOUNG QUERIST, 
Ella F., New Alexandria, Pa., asks, 1, 
where roots or seeds of the Water Lily may 
bo purchased, and, 2, the name of a vine, for a 
piazza, that will stand the sun well. 
Ans.— 1, Of almost any nurseryman. 2, 
The Wistaria (Wistaria frutescens); Hall’s 
<'-\sn imam** 
