SEPT 30 
67S 
for t\)t Bintm] 
THE HORTICULTURAL CLUB. 
Huckleberry Contest. 
THE PRIZES AND THOSE WHO WON THEM— 
MINNESOTA. AND CONNECTICUT TO THE 
FRONT— LETTER FROM UNCLE ELM- 
CONGRATULATIONS. 
In the Rural of May 14, page 334, a propo¬ 
sition was made by Mr. E. S. Goff, Horticul¬ 
turist of the New York Experiment Station, 
Geneva, N. Y., that the members of the 
Rural Horticultural Club should assist him 
in the cultivation of the huckleberry in a way 
which he there described,and in order to awak¬ 
en an interest in the matter among the Rural 
Cousins he offered three prizes, as follows, for 
the first, second and third best 100 berries, re¬ 
spectively: 
f irst Prize,— Webster’s National Pictorial 
Dictionary. 
Second Prize. —Child’s Ret—Knife, Fork 
and Spoon, in case. 
Third Prize .—An Elegant Book. 
According to arrangement the contest was 
to be closed Sept. 1, so that ample time has 
been given for all to report. One day last 
week I received the following letter from 
Uncle Elm which will speak for itself, and 
which I am sure will be eagerly perused: 
Dear Uncle Mark and Cousins: I have 
delayed auuouucing the result of the Huckle¬ 
berry Contest a little, in order to give plenty 
of time for all of the berries to reach me. As 
several days have now elap?ed since any have 
arrived, I will assume that all are in. and will 
declare the result. 
first prize. 
E. C. Gardner, Wyoming, Minnesota. 
SECOND PRIZE. 
Addie A. Thomas, Poquonoc Bridge, Con¬ 
necticut. 
THIRD PRIZE. 
A Cousin of Cornwall, Connecticut. 
The winner of the third prize neglected to 
send name, but if this is forwarded at once to 
me (E. S. Goff, Geneva, N. Y.) the prize will 
be sent. 
I wish to congratulate these Cousins upon 
their good fortune, and I feel sure they will 
never regret the trouble they have taken, and 
those who did the best they could but have 
not received a prize, should not feel badly 
about it. Of course we could not all find the 
largest berries. 
If through the offering of these prizes one of 
the Cousins is inspired with a deeper love for 
horticulture and a desire to improve our small 
fruits, that shall increase as he gets older, 
those who give them will be more than repaid. 
Uncle Elm. 
Ag. Ex. Station, Geneva, N. Y. 
In connection with Uncle Elm, I wish to 
extend my hearty congratulations to the suc¬ 
cessful competitors in the contest. They have 
do ne well, and so have all those who com¬ 
peted. Every one is deserving of “something 
nice,’’ and I wish I had a present for each, 
but those of us who did not win can content 
ourselves by thinking that we have done 
something to aid the interests of horticulture 
as they are being advanced at the Experiment 
Station. 
I have been much pleased, not to say sur¬ 
prised, at the manner in which the Horticul¬ 
tural Club has taken hold of this matter; it 
speaks well for it, and I hope that in its ranks 
are many who in the near future will make 
their mark as real practical, thinking horti¬ 
cultural and agricultural experimenters and 
writers who, having found “ something good,” 
will give others a chance to share in it, and so 
make the world better for their having lived 
and worked in it. 
1 am sure we are all glad to have made the 
acquaintance of Uncle Elm, and though most 
of us may not have had the pleasure of meet¬ 
ing him, we feel that we know him well. 
We hope that we shall hear from him occa¬ 
sionally through the Youths’ Department of 
the Rural, and when he has something else 
for us to do we will be on hand. Will we not i 
Uncle Mark. 
• - ♦♦♦ - 
A LETTER FROM “VIEILLARD.” 
Dear Boys and Girls:—I think in a for¬ 
mer article headed “For the Boys” I prom¬ 
ised something more to you juveniles; and 
your venerable Uncle Mark has lately alluded 
to it in a private letter to me. I infer from 
the correspondence of you Cousins that you 
are mostly from the country. This renders 
the subject doubly interesting to me, for I 
am fully persuaded that it is to the rural dis¬ 
tricts mainly that we are to look for our 
township, county, state and national officers; 
our engineers and managers of the great in¬ 
dustries of the world, in short, our illustrious 
men and women. Children brought up in the 
cities have more temptations to vice, are less 
under the guidance and control of their pa¬ 
rents or guardians, and, as a rule, grow up 
with less industrious habits and more lax 
morals. 
To fit yourselves for high stations in life 
H 
s 
it is well for you to bear in mind that it is ab 
solutely necessary for you to learn much 
more than is taught in onr common schools or 
colleges. The true vocation of the teacher is 
to prepare his pupils to teach themselves;and 
this teaching is brought about mainly by read¬ 
ing, consequently the habit of reading Is a 
very important one. The habit of writing, 
too, especially of writing letters for the 
press—as you are doing—is another means of 
fitting yon for high, or even for ordinary sta¬ 
tions in life. These two habits help greatly 
in the understanding of language, which is of 
vast importance; for through it you are to 
learn almost everything you are ever to know. 
I cannot write you a long letter for two 
reasons; your Uncle Mark does not wish it 
and. beside 0 , I am an old man, as tbe name I 
assume indicates, and am weak in muscle and 
insight; but may at some other time write 
you short letters, if life and health are spared. 
Most Respectfully, Vieillard. 
[It is a good thing for young people to have 
such words of counsel and wisdom given them 
by one, who though now nearing, perhaps, 
life’s sunset has yet a deep sympathy for them 
and a kindly interest in tbeir welfare. May 
our good friend “Vieillard” live yet many 
years, and favor us. as he can, with his wel¬ 
come greetings, u. M ] 
YOUNG QUERIST. 
Willie B., Sandusky, O., would like to 
know what fowls are best to keep for eggs. 
Ans —Probably there are no better than the 
Houdans and Leghorns. Read the series of 
articles on Poultry Keeping in the Rural, 
also “Farming for Boys and Girls,” Nos. 48 
and 49. 
Geo. M., West Spring Creek, Pa., wishes 
to know 1, if it will do to crack peach pits 
when they are planted. 2, is sumach used 
for tanning? 
Ans —It may be done, but it is not neces¬ 
sary, as the sheila do not obstruct the growth 
of the germ. 2, Yes, An illustrated article 
on sumac culture will shortly appear. 
Walter G , Lock port, N. 1'., asks which is 
the best way to set out celery plants, deep or 
shallow. 
Ans.—A medium depth is the best. The 
old-fashioned method of deep trenching is not 
practiced much by gardeners. 
M .4. C., Westboro, Mass., would like to 
know if any of the members of the Club may 
take part in the Discnssions. 
Ans —Most assuredly. The Discussions are 
carried on for the benefit of the Club, and we 
wish every member to take part in them. 
“The more the merrier." 
J. M. P .—The aphides trouble my plant 
very much. How can I get rid of them? 
Ans —Tobacco smoke is the best thing to 
use on aphides. 
-»-*-♦- 
LETTERS FROM THE COUSINS. 
Uncle Mark. —I have lately got interested 
in the Cousins’ letters in the Rural, and 
would like to write you a letter. I wrote you 
a letter once, but I guess it was too long for 
you to print. The watermelon seeds you sent 
me had too much rain and they rotted. The 
corn came up and is looking fine. Iamal 
ways glad when the Rural comes. About 
the first thing I do Is to look at the pictures 
and then read the Cousins’ letters. I have a 
pretty canary bird that was given to me as a 
Christmas present. 
Your niece, Mamie Irvin. 
Rock Island Co , Ill. 
Uncle Mark: — I have lost all my pinks 
except the white ones, and would be glad if 
some one of the Cousins wuuld send me some 
of the other varieties, I will send theifi some 
of my seeds in return, if desired, as pay for 
them. Martha P. Burton, 
Peoria, Franklin Co., Kan. 
Societies,&c. 
TRI-STATE FAIR. 
(Rural Special Report.) 
The Tri-State Fair of Ohio, Michigan and 
Indiana, opened at Toledo, Ohio, on Septem¬ 
ber 4th, and continued until the 16th. The 
original intention was to open on the 11th; 
but by offering additional premiums for mil¬ 
itary companies, etc., the Association, which 
is a private one and not agricultural, as the 
name might suggest, kept up a fair attend¬ 
ance at tbe meeting for the entire two weeks. 
The number of people present, especially 
daring the last week, was large and the show 
good; but the horse racing and open pool sell¬ 
ing brought together a crowd that it is not 
desirable to see on an agricultural fair ground. 
Here, as at Columbus, I noticed that the best 
farmers and their families avoided the horse 
track with all its accompanying vices, but 
still it was there, and from the numerous com¬ 
plaints that I heard on the grounds, it seems 
very likely that the “horse trot” will even¬ 
tually break up the agricultural portion of 
this fair, as it has already done with the 
Northern Ohio Fair, held for many years at 
Cleveland. Tbe Cleveland Association now 
run horse races only, and unless this associa¬ 
tion should stop the pool-selling and side shows, 
as well as the admission of fakirs and other 
sharpers it will in a short time be compelled 
to do the same thing. 
Tbe agricultural portion of the show in most 
departments was very good. The display of 
fruit, taking into consideration the bad sea- 
ion, was especially fine, the tables being well 
filled with apples, peaches, pears, grapes, etc., 
although there was nothing in this line es¬ 
pecially new. Mr. Woodward showed speci¬ 
mens of the Niagara grape, ripe at this date 
(Sept. 13). The exhibition of vegetables 
was very large, and I might say the best that 
I ever saw at a fair. Messrs. S. M. Johnson 
& Sons, of Dow Street Gardens, made an ex¬ 
cellent exhibit in this line, and one tbat they 
should be complimented on, for in view of the 
trifling premiums offered, it showed a great 
deal of painstaking endeavor on their part to 
show the public what can be done in this line. 
A large number of other exhibitors contribu¬ 
ted to the general vegetable display and made 
it very attractive. 
The Ohio State University made a fine show 
of grains, etc., from its farm. With them 
the Black-bearded Centennial, as received 
from the Department of Agriculture, at 
Washington, did not do well this year. 
The floral display was fine, many amateurs 
and florists contributing to it. The very ex¬ 
cellent general arrangement of the foliage 
plants greatly improved the appearance of 
this display and reflected great credit on the 
superintendent and arrangers. Messrs. Sibley 
& Co. had a fine exhibit of artificial flowers 
in this department. 
The dairy department was represented by 
a good number of factory and dairy cheeses 
and a very light display of butter. The dairy 
implement men turned out in good force and 
showed up creamers, churns, butter-colors, 
etc., to an appreciative attendance. 
The cattle show, with a few exceptions, was 
not anything extra. The exceptions I might 
mention were the fine herd of Devons of J. 
J. Scarf & Son, and the fine Holstein herds of 
the Unadilla Valley Dutch-Frieslaud Asso¬ 
ciation and of Ogden Cole, Rollin, Mich. The 
show of Short-horns, Jerseys and Ayrshires 
was unusually light. 
The swine show here was large and good, 
most of the better exhibits coming from Col¬ 
umbus. The exhibit of white swine was large, 
still the black breeds were in a large 
majority. The sheep exhibit—what there was 
of it—was good. Messrs. S, H. Thomas and 
E. Campbell exhibited fine flocks of Merinos, 
and H. Emigh, from Canada, showed a fine 
flock of 40 long-wools. The absence of names 
or numbers on the pens, and the difficulty in 
getting general information prevent my 
calling attention to others who showed fine 
specimens of the various breeds of both sheep 
and swine. 
The exhibit of agricultural and labor-saving 
machinery was very large, and many of the 
exhibitors kept it op for the two weeks, but 
a large number of them will not do it again. 
Two weeks is too long a time to hold exhibi¬ 
tors, and the holding of the fair for this 
period would help a great deal to break it up, 
to say nothing of horse-racing, side-shows, 
fakirs, &c. Among the novel exhibits was a 
new method of regulating feed in a grain- 
drill, shown by the Columbia Drill Co., of 
Jamestown, N. Y. They hope to give an ex¬ 
hibition of its working on the Rural Farm. It 
attracted marked attention. So did a new 
device for shocking corn-stalks, which ap¬ 
peared to be a great labor-saving implement 
and which will be reported upon later on, 
after practical trial on the Rural Farm. 
Mast, Foos & Co. had on exhibition a new 
rotary motion, applied to tbeir ten-foot wind¬ 
mill, which ground corn and at the same time 
ran a com-sheller with ease in a moderate 
wind. Of this I also hope to say more later. 
On tbe whole, the fair was a great success, 
and I hope another year more attention will 
be paid to the purely agricultural part of the 
exhibition. w. H. K. 
Toledo, O., Sept. 16. 
-*-*-♦- 
Toledo Fair Notea. 
At a meeting of the agricultural implement 
men, held at the Rural New-Yorker Tent 
on tne grounds, Sept. 18th. appropriate reso¬ 
lutions on the death of Mr. T.'Groucher, of 
Milwaukee, Wis., one of the most esteemed 
members of the fraternity, were passed and 
sent to his widow. 
The fakirs, pool-sellers and side-shows held 
the fort at this fair, to the disgust of many 
visitors. 
The Niagara Grapes seeds which form a 
part of the Rural’s Seed Distribution for 
1883, were on exhibition, ripe iD the Rural’s 
tent, Sept. 18th. 
The thanks of your correspondent are due 
to the members of the Toledo press for many 
favors. 
PterfUitncou.s, 
DANGERS OF THE SEASON! 
Their Mysterious Nature and Serious Re¬ 
sults—Howto Avoid Them. 
The earlier portion of the present Summer 
was unusually cool in most localities, and 
while this may have been agreeable to the 
feelings, it has certainly been disastrous to 
tbe health. Unseasonable weather is always 
unhealthy weather. When the system is pre¬ 
pared to meet cold, it is injurious to encounter 
heat. When heavy garments are thrown 
aside for the Summer or Summer garments 
for the Fall, any sudden or continued change 
in the atmosphere produces a disastrous effect 
accompanied in the body. Tnese dangers 
come in every form; as the deceitful maliria 
that steals into tbe system and silently under¬ 
mines the health; as cholera in some of its 
many manifestations; as debility accompanied 
by exhaustion and depression of spirits and as 
sudden chills followed by intense fevers. All 
of these dangers are imminent, and no one 
whose health is the least deranged is safe from 
their influence. 
And yet they have no power over any one 
whose body is in perfect order. When the 
system is debilitated changes of the season 
easily prostrate. Malaria may be absorbed 
by any person, and slow fever of a terrible 
and stubborn character will be the result, 
while if all the powers are in full force it will 
be expelled as speedily as it came. Indeed, 
all Season dangers of a physical nature can be 
traced directly to weakened faculties in some 
portion of the body. It may, there ore, be 
truly said tbat only those whose habits of life 
are such as to keep their bodies in constant 
health can hope to escape the influences 
which such a season as the present brings. 
It is freely admitted, not only by the most 
scientific men in the land, but by intelligent 
thinkers generally, that no permanent health 
can be hoped for even under the most favor¬ 
able circumstances unless tbe great organs of 
the body—tbe workshops of the system—are 
kept in perfect order. Those organs are the 
kidneys and liver. And yet disorders of these 
functions are not only dangerous, but espe¬ 
cially so because they are usually unknown 
and wholly misunderstood. If an eye is in¬ 
jured it becomes exceedingly painful; de¬ 
rangements of the stomach are followed by 
severe and acute pains; weakened longs be 
come sore, but the kidneys and liver do not 
show their illness by pain—on the contrary, 
other symptoms and in remote parts of the 
body are the only signs they give. The cer¬ 
tain symptoms of kidney and liver difficulty 
are these: Unaccountable lassitude and weari¬ 
ness, pains :n the back and around the loins, 
ssvere headaches, dizziness, inflamed eyes, a 
coated tongue and dry mouth, loss of appe 
tite. chilly sensations, indigestion, a dryness 
of the skin, nervousness, night sweats, muscu¬ 
lar debility, despondency, puffiiug or bloating 
under the eyes, any (inusual odor, color or 
sediment about the fluids passed from the sys 
tem. an increasing pallor of the countenance, 
wasting of flesh and strength, pains in the 
heart, shortoes3 of breath, etc., etc. 
But w’hile all these dangers threaten adults, 
both male and female, there are equally se¬ 
rious evils hanging over children and infants 
which can be traced to the same cause. Thou¬ 
sands of children whose kidneys have become 
weakened as the sequel to scarletina, are In 
imminent danger at all times, and especially 
during the changeable term. This fact re¬ 
mains, however, that while these physical 
troubles are hard to cure they are compara¬ 
tively easy to prevent. A careful attention 
to the kidneys and liver wilt certainly avoid 
all the diseases enumerated above, Bnd will 
banish the distressing symptoms which pre¬ 
cede them, beside adding the enjoyment con¬ 
sequent upon perfect health. Tnis, however, 
has always been the great trouble. Organs so 
great as the kidneys and fiver are hard to con¬ 
trol, and physicians have invariably found it 
difficult and often impossible to regulate or in 
any way reach them. It is an established 
fact, admitted by the most prominent physi¬ 
cians in this country, that oue remedy and 
only one has such an influence upon these 
organs and acts so powerfully and direct as 
to control and beep them in perfect order. 
That remedy is Warners 8afe Kidney and 
Liver Cure, which is to-day more generally 
used than any other medicine now known to 
theAmericjn people, and is sold in every 
drug store in ibis land. The powerful effect 
It has upon individuals prostrated by bad 
weather and malaria, as well as by the disas¬ 
trous influence of the tropics, may be learned 
from the following statement made by Rev. 
Alfred Day, formerly of Florida, but now of 
Woodstock, Ohio. He says: “I was the vic¬ 
tim of one of the worst cases of malarial poison¬ 
ing on record. It came as the result of five 
years of exposure to the hot, malarious cli¬ 
mate of Florida, and I rejoice to state that 
Warner’s Safe Kidney and Liver Cure has 
effected a permanent cure and that, too, after 
every other known expedient had been tho 
roughly tried and failed.” This is not an iso¬ 
lated statement, but one of many hundreds, 
showlug the curative power of this remedy. 
The old and trite saying regarding the “ounce 
of prevention,” never had a more forcible ap¬ 
plication. It is easier to prevent than to cure, 
and by a careful attentiou to tbe truths stated 
above, no one need fear any of the disastrous 
results which always accompany changes of 
the season. 
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