THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
OCT 44 
the station, but it will doubtless soon be 
changed, to accord with the desires of the 
residents of the town and vicinity. 
Fremont, Dodge County, was the subject 
of an exhaustive and complete review, pub¬ 
lished in the Rural New-Yorker Septem¬ 
ber 2, and is therefore familiar to the readers 
of this paper. It is the largest city on the 
Sioux City and Pacific Railway in Nebraska, 
and is one of the gems of the State. A whole 
tale trade of over two millions was reported 
here for last year, which is constantly in¬ 
creasing. The city has all the modern con¬ 
veniences and improvements. It is a valuable 
i ntermediate market; has splendid school fa¬ 
cilities, ample church accommodations; the 
largest and best arranged creamery in the 
West, and many other attributes of success 
and interest, which may be found in detail 
in c ur former letter. 
Hooper was our next stopping place. It is 
a village of about 300 souls—mostly Germans 
—42 miles from the Missouri River. As we 
leave the more thickly settled portion of the 
State, the land becomes proportionately 
cheaper on entering and following closely the 
Elkhorn Volley, a locality which, for com 
bine! beauty and fertility, bears the palm 
in the State. Scribner, nine miles further 
west, is a village of much the same class. The 
main support of these localities is derived 
from the surrounding country which pro¬ 
duces extremely well. 
West Point, (52 miles from the river, we 
found to be a little city of 1,(500, which has 
growu up to meet the market and trade de¬ 
mands of the region. It is, like other towns 
along the line, largely German. There are 
seven churches and a graded school of five 
departments, costing $90,000. There are per¬ 
manent improvements amounting to $100,000, 
and there has been a commercial business of 
$2,000,000 in the past year. The production 
of the manufactories amounted to 8.000,000 
brick, 100,000 pounds of butter per year, and 
four tons of paper per d«y. There are three 
newspapers and civic and local organizations. 
Wisnkr, 77 miles from the Missouri by the 
railroad, is in the heart of the great valley. 
It has about 400 population, three churches— 
Methodist, Congregational and Catholic—a 
fine frame graded school, a flouring mill ope¬ 
rated by wind power, two banks, and as many 
well stocked business houses us the trade de¬ 
mands. Improved farms ate here quoted at 
from $10 to $20 per acre 
N oh folk, 30 miles further northwest, is a 
t^wn which has had a western boom, and rap 
idly developed from a few buildings to a sub¬ 
stantial city and railroad center of 1,200 
There are four good churches, a $10,000 school- 
house, a large water-power flouring mill 
which cost over $30,000, with 100 barrels per 
day capacity, which is of such importance to 
the locality that farmers tell us they receive 
from two to three cents higher for their wheat 
than thev could by shipping it. The old citi¬ 
zens have great faith in the future of their city, 
and there are certainly many reasons for it. 
Creighton was reached in the afternoon 
and we tarried bore until the next day. It is 
a village of about 200 inhabitants,’with one 
church and a small school-house. Improved 
farms can be purchased near here at from $7 
to $10 per acre. Good water is abundant and 
the influx of immigration from the Eastern 
States has been increasing as the years go by. 
Oakdale, a few miles further on, has pei- 
haps 400 population It is the county seat, 
with good church and school facilities. There 
is also a handsome college building in course 
of construction. A weekly paper is published 
here and the people are alive to home interests 
inmeny ways.with still room for improvement 
Nkligh lies 142 miles by railroad from the 
Missouri River, and is the largest and best 
town in the county, besides being at present 
the farthest town of any great importance 
west on the Sioux City and Pacific Railway. 
There are numerous stations west of this, but 
the road has only recently penetrated to Fort 
Niobrara on the Niobrara River.aud the places 
are of the usual type of new and unsettled 
Western villages which spring up like magic 
and as often move in a single night to a more 
eligible site. Neligh has the Government 
Land Office and some GOG population, with 
abundant hotel accommodations. It is upon 
the Ekhorn, has a good water power which 
is utilized by a large flouring mill. The relig¬ 
ious and educational privileges are all that 
could be desired, especially the latter. A new 
college building was erected this year and 
opened the 1st of September with more appli¬ 
cants for admittance than could be accommo¬ 
dated. It is a very complete and handsome 
structure. The soil around Neligh is light bur. 
warm and productive; the crops are often 
enormous, even for this country of great 
crops. T«e beautiful valley we have been 
traversing, and about whose towns .and vil 
lages where we stopped, sometimes an hour, 
sometimes a day, we have been jotting down 
these hasty notes, has been termed the garden 
of the State. It produces large crops of corn, 
wheat, oats, barley and natural grasses. It 
pastures thousands of fattening cattle, whose 
sleek bides can often be seen glistening in the 
sunshine as we ride along. 
No fences obstruct the freedom of grazing 
here, as each county has a herd law and every 
bunch of cattle must have its keeper. It 
looks more neighborly, more free and uncon 
fined, hut still it does not look entirely 
natural to the Eastern man not to see the laid- 
up feuce of worm-eaten rails dividing “mine” 
from “ my neighbor’s ” pasture. Tae cream¬ 
ery interests of this region are also extensive. 
The principal products for shipment from all 
aloug the line of the Sioux City and Pa-ific 
are live stock, grain and produce. 
As a route of travel to reach this country a 
favorite one is via the Pennsylvania and 
Pittsburg, Fort Wayne and Chicago Railroads 
to Chicago, where the traveler has a choice of 
four trunk lines to reach the Sioux City and 
Pacific, viz, the Chicago, Burlington and 
Quincy; the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific; 
the Chicago and Northwestern, and the new 
line of the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul, 
just completed to Council Bluffs. 
THE STORY OF STONY BROOK FARM. 
HENRY STEWART. 
CHAPTER XII. 
(Continued from page 6'JO.) 
“ Not having much experience as yet, Uncle, 
I won’t hazard a guess, but when the corn is 
in the crib then I will have a chance to guess 
pretty closely. I always like to be safe, 
Uncle.” 
“Now let us go and see your mangels.” 
There Uncle if there is any credit to be 
given there, that belongs to me. I plowed, 
harrowed, marked, planted, and tended this 
field myself ; of course Jabez helped with the 
hoeing and the singling." 
“There are too many vacant spaces,to make 
a full crop George; but mine are even worse 
than this; that is the bad seed, which I suppoie 
ean’t be helped; although I sowed four pounds 
to the acre.” 
“And I sowed six pounds Uncle, first trying 
100 seeds to see how they would sprout, and 
only 40 out of the 100 grew. This I have 
learned is unavoidable as the seed is imported 
from England, and they have had two bad 
seasons in succession. It is a great loss and 
disappointment nevertheless.” 
“That is true, George, what can’t be cured 
must be endured, ana it won’t do for a farmer 
to be making himself miserable about such 
things; if he does his best he must accept the 
results cheerfully. If he don’t do lba‘, 
George, a farmer can never be a happy man; 
what with grubs here, and lice there, and dry 
weather when be wants rain; and rain, when" 
he wants dry weather; and crows and spar¬ 
rows and army-worms and potato bugs. But 
there’s always a good balance in the end to 
set things straight. A man’s circumstances 
are as he makes them, and you—a young 
farmer as you are—must learn to look on the 
blight side, always. Don’t forget, you have 
not yet got to the rocks, you are only at the 
foot of the hill, and have had a pretty fair 
road to travel so far. But never be discour- 
eged. There’s your mother and the girls 
looking at the cows, let us go and jc iu them.’’ 
“I think I made a mistake, Uncle, in getting 
the cows; I was offered some very rich butter 
makers that have tested 14 pounds a vi eek and 
over for $300 to $400. but I chose two cheaper 
ones for $100. each and we have made about 
10 pounds a week so far, but they ield is falling 
off now a little. What is your idea of that 
Uncle ?” 
“Let us figure on it; at least let me give you 
some figures I have here in my pocketbook 
about this very thing and which I had quite 
forgotten. Here they are. They show the 
profit from different kinds of cows at the 
going prices; which by the by are much highi r 
than they are put here; several times higher 
i i fact. 
First we have the prices, then the cost of 
keep, then the price of butter, and the yield 
of the cows, and last the profit made from 
each cow, counting her cost under the differ¬ 
ent costs of keep for a year and prices of 
butter, counting interest on both sides. Here 
it is all put iu a table as clear as mud. 
Profit In 10 years with 
i 
o 
o 
V4 
o 
•*3 
00 
O 
o 
YIel 1 of butter 
tot a yea . 
Cost of feed 
#25. 
Butter 25 i ents. 
t£ 
■g a 
l 8 
-■"i. 
CO d> 
O £ 
o 3 
CO 
S a 
1 .8 
§ 3 
O a 
« 
*30. 
2001b 
*101.73 
*182 87 
$"5.76 
*125. 
3001b 
£313.06 
*854.78 
$318.39 
*250. 
400 lb 
#371 15 
$483.49 
#507 46 
$350. 
5001b 
$474.52 
Sti.il. 17 
$744 20 
$450. 
| 60i !b 
' #505.01 
$811.59 
$960.90 
Now, George, you have looked over the 
figures, what is your idea about it? 
“Just as I have been thinking and ssid five 
minutes ago, Uncle.” 
"Ah, George, I thought as much. You see 
now where the old head comes in. Now I am 
tickled with these figures, because they were 
evidently got up by a man who wants to make 
a point in favor of those high priced, high 
pedigree, and high puffed cows, and like you, 
the average persou jumps and swallows his 
hait. Where, in the first place are you to get 
(500 pound cows; then who sells them at $450; 
the last and “here’s the pint”—as your man 
Jabez would say—at 25 cents a pound for 
butter—which is a safe price at any rate— 
your $30. cow with her 200 pounds of butter, 
which is a safe yield too, pays for herself six 
and a half times, while your $450. cow, if you 
could get her, and she should make (500 pounds 
of butter in the year, pays for herself only 
one and a quarter times. Now George where 
does the profit come in? I like to see a man 
when he wants to make a point, put it strong, 
but this man you see pulls the wool right 
down over your eyes.” 
But come; the girls see us, and are throwing 
their armsabout like windmills. No; you keep 
(those figures, George; I have got through with 
them. You study them out. and show them 
to Emily, and see if she don’t agree with me.” 
“Ah, here are the cows, and the calves. 
A nice lot. Well, girls, how do you like your 
cousins’ little herd? Which is your cow, sis¬ 
ter Bates?” 
“ I choose the fawn Jersey with the black 
switch and those beautiful black eyes; you 
see she already acknowledges me as her owner; 
kisses my hand you perceive! 
“ You see, Uncle, mamma has not yet foi- 
gotten her early education. She is going to 
milk Nellie to night herself.” 
"Ah, here are papa and Jabez, and it is 
time for dinner I do declare. Come, girls I 
shall have to invite you into the kitchen to 
keep me company for a short time until we 
are ready for the gentlemen. Wont you come 
with us mamma and leave the farmers to hold 
their meeting here ?” 
When Emily Bates had an opportunity for 
a quiet conversation with her mother on the 
first evening after her arrival, her mother 
expostulated with her iu regard to her work. 
“You are killing yourself Emily 1 am 
afraid. This is new to you and you are ambi¬ 
tious. I went through all this when I was a 
girl it is true, but I was brought up to it and 
it was not a tax upon iny strength.” 
“ Now, mamma dear, you are quite mistaken 
I assure you. You remember when we were in, 
Boston bow weak we felt, we were always 
weary and tired, and a walk of a few blocks fa¬ 
tigued us. Now I will show you something. 
Look at these clubs,they weigh 12 pounds each; 
they are George’s, and I borrowed them; hold 
it a minute; why you can't bold them; now 
you know how heavy they are; there! you 
see I can hold each out at arms length with¬ 
out trembling a mite. Could I do that when 
I was in Boston ? There ! you see I can swing 
them back until they come together behind me 
and it don't hurt my chest a bit; and I can twist 
them this way, and that way, with my wrist 
alone, as easily as I could your fan. Now 
what do you think of that ? That does not 
seem like dying, does it ? Ah ! mamma I 
am so glad you are coming to stay here, you 
will become quite young again. Oh, we 
work; there’s no doubt about it. I get up at 
five in the morning, and George has the fire 
made, and 1 get breakfast ready. While I 
am doing that, George and Jabt z get the cows 
fed in the barn and cleaned and brushed, and 
the barn swept and littered with clean saw ¬ 
dust and then it is six o’clock, and we have 
breakfast and Jabez goes to the field, but be 
feeds the pigs and the fowls first. Then we 
milk, and the milk is strained and put away. 
George does that, and then it is seven o’clock 
—and George feeds i he calves and puts the 
cows in the field and goes and helps Jabez. 
I get all my dishes washed and put away by 
eight o’clock, and then I take a walk—except¬ 
ing on Monday, when Jahpz sister comes and 
does up the washing and ironing—and I go out 
to the fields, or I sit down and read for an 
hour. All this you see is done before we 
used to have breakfast in Boston, and there 
is all the day before us. Then the garden 
has to be looked after, and the fowls and 
chickens when we have any. At eleven I be¬ 
gin to get lunch ready and i hat is a very little 
matter; we usually have a soda biscuit or two 
and a glass of skimmed milk. I have all the 
afternoon for myself and to skim up the cream 
or to churn twice a week, and to try all sorts 
of experiments with milk and cream and 
keeping eggs for Winter, and one hour twice 
a week I study chemistry, and another hour 
botany. Now mamma tell me how long all 
that will take to kill a girl who can handle 
those clubs as you have seen I can? Why I am 
positively thriving on it; getting strong aud 
fat.” 
“Well my dear child, I must say you look 
very well, but don’t over do it that is all.” 
“ Ah I mamma, you remember what we 
used to think about the poor working girls in 
Boston, how hard we used to think their lot 
was. I don’t think so now; I feel as though to 
work, in reason, is one’s pleasure as well as 
duty, and that work is not half so great a 
hardship as to be forced to spend one’s life in 
idleness.” 
(To he continued.) 
for Women. 
CONDUCTED BY MISS RAY CLARK. 
JOHN’S WIFE. 
If I say “ YeB” to thee, John, can I thy love retain ? 
For I’m no beauty, dear; there’splenty call me plain. 
Lilies and roses don’t blend their tints In my face ; 
I have no witching blue eyes, no wonderful grace; 
Rut I have health, and truth, and youth, and I love 
no other but thee; 
John, thou must take me all In all, or else thou must 
let mo be. 
I ani no scholar. John; of art t could not Rpeak ; 
I could not pose or dress, and look like an ancient 
Greek; 
I'm not awthetlc at all; I do not paint or play ; 
Nor could I write tale or poem, no matter what the 
pay; 
But lean keep the house-place bright, and I love no 
one but thee; 
John, thou must take me all In all, or thou must let 
me be. 
Come to my heart, dear girl I Give mo thy sun- 
hrownert hand. 
Fairer art thou to me than the fairest in the land. 
Dear little womanly woman ! Love shall be my share. 
Love Is better than witching eyes or sunny hair; 
Love is better than beauty or wit; love Is better than 
gold; 
For love is not found In the market-placo; love Is not 
bought and sold. 
- ♦♦♦ - 
PENNSYLVANIA FRUITS AND 
FLOWERS. 
57tli Annual Exhibition of the Horticul¬ 
tural Society. 
MARY WAGER FISHER. 
I usually make it a “point” to see the an¬ 
nual exhibitions of the Pennsylvania Horti¬ 
cultural Society, although it has long seemed 
to be a sort of half dead and alive sort of an 
affair; but since Horticultural Hall was 
burned, and the new building erected last 
year, the society seems to have taken 
on a new lease of life and the freshness 
and rejuvenation that a fire often gives 
to half dead institutions. So the exhibition 
this week has been the best I have seen. 
I should not call it a “popular” exhibition 
ever, that this society makes, but a decidedly 
aristocratic one. The very choicest plants 
that can be procured as loans from Philadel¬ 
phia mansions figure in these exhibitions, and 
give to the display an undeniably patrician 
aspect. And the plants have names as won¬ 
derful as Ihemselvea, and if I should quote 
them, only the wiseacres would under¬ 
stand that the Muruntu Makovana meant 
one thing and the Spbrnrogyue latifolia meant 
another and the difference between them. I 
think, however, if I went “daft” over any 
two thiugs more than others, they were 
a bank of Gloxinias and a Marant.a Mako- 
yana, which has large leaves, nearly white 
in the center with green edges, and on this 
nearly white center is thrown a branch of 
leaflets in dark red dish-green. The large ob¬ 
long leave* are translucent, and, as seen w ith 
the light falling through them, their pt culiar 
decoration is straugely beautiful. From Mrs. 
Baldwin’s conservatory were a pitcher plant 
in full bloom and a large Peristeria elata, 
which, in plain English, is the Dove or Holy 
Ghost Plant. The pitcher plant—nepenthes— 
as moat people know, is one of the meat eat¬ 
ing plants—a discovery made by that most 
wonderful observer, Charles Darwin. The 
flower, which is in the shape of a vase and 
attached to the tip of the leaves, contains an 
intoxicating liquid that has an aroma which 
attracts lusects, which when allured Into the 
pitchers are then quietly digested by the 
plant. Mr. Ferguson also displayed a fine 
plant of this unusual variety. The “Dove 
plant” bears a white flower, in the very heart 
of which sits a white dove surrounded with a 
few leaves arrayed in purple. The waxen 
whiteness of the leaves that form a sort of 
hood, although the petals are of regular out¬ 
line—and the white dove within, invest the 
plant with a soi-t of supernatural sacredness. 
At the entrance of the Hall was a magnificent 
Queen Victoria Croton, said to be the largest 
in the country. It came from the green¬ 
house of Mrs. Jayne, widow of the patent 
medicine man. A very curious plant called the 
“Earl of Darby” attracted general attention 
because of its novelty. It looked very like 
a gladiolus just before the flower spike bursts 
into bloom, except that this spike or axis was 
of a bright yellow. Not far from it was a 
tiny plant of Asparagus termissimus, ns flue 
and dainty almost in its foliage as a spider's 
web. Anthuriums, kalmias, crotons—two 
dozen, perhaps—Alocasia macrorhiza, eala- 
dium8, etc., were plenty and in most superb 
development. 
