842 
DEC. 48 
issfe 
aMrat| ffrafthtg. 
The American chestnut has sometimes heen 
separated from the European as a distinct species, 
but upon Insufficient grounds. 
The most esteemed of the French varieties Is 
the man-on. 
The chestnut, is found In rocky or hilly woods 
from Maine to Michigan and as far south as Ken¬ 
tucky. Its wood Is highly esteemed for posts and 
rails In fences, and Is also used for various articles 
of furniture and for house-building, office and 
household decoration. 
The European chestnut was Introduced into 
Virginia by .Jefferson in the latter part of the last 
century. 
There is also a smaller American variety, the 
Chinquapin nut (castanea pundla, Mlchaux), found 
from Ohio to southern Pennsylvania, growing 
from six to 20 feet high, having a solitary nut not 
halt so largo as the common chestnut, but very 
sweet and agreeable to eat. The bark of this tree 
has also heen used as a medicine, Its action being 
i hat of a moderate, astringent and tonic. 
The chestnut. Is eaten either raw, boiled or roast¬ 
ed, or Is ground Into meal for puddings, cakes and 
bread. Few persons who have lived In the rural 
parts of the United States but can refer to some 
of the most pleasant reminiscences of their child¬ 
hood days In connect ion with chest nutting. 
in pleasant Autumn days of Saturday school 
vacations 1 remember little parties of scholars 
strolling off to some neighboring hillside, until 
they reached a cluster of the beautiful trees, and 
while the girls spread their shawls on the grass 
beneath, the boys climbed the trees to shake down 
the plump brown nuts. Many were the merry 
nutting frolics or our early years. Koastlng chest¬ 
nuts reminds one of the times and times they have 
sat by the lire and, like “ Jean," who—Burns tells 
us in his halloween games— 
“ Shim In ouo wl’ ten tic e’e; 
Wha ’tvraa 8 be wadna tell; 
But thin Ik Jock an’ this ia me, 
She hhj m it to htsrael’.”. 
it was here— 
“The auld guid wife's wee-l-hoordet nit 
Ait* round an 1 round divided. 
And inume lade* and laat-ea 1 latea 
Are there that night decided: 
Sorue kindle, enutny, side by side. 
An’ burn thctfitbcr trimly; 
Some start own’ wi* Hancynride, 
An’ .lump outower the obiiiiLie 
Tu’high that night.’’ 
The chestnut is one of the most rapid-growing 
trees; Is simple and easy to grow. Under favora¬ 
ble circumstances a bearing chestnut tree 25 feet 
in hlghtcan be grown from the seed In live years. 
The proper way Is to plant the chestnut where it 
is desired mat the tree shall grow. Like the 
hickory, the chestnut docs not take kindly to 
transplanting. 
Any farmer who desires It can have a chestnut 
grove, or as many chestnut trees as he desires, by 
planting chestnuts, They should bo planted be¬ 
fore they become dry and shriveled—within a 
week or two after gathered—the sooner the better. 
The chestnut should be about half burled In the 
ground, and then covered with leaves or litter— 
barely covered, not burled or smothered. Twenty 
chestnuts should be planted for every tree desired; 
for although every healthy chestnut will germi¬ 
nate, aud Is liable to produce a tree, provision 
should be made against moles, mice, chipmunks 
and other vermin. 
LETTERS FROM THE COUSINS. 
VOICES OF THE LEAVES. 
Thebe comes a tceiitlo whisper 
Amidst the forest trees, 
And tender budding leaves are seen 
Of fragile form and softest green, 
Kissing the Spring-time breeze. 
They gladly woo the sunbeam. 
They gaily ooen forth. 
And robed in youth, all joy aud light, 
They deck as with a vestment bright 
The pleasant scenes of earth. 
Anon a deeper murmur, 
The boughs wave to and fro, 
And through the crowded forest leaves 
And ’twere a mighty sea of leaves, 
In an unceasing flow. 
The storms shriek ’midst the branches 
The midnight tempests wail, 
And in the dark leaves’ sterner hue 
Ye see how of l they’ve struggled through 
Wild conflicts with the gale. 
Again, how deep a sighing 
The sombre forest bath. 
For now the dancing leaves are seen, 
With shrivelled form and withered mien. 
Scattered around our path. 
They crush beueath our footfalls, 
They rustle near our door, 
And show us in their swift decay, 
How joys once cherished fade away 
To bloom on earth no more. 
What say the leaflet voices 
In crisp and dreary tone? 
Do they not whisper to the heart 
How Spring and Summer must depart 
And leave but Autumn's moan ? 
Do they not tell tho story* 
“ Earth’s fashions all decay," 
And bid us through our toil and strife, 
Look ever to the Tree of Life, 
Whose leaves fade not away ? 
CHRIST’S INTERCESSION. 
Theke was one work completed by Christ, the 
work of atonement. When He bowed Ills head on 
the cross, and cried with a loud voice, “ It Is fin¬ 
ished I" 
“ The great redemption was complete. 
And Satan's power o’erthrowu.’’ 
But there is another work which goes on contin¬ 
ually, Christ’s work of intercession. Ever since He 
asceuded tnt-o heaven, blessing H13 disciples with 
His uplifted hands, He has heen Interceding, pray¬ 
ing, pleading before God, with those pierced hands 
outspread in continual advocacy for ills church on 
earth—His tempted, tried, suffering tinning 
church! The Shepherd has never for a moment 
orgotten His few sheep In the wilderness; He has 
i.ever ceased to present before the Father Hls own 
a ning work, and Hls perfeet righteousness, as 
th nrocurlng cause of every blessing bestowed on 
the ock which He hath purchased with Ills own 
blood. 
That for which a man gives a high price Is not 
likely to be forgotton by him; he cares for It, 
takes trouble to secure It Trow evil, puts a high 
value upon it; so does Christ value Hls purchased 
possession, How unlike Is Ills care for us from 
tho heathen fclea of godhead ! The deities of the 
most polished nation of antiquity wore supposed 
to sit apart on Olympus enjoying themselves In ut¬ 
ter Indifference to the affairs of men.- whereas, 
for us there is no care so tender, no love so warm 
or self-sacrfficlng as the love of Him who reigns 
above and yet intercedes above -the “ Lamb that 
Is In the midst of the Throne,” “ a Lamb as It had 
been slain !" 
Let us think for our encouragement of hls con¬ 
tinual Intercession, Aud let us live.as tnose ought 
to do who have been redeemed at such a price, and 
who are of value in the sight of such a Redeemer. 
In Mourning. 
Every one of the cousins will Join us In our sor¬ 
row and sympathy for the parents aud sister of 
the two Interesting cousins whose painful deaths 
at so young and interesting an age we have to 
report at this time. The following letter will tell 
Its own sad story.— Uncle Mark. 
dear Uncle Mark Two of our beloved girls 
and your accepted nieces are dead, viz: Josephine 
and Laura .lane Kenworthy; they had a deep love 
for the Rural and talked as much about you as If 
you had been a real uncle. Laura’s letter was In 
Rural Nov. 21 Rhe (lied on the i? and Josephine on 
the 15th, of dlptherla. Laura looked wlih eager¬ 
ness for her letter which came too late to gratify 
her. When my dear wire and I Baw tho letter 
you kindly put in, our hearts felt nigh breaking. 
Just one week too late for her beautiful eyes to 
see it. 1 shall keep that number as a sacred 
treasure as long as I live; may God bless you for 
putting It In, we think you have a kind heart to¬ 
wards the little ones, your pleasant llctton gives 
pleasure to many lonely cottages. Laura Jaue 
was thirteen years old Josephine nine years. 
One lonely little bird Helena Is all we have left. 
These lines leaves their father and mother In deep 
sorrow. Yours gratefully. 
H. and M. Kknworthy. 
Chebanse, Iroquois Go.. Ill. 
TIMES OF NEED. 
When the mind Is fllled with questionings as to 
the great and blessed truths which we had held 
firmly and from which we had derived peace and 
strength, this la time of moat urgent need. Then we 
should, with deepest humility and Intensost ear¬ 
nestness, go to the throne of grace. Oh, If believ¬ 
ers did, at such times, only comply with the ex¬ 
hortation of the apostle, and go “ boldly unto the 
throne or grace," how much better it would be 
than allowing the doubts to do their deadly work 
In the soul! 
A season of adversity Is a time of need, very 
many or God's people have, within the last few 
years, experienced difficulties and loss In tem¬ 
poral matters—blow followed blow uht II It appear¬ 
ed as If all must be taken; many tr them found 
that prayer makes the dm - ned cloud with¬ 
draw.” Let us then come boldiy unto the throne 
of grace that we may obtain mercy and llnd grace 
to help In time of need.—Rev. G. W. Humphreys, 
Go» knows what keys in the human soul to 
touch, In order to draw out its sweetest and most 
perfect harmonies, They may be t he minor strains 
of sadness and sorrow, they may be the loftier 
notes of joy aud gladness. God knows what the 
melodies of our nature are, and what discipline 
will bringforth. some with plaintive tongue must 
will In lowly vales of weary way; others In loftier 
hymns sing nothlngbut Joy; but they all unite with¬ 
out discord or jar as the ascending anthem of lov¬ 
ing and believing hearts Buds Its way into chorus 
of the redeemed to heaven. 
Dear Uncle Mark :— I think it is time to thank 
you for the seeds you sent me last spring, i sowed 
my pinks and, when they were up nicely, u cat 
upset the box, and my pa said l must tell mj r Uncle 
Mark about It. The portuiaca never came up, and 
the phloxes and mignonette ran all over the bed. 
My muskmeloo8 were splendid. 1 had three bush¬ 
els of carrots and 1 don't know exactly how many 
ot turnips, and 22 pumpkins. 1 do not have much 
time to work in the garden, for I am the dairy¬ 
maid, and I care for the fowls. I had 4t> to kill this 
year. Annie. 
Teml8camque, Canada. 
Dear Uncle Mark :—My papa does not take 
tie Rural, but I see it at my grandpa’s, and read 
the little oousInB letters, and thought I would 
write one to, 1 am eight years old, and 1 have a 
little brother two and a hall years old, and we 
each have a pet rabbit and duck. I had some 
flowers last Bummer, but our yard Is so shady, and 
the chickens bothered us so. It was hard to save 
them. Please remember me when you send your 
flower seeds In the Spring, Myrtie Sweet. 
Armenia Mountain, Pa. 
RIO. 401. 
In looking at bis furrows, straight as a line and 
even as the rule, because such work is rarely seen, 
as well aa because the full success of all hls after- 
work depends upon It. 
In plowing ridges the first few furrows are 
the most deeply plowed and laid more on 
edge, and on approaching the sides of the ridge 
the furrows are gradually shadowed and laid more 
nearly flat bo as to leave the ridge somewhat 
rounded In form. Flat plowing without back or 
open furrows may be done by plowing around the 
field, or with the swivel, or reversible, plow. In 
the former case it Is bad practice to begin on the 
outside of the field, because tbls leaves a disagree¬ 
able bank against the fence, which 1 b made larger 
and broader at each plowing. The Held should be 
laid out from the middle by measuring from each 
side to find the center line and from each end to 
find points that are equally distant from the sides 
and ends, measuring In the direction as shown by 
the arrows In the diagram, figure 4(54. A piece of 
land Is then plowed, as shown by the dotted lines, 
of the same shape as the field and every part of 
which is equally distant from the fence opposite It. 
Then by plowing around this the fence Is gradually 
approached, and if the furrows are evenly plowed 
Christianity Is to me, and has ever been, since 
I learned to live by It, not so much a fresh mystery 
as a revelation of mysteries—a “ mystery shown,” 
not a clouding, hut an unveiling; not a new riddle 
whose glory Is that being Is the dlvlnist, but a so¬ 
lution of many riddles, although indeed not of 
all.—Mrs. Charles. 
“ And a faint white mist, like a ghost was seen 
Creeping over the valley green. 
'Close at the door oi each guarded ceil 
He breathod the words of his wonderful spell. 
Up sprang the wind with a loud " Ho! Ho!’’ 
And scattered the treasures hi and fro ; 
And tho children shouted " Come away ! 
There is sport, in the chestnut woods to-day." 
This very valuable nut tree, Castanea vesca of 
Llnneaus, and Castanea vulgarlsof Lamb, Ispretty 
well known all over the world, and in some na¬ 
tions, Italy and Spain, and in Eastern Europe and 
Western Asia, the chestnut crop is equal In Impor¬ 
tance to the wheat crop In Ohio. Chef tnut bread 
constitutes the principal food lor more than a hun¬ 
dred millions of people—the healthiest, handsom¬ 
est, and most shiny people In the world. It 
abounds especially In France, on the banks or the 
Rhine, and on the slopes of the Jura, the Pyrenees, 
and the Alps. The chestnut Is said to have been 
round by the Romans first at Castanea, a town of 
Thessaly, whence the fruit was named by them 
Castanea nut. The tree grows very thrifty, wild In 
forests or In the open glade and, when growing In 
Fid. 4(11. 
the first or back furrow alternately. The first fur¬ 
row shouldbemadeperfec.ilystralght and the next 
which Is plowed In returning back to the starting 
point, Is laid nealiy against the first one as shown 
at figure 4 go. But there are twoways ot doing this, 
one right aud one wrong, if the back furrow is 
placed as shown In figure 4Ui, a hard strip of 
ground Is left unbroken and all the defects of bad 
plowing will he found along this strip when the 
FIG. 462. 
crop Is grown. It on the other hand the first fur¬ 
rows are turned outward as at figure 462, and the 
plow Is then run under these, as marked by the 
dotted lines, the back furrow will be left soft and 
thoroughly broken up as seen at figure 461, and the 
whole ground will be left In equally good condi¬ 
tion. 
The first furrow la plowed by guides, usually 
FIG. 463. 
long stakes set up at each end ot the land, as 
marked at figure 463. The three stakes are set In 
line and by starting from A the plow will go per¬ 
fectly straight If the two stakes at B are kept In 
line. It the horses should swerve from the 
direct line, they should he stopped Immediately, 
brought In line again, or even backed If necessary, 
and started agalu. For It Is upon the correct plow¬ 
ing of the first furrow that the even finishing of 
the land depends. This Is so important that the 
young farmer should practice laying out land and 
making hack-furrows whenever he has aD oppor¬ 
tunity. The good plowman may indeed feel a pride 
THE CHESTNUT.—FIG. 465. 
the forest In favorable soli grows very tall and 
straight. In open places It spreads Its branches 
majestically, grandly and prevents a most attrac¬ 
tive appearance. 
Some of the oldest and largest trees in the world 
are of this species. One of the most famous Is that 
on Mount Etna, which has often been described by 
travelers, and can be seen from Acl Reale. It la 
160 feet In circumference, and has a hollow trunk, 
the Interior of which serves as a retreat for shep¬ 
herds and their flocks. it la called the hundred- 
horse chestnut, from a tradition that. Joauna of 
Aragon once visited it, accompanied by alt the no¬ 
bility of Catania, and that the whole party found 
protection beneath It from a sudden Btorm. 
ODe ot the oldest trees in England Is at Trot- 
worth la Gloucestershire, which was a boundary 
mark In the reign of king John, and in France 
there is a remarkable one at Lancerre, which Is 
believed to lie about 600 years old, and is still very 
productive. 
Will not every boy of the Rural reading this, 
plant a chestnut, and perhaps 1,000 years from 
now some other boys may have cause to thank 
him for It. for you know the lines s 
** He who a tree doth plant or set 
Puts after »k«b in his debt.’’ 
The appearance ot toe chestnut tree Is very 
graceful, with long patulous houghs and delicate 
but ample foliage, the leaves being oblong, lanceo¬ 
late, serrated with pointed teetn and smooth and 
green on both sides. 
It prefers a deep, sandy soil, often growing on tho 
sides of mountains, but always avoiding marshy 
regions. It thrives well in the most barren soil 
aud chestnut trees loo feet In bight, and from 
three to seven feet In diameter, can yet be lound 
on the hill tops of southern Ohio, growing In soli 
which cannot be made to produce five bushels of 
corn to the acre, and where oak, hickory and other 
trees are mere dwarfs. 
The timber of the chestnut Is most durable and 
excellent, and It Is believed that the roof of West¬ 
minster Abbey and of the church at Great Yar¬ 
mouth, erected In the reign of William Rufus, are 
of this timber. 
Bad Dreams, Disturbed Sleep, Indigestion, 
Stomach Gas, all vanishes before Hop Bitters. 
the field will he finished without a break, leaving 
a perfectly level and smooth surface, the first back- 
furrow, even, being unseen, If It Is plowed as pre¬ 
viously directed. 
The swivel plow Is an exceUenc Implement for 
fiat plowing. The share and meld board are made 
to turn upon a Bwlvel and by swinging these round 
at the end of the furrow the plow which was be¬ 
fore a right hand plow, Is made into a lert-hand 
one, and the furrows are turned one a ter theorber 
ir. the same direction from one side ot the field to 
the other, it is well to begin in the middle of the 
field, plowing a hack furrow as before descrlbed. 
tben fiDtsblDg one half of the Ueld and afterwards 
the other half; and completing the whole by going 
around the field and making a headland of the 
ground upon which the team was turned. The 
use of this kind of plow nmy be made very con¬ 
venient In many cases, and especially when 
planting needs to be done in a hurry, (or as there 
are no lands, the harrowing and planting, or sow¬ 
ing, may be kept close up to the plow without 
waiting until the whole field Is finished. There is 
much more to he learned about plowing, by the 
use of one's eyes and head In the field, t han can be 
told In any book, and It should he the desire and 
object, of every young farmer to study this out for 
himself, after learning something of the princi¬ 
ples of the art which have heen here only very 
partially jet erred to. 
NUT-BEARING TREES-No. 4. 
plaiting for t|f floiing. 
FARMING FOR BOYS AN J GIRLS.-NO. 7. 
HENRY STEWART. 
MAUDE MERIDITH. 
Method* of Plowing. 
When one knows why he should plow the soil 
and how the plow should work, he will soon he 
able to become a good plowman, if he will use care 
and observation In bis work. “ Practice makes 
perfect,” but perfection is only reached by thought¬ 
ful and careful practice. Otherwise, a habit of do¬ 
ing poor work may very easily become fixed, which 
a young man may nod It very difficult to break. 
A good plowman who understands hls work will 
be able to choose hls own methods of doing it, but 
there are certain cases always occurring for which 
distinct rules maybe laid down. For Instance, 
there are some soils tha t need to be plowed In 
lands, and some In ridges, and sometimes again, 
what are called twice gathered ridges are desira¬ 
ble or necessary; In other cases as In laying down 
upland to grass It Is very desirable to leave the 
ground flat and without ridges and dead furrows 
The Chestnut. 
FIG. 460. 
By plowing land in ridges it la drained to some ex¬ 
tent, as will bo explained when we come to con¬ 
sider the subject ot drainage; and the wetter the 
surface Is the higher the ridges and the deeper the 
dead or open furrow's are made. Ground Is usually 
plowed In lands and these are made of different 
withds as may be wished by the farmer. A land 
Is a narrow strip of ground across a field, which 
Is plowed by going back and forth on each side of 
