AUG. U 
THE 
MEW-YORKER. 
'leading for tjjr Jlomrg. 
DAISY’S STAR. 
BY SABAH HALE THOMPSON. 
Early one morning 1 peeped out, .lust to see 
about tlie weatuer. 0, liow cold It was for me, a 
poor little snlverlng star; but f bad do nose which 
Jack- Frost could bite off, so I did not complain. 
Besides, as 1 am always looking out for pretty 
things to tell my little friends, It Is very easy to 
forget my t,roubles, and especially wbeu I know 
that mauy children would have tears in tUeir eyes 
u l should neglect them, 
All of a sudden something beautiful came out of 
a great white cloud. O, how glad I was, for then I 
had something for my little ones; something nice, 
too, for it was such a tiny, nice, wee white thing; 
1 had to watch it very closely to see It at all. 
“Dear me," I thought, “It will surely get lost, 
It Is all alone;" and 1 made up my mind to keep 
my eye on It. 
Now it you would like to know what it was, I 
will tell you rlghtaway, for l am sure you cannot 
guess. It was the sweetest little star l ever saw. 
Not blue, or red, or yellow, but soft and wlilte like 
snow; and it was a snow-llake shaped like a little 
perfect star. 
It whirled round and round a little and then 
went down very slowly; 1 just wondered what 
would become of it. Where do you think it went7 
Why, right on the hand of the loveliest little hit of 
a girl you ever saw. 
She had on velvet mittens, and her name was 
Daisy Vane. 
Presently her blue eyes fell on the little thing 
resting on her mitten. They grew large with 
wonder at the strange sight, for never before In 
her life had she seen a snow-flake shaped like a 
star, and this Is what she called to her mother, all 
cut of breath with delight: “Oh, mamma, mam¬ 
ma, come quickly, aijd see the dear little star that 
has come to me out Of the sky 1" 
Matnma came quickly, but she was too late, ror 
Daisy’s treasure had vanished In a moment, and 
tae little face she lifted, instead of being all smiles 
was streaming with tears. 
Mamma took Daisy’s baud and looked sorrow¬ 
fully at her little girl. She was thinking she was 
once a little girl herself, and how hard It used to be 
to bear troubles then. “ Will my darling tell me 
why she bo longed, to keep the lovely star 7” she 
said. 
“O, mamma," weeps Daisy, “I would have 
strung It on my necklace and told all my little 
friends that God had sent me a baby star all for 
myself," 
Mrs. Vane smiled on her pet, and said, “ Would 
Daisy be happy It God should send her something 
that she would like as much, aod perhaps better, 
than a star on a simple necklace 7” 
“O, mamma, what could l love better than a 
beautirul pearl-white star 7 No, no, I do not think 
there Is anything In the world J would love more 
than that, besides, none of the girls ever had any¬ 
thing like It. But what is it, mamma 7 Do, 
please, dear mamma, tell me," Daisy asked, her 
face looking very eager. 
Mrs. Vane drew her daughter tenderly to her, 
and winding her arms about her, said lovingly: 
“ Will not my darling wait patiently till God 
sees fit to bestow the blessing 
Daisy Is aoubtiul at. first, but when she sees the 
beautiful expression on her mother’s face she is 
sure it la a good thing to be patient, for she says, 
as she Kisses her: 
“ Yes, mamma, I will try," and then she runs to 
tell her little companions. 
Every night before she closed her eyes in sleep 
she would turn her sweet face to the stars and 
t hink oi her lost one and pray for another; then 
she would wonder and wonder abouther mamma’s 
promise, and fall asleep wondering. 
But It was not many nights, one bright morn¬ 
ing as Daisy lay dozing, dreaming, thinking, 
thinking, all at once Aunt, Nellie stood at her bed¬ 
side, with her face all smiles and happiness. 
Daisy looked at her with her drowsy eyes, and 
tried to think she was a big angel. Aunt Nellie 
looked full of secrets and said: 
“ I know a little girl who would hurry very fast 
If she knew of the beautiful present God had sent 
her.” 
“ Oh, Aunty she Is wide-awake now, and 
tosses back her golden curls— “ Oh, Aunty, has 
my present come at last 7 And la It a necklace, set 
with a lovely pearl star 7 ’’ 
“ No, Daisy; you must wait, till you are nicely 
dressed, and then you shall see, for you cannot 
guess it you were to try ever and ever so long." 
Daisy never dressed so quickly in all her life. 
Her other aunt and her papa met her at the door. 
“Come, my darling," says papa, “your dear 
mamma has something for you; step lightly," 
aud he takes her trembling hand with Joyous ex¬ 
citement. She rushes to her mother and half 
smothers her with kisses, and then looks around 
with bright eyes and eager, flushed face, for her 
promised present. She clasps her hands and says: 
“ oh, mamma, show me my present, for I cannot 
wait another minute.” 
“ Grandma has It, my pet.’’ 
Grandma alts by the fire, and seems to be wrap¬ 
ping up her lame arm. Daisy thinks so, but it is 
something else that moves. Daisy’s heart gives a 
big leap, and she runs back, buries her face in her 
mother’s bosom, and cries a long time for very Joy; 
for what do you think Bhe saw In a flannel nest 7 
Not a necklace—not a star—not a snow-flake—oh, 
no 1 but a baby, a little tiny bit of a real baby, 
lying fast asleep In grandma’s lap. Daisy thought 
she had never felt happluess before. She runs 
hack to her grandma and kneels down to see It she 
has not been dreaming. Grandma cautiously and 
tenderly lays something In her hand. It Is a bahy’s 
hand, a little mite of a thing that made Daisy 
think of a snow-flake. 
“Oh, grandma, let me lclss It.” Then she 
presses her red Ups to the soft little mouth, cheeks 
and eyes, and then hands and feet, over and over 
again, till everybody laugbs. 
“ Are you satisfied?” says mamma. 
“ Oh, mamma, has It no name ? Then, papa, we 
will call It star Baby, shan’t we y And I shaU so 
love it, because it came in place of the beautiful 
snowstar.” 
ner mamma laughed gently, and said she 
thought she would love It much better than a snow 
baby. Grandma thought so, too; so It was called 
Baby Star, aud It Is the tlrat star baby I ever saw. 
-- 
HOW BIRDS FLY. 
Y'ou will find. If you carefully examine a bird’s 
wing, that all the bones aud muscles are placed 
along the front edge, wlileh Is thus made very 
stiff and strong. The quill feathers are fastened 
In such a way that, they point backward, so that 
the hind edge of the wing Is not stiff Uke the front 
edge, but is flexible and bends at the least touch. 
As the air Is not a solid, but a gas, It has a tendency 
to slide out from under the wing when tills Is 
driven downward, aud of course it will do this at 
the point where It can escape most easily. Since 
tne front edge of the wing Is stiff and strong, ir. 
retains Its hollow shape, and prevents the air 
from sUdiug out in this direction, but the pressure 
of the air is enough to bend up the thin, flexible 
ends of the feathers at the hinder border of the 
wing, so the air makes Its escape, there, and slides 
out backward. The weight or the bird Is all the t ime 
pulling It down toward the earth; so at the same 
time the air slides out upward and backward past 
the bent edge ot the wing, the wing itself, and 
with the bird, slides forward and downward off 
from the confined air. It is really its weight 
which causes It to do this, so that the statement 
that a bird flies by lls own weight is strictly true. 
This is true, also, of Insects and bats. They nil 
have wings with stiff front edges and flexible 
hind edges which bend and nUow the air 
to pass out, so that flying is nothing but 
sliding down a hill made of air. A bird rises 
by flapping Its wings, and It flies by falling back 
toward the earth and sliding forward at the same 
time. At the end of each stroke of its wings It 
has raised Itaolf enough to make up for the dis¬ 
tance it has fallen since the last stroke, and ac¬ 
cordingly Jtstays at the same bight and moves for¬ 
ward in a straight line. 
If you watch the flight of those birds which 
flap their wings slowly, such as the woodpecker, 
you can see them rise and fall, and will have no 
trouble in seeing that their path is not really a 
straight line, but Is made up ot curves; although 
most birds flap their wings so rapidly that they 
have no tlmo to fall through a space great enough 
to be seen. Birds also make use ot the wind to 
aid them In flight, and by holding their wings In¬ 
clined like a kite, so that the wind shall slide out 
under them, they can sail great distances without 
flapping their wings at all. They are supported, 
as a paper kite Is, by the wind, which is continu¬ 
ally pushing against their wings, and sliding out 
backward and downward, thus lifting or holding 
up the bird, aud at the same time driving It for¬ 
ward. 
The birds are not compelled to face the wind 
while they are sailing, but by oh&nglng the posi¬ 
tion of the wings a little they can go In whatever 
direction they wish, much as a boy changes his 
direction In skating by leaning a little to one side 
or the other. Some birds are very skillful at this 
kind of sailing, and can even remain stationary m 
the air for some minutes when there la a strong 
wind; and they do this without flapping their 
wings at all. It is a difficult thing to do, and no 
birds except the most skillful flyers can manage 
It. Some hawks can do it, and gulls and terns 
may often be seen practicing It when a gale of 
wind Is blowing, and they seem to take great de¬ 
light In their power of flight. 
-*-*-♦- 
CONSTANCY, 
One of the most remarkable Instances of femi¬ 
nine fortitude and Christian constancy ever found 
In human history, is that of Perpetua, who suffered 
under the persecution of the Roman Emperor, Se- 
verus, at Carthage, In Africa, about the year 206, 
A. D. 
Perpetua was a young widow of 22 years, weal¬ 
thy, and of noble connections. Her lnrant, who 
was born after her husband’B death, was her com¬ 
panion In her troubles. 
She was arrested for doing divine honors to 
Christ and not to the spirit of the Roman Emperor. 
Her father, who was a heathen, urged her to re¬ 
nounce her faith. She asked him whether an urn, 
which stood near, could be called by any other 
than Its proper name. lie replied “ No." “ Neith¬ 
er," said she, ** can 1 cau myself other than what 
J am—a Christian." Arter spending many days in 
prison, with her Infant, during which time she 
was blessed and comforted with the most cheering 
a nd heavenly visions every Lime she fell asleep, 
her heathen friends asked her It she woulci not at 
last recant before the dreaded trial and execution. 
She declared that as for her sentence of death, 
God would carry her corough that trial, and its ror 
the prison, she 3ald, “ The prison all at once be¬ 
came like a palace to me, and I would rather have 
been there man anywhere else.” 
It was, no doubt, this expression which the Rev. 
John Newton, the converted slave-dealer, had In 
mind when he wrote In that familiar hymn: 
“ When Weaned with a sense of His love, 
A palace a toy would appear; 
And prisons would palaces prove, 
If Jobub should dwell with me there.” 
Perpetua, with her faithful companions and her 
Infant, were condemned to the amphitheatre. The 
male victims were exposed to lions, bears and 
leopards; the women were tossed by a furious 
bull. 
Perpetua appeared as if in a trance, Insensible 
to the pain. On recovering her consciousness she 
asked when she would be dispatched hy the gladi¬ 
ator, for those who survived the wild beasts were 
subjected to the Bword of the gladiator. The 
youth who was appointed to dispatch Perpetua was 
so overcome by her calmness that he bungled at 
Ills work, whereupon the resolute martyr guided 
ills sword to a mortal part. 
It was such lives and spectacles as these which 
gave power and vigor to the Christian church at 
Carthage. 
And It Is such events as these early martyrdoms 
which caused the historian, Gibbon, to wonder at 
the mysterious power which was lodged In the 
early Christians’ breasts, as he himself has re¬ 
corded these Instances In his famous work, “ The 
Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire.” 
LETTERS FROM THE COUSINS. 
Dear Uncle Mark :—I am ten years old and 
this is my first attempt at writing lor a paper. My 
father Is a farmer. We keep nine cows and I have 
a pet sheep, we have seven Toulouse geese 
which make a great noise sometimes, and attract a 
great deal of attention as there are no other geese 
In our neighborhood. J go to school and have a mile 
to go. 1 have no brother or sister so the way 
seems long. My father planted the potatoes you 
sent him and ralsed20 pounds, l thought I would 
write so that I might, get some flower seeds and 
have flowers like tne rest of the Rural cousins. 
Broome Co., N. Y. AnnaS-Knapp. 
Dear Uncle Mark :—1 am a Utile girl twelve 
years old. I Uve in the country. J go to school 
and my teacher’s name Is J. A. Lewis. My mother 
takes the Rural New-Youkeu and I like It very 
much. Y'ours truly, Agnks T. O’Connor, 
Wah&unsee Co., Kan. 
&j}f fuller. 
NUMERICAL ENIGMA. 
17 LETTERS. 
My 1, 3, 5, is a flsh. 
My 8, to, u, l, 2, Is a ilsb. 
My 9, 2,10, 4, 4,12, is a flsh. 
My 9, 6, 7,1«, 9, Is a nail. 
My 9,10, 4, i, 3, Is a flsh. 
My 13,10, 0 ,13, W, is, 4, is a flsh. 
My 17, 9,10,11,13,10, 7, 4, Is a flsh. 
My whole is a clasa of flsh. s. p. s. 
Iir* Answer in two weeks. 
HALF SQUARE. 
l. A genus ol Intestinal worms. 2. The Inner¬ 
most of the small bones of the ear. 3. A mark 
used in writing aDd prlntlug. ' 4. The crest of an 
ancient helmet. 6. To prepare. 0. The third per¬ 
son, singular. 7. A letter. Gus. 
03f Answer In two weeks. 
-»♦« 
A DROP LETTER PUZZLE. 
B-n t-l-e-n-o-r-w-c-n-e-t-. Fill the blanks and 
find a verse of Scripture. l. o. 
8»* Answer In two weeks. 
PUZZLER ANSWERS.-July 31. 
Shakespearean Enigma.— 
“ Ho gooB before me. and Btill dares me on— 
When 1 come when he calls, then he 1b gone.” 
Diamond Puzzle.— 
BON 
ROUEN 
FEN 
N Rouen. 
Various. 
BRTEFLETS. 
Dr. Hexamer Bays : “In watering plants 
in the open ground, it is far better to apply 
three cans of water every third than one can 
every day.Stuartia pentagyna is one 
of the most beautiful, hardy shrubs and, though 
found in the Alleghanics of Southern Virgiuia, 
is rarely seen in our gardens. Readers who 
have shrubs to select this Fall, or rather next 
Spring, are advised to make a note of this. It 
belongs to the Camellia family, and bears large, 
creatn-colorod flowers. ..... Cinerarias, cal¬ 
ceolarias and primulas, if started from seed 
now, will make a fine display during Winter. . 
. . , We are deeply obliged to our readers for 
the lively interest they are manifesting in the 
Fair Number of the Rural New-Yorker. It 
sometimes seems to us that the Rural has 
stronger friends, and more of them than any 
other paper of “its size and age” published any¬ 
where.It seems that a portion of Mr. 
Orange Judd's notes (those taken last season 
while traveling in the West,) “unaccountably 
disappeared from his traveling bag." Why 
anybody should have stolen those notes, if there 
was anything else In the “traveling bag”—or if 
there was not— is unaccountable — that is a 
fact!.There have been established in 
London by a Drinking-fountain Co. 438 water- 
places in the streets. .. 
"Happy the man who tills tbe field, 
Content, with rustle labor ; 
Eartb does to him her fullness yield, 
Hap what may to his neighbor. 
Well days, sound nights, O can there be 
A life more rational aud free ?" 
We see mention of Stoll's Monarch rhubarb, an 
English variety, the weight of some of the 
leaves and stalks of which iB about seven 
pounds.The best Summer resort for a 
Spitz dog is a watering place. The dog should 
be placed about four feet under water.—[Nor¬ 
ristown Herald.To completely blind¬ 
fold a vieions horse is the simple stratagem of 
a correspondent of the London Live Stock 
Journal for rendering him as quiet as a lamb. 
The most obstreperous may then be shod 
without difficulty.The agricultural 
editor of one ol the daily-weeklies— the New 
York 8uu—asks his Bubcribers to give their ex' 
perienee as to London purple, as he seems to 
entertain doubts as to its efficacy. A few cents' 
worth of the Purple and the loan of a neighbor’s 
potato-patch would enable him to settle his 
doubts, without troubling his subscribers. Then 
he could tell them as to its efficacy, which would 
seem to be a part of an agricultural editor’s 
duties.The Garden (London,) says 
that the “roses of the future are the roses on 
their own roots.” What a world of tedious 
labor, then, has been throwu away on rose 
propagation.Oar readers, or those of 
them who received and planted the Vilmoriu 
Golden mangel, will find that they are as 
sweet, juicy aud tender as a sugar beet, if 
cooked in the usual way.“The aver¬ 
age woman's waist measures thirty inches; the 
average length of a man’s arm is thirty inches. 
How admirable are thy works, O Nature!” 
The author of the above is not known. 
“The Hour" of July 24th. gives a colored car¬ 
toon of the young proprietor of the Herald. . . 
... A late London ranch has the following : 
AT TOE CATTLE SHOW. 
Young Farmer.—“Are you fond of beasts, 
Miss Gusberton ?” 
Miss Gushcrton.—“Oh, really, Mr. Pawker, 
if you mean that as a declaration, you must 
speak to mamma.".Col. F. D. Cur¬ 
tis says, in the New York Tribune. “Less 
pig-pen and more pig-pasture. ” .... We have 
never known any raspberry to be so over¬ 
whelmed with praise as the Cuthbert is at the 
present time. We only hope this praise is not 
being lavished too freely. We find the follow¬ 
ing ju the catalogue of E. P. Roe just received : 
—Now regarded by careful and experienced 
horticulturists as the best raspberry in exist¬ 
ence for general cultivation. I have it in a 
specimen bed with twenty-five other kinds, and 
under precisely the same treatment it has sur¬ 
passed all others. “It is better than all the 
others by long odd6."—Dr. Farley. “I regard 
it aB the best raspberry for general cultiva¬ 
tion."—Charles Downing. “It la regarded as 
the best raspberry in existence.”—Dr. Hexa¬ 
mer.We like to give credit where 
credit is dae. Mr. J. T. Lovett was the first to 
call our attention to the superiority of this 
raspberry over others—and it was in this way 
that we were induced to place It in our Plant 
and Seed Distribution, which—it will not be 
denied—has precipitated, it not created, its 
present popularity.A contemporary 
whose name need not be mentioned, says that 
“some farmers are testing the value of cultiva¬ 
ting wheat and their results are almost uni¬ 
formly In favor of the practice.” The contrary 
1 b the fact, if wc may judge from out own tests 
for two years and those of others—Prof. Rob¬ 
erts, for instance, of Cornell University. . . . 
. . One of our market gardeners informs us 
that black pepper will rid cabbages of worms 
just as effectually as hot water aud is more 
easily applied.At present, the Mark 
Lane Express observes, there is no class of 
people in the land so badly situated in respect 
of education for their children as farmers are. 
.Prof. Stewart thinks the cow-pea is a 
more valuable food for ensilaging than green 
corn. The amount of vines which these plants 
make—or 6ome kinds of them—at the Rural 
Farm, is Burprising.The White Egg 
turnip. This is a new sort of quick-growing 
turnip of an egg shape and white skin, as its 
name suggests. A friend who raised it last 
year speaks of it in very high terms of praise. 
He says it is tender and sweet. It should be 
sown about the middle of the month. 
From our own experience, we confidently rec¬ 
ommend all farmers—at least, those whose soil 
is a sandy lo&ra—tc use a roller after grain 
Bowing. 
.--• 
Remedies. 
I have found the following remedies effec¬ 
tive : — 
Remedy for the Currant Worm.—D is¬ 
solve one pound of coperas In a pail of water 
and sprinkle the bushes with the same. This 
has proved a certain remedy with me. 
Kbmkot for tub Cabrage Worm.—G ive 
the cabbages a thorough sprinkling with lime 
water. 
Core for Scours in Calves—B reak anew- 
laid egg iu their milk and stir it up with the 
milk and let them drink it. It is a sure cure ; 
I never knew it to fail. 8o simple a remedy 
ought to be widely circulated. w. s. 
—-- 
CATALOGUES, ETC., RECEIVED. 
E P. Roe, Cornwall-on-Hudson, N. Y., Sum¬ 
mer and Fall Catalogue of pot-grown Straw¬ 
berries; also, a list of the names and prices of 
such small fruits and grape-vines as he offers. 
