682 
OCT. 9 
falling for tljr £011119. 
SONGS FOR CHILDREN. 
A. B. C. 
Three bright little boys 
Took their A B 
And planted them deop, 
So they grew into trees. 
All the trees bore fruit, 
When the buy* grew up, 
And knowledge poured joy 
To the brim, in their cup. 
JUMPING-.TACIC. 
Jumping-Jack, Jumping-Jack, where filial we go? 
Out in the garden to dig with the hoe; 
To dig for potatoes and dig for red beets, 
And dig for whatever the little pig eats ! 
Jumping-Jack, Jumping-Jack, where shall we Bleep ? 
Under the hay with the black chimney-sweep. 
Jumpiug-Jack, Jumping-Jack, what shall we wear? 
Pantaloous made out of Nanny-goats’ hair. 
Jumping-Jack, Jumping-Jack, wherewereyou born ? 
In the small end of a little cow's horn.- 
Jumping-Juck, Jumping-Jack, where will you die ? 
Under the rim of a gooseberry pie. 
—Mendel in N. O. Democrat. 
OCR RUT-BEARING TREES.-No. 1. 
MAUDE MEREDITH. 
One of the pleasantest sources of amusement to 
the young folks la the gathering of a store of nuts 
for the winter evenings. The presence of nut- 
bearing trees Is alBO one of the delights of farm 
lifeot which too little thought is given. It Isa 
simple thing to plant a few hickory nutB, butter¬ 
nuts, black-walnuts or chestnuts In a convenient 
place in the Fall, and with a little protection from 
cattle, see them grow into fine, shapely trees. 
Yet how few do It ? How is the nutting season of 
old New England times neglected ? 
The greater proportion of nut-bearing trees be¬ 
long to the genus Juglans, from the Latin Jovls 
glans. the nut of Jove, these, together with the 
hickories, carya. make up the walnut family. 
Added to these are the beech-nut, the chestnut 
and some small shrubs like the hazel bushes. 
On the prairies of the West, where the rapidly 
growing cottonwood arid Lombardy poplar are set 
as wind-breaks about buildings, the different 
varieties of nut trees might be planted, as they 
are of rapid growth, though a little particular as 
to food material, preferring tor growth a deep 
loamy soli, dry r ather than moist, but the fruit 
has the best ilavor and produces the most oil, 
when the tree la grown in calcareous hoIIb, or 
among calcareous rock. In a wet-bottomed soil, 
no matter what the surface, It will not thrive. 
in referring to different branches of the walnut 
family, the JuglaDS regia, or European walnut, 
commonly called English walnut in our market, 
will perhaps take the precedence, although not. 
strictly speaking, an American tree, being a 
native or Asia. It grows abundantly throughout 
Europe, but In this country It ripens its fruit 
only south of the latitude of Washington. In 
Europe much attention is given to Its cultivation, 
and about a dozen varieties are known, distin¬ 
guished by the abundance, size or shape of the 
fruit, the thinness of the shell and quality of the 
kernel. These are propagated by gratts upon bud¬ 
ding stocks. The sap or this tree (ilke those of 
our species) contatn sugar and has been used In 
some countries as a source of that product; and Is 
sometimes concentrated and fermented to make 
walnut wine. 
Where this tree abounds, large quantities of the 
nuts are pressed, for their oil, which is used for 
food the same as olive oil, the residue being used 
by artists and In the finest kinds of printers Ink. 
The fruit Is in great demand throughout Europe 
for table use as a food by the poorer classes, a des¬ 
sert by the rich. While green it is sought for the 
purpose of preserving or pickling, when ripe as an 
article of export also. But leaving our foreign 
cousins foi members of the American farullyproper 
we Bod the black walnut j. nigra as ranking first 
in importance, principally, at present, for the value 
ot Its timber, In the manufacture or furniture there 
being few homes In all the land that do not contain 
articles of furniture made from Its strong, beauti¬ 
ful wood; being very bard flue-grained and sus¬ 
ceptible of a high degree of finish. When first cut 
It is a purplish brown, but with age turns very 
dark, almost black. 
The tree Itself, is very stately growing from 60 
to 150 feet In bight, growth remarkably rapid 
and at the age ot eight to ten years It begins to 
bear, though age increases Its productiveness. 
It la found, more or less in forests from New Eng¬ 
land to Florida, but Is much less abundant east 
than west of the Alleghanles, where, especially 
in the valley of the Mississippi It Is one or the 
commonest trees. When In the forest It has a clear 
trunk 30 to 60 teet without a branch, but In open 
ground it branches rather low forming a wide 
spreading head. There Is a specimen standing 
on the grounds ot the late William Cullen Bryant 
at Roslyn, L. I., the seed ot which was planted 
In 17la; at three feet from the ground it measured 
*5 feet in circumference. The fruit Is spherical, 
the surface of the husk a greenish yellow when 
ripe, and nutting parties can hardly Imagine a 
more pleasing sight than the long vistas ot brown 
wooded way, clear of low limbs or underbrush, as 
no tree or grass will grow In the shade of the wal¬ 
nut, the brown earth dotted or heaped in little 
colonies with the great yellowish globes, near In 
size and shape to a medium sized orange, and the 
soft thud, of nuts allthe time Increasing the Btore 
already fallen. 
All along the Mississippi of a tine Autumn day 
may be seen the single express, or open buggies 
from town or farm starting for neighboring groves 
for a days pleasure of nutting, taking along their 
THE 
RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
picnic lunch, perhaps a book and hammock also, 
but certainly a quantity of sacks to bring back 
the winter's stock of walnuts. The rind soon turns 
black, and with very little time or trouble may be 
taken off or if left will dry down and drop apart 
when the nut Is cracked. 
The nut baa a corrugated, hard shell, with an 
oily kernel, which becomes rancid If kept too 
long, necessitating the planting the same season, 
as It looses Its vitality In about six months. 
BRACK WALNUT.—FIG. 326. 
in the tree planting districts of the west, the 
nuts are gathered Into heaps covered, with straw 
and earth to keep out the rain, and in Spring are 
planted where the trees are to stand. A better 
way ts to plant directly. In the Autumn where the 
trees are expected to remain, ror like the lemon 
and orange, most nut-bearing trees are tap-rooted, 
and therefore do not bear removal. 
If necessary to sprout In little nurseries, a flat 
stone should be placed some six or eight Inches 
below to give the root a horizontal bent, until time 
for removal. 
PANAMA HATS. 
Panama hats are principally manufactured In 
Veraquas and western Panama. Not all, however, 
known to commerce by that name are plaited In 
the Isthmus, by far a greater proportion being 
made In Manta, Monte Chrlst.1 and other parts of 
Ecuador. The hats are worn almost In the whole 
American continent and the West indies, and 
would probably be equally used in Europe did not 
their high price, (varying from $2 to $2.50) prevent 
their importation. They are distinguished from 
all others by consisting ODly of a single piece, and 
by their lightness and flexibility. They may be 
rolled up and put Into the pocket without Injury. 
In the rainy season they are apt to get black, but 
by washing with soap and water, besmearing 
them with lime juice, or any other acid, and ex¬ 
posing them to the sun, their whiteness is easily 
restored. 
So little is known about these hats that It may 
not be out of place to give au account of their 
manufacture. The *• straw ” (paja), previous to 
plaiting has to undergo several processes. The 
leaves are gathered before they unfold, all thetr 
ribs and coarser veins removed, and the rest, with¬ 
out being separated from the base of the leaves, ts 
reduced to shreds. After having been exposed to 
the sun ror a day, and tied Into a knot, t he straw 
Is Immersed In bolting water until It becomes 
while. It Is then hung up in a shady place, and 
subsequently bleached for two or three days. The 
straw is now ready (or use, and In this state sent 
to different places, especially to Peru, where the 
Indians manufacture from It those beautiful cigar 
cases which sometimes bring as high as $30 each. 
The plaiting of the hats Is very troublesome. It 
commences at the crown and finishes at the brim. 
The hats are made on a block, which is placed 
upon the knees, and requires to be constantly 
pressed with the breast. According to their 
quality, more or less time Is occupied In their com¬ 
pletion—the coarser ones may be finished In two 
or three days, while the finest may take as many 
months. The best times for plaiting are the 
morning hours and the rainy season, when the 
air is moist. In the middle of the day and In dry, 
clear weather, the straw is apt to break, and this, 
when the hat Is finished, Is betrayed by knots, and 
much diminishes the value. 
-♦ -- 
BONNY. 
bonai’akte Is the name of a very Intelligent 
horse that Is owned by Col. H. James, of the town 
of FrbaDa, in the state of Ohio. One of Bonny’s 
peculiarities is that he will not bear to be hitched. 
Whenever any one ties bis bridle-strap to a post 
he quietly and deliberately breaks tne strap, but 
at the same time does not think ot running off. 
ne will stand by the post until wanted. Bonny 
has a different gait for each person who drives 
him! If be sees the young son or Col. James get 
into the buggy, he starts out at the top of his 
speed if the little girls get in he will jog along 
as gently as he can, fearing, no doubt, tear some 
harm might befall his passengers. He knows 
when Sunday cornea, and If hitched to a carriage 
will trot soberly and religiously to the meeting¬ 
house, without being directed by the bit. One 
day recently his feet became sore because his 
shoes were worn. Pat, the stable boy, who has 
long believed that Bonny knows more than many 
men, took two shoes, tied them together with a 
string, shook them before llonny’s face and hung 
them across Bonny’s neck. Bonny understood, 
without a word from Pat he trotted out or the gate 
and went directly to the blacksmith shop, a long 
way off, where he had been shod for twenty years. 
-- 
LETTERS FROM THE COUSINS. 
Mt Dear Rural Cousins :—I think Uncle Mark, 
bless his kind heart, rather dared me to tell you 
all about him and now I’m Just going to do it. I’ll 
tell you how It happened. Mamma and I were 
riding down Broadway In one of those funny 
stages, and we came to a pretty park and such a 
big, big grand building. Mamma said It was the 
Post Office, but 1 never saw such a nice, lovely 
place before, and looking right past that we saw 
the name Rural New Yorker, on another bulld- 
lDg, and I thought It would be lovely to go in and 
see Uncle. Mark, so Mamma pulled a little strap to 
let the driver know we wanted to get out, and 
when we got down the little steps at the back of 
the Btage, there were so many teams we could not 
stir, then a policeman came along and walked 
across with us. I guess the drivers are afraid ot 
blue coats and brass buttons, for they never drive 
over them, but I think they would drive over me 
tf 1 did not dodge. 
When we went up a flight of Btatrs we saw the 
office door and when a man opened it we called 
for “ Uncle Mark.” “ Oh, yes,” he said, “ he Is 
In,” and took us Into an outer office and gave us 
seats and then went and spoke to Uncle Mark. 
Now 1 know you all want to know how he looked 
when he came In. (What tf he should pull my ears 
If 1 tell you ?) He has black hair cut short and 
the prettiest brown moustache, I like that, ’cause 
you see my papa wears one, and a man don’t look 
old and cross like some men do that have lots of 
whiskers. His eyes arc blue, and the laughlngest, 
twlnkllngest sort of ayes you ever saw. 
He was real pleasant and said he liked all his 
little nelces and 1 guess he does, any way I liked 
him. lie looked so young and so full of fun that 
I wanted to tell him au about my dollies—I’ve 
only five left-and the kittles and bird, and the 
goldfish and soft-shell tunics, and lots of things, 
but l didn’t, have time. Mamma said afterwards 
that he was older than he looked, she knew, else 
he couldn’t be uDde to so many children, I ’spose. 
Guess i’ll have to send Florence a little piece ot 
quartz I got while on a visit to my aunt’s In Ver¬ 
mont this summer. 
It this finds room—out of the wastebasket— 
Mamma says a waste basket Is a very charybdls, 
I’ll tell you about a little girl I saw In Chicago, all 
alone there. Yours truly, 
Dubuque, Iowa. Georgia G. Smith. 
Dear Uncle Mark:—I have been so dilatory 
about writing to you I hardly know whether you 
own me as a member of your club any more. I 
received those seeds you sent last Spring and now 
have some beautiful flowers from them. The 
China Pinks especially are most beautiful. The 
ockra came up and did well, but our folks do not 
care much about It. May be they do not know 
how to cook It just right. We have many beauti¬ 
ful flowers now, both In the yard and greenhouse. 
We have one abut llon of the Mesopotamian vari¬ 
ety that has been in blooin ever since last Febru¬ 
ary, and now has not much less than loo buds and 
blossoms on It. Good bye. Letha Abbott. 
Clermont Co., Ohio. 
Dear Uncle Mark :—I am a little boy live years 
old. I cannot print very well yet, so I will get 
mamma to write this time. I want to tell you 
about my fox. I had a fox, and his name was 
Charley, he got loose one night and tried to get 
our ehlckenB. I caught hhn once, but ho scratched 
me, so l had to let him go; and when papa came 
home from Mr. Collins’, he could not catch him, so 
he took his gun and shot poor Charley. lie 
skinned him, and stretched the skin out on a board 
and put It In the woodshed; then he took It to 
town and sold It. I cannot read, but 1 kDow my 
letters I learned them from my spelling blocks 
that Santa Claus brought me last Christmas. I 
have no brother or sister to play with, hut 1 have 
a big dog named Jack. Seymour A. Ayres. 
Michigan. 
Dear Uncle Mark 1 will write and thank you 
for the seeds you sent me last Spring. Most of 
them grew and bloomed very nicely, considering 
the dry weather. My okra did better than any¬ 
thing elBe, but father had plenty of that before. 
My Surprise melon was splendid. I saved all the 
seed from It to plant next year, l read all the 
letters from the cousins. 1 like to hear from them. 
Father says I may meet some of them sometime, 
I hope l shall. It has been very dry for a long 
time, but now we are having lots of rain; but 1 
am afraid this letter Is too long now, so I will 
close. Your little niece, viola Grace Dille. 
Kansas. 
Dear Uncle Mark:— You must think us very 
ungrateful for not thanking you for the seeds 
which you were so kind as to send us. Our seeds 
all grow nicely. We have 15 nice vines of the 
surprise muskmelons and 11 plants ot okra. The 
flowers are In bloom and are really very pretty. 
Mamma has Mold’s Ennobled oats, some of the 
heads of which measure one foot in lengtn. Her 
Golden mangels are perhaps not so large as some 
others, the largest being about six Inches through. 
Greetings to all and thanks to Uncle Mark. 
Robert, Edwin and Andrew Guffin. 
Johnson Co., Iowa. 
Dear ncle Mark,— My China pinks are grow¬ 
ing nicely, and I have a great many different 
colors. My portulueas, phlox, drummondll, Sweet 
mignonette and Surprise muslcmelOh come up 
very well. My okra came up very nicely. I have 
a nice bed ot gladiolus, and I have some nice bal¬ 
sams aud pansies, too, and I have a nice row of 
watermelons. We have had a ripe melon and it 
tasted very good. Mary E. Wild, 
Ottumwa Co., Mich. 
Dear Uncle Mark:—I should like to join the 
Horticultural club and become one of the cousins 
If there Is room for ono more. We moved from 
New York state to Virginia. We live three miles 
from Richmond. 1 like It very much here, I can 
raise such good watermelons, and muskmelons, 
and peanuts, and sweet potatoes. I have not 
many flowers this Summer. Yours truly, 
Richmond, Va. Alice Carey. 
abliai| IkaMitj. 
BREAD UPON THE WATERS. 
’Mid the losses and the. gains; 
’Mid the pleasures and the pains, 
And the hopings and the fears, 
And the restlessness of years. 
We repeat this promise o’er— 
We believe it more and more— 
“ Bread upon the waters cast 
Shall be Fathered at the last.” 
Gold and silver, like the sands, 
Will keep slipping through our hands; 
- Jewels, gleaming like a spark. 
Will be hidden by the dark , 
Sunand moon and stars will pale, 
But these words wifi never fail,— 
“ Bread upon the waters cast 
Shall be gathered at the last." 
Soon, like dust, to you and me, 
Will our earthly treasures bo: 
But tbe loving word and deed 
To another in his need, 
They wifi unforgotten be ! 
They will live eternally— 
“ Bread unou the waters east 
Shall be gathered at the last!” 
Fast the moments slip away, 
Soon our mortal powers decay, 
Low aud lower Hiuks the sun, 
What we do must soon be done; 
Then what rapture if we hear 
Thousand voices ringing clear— 
“ Bread upon the waters cast 
Shall be gathered at the last.” 
- - 
MORNING STUDY OF THE BIBLE. 
The best time for Bible reading Is In the morn¬ 
ing. The mind and body are fresh, after the re¬ 
pose of the night, and the highest powers of 
thought may be brought to bear upon the chap¬ 
ter selected. But, with most people, each re¬ 
curring morning brings Its own pressing tasks. 
Business cares, the dally toll, and t he duties of 
the household, are the first and most engrossing 
concerns. Some hours must pass, with many, be¬ 
fore they can find time to alt down to any quiet 
reading. 
I would plead, however, with every one who 
may happen to look at this article, that the plan 
be honestly tried, of taking some words from God’s 
book for the first meditation of the morning. If 
you have a th e to light, or breakfast to prepare; If 
you must hurry forth In the early gray ot dawn to 
take down shutters and sweep out a shop ; If you 
must hasten to dress the little children, or start off 
for a long journey to tne store you attend, or the 
school In which you teach, or the factory where 
you toll, still you will be wiser, richer, and hap¬ 
pier. If you are resolute about this. 
But to the multitude whose mornings are com¬ 
paratively within their own control, I would say, 
make for the next month a ralr, steadfast trial of 
the plan of studying the Bible when your faculties 
are at what MacDonald somewhere calls •• mental 
htgh-water mark.” very often there Is pressing 
work on hand; the little dress must be finished, 
the cake must be made, the dinner must be 
ordered, the sweeping must be attended to, the 
letters must he written, and the newspaper must 
bo read. Iiy-and-by will do for the Bible reading. 
Thus we argue, and before we know It noon comes, 
guests arrive, unexpected affairs crowd upon us, 
and there 1 b no room for the still hour with God, 
for the sweet preparation of the heart to seek 
him. 
Every Christian admits the duty of frequent 
reading of the Bible. To how many Is It more 
than a duty, even a dear and thrice precious privi¬ 
lege, that, they are ready to cry, *• how sweet are 
Thy wordsuntomy mouth, yea sweeter than honey 
unto my taste !" This oxperlenco comes only to 
those who make It part of their life’s work to study 
the Scriptures. You wonder at the familiarity of 
this or that friend with the Psalms, the Epistles 
the Gospels, rt has been gained a little at a time, 
by patient dally reading, thoughtful and prayer¬ 
ful reading, too, which was hived by the soul as 
something worth treasuring. We shall all gain 
immeasurably In our Influence, as well as In our 
own comfort, by giving more of our unwearied 
thought to the Holy Book. A few tired, sleepy, 
worn-out moments at night, and those only, are 
almost an insult to the Master whom we profess 
to serve.—Presbyterian Journal. 
-—■-♦♦♦- 
There Is no hurry In eternal things. We must 
Indeed run to do the commandments of God, but 
we must run cautiously, and look about us while 
wo run. It we are not slow we shall miss things. 
We shall miss seeing God, and miss hearing Illm, 
also. We can hardly be reverent unless we are 
slow.—F. W. Faber. 
-- 
It must be confessed that there Is a great deal of 
preaching about. God which Is neither helpful nor 
edifying. As long as the pulpit deals In cold ab¬ 
stractions, there will be no kindlings of devotion 
no glow of spiritual life. The people are thlru- 
Ing for God—for the living God.—H. D. Thomas. 
--- 
Life has such hard conditions that every dear 
and precious gift, every rare virtue, every pleasant 
faculty, every genial endowment, love, hope, joy, 
wit, sprightlluess, benevolence, must sometimes 
be put into the crucible to distil the other elixir- 
patience. 
-- 
Jeremv Tavlok says: “If Christiana must 
contend, let it be like the olive and the vine, which 
shall bear most and best fruit; not like t ne aspen 
and elm, which shall make the most noise In the 
wind.” 
-» » ♦- 
We do not become righteous by doing what Is 
righteous, but having become righteous we do 
what Is righteous.—Luther. 
