330 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
for ll)C l)oung, 
RAISING CELERY. 
some said it had a peculiarly acid taste; others 
said they fancied it. If any of the Cousins 
have a Yellow-Wood tree, I would like to have 
them try and make some sugar. 
CERISE E. A. CARMAN. 
Rural Experiment Grounds, Bergen Co., N.J. 
I 
WOULD like very much to 
tell the Cousins how to 
raise celery for home use, 
with what I consider very 
little trouble. Near the 
/—iSMMI back door plow or spade 
fcfl ffil «p a strip of land about j 
four feet wide; the length 
of the row depends upon 
how much you wish to 
grow. Dig a trench two¬ 
und one-half or three feet 
wide, and one foot deep, 
where you have plownd. 
Throw the dirt up on each 
side of the trench, fill in 
with u few inches of dirt, and then set the 
plants. This should be done about July 1 
You can buy the plants then, or, if you choose, 
can raise them yourself. Row Hie seed the last 
of April or early In May in a hot-lied, box, or 
in Hie early ground a little later. ’I he plants 
may lie set. quite close—about six inches apart 
in rows—and the rows about eight inches 
apart.. Now, 1 will give my reason for plac¬ 
ing the celery bed near the buck dooi. I he 
plants need water, and you cannot give them 
too much; if one end of the trench is a little 
lower than the other, it will run off. AH of 
the dean slops from the house can be thrown 
upon the bed, and when September comes you 
will tjuve nice, large plant"., even if they' are 
dwarfs, which I prefer. When ready for 
blanching, use the ddt thrown out of the 
trench, heaping it up against each side and 
between the plants; keep the stalks together 
with <me hand and draw the dirt up around 
the plants with the other by means of a trowel. 
1 did tins part of the work myself last Hum¬ 
mer When there was danger of bard freez¬ 
ing, 1 had the plants taken up and set in dirt 
on the cellar bottom, where they kept nicely 
until the last of February, so that we thor¬ 
oughly enjoyed outing celery nearly all Win¬ 
ter. The stocks were large, crisp and deli¬ 
cious, and 1 think all farmers’ families may, 
can, and should have this lrxury. mother. 
- - ♦ ♦- 
A BADGER HUNT. 
Dear Uucle Mark:— 1 am 14 years old, 
and I tee on a farm of 040 acres. Our house 
stands in a beautiful, large grove of oak trees, 
which makes it very cool and shady in the 
Summer. Quite a large creek runs through 
our place, south of the house, and two smaller 
streams- one on the east and one on t he west 
side of the house. My father has a mill ou 
one of the small streams, where he grinds 
corn, and saws logs, wood, shingles,and gins 
cotton My brother and 1 have fine sport in 
the Rummer, bathing in the mill-pond. This 
is called a very healthy climate; the Winters 
are generally quite mild, but last January we 
bad a very cold snap. We have over 100 
sheep and 20 lambs. We lost that number 
by their being burn during cold weather. We 
also have three mules, two horses, aud a pair 
of twin Steers or oxen weighing 8,060 pounds, 
that Jook exactly ulike—a dark red or brown 
color. We have about 40 pigs and hogs, part 
of which are Poland-China and part Berk¬ 
shire. 
My brother and I have a large patch of 
water-melons f-very year, and have raised 
some very fine ones. We are going to have 
a cotton-patch this year, and if we succeed 
pretty well with our crop, perhaps 1 will tell 
the Cousins something about it. There are 
many things that 1 might tell .you, about this 
country, but think my letter long enough for 
this time. M.y lather came here from West¬ 
ern New York IS years ago. He has been a 
subscriber to your valuable paper a loug time. 
Truly yours, coy chamberlain. 
Cobb Co , Ga. 
[ The Cousins hear but little about Georgia, 
so 1 have no doubt but that they would be 
pleased to learn more of it. If you are to 
grow some cotton, why not write an article 
for the Youths’ Columns upon growing ill 
UNCLE MARK.] 
your Experimental Grounds; the fruit makes 
a very' delicious sauce or preserve. The habit 
of the plant is similar to that of the tomato— 
at least I think so—only it grows up straight, 
having but one main stem. The plants need 
to be planted four feet apart, a« they ripen 
bettei then. The fruit is inclosed lu a busk, 
aud when ripe, falls to the ground; it is bright 
golden-yellow in color, and equally as teuder 
as the tomato. J - T - L 
[Many thanks for the Ground Cherry seed. 
I hope you have begun to experiment this 
year, and will make a big success of it. You 
only signed your letter with initials. Please 
give me your full name and address when you 
write again. 1 am afraid you will have to be 
classed with the “Moon” CoUHins. 
UNCLE MARK.l 
SOLUBLE PACIFIC GUANO, 
ANNUAL RARER, OVER 50.000 TONS. 
This high-grade 
I read a letter in the Youths Columns 
from Clay Center, Ivan , regarding the Jack 
Rabbit, which pleased me very much. They 
arc very uuiuerous here on the prairies. I 
would ask the Cousin if he ever saw or killed a 
badger. When we came here, 11 years ago, we 
boys had lots of i'uu with un old dog. bunting 
badgers, but for a time wo did not have good 
luck. Oue day the dog found one, so we 
thought that it would be fun to catch him 
alive. Ro we called the dog off, thinking that 
we could hold him. They cannot run very 
fast; so 1 run up aud caught him by the hind 
l'“gs, out as soon as he Jolt mo, tie turned, aud 
his hair turned too; that is, he brustled up, 
mid bis hair looked as though it hud beeu 
combed towards his head. Ro 1 let go, and 
rau, the badger after me, but he could not 
catch me. My brother stood off to one side, 
and laughed, holding on to the dog all the 
time; but as soon as the badger hud chased me 
a few rods, he turned and ran the other way. 
When I looked around, he was running one 
way, and I the other, and brother looking on 
at the fun; so 1 told him to let. the dog loose, 
aud we would fix that badger. Lie let the dog 
take hold of him, but the badger got hold of 
the dog, as Well as the dog of the badger, and 
t hey rolled over and over. Meanwhile, we rau 
up, and helped the dog, by whacking the 
badger ou the head with a loug stick, with 
which we soon dispatched him. Gld lno, the 
dog, was scratched iu good shape, and, like 
myself, did not care to take hold of another 
badger for some time. 1 meant to tell the 
Cousins about some of the other wild animals 
ou the prairies, and how we get a living out 
here, but i am afraid my letter is too long as 
it is. Creighton, Neb. J. H. s. 
LLet us hear from you agaiu .—uncle mark.] 
LETTERS FROM THE COUSINS. 
Dkar Uncle Mark:— I will tell you about 
the sugar 1 made from the Yellow-Wood tree. 
1 cut several little branches off from the tree, 
and tied pails ou the ends of them, so that 
they would catch the sap. After 1 had gath¬ 
ered about two qua i ts of sap, 1 empted it into 
a large tin dish, placed it on the stove, and let 
it, boil slowly nutil it became quite thick. 1 
had to be very careful not to let it burn; when 
thick enough. I set the svritp outho back part 
of the stove, and let it evaporate until it was 
as thick as it would get, without burning. I 
scraped it out into a well-greased saucer, and 
let it harden. Several persons tasted of it; 
Dear Uncle Mark:—I did not receiveany 
seeds last year, but 1 Look great interest iu the 
Garden Treasures, and thev did nicely. Of 
the Reauty of Hebron Potatoes, 11 hills made 
one bushel. On the whole, wo had 800 bush¬ 
els of potatoes. I had the care of time calves 
last Summer Pa sold all but. throe, for which 
he was offered $16 each. We had 10 calves 
and four hogs to keep on the skimmed milk of 
14 cows, three of which were two-year-olds. 
As the milk supply was a little short, we gave 
the calves cotton-seed meal, and they did nice¬ 
ly. 1 attended the Academy lust Winter, and 
may get my preliminary certificate this 
Spring. My brothers and I raised some Mam¬ 
moth or Tour pumpkins, and they grew' to an 
enormous siz-*. We also planted some melons, 
but the frost and bugs “conspired’’ to kill 
them, I had a bed of flowers last Summer, 
and they grew' and blossomed well. 
C euango Co., N. Y. eduarl. hinman. 
Dear Uncle Mark and CousrNS.—We 
have takeu the Rural for one year, and think 
it the best agricultural paper we have ever 
taken. My father owns a small farm, and 
raises corn, v> heat, and oat.*, and has a piece 
of ground set aside for small fruits, such as 
raspberries, blackberries, and strawberries. 
He sets his strawberry plauts out. in the Fall, 
iu rowB. aud puts sawdust between them to 
keep them from freezing in Winter, and to 
keep them free from weeds in Rummer. We 
have a flue bed of Crescent Reedling and the 
Rharpless; father considers the latter of the 
better quality. We have a garden for our 
flowers, of which we expect the Rural seeds 
to share a part. We have some house-plants, 
but have never been successful with tli'jui: 
they always look sickly. We had a fig tree 
full of fig* last Summer, and some of them ri¬ 
pened. It wus quite a curiosity, ou account of 
it bearing fruit without blooming: we have to 
keep the plant watered freely, to prevent the 
fruit from dropping off. Last Summer my 
brother brought h >me two little downy mock¬ 
ing birds, that he found iti the hedge, and 1 
raised them, by feeding them boiled eggs and 
cooked potatoes, and when they were three 
months old, they began to sing. .Last Winter, 
when the thermometer stood 80 degrees below 
zero, they sang all day. Your niece, 
Macoupin Co., 111. dora ricks. 
[ The receptacle or axis upon which the flow¬ 
ers of the. fig are borne, is what appears to lie 
the fruit. The edges of this pear shaped re¬ 
ceptacle turn inwards, so as to form a nearly- 
closed cavity, upon the inside of which are 
placed the flowers. If you will cut opeu one 
of the green fruits, before it hus ripened, you 
will easily understand how the flowers grow. 
UNCLE MARK.] 
fertilizer produces 
crops of superior 
quality and quan¬ 
tity. It is not. a stim¬ 
ulant, hut a plant- 
food The high 
I. ' J standard for which 
it 1ms been noted for 
twenty 
YEARS 
c past will be strictly 
maintained. 
‘ — ~ Kor pamphlets, address 
CLIDDEN & CURTIS, 
General Helling Agent*. Boston, Mass._ 
novelty bone works phosphate, 
9alc\>f the best Phojphnt.' In market, ' v i °° or 
MENHADEN 
FERTILIZERS 
Manufactured by 
Send for Circulars. 
CHURCH BROTHERS, 
Tiverton. K. 1. 
Dear Uncle Mark:— I am 13 years old, 
aud live ou a farm iu Western Minnesota. We 
have a ni je little fruit garden—about 20 apple 
trees, plum trees, and uearly 800 curraut 
bushes. I had a nice flower garden last Rum¬ 
mer, but frost came too early, so 1 got seed 
from but few plants. Father takes the Rural, 
and bkes it very well. I always read the 
Youths’ Department. Maybe the Cousins 
don’t waut. any but Americans in their Club. 
I am a Norwegian. Father came to this coun¬ 
try 15 years ago, when he was 50 years old. 
He has studied the English language, so that 
he now takes three American newspapeis, of 
which the Rural is one. He likes the Rural 
best, and says that, he will take it. as loug as 
he can sec to read. We have about one-fourth 
of an acre of strawberries, and intend to set 
more. If the Cousins like, l will tell them 
how I get along. Your neiee, 
Lyon Co., Minn mill a Norwood, 
L.sol It doesn’t make a bit of difference 
what Nationality you belong to. All Nations 
ar c welcome to membership in the Youths' 
Club. Don’t forget to tell us about your suc¬ 
cess iu the strawberry bed; I want to bear 
about it, and so do the Cousins. —UNCLE 
MARK.] 
Dear Uncle Mark:— Wheat looks quite 
well, as it has been well covered with snow; 
we have about six acres on new land. The 
corn crop was a failure with most people 
around here. In the first place the seed was 
poor, and planted late; then the Rummer was 
cold and wet; and last of all, tbe early frosts 
came, so that the corn had a hard time of it. 
The hay crop was good, but much of it was 
put up wet, or green. The second crop was 
also very heavy. The oats were heavy, aver¬ 
aging about 60 bushels to the acre. Fa had a 
good crop of potatoes. They were planted on 
new ground, and some of them grew to quite 
a large size. He raised the W bite Star. White 
Elephant. Early and Late Rose, and Beauty 
of Hebron. He likes them all pretty well. 
The pigs got into the patch and ate all of the 
Blush Potatoes, so that, we could not tell much 
about them. We also grew 40 or 50 bushels of 
onions. The Early Red yielded the best. 
1 had a small garden, but nothing amounted 
to much except my pop corn. I had t wo kinds, 
the Red and White Rice. I got the first pre¬ 
mium ou it at the fair, and the other day re¬ 
ceived the money, which I divided with my 
brother, for helping me. My cabbages aud 
melons were planted late, but it was so cold 
and wet, aud the bugs and worms were so barf, 
I did not get a good cabbage or melon. 1 had 
intended to write au article ou strawberries 
for the discussion; but I have a good deal of 
composition writing to do at school, so that 1 
could not do justice to the subject. Pa has 
got a small patch of strawberries, and has 
kept the runners cut off as au experiment. He 
got four plants of the James Vick last Spring, 
aud expects to get from 50 to 100 plauts from 
them. Your nephew, 
Washtenaw' Co., Mich. aLKREd b. bird. 
jHILLand DRILL | 
phosphate] 
WITH POTASH. 
Thr Mas*. Jn»f>crt<,r’* ) «. /ft QQ 
valttriHon* of tins brand i 1)411. [j U 
for six years, urrrttqr) 
per ton, showing it to hen Phosphate of the 
best quality* It L made from tho blood, 
I bout- ;mcf tnC^t wsixtc ot UiC Brighton 
Abattoir, where fioo.ooo sheet, and leo.ooo 
| cattle arc slaughtered annually, combined 
with potasll,suid is therefore an excellent 
fertilizer for any crop, giving early and 
large crops of excelleut quality. 
0WKER FERTILIZER COj 
' BOCTON^NEWYORK •' 
BAUGH S $25 PHOSPHATE 
IS MADE BY A NEW PROCESS, 
Kxclll*'vrly onrnwn. Il 1* jui*l whiU Farm¬ 
er* ha % e bee* louklj-tr tur wince the intrndiie- 
t ion ot An i tie i a I M»ni»rr« DON T F A 11. 
TO Tit V IT It rrepituneiuln l»*ell ever nlt< i- 
x."aS....“j , «K«rxTa. •atfsr' 4 
BAUGH & SONS, PHILADA. 
T®" THE WILLIAMS 
FRUIT EVAPORATOR! 
I* the IMONKJ U A LEAIL 
INi; .MAtUINK OF ITS 
KIND IN TIIU A It KIT. 
It hae lieeu in nee for IO years, 
with highly »all»laelorv re¬ 
sult*. Wc make *> OITCQ 
The two Manlier O OILLU 
slzee fur cot)venti-nce of small 
cnpitnli*!*, and ter sections 
where the fruit cron 1* not very 
large. Send for Deweripti vto 
Circular aud i*--uinoiuals to 
S. E. & J. M. SPROUT, 
MUNCY. PENNA. 
$eiil <&$tatc. 
T n r -1 A T rvo n a Netting Investors 8 P«r cent. 
J_jcLllCl L/Jctlin Principal and interest guar¬ 
anteed. Guaranty baaed on capital of $75,000. Refer 
to anv commercial agency, bend for circulars. 
Texas'Loan Agency, Corsicana, Texas. 
Dear Uncle Mark and Rural Cousins: 
—A year ago last Summer I made my first 
attempt at. gardening I raised some very fine 
cabbages aud a few other vegetables, and 
planted some wild raspberry bushes and some 
wild strawberry plants. Last Rpring (18S3) 
they looked well; the strawberry vines were 
full of blossoms, aud the raspberry bushes 
gave promise of being full, too; but pa sold 
our place, and moved on to the farm the sec¬ 
ond week in June, so I did not have a chance 
to see how well my experiment turned out. 
I send you some Ground Cherry seeds for 
WESTERN LANDS. 
WESTERN LOANS. 
Those wanting to HU Y LAND FOR J^ETT LE¬ 
WI ENT In u good locality Wed, or to LOAN MO¬ 
NEY there with perfect safety, at , to 10 pci 
ceut interest, write, with letter stamp inclosed, to 
M. W ARREN, feati#,‘■SSABSi: 
FLORIDA fKWSJSSS FREE 
' Month* for 2-j cents. Address 
FARRELL’S 1.AND OF Fit E, Waldo, Florida. 
“THE GOLDEN BELT 
If 
KANSAS LANDS 
STOCK RAISING 
Buffalo Grass Pasture Summer ana Winter. 
•CORN and WHEAT 
200,000,000 Bus. Corn. 30,000,000 Wheat 
ALONC THE 
KANSAS DIVISION U. P. R’WAY 
WOOL CROWING 
Unsurpassed foi Climate, Grasses, Water 
FRUIT 
200,000,000 Bus. uorn. ou,uuu,wv „ u Ml . The best in the Eastern Market. 
Pamphlets and Maps free. B. McALLASTER, Land Commis’r, Kansas City,Wo 
