THE RURAL HEW-YORKER. 
JUNE 7 
SYS 
o\.VNGTO/v£ 
for i\)t Doitttg. 
LETTERS FROM THE COUSINS. 
T)kak Unclb Mark:—I want to tell you 
what Ruceests we had with the seed* you so 
kindly sent me last year. I attend the High 
School in Racine, and a« we live two miles 
from that place, it is quite a little distance to 
walk twice a day. When I received the seeds 
you sent, I was studying botany, and had to 
search the woods and tiud, press, and mount 
at least Ufty specimens, which must all be 
wild flowers and plants; and altogether I 
found it quite waariaome work, though very 
pleasant. When I came home with my seeds 
mother was planting her Harden Treasures, 
and as I had my hands full, she volunteered 
to plant mine for me. Among mother’s plants 
there was a tine show of mignouette, and some 
of the nicest phlox we ever had. Among 
mine there was one plant of mignonette, 
which grew in the shape of a tree, and had 
nice, large heads of flowers, it was so pretty 
that mother potted it in the Fall, and kept it 
in the house all Winter. 
I n spite of the disadvantages of being howl 
and scratched up, i succeeded in raising 83 
Sweet William plants. But in the Fall the 
sheep got into the yard and succeeded in graz¬ 
ing them all to the ground. But we covered 
up the remains, anil this Spring 5ti of them 
arc alive and grow ing. We have (Hied up the 
row with carnations and choice Chinese Finks, 
making it a long one. We have two bods of 
beautiful hyacinths, and expect a flue variety 
of tnlips. There is to be an Exposition at 
Racine in September, aud it will be nearly 
next door to us. If you will visit it, and us, 
we will show you the result of our labors. 
This letter would be much too long were 1 to 
tell of all our florul treasures indoor and out, 
so will leave the rest to he told at some future 
time. As wo have received no seeds from you 
this year. 1 hardly dare sign myself your uiece, 
Racine, Wis. maria v. SHKtDON. 
[I am very sorry that you did not get any 
seed, but as I did uofc send any except to those 
who sent in their names, in the vicinity of the 
mouth of January, yours came too late to be 
included in this year's distribution. Next 
year 1 hope you will bo more fortunate. If I 
am in the region of Racine, I assure you 1 
should be pleased to visit you, and the Expo- 
sitiou.—UNCLK MARK.] 
Dkak Unclk Mark:—I will try to tell you 
and the Cousins how some of the newer pota¬ 
toes have behaved in this section of the coun¬ 
try. The Early Sunrise is an excel lent variety, 
so far as 1 huve seen. It ripens early, the 
tubers are of good size, it is very productive, 
and the quality is certainly all that could be 
demred. The White Star is a good ylclder; 
the tubers are large, skin white, eyes few' and 
slightly sunken. 1 cannot say as to quality, 
but. from all reports it must Is* good. It ripeus 
here medium to late. The Magnum Bonum 
is another excellent potato. The tubers are 
large aud handsome, the eyes are few, but 
tolerably deep; quality good; medium, early. 
The Quoou of the Valley is medium to late, 
and a great producer of large tubers. I have 
procured some tubers of the O. K. Mammoth 
Prolific. This variety was introduced a year 
ago by J. A. Everitt, of Watson town, Pa. It 
is one of the nicest potatoes I have ever seen. 
I have not tested its eating qualities, nor have 
I grown it, but it it proves to be as good as 
its introducer and others thiuk it is, it will 
really bo a very desirable potato. A year ago 
we planted side by side oue pound of Early 
Sunrise, one pound of White Star and one 
pound of Magnum Bonum potatoes. The 
Stars were planted about two weeks earlier 
than the other two, they being planted at the 
same time. They all received the same treat¬ 
ment, aud, w hen the late freeze came, it nipped 
them budly, hurting the Sunrise the most, 
killing several hills of that variety, and I 
think one or two Stars, but not a siugle hill 
of Magnum Bonum. Au old hen ate four 
eyes of t he Magnums, aud 1 don’t thiuk the 
variety had as good a chance as the others. 
The W bite Stars yielded about oue-and one 
half bushel, the Sunrise one bushel, aud the 
Maguuui Bouums nearly one bushel. We 
have only been taking the Rural about six 
months, hut in that short time we have learned 
to prize it as one of the best papers we get. 
The next time 1 write 1 may give my experi¬ 
ence with other vegetables, fruits aud flowers. 
Ever your Rural uephew, 
Christiun Co., 111. FRANK t. logan. 
[Your experience is very interesting, and 
your letter may prove valuable to some of our 
youug potato growers. It is just such letters 
as these that I most desire to get, as they fur¬ 
nish profitable reading, and show that the 
writer has been doing good work. Write 
again. UNCLK mark.} 
Dear Uncle Mark: —I am going to tell I 
you about the hail storm we had here on the 
seventh of last August. The day was hot 
with a heavy wind, lasting till ubout five P. 
M., when the weather grew calm. About six 
P. M., a peculiar looking black cloud arose in 
the northwest, and, as it drew near, roared 
and shook the earth like a train in heavy mo¬ 
tion. The storm lasted 30 minutes, during 
which time niuo inches of hail and six inches 
of rain fell. The track or the storm was from 
three to six miles wide, and everything in its 
course was destroyed. In the center of the path¬ 
way of the storm, corn was cut off 15 inches 
from the ground, and limits of trees two inch¬ 
es in diameter were broken off. Iu that terri¬ 
ble half hour, a large tract of beautiful coun¬ 
try, covered with tine crops, was transformed 
into a desert; scarcely a tree was left alive. 
My garden, which was in full bloom, was 
beaten into the ground. 
Gray, Iowa. “angus.” 
Dear Uncle Mark: —We are very fond of 
flowers, aud find great pleasure in working 
among them. The hollyhocks obtained from 
the Rural were the admiration of every one 
who saw them. Rome of them were just per¬ 
fection. The flower seed gotten from the 
Rural last Spring, came up utcely, but the 
young plants were accidentally destroyed. We 
hope to be more fortunate this year. We live 
very near Weymouth Bridge, on high ground, 
overlooking Sjssaboo River. It is only a few 
minutes’ walk to the railway station, on the 
opposite side of the river, which we have to 
pass, on our way to school. There is a fine 
grove of forest trees, consisting of sugar, ma¬ 
ple, beech and birch, on our farm, near the 
house. It is used for u picnic ground in the 
Summer. During the cherry season, there are 
often 700 or 800 children and adults, who come 
by train to feast on cherries, and spend the 
day under the shade of the grove aud the ad¬ 
jacent fruit trees. 
We remaiu your affectionate nieces, 
Nova Heotia. Hattie and Gubsik Dahlgren. 
Uncle Mark:—I am a little boy, aud live 
on a little Island in the middle of Lake Erie. 
I guess some of the Cousins, if they were 
here, would be afraid of fulling off into the 
lake, and getting drowned; but I am not 
afraid of that, for there are about 700 acres of 
land on the island. There are about 35 fami 
lies liviug here, and all raise grapes for a 
living. We have 80 acres, and raise grapes 
also. 1 have tied and hoed grapes, I tut never 
worked in strawberries. I am eight years old, 
but have never been to school; ma teaches 
me at home. I have a nice black calf, ftbat pa 
says is of the Holstein breed. We have some 
light Brahma cacklers, and one horse, and 
two cows. 1 wish you would come and visit 
us when our grapes are ripe. 
Your nephew, Ralph farnum. 
Ottawa Co., Ohio. 
[You don’t know how badly Uncle Mark 
wants to visit the Cousins, all of ’em, but he is 
shut up here in this big, dusty city, und can't 
very well leave. Why don’t some of the 
Cousins visit uncle mark ] 
Dear Uncle Mark:— We grew beautiful 
flowers from the seed you sent and have a nice 
bod of Sweet Williams for this Summer. I 
want to tell you about a wild turkey. Three 
years ago, there was a flock of wild turkeys 
iu the kuobe just across the river from grand¬ 
pa’s house, and they would fly over the river 
to where the hogs were fed. One of the wild 
hens mingled with the tame turkeys, aud got 
so tame she would come on to the porch aud 
eat.. W hen Spring came, she flew to the knobs, 
and made her nest. She would fly to her uest 
every day, but the folk never found it. Oue 
day the folk found her with a flock of young 
turkeys, and they caught some of them, but 
did not get the old one. The little turkeys all 
died. Nothing more was seen of her, until the 
young turkeys got large enough to fly across 
the river, w hen one day she brought five of 
them over to the house. She would go back 
and forth as she pleased, always coming to 
the house at. night Sometimes she would 
walk out to the end of the canoe, and then fly' 
over. All five of the young turkeys wore gob- 
b'ers, and grand(>a has one of them yet. 
Grandpa has a large elm tree in the yard, and 
when the buds began to put forth in the 
Spring, she would walk out on the limbs, and 
pick off the buds, while the olher turkeys 
stood on the ground and watched her. She 
was very black in color. Grandpa has a large 
flock of turkeys now, but they fly to the tops 
of the trees when he tries to catch one. 
Respectfully, maroy kelly. 
Washington Co., Va. 
fertilisers!. 
YOUNG QUERIST. 
A. Y., Spring Valley, Minn. —Give me a 
little poultry advice. How should ducks be 
cared for? 
Ans. —Be kind to the fowls. Feed them 
regularly. If the poultry is shut up this Sum¬ 
mer, give them plenty of green food, and fre¬ 
quently spade up the soil in the enclosure, so 
that they may scratch for insects and worms. 
Sprinkle sulphur in their neeta, and kerosene 
tbe perches. Keep the dishes full of clean, 
pure water. See that plenty of shells aud ogg- 
produciug food are handy. Do not allow sick 
birds to run with healthy ones, but keep them 
separately confined. lASt ducks have a pen 
by themselves, into which they can go at 
night. They have very good appetites, and 
will eat almost anything; so give them plenty, 
und they will thrive, if kept healthy. The 
ducks should not be turned out of their house 
in tbe morning until they have laid, as they 
will surely lay in the water, if they get a 
chance to do so. 
H. C. IL, Poughkeepsie, N. Y. —1. How can 
I kill the. little bugs on my radishes? 2. Should 
I write on both sides of tbe paper? 3. How 
should I address letters to you? 
Ans.— 1. Perhaps pyrethrum powder dusted 
oi, the plants will kill them. If not, thorough¬ 
ly mix milk and kerosene, two parts of the 
former to one of the latter, then add four parts 
water, aud sprinkle on with a rose watering 
pot; this will prove effectual. 2. Iu writing 
for a newspaper, only one side of the paper 
should be written on. 3. Uncle Mark, Rural 
New-Yorker, New York City. 
M. C. V. N., Randolph, Wis ,—Are Canna 
seeds large, round, and black? Do they have 
to be soaked iu water before planting? 
Ans. —Yes. No, it is uot necessary to soak 
the seed; but you might hasten the sprouting 
by soaking them for a day or so In hot water. 
T. T., Varbondale, Kan .—1. What kind of 
a cultivator do you use at the Rural Grounds? 
2. Is the Waterbury watch reliable? 
Ans.— 1. We use a dozen different kinds, 
according to the work to be done. 2. Yes, as 
far as a $3 watch can be made so. 
M. L., Missoula, Mont .—L When is the best 
time to set out small fruits? 2. Is the London 
Needle Co., 133 Third Avenue, New York, re¬ 
liable? 
Ans. —1. In the Spriug, before the buds 
start. 2. Fairly reliable. 
K. O. B , Lamar, Tex .—Is there any diffe¬ 
rence between the Flowering Balsam and the 
Camellia Balsam? 
Anb.— All balsams flower. The Camellia 
Balsam has a flower resembling the camellia, 
by which it is distinguished from other bal- 
ANMIAL HALES, OVER 50,000 TONS. 
fertilizer produces 
cr0 P* superior 
: qPf Hwh tity. Itisnotastim- 
ulant, but a plant- 
o 7 I 2 f hasten noted for 
twenty 
TEARS 
* 1 maintained. 
i~ " For pamphlet*, address 
CLIDDEN & CURTIS, 
General Celling Axmio. Roitton, >1asn. 
NOVELTY BONE WORKS PHOSPHATE^ 
Manufactured by tbe Novelty Bone Works, at West 
Troy, N. Y.—Established In l$*n. This Is a Fare Bone 
Phosphate, and there la no better In market, it Is a 
complete Standard Manure. Dealer* wishing the 
gale of the best Phosphate In market, will rail on or 
address WILLIAM B. WJLLIAM.M, 
General Agent. Went Troy, N. V. 
MENHADEN 
FERTILIZERS 
Manufactured by ( 
Send for Circulars. 
CHURCH BROTHERS, 
Tiverton. It. 1. 
gmptfmcnMf and gttafHinenj. 
Incubators 
Male*’ Improved Incubators are Pronounced 
by nil th<* mow perfect biiti. t blUK*TiiiM'nlue^ made; oa- 
liaclty I 00 to 1000 egg-; (i -U.es. prices * 1 S to 
ajOw Every Poultry Raiser should have one. 
Brooder* constantly on hand; prices * I - to 830. 
Bend stamp for descriptive circulars und testimonials. 
Address 
Jorrpli I. Boles At. CO.. Weymouth Hinas. 
WHEAT CULTURE! 
THE SEED DRILL REGULATOR 
/•"t c AUtC two-lifllmof the Reed 
\ /jf f S A V ta and one-half of tha 
(LX* t( Fertilizer. Lightens tbe draft. I’re- 
aU® _|l vents dogging. Heed will come up 
several days sooner. 60 per cant, more 
seed will come up. Produces strong plants 
and large yield. Send for pamphlet "lime In liatje 
Wheal "Seed Drill Regulator Co. Lemont,Centre Co.Pa 
|jU&X (Estate. 
. i i w I I ,77, , ,. Netting Investors N per ceut. 
diUll Principal aud Interest guar¬ 
anteed. Guaranty based on capital of *75,Oun. Refer 
to any commercial agency. Send for circulars. 
Texas Loan Agency. Corslcuua, Texas. 
Cl (IDini IHnp* and Papers r DCC 
r LUn I UM a Newspaper Three • 1\ I- C 
Month- for •J.’i cents. Address 
FARltELL’H LAM) OFFICE, Waldo,Florida. 
THE LINE SELECTED BY THE U S. GOV’T 
TO CARRY THE FA8T MAIL 
GOING WEST. 
ONLY LINE RUNNING TWO THROUGH 
TRAINS DAILY FROM 
CHICAGO, PEORIA & ST. LOUIS, 
Through the Heart of the Continent by way 
of Paclttc J unction ox Omaha to 
DENVER, 
or via Kansas Olty and Atchison to Denver, con¬ 
necting la Union Depots at Kansas City, Atchison, 
Omaha and Denver with throjgh trams for 
SAN FRANCISCO, 
and all points In the Far West, shortest Line to 
KANSAS CITY, 
And all points lu the South-West. 
TOURISTS AND HEALTH-SEEKERS 
Should not forget the fact that Round Trip tickets at 
reduced rates can be purchased via this Great 
Through Line, to all the Health and Pleasure 
Resorts of the West and South-West, including 
the Mountains of COLOKADO, the Valley of tha 
Yosemlte, the 
CITY OF MEXICO, 
and all points Id the Mexican Republic. 
HOME-SEEKERS 
Should also remember that this line leads direct to 
the heart of the Govrrumeut aud Railroad Lands la 
Nebraska, Kansas, Texas, Colorado and Washing¬ 
ton Territory. 
ills Known as the great THROUGH CAR LINE 
of America, aud Is universally admitted to be tbe 
Fiuest Equipped Railroad in the World for 
all cluases of Travel. 
Through Tickets via this line for sale at all Rail¬ 
road Coupon Ticket ORlces In the United States and 
Canada. 
T. J. POTTER, 
Vice-Pres, aud Gen. Manager. 
PERCEVAL LOWELL, 
Oeu. Pass. Ag’t Chicago. 
JNO. Q, A. BEAN, Oeu. Eastern Ag’t, 
<si7 Broadway. New York, and 
306 Washington St, Beaton, 
