gmpUmsutiS and gHaffctttevt} 
ware not to let them bloom before they are 
matured. 
GOLD MEDAL, PARIS, 1878 
BAKER’S 
Uncle Mark don’t yon, tbink that plan of 
Miss Loretta Brown, of starting water¬ 
melon seeds in fruit can a a good one? 
Why could not any seed be started the same 
way, even flower seeds? That is also a good 
way to start slips. She also speaks about the 
Chrysanthemum. The above flower, I think, 
is one of our best Pall flowers. To cultivate 
this plant successfully is a very easy matter. 
It is a very hardy plant, standing the hardest 
Winters. I have youug plants every Fall, 
two or three inches high, in my yard, which 
live out all Winter uncovered. Cuttings 
should be taken in May. As soon as the young 
plants have rooted they should be potted in 
small pots filled with sandy loam. They like 
a cool situation and plenty of water. As the 
roots fill the pots they should be shifted to 
larger pots, and so on until they get in six- 
inch pots, in which they are to bloom. The 
flowers last from three to ten weeks, accord¬ 
ing to their treatment. If planted in the gar 
den they should be separated every Spring; 
when they are thick, they are a failure. 
Pinch the tops off when they are six inches 
high and they will send oat side branches, 
which bear more and better flowers. There 
are several colors, including yellow, white, 
red, purple, etc. C. frutescens, the “Marguer¬ 
ite, ” has for the past few years been exten¬ 
sively used in New York by florists for bou¬ 
quets. Don Folinno. 
WINTER EVENING OCCUPATION, 
I have used the 
“ ACME ” Pulverizing: 
Harrow, Clod Crusher & 
Leveler on black bottom 
ground that very few 
plows will scour in, but 
the coulters kept clean 
and bright.” (See page 
32 this paper.) 
UNCLE MARE 
Warranted absolutely pure 
Cocoa, from which the excess of 
OU has been removed. It, has three 
times the etn >ir)th of < oroa mixed 
with Starch, Arrowroot or Sugar, 
and Is therefore f i)r more economi¬ 
cal. It is delicious, nourishing, 
strengthening, easily digested, and 
admirably adapted for iuvnlids ns 
well as lor persons in health. 
Sold by Bracers everywhere. 
I presume my young readers are not ex¬ 
ceptions to that large class of young people 
who find it hard work to pass away the long 
.Winter evenings, or a stormy day when they 
cannot go to school, “What shall I do 
mother?’ is a question often asked, and some¬ 
times mother is at her wits end to know what 
to have you do. Children that have been in 
school all day need to have a change from 
the routine of school duties, and, during the 
day, there is nothing better than plenty of 
out-door exercise, but this will not do for 
evening amusement. “What shall they do?’' 
then, is the question. A writer for the young 
people makes these suggestions. 
Making collections of different things and 
arranging them tastefudy and systematically, 
whether of stamps, picture cards, autographs, 
coins, minerals or other articles of interest, 
is a pleasant pastime and opens a large field 
for self-improvement. A great deal of inge¬ 
nuity may be exercised in constructing cab¬ 
inets, fixing up boxes aud fitting shelves and 
drawers in them, so that safe and permanent 
places will be afforded for the different col¬ 
lections. If a collector will write out and 
attach to each specimen or coin a short kis- 
tory, describing it and giving out the points 
of interest regarding it, he will add much to 
his general knowledge, and make his museum 
much more interesting and valuable. Short 
biographical sketches of eminent men placed 
beneath their autograph, presenting in a few 
words the more prominent acts of their lives, 
and those particular traits for which t» ey are 
noted in politics, literature, or art, will in¬ 
crease the value of the autograph album and 
make the owner familiar with men and his¬ 
tory. Scrap book collections are also a great 
sou rce of pleasure and education. Gathering 
together ail of the items of interest about 
different subjects and arranging them under 
th 6 several heads makes a compilation which 
is very valuable and pleasant to refer to in 
leisure moments. There are many interesting 
games, some of which are instructive as well 
as entertaining. The game of authors is not 
new but is quite as attractive to children as 
ever. Checkers, dominoes, and chess are 
always pleasant games to those who enjoy 
them, but are not as sociable as some others. 
A game called “Logomachy” or word-making 
is quite instructive in its way and is especially 
recommended to all poor spellers. It is very 
fascinating and will hold the players for an 
hour at a time. 
However, 1 do not think it is wise, for the 
older ones especially, to spend much of their 
time with games, tnough a proper seasoning 
of them is well enough. Let good books be 
your most intimate companions; they will 
give you an enjoyment far higher than any 
games can give and your time spent iu read¬ 
ing them never seems “lost” as it sometimes 
does when much of it is given to play. 
SEND FOR CATALOGUE, mjU,e,free 
Architectural, Farming,Sporting 
and Miscellaneous Books, 
SUITABLE FOR RURAL HOMES. 
THE AMERICAN NEWS COMPANY, 
30 Chamber. St., N. Y. 
^T7 7 ,n ElegantSoriptType, x n ^ 
A> . y / onto teiiill-'ttUmpm l> \ clirom"\ vv/l 
4^5 / carilK.loc, 14 pic*. $ L "0 pu»rl o.veiS. 
KjV/RilUdeeJcMawUh UrT'<’>lcorner!*,IO cAv /Si 
AYYAgents'large nlbrmt rcmlnlnlng »tl t|»l4t«lt\V|H 
style* of Imported ImivcI ode. end satin fritigo\0 
/curds.-with ltloatinted vn-m i.rn list * prlvstc 
r to .gents, 350. PA Ml MILLS, Nnt llilord, Conn. \ 
GREAT SAVING FOR FARMERS 
(Weymouth's Patent.) 
to purchase, a complete file of 
TCfl the RURAL NEW-YORKER 
11 tip to 18*7. Address, statins 
* ■ * "w conditio" and price, 
P. BEACH. 757 Brand way. N. V. 
LETTERS FROM THE COUSINS, 
| Awarded'‘Tiasr ORDER Or MERIT 
jgj J at Melbonrne Exhibition. 1880. 
Wan award- d I)y» f,l>t premium 
/ | at Un-IiiPflinUoiii l Exhibition iu 
| f Philadelphia, in |K7tj, uiuijuiceiitad 
/ . by thu 3 udtrtiK a* 
/ SUPERIOR TO ANY OTHER 
■ [ KNIFE IN USE. 
/• . Tt Is the BEST KNTFE in the 
j r world to out fine fred from bale, to 
cut down iit'in ors/iir/r, to out eoru- 
k ; J vtuIkK for feed, to cut _/•>«(, or for 
M J diteUili’-- iu marshes, and has no 
/ I equal forcuttiiig ensilage from the 
! silo. TK\ IT. 
' / IT WILL PAY YOU. 
v Manufactured only by 
IIRAM HOLT & CO. m”Ts.°a.' 
for tale by Jtaeiiwn re Jfcrchrtnlt amt the traitr iimeraltf. 
WANTED. 
About February 1st. married man without family, 
under 4u years of age. as Hardener and Farmer: must 
thoroughly understand bis business, be hotmst and 
sober, un n"t afraid of work. One acre of nspc.ra- 
cus care of horses, cows. etc. Favorable terms can 
be had hy the right man No application considered 
except both man an * wife are recommended by well 
known pa-tles. Apply personally or by letter. 
S. BAKNAIID, 333 Broadway, Room 2$, N. Y. City. 
Dear Uncle Mark:— You talk about the 
silent Cousins; I think I am one of them. I 
wrote once before, but my letter did not ap¬ 
pear in print, but I will try again. The 
stalk of Rural corn lacked a few inches of being 
14 feet high and eight feet to the top of the 
highest ear; there were four ears to the stalk. 
We commenced Oct. 13 to dig sweet potatoes. 
We had one that weighed two pounds lour 
and one-half ounces. Our celery is called the 
best in the neightjorhood; every one that eats 
it thinks it is the best they have ever eaten. 
Our wheat and hollyhocks grew nicely. We 
have 25 kinds of flowers and different colors 
of the same kinds of flowers. We iaised 30 
bushels of wheat from one acre. We like the 
Rural so well that we are going to subscribe 
for it another year; we can’t do without it. 
We have a nice strawberry patch of 4 , 1/00 
plants. I sowed a paper of onions in the 
Spring for sets, and they ail grew to big 
ones, so I will have to buy another paper 
next year. Your niece, 
Venango Co., Pa. Eva S. Temple. 
ESTABLISHED 1884. NO PATENT! NO PAY! 
fp|H|rnnobtained for Mechanical Devices,Com 
I H K I \ puiindft, Designs an<1 Labels. All pie- 
11 Dll 1 U llmlnary examlnatlo' » a* to patent«- 
__ C_/ " Guide for Obtaining 
blllty of Inventions free. Our " Guide for 
Patents” Is sent free everywhere. Address LOUIS 
BaOGER & CO., Snlc’re Of Patents, Washington, D.C. 
E W FARM gragSKfig 
500 farms described. Maps of Virginia, nr „ 
H. L. STAPLES & CO., Richmond, Va. tOU. 
9UUU UUriTLLAT HALF COST. 
A.nentti' Profit* £5 to $tO per .lav, at home. 
Address SHEPARD BROS.. Cincinnati, Ohio. 
a §■ ||VA can now grasp a fortune. Out- 
fi a * b HI I W fit worth SI O free. AddressE G. 
^Ukll I UHiiiHjI'TX Co., 1(1 Barclay St.. N.Y. 
Gilt Edge Compliment Cards, with name aud ele¬ 
gant case, 10c. H. M. Cook, Meriden. Conn. 
N0N-PQ ISO NOUS 
(Patented in V. S.. JiHj/3, 18TT.) 
MORRIS LITTLE « SON. Prop*.» and Maniif'rs. 
I« iMiperior to all other dips, as It Is used cold. 
In cheeper, for one gallon is suflielent for 100 gal¬ 
lons of cold wai er. 
I* w arm nml pro eetinir to the skin, water-proof¬ 
ing It against w. t weather, and perfectly safe to 
use In the coldest weather. 
Increase.. «|imiHitv au.1 Improves quality of the 
wool, for wool tw ice blPPRI* baa beeu declared 
worth 81 per "tod" 128 lbs ) more money. 
J8 A SllKfc CL’UK A SO A RKMKDY AS KOLLOWS: 
SHEEP -Scab, Ticks, Lice, Fly and Maggots. Foot- 
rot: Grub In the Head, and Worms In tlie Throat 
In Lambs, "Lmnbrl*," Tape worniH. 
HOUSES—Jliuige. Lice Thrush. Grease, Cracked 
Heels Saddleund other Galls, Bots, LungDisease. 
CATTLE-Lice, Foot and-Mouth Disease. Hoof-rot; 
prevents Abortion. 
DOGS—Mange and Fleas; makes the coat glossy. 
HOGS -Mange and Lice. 
1N TERN A LLY for worms In all animals; ulcers 
and wounds or all kinds 
POULTRY— Fleas aud Lice, Mites on the perches, 
nn.l purllU'i* (he Iiouhch. 
HORTICULTURE Aidils, Blight, Scale, on Or- 
cuge Trees, bark Lice, Rust In Carrots, Ants, and 
all Insect pest*. 
In mo extrt oirtly valuable In many ways on a 
Karin and u ihe Household thut no Farmer or 
Breeder of live stock should ever he without It. 
Send stamp for prices aud testimonials to 
T. \V. l.A VVt'OKO. Geti l Agent., 2W5 E. Chase St., 
Baltimore, Mo. 
I Mention this paper. I 
Umpirmcut^ and fftartuacri) 
Dear Uncle Mark: —As I have not written 
to you but a few times I thought I would at¬ 
tempt to write again. The water-melon seeds 
you so kindly sent me, did not come up. 1 
planted them in little boxes about the Htb 
day of May, but 1 guess that was too early 
for Michigan. I guess you do not get many 
letters from St. Louis as Nellie Salisbury and 
myself seem to be the only ones who write. 
But 1 will have to write to you oftener than 
I have before. I would like to correspond 
with some of the Cousins very muon. 1 hope 
they will not all forget to write as I have, 
keep on and perhaps some day there will 
be more Cousins for the Rural than any 
other paper. We have four tnilch cows. I 
I milk and feed two, my brother the other 
two. We have also a little Jersey heifer ; 
she is justas cute a calf as there can be ; 
her mother is the “boss” of the other cows, 
but she does not hurt her “Daisy.” I don’t 
believe any body would want to hurt her. 
Gratiot Co. Mich. Alice E. Hughes. 
IMPROVED EVAPORATORS 
Evaporate MAPLE SAP taster and with 
les* fad than any apparatus Known, con ee- 
qucntly make lighter colored and higher 
flavored sugar. — ___- — 
Send postal for \ . . .A 
circulars and tea- 
VERMONT fT 
FARM MAliiINK ^ rSSSSSSii 
COMPANY, *T .min-- 
Bellows Falls. Vt. 
NOTES FOR THE CLUB. 
£T THE BEST 
I see, by reading the letters, that t he 
cause of the great failure in raising the water¬ 
melons, was that the seeds were planted too 
early. 
With .S/^r*T (irinJlin] 
IjAUEa.. .SIret I v,/» f‘rather. Iirnf Bievo 
J5| for Mo;iL They take IJJS.K 
- l’OH ICR, do .U«>»•!• W orli, 
’/»• and are amre da ruble than muy 
tr BV Other mill. . v +nd ,for Jtetcri)’ II " 
r.' A i'ntabarar. A1 -<' inaii'frs of t",e 
. —-J Union Hone Power, with Level 
' Tread. Threthert ttnd ftertnrre. 
* Peed dutterr, Cirnitar Smre. etc. 
BOY FB A- BltO.. Pliiladclphiu. Hu. 
We are all going to turn over a new leaf 
this year and I hope Uncle Mark will do so, 
too, by increasing our space and giving us a 
new heading. 
EVAPORATING FRUIT 
Treatise on Improved method; 
SENT FREE. Wonderful result- 
Tables of Yields. Prices, I'roCG 
and General Statistics. Addrees 
AMERICAN MANIT’G CO 
Waynesboro. Pa. 
MEAT WESTERN 
PilUtiirrh,^ 
1 ^ !’*• in 
Uncle Elm says something about the Ivy. 
To mix a Maaei ra vine with an ivy, the effect 
is beaucilui: to do so, have two pots, one for 
the ivy, the other for the Madeira vine; put 
the pots where the sun will not Btrike on 
them and train the vines on the same string. 
Pinch off the tops of the vines when they get 
to be about six or eignt inches high Madeira 
vine roots when planted in the garden should 
have flower seeds planted in front of them so 
a 9 to keep the sun from the roots; by doing 
tnis they will not only grow faster but will 
hive larger leaves, flowers and roots. 
Dear Uncle Mark: — I want to write to 
you what success I had with the melon seeds 
you bo kindly sent me. I received five seeds 
and planted them. They all came up, but 
one of the plants died. Four grew, bearing 
only two melons. The weather in this sec¬ 
tion was too cold and wet for melons and I 
planted them on clay soil. The largest melon 
w-eighea pounds, measured in length 12 ^ 
inches; measured in largest circumference, 
31J^ inches and smallest circumference. 21X 
inches. I picked it September 17. We live 
on a farm in St. Lawrence Co,, N. Y., two 
miles from the St. Lawrence River. Pa 
planted the Rural Corn, but the weather was 
bo cold the ears did not ripen although they 
were of great size. We have a cactus four 
feet high that has bloomed four times within 
the last year. Your niece, 
St, Lawrence Co., N. Y. Myrtie. 
Writ*f*r LRrRfi ninitrated Catalogue. 
&tflea,8hot Guilh, Revolvers,sent cod for uxaniinatoon. 
Am+ncan F+%u D+i*. 
PERFECTION OBTAINED 
IN 
Cutting Roots. 
This Cutter has reed red the First Premium at 
every Fair, and has no equal. Do 
not fail to examine it. 
The Neaient. Siroi.gent, Simplest. Cheapest, 
mill must Perfect Uutil fuller iu the .Market. 
This Glitter In built with a heavy ouk frame, well 
bolted together; Is staunch and strong, neatly fin¬ 
ished. handsomely striped aud ornamented. The cut¬ 
ting apparatus uouKlst* of twenty five Stud Knives, 
(gouge shaped), so arranged on a wroughtlron shaft 
that they are perfectly secure ; no chance of beoom 
tug loose or breaking. The roou are neatly cut In 
pieces suitable fur feeding. No coante ungainly pieces 
are lort. by this Cutter. A boy can .aislly cut 85 to 40 
bushels per hour, so easily does it do Its work. 
(W~ Don't fall to examine It. 
VVe are manufacturing three sizes, designated by 
numbers,—1, 2 and A 
Nos. 1 and 2 designed Tor hand use. 
No. 3 l» the Power Cutler and will cut 100 bushe 
per hour. 
Price. No. 1.#12.00 
“ No. 2 . 14.00 
" No. 3. 22.00 
KIGGANUM M’FG CORPORATION 
HlKganum, Ct., U. 8. A.. 
Warehouse 38 Ho. IVIurkei St., Bust on. DIums 
Uncle Elm also says, “Geraniums, etc., 
are readily grown from slips; if kept moist, 
etc., will bloom (if they grow) in a few 
weeks.” What does he mean by a “few 
weeks ” ? By experience, I have found that 
geraniums will not bloom until they are eight 
or nine weeks old and sometimes longer. If 
they bloom before that time they will injure 
the plant, because it is not strong eLough. I 
once had a tea or “ monthly ” rose, which 
came up in the Spring (it was out all Winter, 
covered up); it pub forth two buds, one of 
which bloomed (the plant grew to be four 
inches high); then the plant died. Why? 
Because it was not strong enough to stand it. 
Almost, If not, all plants are the same. Be- 
Dear Uncle Mark. —When 1 wrote you 
previously I forgot to mention the Gem 
Squash. It turned out splendidly—there were 
such numbers of them on the vines, and the 
flavor was so flue. There is nothing coarse 
about them, and it is a puzzle how so much 
goodness can be condensed in so small Bpace. 
Your nephew, C. A. Butterworth. 
