fox i\)t Doitnfj 
THE CHICKENS. 
Said the first little chicken. 
With a queer little squirm: 
"I wish I could find 
A fat little worm!” 
Said the next little chicken 
With an odd little shrug: 
“I wish I could find 
A fat little hug!” 
Said the third little chicken, 
With a sharp little squeal: 
"1 wish 1 could find 
Some nice yellow meal!" 
Said the fourth little chicken, 
With a small sigh of grief: 
“I wish I could find 
A green little leaf!" 
Said the fifth little chicken, 
With a faint little moan: 
“1 wish I could find 
A wee gravel-stone!” 
“Now see here!” said the mother, 
From the green garden-patch: 
“If you want any breakfast, 
Just come here and scratch!” 
-» - 
SUGGESTIONS FOR THE YOUNG. 
BY M. F. 
Love of the soil is one of the earliest in¬ 
stincts of human nature. A little child as soon 
as it is able to make its escape anil creep out of 
the house begins to ilig in the dirt: the desire 
to uproot what is already sown comes before 
the wish to plant and produce; but this is be¬ 
cause it requires a more advanced state of in¬ 
telligence to become producers. Many of you, 
no doubt, have surprised—if not exactly pleased 
—your parents by your early efforts at trans¬ 
planting and re-arranging some of their cher¬ 
ished plants; you have doubtless amused them 
too, when you began to plant seeds for growth, 
by the constant uneartliing of the seeds to ex¬ 
amine their progress during the few moments 
they were out of sight. But can you not your¬ 
selves remember the delight you felt when you 
had growu wise enough to lea ve the germ to its 
own chances of growth after you had done 
your part, aud the beautiful growing shoots 
seemed to you like something of your own 
creation' There can be no more gratifying ex¬ 
periences in life than those found in witnessing 
the successful result of our labors, lu order to 
obtain satisfactory results we must: learn to lx 1 
wise, to be faithful, vigilant, determined, and 
to bring all the practical knowledge we can 
obtain to bear upon our labors. It is of the 
utmost importance in any task, no matter how 
trivial, that we should pay earnest attention 
to the work in hand, remembering the old 
adage, that “What is worth doing at all, is 
worth doing well.'’ 
If you have but three feet of ground to cul¬ 
tivate. give it the necessary attention as faith¬ 
fully as if it were thirty feet. There are many 
difficulties to be considered, some of which can 
be met and overcome, aud some of wliich can 
only L»e guarded agaiust as carefully as may 
be. There are wet and dry seasons, early and 
late frosts, which liave to be taken as they 
come, and the plants sheltered, fed, aud tended 
as well as possible. Then there are weeds and 
insects against which it is necessary to wage, an 
incessant warfare. Nature seems to ever have 
on hand a stock of these, especially, perhaps 
the far mer, and if you take too long a rest, lo! 
she has been before you, and you are suddenly 
aware that the weeds ar e the natural product 
of the soil, taking advantage of the slightest 
opportunity, have succeeded in asserting them¬ 
selves astonishingly. Let us therefore take for 
our motto, that “eternal vigilance is the price 
of success’' in gardening. 
— - ♦ ^ - 
AN OLD-FASHIONED OYSTER SUPPER. 
This was not like the convivial feasts of the 
present time; there was no display of glass 
and china, wines and liquors; no toasts were 
given, no set speeches made, either patriotic or 
political. The partakers of the feast were gath¬ 
ered around one of the old-fashioned, capacious, 
open fire-places, iu one of New England’s most 
Yankee towns, in the year 1818, or about that 
time. In that fire-place, between its wide-sun¬ 
dered granite jambs, lay a maple or pepper- 
idge back-log, which had been rolled over the 
spacious kitchen floor because too unwieldy to 
be handled otherwise. This was all aglow and 
before it spread out a wide bed of live coals. 
There ou the wide stone hearth stood the old 
gridiron, from which w T as modeled our coun¬ 
try’s flag, and by its side stood, in a busheL- 
basket, the live moilusks, secure iu their nat¬ 
ural shields. 
The group around that glowing ibe, con¬ 
sisting of a family of eight, “ big and little,” 
did not relish dead bivalves; they were for 
those who lived too far from sea to obtain the 
prime, fresh article. Each took his turn as 
waiter, whose business it was to serve the rest 
with the fresh-roasted viands, as fast as the 
gridiron and glowing coals could furnish them. 
Each held in his hand the bright table lmife, 
which answered for nn opener when needed, and 
also to prepare the bread and butter—bandy 
by—and the only adjunct ever prepared for 
these feasts. That bread and butter! The 
first was made of rye raised by the members of 
that group find on the homestead, and ground 
iu the old water-mill, for which the owner re¬ 
ceived by law' one-tenth, and was by virtue 
of his occupation exempt from jury service. 
Such bread! No ncw r process—even from 
wheat grown in Dakota—ever made bread that 
so well satisfied me. The poet Barlow, in his 
inimitable song. “Hasty Pudding,” boasted 
that his bones were made of Iudian corn: 
mine were made of rye bread. That butter, 
too! no oleomargarine, butterine or other 
abomination! In the barnyard near by stood 
the cows that furnished the milk, and iu 
that festive group sat the ladies, yes, ladies. 
who skimmed aud manipulated the cream. 
Those good old times! Shall I ever look upon 
their like again? "Nevermore! Nevermore!” 
VlELLiARD. 
[Accompanying the above our good friend 
“Vielliard” sent a little note saying he had of¬ 
ten thought that short articles, descriptive of 
the manners aud habits of the New' England¬ 
ers of a half century ago. might be interesting 
to our young readers. Yes, “ Vielliard,’' they 
will be of interest! The young folks of to-day 
are too little acquainted with the good old 
customs of earlier times, and we know of no 
one who can better inform our young folks on 
this matter than the writer of the above, who 
has passed his threescore years and ten. May 
he live yet many years to speak and write for 
the inspiration of our youth, and w'hen he goes 
hence may their benedictions follow him. u.m.] 
-- 
LETTERS FROM THE COUSINS. 
Dear Uncle Mark: —I have made up my 
mind to begin a correspondence and write my 
first letter to you about the seeds my father 
received from you in the distribution of the 
Rural New-Yorker, which paper he is 
never tired of perusing and sends to all the 
neighbors around here to read. The Rural 
Dent Corn my father got was splendid, but he 
thinks the Chester County Mammoth quite as 
good for Texas, but lie will not decide until 
after another year’s trial. The mckms, squash 
and hollyhocks did well, and such pinks I 
never saw in bloom. The Elephant Potato 
was just immense; the celery very pretty, but 
does not do w r ell here. My father got some 
seed of the Golden Sweet Potato, and has 
raised some from that seed that weighed eight 
pounds three ounces; they are almost roimd, 
and many ou seeing them thought they were 
Turban Squashes. No one ou first sight would 
take them for sweet potatoes. All here think 
them unequalled for size aud quality. My 
home is in Goderich. Ontario (Canada), bat I 
was here when the tubere arrived, on the ranch 
with my two brothers, so my father gave 
them to me to try iu Texas. They turned out 
most gratifying, the best Irish potatoes we 
ever had. M 3 * cabbage or sweet corn I cannot 
boast of. I am now here again, where i spend 
each Winter with my father and mother, and 
am anxiously looking for the next distribution 
for m 3 ' w'ild garden. I think I can beat the 
prairies, but it will be a hard matter, as the}* 
are more than lovely in the Spring. My 
father lias been a subscriber since the com¬ 
mencement of the Rural New-Yorker, and 
would sooner go without his dinner than miss 
its arrival. Your niece, 
Bosque Co., Texas. Daisy Johnston. 
Uncle Mark:—I have never succeeded in 
raising melons here but resolved to make a for¬ 
midable effort last year as .you were good 
enough to send the seeds. I therefore dug a 
place about tw r o feet deep, filled in with well- 
rotted manure about one foot, balance with 
sifted garden soil, and planted the seeds. 
To give them a good start, and to distance all 
competitors, I placed a cold frame over them, 
watering as the condition of the ground seemed 
to demand. I watched the soil closely and 
saw the fii-st crack in the earth w here the plant 
w'as coming through. Two plants came up; 
they grew a very little. Fruit? Not any. This 
experience in melon culture may not be very 
interesting to the Horticultural Club, but 
between us, as friends, my opinion is that the 
best way to raise w atermelons is to plant a 511- 
cout piece on a grocery-man's counter. The 
crop will then be harvested without further 
trouble. Your nephew, 
Chemung Co., N. Y. Harry R. French. 
Dear Uncle Mark:— My father takes the 
Rural and w r e all like to read it very much. 
My brother aud I would like to have our names 
enrolled as members of the Club. We Jive 
w ay* up in Northern Michigan near Little Tra¬ 
verse Bay. and in the great fruit belt. There 
are three resort grounds and two towns along 
Little Traverse Bay*—all witliin 10 miles of 
each other. There arc hundreds of people up 
here in the Summer to enjoy the scenery and 
hunting and fishing. They kill deer and some¬ 
times bears. The snow is now about three feet 
deep, but the thermometer has not been more 
than one degree below zero. Your nephew, 
Emmet Co., Mich. Wilbur Hedutcs. 
amplemctttjei mtd parfcittmj. 
“ I used the ‘A C ME ’ 
Pulverizing Harrow, Clod 
Crusher and Leveler on 
stiff clay, very stony, and, 
it gave good satisfac¬ 
tion:’ (See page IS5 this 
paper.) 
Jlnivy 
./a REOD’S 
mk CREAMERY 
£S5£s|>>;h/h,\>s nun I.OOD 
BUTTER 
-T SIMPLEST AND BIST. 
BUTTER WORKER 
Bli.U KfftativpftndConM'nirnt. ul-r» 
Power W'orkers, Butter Print¬ 
ing Shipping Boxes, etc. 
DOC POWERS. 
Wn" for ntuxfrniril('ri'ttithjue.*' 
A. H. REID, 
26 S. 16th Street, Phila. Pa. - 
Ilium 
f f 
FOWLER X WOODWORTH , A rH? HA NNOCKFALLSjk” 
PROFESSOR 
THE FERGUSON 
BUREAU CREAMERY 
Makes the Best Butter 
It develops the fine** flavor and color. The butter 
lias I ho bc-st ST., n i. min ket p)QC quality . 
It makes the most bull or. Uses the least ioc, and 
b:ivcs the most labor. , , . . 
Hundreds have discarded deep setters and adopted 
4 - 1 * a ll 
DON'T BUY ANY CANS, PANS OR CREAMER, 
orsend your milk.to Iho 1'nctory. until you lave sent 
foronr large illustrated circulars and price limn. 
TIIE FF.IJCI SON M’F’G. 4 0., I5iirliiitn.il, Vt. 
Made from Professor Horsford’B Acid 
Phosphate. 
Recommended by leading physicians. 
Makes lighter biscuit. cakes, etc., and 
is healLhier than ordinary Puking Pow¬ 
der, 
In Betties. Sold at a reasonable price. 
The Horstord Almanac and Cook Book 
sent free. 
Rumford Chemical Works Providence, R. I. 
II. ill. ANTHONY, Ag't 100 and 102 Reade St.. N. '. 
Rectangular and Square Box 
a Minus, i 'h t a i>txt because tin: 
0<wt. No inside fixtures, and 
reliable. ", sizes of 
mUtfi kind made. Wn make 
Curtis's Improved Factory 
iChurn and Mason’s Power 
Butter-worker. 1 ntjucetioned 
prui.'l given of tlielr .*•ulterior 
tpiafiliivUn material mid con¬ 
struction not ihi iiiiiril of In- 
other makers. Send for Dai- 
n/iuun, tree. Consist! A Cni 
Tts, Ft. Atkinson, Wis. 
c* 
CHURN 
(Trees, $eea$, Plants, &r 
MANUFACTURED BY T1IK 
For the purpose of promoting pro¬ 
gressive agriculture, we desire to pro¬ 
cure stocks of Seed of all new aud im- 
— docks of Seed of all new aud Im¬ 
proved varieties,especially l’u re Seed Corn and oth¬ 
er grains. New varieties should ha vet hdr characteris¬ 
tics lived by a eflurac of fiveyears or more of careful 
selection and breeding. Any person having such will 
please send sample, with Ids own address plainly 
marked upon the package, and write careful descrip¬ 
tion, with hlstorv, to 
II IK A.II SIBLEY A CO.. Seedsmen. 
Rochester. X. A .. and Chicago, 111. 
Mil ppfll and Scions of K idler and Le> 
jtC m ■* T conn* Pears: Pencil Trees; Su- 
I ilhliU* perl*. Hansel), Cunlsnh, Beauty 
I and Reliance Raspberries: Jas. 
American!* should use no other 
It is Mm Purest, the most Concentrated, the 
Strongest, the heaviest, the Cheapest mid 
the best Dairy Salt in tho World. 
WARR ANTED ns Pureim nnr 8A LT in the 
.Market. 
Dairy floods Suited With Onondaga F. F. Salt took 
a majority or all the premiums awarded at tho Grand 
Union Dairy Fair. Milwaukee, Dee. l-H, lt\V>, 
•I. W. BARKER. Scc’y, Syracuse, N. Y. 
'““n i luiNiMiri i icn; tins. 
■ Vick, Old Iron Clitfl, Big und In¬ 
diana Strawberries* Staynieu'8 Early lUnckber- 
rifN, Long 11st r»f other Fruits & 1 'Inn ts. Price list free 
toalh S.C.nerOV.MoorostmYn, Hurhngton Co.,X.,J. 
PMALL FRUIT PLANTS VVL , , 
Seeullng #1 ..50* Sharpless Si .73, All the best 
& most profitable new varieties at very low rates. 
I'll re Stock, first-class Plants. Semi for Price 
Lists. .T. B. SLA YM AKER A: SON, Dover, Delaware. 
t l >T. 4lontuiuano oil. Does not fade or 
Does not color the buttermilk. It wiU color 
■fit qipi’e I fuller tli/.n imv utber color. Ask 
Iggis; ■ mleul.rlorit; ,i : o reeelpuif 25c. 
Fetich postpaid, sample coloring On lbs. of 
• *'' Till IT and you will use tin other. 
^.F. 8 KULUC 0 .^i»- 
GROWN AND IMPORTED EXPRESSLY FOR 
MARKET GARDENERS 
Wholesale Price List sent free to fill engaged In 
growing vegetables for market, 
I> COWAN & CO., ill Chambers St.. New York 
All the best old and new varieties, nt reasonable 
rates; Hansel I Raspberry, Fay’s Currant. Asparagus 
Roots afld Seed. Price List tree. Address 
.loti, IIOIf S’Kl< A MIN. Mattel) a vrvu.i.K, N. J. 
OF ALL PLANTS, FOR ALL CROPS, 
FOR ALL CLIMATES. 
We are the largest farmers, largest seed grow¬ 
ers and largest nerd dealers liny is here; lienee 
have greatest liwHlitiOB for producing Best Needs 
Ml mu Srfh erefiwfai, nml only the best held out. 
Oar Ai%nwtl Coiitloi/ur <n nl 1 'rir - /,/'./ brings Till-! 
UUEATUST KP.F.II STOUR IN T11E 
WORLD TO VOI R li«N DOOR. It in- 
cl ides all the desirable new and standard varieties 
Ol' Flower, Vegetable. Field and Tree Seeds, and 
Plants. Sent t R EE to tiny address. 
HIRAM SIBLEY &. CO. Seedsmen 
Rochester, N*. Y. and Chicago. 111. 
HE DINGEE & CONARD CO’S 
BEAUTIFUL EVER.BLOOMING 
Raspberry, the best. Every one should 
have It. All Small fruit. Send for Cata¬ 
logue free. 
J ll.'VTN JOHNSON, 
PALMYRA. Wayne Co., N. Y. 
My Annual Priced Catalogue now ready and mailed 
free to all applicants. It contains all the leading and 
most popular sorts of 
\ r eo;etable, F'ield, 
AND 
Flower Seeds- 
Besides all the desirable novelties of last season, and 
nearly everything else in tny line of business. 
ALFREQ BRIDGEMAN, 
37 East lJIth Street. NEW YORK CITY. 
The only establishment mnklna u SPECIAL 
BUSINESS©* ROSES. GO LARGE HOUSEd 
for ROSES alone. Sirens' Pet Hunt- . tumble tor 
imnicdUitiMiuioui deliver, ilaafely. post pald.to linypost- 
office. s splendid varieties, your cholco, all labeled, 
forS| ; 12 for 82! If> for $3! 2fli'orS4* 35forS5; 
75for 810; lOOb’f 813; We CIVE t« Hnndnomo 
Pteaerit of choice* and vnlunhic ROSES free 
with every order. Our NEWCUIDF. rl rrmtplrt?. 
Tnii’it.? ou 'hr rh i)anlli/ llluslraieil—frte hmlt. 
THE DINCEE * CONARO CO. 
Rose Grower*, West Grove, Chester Co., Pa. 
.TOR «L\ I,E -APPLE HEED.—Prime and Fresh 
’ Growth of 1832, ut ri-aaoimbli* rates. Address 
H. W. liLASItFIELD, Homer, N. V. 
30 Choice Collections 
of SMALL FRUITS, GRAPE VINKS, FLOWERING 
SHRUBS and OENAMENTAL CUMBERS. Offered at 
greatly reduced rulea By express or mall. Also a 
lull line of NCKSKKV STOCK. Send for our De¬ 
scriptive Illustrated Catalogue and Guide to the Fruit 
and • iruuun ntal planter. Sent free to all applicants. 
3V.1I. li. MOOTS. IliorrisTlIks Biiehat’o., I’m, 
