gninj ^ttpptic.s 
fHtiefccllancDttiB 
C. B., Lanesboro, Pa .—Is Rideout & Co. a 
reliable firm? 
A ns. —We know of nothing to the contrary. 
H. De L , Storvi Lake, Iowa. —1. Will you 
please tell ns the name of the watermelon seed 
sent us hist year? 2. How should we address 
letters to Uncle Mark? 
Ans. —1. Surprise. 2. Uncle Mark, Rural 
New-Yorker, N. Y. 
A. C. M , Fredericktown, Ohio .—Please tell 
me how to keep top-onion “sets.” 
Ans. —They should be kept in a dry, cool 
place, such as a loft, and covered with hay 
in the Winter to prevent freezing. If the 
weather is warm they should be turned occa¬ 
sionally. 
M. E C.. Plainfield, III —Please give more 
definite information concerning the microscope 
you refer to, and we will endeavor to give 
you the desired iuformatiou. We should be 
pleased to receive more contributions from 
your [jen. 
M. I. Oydensburg, N. Y. —What will 
destroy the bugs on radishes? 
Ans. — Sprinkle wood ashes or Dalmatian 
Insect Powder upon them. 
C. N.. Randolph, Wis.—How many onion 
“sets” will it take to plant a square rod ? 
Ans. —About two quarts. 
OWLS WORK AT NIGHT. 
At the close of a long bright Summer flay, 
A mother called her children from play. 
They came from croquet, and mallet aud ball 
Were carefully put In the box, in the hall. 
One carried in wood for the fire at morn. 
Another shelled for the. chickens, some corn. 
Peter and Pan drove the cows down the lane, 
And milk to the kittens guve dear little Jane. 
Then they sat in the porch and the house was still, 
The Katy-did Sang in the trees on the hill. 
While the wind stirred the leaves as it softly blew t 
And an Owl suddenly shouted “To lioo! To hoo!” 
Fanny turned to her mother and quickly said, 
"Is the Owl now calling her children to bed? 
And does she awake them again at morn 
With her song that rings like a hunter's horn?" 
"Her voice dear child may he full of glee 
To her nestlings safe in the old oak tree; 
or it may call them, when far away 
To come to the nest, and share her prey." 
"For we know” said themother,“Owlsworkat night 
Aud gather their food before It Is light. 
When the morning comes each seeks Its nest 
And while we work, they take their rest.” 
Sophia C. Gakrett, 
PROFESSOR 
MANUFACTURE!) BY 
CHAPIN iV SMITH, 
Poultncy, Vi. 
Send postal card for circulars, 
? \V0SPHA77 C 
.Wade from Professor Horsford’s Acid 
Phosphate. 
Recommended by leading physicians. 
Makes lighter biscuit, cakes, etc., and 
is healthier than ordinary Raking Pow¬ 
der. 
THE FERCUSON 
BUREAU CREAMERY. 
Makes the Best Butter 
VALUABLE BOOKS FOR THE YOUNG, 
When I read the letters from the Cousins I 
often wonder how many of them have good 
aud useful books to help them in their work. 
Gray’s Manual, Wood’s Botanist and Florist, 
and American Weeds and Useful Plants, are 
works that yield mo pleasure and profit the 
year round. 
I do not see how one can be interested in 
horticulture without becoming an enthusiastic 
botanist, for from the moment the seed germi¬ 
nates which vve have planted, its right of pos¬ 
session to the soil is disputed by other forms of 
plant life, which mysteriously spring up all 
around it, aud 1 think people must, lie dull, iu- 
deed, who can rest without knowing the ori¬ 
gin, names and character of the plants which 
so persistently force themsel ves upon the at¬ 
tention. Such knowledge is certainly a great 
help to one in finding out the best methods for 
subduing and destroying them. 
Harris’s insects Injurious to Vegetation, 
I have found equally instructive and en¬ 
tertaining. A great many of the insects we 
find in our gardens and fields are named and 
described so plainly that they can lie readily 
recognized. It is very pleasant to be acquaint¬ 
ed with the insects around our home, and when 
one liegins to collect them they will Ik* sur¬ 
prised at the number of varieties they find 
which were before unnoticed. Butterfiics and 
moths are particularly interesting, aud may be 
quickly killed by dropping them into a glass 
fruit-jar containing a small piece of cyanide of 
potassium; a needle inserted in a wooden hold¬ 
er can be used to remove them; grpat care 
should be taken not to inhale the poisonous 
fumes. One cannot make a good collection of 
moths without working after dark. I have al¬ 
ways found the finest specimens in my flow¬ 
er garden. A bed of Sweet VI'illimns when 
in bloom is especially attractive to the beauti¬ 
ful Satellitia and Achemon Hawk-moths. If 
one does not wish to form a cabinet they can 
be preserved in paper boxes in which there is 
a little creosote, until they are named, and 
the form and color well fixed in the mind. 
The Insect, by Michelet, is another very eu- 
joyable book, though not as practical as the 
work of Harris. It gives an interesting sketch 
of Swammerdam, the benefit of whose labors 
we enjoy every time we use our microscopes, 
and describes the varied phases of insect life in 
a charming manner. The 140 illustrations by 
Giaeomelli are a treasure to any lover of art 
and are well worth the price of the book. 
My library is supplied with travels, histori¬ 
cal, poetical aud miscellaneous works, and 
every year, more or less books of permanent 
value are added to it. Some of my choicest 
books were purchased with the money paid me 
for the fleeces of my pot sheep, Grant. They 
brought from $2 to $6 every year, and he lived 
to be 1-1 years old, so the books are quite 
a little library in themselves. Economy in 
dress and a portion of the profits of my poul' 
try-yard have been the moans of obtaining 
many more. 
It ought to lie the ambition of every young 
person to form a libraiy for their individual 
use and benefit through life, and if one is real¬ 
ly in earnest, they will always find means 
suited to their circumstances for that purpose, 
Plainfield, Ill. Ivy Green. 
In Untile* Sold niTn rensonnble price. 
Tlic II orsford Almnnac nnd Cook Hook 
sent free. 
Ruinforri Chemical Works, Providence, R 1, 
ANTIION Y,Ag*t 100 and 102 Reade «t. N V 
LETTERS FROM THE COUSINS, 
It dcrclo-ps the finest flavor and col"?. The butter 
has the best gra in. cukI keepm?? M 'min 
Tt makes the most butter. Uses the least ice, and 
saves tlio most labor. ... .. , , . . 
Hundreds have discarded deep setters and adopted 
tl DON ? T tt BTTr ANY CANS. PANS OR CREAMER, 
or send your milk to the factory, until you have senl 
l‘or our largo illustrated circular*) sadnnra lists. 
TIIK FERCUSON M’F’fc. CO.. Rtirllntton. Vt, 
Dear Uncle Mark:—I am n little girl 12 
years old, and live on a farm with uiy uncle 
and aunt. My uncle takes the Rural, so I 
wish to become a member of the Horticul¬ 
tural Club. My unde raises garden produce 
to sell ami T like to be helping him in the 
garden; so last Spring he told me if I would 
keep the bugs off the potatoes, 1 might have 
every*- tenth bushel to sell. 1 did so, but it 
was very dry, so that I did not have as many 
as 1 should have had if the season had been 
lietter; but 1 think I did quite well. We raise 
corn, potatoes, carrots, onions, peas, beaus, 
turnips, melons, squashes, tomatoes, peppers 
and cabbage. Uncle has quite a good many 
fruit trees aud I go v itb him to see him graft 
them. He has given me one sheep which he 
takes care of, and each year l am to have one 
pound of wool, which I am learning to work 
up to sell for my own use. Uncle has three 
trout ponds, and sometime when I write I will 
tell you about them. Aunt and I have a 
flower garden which we take delight in, also 
quite a number of house plants. 
Yotir niece, 
Lanesboro, Pa. Julia A. B. P. 
Dear Uncle Mark:— It has been a long 
time since I wrote to you. It has been very 
cold here this Winter, the thermometer going 
down to 32 degrees below zero: it is warmer 
now. We have plenty of snow. I go to 
school this Winter, I am 13 years old. Papa 
keeps horses, slice]) and cattle. I have a cow 
of my own. 1 received the melon seeds you 
sent me, and was glad to get. them. 1 planted 
them in rich soil, in two hills, three seeds in 
each bill. Two vines came up and blossomed 
quite fall, but- no melons set nml so 1 had mine. 
The Gem Squash seeds you sent us did splendid. 
We had a great many squashes on the vines, 
and all liked them vei*y much. I have one 
sister older than myself, and two sisters and 
one brother younger. We have a large farm 
and a nice large house aud barn on it. 
Yours truly, 
Humbolt Co.. Iowa. Phkbk L. French. 
Hy Professors Weber ft Sooviulf,, of Champaign, Ills 
»°nt free on application to Gko. L. Sy r i itlt, Hu it al o , N . y 
FOWLER A WOODWORTH, Soli* IWfrs. of 
MANUFACTURED BY THE 
Americans slum Id nso no other. 
It is the Purest, the most Concentrated, the 
Strongest, the heaviest, the Cheapest and 
the beat Dairy Salt in the World. 
WARRANTED sm Port* ns any SA LT in tlie 
llnrkrt. 
Dairy Goods Salted with Onondaga F. F. Salt took 
a majority of all the premiums awarded at the Grand 
Union Dairy \ air, Mil waukee, Doe. 4-9,1H*2. 
J. \V. IIA KRGK. Mcc’y, *>yraeu*c, N. Y. 
O *h» .r* P*M I 
Fowler’s Hav Carriers, Grappling Forks ami Pulleys. 
Send for Must rated Circulars. FOWLER A 
WOODWORTH. Tuugliunnoek Falls, N. Y. 
BUTTER-WORKER 
NOYES’ HAYING TOOLS 
SEND FOR CIRCULARS 
FULLY DESCRIBING AND ILLUSTRATING IT. 
FOR STACKING out in 
FIKI.DS OR MOWING 
, AWAY IN HAHNS. 
\ Snvr labor and money: 
v. simple, durable, cost but 
r\\l!We, No trouble to get 
\\ over high beams or to 
\\ Die end Of deep bay*. 
Yi Thoueumln now In use. 
Wood Pulleys, 
Floor Hooks, etc. 
send for circular 
and designs for 
tracking barns, to 
U, S. Wind Engine L Pump Co., Batavia, Kane Co., Ill, 
After a two years test by n largo number of the 
best butter-makers in all parts of the count ry*, we are 
now ready to offer, with confidence, to Dairymen 
and to the Trade, a Want! But ter-Worker, op¬ 
erating tut tlie principle ul’ dirti-tan d paw- r/ul pres¬ 
sure, instead of rolling, grinding, or sliding upon 
the butter. 
We claim that It Is the only Butter-Worker which 
will certainly, t/uieklu, and easily take out all t he 
buttermilk, ami which dors not and van not injure 
the grain of the butter. It works in the mill as easily 
and as writ. It leaves the butter in hi tler condition 
every teay than is possible by any otligr method or 
machine. 11 is the greatest labor-saving implement 
ever placed in the dairy-mom. In these days, When 
tlm best, butter brings so high a price, yon cannot 
afford to be without the latest improved appliances 
for producing the finest quality of "gilt edged.” 
Wo are making tnoro extensively than ever the 
well known 
ISIancliard Omni, 
with our many recent improvements. Five sizes 
made l or Family Dairies. Five sizes made for Fac¬ 
tory use. Perfect stock and best work. Strong, 
simple, elliriout. convenient, and durable. They 
are every way "THE BEST," and con tin no to bo 
The Standard Cliurns of the Country. 
Inquire of the nearest Dealer in such goods for a 
" Blanchard Butti'.u-Whuuiu;." or a. genuine 
“ Blanchard Churn," and it lie has none on lmnd, 
send postal for Prices and Descriptive Circulars to 
THE INVENTORS A NO M AJUTArmtKItS, 
POSTER BLANCHARD'S SONS, - CONCORD, N. H. 
Established, 1818. 
Grapple 
l-'ork. 
Dear Uncle Mark:— 1 am one of the silent 
Cousius and am afraid if 1 don’t write, you 
will take my name off the list, if you have not 
already done so. The seeds you sent came all 
right. The pinks are lovely. The White 
Elephant Potatoes were very large. The Ru¬ 
ral Dent Corn was the largest I ever saw. My 
papa raised a sweet potato that weighed five 
pounds. My watermelons did not grow good 
at all; only two of them came up, and they 
died. My brother Johnny has a calf which 
he makes a great pet of. He calls her Rosa. 
He lias a dog unuied Ruler. Wishing Uncle 
Mark and the Cousins success, 1 will close. 
Todd Co., Kentucky. Katie M. Mobley. 
torunlonillng.lias no equal tn capa¬ 
city, adaptutlou or Having of time, 
labor or expense. If embraces the 
true principles of unloading hay 
and grain; ft! loads unloaded It) six 
hours. For descriptive circular, ad 
dress 
Sliortsvillc. N. Y 
DOUBLE HARPOON 
rrtllHHonsEMi 
» I No Farmer ran afford to Is* without it. 
■ I It will SAVE it* rout many times. 
II nrQT IN THE WORLD! Send 
1 r ULO I for Di'-.nripUvoCtttalOgilo./V m 
Pennock Xnfg Co. Kcnnelt Square,Cheater Co.Pa 
PATENT CHANNEL CAN 
Uncle Mark- —As I have not written to 
you in quite n long while I thought I would 
improve the time in writing a few lines now. 
I had quite a number of flowers this year viz: 
Ageratums, Sweet Alyssum, Clarkias, Pansies, 
Portulacas, Candytuft®, Phloxes, Celosias, V is¬ 
e-arias anti some of the most beautiful Asters 
aud Balsams 1 ever saw. My Pinks were 
planted too late to blossom very much; 1 think 
they will be splendid another year. I hope 
each and all of my cousins had a flower gar¬ 
den lost Summer. Some of our house plants 
are not doing very well: a little white, mealy 
bug and settle bugs are on them, t hough we 
have several Geraniums in bud aud blossom 
aLso Fuchsias and Begonias. 1 think 1J tit le 
Mark is real kind to print so many letters for 
us, which I enjoy reading very much. 
Your niece, Ellen C. Bonnell. 
Seneca Co., N. Y. 
IMPROVED FARM IMPLEMENTS. 
Non-Explosive Steam Euglues, Best Hallway ft Lever 
Horse-rowers, Threshing-Machines, St raw-Preserving 
Threshers LuDow’s Disc aud Stool Sprint? Tooth Har¬ 
rows, Eagle Sulky Horne kakeH, Cultivators, Food Mills, 
Feed steamers, etc, etc. Watercut aft M£LlcKCo.,Albany, 
N.Y. Established I-Mu, Send for Illust rated Catalogue. 
Deep setting, without toe. Perfect refrig¬ 
erator Included. Suited for large or small 
dairies, creameries, or gathering cream. 
Special discount on large orders. One 
Creamery at wholesale where I have no 
agents. Send for circular. 
tir Agents wanted. 
W. K. LINCOLN. Warren, Maas. 
A WEEK, $12 n day at home easily made. Costly 
^ Outht free. Address Thijk Co., Augusta. Me- 
per day at homo. Samples wort h $5 free. 
Address Stixson ft Co., Portland, Me. 
THE YOUNG QUERIST. 
E. B. D., Horace, III .—L Where can I ob¬ 
tain Embden or Bremen Geese, or the eggs of 
the same? 2. What is the price of both ? 
Ans.— 1. You can obtain Embden Geese of 
Wm. Kline, Hayesville, Ohio. Send for cir¬ 
cular; or C. A. Andrews, West Boxford, 
Mass; and Bremen Geese from G. H. Pugsley, 
Brantford, Out., Mount Pleasant Poultry 
Yards. 2. We canuot give you prices. Write 
for them. 
BURRELL Sc WHITMAN,'ir 
Inventors nnd Manufacturers of the latest Approved Apparatus for manufacturing BUTTER and CHEESE 
most successfully, and obtaining the largest profit. New developments constantly coining out. Send for our 
Illustrated Catalogue of 52 pages. 
LONDON PURPLE 
111A111 * M A UK. 
IF* If nearest dealer has not got it, writs? to HEMINGWAY’S LONDON PURPLE CO. (Limited), P. O. 
Box 990, No. 90 Water Stbrkt, New. York, who will send prices and testimonials. 
