466 
JULY 24 
THE RURAL WEW-YORSCER. 1 
Dear Uncle Mark. —As it lias been some 
time since my last letter appeared in the 
Rural, I guess T will try and write a few 
lines again for the Cousins. The strawberry 
season is about over for this year in this part 
of the State. The crop was very good and 
the berries very large, especially of some va¬ 
rieties. Miners Prolific did the best of any 
being very large and the plants very produc¬ 
tive. My pa has 25 varieties of strawberries, 
but they are not all good varieties. Some 
like the sharpless the best, but I do not be¬ 
cause when the stem of the berry is almost 
rotten the point will be green. Anyhow they' 
are so here, lint they may do better elsewhere. 
The Great American is another variety 1 do not 
like, because it does uot make but very few 
runners so that it does not cover the ground. 
But it would be the right kind for hill-culture 
all though we never practice it as it does not 
pay r for field culture, but it might do for a 
small patch in the garden. My pa planted 
an acro-and-a-half of strawberries this 
Spring, The Rural wheats have headed out. 
The Shumaeker is the earliest. We planted 
the corn the Rural gave as a premium and 
it is growing nicely. Your nephew, 
Denver, Ind. 0 . L. f. 
Dear Uncle Mark.—I am very glad to 
see so much interest displayed of late by the 
readers of the Rural in the raising of chick¬ 
ens, for I feel interested myself in that depart¬ 
ment of industry. 
I should very much like to learu A. B. C. 
Salmon’s method of raising chicks without a 
mother; will ho not please to write it for ns* 
I have been very successful iu the rearing of 
chickens, seldom losing any after they are 
hatched, though the heus sometimes kill them 
before they are out of the shell. b.y picking off 
the hard outer shell leaving the inner mem¬ 
brane to dry up. 1 do not think it is for want 
of lime, because they do not seem to eat the 
shells the chicks come out of; it seems as 
though they want to help them out. My tur¬ 
keys are uot doing well this year; a great 
many chilled to death in May. 
W c are having a very dry time, and all 
crops begin to show the need of min very 
much; coni leaves curl badly, though I 
noticei 1 the Shoe-peg corn looks the freshest of 
any kind we have. 
I received the Horticultural Club seed, for 
which I send many thanks to Uncle Mark. 
Plants from seeds of the Garden Treasure 
package are already blooming. 
1 do uot agree wit h Don Folinno exactly in 
his maimc of wetting plants, a little at a time. 
I think a good thorough wotting is better; at 
least it seems better here whore there is so 
much dry, hot wind. Then after a good wett¬ 
ing 1 draw the dry dirt around as Uncle Mart¬ 
has taught ns. A good way to plant seeds for 
transplanting is, to take square pieces of 
paper from four to live inches square and fold 
the corners so as to make a box fastening with 
pins or thorns; two corners maybe fastened 
with one pin. Place them on a board that 
will lit the place intended for it to lie, and 
having nailed narrow strips around the edge, 
put in thedirt and plant the sets Is in the boxes, 
and they can be planted, papers and all, as the 
roots will readily find their way through the 
damp paper, anil they can be transplanted 
“withoutknowing it,”as some Cousin has said^ 
Cove, Tex., Juue LI, 1883. Bovs W. 
[A very interesting article upon raising- 
chicks, is to be found upon another page of 
this Rural, written by A. B. C. Balinou.— 
uncle Mark]. 
original stock. But perhaps out of 75 seed 
planted from this one berry, one plant may, 
by high cultivation, produce superior plants to 
to the parent. And thus it is by contin¬ 
ual crossing aud recrossing we get new varie¬ 
ties, some better and some worse than the pa¬ 
rent stock. With neglect and lack of cure 
these changed forms that have been modified 
by man will run back to the condition of the 
original ancestors. 
This holds true all through the vegetable 
kingdom. The apples that we so much enjoy, 
originally spruug from the little, wizzled-up 
crab-apples that grew in most parts of Europe. 
Onr peaches, cherries aud pears, great, lusci¬ 
ous fruits though they are, all came originally 
lrom stock that the nurseryman of to-day 
would not give growing space upon his 
ground; came from plants that were worth¬ 
less for all practical purposes. 
A WORD FROM MAGGIE WOOLMAN 
THOMAS. 
ON’T you think it a pity there 
are not words enough in the 
SRl) English language to express 
1 what we mean? In telling 
|' : :ifpss5s|y| about her boy’s birthday party, 
Mary Wager-Fisher tells of a 
■4^1 menu that was served. I sup- 
tefl pose sue meant the arrauge- 
ment of the supper; it is only 
Mk supposition, for Webster’s un- 
abridged is entirely silent in 
. is regard to it. Now why do we 
vl ' write ? To be understood. I 
O do not see why we need to in- 
(J tersperse our language with 
higu sounding phrases, foreign words, or slaug. 
Good pure English is good enough, aud the 
simpler the better, so that it is pure. 
My onion sets went, to seed badly last year 
and this; last year they were very large, this 
year small; what is the reason aud how shall 
1 remedy it? The weather both years has been 
cold aud wet; at the present writing com has 
not been plowed, ami many have had to plant 
over, and some three times. There is not an 
average of much over one-half a stand owing 
to poor seed; our own seed came better than 
that we purchased from Missouri. 
[Good, pure English is surely good enough 
for those that are acquainted only with the 
English language. The word menu, isa French 
word, having the same meaning as “ bill-of- 
farc,” anil so usually the bill-of fare in first- 
ela-s hotels, and at the better class of suppers 
have menu at the beginning instead of “bill-of- 
fare.” Nevertheless it is not a matter of good 
taste, when writing in English, unless it be a 
scientific or literary effort, to insert phrases 
consisting of words from other languages. 
The reason why your onion sets ran to seed 
was because they probably were too large for 
sets when pulled, aud you probably planted 
them too late in the season.— Uncle Mark], 
O. F. Fuller, Worcester Co., Mass.—Your 
box of La Versailles Currants was received 
and very much appreciated. I was very sorry 
that 1 could not have them engraved for the 
Youths' Department, but as our artist was not 
here, aud would not be here for two days, the 
currants would not keep, as many of them 
had already dropped off. I carried them to a 
photograph gallery, but had no picure taken, 
as the branch would not make a good one, as 
both loaves and berries would be black. 
Uncle Mark sends his sincere thanks for your 
kind remembrance of him. It was certainly 
very fine fruit, both in fiavor and appear¬ 
ance, and rcllected much credit upon the 
young grower. 
You are doing good work both for yourself 
and the Horticultural Club, and I feel sure 
you will never regret it. Keep on in your 
work. Uncle Mark. 
Dear Uncle Mark:—Two letters a year 
did you say? Well, then 1 suppose it is time 
for me to write. I received the package of 
seeds you sent me; as it came rather late I had 
no place in the garden to plant the seeds, ex¬ 
cepting in a small patch where we raise 
straw tier ries. tomatoes, etc. I t hank you ever 
so much for them. They are coming up nice- 
ly. I would like to say to the Cousins, if they 
will put papers over their cucumbers as soon 
as they commence to come up, the bugs will 
uot disturb them; they must be careful not to 
put it. too close to the ground; “bunch" it up 
iu the center and put dirt all around on the 
edges of the paper. Leave the paper over the 
vines; it will nut. hurt them: they will grow 
right up through it. Father gave me the 
grape seeils you sent him; there were HO. I 
planted them, aud 27 of them are up at pres¬ 
ent I heartily agree with "It. 0.” that every 
Cousin should have a lied of pansies. I have 
some that were kept through the Winter; they 
blossomed almost as soon as the snow was 
gone. Their bright little faces are so interest¬ 
ing. How old do the Cousins get before you 
disown them? I will close, fearing my letter 
will be too dull to print. Your niece, 
West Uuity, O. Cricket. 
[None of the Cousins are dropped from the 
list, aud although nearly all of them are 
young people, there are u few older ones that 
the Youth’s Club could not get along without 
very wgll, 1 hope the list of Cousins will 
never grow auy smaller, as it is very pleasant 
to have such a great uumber of nieces and 
nephews.— Uncle Mark.] 
time. Just alter my flower seeds were nicJy 
planted, we had a dreadful rain-storm, the 
hardest km>wn here iu a number of years. For 
half a day my garden was iu running streams: 
after it had cleared off I found three large 
flower-beds had united completely into one. 
Two of the beds were planted with mixed 
seeds; one from the Rural, the other from 
a Philadelphia seedsman. 1 was sorry on one 
account they were mixed, for I will not be 
able to give the Rural due credit us 1 intend¬ 
ed to do this Fall. The plants arc coming up 
anti there are at least LOO varieties of them. 1 
call the spot my wild garden. I have trans- 
SEEDL1NGS. 
my many thanks. It seems to lie a very tine 
assortment. 1 planted them very carefully 
May 28 iu my flower garden. VV lieu they grow 
to a good size 1 Will remove some ot them so 
as to give the plants more room. 
It has been very cold here this Spring aud 
everything is backward. A great quantity of 
seed corn has rotted iu the groundnut! farmers 
Occasionally have to replant as often us the 
third time. 
My vegetable garden is doing very well, 1 
have one-third of an acre in potatoes; oue- 
imlf of them are early and the other half late. 
The early ones are growing nicely anti no bugs 
are yet hi be seen. It is too Cold for them yet 
this Spring. 1 have also a large patch of 
cabbages growing well. There will be a very 
small crop of fruit here tins year. The cold 
Winter killed the peach trees and the frusts 
late in the Spring killed the blossoms of other 
fruit trees. 
Why don't more of the Cousins write { Is it 
not time for the silent ones to make up? It 
seems as though there ought to be enough to 
write about in so wide a land and among so 
many Cousins. 1 was pleased to see our page 
was pretty well filled last week; would like to 
see it full every time. Yours truly. 
Dodge Co,. Neb. WM. J. mabun. 
[The Cousins have done pretty well of late. 
All of the letters written arc not printed, us 
there is not room enough to span-, so it is 
necessary to print only the most interesting 
ones. What is wanted iu the letters is good 
useful information; something that will in¬ 
terest aud benefit the Cousins ami 
Uncle Mark.l 
UNCLE mark. 
In growing plants from seeds, persons not 
very well acquainted with Nature's ways are 
surprised that the result of the germination of 
the seed is not like the plant that produceil 
the seed, aud have greatly wondered why it 
was that the seeds from their beautiful big 
strawberry, plum, peach or whatever plant it 
might be, produced a plant which grew- poor, 
som- strawberries, or little, stony, hard plums 
or peaches. 
The reason for this is very plain to those that 
have improved their time by studying botany 
and acquainting themselves with the myster¬ 
ies of the vegetable kingdom. 
In ail nature, both iu the animal and vege¬ 
table kingdom.-,, it is considered a fixed law of 
nature that "like produces like.” but this is not 
always so w one sense of the word, if weplant 
the seed of a .Skunk’s Cabbage, we will liutl that 
it alw-ays produces a plant exactly like its 
parent; our native grass seeds produce grass 
like the parent, aud all of our forest trees pro¬ 
duce trees from their seed just like the parent 
stock, proving every time that “like produces 
bice.' But again, if we plant the seeds from 
a .Strapless strawberry or some other culti¬ 
vated variety, we will find that lUU seeds of 
the Bharpless or some other kind may produce 
100 plants, all of a different kind to a more or 
less degree, while in case of the wild straw¬ 
berry, the plants grown from its seed are al¬ 
ways iiko the parent. 
NaturuLly the question is asked, Why is this? 
Why should not the seed of the cultivated 
plant produce pluuts like the parent, the same 
as the wild one does? 
The reason why is simply this: the one is in 
an unnatural state, the other in a natural 
state; one has never been changed from the 
condition in which nature first placed it; the 
other has been so changed by man that it 
greatly differs from the one in its natural con¬ 
dition. The wild strawberries now growing 
on tin- hillsides are of the same species as their 
parents w ere lUU years ago, aud present every 
appearance that, their ancestors i.id. But with 
our garden strawberries this is different. By 
crossing the male organs of one species of wild 
strawberry with the female organs of another 
species a cross or hybrid is formed that is un¬ 
like either of the other plants. With high 
cultivation and much attention paid to its 
growth ami progress, this plant may produce 
a terry much superior to either of its parents. 
But if we plant the seeds of this new berry we 
will find that the plants growing from them 
will lie unlike the parent plant, and will in all 
probability tend to run backward toward the 
Dear Uncle Mark. — I would like to be¬ 
come a member of the Horticultural Club. 
I have been reading the letters from the 
Cousins, ever since we have been taking the 
Rural. I thought I would write a letter, but 
have hesitated till now. We received three 
Blush .Potatoes from John Thorburn, which 
are doing very well; we hojie to raise enough 
seed potatoes to plant next year. I have n 
little heifer calf which 1 think a groat deal 
of. There are not very many trees out 
here, only a few groves here and there. 
We have planted a good many, some 
from cuttings and some from seed; we 
planted a hedge but it did not grow. We 
have two Oleander trees; they are very large. 
One has a great many blossoms. We have 
started some slips in a bottle of water. 1 
will tell you how they grow in my next 
letter. From your Neioe, 
Ed wanls < !o , Kansas. M aggie Ketelson. 
DkaiiUncle Mark:-I received the Youths 
flower seeds May 25th. Many thanks, Uncle 
Mark. 1 assorted and planted them the next 
day after 1 received them. 1 mixed some 
sand, chip-dirt anti common soil together in a 
box. The night I planted them there came a 
big rain. The next night, it looked so much 
like rain that 1 covered them up with boards. 
Iu four days after planting 1 took the boards 
off and found that they had come up nicely. 
1 planted out' quart, of the Rural Heavy Dent 
Corn. About one-half of it came up; it looks 
well for the season. 1 planted seine seetls of 
the Surprise Watermelon and Bay View 
Muskmelon, but they 'lid uot come up. I 
planted some of Mold’s Ennobled Oats, and 
they are looking nice. I set about two quarts 
of onion sets. We had nice weather until 
May 7th; it has been raining most of the time 
ever since*. Yours truly, 
Docautur Co., Iowa, Earl Peters. 
City Boarder greatly interested in farming: What is that you have in the basket? 
Country Lad. —Why it is corn, and Pm giving it to these oxen to make beef. 
City Boarder. —Oh, yesl I see; so that is the way they make c orned beef! 
