THE RURAL HEW-YORKER 
gjRilceUKiieoujtf &(lvefti$inQ 
them. We get a Jot of eggs. The foxes are 
very troublesome, and they occasionally take 
a hen for their dinner. We have a very tame 
pet lamb, that we feed milk twice a day from 
a bottle. 
I have au orgau, and am taking music les¬ 
sons, but T cannot play a great deal yet Those 
Garden Treasures that you sent me are doing 
nicely; many thanks for them. There are a 
number of colors of phlox in bloom now. and 
they are very pretty. The wheat came up, 
but the grasshoppers eat it all; they are very 
thick here. The Shoe -peg Corn is doing nicely. 
I hope I have not written too long a letter. This 
is the first I have ever written, but I hope to 
do better next time. Very respectfully, 
Cheshire Co., N. H. mai’D b. adams. 
LNo. this letter is not too long, and for a first 
one 1 think it very good. Don’t be afraid to 
try again. You have a number of sheep. 
Can't you tell the Cousi ns about them, and 
give them a few useful hints about the care 
of sheep ? Uncle Mark.] 
TROUBLESOME WEEDS. 
» HE condition of grounds at 
\\f this time of the year shows, 
N perhaps, more clearly than at 
any °^ er time, the difference 
^ (’ )j ] | v between a thorough, pains-tak- 
V WJ/■' ’ n g cultivation and a slack. 
. negligent one. The weeds that 
were overlooked iu the earlier 
stages of growth, now attract 
11 our attention by their tall forms 
aDd abuudaut fruit. When one takes into 
consideration the number of seeds that a sin¬ 
gle plant is capable of producing, and the ease 
with which many Varieties are disseminated, 
it is enough to till the mind of the careful cul¬ 
tivator with dismay. Not only must the home 
grounds and fields be carefully guarded against 
noxious intruders, but also the roads adjoin¬ 
ing the farm. 
The Sweet Clover (Melilotus alba) is one of 
the worst weeds that we have to contend with 
along roadsides in this locality. The author 
of American Weeds and Useful Plants does 
not seem to regard it as a pernicious weed, but 
such is its character. In some places it has 
taken complete possession of the roadsides, 
growing from four to five feet high, and so 
thick and taugled that it would seem almost 
impossible to walk through it. Mowing helps 
to keep it down, but soon new shoots spring 
up. and even those, only a few inches high, 
will be crowned with tiny spikes of bloom. 
When we consider its character, and that 
there are many persons too careless to pay any 
attention to it, the task of keeping our roads 
free from it, appears to be a formidable oue. 
Gaura biennis is another plant that is rapid¬ 
ly spreading along the highways and fence- 
rows. The flowers are rather small, with 4- 
elawed petals turned to the upper side, giving 
them a jaunty, don’t-care look. "When they 
first open they are snowy white, but the sun 
soon withers them, and they turn to rose color. 
Its character is probably less objectionable 
than that of the clover, yet it will doubtless 
prove to be an annoying weed. 
The White Vervain (Verbena urtieifolia) is 
a coarse weed, now in fruit. A strong plant 
will produce many thousand seeds, and. as it 
is a perennial, unless it is pulled up, root and 
branch, it wtll occupy a permanent and con¬ 
stantly increasing space in the door-yard and 
garden. 
The Wild Lettuce (Lactuea Canadensis, 
Var, integrifolia), also the Blue Lettuce (Mul- 
gedium Floridanum), appears to have a de¬ 
cided preference for hedges, and raspberry 
and currant rows. The plants grow five or 
six feet tall, producing flowers very much like 
those of our garden lettuce, The seeds are 
black, with slender beaks, bearing a copious 
pappus, which form a globular head when the 
seeds are ripe. The plants are not difficult to 
exterminate, and a little care will keep the 
grounds free from them. 
A writer in the New York Tribune of Sept. 
r> says: “ There is no occasion for Western 
farmers and fruit-growers giving themselves 
so much trouble about the spreading of Cana¬ 
da Thistles, as they spread very slowly by the 
root-stocks, and do not mature seed (according 
to Professor BurriJl) either in Central Ohio or 
Illinois.” 
We have been trying for three or four years 
to kill a patch on our farm by keeping them 
cut oil', and sometimes plowing them under 
in Bummer time, but the end is not yet. 
When first discovered, the blossoms were care¬ 
fully gathered aud burned, so they had no 
chance to mature seeds, if rt was possible. 
If they do spread very slowly by the root 
stocks, they spread surely, and so if farmers 
want their lands overrun with Canada 
Thistles all they have got to do is, not to give 
themselves much trouble about them, and 
c hey will certainly realize the desire of their 
hearts. 
The Couch or Quick Grass, is acquiring a 
strong foothold along Osage hedges, anu is 
becoming very troublesome in the garden 
along raspberry aud asparagus rows. Where- 
ever it happens to spring up in the lawn, it 
will quickly run out all other grasses. Its 
character is as unenviable as that of the 
Canada Thistle, and, like that plant, it de¬ 
serves no quarter at the hands of Western 
farmers. ivy green. 
Plainfield, 111, 
PROFESSOR 
LIKE THE 
? U0SPfM77 C 
UNEXCELLED BY ANY 
Sure to Give Satisfaction 
Dear Uncle Mark: — I want to join the 
Hoi'tieultural Club and be one of the Cousins. 
I am a little girl eleven years old. My papa 
came to this county from New York, and is 
going to try raising stock and farming on a 
small scale. I have never planted anything, but 
with the Rural and t.he Cousins’ letters to help 
mo I want to have a gurdeu of my own next 
Spring. Our garden is on a north slope; do 
you think I could raise grapes or berries on 
it? Perhaps this will find the waste basket, 
so I will close, Your niece, 
ROBERTA WILLIAMS. 
Blue Mountains, W. T., 
[Yes, I tbiuk very likely you can, and hope 
j r ou will do so, aud succeed. I wish that the 
letters of the Cousins did contain more valua¬ 
ble information, so that they might profit 
one another more than they do. If each 
Cousin that writes a letter, would only give 
one or more useful hints, or some suggestions 
of importance, how much more valuable the 
Youth’s page would be. The asfc discussion 
of the Club illustrates what I mean.— Uncle 
Mark.] 
Made from Professor Horsford’s Acid 
Phosphate. 
Recommended by loading physicians. 
Makes lighter biscuit, rakes, etc., and 
is healthier than ordinary Raking Pow¬ 
der. 
In Bottles. Sold at a renhonuble price. 
The llondnril Alumnae mid Cook Book 
sent I roc. 
Runt ford Chemical Work?', Providence, R. I. 
H. IU. ANTIION V. Ag’t 100and 102 Rcade St. N.Y. 
on James River, Vn„ in a Northern settle 
ment. Illustrated circular free. 
•T. F. M \NCHA, Claremont, Va. 
If B If L' I Secure a Splendid Present hy sending 30c. for 
i iuil/j a parks of Chromo Cards, new and imported 
designs, or 50 for lOe. E. H. Parpkk, New Haven, Ct. 
Dear Uncle Mark :— I guess it is about time 
for me to write again. I love flowers very 
much. I did uot receive your seeds this 
Spring. Yesterday I found one of my gera 
niuras that was budded,broken, but I put it in a 
cau. Should it be kept in the sun ? I have a 
double fuchsia, wax-plant, two gerauimns, two 
foliage, and ivy plants. What is the name of 
the streaked bug on melons i How do you 
address a letter to Uncle Mark ? What kind 
of raspberry is the best for table use ? 1 like 
to study pretty well. I would rather read 
than anything else. Your affectionate niece, 
Fillmore Co., Minn. clara yarnes. 
[Don’t keep the geranium in bright sunshine. 
The striped bug you refer to is probably the 
Cucumber Beetle (Diabrotica vittata), which 
frequently troubles the melon plant. It de¬ 
stroys thousands of dollars’ worth of encum¬ 
ber vines every year. Address Uncle Mark, 
Rural New-Yorker, New York. The Gregg 
Raspberry is perhaps the best thus f ar tested. 
—Uncle Mark.] 
This power easily folds up out of the way when not In use. Just the thiug every farmer wants that has 
feed tocut, corn to shell, or anything one or two horses can do. Agents wanted. Send for circular. 2-horse 
Power Jack Belt and 18 feet flat Belt, $10: 1 horse Power, $55.00 
SMITH & WOODARD, Manufacturers, Kalamazoo, Mich. 
-• wbrf" “ 1 Warranted for 5 Years, and satisfaction guar an toed or 
■Nthnn/ J Lrm II tnonov refunded The Best, most Kflidmt. and most 
niBSHL ““ JEaBi 11 Durable Waster in the world. It has no rival, and is 
f tho only machine that will trimh perfectly clean without 
i§M|||llj | rubbing. It can ho used in any sized tub. or shifted from 
ill III f Si lifflif one tub to another in a moment. Is on simple and easv 
,• to operate that the moat delicate lady or child lo years 
Mil IwWIWra °'<l can <lo the work, it, is made of Galvanized Iron, and 
mHDhUxBI If'' 1 is the only Washer in thu world that has the rubber 
Bands on the Kollers^which prevent the breaking of 
APCIITC UfAIITCn UxoluBivo territory. Retail price $8.00. Agents'sample, $3.50, Also the 
AUtlV I o flAHICU celebrated Keystone Wringers at Manufacturers'lowest price. Circulars 
tree. Refer to editor of this paper. Address JSHIti WASHER r,O..Eric, Pa. 
New Members of the Horticultural 
Club, —Annie Ecke. Minnie A. Main, Irene 
L. Jones, Edith Z. Jones, Elois Seaman, Cora 
Fox, Walter S, Proctor, Charles Gibson, 
Katie G. Byrne. Dellie G. Dimou. 
“ THE GOLDEH BELT ” KAMSAS DIVISION P. R’WAY 
STOCK RAISINQ WOOL CROWING 
Buffalo Grass Pasture (Summer and Winter. Unsurpassed for Climate, Grasses, Water 
CORN and WHEAT FRUIT 
170,000,000 bus. Corn. 35,000,000 Wheat. The Best iu the Eastern Market. 
Pamphlets and Maps free. B. M C ALLASTER Land Commis’r, Kansas City, 
•Manufacturers of 
FINE TABLE WARE 
AND FANCY GOODS 
IN GOLD AND SILVER PLATE, 
Are now offering a great number of New Patterns. In addition to the Pearl, 
Hammered, Snow Flake, Chased and Engraved Decorations, are many other 
New and Artistic Designs of Ornamentation: Figures, Fruits and Flowers in 
Full and Bas-relief, and Applique, finished in Oxidized Silver and in varied shades 
of Gold. 
LETTERS FROM THE COUSINS 
Dear Uncle Mark: —Ltake much interest 
in reading the letters from the Cousins, aud 
as I have been thinking of writing for some 
time, I will now do so. I am ten years old, 
and live on a farm of 300 acres. We have 30 
head of cattle, 50 sheep aud lambs, and about 
100 hens and chickens, I help take care of 
Salesrooms: 686 Broadway, 
New York 
FACTORIES: TAUNTON, Mass. 
^UjsccUhwcousi 
1 
