1 u 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
15 JOIIX STREET, NEW YORK. 
The OLD JESTtlBEISHED SEED HOUSE of JVetv York 
GrHOWEKS AIVD IMPORTERS OF 
THE NEXT DISCUSSION. 
OW many of the Cousins 
°) <? are good at guessing? I 
- > am not going to tell you 
this week what the topic 
U'L j V^4 of our next discussion is 
V', <^if 'f^©i to be, but I will tell you 
h§ somethings about it and 
let you trv to guess what 
c'i. i it is. It is a plant and is, 
1 think, familiar in some 
V\M? °t its forms to every one 
wW* 7 of the Cousins. The colors 
( that can be found in dif- 
(£) c ferent plants and different 
C_y parts of one plant, are 
green, red, yellow, blue, black, white, pink, 
scarlet and brown. Its size varies from one 
foot m bight to more than ten feet. 
It furnishes food lor men and auimals, and 
is often spoken of in connection with an 
Eastern city. Now, shall I tell you any more? 
I think not until next week, then I will tell 
you what it is and you may write your letters 
for the discussion. I think we will have very 
interesting letters, for there are none of you 
but know something about this subject. 
UNCLE MARK. 
SEEDS AND BULBS 
FREE THEIR WEW PRICED CA r 
SEEDS, SEEDS, SEEDS, 
lb 6( tiu(Jydu ljinmVer^r 
JF'RANK S. PLATT’S 
CATALOGUE OP SEEDS 
t i y Flume Cclcjy, New Eclipse Beet, Oak Leaved Lettuce, Beekert’s Improved Char tier Faddish, Fulton Market 
Ipr Tomato, Golden Acme Tomato, Cleveland's llural New Yorker Pea, and Saskatchewan Fife Spring Wheat,all fresh, new 
seed genuine and sure to grow. FRANK S. PLATT, Seedsman and Florist, New Haven Conn. 
LETTERS FROM THE COUSINS, 
FOR SPRING PLANTING. 
GLADIOLI, DAHLIAS, BEGONIAS, 
Uncle Mark:— The pyrethrum blooms at 
a time of the year when flowers are scarce 
here: it is very hardy, standing the Winter 
without protection, I have raised some seed 
ling potatoes from Peacbblows for about three 
years, but expect to discard them as they did 
not grow large enough to be profitable. 1 
have some others from seed this year, that I 
want to plant again. I also have raised some 
geraniums from seed of Happy Thought; 
there was one plant having yellow or cream- 
colored leaves in sunshine. The rest were 
Z inale, We have a Hibiscus that got broken 
last Winter when not more than three iuehes 
high, and we put a cloth, coated with wax. 
around the body aud kept it. iu a warm place: 
it grew and healed up well, aud is 15 inches 
high now. The Hibiscus, rubra-sinensis, is a 
favorite with us on account of its early aud 
great profusion of bloom; some plants bloom 
iug when not more than three or four iuehes 
high. One large plaut (after blooming all 
Summer) had seven flowers during Novem¬ 
ber; the most of them were over four inches 
in diameter and very double. I believe it is 
not usually expected that apple gerauiums 
will grow from slips, but we have two large 
plauts that we grew iu that way. 
A nice way to arrange cut flowers that 
have snort stems, is to take a dish about two 
inches deep and fill it with moss, put the 
flowers in, cutting off the stems of those that 
are too long, then fill up with water. If you 
have contrasting colors, they look pretty ar¬ 
ranged in the form of crosses, stars, etc. 
Our Likum auratum has done better for 
the last two years than formerly. Last year 
from two stalks we bad 17 blooms; this year 
there were 33 buds, but they did not open 
on account of a late frost. In the fall we re¬ 
move most of the earth from the bulbs aud 
fill in with leaves then cover with plenty of 
earth. If the Cousins have some cracked 
glass cans that they do not know what to do 
with, let them take a string (candle wieking 
is very good) and saturate it with coal oil aud 
fasten it around the can near the top, set fire 
to the string, let it burn uutil nearly burned 
out, tbeu tap the top of the glass and it will 
come off, leaving a bell glass that will do 
nicely t,o over slips, seeds, &c., that you 
want to make grow quickly. elsie. 
Crawford Co., O. 
tell what we are doing. We are bringing in 
our 100 bushels of corn a day; father and my¬ 
self take the mares and Hester and Alexan¬ 
der, the mules, and go one mile to husk corn. 
I am nine yours old, but I can get out the 
corn. I guess that my other letter found the 
waste basket; no matter if it did. I am a 
fanner aud my father is one, too, and no 
slouch of a farmer either; everything is done 
up about right ou our place, nothing runs at 
large with us That is the way to do business. 
Next time I will tell you what we are goiug 
to raise next year. From your nephew, 
DAVID G. L. YOUNG. 
Lancaster Co., Neb. 
He also sowed nearly two acres of clover aud 
timothy. It came up, but did no good. Papa is 
very fond of raisiugbees; he bought ten hives 
of Lake’s No. 1. from Baltimore, and we had 
plenty of honey all Summer. Mamma enjoys 
going around with Papa to see them, but 1 en¬ 
joy the honey most, as the bees sting me near¬ 
ly every time I go near them. 
Brother and I are going to school; we have 
a mile to walk. December 1st, we had our 
first snow this Winter. I hope, Uncle Mark, 
you will find this letter interesting enough to 
let me joiu the Club. Your niece, 
Augusta Co., Va. mamie shipley. 
[Certainly you may join the club and I feel 
sure you will help in making our Department 
interesting.— uncle mark ] 
And other popular Bulbs, Roots, 
and Plants. Direct trom the fam- 
. one growers, 
4 ANT. ROOZEN &. SON, 
I Orervcen. near Haarlem, Holland, 
(Established im.) 
r Delivered FKKE In Now York 
/t City, duty and all expenses paid. 
JT Apply for Special Illustrated Cat- 
f aloKue. to .1. a. tie V KElt, 
' Sole Agent fur I ntted States, 
SIS Hroiidwny, New York. 
SIBLEY’S 
★TESTED 
Dear Uncle Mark:— May I have leave to 
join your club? Uncle Mark I am going to 
claim you as a great uncle, as my grandfat her 
was a Mark. We have some house plants: 
they are calla lily, monthly rose, oleander, 
fuchsia, geranium, dew plant, ivy and two 
orange plants four year’s old. Pupa takes the 
Rural and likes it very much: I like to read 
the letters from the Cousins aud think them 
interesting. I am eleven years old. The bay 
froze over the uigbt of Nov. 22. We raised 
25 bushels of potatoes on a piece of grouud 
2Gx7S feet. They were the Hacker Seedlings, 
which Papa raised from potato balls. I will 
close by hoping to see this in print. 
Your affection niece, 
Douglas Co,, Wis. lydia k. hacker. 
Dear Uncle Mark and Rural Cousins: 
—We live iu the Mttle towu of Joseph, aud a 
very pretty place it, is. It is situated iu a 
valley called Wallowa. It is divided into 
three parts, these parts are called lower, mid¬ 
dle and upper, or Prairie Creek Valleys. 
There is a beautiful lake called Wallowa. 
The valley is surrounded by mountains ou the 
east, south and west; the mountains are 
covered with perpetual snow. Jt is too frosty 
to raise auy tender fruit, although iu some 
places near the fouthills they can raise some 
large fruit. The soil is productive, but has to 
tie irrigated to do much good. Joseph is iu 
Prairie Creek Valley. There is a good school 
in Joseph. I will tell you how I ouee made a 
cage for plauts. Make a s juare out of slicks 
as big as your llower staud, make another as 
large and fasten the two a little farther apart 
tbau your tallest flower is high, cover with 
old muslin, then with ne wspaper quite thick, 
set this cage over your plauts on the stand 
and you plauts will not freeze. I am in fear 
of the waste basket, so I will close. 
Respectfully your niece, 
MIRA F. STANLEY. 
[The leaf of your plaut that was enclosed I 
did not kuow so canuot tell you its uame.— 
UNCLE mark.] 
rw SEND for our ILLl sTBATED nn«l DE¬ 
SCRIPTIVE CATALOGUE of pr nr%C 
Vojcctublr, Flower, noil Field 
n| a MTC IlULBs, florists’ sup- 
rLMIl I O PLIES mill IMPLEMENTS 
of ALL KINDS, mulled FREE on upplleution. 
ROCHESTER. N. Y 
>224120 K. (Win SI. 
CHICAGO, ILL. 
200.200 Randolph St, 
Dear Unclt Mrak: — I thought 1 would 
write you a few lines. I have a sister who 
will be eleven years old in January, a little 
brother three years old. 1 am nine years old. 
1 have a bird. Father takes the Rura l New- 
Yorker and he likes it very much. We had 
a pretty garden; some of the flower seed came 
from the P.ural New Yorker's Garden 
Treasures. We have one cow and one heifer 
almost two years old, and some cbickenB. 
Douglas Co., Wis. GUY w. hacker. 
INVALUABLE TO ALLt 
Will bo mailed COC 
to all applicants rDU 
and to customers of last year without 
orderlngit It contains illustrations, prices, 
descriptions and directions for planting all 
Vegetable and Flower SEEDS, BULBS, etc. 
D.M.FERRY&CO. Dt S5£ IT 
RAPE VINES 
All varieties old and new. Includ¬ 
ing NIAGARA. Lurirost Stock in 
Amkhu-a. CAT \ LOCI'K FKKE. 
SILAS WILSON, Atlantic, Iowa. 
Dear Uncle Mark: —I hear my brothers 
and sisters talk about you so much, and they 
are so pleased when they see their letters in 
the Rural. 1 thought that I would write to 
you. I am only eight yeurs old, but I read 
the Rural, aud like it, too. 1 want to tell 
you about my little sister; her name is Evelyn, 
and tbougb she is only a year old, she runs 
about and says a few words very plainly. My 
brother gave me a calf, aud I named it Rosa. 
I helped papa husk the pop-corn. I went iu 
the woods to help my brother set some snares 
and traps to catch old hares. We set one trap 
under a persimmon bush for mamma. I know 
how to knit and sew, aud I iron some of my 
own clothes and the towels every week and 
parch the coffee for mamma. We have ten 
sheep, and they come wheu we call them. Our 
flowers were beautiful. Mamina gave me the 
pansies, aud she saved a great many seeds of 
all kinds to pluut and divide with our friends 
next, year. I saved some seed, too, aud papa 
is going to make Katie und I a little garden 
next year. Katie is one of my little sisters. 
Please put my name ou the Club list. 
Your little niece. 
Prince Edwards, Va. sallie l. Daniel. 
[I have put your name on the Club list, aud 
am glad to have so industrious a little girl join 
the Cousins. Your letter is uicely written for 
a little girl eight years old.— uncle mark.] * 
( JlIiAl’JiST, 
S al yiv^VV.Piire A Best. 
41 (iardenert trade asm- 
. 'Vi Eciatty, Packet* only :tc. 
'•Jr >v| T i’Ih'.m|> ils dirt by on. lb, 
,'A frft'W or ISxj*. paid. 
(/■ 9 V* 50000 G a ides 
fry 1'ltEK. Send your address tfbr uiy most 
'r BoHiitiful Illustrated Garden Guide ever 
printed. K. II. KHUHWAY, Rockford 111. 
Dear Uncle Mark and Rural Cousins: 
—Our Rural Union Corn is very nice. We 
had about a bushel. Our Blush potatoes are 
as nice as one can expect. We saved all we 
raised last year for seed except one mess, aud 
I think we have about live bushels this year, 
although we did not niaaure them. We have 
another kind of potato wo call the Mammoth 
Pearl, which is larger aud more prolific than 
the Blush. It is about the same as the 
Peachblow iu flavor. We huve a seedling po¬ 
tato which is nice in flavor and on au average 
about the size of the Early Rose, and it 
is as early, if not earlier. We call it the 
Otoe If Uncle Mark would like to get some 
of them we will send them to him. The 
weather is beautiful; we did not. have any 
frost arouud here until October 22. Novem¬ 
ber 17 snow fell to the depth of about an inch. 
November 22 we had a regular old Nebraska 
blizzard. hester youno. 
Lancaster Co., Neb. 
[We will be pleased to receive the potatoes, 
but send with them a full history of the seed, 
and anything else you know about them.— 
Uncle Mark.] 
Dear Uncle Mark —May I join the dub 
with the Cousins? I have wanted to for a long 
tune, but have neglected to write. Oue week 
there was not a letter from the cousins and I 
missed them so much. 1 wonder if all your 
nieces like the Rural as much as I do? I am 
glad Aunt Em writes for us sometimes, her 
letters are so interesting. 
We live near the center of Augusta County, 
about four miles from Elliot’s Knob, the high¬ 
est point in Virginia. Our farm is in a pretty 
little valley between the Shenandoah and 
Blue-Ridge Mountains. It is beautifully situ¬ 
ated aud we have a healthy climate, right 
cold iu Winter, but splendid in Summer. 
Last Summer was very dry, consequently 
crops aud gardeus were rather short. We had 
no raiu during the months of August, Septem¬ 
ber and October, and farmers could not &ow 
wheat, because of tbe drought, Papa sowed 
the packages of wheat he received from the 
Rural, in our garden, aud watered it until it 
came up and started to grow nicely, so I think 
he will have a small crop of wheat next year. 
x A NEW BERRIES is.VUl.BOKO 
M \# EARLY CLUSTER !• 
E \new GRAPES 
• P. *. CARRAGK The Beni SKKHM in the 
worlil supplied Ly Isaac F.Tu.unuiiast. Lu Plume. I‘u. 
WARRANTED TO GIVE SATISFACTION or 
MONEY RETURNED. Sow ihoin.nml your warden 
will be a success. Send for our Carden Guide and 
Price List, and SEE OUR SPECIAL DISCOUNTS. 
ROBERT BUI ST, Jr., Seed-Grower, 
PHILADELPHIA. 
Dear Uncle Mark.—A s my sister has 
written all about the corn and potatoes I will 
