524 
THE BUBAL NEW-YORKER. AU6 4 
fox i!)e Doititg. 
THE NEW STATE PARK 
HIS year, on April 30, a bill 
passed the Legislature of 
New York authorizing the 
State to buy the land border¬ 
ing on Niagara River, at 
Niagara Falls, for a free, 
public park. It was called 
the Niagara Falls Park Res¬ 
ervation Bill. Leading men 
in this State had urged their legislators for 
years to see if this property could not be 
bought by the State, that the beauty and 
grandeur of the scenery might be kept in its 
natural condition. The sum of $1,428,429.50 
is to be paid to the owners of the land. The 
park will be formally opened this month, 
July 15. After that time all can go near the 
mighty cataract and look on its wonderful 
beauty without payinga penny for the privi¬ 
lege. Heretofore it was right that a small fee 
should have been charged for going into the 
park, as it was owned by people who kept it 
in fine order at considerable expense. Goat 
Island, which is included in the Niagara Falls 
Park Reservation, is still nearly covered with 
a dense forest. 
A man made a clearing on the south side of 
this island many years ago, and lived there in 
a leg house. He kept some goats—a rare ani¬ 
mal in this State at that time. From this 
simple fact, the island took its name. The 
smaller islauds near this are also included in 
the State Park. The largest of these are Bath 
Island, The Lover’s Retreat, Luna Island and 
the Three Bister Islands. Goat Island divides 
the waterfall into two great cataracts. The 
part flowing on the East, or the side towards 
the United States, is called the American 
Falls: and that on the west side, toward Can¬ 
ada, is called the Horseshoe Falls, The edge 
of the precipice over which the water pours, 
is worn and broken away until it is hollowed 
back in the form of a horse shoe. The tirst 
bridge to Goat Island was built by Judge 
Augustus Porter in 1817. It was a great and 
dangerous work, as the stream was broad and 
its waves dashed as high and as rapidly then 
as to day. It was a wooden bridge, and was 
swept away by the ice the next Spring. 
Another was built of wood in 1818. “The pres¬ 
ent bridge to Goat Island was built in 1855. It 
is an iron one, made on the plan of Whipple’s 
iron arched bridge, and is 800 feet long. It 
has four arches, each 90 feet span. It is 27 
feet wide. It has a carriage way feet in 
width, and two foot-paths, each separated by 
iron railings. When built, it was probably 
the largest aDd most costly bridge in the 
world, owned by private individuals.” 
From the early settlement of New York, 
Goat IslaLd has been owned by members of 
the Porter family, who, to their credit, have 
kept it in its original beauty, instead of yield¬ 
ing to the wishes of various wealthy parties, 
who for years have wanted to buy it and build 
manufactories and flour mills upon it, thus 
using this, the finest water-power in the world, 
to propel machinery. 
Prospect Park was bought from the Porters 
in 1872 by a stock company, who have greatly 
improved and beautified it. It was once call¬ 
ed Point View and also Ferry Grove. This is 
included iu the Niagara Falls Reservation, 
also land south of this, on which are hotels, 
a mill for preparing pulp of wood for paper¬ 
making, and some stores of various kiuds. A 
ferry bouse is in Prospect Park, near the edge 
of the high bank of the river. From it an 
inclined railway was cut down to the water’s 
edge, 860 feet below, in 1845, Persons wish¬ 
ing to cross to Canada get into an open car 
which rolls rapidly downward. It is fastened 
to a rope which draws up. Another car on a 
parallel track goes up as this goes down. A flight 
of stairs was built by the side of the inclined 
railway, but it was only used a few years 
when It was taken away. The first stairway 
leading down the precipice at this point was 
built by General Parkburst Whitney in 1817. 
Another one, more substantial, was built in 
1825. This was used until the incliued rail¬ 
way was completed iu 1845. Small boats or 
barges have carried people across the river, 
rowed by skillful oarsmen, for many years 
without loss of life from accident. A steamer 
called '‘The Maid of the Mist” is now used as 
a ferry-boat. Sophia c. garrett. 
LETTERS FROM THE COUSINS. 
My Dear Uncle:— I have been silent a 
long time, haven’t I? and I guess all the 
Cousins have forgotten me, now I ask for a 
place iu their memory which I may claim 
while I remain a Cousin. 
The scenery in our valley is in its grandest 
stage at present, everything is so lovely I 
flowers, both cultivated and wild, all seem to 
be striving to look prettiest. Vegetables are 
at their best, and so good after doing without 
them so long. 
The mountains, clothed in verdure rising 
gradually bill after hill uutil they are hills no 
longer, dotted here and there with huge 
white rocks, are grand beyond description. I 
sometimes wonder if even the noted Swiss 
scenes can be more beautiful than our own 
here in Augusta. 
Uncle Mark, all the beans you sent me, with 
the exception of two, rotted, six after tfcey 
came up. and I wanted so much to win a 
prize, but now have a right poor show for it. 
Please accept my thanks for being so kind 
and thoughtful about us. Next time I bope 
to be more successful. 
We have decided that the Rural peas are 
the best variety we have and by far the earli¬ 
est. Papa harvested his rye last week: it is 
very fine, some stocks producing 29 heads. 
It was too dry for the wheat, it did no good. 
The discussions over the Johnson Grass have 
been the source of a good deal of amusement 
to all of us. but papa was not afraid to plant 
it; it is very easily distinguished from other 
grasses by a white stripe in the centre of the 
blade. 
Do the Cousins know if they let the bloom 
stock of au apple geranium grow, and tie it 
to a stick, it makes a lovely vine! 
I should like to know. Uncle Mark, if it 
injures rose, apple or nutmeg geraniums to 
bloom, if so, why? I know it weakens the 
plant to mature seed. 
Your devoted niece, mamie shipley. 
Augusta Co., Va. 
[If not allowed to mature seed the blossoms 
will not injure the plants. —uncle mark.] 
Dear Uncle Mark:—W e planted the 
beans you sent us and Papa says they are a 
very eood kind. We have peas, sweet corn, 
and melons iu our garden. The farmers here 
say it won’t pay to plant melons as they are 
not good. 
Marlboro is a very nice place. It is eight 
miles above Newburgh, on the Hudson. We 
are*living in the outskirts of the town about 
300 feet above the river, and about a mile 
from it. The country around here is very 
hilly, rocky and stony. 
If one gets up on a hill and looks around, 
he sees hills covered with vineyards and rasp¬ 
berry patches, with here and there a little 
woods. Further off are high rugged mount¬ 
ains covered with forests, with the river run¬ 
ning this side of them. Your nephews. 
BERT and NEAL ECKERSON. 
Ulster Co., N. Y. 
[Many people travel hundreds of miles to 
see the beautiful Hudson I am glad you can 
enjoy its scenery.— uncle mark,] 
Dear Uncle Mark:—I am only seven years 
old and cannot write very well yet. I aru 
trying very bard to learn, and perhaps next 
time I write I can do so without mamma’s 
help. We have 25 nice little lambs, two calves, 
some little spotted pigs, some little chickens 
and a shepherd dog that will go and get the 
cows all alone; a cat and four pretty little 
kittens. I go to school and do not have much 
time to work in my little garden, but I get one 
penny for every dozen of eggs I bring in. 
Your little nephew, willis c. skhans. 
Ontario Co , N. Y. 
Dear Uncle Mark:—I am a little girl ten 
years old, I enjoy the Cousins letters very 
much. We live on a farm one mile west of the 
head of Canandaigua Lake, and can see the 
whole length of the lake. I go one mile to 
school and study reading, spelling, writing, 
arithmetic, geography and U. S. history. I 
have not been to school a great deal; have 
been sick and had to stay at home two Sum¬ 
mers, and sometimes the snow is so deep I 
cannot go Winters. Last Summer l had a 
little vegetable garden. I planted my vege¬ 
tables In rows across it. They were about ten 
feet long. 1 had one row each of lettuce, 
radishes, parsnips, carrots and salsify; three 
tomato plants, four rows of onions, six hills of 
potatoes and three rows of peas. They all did 
nicely. I also had some very pretty pausieB. 
Your niece, bertha b. sbmans. 
Ontario Co., N. Y. 
Dear Uncle Mark:— This is my first 
letter to the Rural, and am glad to read the 
letters from the Cousins. We have a farm of 
six acres, and we raised from it last year, 90 
bushels of potatoes, 45 bushels of onions, 300 
bushels of turnips, 200 bushels of carrots. 800 
heads of cabbage, 50 bushels of beets. 150 
bushels of ears of corn, 300 pumpkins, seven 
bushels of beans, five bushels of sweet corn, 
25 Hubbard Squashes, three bushels of black 
raspberries, 10 bushels of apples, 25 quarts of 
currants, 10 bushels of oats and three tons of 
hay. Hoping to see this in print, 1 remain 
your nephew, erwin meritt. 
Madison Co., N. Y. 
[If every six acres under cultivation yielded 
as much as this little farm, no one would lack 
for variety or abundance of vegetables, fruits 
and grains .—uncle mark.] 
Dear Uncle Mark:— The boys are so busy 
I will have to write you of our work. Wheat 
harvest is over, and the crop is said to be 
very poor everywhere. Oats are being har¬ 
vested now, and are better. The orchard is 
full of fruit, and we are looking forward to 
being very busy next month, canning and 
drying. We canned a good many cherries, 
using a seeder to stone the fruit, and it was 
real play to run the cherries through the little 
machine. I could seed a peck in seven min¬ 
utes. My little sister Bailie and I gathered 
dewberries again to can and make jelly. Our 
flowers are not looking quite as well as they 
did last Summer, still we have had a good 
many and enjoyed them very much. A great 
mauy corn poppies came up in a bed where the 
seed fell last year, bloomed early and made a 
brilliant appearance in the Spring. Some of 
them were nearly five inches in diameter, and 
Dearly all different from those we had last 
year. Our tuberose did not bloom last Sum¬ 
mer: we kept the bulb and planted it again. 
May we look for it to bloom this Summer? 
Several small bulbs formed around it, which 
we removed and planted. When will they 
bloom? Our Niagara Grape-vine is growing, 
and we have 58 vines of Concord, Delaware, 
Maxitawny, Agawam, Rogers’ No. 4, etc. etc., 
all full of grapes. 
The grape seed seat in the Rural Garden 
Treasures have been planted, but are not up 
yet. A lady in Farmville sent me three tine 
geraniums. I was delighted, as well as sur¬ 
prised . Another friend gave me three more, 
and they are growing nicely. 
Perhaps yon would like to know that I read 
and try to improve my mind, as well as keep 
my hands busy, so I will mention some of the 
books I have read this year: some of Gold- 
smitb's “Essajs,” “Ivauhoe,” “Dickens’sHis¬ 
tory of England,” “Palestine, Past and Pres¬ 
ent,” “Biography of Rev. Daniel Baker,” and 
other small books. I always read the Rural 
and the newspapers papa takes. None of us 
have ever been at school. We recite to mam¬ 
ma, read to her, aud listen to her read aloud. 
The rats and moles destroyed so many of our 
Lima Beans that all of us together have but 
27 vines, so we cannot enter the contest for 
the prizes. We were greatly disappointed. 
The vines have reached the tops of the poles, 
and some of the pods are two inches long. 
The Carter’s Stratagem Pea was very fine, 
but the hens found them out, so we did not 
save seed. The Rural Corn is looking well, 
aud some of it seems to be very early. Your 
affectionate niece, anna spencer daniel. 
Prince Edwards Co., Va. 
[The tuberose may bloom, but, having pro¬ 
duced the small bulbs, it is not likely to. The 
small ones ought to bloom the third year. 
You can still compete for the prizes, as you 
will see by the offer in last week’s issue. If 
you have but one vine you will have a chance. 
—uncle mark.] 
Uncle Mark: — l received the beans all 
right. They nearly all grew, and are grow¬ 
ing finely. We have about 45 acres in corn 
this year. We did not get u good stand, so it 
is rather thin. Nearly everybody in this 
neighborhood had to plant twice, and some 
three times. There is very little wheat around 
here, but what there is, is plump and the heads 
are well filled. The locusts have nearly mined 
between 400 and 500 young apple trees for us. 
We will have very little fruit except rasp¬ 
berries, they are au average crop. I would 
like to correspond with some of the Cousins. 
I will do my best to make it pleasant all 
around. Please name some firm that buys 
such roots as Mayapple, etc. 
From your nephew, 
Vermillion Co., 111. addison Reynold. 
[McKesson & Robins, 91 Fulton St., New 
York, deal in such roots as are medicinal. 
Any of the Cousids who wish to write to Addi¬ 
son may send their addresses to me and I will 
forward them to him. uncle mark.] 
Physicians and 
Druggist* Recommend 
BROWN’S 
BITTERS 
At this season nearly every one needs to use some 
sort of tonic. lit ON enters into almost every phy¬ 
sician’s prescription for those who need building up. 
FOR WEAKNESS, LASSITUDE, LACK OF ENERGY, 
Ac., Brown’* Iron Bitter* has NO KQPAIo 
and is the only Iron medicine that is not injurious. 
It does not blacken or injure the teeth, cause head¬ 
ache or produce constipation —other Iron medicines do 
Dn. G. H. BDtEXET, a leading physician of 
Springfield. O., eaye: 
“Brown's Iron Bitten* is a thoroughly good medi¬ 
cine. I use it in my practice, and find its action 
eioels all other forms of iron. Iu weakness, or a low 
condition of the system. Brown’s Iron Bitters is 
usually a positive necessity It ia all t hat is claimed 
for it. - 
Genuine has trade mark and crossed red lines on 
wrapper. Tithe no oilier. Made only by 
BROWN CHEMICAL CO., BALTIMORE, MD. 
Ladies’ Hand Book— useful and attractive.' con¬ 
taining list of prizes for roclpciL information about 
coins, etc., given away by all dealers in medicine, or 
mailed to any address on receipt of 8c. stamp._ 
HUMPHREYS’ 
Homeopathic Veterinary 
Specifics for 
HORSES, CATTLE, SHEEP* 
DOCS, HOGS, POULTRY. 
’. S. Grovcrnm’t. 
Chart on Rollers, 
it ml Boole Sent Free. 
Humphreys’ Med. Co., 109 Fullon St., N. Y. 
"strong ROOFING 
Easy to apply, does not 
ru*t or rattle. Is also 
A SUBSTITUTE for 
PLASTER, at Half 
the Cost. CARPETS 
Vnnd RUGS of same. 
——-Catalogue and Sam¬ 
ples free. W. H. FAY A CO., Camden, N. J. 
;|ls WATER j-PRODI 
VAPORATING FRUIT 
Full treatise on improved 
methods, yields, prnfita.pnces 
and general statistics. FREE. 
AMERICAN MAN’F’G CO, 
■ (*B<w WAYNESBORO, PA. 
For nearly a quarter ol a century Bradley s Super¬ 
phosphate has maintained its reputation as Ihe best 
In the market. Based upon no yatue, theoretical princi- 
pies, it is mil »n experimental teittIUer, ol variable compo¬ 
sition n rut fluctuating value, but a thoroughly practical 
and reliable manure, of uniform quality, condition and 
valuo. It contains all the elcrueois of plant food in the 
most nutritious forms, derived from the best materials, and 
combined in proportion* proven by on actual experience 
of 24 years to best constitute a well-balanced com¬ 
plete manure for general use on all crops, with or 
without barnyard manure. 
• Pamphlets mailed free to any address. 
teilcy Fertilizer Co., rochesVeK s n. y 
General Advertising 1 Rates of 
THE RURAL NEW - YORKER. 
The following rates are invariable. Ml are there¬ 
fore respectfully informed that any correspondence 
ttrith a view to obtaining different terms will prove 
Dear Uncle Mark: — I have received the 
beans you sent, aud have planted and poled 
them, as you instructed. Fourteen of them 
are up. The cut worms are bo numerous here 
that 1 have to make paper cans without any 
bottoms or tops, aud put over them, pressing 
them into the ground from one to two inches. 
The worms never climb over them, and unless 
one chances to get into the ring with the can 
before I get it on, iny beans are safe; we use 
such cans both on cabbage aud potato plants. 
If some of the Cousins are troubled with such 
pests they might profit by my experience. 
The cans are made of building paper. Your 
nephew, ruthvin. 
Stearns Co., Minn. 
[I am glad to know you are fighting the 
enemies of your beaus successfully.— 
UNCLE MARK.] 
futile. 
Ordinary Advertisements, per agate lino—HO cents. 
One thousand lines or more, within one year 
from date of first insertion, per agate line. 25 “ 
Yearly orders occupying 14 or more lines 
agate space .... .25 “ 
Preferred positions ..23 per cent, extra. 
Reading Notices, ending with "Adv.f per 
line, minion leaded.. 75 cents. 
Terms of Subscription. 
The subscription price of the Rural New York nr Is: 
Single copy, per year.$3.00 
" " Six months.110 
Great Britain, Ireland, Australia and 
Germany, per year, post-paid........ $8.04 (13*. 6d.) 
Franco..... 8.04(16Kfr) 
French Colonies. 4.03 (291$ f r.) 
Any oue sending a club of seven Is entitled to one 
oopy. one year free. 
Agents will be supplied with canvassing outfit on 
application. _ 
Entered at the Post-offloe at New York CPy, N Y. 
as seoond-olass mall matter. 
