:fox t\)c Dmttig. 
OW beautiful the trees are 
now. We can find almost 
every known color in a sin¬ 
gle field. After all, this is 
about the prettiest season 
of the year. These beau¬ 
tiful Autumn leaves, well 
pressed and varnished, will 
be nice to put around win¬ 
dows and pictures this 
Winter. They will hold 
their bright colors and 
make the rooms look so 
cheerful when the snow 
is on the grouud. I fre¬ 
quently see city people coming in from the 
country with great bunches of bright colored 
leaves. People are glad to have something to 
remind them ot the pure life of the country. 
When you make out the reports for the 
beans, it will be a good plan to use consider¬ 
able care. We want to know all we can about 
them. The best way that I can think of is to 
number the vines and give the number of pods 
on each vine, and the number of beans in each 
pod. Suppose yon make out the list like this: 
Vine No. 1—3 pods with 2 beans In each—G Beans. 
2-2 “3 “ 6 •• 
“ 2-1 "2 •* 2 “ 
6 pods. Total. 14 Beans. 
In that way we can easily see about the 
beans. Then below the list you can give the 
other facts about the largest yield. Making 
out the li*t in this way, will not only help in 
awarding the prizes, but it will teach us to be 
neat and exact in our accounts. When the 
lists come in I hope you will write all you can 
about the culture of the beans. Tell us bow 
you cultivated them, how they were planted 
and how you think they might have been im¬ 
proved. We shall all be glad to learn how to 
do our work better. 
I hope our boys will watch the cattle care¬ 
fully this Winter, and see if they cannot learn 
something that will be of interest. Cattle 
feeding is very profitable work when it is well 
done, and when you have farms of your own, 
as of course you will have some day, you will 
want to know how to do things in the best 
wa}\ If any of you are on farms where silos 
are used, be sure and notice bow the cattle 
like the silage, and ask your father if it pays 
to put up fodder in this way. It is quite a 
question yet you know whether it is cheaper 
to feed dry corn fodder or silage. I have no 
doubt you boys can do more than your share 
in settling this question. If one process is 
cheaper than the other, of course you want to 
know about it. 
I want you to do all the experimental work 
that you can. By that I mean that I want 
you to think about your work and see if you 
can’t find easier and better ways of doing 
things. There is always a right way to do 
things, and the best way to find this “right 
way” is to observe and think. We must not 
despise the little things, because every great 
thing is made up of many small ones. The 
girls can help us at this work too, Dcm't you 
know that there is always some person in 
every neighborhood who has the best plants 
and flowers? There is always a reason for this, 
and our girls can find it out if they will observe 
closely. Then there are many things about 
the poultry that will pay one to study. 
For instance, did yon know that dark brown 
eggs bring tbe highest price in the markets? 
Now let us begin by trying to find out which 
breeds of hens lay the darkest eggs. Who can 
teH? 
LETTERS FROM THE COUSINS. 
Dear Uncle Mark: It is raining today, 
which gives me time to look over my sum¬ 
mer’s work. But first, I am so delighted with 
the excellent letters of the Cousins that I am 
afraid to write. My little garden has yielded 
better than ever. If the members of tbe club 
wish to be the best farmers by and by, we 
must try and learn the best method of making 
the soil yield its increase. Our old farmers 
are in the groove chat their fathers tilled the 
soil in, and we must strike out for ourselves 
so that we can learn the new and improved 
methods of farming; at least that is what they 
tell us, and I, for one, believe it. I have been 
reading the Rural New-Yorker for some 
years, and I am following its advice and ex¬ 
perience, and hence I can report to the 
Cousins how much advantage the Rokal has 
been to me. 
I must tell you what I have done this Sum¬ 
mer, and what I have done you can do. I re¬ 
ceived some Mammoth Chili Squash seed and 
planted when the weather and soil were 
warm. But this is not all. I had prepared 
the soil with barn-yard fertilizer, and had 
cultivated it thoroughly for two years. When 
the plants were up and large enough to hoe I 
destroyed every weed that wanted to grow 
near them. Weeds like to grow near plants, 
because they like good company and the 
plants have something good to eat—the best 
of plant food—and they have nice, fine soil 
without any hard lumps near them, and the 
weeds like all this, and they come and steal 
away the bread, butter and sugar from the 
plants, and the boy that does not work in his 
garden, but spends his time at play, will be 
disappointed when he gathers his squashes for 
the fair; that was my experience, at least. 
From the seed I had 31 large squashes. They 
all weighed 1010 pounds. So I was rewarded 
for my skill with a premium at the fair. 
LEWIS SMITH. 
[[ hope you will be particular to tell us just 
how you managed, Lewis. You are right 
about the weeds. They like to push them¬ 
selves in just where they are not wanted at 
all. They are very greedy and want all the 
best places for themselves.— uncle mark.] 
Uncle Mark: We wrote one letter and it 
was printed, so 1 will write another. We will 
tell you about our crops. Crops are all very 
good around here, but potatoes; they are 
rottiug. We will vote now: 1st, the horse; 
2d, wheat; 3d, the dog; 4th, the apple; oth, 
the red rose; 6th, the potato. We both think 
alike on all the questions. We often make a 
jack o’ lantern, but do not frighten anybody 
with them. The oats you sent Pa a year ago 
last Spring did well; we planted them and 
got a peek; we sowed them and got 17 bush¬ 
els, but they are rather late for this place. 
Not many of the tomatoes ripened, for the 
frost came too early for them. The Dent corn 
did not ripen early enough. We got three 
pecks of good rye and have sowed it again. 
We will close, hoping to see this in print. 
Your nephews, 
WALTER AND ALBERT FISHER. 
Ontario. 
Uncle Mark: Will you please admit me 
as a member to the Y. H. Club? 1 have taken 
the Rural for some time, and we all like it 
very much. The Garden Treasures did not 
grow well this Summer, what came up were 
neglected while I was away at school. The 
corn and rye were very nice. The com yield¬ 
ed four bushels of ears, but is a little later 
than the corn generally planted here. The 
rye yielded one half bushel, more than a 
thousand fold. Tbe wheat did not do very 
well, it “winter-killed." We jii3t have about 
a quart, which papa thinks is very nice. 
Black Champion Oats is almost too late for 
this climate. Cousins don't you think Uncle 
Mark’s picture would make a uiee heading for 
the page devoted to the Club? (Or on the front 
page). It seems like writing to a Myth, writ¬ 
ing to some one the most of ns never saw. I 
do wonder if we have any Aunt Mark? Are 
you Cousins not all afraid of tbe waste basket? 
Iam. Wishing IJ. M. and the Rural suc¬ 
cess. I remain your niece. 
Law Co., Pa. olive van fleet. 
[Uncle Mark feels flattered to think that so 
much interest is taken in him. Tbe Cousins 
may rest assured that he is not at all a myth. 
1 would rather not put my picture in the 
paper just now, but I do wish I could see you 
all and talk to you. I am interested in all you 
do, for I want tbe members of my family to 
make the very best men and women this 
country has ever seen. Now let us all see 
what a lot of letters we can write before 
Christmas.— uncle mark ] 
Dear Uncle Mark: It is a long time since 
I wrote you last, but I have beeu so busy all 
the time. I like so much to help my papa 
harness and drive horses, that he sometimes 
calls me his little boy. The beans you sent 
me have done very well, 18 came up and I 
made paper bands to put around each one to 
keep the cut-worms from them, and 1 have 
gathered 468 pods, and the vines are full yet 
with green ones. Please accept many thanks 
for them. From your little niece, 
LOU HALL. 
[I am glad you are able to help so much. 
We can guess which animal you will vote for. 
uncle mark.] 
Dear Uncle Mark: My papa takes the 
Rural and I like to read the letters from the 
Cousins. I waut to join the Y. H. C. I am 
seven years old to day. I go to school with 
my brother, who is five years old. I like to 
wash dishes, but L do not like to wipe them. 
My pets are a yellow kitten and a bird. 
Your niece, katie read. 
[You are surely a member now, Katie. It 
is sometbiug like a birthday preseut, isn’t it? 
I hope you will write again.— uncle mark.] ] 
Dear Uncle Mark: I thought I would 
like.to join in with the Cousins, as I have 
been reading the letters in the Rural. This 
is my'first letter. I am 12 years old. My 
father has taken the Rural for about four 
years and likes it very much. I wash dishes 
and gather the tomatoes of the Ruhal, and 
scrub the floor, and bake cake, and milk three 
cows in the evening and morning, and gather 
the eggs, and get from 18 to 20 a day. I have 
two sisters and four brothers. It is very cold 
and rainy to day. I planted papa’9 Garden 
Treasures, and some were very nice and some 
did not do very well; the poppies were real 
nice. Your niece, jennie s. kreider. 
Erie Co., Pa. 
I Very well, Jennie, you are one of the 
Cousins now, surely. I am glad you can do 
so much to help. We shall expect to hear 
from you again.— uncle mark.] 
Dear Uncle Mark: I wrote to you once 
before and as you was so good as to print it, I 
will try again. It has been warm aud pleas¬ 
ant here to-day, my sister and I went berry¬ 
ing after swamp cranberries or (as we call 
them) bog or squaw berries, we got about a 
bushel. We sowed part of the Garden Treas¬ 
ures and had some nice mignonette and a 
canua. The cauna blossomed and tbe flower 
was red and yellow and very handsome. We 
thank you very much for the seeds you sent 
us. Papa has taken your paper nearly two 
years aud we like it very much. I like the 
children’s letters, the ladies department, and 
the poetry. We have 24 house plants, we had 
some last year but they froze last Winter. We 
built a nice new house this Summer to keep 
our plaots from freezing this Winter. Uncle 
Mark can you please tell me the address of 
any firm who would buy ground pines or ever 
greens for winter decorations, I would like 
to make some pin money in selling some if I 
could. Your affectionate niece, 
Berlin, Wis. alice hoose. 
[I do not know of any firm such as you 
speak of Alice. Perhaps I can learn of one in 
Chicago or some city near you. 
—uncle mark.] 
Dear Uncle Mark: I would like to be¬ 
come a member of tbe Y. H. C. 1 live in the 
country and am eight years old. My Papa is 
a minister. The parsonage is on a little farm 
of 25 acres. We have over 100 hundred 
chickens; Leghorns, Plymouth Rocks, Wyau- 
dottes and Langsbans. We have two pigs and 
intend to get three more. We have one cow 
and an Alderney calf. We have plenty of 
apples and potatoes stored in tbe cellar for 
the Winter I hope the Lord will provide plenty 
of good things for all the little folks of the 
Rural this Winter. Truly yours, 
Columbiana Co., O. Herman rkichard. 
[Yes, Herman, you shall join tbe Club. I 
am glad you are so happily situated. I wish 
some of the poor little city boys I see every 
day could be out there with you. 
—uncle mark.] 
Dear Uncle Mark: It has beeu some time 
since I wrote to you, but I take as much in¬ 
terest in the Club and the Cousins’ letters as 
ever. I take care of my baby sister, churn, 
feed the chickens, and help my oldest sister 
wash the dishes. I am sorry to say I can’t 
like that at all. It has been very dry in this 
section of the State all the Bummer. Our 
little flower garden was so badly scorched we 
have not had many flowers. I have seven 
very fine lima bean vines. I gathered a quart 
of dry shelled beans, and tbe vines are full of 
green pods. Tbe Stratagem peas bad the 
largest pods I ever saw, and the Prince of 
Wales peas bore well too; but the chickens 
destroyed them all. We were very sorry 
about it. We enjoyed our grapes very much. 
Papa gave the vines such a close summer 
pruning some of them bloomed again and 
have a second crop on them, some just turn¬ 
ing. We are making bags to put on them to 
protect them from the first slight froBts and 
hope they will ripen. We have a great many 
apples. We dried enough apples for our own 
use next AVinter, and some pears too. 
Your affectionate niece, 
HKTTIE DANIELS. 
Prince Edwards Co. Va. 
Dear Uncle Mark: I have not written to 
you for a long time and I am very much 
obliged to you for those beans you sent me, 
and I couldn’t get auy subscribers for the Ru¬ 
ral New-Yorker, but I will try again. The 
flower seeds you sent me last year very nearly 
ull came op. and I have got two geraniums 
yet. The beuns did not come up till they were 
scratched up by the hens. I have got a little 
dove, aud as I was coming to school this morn¬ 
ing I saw a gray squirrel with a hickory nut 
in its mouth. Good bye, dear Uncle Mark. 
I remain your affectionate nephew, 
Virginia. harry h haves. 
[You will do better next year I am sure, 
Harry. The squirrels are getting ready for 
Winter. What a warm, cosy time they will 
have. UNCLE MARK.] 
PtotaUaiimtis gulvertteittfl. 
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154 Tremont St..Boston. 46 E. 14th St. (Union Sq.), 
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Sold by Grocers everywhere. 
W. BAKER & CO., Dorchester, Mass. 
THE MAN 
WHO MACKS 
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