THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
agates and other beautiful stones. There are 
many of them along Labe Michigan, where 
Leonore lives. I wish we could all spend a 
day at gathering specimens for our collections. 
They had a splendid garden The onion 
maggot did some damage, but they drove it 
away by using ashes on the vegetables. 
Pte’MUaitfaujs gUmtisinci 
they thanked God and said, “This day ever 
after shall be set apart to acknowledge God’s 
goodness.” That is the true origin. It is 
specially observed in New England, and the 
Thanksgiving dinners are famous when all the 
“sisters and the cousins and the aunts” meet 
together to eat roast turkey and pumpkin 
pie. The roguish boys dress up in their 
mother's and sister's clothes, and so celebrate 
the day in their own fashion. Next Thursday 
will be Thanksgiving Day, aud let us hope 
that all the turkeys will be done to a “T.” aud 
the pumpkin pies just the right shade of 
brown. M. c. pool®, 
[There used to be occasional days Eet apart 
for thanksgiving in Europe. Such a day was 
observed Oct. 3d, 1575 in Leyden, Holland, on 
the anniversary of the deliverance of that city 
from siege. During the war of the Revolu¬ 
tion, the New England soldiers did their best 
to celebrate the day. Sometimes they bad 
hard work to get up the feast that really seems 
to be a part of the celebration, but they 
always managed it someway. I have no 
doubt that some of the Tory farmers found 
their flocks of chickens and turkeys much re¬ 
duced in size about Thanksgiving time. Gen. 
Washington's army used to often pass the 
Winters in New Jersey aud Pennsylvania. I 
have no doubt some of the Cousins live iu the 
very places that the soldiers used to occupy. 
1 have always thought that Thanksgiving at 
Valley Forge must have been dreary enough, 
yet I suppose the soldiers mauaged to have 
considerable fun after all. A great many of 
us in these days forget, I am afraid, just what 
the day is for. It seems to us like a day for 
fun aud a great feast and not a day for think¬ 
ing over the past or planning for the future. 
We must never lose sight of the fact, however, 
that such days are the best for making plans, 
and for thinking over what we want to do. 
We are cheerful and happy then, and pretty 
sure to look on the “bright side.” There is 
everything in that. Now is the time to re¬ 
member all the good things that we have, and 
to stop fretting about the things we want to 
have. uncle make ] 
a OW I wish some of our 
<3 boys and girls could win 
one of the presents that 
are offered for the largest 
m, clubs sent in before next 
if ul ^ wou ^ l ,e about 
|y||) the best thing ever known 
^ some of our cousins 
cL( could only beat the older 
people. It may be easier 
than you think, to get a 
J ©l&pj good sized club of sub- 
) scribers. Try it, anyway. 
(£) 9 \ c There must be people in 
(-•* J your neighborhood who 
do not take the Rural, and who would be 
glad to do so it they really knew how good 
it is. Let us see what you can do. 
LETTERS FROM THE COUSINS, 
JAMES McCREERY & CO. 
offer some special induce¬ 
ments in antique India and 
Persian shawls, now much 
used for draperies, etc., as 
well as for personal wear. 
They invite particular 
attention to their stock of 
Modern India Shawls, un¬ 
excelled for Style, coloring 
and price. Many of these 
goods having, been pur¬ 
chased before recent ad¬ 
vances. 
Dear Uncle Mark: The things on my 
father’s place are about through growing, so 
I will send in my report. Those beaus came 
to hand all right, and mauy thanks for them. 
They grew well, and set a large number of 
pods; but none ripened. The Bidwell Straw¬ 
berry is my favorite. It yielded at the rate 
of over ”01 bushels to the acre. My father 
has many varieties of strawberries. The 
first berries sold for 15 cents aud went as low 
as five cents for very poor ones. We bad noue 
of those. Our berries were grown in bills on 
rich ground, aud well eared for. My father 
had them sorted as they were picked. This 
made our berries sell from one to three cents 
higher per quart than the common ones. Our 
raspberries were also fine. They were mostly 
Cuthbert, Gregg, and Doolittle. The two 
former are the favorites for profit here. 
Blackberries were badly hurt by the Winter. 
Apples are a moderate crop. Grapes good, 
and other fruit scarce. I had a nice lot of 
pop-corn, but the pigs ate it all up. My 
father told me. that he would pay for it when 
he sold the pigs. The boys like the farm with 
such a father as overseer. He has 29 Duroc- 
Jersey pigs and bogs. We had three pens at 
the fair aud received three first premiums. 
From your nephew, 
Ann Arbor, Mich. Alfred b. bird. 
[Yes, indeed, Alfred, boys like to be well 
used I can tell you. I am glad your loss will 
be made good, aud I wish there were more 
such fathers. I am glad you were so success¬ 
ful with the fruits. It pays to be careful and 
particular you see.— uncle mark.] 
Dear Uncle Mark and Couslvs: I am a 
little girl eight years old, and wish to join the 
Y. H. C. The Rural corn came up nicely, but 
the rats ate it up before it matured. We had 
a nice selection of flowers from your Garden 
Treasures. Papa has taken the Rural for 
two years, aud we all like it very much. I’ve 
got a bird and call him Grover. We have set 
out 600 strawberry plants this Fall. 
Your niece, bertha kratz. 
[We shall call you Cousin Bertha now. It 
is too bad those naughty rats ate the corn— 
UNCLE MARK ] _ 
Dear Uncle Mark: Papa has taken the 
Rural for about eight years, and he likes it 
very much. I would like to join your Y. H. C. 
I am a little girl 1L years old. I help mamma 
a great deal. I do most all the kitchen work 
when mamma has no hired girl. I can make 
pies, bread and cake real good, papa says. 1 
take music and singing lessons every week. 
Your niece. wild IVT. 
Toledo, Ohio. 
[Very well, Clara, you are now a Cousin. I 
am glad you can do so much. Your papa must 
be a good judge of cooking.— uncle mark.] 
The Rural will go to a great many peo¬ 
ple this week who have never seen it before. 
Perhaps it will be a good time for me to 
say a word About our department. There 
will be plenty of boys and girls iu the new 
Rural families, who will be glad to join 
our Club when they understand just what 
it is. Now boys and girls this is your own 
department. We call it the Youth’s Hor¬ 
ticultural Club, and all the boys and girls 
in the families where the Rural goes, are 
invited to join. This you can do by 
writing a letter to “Uncle Mark,” saying 
that you wish to join. After that you will 
be expected te write at least two letters 
every year. I want you to write all about 
your work and home, what you like to do, 
what you hope to be, what kinds of work 
you do, and wbat you think about flowers, 
fruits and other things you see on the farm. 
We shall all be interested in what you 
have to say. The Rural offers prizes for 
the beet yields of vegetables. Everybody 
reads our letters, aud quite a number of 
the cousins have been promoted, and entered 
the other departments of the RcflAL. Now 
then, let every one of the Rural children 
write to “Uncle Mark,” and tell him some¬ 
thing about what they are doing. We will 
welcome yon all, aud what a feeling it will 
give one to think of belonging to a club 
that has members in every state in the 
Union. _ 
What kind of a Winter shall we have? Will 
it be cold or will there be much warm aud 
pleasant weather? When I was a boy people 
used to tell me that the squirrels kuew more 
about such things than even “Old Probabili¬ 
ties.” I used to think that when these little 
nut crackers put iu an extra store of nuts 
we might look out fur an extra cold Winter. 
An old Indian told me once to look at the corn 
husks. If they were particularly heavy and 
rough we might expect a hard Winter. There 
might not be much in these signs, but it will 
be a good plan to see how near they do come 
to the truth. Let us notice this year. 
The bean reports are coming in, and some 
very large yields are reported. Let us have 
them all in as soon as possible. 
The closest contest in the election is that 
between corn and wheat. It seems pretty 
hard to decide between them. Of course people 
use wheat for food lo a greater extent than 
they use corn, but the latter grain is used so 
much to feed to stock that many think it is 
most valuable. It takes considerable thinking 
to decide which is best. Corn is sometimes 
spoken of as the kiDg of grains, because there 
is so much of it produced in this country. In 
a great many places, however, wheat is the 
“cash crop,” or the crops that brings in the 
ready money to pay the taxes. 
THE ORIGIN OF THANKSGIVING DAY. 
Thanksgiving Day is an annual holiday 
set apart by the President specially to ac¬ 
knowledge the goodness of God to this people 
throughout the past year. It is always the 
last Thursday iu November, and is thought by 
a great many to have originated in the early 
times, when tbefarteer, after gathering in his 
crops,desired to return thanks to Almighty God 
for bis care and bounty; but this is not the real 
origin. After the Pilgrims bad been here but 
a short time, their supplies of food grew very 
small, and they were looking every day for 
tbe ships which were to nring them provisions 
from England. But day after day passed, 
aud no ships appeared, aud they had hardly 
anything left to eat. Here they were off in 
thiB dreary couutry, with none of their old 
friends, aud almost starving. They used to 
pray ou the rocks every day, looking out to 
sea aud hoping to descry a sail. At last, 
after weeks and weeks of disappointment, one 
day towards the last of November, they saw 
a little white speck, and they knew it must be 
the ships, Dropping down on their knees, 
BROADWAY & I IthSt 
NEW YORK. 
THE WHITEMAN 
PRESERVE JAR. 
(Patented June 16,1885.) 
Miule ol Clear While Cllann, 
With IiIush Cover. 
NO metamntfintact with 
•MB'KSTS. 
Beauty, Cheapness, Reliability 
and Simplicity Combined. 
Semi for Price List and Descrip¬ 
tive ( Irculari to 
A. WHITEMAN, It. N., 
M Murray Hn, N.Y. 
THE MAIL BAG. 
HUMPHREYS' 
-iomeopafhic Veterinary 
Specifics for 
i horses, cattle, sheep. 
Uncle Mark has lost his waste-basket. 
Hereafter I shall try and notice every letter 
that is sent. Our space has been cut down 
this week, so I am going through the mail to 
pick out a few items without printing many 
long letters. Next week we shall have our 
own space again. 
Minnie Hester in sending her report says 
she has done her best to win a prize, but if she 
should not, she will try not to envy her more 
fortunate cousin, That is the best way to 
feel about it. Those who fail this year may 
have a chance in tbe future. 
hy moil everywhere. 
Writ- forf ul I descript¬ 
ive circulars to the 
NEW YORK ELASTIC 
TRUSS CO., ,, 
74-1 Broadway. N. S’. 
Freddie Champion lives in Kansas. He 
sold $3.30 worth of melons,one of which weighed 
32 pounds. He bought a book with part of the 
money. He had a cap for a birth -day present. 
•A.NCLO-SWISS AA11 1/ 
/A CONDENSED lYHLIXi 
MILKMAID BRAND. 
Economical and convenient for all 
kitchen purposes. Botter for babies than 
nncomlensed milk. Hold everywhere. 
Claude Ray Hadley is sure that horse is 
the most serviceable animal on the farm. He 
thinks we could not take care of our crop 
without the horse. 
Bessie Hope thinks that a baby is the best 
pet. She thinks that a farmer can get along 
without a horse, for he could use oxen. 
Wm. J. Onderdonk lives on a farm where 
there are a great many cows, pigs, hens, and 
horses. They have one pair of Bantams. 
Some of the stalks of last year’s Rural Corn 
grew 11 feet high. They liked all the toma¬ 
toes, except the King Humbert. There are 
two new Cousins from that family, William 
and his sister Nellie. 
James M. Stevens lives in Idaho. He had 
a beautiful flower garden with over 100 dif¬ 
ferent kiuds of flowers, besides 30 different 
roses. How beautiful that must have been. 
James must tell us more about that country. 
Dear Uncle Mark:— When I wrote to you 
last Spring I promised to inform you as to how 
the crops turned nut, aud I row take the oppor¬ 
tunity. The 50 different varieties of corn you 
so kindly sent in your Rural Distribution, 
grew well, and we could plaiuly distinguish 
several different varieties, but It was too late 
for thiscouut-ry. Most of the Flageolet Beans 
were frozen. We saved a few vines and they 
were very productive. The China-eyed Beans 
were productive but small. Tbe Lima Beaus 
you sent me came up splendidly; every beau 
was iu its place with fine healthy leaves, and 
I was counting upon the prize I should try for 
when the timeeume for sending in my reports, 
when Mr. Frost came marching along, and, 
spying tbe beaus. 
At first he took a nibble, 
Then he took a bite, 
And 19 of my L-tmn Beuns 
Were killed that frosty night. 
A cut worm ate the other one, and so I had to 
give up my trial for the prize I wished to get. 
I did not have very good luck with my ducks 
this year. The eggs got stale before we had a 
hen to set them under. But I will try again aud 
hope to have bettor luck the next time. The 
Garden Treasures were lovely. There were 
many that I knew the names of. Uncle Mark, 
1 think you ought to scold some of your neph¬ 
ews and uieces for not writing again. I see 
their first but seldom their second letter iu 
print. I will be very much obliged if you will 
put my address at- the end of my letter, and ask 
some of my Cousins to correspond with me. 
Your affectionate niece, ei.la M. T. kvanh 
Evauston Farm, Muskoda, Clay Co., Miuu. 
[Do you think it would do any good to scold 
the Cousins? I am sure they will all write 
again without scolding.— uncle mark.] 
a month onsllynimloby either 
hox, lmlf iib much eVenloKS 
WorldM’fgCo ($ 3 <-utat 
EUREKA” STAINED GLASS 
A PERFECT ^UBNTITl'TIt. 
Beautiful Stained «liu>s Windows at u trilling cost. 
Cun be upplieo tunny window without removing sash 
or glass IUutf tratea catalogues. 7. r »-. 
Alio mnfrs. of the II. Feme Patent Gold Letters 
unit Numbers on Glam* or Wire Screen All styles of 
Lettering done urristlcnlly uud warranted to last 10 
years. Send for clretilar. Agents wanted. 
Til K I.. HKIB MFC. t O., 
Ilomentle Building, 
Cor. Broadway anil 1-1*1* 5M.« N- *• C-lty. 
General Advertising 1 Kates ot 
THU RUBAL NEW-YORKER. 
The following rofiVt are invariable, All are there¬ 
fore respectfully informed that any eovrespondenre 
with a view to obtaining dijt'erent termn wilt prove 
futile. 
OtiPtHARV Advertisement*, per agate line... .30 cents. 
One thousand Hues or uiore.wb hln one year 
from date of first Insertion, per nguto line. 25 
Yearly orders occupying '4 or more lines t 
agate space ... .f 5 
Preform! positions...25 per cent, extra. 
Reading Notices, ending with At/v , per 
line, minion leaded. . • 75 cents. 
Earnest Soule planted a potato ball, aud 
has, after a good mauy failures, secured some 
seedlings from it. I hope Earnest will per¬ 
severe iu this work, and let us know how it 
comes out. _ 
Sadie McCombie lives far up in Northern 
Michigan. She says they have had two snow 
storms already. The first come on October 
3d, with sixinches of snow. Winter is coming 
upon us surely. One good thing about that 
northern country is that there is pleuty of 
good fuel. People can keep warm any wuy. 
1 hope all our houses are well banked up aud 
that we all have plenty of wood to burn. 
Charlie Barnes bas joined the club. His 
father gave him a fine calf last Spring, and 
also let him raise corn on a piece of good land. 
That is a good way to make farmers out of 
our boys I think. 
Leonore Marsac is making a collection of 
Terms of Subscription. 
The subscription prieo of tho Rural Nkw Yorkkr Is: 
Single copy, per year...*2-00 
“ " Six months....,.1-10 
Great Britain, Ireland, Australia aud 
Germany, per year, post-paid.$3.01 (12*. 8d.) 
France .... . 8.04 ( 16 ts fr.) 
French Colonics. .. 4.09(29t^ fr.) 
Auy ono sending a club of sevon is entitled to one 
oopy, one your free. 
Agents will bo supplied with canvassing outfit on 
application. ^ ________ • 
Entered at the Post office at New York City, N. Y. 
a* second-class mall matter. 
