414 
JULY 8 
THE RURAL. NEW-YORKER. 
golds, turnips and carrots are the principal. 
They are looking excellent. The acreage 
under potatoes is much less than in former 
years, and we will have abundance of bugs to 
fight, so that potato-growing is below par in 
this locality. Grain is not largely grown 
here, but what we have is Al. We have had 
a great ileal of frost this month, so the pros¬ 
pects for orchard and small fruits are very 
poor; in fact these crops may lie total failures. 
J. W. C. 
W akwiuk, Ontario.—'The outlook for general 
cereals in this county is about the average, ex¬ 
cept corn, and that will be above an average 
for the last live years, as it escaped the June 
frosts, which is the only drawback to it here. 
This is the banner County of Ontario for 
fall wheat. The production varies according 
to cultivation from‘JO to 50 bushels per acre. 
The area sown is much less than in previous 
years. On account of low prices we have 
gone into stock-raising and butter and cheese- 
making. Th^area under oats is much larger 
than usual, as there are several oat-meal mills 
in operation, paying very good prices for 
white oats. Barley looks well, but the area is 
less than usual. There is about the usual 
area of peas. The hug has not troubled us of 
late years, and they are lookiug well, llay 
will be a good crop. We commenced to cut 
clover J une JJ. Potatoes look well aud roots 
in general I think will be an average crop. 
Apples and small fruits not much grown ex¬ 
cept along Lake Huron, and even there not 
many are met with. What there is will be 
good. Peaches, which have uot done well for 
years, promise a big crop this year. R mc. d. 
lUommt s XUxtrk. 
CONDUCTED BY EMILY LOUISE TAFLIN. 
HER SONGS. 
On golden curls, on nodding head, 
On Ups that baby prayers have said, 
The firelight, glancing, dancing red. 
Its radiance flings, 
While breathing out Into the glow, 
Sweet melodies unerasing flow. 
Now merry, gay, or sn l or slow, 
For mamma slugs. 
Ah me! the very songs she sung 
In years agone, when she was young 
And all her listeners spell-bound hung 
On her Ups—she keeps 
For the low colled twilight room, 
Where her mother fancies bloom. 
And no passion epntes to gloom, 
While baby sleeps. 
And does she sigh for those lost days 
Of lofty halls, applauding praise, 
And bright eyes proud, admiring gaze? 
Love never counts the cost. 
So naught cams mammu—on her breast 
The baby head In baby rest, 
lu her love content and blest, 
She deems the world well lost. 
—A. M. l/unne, in Good Hou.i<keeping. 
OF INTEREST TO WOMEN. 
Pretty wash-cloths may be made of dam¬ 
ask or momie doth, the edge raveled out to 
form a fringe, with a row of cat-stitching in 
red cotton at the top of the friuge. Iu one 
corner is embroidered diagonally in red cot¬ 
ton: 
‘‘Use me freely, 
Anti I hope 
On me you'll rub 
A little soup.” 
Among the latest novelties are embroidered 
linen sheets, which are brought up over the 
pillow iu place of the sham, uow out of date. 
These sheets are hem-stitched at each end, and 
at one end show a richly embroidered band 
aboutJH inches deep. 
The newest tublo linen is damask with a 
ground like momie cloth; it. is enriched with 
drawn work aud beiuslitchiug. 
At the commencement of Wells College, we 
are fold by the newspapers, that Mrs. Cleve¬ 
land wore a “poem” composed of white silk 
and lace, with garniture, of Held daisies. At 
this institution the English collegiate costume, 
consisting of black gown and mortar-board 
cap, has been decided upon by the faculty as 
the graduating dress, as a means of stopping 
the excessive display made by many foolish 
girls upon this occasion. 
We may uot agree with all the ceremony 
displayed in the celebration of Queen Vic¬ 
toria’s Jubilee. but even the most democratic 
among us must look with respect ou the quiet 
and simple-mannered woman who possesses 
the highest temporal rank of her sex; the only 
living Empress in her own right. She may 
not bo such a great leader as Elizabeth, but 
she has set an example of simplicity aud do¬ 
mestic virtue, to her people, and wherever the 
com plica ions of statecraft have permitted 
her to exercise her own persouul wishes, her 
influence kas always been for the right. She 
istiot.a genius, buta thoroughly good woman, 
aud we Americans are not a whit the less pa¬ 
triotic in wishing her many peaceful years be¬ 
fore she lays down her crown and scepter at 
the summons of a still mightier sovereign, 
COMMON-SENSE CLOTHING. 
We women come in for a good share of ad¬ 
vice, from first to last. Sometimesit is anent 
our bread winning and sometimes our brains, 
but when other subjects fail we always re¬ 
ceive suggest ions on our clothes. 
Perhaps, ns Mr. Burdette says, we do wear 
clothes that would make an athlete swoon. 
Perhaps some of us do wear poor slaughtered 
birds on our hats, which are ruthlessly de¬ 
stroyed by heartless men for the sake of gain. 
For though we may be parti ccps eri minis 
there are few women who would deliberately 
demaud this destruction; the supply preceded 
the demand. However, these strictures do not 
apply to our Rural sisters, who of course do 
not countenance this destruction. 
But our petticoats aud our stays ure the 
garments most derided by the dress reform¬ 
ers, and they tell us that our millennium will 
never approach until we discard them 
both. Mrs. Jeuness Miller is the most quoted 
American reformer, and the descriptions of 
her own attire sound most attractive; flowing 
princess gowusof rich velvet or satin, show¬ 
ing oil'her pliaut form. No elaborate frills 
bedeck her; she displays a little dainty laee, 
and appears draped, rather than dressed. 
This is very charming, but a busy house¬ 
wife, tl.yiug around to get the meals, would 
uot work to advantage iu a clinging princess 
robe, aud wo doubt whether the garment in 
question would be as attractive in cambric as 
iu velvet. 
According to Mrs Miller, we are to replace 
our cumbersome petticoats with a divided 
skirt, christened by the fair reformer with the 
euphonious name of "U-glettcs.” The gar¬ 
ments are to he trimmed with two deep, full 
kiltings, which make them differ but little in 
appearance from an ordinary skirt. We are 
advised to make this garment of black surah, 
as being dural Je, neat, aud inexpensive. But 
there are many thrifty,self-supporting women, 
to whom these reformers especially address 
their advices, who would bo compelled to 
think a good deal before investing in silk un¬ 
derwear. Whether the leglettes are in reality 
less cumbersome than ordinary skirts we can¬ 
not say; they may come into general wear, 
or they may be relegated to the eternal shades, 
like many of the fearful and wonderful gar¬ 
ments designed by the followers of Mrs. 
Swissbelm. 
There is only one point on which the con¬ 
flicting dress reformers agree; they all say 
we must totally abolish our stays. Now, 
honestly, we believe that the cumbersome “re¬ 
form waists” offered in their place are less 
desirable than a pliant, shapely French cor¬ 
set, even from a physiological standpoint, 
unless we commit the crime of tight lacing, 
and though we see a good many painful 
examples of this folly, it is nonsense to 
imagine that every woman who wears stays 
must of necessity lace too tightly. And the 
woman who draws in her waist with a corset 
would commit some equal folly if she adopted 
reform waists. Every woman is best judge 
of her own needs in the matter of dress reform, 
aud is capable of making any necessary im¬ 
provements without organizing a popular 
crusade against the existing order of things. 
WOMAN’S WORK. 
• A. G. 
It is uot always easy to tell which is cause 
or which is effect. For instance, a writer 
ullirms that the rush of women into the pro¬ 
fessions and business offices will cause tut in¬ 
difference on the part of men in regard to the 
support of women naturally dependent on 
them. In other words, finding out that we 
can take care of ourselves, we shall be al¬ 
lowed to do so. 1 maintain that the indiffer¬ 
ence or inability of men to support those 
naturally dcpondcnl on them, have caused 
many women to eater a public life, w hose in¬ 
stincts are all opposed to such work. Be that 
us it may, there is no one who will deny that, 
there are many women who must be bread¬ 
winners or they and their children will 
starve. 
There is one work which is spreading rapidly, 
ami for which our fitness cannot be ques¬ 
tioned. It is that of kindergarten teachers. 
Hail I all the wealth of a Vanderbilt, and a 
dozen daughters, they should each have a 
course of training in this work, to fit them 
for their prospective duties of motherhood. 
When Fnebel Instiluted the kindergarten, he 
gave to women the power to lay the found¬ 
ation for every needed social and moral re¬ 
form. Babies of the teuderest age are taken 
und trained to observe what is around them, 
und to think about what they see, and with this 
they acquire much practical knowledge, for 
the luck of which no after-training will 
atone. 
I attended a commencement of one of 
these institutions iu San Francisco recently, 
and was astonished to see what the tiny tots 
were cnpable of learning. Although all the 
instruction is imparted under the guise of 
play, they do not learn the less on that ac¬ 
count. Little ones of two and three years 
learn to distinguish and name the different 
colors from their gay balls. ,A step higher, 
and blocks are furnished, from which they 
are taught the meaning of squares, cubes, tri¬ 
angles, vertical, perpendicular, horizontal, 
etc. After one of these exercises I noticed 
two little fellows less than four years old, dis¬ 
puting together in n corner, or rather arguing 
with an absurd assumption of grnvily. Said 
one mite, pointing to his buttonholes in his 
jacket, “Mine are horizontalsaid the other 
“Mine are vertical 1” 
As they grow older they learn to tell the 
parts of a flower, and to distinguish a tree by 
its bark and leaf. History is imparted in the 
form of a story, and if there is a spark of 
artist instinct in any one of them it is devel- 
oped. 
Think what interesting mothers these young 
women must make who have been trained to 
impart, this knowledge. Of course every true 
mother is a sort of natural kindergarten, 
but there is much to be learned that would 
delight the child, and make it easier for the 
mother. Mrs. Leland Stanford, Mrs. Alex¬ 
ander, nee Miss Crocker, and many wealthy 
ladies of Sau Francisco, have established Free 
Kindergartens throughout t his city, that are 
doing untold good among the outcast waifs 
with no homes, or from homes that are worse 
•than none. Sqid one lovely young lady who 
has devoted her life to this work, “ If you can 
do nothing else for these wails furnish them 
with handkerchiefs. Until you have been to 
lb? Free Kindergarten, you cannot appreciate 
what an iucrease of dignity was lent the 
liumau race when haudkerchiefs were in¬ 
vented.” 
- - ■» ♦ » 
MOVING DAY. 
A VICTIM. 
If there is one thing that should be an es¬ 
pecial subject for congratulation and thank¬ 
fulness with farmers’ wives, it is the fact that 
the first of May with them is not a perpetu 
ally recurring exodus. The poor woman 
whose lines bare been cast lu city places, 
must for a mouth or six weeks before that 
date encounter the horror of “house-hunt¬ 
ing,”—of all tedious, tiresome, unthankful 
tasks, surely the very worst that has ever 
fallen to the lot of the daughters of Eve. If 
in your endless peregrinations you by chance 
iind a house, the outside and surroundings of 
which have a favorable appearance, a tiny 
label ou the door announces that the “ key is 
at 234 Horton street,” which may' bo at the 
other end of town for all you know. You 
climb numberless pairs of stairs, and the 
house whose exterior seems a>l that you could 
wish, is objectionable on account of the neigh¬ 
borhood, und vice versa. At last you make a 
frantic choice of evils, and do not by any 
means always choose the least, the result of 
which is that next year, or next rent day, 
your purgatory begins ugain. 
“ Moving is a weakness, and liko all other 
frailties of human nature, once you yield to 
it, there is no telling to what lengths it may 
carry you,” remarked a friend with whom I 
was ouce discussing ibis matter, us we were 
sitting on bool'd the “Piedmont,” one of the 
palatial ferry boats which ply betwet^ San 
Francisco and Oakland. “True for you, 
madam,” said a gentleman who stood near, 
and whom 1 would have known for u Jersey 
farmer if I had met him in the wiids of 
Africa, “ it has carried me ull the way from 
New Jersey to California where I am obliged 
to stay for want of money to get back,” which 
proves that it is a very good plan to “look 
before you leap.” 
There are always a thousand and one seem¬ 
ingly good excuses for a move, the vuiu hope 
of bettering one’s condition, being, of course 
the main object in view. Tins, however, it is 
safe to say is seldom accomplished, while the 
necessary additional expense leaves you that 
much poorer. Carpets that would have lasted 
a year or two longer In the parlor or dining¬ 
room of the old house, prove to lie so much too 
small thut it is considered a matter of econo¬ 
my to transfer them to upper rooms and buy 
new. The furniture, or at least some articles 
of furniture, are replaced because they look 
shabby beside the new carpet. Window 
shades seldom are of the right size, and if they 
are too small uro quite useless. There are 
always additional lengths of stove-pipe re¬ 
quired before the kitchen stove can be put up, 
and the chances are that you recklessly order 
a new piece of zinc to put under it. Tuking 
it all together there is considerable truth iu 
the old adage “Three moves are as bail as a 
lire.” 
♦ ■» ♦ 
GOLDEN GRAINS. 
It is for life—uot so much even for death— 
that we are to be “ready ” Ready for God’s 
call, that comes to us in an hour when we 
think not, and demands all the strength we 
should have grown to, to enable us to decide 
and act. . ... .. 
God’s way of giving is daily strength for 
daily needs. He who would servo God wisely 
and well will use to-day’s strength—and to¬ 
day’s strength only—for the duties of to-day.. 
Life is a series of surprises, and would not 
be worth taking or keeping if it. were not. 
God delights to isolate us every day, and hide * 
from us t he past and the future. 
In daily life what distinguishes the master 
is the using those materials he 1ms, instead of 
looking about for what ure more renowned, 
what others have used well . 
“I make the most of my enjoyments, and 
tinmgh I do not cast my eyes away from my 
troubles, I pack them in as little compass as I 
can for myself amd never let them annoy 
others.”. 
This is the way to cultivate courage: first, 
by standing firm on some conscientious prin¬ 
ciple, some luw or duty; next, by lteiug faith¬ 
ful to truth utid right on small occasions and 
common events; third, by trusting God for 
help and power... . . 
CONDUCTED BY MRS. AGNES E. M. CARMAN. 
ONE SUMMER. 
ANNE THRIFTY.—II. 
Father and mother were away one even¬ 
ing, and the boys missing them staid with us, 
instead of running away as usual to their 
play. This seemed a good time to talk to 
them about a summer school. I asked them 
about their studies aud found they were both 
well advanced in reading and spelling, but 
Robbie was deficient in writing aud Fred¬ 
die knew almost nothing of geography or 
arithmetic. It took a good deal of persuasion 
to gain their consent to study every day. 
Robbie’s blue eyes filled with tears when ho 
saw Fred had consented, for he know his own 
decision would be the same; he rarely did 
anything contrary to his older brother, though 
lie sometimes fumed and fretted overdoing it. 
“We’ll ask mother to let us have the ‘south 
room’ for our school room, and we will have 
it just as we like, won’t that please you. Rob¬ 
bie?” I said, and he had to smile in spite of 
his teais, but was still only half won, for he 
said: “1 won’t go to school unless mother says 
so." “Or course not,” I answered; “we will 
leuve it to her to decide.” 
It was with a feeling akin to “stage fright” 
that 1 approached mother with my request 
when she came home. My heart was so set 
upon carrying out my plan that the dread of 
disappointment took away my self-possession. 
But mother gave her consent readily and 
suggested using two small stands from her 
room uml ray own, as desks lor the boys. 
The following Monday I had the school-room 
in order amt a bouquet of roses on each desk, 
aud at nine o’clock opened the “Thrifty Aca¬ 
demy” with a few runvuks upon the impor¬ 
tance of a good education, to which the little 
fellows listened with more attention than I 
expected. The formality seemed to please 
them aud awe them a little. Robbie said, very 
demurely, when I bad finished, “Now, teacher, 
shall we study?” I made each lesson very 
short, and the hour was over before wo were 
aware, and the boys hod recited short lessons 
in reading, spelling, geography, and arith¬ 
metic. 
Our celebration of the Fourth of July that 
summer was different from auy other we had 
ever held, and was a very pleasant one. Wo 
lmd a family picnic in a beautiful ravine 
about five miles from our home. The family 
party included Uncle John and his twin boys; 
Aunt Helen, his sister, with whom the boys 
boarded; Uncle Lewis und his wife, Aunt 
Esther, and their little girls, Effic and Lulu. 
That wo might not all be Thnftys, Uncle 
John’s brother-in law and his wife from Rock- 
made Farm were invited; Uncle Bob and Aunt 
Mary to the twins, and through this connecting 
link uncle and aunt by courtesy to all the cou¬ 
sins of the twins. The Fourth came with a clear 
sky, that promised n very hot noon. Wo has¬ 
tened our preparation*! so that wo might reach 
Waykawee Ravine before the long, cool 
shadows of the trees by the way had shrunk 
and shortened to circles beneath the trees. 
We boiled eggs, fried four spring chickens, 
VV hen Baby was sick, wo gave her Custorla 
When she was a Child, she cried for Castorla, 
When she became Miss, she clung to Custoria, 
When she had Children, she ttave them Castorla. 
