ttoriims. 
CORRESPONDENTS’ VIEWS. 
Some time ago somebody suggested that 
lawyers should be at some other work. They 
are certainly not needed as farmers. What 
farmers want is consumers, not producer 
What farmer will buy berries at 30 cents per 
quart ? Lawyers make better customers for 
that class of articles than mechanics. No, 
give us more lawyers. E. p. n. 
Nichols, Conn. 
R. N. Y.—The number of lawyers in the 
country is now greatly in excess of its needs. 
To make a living, therefore, many of them 
must either make legal business for them¬ 
selves by fomenting unneighborly litigation 
and consequent uncharitableness, or by en¬ 
gaging in other lines, especially politics. Is 
it advantageous for the farmers of the coun¬ 
try that they should do either ? 
To Test Fertilizers I plant small test 
plots of the different crops, say, from one- 
tenth to one-twelfth of an acre each, using 
the fertilizers I wish to compare. I can then 
weigh or measure the whole product of each 
plot with very little trouble. In the field I do 
not take so much pains to get everything so 
accurate as to quantity, but intend to put on 
all I can afford to. Hampshire. 
Leeds, Mass. 
POSTSCRIPTS. 
The conclusion reached by the meeting of 
the Indiana Wool Growers might be summar. 
ized as follows: Good care, shelter and feed 
are essential to success, and affect not only 
the quantity of the clip, but its quality. At 
least a small quantity of grain, with plenty of 
good hay, is recommended. Sheep husbandry 
is profitable even on land worth $40 to $100 
an acre. The industry should be protected by 
a reasonable tariff.—J. E. Eves. -Five 
years ago last March I dug up a wild seedling 
apple, found growing under the roadside, and 
grafted it with the Baldwin. The next spring 
in transplanting the roots were found to be en¬ 
tirely eaten away by mice, which had win¬ 
tered there under the mulch, leaving only a 
club-footed stump devoid of bark, similar to a 
knob on the end of a walking-stick. But to 
my astonishment and pleasure it lived, and is 
now apparently as robust and thrifty as any 
of the 50 growing on my place, though it re¬ 
ceived no greater attention.—G. N. E., Little 
Falls, N. Y.-1 once put waste lime on al¬ 
ternate squares of a young orchard, the 
trees serving for fixed marks. Clover set 
thickly and grew well on the limed squares, 
but failed mostly elsewhere. The lime seems 
to have produced some mechanical effect fa¬ 
voring the germination of the clover seed.— 
W., Tyrone, Pa.-Leached ashes are valu¬ 
able on our prairie soil, but their effects are 
not so noticeable on the cleared woodland.— 
W. D. H., Rockford, Ill.-To most farm¬ 
ers an egg is an egg, whether large or small, 
white or brown, old or fiesh. We buy eggs 
of farmers for private shipment, and find it 
hard to discriminate in the matter of quality. 
We pay some an extra price for choice white 
or brown eggs which are fresh-laid and clean, 
yet a neighbor with his nondescript lot of eggs 
wants the same price. It’s all wrong. Quali¬ 
ty must rule, whether it be in eggs, poultry 
or any other produce. We must meet foreign 
competition in this matter, and the only way 
to do that is to make the quality of American 
produce so superior as to drive out competi¬ 
tion. Sooner or later it must be done. Let 
us begin now. —J. H. D., Washingtonville, 
N. Y.-1 have been amused at the reports 
from the correspondents on the Rural seeds. 
Dry weather, cows and hens and once in 
awhile the pet "sow get the cake. I keep a 
lard barrel for water. Forty gallons of water, 
one pound of nitrate of soda, two pounds 
of good sulphate of potash, three pounds 
of dissolved bone, two pailfuls of urine from 
the stable, stand for a week, then the mixture 
is well stirred, and an hour and a half of an 
evening is devoted to watering with it. No 
weeds are allowed to grow, or hold the ground 
for a week ; result, the Rural seeds give me 
good results every time.—W. A. Saunders, 
Connecticut.-If all the farmers of Amer¬ 
ica would take the Rural and read it they 
would be the highest-toned people in this 
country.—G. Y. Arnold, Jefferson Co., 
Colo.-Here is a report of my butter 
dairy of 12 cows, from January 1, 1887 to Jan¬ 
uary 1,1888. They are Jerseys and grades. 
Two of them are two-year-old heifers: Whole 
number of pounds made, 3,453; whole num¬ 
ber of pounds sold, 3,103; average pounds per 
cow, 287; total price obtained, $797.88; in¬ 
come .'per cow from butter, $66.49; average 
price per pound, 25% cents.—N. O. N., Herki¬ 
mer, N. Y.-In Rural of January 7, 
Bucephalus Brown indicates quite unmistak¬ 
ably, if he doesn’t put it in actual words, that 
a farmer who is a little bad is awful, while 
an oleo man is quite superior because he uses 
higher chemicals and need not condescend to 
use such common things as water and salt for 
defrauding his customers. So long as oleo is 
colored like butter and sold for butter, it is a 
fraud, and B. B. and any other person know 
it.—C. W. G., Waynesboro, Pa.-1 believe 
in improved dairy implements. I would sell 
a cow to buy a creamer. It would pay to do 
it. It would save my wife many hours of 
work and enable her to get more and better 
cream out of the milk. It pays.—H. B. A., 
Passaic Co., N. J.-The Kittatinny and 
Lawton blackberries have been for many 
years the leading varieties grown here, but 
owing to the orange rust, the Kittatinny has 
been almost entirely abandoned, and the Law- 
ton is fast going the same way. The Wilson 
has so far been most exempt from this blight. 
We know of no preventive and only one 
remedy for this pest, and that is to remove 
the canes and bushes, root and branch, as 
soon as they appear affected, and burn them. 
—W. A. S., Benton Harbor, Mich.-1 
doubt if I could farm without the Rural. 
My neighbors call it “ paper farming.” They 
often come and say: “ You are improving 
your farm ; where did you get that idea ?” I 
say, “From the Rural New-Yorker,” and 
they are pretty sure to try it themselves.—A. 
N. F., Leyden, Mass.-In this county the 
farmers that do the most howling about the 
fact that farming is .played out, are those 
that never read an agricultural paper or any 
other, sell everything off the farm and return 
nothing in the way of manure. Your last 
cartoon is very good and hits most of the 
farmers around here like striking a six-penny 
nail with a seven-pound hammer.—H. C. M., 
Greenwich, Conn. 
Wmnmts Work. 
CONDUCTED BY EMILY LOUISE TAPLIN. 
CHAT BY THE WAY. 
One sees so many women, these bitter win¬ 
ter days, wearing tight little jackets, which, 
though pretty and becoming, afford no real 
protection against the cold. They fit as 
snugly as a dress bodice, and it seems impos¬ 
sible to wear an additional wrap under them. 
A close chamois bodice, without sleeves, will 
do much to prevent cold, but one ingenious 
woman says she keeps warm by means of a 
paper chest protector. She wears an ordi¬ 
nary Jersey under her jacket; tacked inside 
this are stout paper shields, covering the 
chest both back and front. The amount of 
warmth it supplies is really surprising, it at 
once resists the passage of cold and confines 
the animal heat to the body. 
* * * 
Did you ever try to grow bulbs in the 
house, Chinese fashion? One sees jonquils in 
some of the Chinese laundries, a peculiar 
variety rarely met with elsewhere. A flat 
dish is filled with pebbles of moderate size, 
and the bulb is placed on top of the stones; 
some of them are built up around it, but the 
stones do not cover it in any way. Each day 
the dish is filled up with water, and the roots 
grow in amongst the pebbles. Started about 
the holidays, the plant flowers in the early 
spring. Doubtless any narcissus or hyacinth 
would grow the same way. We have pur¬ 
chased some of the Chinese bulbs from our 
friend Wah Lee, and they are flourishing 
finely. 
* * * 
In most communities we find debating or 
literary societies, which, rightly managed, 
are a valuable mode of mental improvement. 
But it is often very difficult to arrange thor¬ 
oughly interesting debates; the audience of¬ 
ten feels an inclination to join in, and, being 
denied this privilege, is apt to feel bored in 
consequence. More entertaining than de¬ 
bates are general discussions, where each and 
all may take part. A subject is chosen be¬ 
forehand, and every one is expected to study 
it up. No one makes long speeches; the pre¬ 
siding officer may open with a few general 
remarks, and the rest is purely conversational 
The subjects chosen should not be musty ab¬ 
stract questions, but living issues of the pres¬ 
ent day. For example, strikes in their rela¬ 
tion to labor might form an evening’s talk, or 
socialism, practical and theoretical, would 
call out a good many varying opinions. Any 
question of social interest might be brought 
out, but it is well to avoid political or relig¬ 
ious questions, which may cause personal 
feeling. 
* * * 
A neighboring physician speaks of this sea¬ 
son as essentially a chilblain winter. So 
many are suffering from this annoying ail¬ 
ment, and it is a thing for which there are 
many remedies, but no absolute cure. In fact, 
one clever doctor declares that chilblains and 
rheumatism are two things for which the ma¬ 
teria medica offers no real cure. Consequent¬ 
ly, every one has a pet remedy for both. A 
recent much-advertised remedy for chilblains 
is “Menthol Cream.” This is fairly expensive 
but menthol is simply the active principle of 
peppermint, and one finds quite as much re¬ 
lief from bathing the feet with the strong ex¬ 
tract. Bathing the feet in a solution of alum 
or washing soda also gives relief,butitisacase 
where an ounce of prevention is better than a 
pound of cure. Keeping the feet warm and 
dry is the best preventive of this distressing 
ailment; it is invariably the result of a chill, 
and is often caused by a long, cold ride. 
FROM THE NOTE-BOOK OF A LADY 
RE PORTE R. 
A. G. 
Mrs. Frank Leslie does not think that 
journalism offers a good field for women; 
nevertheless women are quietly taking pos¬ 
session of the field, with profit to themselves 
pecuniarily, and added brightness to the jour¬ 
nals for which they work. It is said that 
before a Chicago editor will publish matter of 
any importance furnished by a woman, he 
sends a man out to see if her statements can 
be verified. The average woman, it is claim¬ 
ed, has a magnificent disregard of facts when 
she takes to writing. 
To write an interesting fashion article, or a 
readable, gossipy letter, setting forth one’s 
views on flirtation does not make a woman a 
journalist. She must receive, and be willing 
to endure, the same training that would fit 
her brother for the work. Above all things, 
she must keep herself, her hobbies, and her 
prejudices in the background. She must learn 
to do just what she is told, and if she is deal, 
ing with facts must give no reins to her imag¬ 
ination. . 
Such work as that published over the nom- 
de-plume of “Nellie Bly,” bristling with per¬ 
sonal revelations and confidences, wherein the 
writer talks of her “pretty, fluffy bang,” and 
her “little one-and-a half slippers,” and her 
“big, brown near-sighted eyes,” is not jour¬ 
nalism. This young woman, whose name is 
Pink E. Cochrane, has found a short and easy 
road to fleeting journalistic fame, but such 
work is not an enviable basis on which to build 
a lasting reputation. 
New York is called the wickedest city in 
the country, and being so greatly the largest, 
there is undoubtedly more crime within its 
precincts, but it is also true that here the Dob- 
lest charities and the most beautiful Christian 
work are done on the grandest scale. It is quite 
the fashion to talk of the want of heart among 
the wealthy, but many noble men and women 
of wealth are giving of their time and means 
in unstinted measure to the poor whom we 
have with us always. 
The other day I met at the house of a friend 
the young wife of one of New York’s leading 
physicians—a woman on whom affliction had 
laid a heavy hand. A year ago she was the 
happy mother of three lovely boys, whom in 
one short week Death claimed for his own. 
Here there was no sitting down in selfish sor¬ 
row, but an immediate and beautiful consecra¬ 
tion of her life to the thousands of homeless 
and nameless waifs and strays of humanity 
that fill our streets and foundling hospitals. 
It is pitiful to see the hungry, eager, mother, 
look in her great, gray eyes when she finds 
some little one bearing a fancied resemblance 
to one of her own lost little ones. It is impos¬ 
sible to estimate the power for good of this 
one earnest worker. Her society friends may 
clutch their purse strings never so tightlys 
but this lady, with some tale of woe, told 
with quivering lips and a fervor that carrie- 
conviction, will find a way to open them. 
Among the charities that may interest the 
readers of the Rural, are the Homes for work¬ 
ing women. Such boarding houses as the 
young girls who come from the country to 
work in stores and factories are obliged to live 
in, are pernicious in the extreme to health and 
morals, poor and badly cooked food being 
among the least of their evils. 
There are thousands and thousands of work¬ 
ing girls between the ages of eighteen and 
thirty-four who have no home life. Earning 
from four to eight dollars per week, a respect¬ 
able boarding house, which can scarcely be 
found for less than seven, is out of the ques¬ 
tion. In many cases they club together and rent 
a room for two or three dollars a week, which 
two or more of them occupy; but this life is 
anything but healthful, morally or physically. 
They eat at irregular hours the badly cooked 
meals served at cheap restaurants in a sort of 
“feast or famine” way, according to the state 
of their purses. Many have only a steady 
diet of crackers and tea. 
The principal objections that are offered to 
the homes provided at low rates by charitable 
organizations, are the necessary restrictions 
upon the liberty of the inmates, such as punct¬ 
uality at meals, early evening hours, etc.; and 
yet these are no more irksome than the re- 
7 PiiMjeUattfimia 
Spring and Summer 
DRESS GOODS. 
JAMES McCREERY & CO. 
to meet the early demand 
for Spring and Summer 
Dress Goods, announce an 
important display of com¬ 
plete lines, in all grades of 
rich imported wool fabrics. 
A select invoice of Paris 
Robes, wrought with spun- 
gold, silver and Damascus 
steel,also with needlework 
and Moire in new con¬ 
trasts and entirely origin¬ 
al designs. 
Striped, plaid, checked 
and mixed woolens in 
great variety, Bengalines, 
Challies, Dress Veilings, 
Silk and Wool Pongee and 
Henrietta Cloth in all the 
new colors. Samples sent 
on application. 
ORDERS BY MAIL 
from any part of the coun¬ 
try will receive earetul 
and prompt attention. 
Broadway and lltli St., 
New York. 
THE “DIRIGO” 
TURNIP BLOOD BEET. 
The seed of this most excellent variety of Extra 
Early Beet is, for the first time, placed upon the 
market, but in a limited quantity. 
It is a rich, blood-red beet, with a single tap root; of 
fine grain and flavor, and is earlier than either the 
Egyptian or Eclipse. It originated with a leading 
market gardener, and was brought to perfection 
by him after ten years of careful cultivation. 
Per Packet, 10c; Per Ounce, 10c. 
For sale only by 
Kendall & Whitney, 
Portland, Maine. 
DEATH to insects in house, garden, orchard and 
fields; also Poultry and Cattle Lice. Illustrated cir¬ 
culars free. THOMAS WOODASON, 
451 East Cambria St., Philadelphia, Pa. 
JESSIE S. BERRY PLANTS. 
New and old varieties S. Berry and R. Berry plants 
for sale cheap. Genuine and first class. Write for 
wants. E. C. BRINSER, 
Middletown, Pa. 
rrr ,N nrr.v iml JUNE «ud«ed. 
I LLUII I IIL.LU 100,000 Apple Trees. 
Among which can be found kinds suited to all sections, 
including all new and old standard sorts. 
Descriptive Catalogue of Fruit Trees and gen¬ 
eral nursery stock mailed free. 
WM. PETERS «fc SONS. 
Wesley Station. Worcester Co., Md. 
T?P»dppf ^ you love Rare Flowers, choicest 
iiyauci . only, address ELLIS BROTHERS, Keene, 
N.H. It will astonish and please. FREE. 
A P PLE Trees, three and four years old; PEACH 
Trees, one year old. Price List on application. 
GRAY BROS , New Canaan, Conn. 
QCCfl POTATOES. 5C0 bushels of the best va- 
u ^ ~ U rletles, selected from a crop of 10,000 bush¬ 
els, for sale in quantities to suit. Small lots can be 
safely sent be mall or express. Splendid results guar¬ 
anteed. Send for circular. 
S. E. HALL, Oak Grove Nurseries, 
Cherry Valley, Ill. 
<Sg?.rffS-SEEDS- Bb, M 
unwrinrc gardeners 
NOVELTIES. ^^jj^LT^ANotvcRyBoor 
PAGES > "CJ 
IR FARMERS 
GARDENERS 
^ANO EVERYBODY 
inn iit 6/ 
C E.ALLEN, BRATTLEBQRD.VT. £ ^ 
G rape-vines variety at lowest 
HATES. EMPIRE STATE. DIAMOND. JEWEL, 
NIAGARA, DELAWARE, WORDEN. LADY 
ELVIRA, IVES. BRIGHTON, JEFFERSON, 
CONCORD. POCKLINGTON, MOORE’S EAR¬ 
LY, WOODRUFF, RED. DOWNING. EATON, 
and 100 others; JESSIE and other Strawberries, 
Raspberries, Currants. Blackberries. Ac. Catalogue 
free. GEO. W. CAMPBELL, Delaware, O. 
SOLD 
FKKK. 
Live at home and make more money working for us than 
I at anything else in the world. Either sex. Costly outfit 
Terms fukk. Address, TltUK <& Co., Augusta, Maine. 
straints that would be imposed in any well 
regulated family. 
Space will only permit me to mention the 
addresses of several of these institutions, in the 
hope that among the many thousands 3of* *read- 
ers_of,your valuable’ paper, ,some 'young* girl 
