4888 
698 
THE RURAL HEW-YORKER. 
^yxcaiwmi. 
“COUNTRY SCHOOLS”, AND SCHOOL 
TEACHERS. 
Excellent suggestions to district school teach¬ 
ers ; two telling pictures ; how to wake up 
a district; the schoolmarm must cultivate 
“ cheek ” and use it after it is cultivated. 
The pointed, vigorous and truthful hand¬ 
ling of the subject above quoted, in the issue 
of September 15, ought to be sent to every 
farm-house, and read in every Grange of the 
land. What is the key to the entering in of a 
better state of things? 
We believe one key, at least, is in the hands 
of the teacher. We have known the country 
school in all its barrenness and baldness. We 
have seen it send out bright, vigorous minds 
from the high desks and narrow-board seats, 
of the 100-year-old red school-house on the 
mountain side, and we have seen the stunted- 
dwarfed and deadened parasite, emerge side 
by side with them. 
We know schools in Massachusetts, within 
30 miles of Boston, that have no map, no 
globe, no dictionary, no chart—‘no nothin.’ ’» 
The sad-eyed teacher is doing the best she can 
with what she has The trouble is she ought 
not to do a thing, until she has something to 
do it with. 
We have in mind two schools, as they were 
one year ago. They were in the same build¬ 
ing, on the same floor, separated by folding 
doors—one, a high, the other a low grade 
school. Two new teachers came together, and 
surveyed their work. Boys and girls ran, 
and hooted, and howled through the rooms, 
and only lessened their noise and confusion at 
the tap of the bell. Windows were used for 
doors, and panes of glass were unceremon¬ 
iously kicked out if they get in the way. 
Boys from one school would shout insultingly 
in at the windows of the other, and once a 
black snake was thrown at the teacher’s head 
as she stood near a window, at the noon 
recess. School seemed to mean only unbridled 
license in impudence, riot, and uproar. 
There was absolutely no order, propriety, or 
sense of shame in the schools. A general ex¬ 
ercise on Friday P. M., had to be given up, 
because the scholars became so uproarious as 
to be completely beyond the teacher’s control. 
This is no fancy sketch, but a sober tale of 
truth. One year from the date of entrance, 
these teachers raised the folding doors and 
conducted the general exercises together. 
Perfect quiet and order prevail, the bright 
eyes and eager faces, intelligent answers,— 
the quiet courteous manners fall from the old¬ 
est to the youngest, the interest in the work 
and the appearance of the room show a mar¬ 
velous change. The ante-room where several 
cubic yards of plaster had been ruthlessly dug 
out for winter amusement, now neatly pa¬ 
pered, is a pleasant room. Large dictionaries 
lie on the tables, and pupils go to them con. 
stantly. A pencil sharpener in one corner 
puts a fine point on the slate pencils, and the 
tiniest child learns readily and happily to copy 
the Arm, handsome writing on the ruled, 
squared wall. Other helpful appliances are 
secured, and good order, '. neatness and taste 
prevail. 
A public spirit has been awakened in the 
children, is spreading to the homes, and arous¬ 
ing the citizens in town meeting. The teach¬ 
er who has done the most in this work of re¬ 
form is not an old and experienced pedagogue. 
If she had been, she might not have had 
either the faith or “cheek” to boldly demand 
article after article for her room, and a better 
salary for herself. 
Let the “schoolmarm cultivate cheek. 
Dare to ask for what you need, and persist in 
insisting. Study your committee man. 
Find the best avenue of approach to his heart 
and his pocket. Cultivate him, talk with him 
about school needs. Go among the parents. 
Cunningly contrive to have them do your 
preaching. Write up the schools in the 
local paper, and send items about the boys and 
girls. Plan special afternoons, and send out 
notes of invitation to all the parents and peo¬ 
ple of the place. The scholars will help you 
write them, and the work will be a good lesson 
in correct and courteous letter-form. 
Get up entertainments for specific needs. 
People will always come to see their children, 
and when you get them there, put into the 
mouth of some little pleader the story of your 
wants, and before the impression fades, send 
other tots around to collect pay or promises. 
It is not poverty or stinginess that makes our 
country schools the outrageous burial grounds 
they are, but a habit of indifference, and the 
American fashion of leaving to our neighbors 
all interference in troublesome matters. 
Arouse a public spirit and the work is done. 
And as no one knows the needs.like the teach¬ 
er, so no one can so well arouse the people to 
them. Gain the children and keep agitating 
Ply these little levers diligently in every 
home of your district. Don’t be in a hurry to 
leave and secure a better position. Stay, and 
make your place a desirable position. Make 
yourself important to your school, and then, 
courteously but; firmly insist on respectable 
pay. Teachers in country schools can do far 
more for their own betterment and that of 
the schools if they will. 
Norfolk Co. Mass. leila s. taylor. 
£1)C Slpkrtcm. 
BEE NOTES 
Preparing for Winter. —The cold night 
are coming on, and it is time to remove all 
unnecessary frames from the hives. By the 
use of a division-board crowd the bees into one 
end of the hive, leaving the frames half an inch 
apart. Only frames enough should be left 
in the hive to hold the bees comfortably. The 
bees have to depend upon their own bodily 
heat to keep themselves warm, and the larg¬ 
er the space that contains them the more 
liable will they be to become chilled to death» 
and less ventilation can be given. The divi¬ 
sion-board should be close fitting and made 
double, so it can be filled with chaff, or some 
other material to hold warmth and guard 
against sudden changes. Before closing the 
bees in for the winter, a hole should be cut 
through each comb a little above the center, 
to allow the bees to pass from one comb to an¬ 
other without going around to the edges 
of the frames, where it is cold. 
Feeding for Winter:— If the bees have 
not sufficient honey to carry them through 
the winter, feeding should be resorted to be¬ 
fore it becomes too cold for them to leave the 
cluster. The amount of honey necessary to 
keep them depends much upon the way they 
are wintered. If put in a cellar where the 
temperature ranges between 40° and 45° F. 
and they are kept quiet,an ordinary swarm will 
not consume over six or eight pounds, while 
the same swarm outside would need 25 or 30 
pounds. No colony, under any condition, 
had better be put up for winter with less than 
20 or 25 pounds and if kept out-of-doors let 30 
pounds be the the minimum amount. If mice 
or anything else should.keep the bees in a dis¬ 
turbed condition during the winter, they 
would consume much honey although the 
temperature of the room might be well regulat¬ 
ed. The best way to supply winter stores is 
to slip in frames of well capped honey; but if 
there is no such honey on hand nothing is bet¬ 
ter to feed them than good granulated sugar 
reduced to the consistency of honey. 
Winter Covering. —A bag made of coffee¬ 
sacking or other loose material should be 
filled with dry chaff, bran, or sawdust, and 
placed above the frames in the hive. The ob¬ 
ject of such a bag is two-fold—it helps to keep 
the bees warm and absorbs the moisture given 
off by them. I have seen dead bees clinging 
to the comb in the spring, that looked as if 
tney had been drowned, and everything in the 
hive was cold, musty and wet. In such cases 
the hives were covered with one thickness of 
cloth and a board. Other hives covered with 
a sack as above described, would come out as 
dry as when put in, even when water had 
been standing in the cellar for more than a 
month. BEE MAN. 
Idaho Notes. —I was much pleased to note 
in a recent Rural, that the Idaho pear is 
still giving you promise of success. I have 
just received a letter from Mr. Eayre in N. J., 
stating that the cions set a year ago have made 
such wonderful growth this season that they 
are now miniature trees. We will not have 
as fine specimens as a year ago owing to the 
severe cold of the past winter, killing so many 
of the surface roots. Many of the large apple 
trees have only barely lived through the sum¬ 
mer. Upon examination I find nearly all the 
surface roots killed. In the vineyard at this 
place where irrigation is used, specimen clus¬ 
ters of Black Hamburg grapes can be found 
weighing five pounds. The grapes are much 
larger but I do not think the quality is any 
better if as good as those grown without 
water. 
We are short on our annual rain-fall some 
four or five inches. We have had since Jan. 
1st 7.79.inches. Our annual rain-fall for the 
past eight years has been 17.25 inches. The 
most for any year during that time, 21.71 
inches. Despite our dry season our wheat has 
yidded from 12 to 40 bushels per acre. I 
have watched with much interest your ex¬ 
periments with wheat and rye hybrids and 
shall be anxious to experiment with Nos. 2 and 
50 when ready for the public as it seems to me 
they will be adapted to onr climate. Our 
farmers do not like bearded varieties, as they 
use headers very extensively and the bearded 
varieties shatter more. john h. evans. 
Lewiston, Idaho. 
Analysis of Fertilizers:— Looking over 
the report published by the Pennsylvania State 
Board of Agriculture, of September last, I no¬ 
tice the following valuations by the State 
Chemist: 
No. 501.—Special Compound B , by Sin 
ington Bros. & Co., Baltimore Md.; com 
mercial value $12 70, sold at $18. 
786 —Reading Bone Phosphate, by John F. 
Orth, Reading Pa.; commercial value $10.19 
selling price $25. 
From report of April 15th, 1888. 
No.l.—Ammoniated Phosphate, by J. G. 
Downward, Coatsville, Pa.; commercial value 
$22 94, selling price $35. 
No. 34.—Excelsior Fertilizer by Carey 
Brothers, Lumberville. Pa.; commercial value 
$2.15, selling price $35.00. (That is excelsior 
with a vengeance.) 
No. 108.— Bone and Meat Phosphate, by 
Vaughn, Bonsan & Co., Salem O : commer¬ 
cial value, $23.72; selling price, $35.00. 
No. 123.—Calvert Guano, by Zell Guano Co., 
Baltimore Md.; commercial value, $24.74, 
selling price, 35.00. 
No. 222.—Reading Bone Phosphate, by J. 
F. Orth, Reading Pa.; commercial value, $6.- 
54, selling price, $25.00. 
No. 10 in same report.—Ground Bone, by 
Lister Ag. Chemical Works, Newark N. J.; 
commercial value, $24‘25, selling price, $33.00. 
I could give a number with a commercia 
value of from four to seven dollars below the 
selling price. You certainly are doing your 
readers a favor to give them the figures. 
We have to work too hard for our money 
to give $35 for $2.15 worth of something that 
some one calls phosphate. We should cer¬ 
tainly insist on getting full value for our 
money. * * * 
Some Farm Thoughts.— The Dark Side of 
Farming.—The colored hired man. 
It is not the man who has the biggest crops, 
but the man who gathers up the fragments 
that nothing may be lost. That man is the 
successful farmer. 
While it never pays to neglect a dollar crop 
for the sake of a cent one, still little things 
are the life of the farm. 
The owner of the farm (if it be a large one) 
can rarely afford to do unskilled labor, but 
sometimes he has to. 
“Tillage is manure," yes if your ground is 
rich. 
Farmer A. “Did your special treatment 
show favorable results the following year?” 
Farmer B. “I was so hurried I didn’t stop 
to look.” Farmer B. is now an old man and 
is still hurrying. 
If I may be permitted to bring in a little 
sense along with my nonsense, I would like 
to extend to the Rural my heartiest thanks 
for its efforts to give the farmers the' best 
varieties of grain, seeds, etc., I don’t think we 
half appreciate the work of the Rural in this 
line; we take it too much as a matter of course. 
Catonsville, Md. b. s. cory. 
Woman s Work. 
CONDUCTED BY EMILY LOUISE TAPLIN. 
CHAT BY THE WAY. 
What have the mothers to say to “Pan- 
dauus?” Very often we hear people say that 
school-teachers are not likely to train children 
any better than the mothers do—but they 
usually have to. One of the greatest benefits 
of a school, hardly second even to the mental 
education acquired, is the discipline and order. 
To children who at home, are not held to 
any exact routine, except that they are ex¬ 
pected to appear regularly at meals, it is of the 
greatest possible benefit. They must report 
for duty at such an hour, begin studies at a 
certain time, and do all things decently and 
in order. And this is rarely insisted upon at 
home. 
* * * 
Certainly, as “Pandanus” says, it is’most 
discreditable when a mother calmly says she 
cannot make her child obey. As any school¬ 
teacher will tell you, some of the first rules in 
enforcing obedience are, an inflexible deter¬ 
mination without bluster, which gives the 
child to understand that rules are unaltera¬ 
ble, and a calm reasonableness—the under¬ 
standing that rules and orders are for the 
benefit of the subject, not the caprice of the 
maker. Certainly the school-teacher has a 
good deal to bear in acting as step-mother to 
the entire district. 
* * * 
But none of us agree on the training of 
children, and we each think that we could 
manage some mother’s spoiled darlings better 
than she does herself. William Black says 
something to the effect that the wisdom of 
our own children is extraordinary—the wis¬ 
dom of other people’s children is not so great. 
Perhaps our children are as imperfect to 
others as others’ children are to us. But this 
does not alter the fact that all the troublesome 
children annoy the district teacher alike— 
hence her oft-time suffering from their defect¬ 
ive training.' 
* * * 
The teacher’s lot is not a happy one, unless 
one is fitted for it by nature as well as educa¬ 
tion—but what a host of teachers are turned 
out every year. Really, it looks as if we were 
over educated in some ways, and uneducated 
in others. The training of the young seems to 
be peculiarly a woman’s office—and yet we 
know many young teachers who say that they 
hate their vocation and take it simply because 
it is a “ genteel” occupation. One . of these 
days they will marry, in the mean time they 
teach, but as might be expected under such 
circumstances they are not the most successful 
teachers. They must have their hearts in the 
work, or their pupils must suffer. But there 
are plenty of self-sacrificing women in the 
schools, who do as much as the mothers in 
training the coming generation aright. 
* # * 
How'we do hate that expression “genteel 
employment”! There is only one thing worse 
—that is the term used by the young woman 
who says she is willing to do “anything not 
menial.” Now, doubtless there are some em¬ 
ployments more congenial than others, some¬ 
thing we all prefer—but silly talk about 
menial work has ruined the career of many a 
working woman. According to its Saxon 
derivation, menial simply means anything 
connected with the household, the most honor¬ 
able employmentof a gentlewoman, according 
to old-style ideas. The impression that any 
form of honest work lowers the social standing 
is too absurd to be considered, and deserves to 
be pushed out of sight with the lumber of by¬ 
gone centuries. 
WANTED-A SCHOOL FOR MOTHERS. 
Have not some of you good, old-fashioned 
mothers felt this want when you have seen 
how badly some of the children of the present 
day are brought up? 
How many young mothers enter into the 
duty of caring for the little helpless being that 
the great Giver has given into their charge, 
without a thought of the responsibility of car¬ 
ing for a living soul! 
They seem to think that the first duty is to 
see that it is well fed—sometimes far too well 
—and well clothed. 
The next thought seems to be to make it 
“ cunning” in its actions and words, so that 
it is noticed and admired by friends. 
To this end the little fellow is allowed to 
take liberties with his parents that at the 
time, perhaps, look rather clever; but they 
soon become a nuisance. When he becomes 
old enough to take advantage of his privileges 
he is first scolded and then punished for the 
“ cunning” tricks that had, before, been en¬ 
couraged. Another terrible fault is the use of 
threats. 
The fond parent says: “If you don’t stop 
that, I’ll whip you till you can’t stand.” The 
young hopeful thinks he will try it anyway. 
He finds out that the threat is not executed, 
and decides that his mother doesn’t mean half 
she says. 
By this time, he has probably reached the 
required age of five years, and is sent to the 
village school, more for the sake of being out 
of the way than anything else. 
His mother goes to the school with him the 
first day to introduce him to the teawher to 
whom she says: “You may find him a little 
troublesome sometimes, but—well, you must 
make him mind.” This advice is doubtless 
given in good faith, but if the child is not 
taught to respect or obey his parents, is it 
likely that he will obey a stranger, at least if 
he can, in any way, get out of it? 
Perhaps some of you mothers who are nobly 
shouldering your responsibility, and trying 
to bring up your children as fit members of 
God’s great family (and to Him be the praise 
that there are such mothers 1) begin to say 
