THE RURAL WEW-YORKFR. 
could take the crop when grown, and he wrote 
in answer that he could, and would supply me 
with more seed if necessary. And it set me 
thinking in how many ways people could earn 
a little money if they just knew how, and 
without any outlay. For my own part, I 
would rather work out-of-doors than sing that 
doleful “Song of the Shirt,” especially as 
there is no need nowadays to sing it, for the 
plain sewing our men require is so much more 
easily done than when “Hood” wrote his 
pathetic poem. 
And I agree with a recent article in the 
Rural that girls would gain health and 
strength by out-of-door exercise, and as well 
with a rake or hoe as by the many devices 
that are given for taking this exercise in other 
ways. But I know it is quite true that a great 
many girls do object to out-of-door work, and 
yet are suffering for want of sunshine. So I 
mean to grow beans, and a few odd things as 
well. 
Only last year a city butcher, who is also a 
greengrocer, came up for the calves, and as he 
passed through the garden the mint was grow¬ 
ing all along the fence. He stopped, and said, 
“If you will tie that up into little bunches, 
sis, and send it down with the lambs and 
calves, I will pay you for it.” I did so for 
three weeks, and earned five dollars. So I 
think I will try a little bed of sage and thyme, 
and perhaps I shall be able to sell it. “No¬ 
thing venture, nothing win” is a very good 
motto, and there is no more harm in my 
speculating on a crop of garden truck than 
for the men to rejoice in a horse trade—only 
I know which takes the most work. 
Gardeners, who know exactly what to do, 
can manage better than we do; but I think 
there are a good many things we could grow 
that would pay. I wish somebody would tell 
me if peppermint or any of the herbs would 
pay to grow for the druggist, and then some 
of the other girls might try something. 
Father is like a good many farmers—he has 
been too busy making a living to think of any¬ 
thing but making the land pay in dollars and 
cents. He thinks shrubs and trees take up 
room aud that strawberry plants fill the land 
with weeds, and flowers are a luxury that 
waste time. It is a false idea and I do not 
understand how it is that such people cannot 
see the increased beauty of farms that have 
pretty flower plots, and neat door yards, with 
trees around the house. If you add to this 
fresh paint and good chimneys you can make 
the most common house look attractive. But 
when I argue with father he says: “Oh, Char¬ 
ity, it is easy to talk about spending the 
money, but I know the trouble of earning it.” 
and so we go on iu the old wav and I feel as I 
might if I bad been stealing something when 
I dig a hole and put in a lilac or anything else 
that I want to have grow up to beautify the 
old home. 
Comfort and economy in a household can 
be drained only by prompt and strict atten¬ 
tion to the details of each day's work. And 
it is the woman who is willing to give her at¬ 
tention to these details that achieves success as 
a home-maker. 
SENSIBLE SUGGESTIONS. 
When riding through the country, no one 
thing strikes me with more force than the 
absence of trees, flowers and shrubs around 
many fine farm houses, and I often think 
what a fine-looking place that might be made. 
While many farmers appreciate the value 
of these things, many do not, and in the yards 
of such one does not see even one cul ivated 
flower. Now I cannot understand how any 
woman can be willing to live without flowers. 
1 think I hear some of you say, “lack of time,” 
and others, “it would be of no use to try to 
grow flowers with all these chickeus.” These 
are the objections most often given by the 
farmer's wife who does not cultivate flowers. 
Let me give you who are busy, some hints as 
to making, saving, or perhaps you may think 
stealiug time. In the first place, I wonder 
that we do not see more hardy plants in the 
grounds of farmers, for when once planted 
they require very little care, and richly repay 
all the attention they receive. For instance, 
a bed of perennial phlox will give more satis¬ 
faction than mauy bedding plants, and all 
that is needed from year to year is to divide 
the roots as they get too large. Pinks, aqui- 
legias,campanulas, pyrethrum, perennial pop¬ 
pies, the hardy lilies will give a grand display, 
with a small outlay of money, time and 
strength. Aud the hardy shrubs and roses. 
Oh, the roses! They are not to be excelled 
by anything in the floral kingdom. 
Half an hour each day will keep quite a 
large flower bed in order, and there is no fan¬ 
cy work which can give more real enjoyment 
to the lover of flowers than the sight of that 
bed Have it where you can see it while 
about your work if possible. Mauy a woman 
could save some time almost any day by using 
fresh fruit on her table instead of making it up 
into pies. As to the connection between pie 
and dyspepsia, I have nothing to say ,but in one 
home I know that fresh fruit, if placed upon 
the table, would be eaten in preference to pie. 
There is no reason why fresh fruit cannot be 
found upon the farmer’s table every day in the 
year. 
Apples last until strawberries ripen (ours 
last longer). You can do a great deal to¬ 
wards educating the taste of your family. Do 
you say your family would not be willing to 
go without rich and fancy pies and cakes? I 
once thought so, too, of my family: but I 
find the eating of plain food and fresh fruit 
more satisfactory all round. It is a great 
saviug of labor, and the health of the family 
has not suffered from the change. Then put 
less work upon the children’s garments, thus 
saving the time spent in making, aud of those 
that are washed, in the ironing. Neat, clean, 
well-made, plain clothing is good enough for 
the child of any farmer. Give your child 
clothes that he can work aud play in, aud 
spend part of your time in helping him to 
have a good time, and in teaching him how to 
care for flowers, and it will not be long before 
he can care for a good number himself. Say 
to Johnnie, “Help mamma to do up the work 
this morning, and then we will work in your 
flower-bed, and set out your pansy plants.” 
And if your boy is like mine, he will gain 
you quite an amount of time, and be happy in 
thinking he is of use. 
I have little patience with those who say, 
“Oh, I had rather do it myself than bother to 
teach a child.” Do it for the child’s sake, then, 
if not for your own, and you will soon find 
the child will be glad to do many things for 
you, while at the same time he or she is form¬ 
ing habits of order and neatness, which will 
be of service all through life,aud which can at 
no future time be so easily learned. Teach 
children to help while they are young, if you 
expect them to be willing to help you when 
they are older. I believe it is the fault of the 
mother if the daughters leave her to do all the 
work in the kitchen. No doubt there was a 
time when they wanted to help, but were sent 
away because they were thought too young. 
My heart goes out to all the tired, overworked 
women, aud they are legion Perhaps with 
some it is impossible to spare a minute frcm 
the constant toil; but I know many might 
profitably spend some time in the open air, 
even if part of the scrubbing aud scouring 
went undone. 
One friend said to another, “I do not see 
how you can get the time to do so much out- 
of-doors, with all your work.” The reply was: 
“I could never stand it to do my housework if 
I did not do this work. I should be tired and 
cross all the time if I bad to stay in the house. 
I can do a good hour’s work in the open air, 
after I am too tired to work in that hot 
kitchen another minute.” 
This is not written for those who can hire the 
work done, and spend their time as they 
please, or for those who can hire a gardener. 
Such sometimes have'lovely surroundings and 
we admire the beauty, but 1 doubt after all if 
they receive more downright pleasure from 
them, than we, who must plan and contrive 
for every moment we give to our floral 
friends. l. a. e. 
Rahel von Ense says that to feel the pres¬ 
ent, to occupy oneself fully with it, is the tal 
ent of living. 
TOASTS. 
I shall refer in this article to the making, 
and not to the giving of toasts. One of the 
nicest of ways of using stale bread and scraps 
of anything—fish, flesh, fowl or vegetables—is 
in the making of delicate and savory toasts. 
For all of these preparations the bread should 
have the crust trimmed from the slices, and 
be lightly browned iu butter, which is much 
nicer than the ordinary way of toasting over 
the fire, when it is to be combined with any 
mince or mixture. 
A most delicate and appetizing dish is spin¬ 
ach toast. Cook the spinach in salted, boiling 
wa*er until tender; drain, let cold water run 
over to check the boiling, and chop very fine, 
pressing the water out carefully, and set aside 
while you melt in a saucepan a tablespoouful 
of butt r; stir in a teaspoonful of flour; when 
this thickens add four tablespoonfuls of 
gravy, stock or cream, and the chopped 
spiuacb. Season with salt, peppier and a trifle 
of grated nutmeg. Stir until thoroughly 
mixed and very hot, and heap upoD toast pre¬ 
pared as above. A buttered egg laid upon 
each piece will make of this dish a delightful 
course for a family or company dinner. Tbo 
leaves ai d stalks and tender roots of young 
beets can be used in the same manner. Boil, 
drain, chop fine aud heat with butter, pepper 
and salt, omitting the flour and cream, or 
gravy. Almost any vegetable is nice if made 
into a punSe and laid upon toast. Most of 
these require to have a white cream or brown 
sauce poured over them. Asparagus, cut in 
small pieces, boiled in salted water and laid 
upon toast over which a cream sauce is 
poured, makes a delightful side-dish. The 
canned asparagus tips may be used in th s 
way. Cucumbers may be cut in eighths and 
boiled in salted water, after removing the 
seeds. Heat in a white or brown sauce and 
pour over toast. 
Most vegetable toasts are nice if united with 
an anchovy toast, the making of which re¬ 
quires some skill and care. Take half a dozen 
of the anchovies that come put up in oil in tin 
cans; drain the oil from them on a towel, 
split them and remove the vertebrae. Press 
the fish through a sieve, or if this is not con¬ 
venient, mince them very fine. Mix with 
the yelks of two eggs well beaten, and 
put in a sauce-pan containing a table¬ 
spoonful of melted butter. Stir well, un¬ 
til it thickens and pour this quantity over 
four slices of fried toast. Poached or buttered 
eggs may be laid on top. It may be made 
more tasteful and elegant by the addition of 
the following sauce: Melt two ounces of but 
ter over the fire and add by degrees the yelks 
of two well-beaten eggs; add slowly two table¬ 
spoonfuls of cream and a teaspeonful of vine¬ 
gar, stir until it thickens and pour over the 
anchovy toast. 
Sardines and herrings are also good for this 
purpose. Free them from oil, skin, fins and 
bones and chop fine. Put a little butter in a 
sauce-pan and when melted stir in a very 
little flour, a spoonful or so of milk, accord¬ 
ing to the quantity, and the yelk of one egg; 
add the minced fish, and when very hot pour 
over fried toast. 
Any kind of cold fish may be used in the 
same way, whether salt or fresh, but great 
care must be taken with the seasoning. A 
savory dish of any kind presupposes a savory 
seasoning. Buttered eggs go well with any 
kind of fish toast. a. g. 
TWO RECIPES FROM THE RURAL 
GROUNDS. 
BAKED rhubarb. 
I'm A lie I^CIVUUS 
The Debilitated 
The Aged 
URES Nervous Prostration,Nervous Head- 
’ ache,Neuralgia, NervousWeakness, 
, Stomach and Liver Diseases, and all 
affections of the Kidneys. 
AS A NERVE TONIC, It Strengthens 
and Quiets the Nerves. 
AS AN ALTERATIVE, It Purifies and 
Enriches the Blood. 
AS A LAXATIVE, It acts mildly, but 
surely, on the Bowels. 
AS A DIURETIC, It Regulates the Kid¬ 
neys and Cures their Diseases. 
Recommended by professional and businessmen. 
Price $i. Do. Sold by druggists. Send for circulars. 
WELLS RICHARDSON & CO., Proprietors, 
BURLINGTON. VT. 
QOLr MEDAL, PARIS, 187B. 
BAKER'S 
Warranted absolutely pure 
Cocoa, from which the excess of 
Oil has been removed. It has t*--«s 
times the strength of Cocoa mixed 
with Starch, Arrowroot or Sugar, 
and is therefore far more economl- 
ca costing less than one cent a. 
cu% It is delicious, nourishing, 
strengthening, easily digested, and 
admirably adapted for invalids a* 
well as for persons In health. 
Sold by Grocers everywhere. 
I. BAKER & CO.. Dorchester, Mass. 
This way of cooking “the first sauce of the 
season” is so superior to the ordinary stew 
that we again call our readers’ attention tc 
it. Wash the stalks, skin, cut into inch 
lengths and put into an earthenware bakiug 
dish. Allow a cup of sugar to three pints of 
rhubarb. Do net add a particle of water. 
Cover tightly and bake until tender—the 
pieces should still be entire. The amount of 
sugar here given may not make it sweet 
enough for all tastes. 
MOLASSES CAKE. 
This is voted “excellent” by all who have 
eaten of it. One-half cup of white sugnr aud 
butter size of an ordinary egg rubbed to a 
cream. Then add one cup of molasses, half a 
cup of mi k, two beaten eggs, aud two and a 
half cups of sifted flour. When thoroughly 
mixed add a teaspoonful of soda dissolved, or 
wet. rather, in a teaspoonful of cold water. 
Beat the cake mixture briskly as you drop the 
soda iuto it. Flavor with ginger or lemon 
peel. 
AYER’S CHERRY PECTORAL is the 
best of all cough cures. It allays inflamma¬ 
tion of the throat and speedily removes irri¬ 
tating mucus from the bronchial passages. 
Mrs. L. P. Cutler, 47 North Washington 
sq.. New York City, says : “When I was a 
girl of 17 I had a cough, with profuse night 
sweats, and Ayer’s Cherry Pectoral cured 
me. 1 have recommended this preparation 
in scores of similar cases.” 
Ayer’s Cherry Pectoral, 
Prepared by Dr. J. C. Ayer & Co., Lowell, Mass, 
bold all by Druggists. Price $1; six bottles, $5. 
BROWN’S FRENCH DRESSING. 
The Original Beware ol Imitations. 
AWARDED HIGHEST PRIZE AND ONLY 
MEDAL, PARIS EXPOSITION, 1878 
Highest Award New Orleans Exposition. 
WE ARE CRAZY over the new elegant paper 
flower “ II yaeinth,” so all the ladles say. Full pi lut¬ 
ed directions 1 5 cts. postpaid Flower all made and 
directions 50ets. C. F. l.AI>, A hi union. Hass. 
Pratt’s Perfection Road Cart 
Is beyond n doubt the best cart 
made lor the Homeninn, Farmer or anyone de¬ 
siring a cart for speeding, breaking or business 
purposes. Before purchasing elsewhere, write 
direct to the mfrs. for circular and prices 
A. L. I’RATT & CO., Kalamazoo, Mich. 
FOLDING 
HANOPY 
u TOP. 
Just the thing for all styles 
and sizes of wagons. LIGHT. « 
HANDSOME. Easily attached, 
Send for circular and prices 
of this and other canopies. Local Agents Wanted Stole 
Where t/ou saw this. Il.U. BERKS & CO. Newtown, Ct. 
BAl'Clft PURE RAW BONE MEAL. Ai»o 
PHOSPHATE "mi 
Send for Prices, Sample, anil nil Information. 
BAUGH & SONS CO . Mfm.. Phi n.I.-l, I 
CX DTI I I7CDC F0R SPRING CROPS. SEND 
rtn I I LliiCno for Circulars and Prices. 
YORK. UHKMICAI, WORKS, York, Pa. 
GOLD 
FKKK 
Live at homo and make more money working for up than 
I at anything else in the world. Either sex. Costly outfit 
Terms FKKK. Address, Tkuk & Co.. Augusta. Maine. 
2 PCMTQ for Catalogue of hundreds of useful Art! 
WCIl I O cles less than Wholesale Prices. Aprts. and 
Dealers sell large Quantities. CHICAGO SCALE CO., Chicago. 
iUal ©sstatr. 
FARR FOR SALE. 
One of the finest and most highly Improved STOCK 
and DAIRY FARMS in Minnesota. 600 Acres, fenced, 
drained, under thorough cultivation. Carries at pre¬ 
sent 2tH) head Cattle and Horses. New Dwelling 
House, Farm House, well-designed Barns and stables, 
etc., in perfect repair. For full particulars apply to 
LEWIS 11. STANTON, Morris, Minnesota. 
FOtt SALE—Eight Hundred and Forty Acres of 
Land iu one tract-forty miles from Pet rsburg, Vir¬ 
ginia. and 15 miles from R. Road, one half land clear¬ 
ed, balance heavily wooded. Soil adapted to growth 
of wheat, tobacco and corn Fine grazing laud and 
most excellent ranges for stock. Well watered-two 
unfailing streams running through the farm and one 
skirting its boundry. Improvements—large dwellings, 
to rooms, outhouses, and offices, etc . etc. Fruit abun¬ 
dant, location exceedingly healthy, mill aud churches 
convenient and society unexceptionable, i.ame plen¬ 
tiful— deer, turkey, quail, etc Land to be sold to 
settle up an estate. Maybe bought for one-half its 
value. Address JNO. H. LEWIS, Executor, care 
Dr. Jno. H. Clairborne. Petersburg, 
All Wanting* Farms, 
Good land for Fruit. Grapes Peaches, Vegetables, 
Poultry, Grain aud Tobacco: 80 miles South of Phila¬ 
delphia, on a line with Baltimore. Md. Best of Mar¬ 
kets, Mild Climate. Healthy, no Malaria. wild Land. 
#25 per acre. Town Lots, #150. Easy terms. Also Im¬ 
proved harms. Prosperous business place. Better 
than the cold Northwest. For circulars, etc., address 
C- K. LANDIS. Proprietor, Vineland. N. J. 
A valuable farm, 505 acres—in “Tuckahoe Neck” 
(Caroline Co., Md). a section unsurpassed in the pro¬ 
ductive quality of its farms. This farm is only one- 
half mile from County seat, one quarter mile from 
Steamboat wharf, to which, four trips w r eekly from 
Haltimore are made. Good buildings, splendid nelvh. 
borhood. A rare chance to secure a desirable home. 
Full particulars on application. 
ALSO 
SO acres of excellent fruit aud trucking land close to 
town, and steamboat wharf—no buildings. Address 
J. W. KERR, Trustee, 
Denton, Caroline Co., Md. 
