JULY H 
THE 
BUBAL 
Extra! topics. 
THE “BRIGHT SIDE.” 
T. H. HOSKINS, M.D. 
A prose pastoral: that imaginary autobio¬ 
graphy ; Faith, Righteousness , I^ove and 
Perseverance the farmer's weapons; his 
foes these of the own household; the 
stories of other folks' troubles are instruc 
tive ; supereminerd blessings of American 
farmers ; self culture the most important 
of all cultures ; the farmer and nature; 
joy on the farm breaks forth in song. 
Indeed, dear Rural, I am glad to respond 
to your call under this heading, for, as you 
know, I took it upon me for a rather griev¬ 
ous cross to tell about the alleged “ Dark 
Side,” as I sea it ; and that cross was not 
alleviated by finding so many taking that 
“autobiography” fora personal one. If no¬ 
body had any more complaint to make 
against his business than I have, the world of 
agriculture would be more sunny than it 
seems to be to the eyes of many of its inhab¬ 
itants. 
The bright side of any business is turned 
only to those pursuing it who are “ armed 
and equipped as the law directs,” to quote the 
old militia warning ; and the good farmer’s 
armor is not so very much different from the 
Christian’s armor. “Faith”; that is, a be¬ 
lief in the promise that seed-time and har¬ 
vest shall not fail. “Righteousness”: that 
is, right doing, obedience to the laws under 
which alone success is possible. “Love”: a 
deep sense of the usefulness of our vocation 
to our fellow-men, and a joy in it, because of 
that. “Perseverance”: without which no 
good thing is brought to pass—all these are 
needed to make farming what it should be, 
and satisfy the soul of the farmer. These 
are things he must possess in himself ; and 
when they are possessed a man is armed both 
inwardly and outwardly against the treach¬ 
ery of his own heart, as well as against the 
world. How bitterly many of us are com¬ 
plaining against the “ money power,” and 
“ corporate greed ; ” but how long, think you, 
would these things bar the progress of 
agriculture, if farmers were faithful to one 
another, and willing to be just to all ? When 
we all take faithfully for our motto the prin¬ 
ciple to “ ask nothing but what is right, and 
to submit to nothing that is wrong,” and 
back it up like men, where will be the ex¬ 
ternal foe that “ will not fall before us, with 
freedom’s banner waving o’er us ? ” 
But, good friends, is it not terribly true 
that our foes are “those of our own household” 
—that is, the foes within us? Are not the 
hardships of farm life, its trials and failures 
due very largely to curable defects in “our 
own dear selves?” And is it not a mighty 
good thing that so it is? Who can correct the 
errors of another? Who cannot correct his 
own? 
I like to hear people complain. I can sit 
and hear the complaints of men and women 
(this is a good trait in a physician) not exact¬ 
ly with pleasure, but with unending instruc¬ 
tion. If you want to realize how utterly un¬ 
reasonable your own grumbling is, hearken 
with a candid mind and patient soul to the 
grumbling of your neighbor, and see how 
much we are all alike, and how irrational are 
many of “the devices and desires of our own 
hearts.” Here is this grand virgin continent, 
the last and best of all the world, reserved 
for the birth-place and home of liberty; where 
land has been almost as free as air and water; 
where every sort of climate and soil adapted 
o every useful product is found in practically, 
for us, unending profusion, and we the lucky 
heirs, without any merit in us above those of 
other people, find ourselves born or adopted 
to it all! Every one of us has or may have a 
voice in the planning and administration of 
laws and institutions, and can help to alter or 
abolish them if we do not like them. Man- 
N 
kind has never before seen so fair a lot as that 
offered to the American freehold farmer. He 
is not a peasant—“bound to the field.” If he 
doesn’t want to be a farmer he can “get up and 
git,” at his own sweet will. “The world is all 
before him, where to choose;” but few there 
be who would choose any other country for a 
home. 
Then and therefore, O brother farmers ! 
what do we, what can we want, but to fit our¬ 
selves for the enjoyment in its fullness of all 
these blessings by self-culture ? The success 
of all secondary cultures hangs upon this one 
—self-culture I We have all the opportunity 
and all the material we can ask for; and all 
we have to do is to go to work with them, and 
watch the result. It will correspond with and 
justify our work, without failure. I do not 
say that every man who tries to do his beet 
in good faith will work out, every time, just 
what he thought he wanted when he began. 
But I do say that every faithful soul will, in 
the end, reach that which will satisfy and ex¬ 
ceed its highest hope. This reward is contin¬ 
gent only upon being faithful to the end. 
But, aside from this final reward, the faith¬ 
ful farmer, in the midst of the conflict of life, 
its shadows aDd its lights, “takes comfort as 
he goes along” more than any other class of 
men; for he lives closer to nature, and shares 
more directlv and freely in nature’s bounty 
than his landless fellow citizens. The farm is 
“full of fun” to the open eyed and open-hearted 
man, who is willing to be pleased. Objects of in¬ 
terest, curiosity and instruction, surround him 
on every side. Not a faculty of his mind, not 
a power of his body, that cannot find suffi¬ 
cient scope and exercise; and surely it is in these 
that happiness resides, if their use is rightly 
apprehended and availed of. These things, 
joined with the resources of his spiritual 
nature, make up the man. We see how the 
little child joys in their dawning use; and is 
there any reason why that joy should cease 
as the child grows up? Is not all its material 
still about us, and at our daily disposal? Does 
it not grow and increase, and more and more 
abound as we pursue our path through life, 
if we do so under that sense of responsibility, 
without which no man is in the right enjoy¬ 
ment of his manhood? 
The “Bright Side of Farming” shines from 
every point of the compass by turns, and good 
it will be for us if we will take that stalwart 
posey, the broad-faced sun-flower as an exem¬ 
plar, which 
“Turns to its god when he sets, 
The same face which it turned when he rose.” 
And, to close the exercises, let us all join in 
singing Longfellow’s brave doxology: 
“Let us then be up and doing, 
With a heart for any fate; 
Still achieving, still pursuing, 
Learn to labor and to wait!” 
THE BRIGHT INNER LIFE OF FARMING. 
HENRY STEWART. 
A georgic in prose: the farmer on 1 ‘the apex 
of creationan exalted view of agricul¬ 
ture; nature and the farmer; care and loss 
the farmer's own creations-, “all nature 
works for him;" the ideal farmer pic¬ 
tured; the farmer has supreme power, and 
should use it; he should be happy him¬ 
self, and a source of happiness to others. 
When the world was made and furnished 
it was placed in the hands of mankind to de¬ 
velop and replenish it. This was the farmer’s 
business. He alone could complete and im¬ 
prove what God had made. This brought 
man—the farmer—into a very close relation 
with the Creator as an agent for the comple¬ 
tion of His work. If we should accept the 
views of those who believe in the theory of 
evolution as accounting for the existence of 
all things, the same high and noble position 
belongs to the farmer, who stands upon the 
apex of creation, the most complete and per¬ 
fect result of all the growth of infinite ages. 
In either sense it gives a noble view of the 
farmer’s work and place in the world. 
A man’s fate is as he makes it. If we, with 
a low view of our duties and purposes in life, 
and without a thought of the nobility of our 
employment, consider only the work to be 
done, the drudgery, toil, aud labor of it, we 
make ourselves slaves, driven by the lash of 
necessity only. We live in the shadow of this 
necessity, and, being physically animals only, 
we miss the spirit of our life and lose all those 
parts of it which lift our burdens and lighten 
or wholly remove our cares. The farmer, 
above all other men, should live the closest to 
nature aud enjoy all the light and delights of 
it. He is the most removed from the cares 
and anxieties of this working day life, if he 
does not willfully plunge into the depths of 
it. For no man is so independent of care as he 
if he will only keep himself free from it. His 
estate is real , the only absolutely safe pro¬ 
perty in the world. If he lives within his in¬ 
come he need have no care; if he covets no¬ 
thing of other men he has no disappointments; 
if he works skillfully he has few losses, and 
none that are serious; if he studies his art and 
his environments, he finds pleasures and inte¬ 
resting surprises in them, and sees those “ser¬ 
mons in stones, books in the running brooks, 
tongues in trees, and good in everything,” of 
which the poet wrote. He realizes how it is 
for him that the bees gather honey, the flowers 
are filled with nectar, the sheep bears its 
fleece, the cow fills the foaming pail, the horse 
strains its muscles to the highest tension with 
docility, the soil teems with its crops, the rains 
and dews are shed upon the fields, and the 
warm rays of the sun call forth life from the 
dead matter with which he works. All na¬ 
ture, indeed, works for him, aud it is only 
to return these favors that he works in gather¬ 
ing them for the profit of himself and the use 
of the rest of mankind. A farmer should, in¬ 
deed, glory in his vocation, and find comfort, 
pleasure, and happiness in it; and the more he 
lives of this inner, bright life, the better man 
and farmer he is; the happier he is, and the 
more prosperous and successful. 
Look at the man in the engraving which is 
the text for these remarks. The grains, the 
fruits, the flowers, are pouring out into his 
hand; his bams are filling; his cattle are 
growing;.his life in the fields and the pure air 
bring health to him and his family; every 
blessing that a man can wish is his, and if he 
borrows a care unnecessarily and his brow is 
clouded for a time, his loving partner, and 
his romping children drive away his care and 
smooth his brow, and he is less than a man if 
he is not filled with gratitude that his work in 
the fields has been rewarded abundantly with 
the fruits of the generous soil. It is a farm¬ 
er’s duty, as well as privilege, to be a happy 
man and to live a bright and contented life. 
He has to stand up manfully in the social 
strife to maintain his rights: but he is the 
power in the nation, the sovereign, the ruler 
of society. If he will only say “this shall be 
thus,” and use his power and authority, he is 
in the majority and his will will be law. It is 
not for him to complain if by his apathy and 
neglect he gives his rights away. He is the 
master if he will only exercise the power he 
possesses, so that there is no room for a farm¬ 
er to complain or to be miserable, but every 
reason why he should bo a happy man and 
help to make other men happy if he only will. 
ijariiciiilitral. 
(jSxpmmcnt of the 
STRAWBERRIES. 
Crawford No. 6. Plants hardy. June 15. 
ripening freely. Large, scarlet berries, quite 
regular, fine quality. June 20. On the whole 
the Crawford disappoints us this year. 
Truitt from J. H. Hale, South Glastonbury, 
Conn. Perfect flowers. Plants hardy. Late. 
Not remarkable in any way. 
Indiana from J. H. Hale. Small, inferior 
berries. 
Alley 4. H. H. Alley, Hilton, N, J., (Pistil¬ 
late). Splendid foliage, fine plants. Late. 
June 20: scarlet, heart shape, a little flattened 
at tip, fair quality, not very firm; plants pro¬ 
ductive. 
Cardinal from P. M. Augur, Middlefield, 
Conn. Late. Light scarlet. June 17: rather 
soft, medium as to season of ripening, quite 
productive. June 20: Light color, soft, good 
quality, productive, fair shape. 
Hilton from H. H. Alley as above. Per¬ 
fect flower. Late. Very productive, large 
peduncles and clusters. June 25. We have 
never in our experience seen so many large, 
well-shaped berries to a peduncle as on this. 
At its best June 27. Quality inferior. 
Crimson Cluster has borne more fruit this 
season than last. The plants do not make a 
vigorous growth though they are healthy. 
Berries of fine quality and fair size. 
Alley 3, from H. H. Alley. Plants burn 
a little; medium sized leaves. Early. Give 
a goodly quantity of scarlet, heart-shaped 
berries of fair quality. Nothing extra. 
Prince. —Plants not rugged this year. 
Parry nearly fails this season. 
Shuster, June 15.—Ripening freely. Ber¬ 
ries large, generally irregular; bright, glossy 
scarlet, firm, rather sour. 
Davis. —In addition to our previous reports 
we may say that this is scarcely worthy of 
introduction. 
Louise, from W. Atlee Burpee. Origina¬ 
ted by N. Hallock, Creedmoor, Long Island, 
Promising. So, also, is Minneola another 
seedling of Mr. Hallock not yet introduced. 
Alley No. 1. June 15. Dark Crimson, 
winged, very large, high quality. 
Augur’s No. 70. June 20. Very produc¬ 
tive now; fine form, light red, rather soft, 
good quality. Nearly pistillate. Fine plants 
which sucker freely. 
Bubach, No. 5. June 12. Better than ever 
at this date. Fine, tall foliage, Scarlet ber¬ 
ries, very good quality; quite firm. The 
shape is often that of two berries being joined 
together—often hollow between. A showy 
berry, hardy vines. June 17. Lots of large 
berries, more regular than Sharpless though 
not quite so good in quality. It is superior 
to Ontario (by its side) in every way. 
Enhance from Henry Young, North Main 
street, Ada, Ohio. Perfect flower. Among 
the latest plants. Stems often 18 inches tall. 
Late. June 16. Abundance of green fruit. 
Berries very ill-shapen June 20; Very pro¬ 
ductive, bad shape, inferior quality. June 
22. Now producing an immense quantity of 
its every-shape berries, some of which are of 
the largest size. It is one of the greatest 
producers, bears the largest berries of the most 
irregular shape aud of the poorest’quality we 
know of. 
Augur’s 87. P. M. Augur. Tall, splendid 
foliage, remarkably thick leaf stalk often 18 
to 20 inches high. Rather late. June, 20, bear 
beautiful clusters of large berries not yet quite 
ripe. June 22. Rosy flesh, fine quality. 
A splendid berry in shape and size—broadly 
heart-shape, scarlet, fine flavor and a powerful 
strawberry odor. The best of the berries here 
at this date. A desirable variety for home 
use or near market. Pistillate. 
Lida. June 12. Plants healthy and fairly 
fruitful. Rather late. June 16: Shapely, 
glossy fruit of good quality. June 20: Now in 
full bearing. It is a good berry all things con¬ 
sidered, but nothing remarkable. June 22: 
rather soft. 
Anna (Crawford). Nothing remarkable. 
Ohio. Nothing remarkable. 
Jessie from C. A. Green, Rochester, N. Y. 
Widely spreading, healthy plants. Win¬ 
tered perfectly. June 16. This variety, so 
valued in many parts of the country, disap¬ 
points us. It is moderately good m all ways; 
superior in none. 
Crawford from M. Crawford, Cuyahoga, 
Ohio. Perfect, hardy, medium-sized plants— 
medium as to season of ripening. 
Whenever a new fruit is named after a wor¬ 
thy man who has done lots of good, we hate 
to make anything but a favorable report. 
Tbe Crawford was promising last season; this 
season it disappoints us somewhat. June 22: 
Not quite firm, heart shape, scarlet, good 
quality, medium size, quite prolific. 
Summit (Crawford). Late. June 22. Per¬ 
fect shape; scarlet, glossy, fairly firm, quality 
good. Healthy vines. Berry averages large. 
GARDEN AND ORCHARD NOTES. 
T. H. HOSKINS, M. D. 
Alkalies for the Root Maggot.— Two 
years’ trial seems to confirm the statement that 
the larvae of the Anthomyiae (A. ceparum, A 
brassicae, A. raphani), may be very greatly 
checked in their ravages by the free applica¬ 
tion of fine air-slaked lime, or of unleached 
ashes, along the rows, in close contact with 
the plants. The application must be free in 
order to be fully effective. I have not found 
an application half an inch deep for two 
inches on each side of the row (or about the 
roots, for cabbage), to do any harm to the 
plants, or a much less quantity to be fully ef¬ 
fective. I tried Mr. Gregory’s chicken rem¬ 
edy on onions, but found it not to answer ; 
while the application of ashes, especially as 
soon as rain fell sufficient to bring the alkali 
into action, seemed to stop their working very 
promptly. 
Cabbages Running to Seed.— Growers of 
cabbage plants under glass, for the early crop, 
should take great care not only that they 
plant the best seed, but that the young plants 
suffer no arrest or check to their growth. If 
they do, they will be very apt to resume the 
annual habit of the wild original, aud run to 
seed, instead of heading. About ten per cent, 
of a lot of otherwise very fine plants procured 
from a grower of high reputation, have 
played me this trick the present season. I 
also note more set onions running to seed this 
year than usually do. 
Yellow Transparent.— The longer my 
experience with this best of extra-early mar¬ 
ket apples becomes, the more evident it is to 
me that it is essentially a garden apple, and 
comparatively short-lived. This being the 
case, orchards of it may be planted quite 
close—say 24x12 feet—with currants or goose¬ 
berries between the trees in the rows, and 
early peas, potatoes, or some similar low-grow¬ 
ing crop between the rows. A nursery of 
young trees should also be maintained to fill 
vacancies. The trees seem to kill themselves 
by overbearing in rich ground, while in a 
poor soil the fruit, setting even more abund¬ 
antly, is too small to market well. This is the 
trouble, probably, in New Jersey, where lack 
of size is complained of. With me, grown 
as above, the trees run fully as large as well- 
grown Porters. 
The Siberian Apricot.— Positively this 
species is by far the hardiest form, not only 
against the cold of winter, but also against 
spring frosts. A temperature of 30 degrees 
below zero hardly harms it at all, although one 
of 40 degrees below will kill it to the snow 
line. As all the plants which have been sent 
out so far seem to be seedlings, the fruit 
varies greatly, and pains ought at once to be 
taken to select the best, and from these the 
largest fruited, hardiest and most productive, 
for propagation. We shall then have an 
apricot growable with success (and probably 
with profit), on ths Atlantic slope, and as far 
north as most plums. There can be no doubt 
of its being a species very distinct from the 
old form. 
Wealthy Better Top-Worked. — The 
Wealthy apple, like most heavy bearers of 
winter fruit, seems to lack vigor in the trunk, 
and my 14 years’ experience with it brings me 
to the conclusion that orchards of this variety 
