568 
THE RURAL «EW»Y©BKEB 
AUG 24 
Citexaxy. 
FARM LIBRARIES. 
A SUCCESSFUL farmer of my acquain¬ 
tance often says that he thinks one of 
the best habits a boy or girl can acquire is the 
reading habit, and he carefully promotes 
such habits in his own home by buying such 
books and papers as his children love to read, 
always taking care to direct them toward the 
best books and the most instructive papers he 
can find. 
There is no doubt many another father who 
wishes to get the very best books for his fam¬ 
ily; but neither he nor they know exactly 
what the best books are, and so, buying blind¬ 
ly, books of less merit are purchased with 
money which would have paid for better 
works. What to buy must be determined, in 
part, by the years of an individual—rhymes 
and simple tales—true ones are always most 
relished—for the child at the knee; easy his¬ 
tory, science and literature for the growing 
girl and boy, and by all means some good bi¬ 
ographies of people of our own country, as 
Washington, Franklin, Lincoln. There is no 
objection to any good biography, but in a 
limited collection of books our own men 
should have a place rather than strangers. 
It is well, too, if possible, to allow for differ¬ 
ent tastes; one boy may be carried away by 
books on bugs and bats and squirming things, 
while another loves only stories of heroes and 
daring exploits. Probably, in either case, it 
would be better to induce the boy to read a 
little of something out of his preferred line 
lest he grow up wise on one 6ide and ignorant 
on the other; but, whatever comes, it would 
be better not to put him out of the notion of 
reading, for it may be impossible, once out, 
ever to get him in the notion again. 
After one has acquired a fair knowledge of 
general things, there is much to be said in 
favor of wnat may be called reading in a line 
t. e., buying what one is able upon some one 
theme and reading upon that theme until he 
is familiar with all that has been written upon 
it, and this is especially a fault in farm libra¬ 
ries where the buyer is quite lively to buy 
only books treating of the farm, when, at the 
same time, he has a half dozen boys and girls 
starving for something just outside the farm, 
and a wife who snatches at every bit of poetry 
and sentiment that comes to her eye through 
the meager channels of the almanac or the 
country newspaper. 
For general reading there are some books 
necessary to every household, first of all of 
which is the Bible; not the big, brass-clasped 
ten-dollar book always untouched on the par¬ 
lor table and fit for the only use to which it is 
put, the stowing away of relics of all sorts, 
from the children’s valentines to the sacred 
locks of hair; but the convenient-sized refer¬ 
ence Bible for family reading and Sunday 
School work. The 10 dollars which are paid 
for the other useless lumber will supply a mod¬ 
erate-sized family with good Bibles and a con¬ 
cordance, and a little more money added will 
buy Deem’s or Farrar’s or Geikie’s Life of 
Christ, any one of which is good, though 1 
prefer Geikie. Then, second, get a diction¬ 
ary, any standard one—Webster’s is very 
good for giving definitions, the use to which 
it will oftenest be put—and, some rainy day, 
a little stand can be made to hold the book, 
which will do away with the greatest objec¬ 
tion to it for home use, viz.; its size and 
weight. 
After these two books add iEsop’s Fables 
and Anderson's Fairy Tales for the children, 
and a book of Bible stories, if you can find 
one, and then a book or two that you know 
your wife loves. One cannot dictate here, for 
one woman loves one thing and another some¬ 
thing else, but the husband can find out what 
to buy for his wife. If the wife potters lov¬ 
ingly day after day about a few pots or plants, 
ten to one she would be helped and delighted 
by a book on flower culture, and I know one 
woman in a backward Southern State who 
herself cultivates a plot of cotton to buy her¬ 
self books on anatomy and physiolgy. 
As to the husband, he, liae the wife, chooses 
books according to his tastes: the fruit grow¬ 
er selects books on fruits; the stock grower 
books on stock growing, veterinary, and other 
subjects closely allied to his line of work. As 
a rule, the farmer is not a specialist, but has 
interests both in fruit and stock and grain 
and he wants a little help on each of these 
lines. For aids in fruit growing, there are 
numberless little treatises and collections, 
more, perhaps than upon both the other sub¬ 
jects, but a very good—probably the best sin¬ 
gle volume to own is Thomas’s American 
Fruit Culturist, taking care always to get the 
best edition, which in this case happens to be 
the last. For vegetables there are also many 
books the best of which the specialist will 
know, but Joseph Harris’s Gardening for 
Young and Old, or Peter Henderson’s Gar¬ 
dening for Profit, will prove helpful, and these 
will prepare for other books if they are need¬ 
ed. In stock, there are so many kinds of 
stock one must know a little of 
a man’s wants before he can answer intel¬ 
ligently, as the enthusiastic breeder of Jerseys 
could have little interest in a book upon Short¬ 
horns and vice versa ; or, if an exclusive 
breeder of horses or sheep or hogs, the cattle 
book would be of no value whatever. Com¬ 
piled books of the cheaper class have long sup¬ 
plied the needs of the average reader, giving 
a scrappy information, possibly as much as 
was demanded formerly, but hardly as much 
as is demanded now, and there may be no bet¬ 
ter way for a man to find out just the best 
book for himself than to write asking infor¬ 
mation of some honorable man engaged in 
the same branch, or of a professor of agricul¬ 
ture in some agricultural college, or, better, of 
his agricultural paper. Another very satis¬ 
factory way would be for each one to buy 
several books and decide for himself which 
was best. For cattle, Allen’s American Cat¬ 
tle, latest edition, is good ; for cattle feeding, 
Armsby is perhaps the choice, but buy Stew¬ 
art on Cattle Feeding and compare the two. 
They will cost no more than four dollars and 
a half, and they might make many times that 
amount in the difference in the value of stocK 
fed by their methods. For pigs, Harris is a 
standard, and Coburn has written a good 
work on Swine Husbandry. Horses have in¬ 
numerable works written upon and about 
them, but as the book most called for is a book 
for the treatment of diseases, I name Law’s 
Veterinary Adviser as the most advisable 
single volume for the purpose, and it is also 
to be recommended for the treatment of other 
animals. Sheep have Randall’s Practical 
Shepherd and Stewart’s Shepherds’ Manual. 
Randall has also a book on Fine Wool Sheep 
Husbandry, and Youatt, an old and popular 
writer, has a book exclusively upon sheep. If 
one wishes books upon bees or poultry he may 
buy Cook’s Manual of the Apiary, Root’s A, 
B, C of Bee Culture or any one of several 
other excellent ones, and Wright's Practical 
Poultry Keeper, Stoddard’s An Egg Farm, 
or, Profits in Poultry and their Profitable 
Management. 
Added to the above are books upon grasses 
and grains and miscellaneous works, which 
one will really need, but which it would be 
quite impossible to name in a short article; 
but what is to prevent any farmer from add¬ 
ing to his collection the much laughed at agri¬ 
cultural reports, and the reports of horticul¬ 
tural and other societies? They frequently 
cost only the stamps to pay the postage, and 
the United States Reports may be had for the 
asking, by addressing one’s Representative in 
Congress. Some of the best agricultural lit¬ 
erature of the day is published only in reports 
or in the bulletins of the new experiment 
stations of the States, and these last may also 
usually bo had by any one who sends in his 
name and post-office address. 
Suppose one’s shelves are full of the litera¬ 
ture of the farm, there still remains the great 
mass of general literature untouched, and the 
farm boy and girl would get up early in the 
morning for a chance to read the Pilgrim’s 
Progress or The Arabian Nights, and the old¬ 
er ones will be glad of Shakspeare, Washing¬ 
ton Irving, Longfellow, an English history— 
Knight’s, perhaps, for the pictures, but 
Green’s is excellent—some American history, 
some good novels, Hawthorne’s Scarlet Loiter, 
Thackeray’s Newcomes, Dickens’s David Oop- 
perfield, Miss Mulock’s John Halifax, Scott’s 
Ivanhoe, Wallace’s Ben Hur, George Eliot’s 
Middlemarch, and if there is any one in the 
tamily who loves a lovely child, Mrs. Bur¬ 
nett’s Little Lord Fauntleroy. If to these 
could be added a little poetry from time to 
time, especially our American poets, Holme3, 
Lowell and Whittier, we should not have 
more books in the house than would fill out 
the long winter evenings, and we should not 
be guilty of having more books in the house 
than the reader could digest. 
At the risk of going beyond the buyer’s 
purse, I must say a word for an encyclopedia. 
It answers almost as many questions as a dic¬ 
tionary and answers them a great deal more 
fully. Johnson’s is one of the best, price and 
all considered, and a new edition is just out. 
A good way to increase a library is to bind 
the magazines and papers which come into 
the house; if one cannot afford the expense at 
present, a temporary binding made at home 
will hold them safely till one’s ship comes in. 
Cloth is probably the most satisfactory bind¬ 
ing of the cheaper sorts and half morocco 
with cloth sides is as good and handsome as 
need be for common work and is much to be 
px-eferred to either sheep or salf or Russia 
leather. A bad way to get a library is to buy 
of a traveling book agent who usually sells a 
poor class of books at a very high price. Some 
good books, like Grant’s Memoirs, are sold 
only by agents, but these books are readily 
had of second-hand dealers at half of the first 
cost. 
In buying books look at the print, paper 
and binding; if the print be blurred and de¬ 
fective, it will hurt the eyes to read it; if the 
paper be thin and grayish, the best print will 
not be readable upon it, and if the book open 
at the middle, and will not lie open on a table 
or flat surface, the binding is not well done 
and the covers and leaves will easily become 
loose. As a rule, avoid fancy prices, buying 
good print and paper in a suitable binding, 
which may be replaced when it wears out. 
Colorado. m. j. carpenter. 
GOLDEN ROD. 
By the highway. In the meadow, on the hill-top, 
everywhere: 
Golden rod is gaily waving brilliant banners In 
the air, 
Such a host of tiny blossoms, grow upon one s’en- 
der stem, 
Making one rare combination, ’tis of the way- 
side flowers the gem. 
Modestly it bends its blossom with its weight of 
burnished gold. 
If it were the precious metal that Its dainty pet¬ 
als hold, 
For its rare intrinsic value, golden rod would then 
be sought. 
All the memories clustering around it, would be 
lost in sordid thought. 
Does the meaning name attract us; our cupidity 
awake. 
Do we seek the golden flower for the glittering 
tempter’s sake? 
Nay! there’s nothing In this flower to arouse our 
greed for gold: 
No pecuniary value does the golden blossom hold. 
For its meek and lowly bearing, rather than a 
haughty pride, 
Do we love this favorite flower; for It flourishes be¬ 
side 
Humblest weeds, and barren places, of the earth it 
does enfold, 
With an oriental covering, a gorgeous hue of gold. 
Twining with the flowers of summer, golden glory 
of her crown, 
Lingering still to deck the autumn, while the leaves 
are turning brown. 
For their personal adornment devotees of fashion 
bend 
At thy shrine; and beg thee humbly of thy golden 
crown to lend. 
Golden rod, or Solidago, Join, make firm, thy name 
implies, 
In thy unity of beauty all thy wondrous secret lies. 
Does not then this charming flower for us each a les¬ 
son hold? 
In this plant we And a precept worth its weight in 
burnished gold. 
MRS. D. H. GARDNER, 
Piscrilaneous 
THE NEW RACE COURSE. 
The N. Y. 
JOCKEY CLUB. 
Article by 
Scott Thompson. 
Two cuts 
of the 
Betting King 
and the Stables. 
Page-Picture 
of the 
Grand Stand 
and Race Track. 
See 
HARPER’S WEEKLY, 
Published 
August 14th. 
1,000,000 worth Monuments at cost N.Y. & Mass. 
.— ' . ... . . i , 1 1 A UMienr M V 
TO FARMERS AND GARDENERS. 
DRIED 
GROUND 
SPOUDRETTEl 
NIGHT 
SOIL. 
rhe cheapest and best fertilizer made. Can be used 
thout offense In all drills. The article Is tlrst dried, 
en ground. No dirt Is mixed with the soil. It is 
re night soil only. Can be mixed with other ingre- 
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rrels, f. o. b. GEO. S'. PICKERING, 
wtowi Double Geared, Level Tread Hone Power*. 
AND THRESHERS AND CLEANERS ARK THE BEST. 
Ve also manufacture Self-Dump Hakes, Corn Shell 
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STRAWBERRY PLANTS 
PEACH-TREES 
tar FOR SALE.-® 
125.000 Davis Seedling No. 1. Fromhla orig¬ 
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L. W. GARDNER. Washington, N. J. 
BROAD-CUT 
CenterDraft 
SIZES: 
5,6 and 7 Feet 
Saves over 
half 
in labor, 
and pro¬ 
duces bet¬ 
ter quality 
of hay. An 
pair of ho 
handle with ease. A 
BIRKCT DRAFT 
wliat you want. 
EUREKA 
■MOWER 
E-Ol'T 
WKK In 
E UREKA 
SPRING TOOTH 
HARROW 
Cliannel Steel Frame 
which clears all obsta- 
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us making it the light¬ 
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Right to buy, sell and use guaranteed. 
I Price List. Address 
market 
Send for Circular and 
EUREKA MOWER CO. UTICA, N.Y. 
For preparing the ground for fail seeding, the Clark’s 
Cutaway Harrow will more than pay for itself in one 
season. No use for the plow on stubbie land. Take 
it and try it and you will buy it. Send for new cir¬ 
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Higganum M’f’g Corp., SolelNIanTrs, 
HIGGANUM.TCONN. 
THE BEST CATTLE FASTENING 
Smith's Salf-idjusting Swing Stanchion! 
The only practical SWING STANCHION invented 
Thousands in use. Illustrated Circular free. 
F. G. PARSONS & CO.. Addison. Steuben Co., N. Y 
IDEAL 
IMPROVED tlritd 0 by Skilled 
workmen, built on correct m-mel- 
ples and fully warranted; 1? TEARS 
EXPERIENCE. Sent on tn*U. Write 
for Circular and Prlee. 
Stover Mf’fi Co. Freeport, 111. 
ROAD CARTS, BUGGIES, 
"'“'HARNESS'. 
goods if we PAY YOU. 
in stamps for information 
We put no prices in the 
paper, but if you will write 
11 quote LOWER 
N AN V one else, 
our Exhibition otter, 
you help advertise our 
A BARGAIN. 
UNION MACHINE CO. Philadelphia, Pa. 
Pennsylvania Agricultural Works, York, Fa. 
Faraskai ’■ Standard Engines and Saw Hills. 
Send for Catalogue. Portable, Sta¬ 
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ginca aapecialtj. Warranted equaler 
•aperiarta 
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Address A. B. FABQUHAB A SON, York, Pa. 
Buckeye Wrought Iron Punched Kail Fence 
Also, manufacturers of Iron Cresting, Iron Turb¬ 
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s 
..... — — v ines, or tnree vv imer-uiuoaiiug 
Roses, with Catalogue, 35 Cents. 
WILLIAM K. ItKKD, 
Chumbersbiirg, Pa. 
The Willson 
THE WONDER 
OF THE AGE! 
Soring Sinaletree, 
Marvel of strength, 
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Firmer, ami Teamster, save your Hor,ea ,*ve your Har- 
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cheapestSingletree on earth, and THE BtS'T. 
Special induoemeut* to Agent*. 
THE JEFFREY M'F’C CO. 
214 East I st Avenue, Columbus f O. 
