220 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
THE 
RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
PUBLISHED EVERY SATURDAY. 
Address RURAL PUBLISHING CO., 
78 Duane Street, New York City. 
SATURDAY, APRIL 5, 1879. 
REMINDERS. 
For this climate probably the present 
is the best time of the entire year for 
transplanting. Keep the roots moist; 
protect them from the wind and sun from 
the time they are dug up until they 
are planted. Dig holes at least large 
enough to secure the roots without- 
cramping them ; fill in with good soil bo as 
to have the roots in contact with it and rest 
in their natural positions. Never shake a 
tree up and down while it is being set. 
It may do much harm by bending, break¬ 
ing the roots and abraiding the fibers, 
while it can do no good. Fix the tree or 
shrub firmly in its bed. If small, press¬ 
ing the earth firmly about the roots will 
v!.i• if 1 n verp amkim? mav be neces- 
sary. Generally one stake is enough. 
Stick it diagonally in the ground and 
fasten the upper end to the main stem by 
bands that will prevent chafing. 
That it is well to cut back the tops of 
trees somewhat in the proportion that 
their roots have been lost or mutilated 
there can he no doubt. But on this sub¬ 
ject no definite rule can be laid down. 
There is no other way of transplanting a 
Tulip tree (Liriodewfrou tulipifera) from 
the woods or fields, except by cutting it 
back nearly to the roots. The Virgiha 
or Yellow-wood (Cladrastis tinotorin) will 
stand any amount of cutting back ; while 
the Bulisburia or Ginkgo, or a five-year- 
old apple tree would be injured or killed 
by the same treatment. Life is more 
distributed and irrepressible, so to speak, 
in some plants than in others, the same 
as in the animal kingdom. Many people 
determine to do their transplanting with 
great care when they order their trees or 
shrubs and while yet everything is wintry 
and there is no pressing work on hand ; 
but when the plants arrive, all sorts of 
work press, and planting is too often 
hurried through in a slip-shod manner. 
We would simply remind our readers that 
this is poor judgment. If plants are to 
answer the purpose for which we pur¬ 
chase them, we must provide the con¬ 
ditions of their healthy existence. 
PLANT TREES. 
Spring-time has come again. This is 
the season w hen every one begins to make 
some improvements. There are but few 
farms that contain enough ornamental 
trees about the buildings. 
What trees shall the owner plant ? For 
deciduous trees, select from open places 
Young Elms, Maples, Lindens, Ashes, 
White-woods. For evergreens, get from 
the nm’sery stocky trees about two feet 
high. Unless the planter is an expert, let 
him begin with well-tried sorts, such as 
Norway Spruce, Hemlock Spruce, White 
Pine, Austrian Pine, Scoth Pine, Arbor- 
vitte, Red Cedar, Siberian Arbor-vitse, 
Savin, Irish Juniper, and the like. 
Where shall he plant ? Seldom in 
straight rows, or within thirty feet or more 
of a building. Rows of deciduous trees 
may extend along the margins of the high¬ 
way. Plant them thirty or forty feet 
apart; protect them from cattle and mulch 
heavily, or keep them cultivated. In the 
direction of the prevailing cold winds 
plant evergreens for protection. Here 
and there about the grounds put in 
groups, with now and then an isolated 
specimen. Leave some broad, open lawn 
without, any trees or shrubs. Take up 
the trees well ; keep the roots from the 
sun and wind.; keep them damp till they 
are well planted. Now mulch at once, 
before dry summer comes on , or, instead 
of this, cultivate every week or ten days 
till September. It is a good plan toplant 
thickly, if the proprietor can remember 
to thiu in the proper time before any of 
the trees are injured by crowding. Keep 
up the mulch, or better, keep up the 
thorough cultivation for five or six years. 
Besides this, the trees will need but little 
care. With good cultivation, the tops 
will run up and the limbs spread out; the 
owner will be gratified and surprised to 
see how fast his trees grow. To keep the 
evergreens stocky, with thick tops, they 
should bo trimmed. They may bo sheared, 
or, better still, some of the limbs should 
be cut back to where they leave other 
limbs. This may be done at any time of 
the year. Have no fears of cutting off the 
leader. Cut away anywhere you desire, 
and watch the result. The more they are 
cut back, the thicker they will grow. 
From year to year a few new choice kinds 
can be added, us the farmer becomes sat¬ 
isfied that he wants them. 
Trees increase the value of a place, 
whether the owner wishes to sell or to use 
it for a home. Trees shelter the dwelling 
and the bams from piercing winds ; they 
add comfort and joy to man and beast; 
they economize the food of animal's ; they 
save fuel in the sitting-room ; they harbor 
birds; they afford shade in summer. 
Plant trees*for yourself, for your wife, for 
your children and grandchildren. Plant 
trees as a good example to your neighbor 
and the stranger who passes by your 
farm. 
We know a pleasant old man who has a 
largefamily. All of them have settled near 
liim, and have not deserted country life. 
He is cheerful, and makes everybody 
about him happy. At a public meeting, 
the other day, he made a remark that im¬ 
pressed itself on the mind of every person 
present. We cannot give his exact words, 
but he substantially Baid : “ Several 
years ago I planted a lot of evergreens 
about my house. I took good care of 
them. People laughed at me and thought 
I was wasting time. They said I would 
never live to enjoy them. The treeB are 
already the admiration of all who see 
them. I feel that I have set a good ex¬ 
ample for all to follow. Some neighbors 
have done so. I am an old man, and my 
body will soon be laid away in the coun¬ 
try * cemetery. A tomb-stone will be 
erected, on winch, now and then, some 
one will read my name. Far better than 
this : the evergreens I have planted will 
last for many years and serve as a land¬ 
mark. Neighbors, as they ride by, will 
say to strangers and their friends, * old 
Mr. -planted those evergreens.’ ” 
The beautiful trees will serve to con¬ 
stantly remind every one of the thought¬ 
ful and generous hand that planted them. 
What can be more desirable than to have 
one’s name associated with a fine lot of 
choice trees? 
Then be encouraged to plant trees 
along the highway and about your build¬ 
ings. Plant them for shade, for shelter, 
for ornament; plant them to set a good 
example and to increase the value of the 
farm ; plant them to make country life 
attractive to your children and to stran¬ 
gers ; plant them that when you are 
gone every one shall bless you for the no¬ 
ble work you have done. 
-■*-*-*- 
A PURPOSE IN LIFE. 
A story is told of a Connecticut Yankee 
who, when a young man came to him to 
make application for his daughter’s hand 
in marriage, engaged and held him in 
conversation about his personal matters, 
his propects, hopes and fears until the bit 
of pine stick upon which the suitor had 
been employing his knife, had dropped in 
si lavings to the ground. He then replied : 
“ Young man, I have known your family 
fur many years, and have always thought 
well of you, and had you made anything 
of that stick you have been whittling, 
even if it had been no more than a tooth¬ 
pick, you should have had my girl; but 
I don’t want for a son-in-law one whose 
tendency is to go through life whittling 
to no purpose. ” 
How many do we see every day who are 
wasting their time, spending days, weeks, 
months aud years without profitable re¬ 
sult, and often, perhaps we may say 
nearly always, because they have no fixed 
purpose iu life,—no object at which they 
aim, no goal to be attained. A few, for¬ 
tunately, in their younger days have a 
controlling desire to fill certain positions, 
or accomplish certain ends. Such are 
almost sure to succeed, no matter what 
obstacles may be iu the way. A patient 
and steady struggle with adverse circum¬ 
stances may be necessary, but an advance 
step by step, upward and onward, slowly 
if it must be, will finally bring one to the 
desired position and insure success. 
There are few, however, who at the 
time they should be directing their atten¬ 
tion to their life’s work, have any decided 
preference as to what that work shall be, 
and therefore most people are the more 
likely to float down the stream of life 
without a rudder. 
If the choice of pursuit is made by pa¬ 
rent or friend, it is more likely to be in 
accordance with the hopes or desires of 
the director, than with the adaptation or 
fitness of the subject, aud the result is the 
latter goes through life vainly striving to 
fit a square bolt to a round hole. In such 
case there is no purpose in the matter. 
The subject is set to work out the plans 
of others, with no purpose of his own. 
Every young man is better fitted by 
nature to engage in one class of business 
than in another that requires ability of a 
different kind. Such natural tendencies 
should be sought for, carefully watched 
and cultivated. To thwart them is cer¬ 
tain failure. Said Dr. Chapin : “Many 
a man whom God has fitted to occupy an 
honest and honorable position as a good 
shoemaker, has endeavored to override 
God’s decrees and turned out a poor cler¬ 
gyman of no use to himself or to any 
about him.” The services of a competent 
phrenologist can in many eases be em¬ 
ployed to advantage, for while such men 
may not be possessedof the definite ability 
they sometimes claim, they would not 
send one with construetiveness, small, to 
a machine-shop, or one in whom mathe¬ 
matical talent is obvious, to an engraver’s 
room. And, in a great majority of eases, 
they would point out the calling or pur¬ 
suit iu which the person under examina¬ 
tion would be most likely to work with a 
will and a purpose, and that purpose 
would insure success. 
Perhaps it is true that there are com¬ 
paratively more inefficient men engaged 
in agriculture than in any other pursuit. 
They take to the farm either from force 
of circumstances or want of enterprise to 
do anytliing else. They are human ina- 
clfmes, and work with little thought. But 
Mother Earth is kindly, and as human 
mothers sometimes do, gives her children 
from her bounty for the mere asking. 
But such men are never successful. They 
live, to be sure, and so do the beasts of 
the field. The true farmer is he who 
starts out with an object in view, and 
gives the labor of both brain and muscle 
to achieve it—he who is not content to 
gather the natural product of mountain 
or valley, but, by care and culture, im¬ 
proves in quality and increases in quan¬ 
tity every crop that he supervises. With 
a purpose steadily pursued, such a one 
can attain almost any desirable result, 
even though it be apparently as difficult 
as to gather grapes from thorns or figs 
from thistles. 
-♦ » ♦- 
AN OLD THING WITH A NEW FACE. 
Occasion ally we congratulate our¬ 
selves that aB a race we are becoming bet¬ 
ter and better—that we are leaving off 
our vices anil becoming virtuous. We 
no longer love prize fights or desire to see 
the human face divine battered out of 
shape, and call it sport. It is true, that 
is something to be proud of; but have we 
not discarded the old love and taken on a 
new one, just as reprehensible ? A few 
days ago, thousands of persons crowded a 
place of popular resort to see tliree men 
walking against time and persisting to the 
very verge of human endurance. Had 
one fallen to the ground and expired of 
exhaustion, no one would have been sur¬ 
prised. Wan and weaiy; sore and 
wounded; sick and miserable ; a poor 
wretch tottered and limped, drawn to¬ 
gether with pain, around the course, im¬ 
pelled by the hope of gain. More than 
§50,000 were paid by the public to see the 
contest. The victor in the exhibition re¬ 
ceived for a week’s work more than §20,- 
000, and yet within a few' blocks of the 
scene there were men, women and chil¬ 
dren starving for want of food, and shiv¬ 
ering for want of clothing aud fuel. It 
may well be asked, “ To what purpose 
was this waste?” Previously, a similar 
exhibition, with young women for the ac¬ 
tors, had been very popular, anti even ns 
we write, half a dozen similar affairs, with 
women testing their powers of resisting 
pain and exhaustion, are in progress. It 
is a question if we really are any better 
than we should be ; or if we have really 
made any improvement upon the manners 
of the past generation, when it was as com¬ 
mon that men tested their endurance by 
resisting blows upon the head and body, 
as they are now doing by walking up to 
the threshold of death’s door in the 
shortest possible time, and just stopping 
there, or showing how near they can ap¬ 
proach it without passing in. 
-- 
A HINT FOR THE SPRING. 
Now that the season for the active la¬ 
bors of the farm and garden has arrived, 
it is well to recall the fact that an early 
start will win, all other things being equal. 
If wo look around among our neighbors, 
we may note that he who was first in the 
field, and who was ob the look-out for new 
improved varieties of seed, was the first in 
tlie market and had something new and 
better than usual to show, aud conse¬ 
quently received the top jirice. This ad¬ 
vantage once gained, runs through the 
whole season, and as step follows step, so 
the first being in advance, the last keeps 
its place, as well as the intermediate ones. 
So we see our neighbor at work in his 
drained field, while our plow may be idle 
on account of sodden soil and water- 
soaked lands. These lessons are taught 
year after year, and some learn them, but 
others do not, and perhaps some never 
will; but it is still our duty to keep on 
reiterating them, and still recalling the 
fact that to be prepared when the time 
comes, is essential to success in whatever 
business or walk of life we are occupied. 
BREVITIES. 
Plant, plant, plant—the spring is marching! 
Mr. J. J. Thomas mentions the Sharpless 
and Cumberland Triumph as his choice of the 
newer Strawberries. 
We shall be very happy to receive early no¬ 
tification of the dates fixed upon by county 
fair organizations for holding their annual 
fairs. 
Have you ever tried harrowing your winter 
grain ? If not, harrow a small piece of the 
field that it may be compared with the rest at 
harvest. 
A. Darwinti Is the most tloriferous Abutilon 
we know of—it is never out of bloom. The 
flowers, however, are of the old briek-red 
color, though of goodly size. 
Those planting Grape-vines, Blackberries 
and Raspberries, should cut down the canes to 
within a few inches of the ground. A bud, or 
so, is all the disturbed root can support. 
One of the handsomest lawns we have ever 
seen was seeded with Red-top alone. If the 
ground is rich and well prepared, this seed 
will produce a very respectable-looking lawn 
tlie^irsf season. 
The veteran editor of the Germantown Tele¬ 
graph evidently thinks highly of Blunt’s White 
Prolific eoru. Mr. Blunt gave him a quart of 
it and the editor distributes one dozen kernels 
among his farmer subscribers as far as the 
quart will go. 
The severity of the past winter is specially 
evident among lawn trees that have broad 
leaves. Rhododendrons and several new hardy 
foreign shrubs of a somewhat similar charac¬ 
ter are much injured. Half a dozen varieties 
of Rhododendrons remain notably intact. 
You geutleinan of leisure who like the 
country and who do uot know exactly how 
to pass all of your time, let us advise you: 
Build a nice poultry house and yard and 
keep a few thoroughbreds. There is more in 
poultry to interest you than you ever dreamed 
of. 
Nursery 6 toek of all kinds is extremely— 
shall we say diseouragingly ?—low. We hope 
that the present spring will show a reawaken¬ 
ing to the importance of planting fruit aud or¬ 
namental trees aud shrubs that shall gladden 
the hearts of all good nurserymen who for 
years past have been sick with hope long de¬ 
ferred. 
Ellwangek & Barky say that Figs may be 
grown as bushes in the garden iu the North¬ 
ern States, if they are taken up annually, the 
first week in November, with a ball of earth 
attached to the roots, aud placed in a cellar 
till about the middle of May, when they should 
be taken out and replanted. Almost all of 
them ripen in August 
Three years ago we commenced removing 
the terminal buds of au Austrian Pine—twist¬ 
ing them out sometimes in fall, sometimes in 
late winter. This tree is now so rosetted, so 
dense, that it might well be mistakeu for a 
distinct variety. The Austrian Pine (and the 
Scotch, too) will stand cutting back, we be¬ 
lieve, as well as the Norway or Hemlock 
Spruce. 
“ What are sports but the operations of nat¬ 
ural laws which we do uot comprehend ?” asks 
Mr. Talbot. That is just exactly what they 
are, and instead of eliminating the word, 
as he suggests, iu favor of scientific terms, to 
render what is already inexplicable thricemore 
obscure, it would be well it we used this short 
word, which is very expressive of our igno¬ 
rance, a good deal oftetier than we do. 
Under Notes from the Rural Grounds, Aris- 
tolocliia Sipho (The Dutchman’s Pipe) is 
spoken of as a most desirable vine. It will be 
found that though most nursery men aud florists 
catalogue the plant, few have it iu stock. We 
tried to procure enough of the seed to offer 
them in our free seed distribution. But we se¬ 
cured hut a small quantity, which has been 
sent out iu place of others, our supply of which 
became exhausted. We have never raised it 
from seed, but Itsaru from those who have that 
it germinates freely. 
Our advertising columns during this, the 
busy advertising season, encroach upon sev¬ 
eral of oHr usual Departments. These adver¬ 
tisements will be found the best of their class 
aud to fill most of the needs of the country 
home. We respectfully ask that our readers 
will give them a careful looking over before 
making their purchases, and that in communi¬ 
cating with our advertisers they will mention 
the Rural New-Yorker, whose recognized 
aims and stundiug should secure the most fa¬ 
vorable terms. Such mention will increase 
our owu influence with the best class of adver¬ 
tisers and will indirectly be of benefit to our 
readers. 
Our rather recent remarks respecting the 
Hemlock (Abies Canadensis) will bo remem¬ 
bered by Interested readers. As corroborating 
our estuii&to of that tree, we find the following 
in Mr. Hooper’s Book of Evergreens; “ We 
have often lingered admiringly in the contem¬ 
plation of a group of these ( Hemlock) trees, 
watching the play of light and shade as it in¬ 
creased or diminished through their verdure, 
and mentally compared these claims on our 
notice with the rarer introductions from 
abroad; and such meditation? invariably re¬ 
sulted in the same conclusion, thut, so long as 
they were common (an American term for na¬ 
tive trees), men of more moans than taste 
would prefer the latter class. Let them enjoy 
their preference; but so far as we are con¬ 
cerned, were we restricted to one tree, we 
would far rather have a fine specimen of the 
Hemlock Spruce, than all the Deodars and 
Cryptomerias ever introduced. " 
Mr. Meehan remarks of the Hemlock “ It 
would not be exaggeration to pronounce this 
the most beautiful evergreen in cultivation ” . 
