Robing for i|f jjoung. 
FLORI CULTURE FOR YOUNG PEOPLE. 
JOHN N. DICKIE. 
Now, boy and girl readers of the Rural, I design 
In this and succeeding articles to give you an In¬ 
sight into the culture or ll iwera. I shall endeavor 
to talk plain, and expect you In turn to reward my 
efforts by making a trial of your strength next 
spring, a solid phalanx oi lads and lasses deep in 
the mysteries of practical ilorlculture. We will 
assist one another, and square accounts when 
tha dowers go to seed, 
I am going to talx to you mostly or annuals, 
those plants which grow from seed, blossom, per¬ 
fect tUair seed* aud die the same season. Having 
cultivated nearly every annual offered by our 
seedsmen, I have selected a number which 1 
think are particularly worthy of cultivation, aud 
which 1 always give a prominent place in my gar¬ 
den; and oi these 1 shall make special mention. 
Now, right in the start, let mo entreat you never to 
hog ll jvcr seeds. Hin t expect to procure pleas¬ 
ure with a *• thank you.” liuy seeds ot a reliable 
seedsman. Don't have anything to do with those 
kept on sale In the stores. U you do, expect poor 
flowers. 
Never sow flower seed in the open ground un¬ 
less of sons dlliicult to transplant, such as popples, 
larkspur, A'.;. A hot bed Is a useiul thing, hut 
that you are not expected to have. A cold-frame 
Is good—a box sot on a bed <>! light, mellow soil, 
with a sash on top; hut, for young lodes, let me de¬ 
scribe wnat I term a “ battery bed,” which for 
raising a small number of plants Is uucquaiod. 
Procure some flower pots, aud mi with soil 
scraped off or sod dug out ol some fence corner 1 
said “fitl" the pom 'lhat is correct, as tar as It 
goes, but you might go too lar. Fill to within one 
Inch and a had ox ide top. Now tha seed carefully, 
and sprinkle with slfied soil pressing it down 
firmly, lour pots are now ready to form the 
“battery.” Nay you nave nine pots, choose a 
warm, sunny location, aud excavate a place suffi¬ 
cient to aainli the pots three In a row. When in 
position, pack around with earth, taking care that 
the runs of your pots are j tst level with the sur¬ 
face ot the ground. Now water, and place over 
the pots panes ot (Hass, aud you have a propa¬ 
gating bed as good as the best. When the seeds 
germinate, raise the glass on hot days, closing 
do wn at night. Thus at a slight expense you have 
a battery mat wtd electrify the whole neighbor¬ 
hood when tney come to see the flue flowers In 
your garden, it grieves nio Co say it, but 1 am 
compelled to stop ngut here. It Is one of the most 
perfect stopping places t ever expect to Und. do 
you will please reflect on what r have toid you, 
and wait unili we meet again. 
Morrow (Jo., O. 
THE GOOD DOG JACK. 
One warm spring morning we heard a great 
shout, and on going to Die door to see what It all 
meant, we saw a large, dark object Just sweeping 
out oi the liver Into me Jake, and realized, before 
any one could ten us, that the lee had carried 
away our bridge, and Uiat all communication be¬ 
tween us and tne town was, lor the present, cut 
off, now ujw were we to get our mail, fresh 
moat, and dozens ol other things which we were 
dependent upon the village lor. W'e bewailed our 
Isolated nonunion lor a day or two, when a ferry 
was ootaodaued, which was hauled from one side 
to another by ropes, i his was very tedious fur 
foot passengers, and as the ferry was large and 
clumsy, me man that tended it round It very hard 
to puil across and back lor only one person. No 
some large puuks were fastened together, lotiulug 
a float, that reached clear across, and although It 
was very narrow walking and me river very deep 
at tnia point, we soon grew accustomed to It, anu 
ran backward and forward without tear. 
One day i went to town on an errand, and meet¬ 
ing some youug cousins, tney proposed buying a 
couple ol gallons ot molasses and having some 
candy and stacked corn. No we got a large Jug 
andnad it ailed at the store, but on returning 
home they lound their mother any thing but plc-ased 
wlui the Idea. 
*• f can t nave the kitchen all In a mus3 with 
molasses candy, ” she protested; •• ycu will get It 
all over everything, daub up every pan I’ve got, 
and leave it all tor the girl to clean up; she's busy 
enougu now, and 1 won’t have it.” in vain we 
promised all sons ol good behavior, Aunt L, was 
cross and obstinate. 
“Never mind; don’t let us be cheated out ol a 
good Urns Lhn way. come over to my h use and 
we will pop corn and boil candy as Jong as we led 
lnullned to,” i urged, so we ail started, lourol us, 
with little Schuyler, a lad eight years old, carry¬ 
ing the jug of moiasses. lie rah ahead ot us and 
commenced to cross the river on the float. Sud¬ 
denly mere was a scream, a loud splash, and there 
was Schuyler Ju me water, and even as we looked 
he same out ol sight. No man was in signi, not 
even ihe ferryman, aud we ah ran toward me spot, 
screaming and wringing our hands; but some One 
else was along tliat Was not coauied when L said 
tnere wore tour oi us. That flail one dashed like 
lightning past Us, reached I he spot before we could, 
and, springing into me water, caugni Schuyler 
with his teeth as me child came UprtUUl held Ills 
head out or water. 
Jt was dear old Jack, who had taken In the situ¬ 
ation as quickly as ourselves, and rushed to the 
rescue, our agomzeu screams attracted attention, 
and soon hall a dozen pair ol arms beluugUig to 
some Usnermon hod relieved Jack of his burden 
aud placed Schuyler, ad dripping and terribly 
frigiitOued, on lue pi ink-fl oat again. As soon as 
his cnatteruig teeth would let him, Ue wallou out, 
“On, the Jug l 1 had to let go of it, and It naa gone 
to the bottom.” Dear little cousin, we Were only 
too rejoiced that It was the Jug, and not he, that * 
THE BUBAL HEW-YOBHEB. 
DEC. 43 
had “gone to the bottom,” which he certainly 
would have done had It not been for Jack. In 
falling In he had pitched forward, and was so far 
from the float that we could not reach him when 
became up the first time, and as it was teveral 
minutes before help came, he would certainly have 
been drowned but lor the dog. 
“liow'.camehe to lull luy” Well, he was run¬ 
ning along, faster than he should go In such a dan¬ 
gerous place, and stubbed his toe. somehow we 
had lost all desire that day for molasses candy, 
and we returned to auut’s a very sober and crest¬ 
fallen party, w hen Jack had shaken himself dry, 
we hugged him and praised him all the evening. 
While the ferry was still In use. and before Die 
new bridge was finished, 1 concluded one day to 
take the hex r early morning train for Cleveland. 
One ot these same eouslus was with me the 
evening before, aud its 1 had to get up before day¬ 
light m catch the train sho proposed that 1 get 
ready and go homo with bar that night, as her 
house was much nearer the depot, and she feared 
the ferryman would not be on hand early enough 
In the morning to take mo across tne river. 1 tell 
In with her plan, and alter packing a hand bag, 
gathering a big bouquet to take to mends In Cleve¬ 
land, we locked up the house and started for my 
aun l’s. Whe u we reached the ferry no one w as there 
to haul us over W'e waited a long time ; It was 
growing quite dark, still the ferryman did not 
make ms appearance. “Lee us go around by the 
railroad bridge,” 1 suggested. “1 am arrald to," 
answered my cousin, “it is so lonely there, so 
far from any house, aud there are such dreadful 
stories now-a-days about tramps.” “ We have got 
Jack withua," 1 urged, “and he Is ample protec¬ 
tion. it is growing later all the time, and we will 
have to go at last, 1 fear, no nutter how long we 
wait.” So we started, and soon reached the bridge, 
which was a swinging one, one hail open and the 
other halt covered close by sides and top. W hen 
we had crossed the open space, and were about to 
enter ihe covered part, which was so dark we 
could only Kiel our way along the planks that 
were laid lor loat passengers, we heard roots tops 
approaching aud Jack, who was a bead, commenced 
to growl ominously. “Get out, you brute,” we 
heard a mau say, but Jack kept on, and cursing 
aud swearing Xcariully the mau retraced ills steps. 
When we got through the bridge, with our heai is 
beauftg fearfully and clinging to one anotuer in 
fright, ihere, on an elevation, where Jack had 
driven him, was One of the worst species ot tramp 
we had ever seen. A brawny dirty, desperate 
looking fellow, who looked as if ready to do any 
wickeu deed. Jack kept between us and Die man 
until we had passed, then fell In our path, loilovving 
after, not dashing ahead as before. Oh, liow re¬ 
lieved we were when wo neared the first house ori 
the road, and how thankful to reach home, and 
how often we were called lo relate our adventure, 
and every lime we told it Jack sat up slowly wag¬ 
ging his tall as If he understood that he was the 
hero or the hour .—Cleveland Herald. 
LETTERS FROM THE COUSINS. 
Uncle Mark :— I am perhaps writing too soon, 
If so, lay my letter aside until the proper time to 
print it. 1 should not so soon have taken advan¬ 
tage of Uncle Marks humorous welcome, 11 1 had 
not wished to acknowledge the receipt of the 
cumbers Raspberries, l am greatly obliged to 
the sender. 1 was very much pleased with the 
compact manner lu wulch they were prepared 
for mailing. They are nicely sot out. It will not 
be tho fault of the plants If they do not live lor 
they had the best of roots. My house plants are 
not looking as nice now as they will a little 
later. 1 have a Caila In bloom The warm 
weather ol a few days past, has caused ine to 
miss the flowers more than 1 have before since 
they were cut off. ihe beautiful summer days 
would bo far from periect If they did not bring 
with them inelr floral offerings. 1 sought the 
other day lor some of my pets mat had braved the 
stinging breath Of Uic previous days. 1 was re¬ 
warded by me sight, of mi it a dozen saucy laces 
nodding at me from my Pansy bed. Cue, 
1 ihmk the most beauillul Pansy 1 ever saw, was 
a deep Hon bum merging at tuo center almost l..iu 
black. Reside lire plants which l Intend shall 
lorrn a pare of my enjoyment lor the winter 
months, l have my canary. While 1 mink oi It 
l must toll ol the wild birds tliaL we ltavo around 
us in summer. My inomer and 1 have been in 
me habit oi feeding them until ihey have come 
to consider tnelr oread and cracker a ligut, and 
It It is not furthcoming tney remind us ol their 
presence by flying berore the window, l must 
close now, hoping my letter Is not loo long. 
New fledtord, .Hass. Carnation. 
Dear Uncle Mark:—I have long wanted to Join 
your lioruoifltural Club, before 1 knew you would 
take tuose beyond tnelr teens, aud I have omy 
waited lur a cnauce U) write lor the last turee 
mourns. Will you accept mo ? I have five win¬ 
dows lull ot plants—moot oi them rare. The 
plants never did batter than the past &h in mm — 
nearly all were put oul in tne ground toward the 
last ui May. Nome oi my Geraniums bloomed pro¬ 
fusely; one, not over oigut mouths old, ol the 
LaNeige variety, had from 1 f to 20 Li hoses or flow¬ 
ers at a time. 1 cat back some of the older stocks 
ol Geraniums, when 1 bring them in tue house, 
and some sorts arc still blooming very ilueij\ l 
am acquainted with one ol your members, little 
Frank ITiatcucr, whu has a garden ami nome in 
Meeker Co. 1 visited him some months since, and 
was astonished to sue that he had every weed 
pulled out ot his garden, and took especial pride Ur 
keeping It cleau, aiurougn he is but six years old. 
Pleaso, can we ask Uncle Mark about our dowers 
and plan ra—especially their hardinessv ir so, 
will he tell mo It this Myrtle and Thyme, a sprig 
Ol which 1 enclose, are hardy enough tor our nlu¬ 
ll oso la winter's, with a lime protection, out-of- 
doom? b. a. m. 
Howard Lake, Minn. 
You are welcome to Join, but I cannot register 
your name till I get something more of it than the 
initials. The Thyme Is hardy; the “Myrtle” I 
have some doubt about.— Uncle Mark]. 
Dear Uncle Mark:— The prize book you so 
kindly offered came about two weeks ago. When 
I opened the package f was agreeably disappointed 
to Und such an entertaining book. Please accept my 
w armest thanks. My father says he thinks Uncle 
Mark is a “ brick, w and It you should ever come to 
California we would be very glad to see you at our 
house, .southern California Is so different from 
the East that we could show you a good mans new 
and Interesting sights. We live about a mile from 
a Spanish Mission over a hundred years old. There 
are Orange and Lemun groves, and very large vine¬ 
yards reaching almost as far as one can sec, and 
lovely canyons in the mountains where we have 
our picnics. We have beautiful flowers here all 
tho year round. Thanking you once more, 1 am 
Your sincere niece, 
Lo3 Angeles Co., Gal. Gertrude b. Adams. 
[Thanks for your Invitation, Gertrude, If I ever 
find myselt In your neighborhood I shall bo pleased 
tO call — U. jM.J 
Dear Uncle Mark:— We are but recent, subscrib¬ 
ers to the Rural, but we like It ever so much. 1 
should like to Join the Horticultural Club If you will 
place my name upon the list. I have had a beauti¬ 
ful flower garden this summer, and we have a 
good many house plants. We have several tig 
trees, l have put one In the cellar, but have left 
the rest lu the garaen, do you think they will 
Uve through the winter? (No.) Yours truly 
Jones Co., Iowa. Emma. L. Tucker. 
Darious. 
BRIEFLETS. 
One of our friends writes us that he fears 
the much-advertised, much-talked of English 
Magnum Bouuin potato is more magnum than 
bonum. . . A distinguished lady writer of 
England thinks the very best food for young 
turkeys is custard. She makes it by beating 
up an egg in a cup of milk and baking it. . . 
AH fruits—Ihe most tcDdcr—must never stir 
in their boxes or barrels uutil removed from 
them. . . The best material for general 
packing is dry, soft moss. This is especially 
true for grapes. The steady pressure of the 
lid upon the elastic moss keeps every berry in 
place. . . Col. Curtis, in ihe N. Y. Tribune, 
says that old farmers have reason to smile at 
the vaunted discovery which a noted scedstuau 
has recently made, that perfect success in 
growing seeds und piauts lies in “firming” 
the 6oil.—This is rather disrespectful, Colouel. 
You are nut old enough yourself to talk in that 
way. . . Montana is now the best place for 
old maids, cooks, and huuse-servnnis gener¬ 
ally. . . The International Dairy Fair’s 
$10,000 worth of premiums ought, of itself, to 
excite a deal ol interest. T. M. Soaver, of 
309 Greenwich Street, is the Superintendent, 
and of him all particulars can bo gleaned. . . 
Keep the temperature of the root or fruit cel¬ 
lar just above freezing. . . Compost the 
muck with lime. . . Read, think aud plan 
for another year. . . Put on a bright face, 
and make your family happy for the holidays. 
. . It is impossible for house-plants to do 
well, if tho earth about them remains wet for 
any considerable length of time—say two 
days. Piauts need fresh water the same as 
individuals. Let the earth be so porous and 
the drainage so complete that the piauts will 
need watering daily. . , Readers are re¬ 
spectfully reminded that the Rural New- 
Yokkek is invariably discontinued at tho end 
of the subscription term. . . We read in not 
less than twenty-live journals that their Pre¬ 
mium Lists offer “ the most valuable collec¬ 
tion of articles ever before offered by any 
other journal in the world.” . . We cannot 
say so much for ours. But, iu so far as we 
can judge from what we have seen, it is as 
valuable as any of them. Send for it and 
judge for yourself. . . The one thing essen¬ 
tia) to ilie success of the proposed “ National 
Agricultural Society,” is lo make it appear 
that Agriculture is the thing to be benefited. 
The trouble is to select officers that care 
more for agriculture thau for the hobbies so 
many love to ride. So soou as it appears that 
auybody is grinding his own axe, both axe and 
individual should be cast out. . . The use 
for which the blank form upon our last page 
may be put, will readily suggest itself to all 
Intelligent readers. . • The Rural New- 
Youkek will piove, we are confident, a useful 
present to any frieud, and it will be adequately 
prized at the end of the year, if not at the be¬ 
ginning. This will entitle the recipient to a 
share iu all of our plaut aud seed (Lisu ibiuious, 
and the giver to our best thanks. The paper 
will be eent from now until 1831 for $2.00. . . 
The Dutchess Farmer says:—“If farmers 
would plau recreation for their wives aud 
families, they would remove one cause of 
gloom aud sickness from their houses.” . . 
In those parts of the country where the grouud 
is still very dry, it would be well to mulch 
evergreens. The seasou of 1873-’-f will be re¬ 
membered as peculiarly destructive to them, 
aud the grouud was then, as now—dry. . . 
Dr. Hoskins would like to see farmers’ sons 
taught the principles of finance, as a proteo- 
tion against usurers and speculators, and of 
political economy, as a shield against the 
treachery of representatives aud sebi^ies of 
monopolizers. . . Mr. Wood, of WisTOhsin, 
says that if a man wants a farm, he had belter 
go right into the midst of a prairie country 
where there is not a tree ; better go and take 
his farm there and plant trees, rather than go 
into a heavy timber country and bew out bis 
farm. . . Mr. Welsber says that there is not 
a spring bursting from one of our thousands 
of bill-sides, which is not capable of support¬ 
ing hundreds ol speckled trout, with a small 
outlay in the construction oi prods. . . 
What constitutes “a disgrace to journalism” 
is a question before the London courts. It 
would be a hard question tor settle in this 
country. . . The Cincinnati Enquirer, speak- 
iug of killing a hog, says: “Reader, for a^-^ 
moment put yourself iu his place.” . . The **** 
Boston Journal says that nowadays farmers 
may raise high-grade colts with profit, because 
there is a demand fur them white they are very 
young. . , Frosted bits pain and injure 
horses' mouths on wintry mornings. Warm 
the bits, therefore, before u-ing'lhein. Rubber 
instead of iron bits are coming into use in 
cold weather. . . You can now commence 
to pittue fruit trees aud grape-vines whenever 
the weather is pleasant. . . How cheerful a 
few fragrant Pinks, Violets and Monthly Roses 
noware! . . Electricity was used to trans¬ 
port motion for one and a half mile iu France. 
The motive power was strong enough to run a 
thrashing machine. . . Large quantities of 
California grapes have been sold iu Eastern 
cities for twenty to twenty-five cents per pouud. 
. . . The wood of the so-much-hated Ailantus 
is strong, durable and susceptible of a fine 
polish. 
There’s trouble among the millers aud dwell¬ 
ers at Maxwell City and along the James River, 
Dakota. The people of the James River Val¬ 
ley built dams and mills for grinding their 
wheat; but lately a party of speculators, higher 
up the river, have shut off the water, and the 
mills stand idle without motive power, while 
the neighboring people have to go to Yankton, 
sometimes from a distance of 75 miles, to get 
their Hour for family use. There’s rough talk 
out there of destroying the Luke dam, which 
holds the needed water above. Surely there 
should be some legal remedy for such selfish 
injustice as those speculators have been guilty 
of. . . . The Millers' International Expo¬ 
sition will open a line show at ihe Industrial 
Exposition Building. Cincinnati, Ohio, on June 
1st, 1830, lasting two weeks. . . . The cot¬ 
ton mills of Augusta, Ga., pay a dividend ol 28 
per cent, on a capital of $900,000. . . . The 
1’cnn. R. li Co. are about to erect a mammoth 
grain elevator in Jersey City, at a cost of half 
a million dollars. It will be capable of clean¬ 
ing 6,000 bushels per hour, and will be ready 
for use by next August. . . . The Canadian 
railroad liues from Detroit to Suspension Bridge 
have felt severely the stoppage of American 
cattle transportation through the Dominion, 
and now ask permission to carry cattle be¬ 
tween the two points in sealed ears, no ani¬ 
mal to be landed in Canada, aud tho cars to 
be used exclusively for that purpose. . . . 
Bad crops in some parts of Genuauy have 
already produced a favnlue iu Upper Silesia 
where iu many of the villages one-tinid of the 
people are reported to be starving. Among 
tho poasautsand weavers in Saxony famine has 
also made US ghastly appearance. . . . Out 
of the 3U costly grist mills of which Rochester 
N. Y. ouco boasted. 13 only are now running, 
15 of them being now used as manufactories 
of machinery, while two have beeu burnt. . . . 
A perfect fruit famine prevails iu tbe Grecian 
Archipelago. Rhodes which used to export 100 
ship-loads of fruit, now imports lemons from 
Caiuiia, while oranges have been annually 
diminishing with the rainfall. . .. The Short¬ 
horn breeders of Ky., at a meeting in Lexing- 
tou, Nov. 25. resolved to purchase the copy¬ 
right of the Short-horn Record from the es¬ 
tate of the late Major Evans. Subscriptions 
to the necessary amount—$5,000—have been 
collected. ■ . . An outbreak of pleuro pneu¬ 
monia has just occured in Monmouthshire, 
England. . . . The rinderpest iuKussiau Poland 
continues to extend and tbe establishment of 
a military cordon on the frontier by the Rus¬ 
sian authorities may be shortly expected. . . . 
The vineyardsof Malaga,Spaiu covering an area 
ol 29,060 hectarjs (about 71.000 acres) buve beeu 
attacked by tbe phylloxera. The pest is in¬ 
creasing in Geroua aud Catalonia. . . . The 
N. Y. State Dairymen’s Association will hold 
its annual couveutlou ut Oaeouta on Dec. 16, 
17, 18. Papers will be read from Prof. L. B. 
Arnold, Rochester; John S. Shatluck, Norwich ; 
F. R, Gilbert, Stamford; Fred. I. Evans, of this 
city; M. S. Wilcox, Jefferson; 8. Iloxie, 
Whitestown; and others. Those attending 
the meetiug can obtain reduced rates of fare 
from the following railroads: return for one 
eent a mile on the Delaware aud lludsou River 
CauaL (Jo., and return free Oh the Delaware, 
Lackawana and Western K. li.. Utica and 
Chenango, and Romo, and Clinton Divisions. 
. . . The Dairy Exhibition iu this city opens 
to-day, (Deo. 8th,) at the American Institute 
Building, 3rd Avenue and 63rd Street aud will 
continue opeu two weeks. 
J 
