ULcatriitg for % gottitg. 
THE HORTICULTURAL CLUB. 
Among the letters from hoys and girls published 
this week, Is one that gives a short account of how a 
little gardener raised S5 bushels of onions on half 
an acre of land. This shows Indisputably what 
boys, and even small boys, can do when they have 
the opportunity and go to work with a will. I hope 
that many of the members of our club will take the 
hint and “ go and do likewise.” It will not only be 
pleasant work, but a snug llltle sunt of money may 
be realized. It need not necessarily be onions; It 
may be cabbage, celery, tomatoes, or anything 
that will sell. Of small fruits, Strawberries are, 
perhaps, the best paying and most easily cultivated. 
Now Is the time to plant them. Give the laud a 
good coat of manure. Secure young plants and 
plant them In rows twenty Inches or two feet apart 
and eighteen Inches between the plants. Monarch 
of the West.Charles Downing, Trlpmphe de Gand 
and Wilson are good varieties. Pinch oh the 
flowers that may appear this year, except a very 
few just to show you the fruit, the plants will be 
so much stronger for it next year. 
But I want to speak this time more particularly 
about 
FLOWERS. 
And of these 1 will first take up annuals, and those 
treated as annuals, or that class of plants that 
grow from seed, blossom, bear trull, and die In one 
year. There are a large number of varieties, but, 
of course, lu a small garden you can only grow a 
few of the choicest. The seed of all of them may 
be sown In the open greund, but for most or the 
varieties it is better to sow It In boxes three 
or four Inches deep, filled with a mixture of leaf- 
mold, sand and soli from decayed grass sod. Shake 
the soil down rather firmly, moisten It with a 
spiiukier, sow the seed and cover it lightly with 
sandy soil scattered on with the hand. But the 
very finest seed, such as Lobelia, should not be 
Covered; simply pat It down with a small piece of 
board. Keep the boxes In a warm, tUough not 
sunny place, till the seeds germinate; but after 
germination the plants should have all the light 
they can get. When large enough they are trans¬ 
planted to the garden. Asters, Stocks, Cockscomb, 
Phlox, Verbena, Petunia, Gomphrena, Zinnia, and 
the pretty little blue-eyed Lobelia, are best treated 
In tills way. Mignonette may be sown In the open 
ground. 
Of the perennial flowers, or those that last seve¬ 
ral years, always select bucIi as are perfectly 
hardy, which you can find out from a Catalogue 
when you select your seed. Most of them can be 
raised from seed like the annuals , but In that case 
only a rew will bloom the first year; others are 
propagated by dividing the roots. Hollyhock, Lily 
of the Valley, Prnonla, Aqullegta, liesperis and 
Campanula are examples of this kind of plants. 
1 wish to say also that you must be careful to 
label everything, so you can always know Uie 
names of your plants. Learn the Latlu names. 
TUese are the names that all plants are known by 
the world over. In all languages; the common 
names are only' local, and therefore, not of so much 
Importance. 
The club Is growing very popular. Names of 
new members are constantly coming In, and I 
hope that ere long all the cousins will Join. As I 
have stated before, I will answer all reasonable 
questions In regai-d to the treatment of your 
plauts. I will also say that I am propagating a 
number of rare plants, which I will send free of 
all charge to those members who send ine the best 
notes of what they are doing In their gardens, and 
who take the most active, stirring Interest in the 
club. This will be a standing offer. 
Numerous essays have been sent, by the competi¬ 
tors for 
THE l'RIZES 
I offered; but I am sorry to say that there are but 
few good ones, and none really excellent. There 
are many points to be taken Into consideration In 
writing an essay, but as instruction in this line 
does not fall within my sphere, I will leave that to 
your respective teachers. 1st prize was taken by 
E. P. Powell, of Clinton, N. Y,, who wrote on 
Blooming Trees and Cuttings, 2d prize was award¬ 
ed to Miss Lizzie Hay, of Seneca, Kansas, who 
wrote on Flowers and Fruits. Miss Mabel C. Hos¬ 
kins of Newport, vt., took 3d prize. She entitled 
her essay, “ What 1 have Learned about Flowers 
In One Yearand 4th prize was gained by Miss 
Minnie 8. White, of Alden, N, Y., who wrote a 
short but neat essay on Strawberries. The seed 
will be rorwarded Immediately, together with the 
congratulations of Uncle Mark. 
- ♦ - 
CHAT AMONG THE FLOWERS. 
MRS. E. J. RICHMOND. 
••Heigoo, Miss Crocus. What are you about 
there, stirring so uneasily In your bed ?” cried 
Miss Tulip, In a voice smothered by the mold 
which covered her still. 
“ Here you have been snuggled so cosy and com¬ 
fortable all the long cold winter. Wny can’t you 
be quiet now v" 
“The sun has kissed me, and 1 am glad to 
awake,” said Crocus In a clear voice, for she had 
peeped above the leaf mold and had seen the 
blown earth once mere.” 
“ Oh Tulip, If you could but see the dear Pan¬ 
sies looking so green and comfortable, and the pret¬ 
ty Hyacinths just showing their little heads, you 
would stop grumbling and try to wake up too. 
Even Madame Ptcony over there by the walk, is 
crowding her red hood through the brown with¬ 
ered grass, to see how the young plants are get¬ 
ting on.” 
“ Time enough by-and-by,” muttered Miss Tulip. 
“ The Winter King wrapped the Pansy tribe so 
close and warm In his great drifts. A poor return 
THE RURAi. NEW-YORKER. 
for all Ills kindness, I think. 1 do not admire 
pushing-forward people. Modesty is becoming 
even among t he flower people.” 
“ Ha, ha! what Is that you are saying down 
there?” said gay little Daffodil, tossing her long, 
green leaves. “ Grumblers are always vulgar, disa¬ 
greeable creatures, I think. Wake up here and 
enjoy yourself Like the rest of us.” 
“ Oh. my deans, do not quarrel so,” said Miss 
Pink, who, like the Pansy family had been so 
closely wrapped by the friendly drifts that she had 
not last her summer dress. “ We gain nothing I 
am sure by finding fault with each other. Aud 
Mias Tulip, it does seem nice lo peep out trorn that 
dismalsnow-slrroud, and see all the dear friends 
again. “ We are waiting patiently for you my 
dears.” 
“ WelL well, all in good time, little pet,” ejacu¬ 
lated Miss Tulip. “ I 11 be up and dressed In my 
gayest robes before you now, see if I don’t.” And 
true enough, when the (lowers one after another 
came timidly forth, there stood Miss Tulip all In 
gold and scarlet robes like a queen waiting to re¬ 
ceive them. 
DREAM OF FAIR WOMEN. 
Continued from taut week. 
And Aunt Lou read aloud from the book In her 
hand: 
“ The daughter of the warrior Gileadite. 
A maiden pure , as when bhe went along 
From Mizpeh’s towered gate with welcome light, 
With timbrel and with song. 
“ Grandma must help us here, If she will. Please 
turn to the eleventh chapter of Judges from 
the thirtieth to the thirty-fifth verses.” 
Grandma kindly complied, and r^ad In her 
sweet, tremulous tones, the simple, touching 
story; 
“Aud Jephthali vowed a vow unto the Lord, and 
said, If thou slialt without fall deliver the chil¬ 
dren or Ammon Into my hands, 
“ Then it shall be that whatsoever cometb 
forth of the doors of my house to meet me when 
1 return in peace from the children of Ammon, 
shall surely be the Lord’s, and 1 will offer it up 
lor a burnt-offering. 
“And Jephthali came to Mlzpeh, and behold 
his daughter came out to meet him, with timbrels 
and with dances; and she was his only child; 
beside her he had neither son nor daughter," 
“ And did he kill her ?” cried Bess, with wide- 
open, horror-struck eyes. 
"Moderncommentators,” and Aunt Lou looked 
a little apprehensively at grandma, who was un- 
dertood to be the principal Bible critic of the 
family, “ think that he simply dedicated her to 
the service of the tabernacle, and consequently to 
perpetual maidenhood. There were a class of 
women set apart from others, whose wliolo time 
was employed tn weaving and embroidering the 
draperies of the tabernacle aud the beautiful 
sacerdotal garments for the priests, and It Is 
thought that this was the life to which her father 
devoted her. It must have been a terrible trial to 
him, an ambitious and warlike man, to thus 
give up all hope of perpetuating his name and 
family in Israel.” 
“ But the poem represents her as dying ‘ for God 
and for her she,’” objected Madge, who had all a 
school-girl’s love for the tragic. 
Aunt Lou smiled. 
“ A poet and a commentator are two very differ¬ 
ent persona, my dear; and the poetic Idea is best 
embodied In this translation of the story. But we 
must, leave the heroic Hebrew maiden to make the 
acquaintance of an altogether different character: 
‘ I am that Rosamond, whom men call fair, 
If what I was I be.’" 
“Oh, I know all about her, tool” exclaimed 
Madge, with no Ultle pride. “ she was the Lady 
Rosamond Clifford, and she was so beautiful that 
King Henry if. saw and loved her. And he built a 
splendid palace at Woodstock for her, with a laby¬ 
rinth of w alks and avenues all about It, so that no 
one could get In or out that hadn’t the clue. And 
one day his queen, Eleanor, who w r as always mis¬ 
trusting something about everybody, noticed a 
thread of floss silk, such as ladles used In Uielr em¬ 
broideries, sticking to one of his spurs. She didn’t 
say a word, but she just followed that silk in and 
out, in and out, and at last It led her to the palace 
at Woodstock, w'here she found a lovely lady In 
one of the turret chambers, busy with "her em¬ 
broidery. Just as quick as she put her eyes on 
her, the jealous old queen knew in a minute that 
this was the Fair Rosamond that she had heard 
of; and she was so mad that she held a cup of 
poison to her bps and made her drink it, and it 
killed her right there on the spot.” 
" Good for you, Madge! I didn’t mistrust you 
knew so much,” declared Will, ad mlringly. “ But 
honestly, Aunt Lou, how much of that Is fiction 
aud how much fact?” 
Madge looked rather indignant, hut Aunt Lou 
soothed her wounded vanity by saying in a care¬ 
less tone,— 
“ Most of it is fact, I suppose, only the story of 
her death at the hands of her Indignant rival can¬ 
not be true, as the fair but frail lady retired of her 
own accord to the nunnery of Godstow, where she 
lived for many years, a sincere and humble peni¬ 
tent ; and was buried in the chapel of the convent, 
where her tomb waste be seen a» late as the time 
of Cromwell, when some Puritan fanatics broke 
into the chapel, destroyed the monument, and 
scattered the bones of the poor lady in every di¬ 
rection.” 
The young people were silent for a moment; the 
sad story of poor Rosamsnd had, for the moment, 
saddened and touched their hearts. But Madge 
at length broke the silence with, “ Of the three 
others, 1 can tell only one, Joan or Arc. Who was 
ll that 
* Clasped in her last trance 
Her murdered father’s head ’? 
and who the one, that 
‘ Kneeling, with one arm about her king. 
Drew forth the poison with her balmy breath, 
Sweet as new buds in spring ’ ?” 
“ The first is supposed to refer to Margaret More, 
the daughter of sir Thomas More, a man of great 
wisdom and sanctity, who was beheaded by the 
tyrannical llemy the Vnt., because he would not 
give his approval to the klug’s divorce from Kathe¬ 
rine of Arragon. This devoted daughter Is said to 
have gone at night,with only one faithful attemlant, 
and taken her tattler’s head from a turret of Lon¬ 
don Bridge, whore the brutal king had ordered it 
placed, and tarried it home in her own arms, 
where It was reverently deposited In the family 
vault. 
“The other was Eleanor, queen of Edward I. 
The king lmvlng been wounded by the poisoned 
dagger of an assassin, his wife sucked the poison 
from the wound at the risk of her own life." 
“Ugh!” and Bess’s dainty nose took an upward 
curl, but Madge whispered, with a tender misti¬ 
ness In her thoughtful eyes: “ Thank you, auntie; 
but I think Tennyson ought to have put his last 
first, and made that sweet, brave Margaret More, 
an 1 Edward's faithful, lovlug queen the most 
Instead of the least prominent umong his ‘fair 
women.’ ” 
“ So do I.” 
And to tills, grandma and even Will nodded a 
decided approval .—The Watchman. 
-♦♦♦-- 
LETTERS FROM BOYS AND GIRLS. 
Dear Uncle Mark :—I like your project real 
well of forming a Horticultural Club composed of 
the boys and girls who read the Rural New- 
Yorker. My father has plowed a large piece of 
land in our front yard, and tills spring, mother Is 
going to set out In it some pretty shrubs and choice 
trees, aud my little sister and myself are going to 
have a real nice, little garden of our own there, In 
which we shall have a lew vegetables aud some 
Raspberries and Strawberries, and where we shall 
try hard to raise some beautiful flowers. Fa got five 
packages of choice shrub seeds from the Seed Dis¬ 
tribution of the JRpkai, New-Yokkkr. and we shall 
plant them lu our little garden, too, and hope we 
maybe able next fall to tell you how finely they 
grew. Please put Nellie Hay’s name on the list for 
your “ Horticultural Club,” as also the name of 
your young friend, Lizzie Hay. 
Nemaha Co., Kan. 
Dear Uncle Mark :—I will tell all the little boys 
bow my brothers and I raised a ball acre of onions 
last year. My father hired a man to plow the 
ground lu ridges about three Inches high aud 18 
wide,so that a small cultivator could go betweeu 
the rows. We leveled the tops of the rows off with 
a rake and planted the seed with a hand-seeder, in 
a short time we could see the little needle-shaped 
plants coming up double through the ground, and 
then we begau to weed them, and we had hard 
work to keep ahead of the weeds. But the plants 
soon got big enough to cultivate with our old 
white inule that father lets us use to cultivate the 
garden, because - she’s safe,” he says. And I think 
every boy who has a market garden should have 
just such a mule, ours is *3 years old. Well, we 
cultivated and hoed our onions three times and 
they grew finely aud were nice large onions; and 
when we came to pull them we made a " bee" and 
invited my little sister and two cousins, so there 
were six of us. We made jolly times, and short 
work, too. Next we gathered them up and sorted 
them for market. We had S5 bushels. My father 
was not well, so my brother, who Is is years 
old, had to take the onions to market ten miles off. 
lie sold $70 worth besides saving plenty for home 
use. And now when we have them cooked, I be¬ 
lieve they taste sweeter to us for having raised 
them all ourselves. Bertie Park. 
Waukesha Co., Wls. 
P.S.—I am 10 years of age and I wish to join 
your Horticultural Club. b. f. 
HIDDEN STRAITS. 
1. Mamma, Totch-klne are a new breed. 
2. Yes, Mac, as Sarah has promised. 
3. It Is dismal Acca I assure you. 
4. As It Is damp, I earnestly coax you to stay. 
5 . Hear the pigeon coo, Katie? 
c. If oyeaux are not birds, what ihen ? 
7. Ida, visions come to many. 
8 . Try the river bank Samuel. 
9. What a thud Soma made In tailing. 
10. Wllhemena Is dead. 
u. If " rob ” Is her design I'll frustrate It. 
12 . Don’t blab Able, man, Debby loves you. 
13. Mamma, Galilean spoke to me to-day. 
83#“ Answer In two weeks May. 
-++-»- 
A MALTESE CROSS PUZZLE. 
Top-A species of cheese; a toilet article; an In¬ 
sect’s egg; a consonant. Right—A highway rob¬ 
ber; a small fruit; a vegetable product; a conso¬ 
nant. Bottom—A fish; convenient; wicked; a 
consonant. Left—A sort of Hour; to rob; part of 
a drama; a consonant, center, top—To sleep 
Ugfitly (beheaded). Center, right—A European 
river. Center, bottom—Three consonants. Cen¬ 
ter, left—Ancient. Center—A vowel. Centrals 
both down and across form two countries In Eu¬ 
rope. Little One. 
Answer hi two weeks. 
—-- 
PUZZLER ANSWERS.—April 5 . 
Answer to Charade—P each stone. 
Answer to Drop-leetter Puzzle, I—“ Thou shalt 
not Bteal.” 
WORD-SQUARE ENIGMA. 
FLEA 
LIAli 
EARN 
ARNO 
Answer to Drop-letter Puzzle, 2—Put the right 
letters in and I am complete. 
A SUPPLICATION. 
The following Is a most remarkable composition. 
It evidences an Ingenuity of arrangement pecu¬ 
liarly Its own. Explanation—The Initial capitaLs 
spell, “ My boast la hi the Glorious Cross of 
Christ.” The Avoids In italics, when read from 
top to bottom and bottom lo top, form the Lord’s 
Prayer complete: 
Make known the gospel truths, our Fatlior king, 
Yield us til S' graces, dear Father from above, 
Bless us with hearts which feelingly can sing:, 
“ Our life thou art for ever, God of Love ?” 
Assuage our grief in love.y or Christ, wo pray. 
Sinec the bright Prince of Heaven aud glory died, 
Took all our sins und hallowed the display. 
Infant telng. first a man and then was crucified. 
Stupendous God ! thy grace and power make known. 
In Jesus’ name let all the world rejoice. 
Now labor iu thy heavenly kingdom own 
That blessed kingdom for thy saint* the choice. 
How vile to come to thee in all our cry. 
EnemieB to thy Midi’ and all that’s thine, 
Graceless our will, we live./’or vanity. 
Loathing the very being, evil in design, 
O God, thy will be done from earth to heaven; 
Reclining on the gospel let us live, 
In earth from sin delivered and forgiven. 
Oh ! an thy*elf hut teach us to forgive, 
Useless it's power temptation doth destroy, 
Sure is our fall into the depths of woe. 
Carnal in mind, we’ve not a.glimpse of Joy 
Raised against heaven ; in its hope cm ll vtv. 
O give us grace aud lead us ou the way. 
Shine on us with thy love and give us peace, 
Self and this sin that rise against us slay, 
Oh! grant each day our tees misses may cease. 
Forgive our evil deeds that oft we do. 
Convince us daily of them to our shame. 
Help us with heavenly bread,forgive us too, 
Recurrent lusts, and irr’ll adore thy uame. 
In thy forgive ness we as saints ean die. 
Since lor us and our trcs-pitmc« so high. 
Thy Sou, our Saviour bled ou Calvary. 
--— 
THE LIFE TO COME. 
If Ave were able to look into tbe great Avorld be¬ 
yond, we might repine at being obliged to remain 
here so long. Just as God has placed great gulfs 
of space between l he planets, so that the Inhabi¬ 
tants of each shall only know the affairs of Its own 
globe, he has also placed a gulf between this Avorld 
and the future fife. Thus, he makes It our duty to 
think, not or dying, but of living; not of the here¬ 
after, but of the here; not of the Avorld to come, 
hut of the ivorld that is. Every day Ave are to pre¬ 
pare, not for death, but for fife; ior If we five Avell 
aud wisely here we may certainly trust God as to 
our hereafter. This, however, 1 think Ave may 
say, that death, when it comes, must be considered 
not a bad thing but a good thing, since the Al¬ 
mighty sends death to every one of His creatures 
to whom He has given life, since death Is as uni¬ 
versal as life, death must be a blessing as well as 
life. Some great advantage must be connected 
Avlth this event which wc call death. It la made 
fearful when avo look rorward to It from a dis¬ 
tance, that Ave may not too rashly seek it, before 
Ave have hud enough of the discipline of this Avorld. 
When It. comes |£ usually la welcome; and It may 
he that, AVlien we look hack upon It from the other 
Avorld, Ave shall smile to think t hat Ave should ever 
have been afraid of it. This also we know of the 
other world: That It Is created by the same being 
Avho has made this world ; it Is another mansion in 
tho house of our Father. Consider, then, ivliat 
He has done lor us here, it you Avlsh to know Avhat 
He will do for us there. Jf there is infinite variety 
in this Avorld—day and night, sleep and AA'aklng, 
changing seasons, (lowsis and trees, lakes and ris¬ 
ers, mountains and plains—a vast flora and fauna 
—then there ivlll, no doubt, be an equal or a great¬ 
er variety there; for surely the creator has not 
exhausted Himself In making this world. There, 
as here, there Avlll beauty for the eye and ear; 
problems for the Intellect to Investigate; Avork to 
do, full of utility; society, Intercourse, affection; 
the power of progress; the sight ot goodness and 
greatness above us to aspire to and reverence. 
There AviU he enough to ponder, enough to do, and 
enough to love.— James Freeman Clarke. 
-■+ »■» —- 
HOME RELIGION. 
Home religion isa thing of the heart—Avhlch is the 
same as saying It is a thing or love. It may exist 
In connection with forms; and ll may exist lulls 
sweetest unfolding, Independent offorms. It may 
say grace at the (able; and It may not say grace 
at the table. It may be gifted to sustain a family 
altar; and it may not have the girt requisite. But 
If the heart be right, there Shall bo grace aud 
prayerful ness albeit forms be lacking In the family. 
There Is a way of eating your food which thanks 
God better than any grace-saying that can be de¬ 
vised. There Is a avu.v ot kissing the wife after the 
meal and the husband Is leaving for olfice, which 
covers the whole ground between lmsbund and 
wife Intended to be covered by the influence of the 
family altar. We have known a man ask a 
blessing oil food Avhlch he himself condemned in 
the very next breath. To thank God for rood, and 
scold your wife or thts coolc lu the next breatli be¬ 
cause the steak la overdone, or the cakes not 
browned to your suiting, or the tea too strong, Is 
something more, my Mend, than Impiety; It Is 
indecency. 
Home religion should op loving first Of all, and 
last of all It should be -loving, it should be very 
patient, too especially on those days when It Is 
hard to be patient. It should be cheerful, especial¬ 
ly av hen It. takes wit to Invent occasions of mlrth- 
rulness. it should be brave, not to face the troubles 
that are without, hut the troubles that are ivlthln. 
A kindly word, a pleasant speech, a cheerful or 
sympathetic look, a touch of the hand In the old 
tender fashion of the courting days, a stroking of 
the cheek and the soft movement of the palm over 
tho hair Foolish tricks?” You are a mol If you 
say It, friend. You didn’t think they Avere ioollsh 
tricks once, and .a'ou were wiser then than yon are 
now that you have dropped them. A little more 
courting lu married life would keep married fife 
what courtship Is. The foolishness of love is wiser 
than the wisdom of hate; aud the more foolish 
you are in these directions, the happier will your 
homes be, aud the sweeter will be your home re¬ 
ligion.— Northwestern. Christian Advocate. 
