flcalmtg for ttjf ijouttg. 
TO THE SONS OF THE FARMER,-No. 6. 
REV. A. W. MANGCM. 
Knowing tlie effects of cor tain unfortunate Im¬ 
pressions and opinions, as to t he choice of an occu¬ 
pation, I consider it advisable to give you addition¬ 
al admonition on that subject. First, you may 
have Inclination to some work for which you have 
the requisite natural talent, but for which you 
may think your circumstances render It Impossible 
tor you to prepare, if such bo your case, you are 
in an Important crisis or your life. You ought not 
to be presumptuous, and you ought not to be faint¬ 
hearted aud irresolute. It Is true that, with many, 
the obstacle^ ill the preferred way often appear 
virtually Insurmountable; at least, for a consider¬ 
able time; a most hazardous venture. But the 
history of the past Is crowded with examples of 
the power of talent, industry, resolution and perse¬ 
verance to conquer all ordinary difficulties. A 
penniless boy with these qualities will, lu case or 
his fidelity, certainly outstrip the wealthy boy 
who has money, and money only to help him lu 
life. If education Is necessary to the accomplish¬ 
ment. or what you wish, you can get education; 
provided you are willing to practice self-denial tor 
a season and make extraordinary efforts, or the 
two gentlemen who to-day represent my State In 
the Senate of the United States, one obtained an 
education through tue indulgent liberality of 
friends.- and the other (probably the abler of the 
two) had no scholastic facilities but six mouths In 
a common school in the mountains, lie read and 
Studied, and educated himself; and to day lie Is in 
the front rank of the highest legislature in our 
gTeat country. J might fill not pages, merely, but 
■t'oluvtrs, wltli the names and career's of those who 
have literally made the means Lhut enabled them 
to be educated: or. by assiduous exertion, achieved 
all the advantages of learning without the aid uf 
schools. What so mauy have done, you certainly 
may reasonably hope to do, If you are willing to 
make such sacrifices and efforts as they made. It 
is grand, yes, grand even to sublimity, for a young 
man to throw aside all the embarrassments of self- 
indulgence, aud bravely, proudly grapple with 
frowning misfortune—never yielding till the laurel 
of triumph, trembling In the admiring shouts of 
thousands, crowns his chivalrous brow. 
What Is thus shown as to general education, is 
equally applicable to the special training required 
tor the successful prosecution of any of the arts, 
sciences, or profe ssions. 
But, secondly, your talents and circumstances 
may plainly polut you to some Industrial pursuit, 
to which you may have unjustifiable objections. 
That pursuit may Involve manual labor; und there 
Is an old aud foolish prejudice against living " by 
the sweat of the brow.” is manual labor less re¬ 
spectable than Intellectual? What Is the former 
but the utilization of the latter? What Is theory 
worth, unless it Is reduced to practice ? What can 
thinking accomplish, If it is not carried out in 
working? Only consider that agriculturists aud 
mechanics on the one hand, and the book-makers 
and brain-workers on Lhe other, are clearly Inter¬ 
dependent, The most learned men lu every de¬ 
partment study, in proportion to their wisdom, to 
subserve the Interests of the vast laboring masses. 
These laborers ply iheir plain but arduous task 
that they may have the necessities and comforts or 
lire for themselves, and also furnish them to the 
multitudes of non-producers or (In the restricted 
sense) non-la borers In the world. Of the two great, 
classes, the laborers are really Uie most independ¬ 
ent. A man can make bread without books; but 
he canuot make books without bread. A man can 
be a successful mechanic without the learning of 
the philosopher; but the philosopher can not boast 
of usefulness and distinction without the aid of the 
mechanic. The scholar In his study has wrought 
out Incalculable benefit for the toilers in field and 
workshop; but those tollere have been producing 
those things which were absolutely Indispensable 
to the very existence, not to say success, of the 
scholar. The humble laborers, then, are the real 
masters. They are not only the necessary agents 
of all progress, but are the verltabls life-preservers 
of all society. They are not only worthy of the 
respect due to the useful, but are to be gratefully 
revered as the grand almoners who dispense the 
help without which the very race of mankind 
would perish. 
Then, let the Intelligent youth blush to think 
that be was ever ashamed of being known as a fol¬ 
lower of any industrial occupation! The most In¬ 
dependent people in America are the faithful. 
Intelligent, and, consequently, successful farmers. 
of course you are not to conclude that, because 
you are engaged lu industrial work, you will have 
no need of mental culture. For many reasons you 
should train your mind to strength, and store It 
with varied aud useful learning. The better your 
education, the more success you may expect in 
your work. Tour hands must be directed by your 
mind. The management of a farm or factory re¬ 
quires the effective exercise of the same mental 
faculties that enable men to be great In public and 
professional enleipriscs. Patient and tnlnule ob¬ 
servation, accurate memory, inventive Imagina¬ 
tion, facility In combining and classifying, sound 
Judgment, ability to reason promptly and clearly, 
self-control, and a strong resolution, are all of as 
much importance, relatively, to one occupation as 
another; «the person engaged lu that occupation 
pursues It to the best advantage and with the pur¬ 
pose to go forward and rise higher. To make a 
plow or run a runow, to build a wheel or plant 
corn, to make a hor3e-shoe or drive a wagon, in¬ 
volves the exerelse of the powers that are de¬ 
veloped by the study of high branches of mathe¬ 
matics, and are really the practical application of 
essential principles In geometry. Everything that 
pertains to farming has some Important connec¬ 
tion with the several departments of natural his- 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
tory. The buying and selling which attend the 
life of a farmer or mechanic, make It desirable to 
know as much as practicable about the laws ana 
principles governing trade, the bearing of public 
regulations upon Individual rights and Interests, 
aud, Indeed, everything that can help to correct 
mistakes, avoid troubles and losses, and improve, 
to the best advantage, all the means and opportu¬ 
nities at command. Education w ill, likewise, fur¬ 
nish you with an unfailing source of enjoyment. 
Knowledge Is pleasure as well as power. With 
an active, strong, well-i urnlshed mind, you will 
always have present with you the means of self¬ 
entertainment. It will render you a far more 
agreeable aud helpful companion, at home or 
abroad. It will qualify you to secure for yourself, 
or impart to others, innumerable and invaluable 
pleasures, that otherwise could not, be enjoyed. 
Furthermore, education will bear you up. pro¬ 
bably, to more public work. The sad destitution 
of sound, practical know ledge, In those who gov¬ 
ern the vast and varied Interests of our country, la 
a potent cause of the fiuaucl.il troubles which 
aflllet us. We ueed wise, practical men In high 
places. Educated theorists, merely, are not as 
well fitted to legislate tor our population, as are 
those who have the knowledge that books give 
aud, also, the knowledge that nothing In ilie 
world but practical experience can impart. You 
may be needed in positions that demand better 
legislature for the protection und promotion 01 the 
work or production and utilization. For these aud 
other reasons (hut 1 might mention, you ought 
to make great exertion, great sacrifices, it nec¬ 
essary, to obtain a liberal education. You may 
have an aversion to your proper occupation be¬ 
cause, while It Involves much hard work and self- 
denial. It may give promise of only small and 
slow profits. As to this, I must admonish you, 
to remember that every person is liable to set an 
extravagant, estimate upon money, l do not 
deny Its Importance, or teach that you should not 
make 11 a factor in your calculation about your 
life work. But do not give It more Importance 
than It relatively deserves, certainly It Is not to 
be sought and prized as an end; but only as a 
means. The Dutchman's advice to Ids son, on the 
subject of matrimony suggests the true theory. 
Said lie, •• My son, do not marry jar money; but 
do not marry without It.” 1 say to you. Do not 
choose an occupation because of Hie money It 
will enable you to accumulate; but do nor make a 
choice that will probably result in your falling to 
obtain the means to meet your reasonable wants 
and to accomplish reasonable hopes of usefulness. 
A calling should not be followed for money as the 
object; but money should be sought that, while 
it meets consistent demands as to our general 
well-being. It may be made auxiliary to the grand, 
supreme atm that challenges our main devotion. 
A man, with Utile means, engaged in his proper 
work, will be happier and more successful, than 
he, who, with large posesslons, Is where he ought 
not to be, attempting what he cannot do, or do¬ 
ing what should never be done. 
But a Just comparison of Industrial and strictly 
professional occupations, tv 111 shows probably, 
that the (injection to the former which we are now 
considering Is not well-founded. That must be 
deferred to the next number In this series. 
-- 
THE HORTICULTURAL CLUB. 
To those members of the club who received the 
prizes, 1 wish to say, that although 1 promised 
nothing but flower seeds, on second thought I 
concluded that It would be too many varieties 
for so small a garden particularly, as In all proba¬ 
bility some flower seed had already been provided 
from other sources. I therefore substituted a tew 
choice varieties or vegetable seed, hoping thereby 
to serve their In rerests better. 
The Hollyhock seeds are selected from plants of 
Chafer's Hindu, and each seed wifi make a plant 
bearing different-colored flowers, all as double as 
possible. The Balsam was Imported trom F. <v A. 
smith, of England, six years ago. Old seed of 
Balsam Is supposed to be best—the older, the more 
double. Smith's prize Balsam Is the best strain of 
Balsam known at present. Each of the six seeds 
will produce a different-colored liower. I should 
like to receive a report from each prize taker of 
the success or failure met with In the cultivation 
of these plants. 
I wish to call the attention of t he members of 
the Club, aud Indeed of all the cousins, to a bulb 
very desirable for tlielr gardens; It. is the Tuberose. 
The only objection to this lovely flower is that It Is 
tender, butlt fully repays all extra care aud trouble 
expended upon it. T r, sends up a stem about three 
feet In hight, bearing twenty or more beautiful 
pure white, wax-like and very sweet-scented 
double flowers. In southern latitudes the bulbs 
may be set In the open ground in the beginning of 
May; but those who live in the North should plant 
their bulbs In boxes now, and set them in the hot¬ 
test part of the house till the beginning or June, 
when they may be planted In the open ground; 
they will then bloom In the fall. None Out the 
large bulbs will flower. The small ones should 
be set in rows on a nursery bed, tended carefully all 
summer, taken up in the fall and kept In a warm 
place during the winter; they will then be ready 
to bloom next summer. Uncle Mark. 
BLOSSOMING TREES. 
ESSAY BY E. F. FOWELL. 
In planting for pleasure trees may not be chos¬ 
en for foliage only, but for their blossoms. Superb 
groups may be established of trees whose fragrance 
will fill the air for an eighth Of a mfie. (l.) The 
Magnolia (the tilauca, a shrubby variety is es¬ 
pecially showy and sweet)'(a) The Linden, hardly 
any tree surpasses this for exquisite odors wafted 
about especially at dew time. The bees appreciate 
Its delightful sweetness and make a grove or it as 
profitable as It Is charming, (s.) The Locust, 
for some reason this tree has lost its popularity. 
But there Is nothing to equal Its pure and showy 
tufts of racemes. Its wealili of floral display. The 
Locust Is peculiarly adapted to a new place, grow¬ 
ing as much in five years as any other in ten. 
(■») The Scarlet Maple. 1 should not overlook the 
beauty nr this variety ot maple, which ts botn 
noble In foliage and very bright in Its early blos¬ 
soms. (5) The Tulip Tree, lu many of the States 
this tree succeeds admirably, where it Is not In¬ 
digenous. If a tulip mania was excusable the tu¬ 
lip tree might well set a nation wild with Us 
glory. («). The Comps Florida. This Is a small 
tree but adapted to a wide range of territory. I 
have seen it grown in Michigan as a street tree. 
G) The Catalpa. In New York city and In St. 
Louis the Catalpa does well for shade, while Its 
clusters of bloom are universally admired. It Is 
somewhat tender in the Northern States If planted 
where the winter winds work upon it. (S) ihe 
Cherry. There Is no tree that combines the ad¬ 
vantages or fruit bearing with beauty of form 
suitable Tor a lawn like the cherry, in blossom 
it is as lovely as tree can be. and In fruit Is a liv¬ 
ing poem. 
This list cvu be enlarged, but It. uiml-hes a suffi¬ 
cient variety for any sum 11 lawn. 
Cuttings. 
(i). Select new growth, bur not too succulent 
and feeble shoots. (2). Cut smooth under a joint 
so as to leave It about three or four Inches long. 
(3). strip off nearly all leaves aud cut off the tip. 
Kspccla’Iy remove blossom buds. (fl. Plunge It Into 
the soli about one and a half or two inches; press¬ 
ing the soil hard down about the cutting. (S). Let 
lhe soil be thoroughly wetted one-hull hour be¬ 
fore using, hut not sticky at the time ot inserting 
the slips. (3). For Geraniums do not water l he soil 
again for a week or two. but set the box w here It 
will not become dry. Fuchsias, AeJiyranthus and 
some others do best In sand, hoses will root most 
readily lu a hot-bed or cold-frame, (7). Label care¬ 
fully us you strike the cuttings, and thus save 
trouble aud confusion. (s>. Pot off soon after the 
plants beglu to grow; always selecting very small 
pots. 
These hints will help many a puzzled house¬ 
keeper who does not know how to propagate and 
multiply her plants. 
LETTERS FROM BOYS AND GIRLS. 
Dear Uncle anu Cousins.—1 nave teen amused 
and Interested In reading the many letters written 
by the cousins and Uncle .Mark. I have often 
thought I would like lu become a correspondent to 
the Rural. We have taken the Rural since I can 
remember, and I always look ronvard to Its coming 
with great delight. Perhaps some of the cousins 
would like to kuow what kind of weather It, Is here 
In Canada, where I reside. There is quite a lot, of 
snow here yet, and we are all longing Tor its de¬ 
parture. The most of the farmers are starting to 
make sugar. That is the pleasantest time of the 
year, and a time that we young folks enjoy to our 
heart’s content. 1 suppose that most or the cousins 
that write to the Rural know all about sugar¬ 
making, and If they don't I will recommend them 
to look in the Rural of the szd of March. They 
will there find a description of the business that 
Is worth any of the cousin’s while to road. 1 
would like very much to be where there la 1,000 
trees la one camp. But ills not right to be disc onteiit- 
ed with one’s lot. Our mode of farming In Canada 
Is quite different from what It is In many of the 
United States. We farm two hundred acres of 
laud, and keep a large number or cattle, ra ther too 
many to give their names. J noticed in one or tile 
cousin's letters that he had some canaries. We 
have four, and It Is delightful to hoar them slug. 
If the cousins who have no canaries would get at 
least one bird they would be highly pleased. They 
are among the nicest or pets, i have stal led to 
learn to play the organ and find that It not half so 
easy as 1 thought, it was. I am almost discouraged, 
and sometimes feel like giving It Up, but nothing 
worth having can be obtained without effort, l 
will, therefore persevere, uut I have written 
enough for my first, letter. If It Is worthy of a place 
in the Rural J will write again and tell you more 
about the farm and my garden, so no more this 
time. Wide-Awake. 
Fountain Lead Farm, Canada. 
Dear Uncle Mark I would like to Join your 
Horticultural Club. I am thirteen years old, but 
never worked in the garden very much, so I don’t 
know much about It, but I like flowers very much, 
and Intend to plant some next summer. We have 
a south window In the silting room, which ina 
keeps filled with fiowers in the winter, she has 
ten different kinds now, and all but one are In 
blossom, tier Calla lily measures 4tt laches from 
the tip end of the blossom lo the pot in which It 
stands. The Petunia and the Fuchsia are about 
as high, and full of blossoms. Besides these, she 
has In bloom Oleander, Lantaua, Cineraria, Helio¬ 
trope, Piukund Chinese Primrose. The Camellia 
Isn’t in bioom now. I helped set out a Strawberry 
bed last rail; a friend gave my sister the plants. 
They are “.Monarch or the West.” It was dry 
weather when we set them out, so we dug Utile 
holes und tilled them with water, put the plants In, 
and pressed the earth around them with our hands, 
ihe bed Is on the side or a hill, or rather at the 
fool of It. The ground is rich. There were In all 
three hundred aud fifty plants. We had to put 
the bed away from the house, so the chickens aud 
turkeys would not bother It. My brother lias a 
turkey that weighs 35 pounds; it Is but nine 
months old, and when It gets Its growth he thinks 
It will weigh 46 pounds, l suppose I cannot expect 
to write a prize essay the first time, hut If you are 
pleased with my letter, may be 1 will write again. 
Johnsons, orange Co., N. Y. Bertha U. 
Dear Uncle True and Cousins as Uncle 
Mark has proposed to give the cousins a chance 
to Join Ms Horticultural Club, I hope we may have 
a good many interesting letters on that subject. 
We have planted peas and radishes in our gar¬ 
den, but. the snow is now six Inches deep (Api 11 
3d), and tho thermometer Is eight deg. above zero. 
On March 20th, we put our flower seeds In the hot¬ 
bed, and on the 20T,h our vegetable seeds, which 
are now up. M.v brother and I can do considerable 
in the garden, and we like to work In It very much. 
Our grandpa gives us a piece ol land every year 
and lets us lake care of it. I noticed another let¬ 
ter from our .Swiss couslu. I can furnish you with 
some more of your fancy pets, lu the summer, if 
you wish them, John, hut dou t know as they w ould 
he profitable pets if you Have to bury a suit of 
clothes every time you caress them. I have a few 
bulbs of Gladiolus which l would like to exchange 
for those of the Amaryllis, if any of the cousins 
would like to exchange and will send to box Ittds 
with inelr address, l will send them mine as soon 
as possible. Don White. 
Rockford, Winnebago Co., Ill. 
Salihtjj ^railing. 
Rise, for the day Is piisslua, 
Aud you lie dreaming on; 
Tho othere have buckled tbeir armor, 
Aud forth to tQO lifeflil are gone. 
A place lu the nudes awaits you, 
Each man has some part to play ; 
The fast Aial the Future are luokiuf 
lu the face of the. stern To-day 
----—■» ♦ ♦- 
THE FIFTY-FIRST PSALM. 
Since the publication or *'* Gray’s Elegy,” the 
fifty-first Psalm of David has been translated 
Into all the languages of the civilized world. 
New versions of it, In the English, French and 
German tongues, have been multiplied beyond 
former precedent. So soon as the language of 
a pagan tribe has been reduced to writing, it 
has been made the vehicle for cam ing this Psalm 
- to the Pagan mind. When the “ Elegy Is trans¬ 
lated, it parts with many of ttsmlglual beauties ; 
but this Psalm retains Itsglov^nud power when li 
ts transferred to even the rudest language or the 
rudest men. It is the favorite Psalm of slaves and 
freemen, the poor and the rich, the Ignorant and 
the learned, some of the most beautiful passages 
lu modern literature have been suggested by it, 
some ot the choicest hymns in our devotional 
poetry are grounded on it. Its words have been 
repeated hymen as they were dying on the bat¬ 
tle-field, In prisons, on the scaffold, and also by the 
kings or the earth us they were breathing out their 
life In tlielr palaces, and by the ministers of reli¬ 
gion as they were bidding farewell to their church¬ 
es. It was the sacred poem ot the Jews; It lias 
been the still more sacred poem of t he Christians; 
It promises to be more and more the fresh utter¬ 
ance or good men hi all tribes and all times. 
In what manner, now. had David been educated 
for composing—and he had no leisure for spending 
eight years In composing—file Psalm which was to 
touch the sensibilities or the race? We first hear 
of him as pursuing the occupation ordinarily as¬ 
signed to “ females or to slaves, or to t he despised 
or the family.” He Is represented to us as currying 
around hla neck a scrip or a wallet. We read of 
him as In a conflict with the lion and the bear, us 
fighting with i lie giant, as a busy warrior; a fugi¬ 
tive and outlaw, a statesman, a king, lie lived in 
a dark aud barbarous age—not only without the 
aid ot universities aud libraries, but without the 
stimulus of literary companions or a refined pub¬ 
lic sentiment, still the poem he indited will live, 
when the poem written by a master or the sci¬ 
ences and of t he arts will have been forgotten, and 
the Psalm will apeak to the heart of millions, 
w hile the beautiful “ Elegy" will be speaking to a 
select few, and the Psaltn will be the more highly 
prized, as the sentiment of man becomes the more 
choice and pure. 
On what theory shall we explain tills difference 
between the ancientaud the modern poem ? Va¬ 
rious theories have been invented, but that one 
which most easily explains the disparity Is that 
the modern poet wrote u ader t lie Impulse of his 
own genius, and under the influences of his multi¬ 
farious learning; hut the ancient, poet was eleva¬ 
ted above Ills own ingenuity by communion with 
the Divine mind and Ms powers were spiritualized 
by the Inspiration ot God more than they could 
have been by the largest human erudition.— Prof, 
fork. 
Faith, llopo, and Love were questioned what they 
thought, 
Ot future glory, which religion tituurht. 
Now Faith believed it. lirinly, to be true; 
And Hope expected so to Hud it too: 
But Love replied, with gnuling, conscious glow, 
Believe? Expect? I know It to be so 
T’ls heaven wherever Jesus doth abide : 
And where He is, I shall be at His side ! 
FAIR-WEATHER CHRISTIANS. 
Disagreeable Sundays sift churches as honestly 
as ihe. test of “ lapping water” sifted the ten 
thousand troops under Gideon. Those wiro really 
want to get, to God's house on a wet or wintry Sab¬ 
bath usually do get there. The richest spiritual 
blessings are often obtained by those who submit 
to some hardship Ifi order to do their duty. And 
what a melancholy spectacle to tlie eye ot our lov¬ 
ing Lord must he llie sight ot Ills own sanctuary 
on disagreeable days; aud of ills own “upper 
rooms" of communion when Ills disciples have 
turned their hacks upon Him ! For one, I honestly 
confess that ail ifie trash of the skeptics, from Re¬ 
nan or Huxley down to I tiger SOU, dp not Inspire 
such misgivings of Christianity as a heart-power 
as are awakened by the spectacle or delinquent 
Christians in unfavorable weather. Next to that 
is the sight of a contiibutloii-box after It has gone 
tho rounds of a congregation who live In “ celled 
houses” and keep their own carriages.— T. L. Cuvier. 
Begin all thine actions with prayer, that thou 
mayest be able to accomplish them,— Pytluigoras . 
