144 
‘JUafriitg fox ttu f omig. 
KITES. 
A Smart little fellow had hoisted a kite 
In a street of an overgrown town. 
The higher it flew, more Intense his delight; 
His obeeks became rosy, his bine eyes more bright, 
’Twcre useless to seek for a lovelier sight 
Jn the streets of an overgrown town. 
hike a bird in the air, the paper toy flew, 
To the right—to the left—up and down. 
Among the observers were more than a few 
Who wished that themselves could their childhood re¬ 
new ; 
But no wishes the past of our lives can undo. 
In country, or city, or town. 
That smart little fellow is smiling no more 
In the street of that overgrown town. 
A telegraph wire the street passing o'er 
Has entangled his " tails,” and no skill can restore— 
The toy that so gaily had fluttered before 
Now hangs with its head drooping down. 
Perchance some old fellows who’vo traded with kites 
In the streets of that overgrown town 
And dazzled the public with wonderful sights, 
The sensations of days, the illusions of nights, 
Have been caught by their tails, and in pitiful plights 
Now hang with their heads drooping down. 
-- 
TWO STICKS. 
ALICE F. ADAMS. 
Dolly had a penny and was going down town. 
Now, any one who knew Dolly would understand 
directly what that meant. But you little people, 
whose bright eyes never saw our curly-head, might 
guess a great many times before you suspected her 
motive. 
Dolly Intended to buy a stick of licorice candy. 
This was her favorite of all confections. To be 
sure she never would refuse caramels, cream- 
drops, taffy, or even hoarhound, for she was a 
great lover of sugar-plums; hut when she spent 
her own pennies she usually Inquired for *• licker¬ 
ish candy.” Indeed, so much of Dolly’s money 
went In this way, that mamma never gave her the 
penuy for the missionary box until just before she 
started for Sunday-school. Mam.ua believed, you 
see, in ” leading not Into temptation.” 
This afternoon Dolly made up her mind that she 
would not patronize Mr. Hoffman as had invariably 
boon ber custom heretofore, but concluded to try 
the new shop across the street; “ for p’r’aps the 
sticks will be longer or thicker than those I always 
get ut Mr, Hoffman’s.” 
A plcasanHoolclng young man stood behind the 
counter of the new shop. Dolly went In, and lay¬ 
ing down her penny, asked, “ Have you got any 
lickerish candy ?” 
“ Yes, loads of it," said the clerk, taking down a 
glass jar. The sticks were of the regulation size, 
neither longer nor thicker than at the old store. 
But a bright idea struck Dolly; looking up at the 
tall young man on the opposite side of the counter, 
she said archly, “ H'm, if you have such loads, you 
may give me two sticks I” 
The clerk laughed, and took out another piece, 
twisted the two In pink tissue paper, gave the 
parcel to Dolly, who bestowed the same in her 
diminutive pocket, and walked exult,lngly out of 
the shop. 
She walked, but it was only because ber mother 
did not allow her to run when she was down-town; 
after the last store was passed, however, she com¬ 
menced to hlpplty-hop, and, Anally, felt obliged to 
run, so anxious was she to tell her cousin Sue of 
her good fortune. 
'•Two sticks for a penny! Ilow cute you were 1” 
cried Sue, admiringly. "I wish I had one! But 
then I don’t b'lieve the man would do it again.” 
" No, 1 don’t either. Not so soon, anyway. But 
I’ll give you half a stick, and then I must go home, 
or mamma ’ll wonder what has become of me.” 
Dolly told the story again at the supper table, 
thinking to gain still greater applause for her 
smartness. Papa’s eye twinkled and the big 
brothers laughed, hut mamma’s face was very 
sober as she said, “I didn’t think that my little girl 
would be so rude.” 
“ Why, I didn’t know that was rude, mamma,” 
said Miss Dolly, somewhat, abashed, for she always 
felt injured If anyone was impolite to her. 
“ It was very rude. And you must promise me, 
Dolly, never again to ask a store-keeper to give 
you more than the worth of your money; other¬ 
wise, I can not allow you to go by yourself when 
you buy candy.” 
‘•Oh, i’ll promise, mamma;” then she added, 
while a smile dimpled her cheeks, •• But I can’t 
help being glad that I got two sticks this time!” 
Ban Angeles, Cal. 
-♦ - 
HINTS FOR THE CLUB. 
Exchanging Plant9. 
Quite a number of the members of our Club 
have suggested t hat the cousins should exchange 
plants, seeds and other objects ot interest with one 
another. At first thought this seems to be a very 
excellent Idea. Boys and girls who are Interested 
in collections of any kind, botanical or general, 
could thus exchange the curiosities found near 
their homes for others found In sections of the 
country where they are not acquainted. Thus a 
bo 7 living in Massachusetts or New York might 
exchange with others In California, Texas or Flor¬ 
ida. No doubt this would he very Instructive, but 
the plan has some serious drawbacks, which have 
prevented me from encouraging the scheme. In 
the first place, it would be necessary to publish 
the addresses of all the members with an account 
of what each had to offer, and what he or she 
would wish In return. Aside from the tact that 
such publications would take up a great deal of 
valuable space In the Rural, the cousins would 
soon find that their cousin friends are not the only 
persons interested In knowing their addresses. 
They would be beleaguered by showers of ctrcu- 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
lars, papers and proposals of all kinds from un¬ 
scrupulous humbug dealers, who, In persuasive 
language, would make them the most tempting 
offers to buy this, that and the other thing, and, of 
course, swindle them wholly, or in part, out of 
their money. 
Secondly, there would be much dissatisfaction 
with the transactions among the cousins them¬ 
selves, Some would send oil their nice specimens 
and be disappointed with those they received in 
return, while some packages would be lost In the 
transit and fail to come to hand at all: and ulti¬ 
mately they would lay the blame at the door of the 
Rural or of Uncle Mark (and with some degree of 
justice, too.) for having been the means by which 
their disappointments were wrought. We have 
tried this exchanging plan before and know it to 
be Impracticable. 
Soil for House Plants. 
All of my nieces and nephews who keep house 
plants (and I hope they all do), must provide some 
soli In which to grow them, and the present Isa 
favorable time In which to gather It. You must 
not expect that all kinds of plants can thrive In 
soli dug from the field or garden and mixed with 
nothing else. Sued soli nearly always lacks vege¬ 
table mold, or It Is too sandy, too clayey, too poor, 
or something Is the matter which unfits It for pot- 
plants. The secret of success in growing house 
plants consists mainly In placing them, as nearly 
as possible, In conditions similar to those under 
which they flourish iu tDeli' native countries. Thus 
It would be wrong treatment to plant a Cactus that 
thrives only on the dry, sandy plains of Mexico, 
In a rich mixture of leaf mold and manure, and 
keep it soaked with water; or, on the other hand, 
to set u plant that grows In a rich humus In a very 
sandy soil. 
Leaf mold is a soil that every plant grower 
should always have on hand, and those who have 
none should lose no time in getting some. Go Into 
the woods with a horse and cart, and In some con¬ 
venient place rake away the leaves and with a 
shovel scrape up the layer of the black, rich mold, 
which will be found underneath. When a suffi¬ 
cient quantity has been brought home, It should be 
placed under a shed, or in a cellar, where It will 
not be overgrown with weeds 
Another soil which is indispensable for pot-plants. 
is the loam formed from decaying sods. To get 
this, cut soils about two inches deep, from an old 
pasture, and pile them up in a heap with the grass 
downward, where they should remain Uil they are 
thoroughly decayed. The decomposition may be 
hastened by turning the heap over occasionally 
after the first three or four months have passed. 
Some old, fine-pulverized manure, should also be 
kept on hand, to mix with the soli for plants that 
are wanted to grow vigorously. 
There Is still another material which. In nearly all 
cases, should be mLxed In greater or smaller quan¬ 
tities wit h the soli for pot-plants; It ts sand. Young 
plant growers, and some old ones as well, do not 
realize of what value sand Is when rightly used. 
It may be obtained from sandy river bottoms or 
creeks that are dry at the present time, or from 
places where it has been washed together by 
heavy rains. If it is dug out of a pit, It should he 
washed and exposed to the air for two or three 
months before It Is used. Uncle Mark. 
LETTERS FROM BOYS AND GIRLS. 
Dear Uncle For a long time I bave had a 
great desire to join the Horticultural Club. Your 
invitation extended only to the young people, and 
it puzzles me to know how old a person may be 
and yet be classed among the “ young people.” I 
am a young farmer's wife, twenty-two years of 
age, and If you have a corner for me I would be 
very much pleased to become a member. I have 
some thirty varieties ol flowers In our yard, wlilch 
I cultivate and care for with a great deal of pleas¬ 
ure. Among them Is a bed of Pansies, now in 
bloom, from seed sown In May. Ji you see fit to 
accept me as a member, I will report with pleas¬ 
ure of my success or failure. Your niece, 
Broome Co., N. Y. Nell. 
[1 much prefer to be excused from giving a de¬ 
cision In so delicate a matter as to what age a lady 
may attalu and still he classed among the “ young 
people;” suffice it. to say that Nell Is cordially wel¬ 
come to Join tne Club, especially as she is a cousin 
whom 1 remember having heard from on one or 
two other occasions.— Uncle Mark.] 
Dear Uncle Mark My garden did very well 
till harvest, then I had to bind wheat for six or 
seven days, and the weeds came very near getting 
ahead of me, and it took hard work to clean It out. 
I have only two kinds of ilowers, Zinnias and Glad¬ 
ioli. I have to fight the cabbage worms to save 
my cabbage. I don’t put anything on them; I 
pick them off and kill them, and I also kill all Hie 
white butterflies that 1 can catch. One year we 
put buttermilk on the cabbage to keep the worms 
away and the heads decayed. I am raising an 
acre of corn and a hall acre of potatoes for pocket- 
money. I Iorgot to give my address the other time 
I wrote, so I did not get the radish seed and sweet 
corn, and now I give It below. 
Clark Co., Ohio. Samuel Shull. 
Uncle Mark:— Please accept my thanks for the 
seed you sent me. The Gladiolus, radishes and 
Dolly Dutton corn are all doing nicely. My garden 
is doing very well this year, except the seed wo 
got from the Rural. The Beauty of Hebron, Hol¬ 
lyhocks, Hibiscus, Aquelegla and tomato were all 
that came up, 
I second the motions that have been made by 
several members of the Horticultural Club about 
exchanging plants and seeds. 
Uncle Mark, will you send Prof. Gray’s “ How 
Plants Grow ’’ as a premium for new subscribers 7 
And If so, how many 7 From your niece, 
Cross Creek Village, Pa. Bell Primrose. 
[We will send “ how Plants Grow ” for three 
new subscribers,—U, M.] 
Dear Uncle Mark :—As so many of the boys 
and girls have Joined the Horticultural Club, I 
thought that I would like to join, so please put my 
name on your list,. I have a nice flower garden, 
and am a great lover of flowers. We have taken 
the Rural tor many years, and this year my 
brother takes it also. I like it very much, and I 
love to read the letters from the cousins. But I 
must close now, otherwise you would not want me 
to write again. Lillie Babcock. 
Norfolk, Va. 
HIDDEN TOOLS. 
1. Robert, row Ella’s boat. 
2 . I heard a wren chirp. 
3. Pinch Ersle’s hand. 
4 . Boh, It seems hard. 
5. The parsnip perspired. 
<>. Hand me the ferule, Richard 7 
7. I gave Lewis my handkerchief. 
8 . A steel yardstick Is too heavy. 
9 . Don’t tax Levt. 
10. Through the thatch Ettle saw the sky. 
11. Mend my shoe. 
12 . The shot, the drake. 
13. Which Is Ella ? 
14. I saw his crew drive roan horses, 
is. Has Bascom passed 7 
16. Did Jack plan Eddie’s house? 
17. Have a plum, Meta? 
18. What a pun Charley made. 
19. Papa- D locked me out. 
20 . ’Tls sport, c! Ray only teased you. 
21 . I saw a chestnut bur In the lot. 
22. He will wed Georgle’s sister. 
23. Hear the wind, lassie ? 
24. lie Is clever. 
25. Do you advise it 7 
ty Answer In two weeks. Little One. 
-* 4 *- 
ACROSTICAL ENIGMA. 
My first Is in the young hut not in the old, 
My second Is in tongue hut not In scold. 
My third Is In crowd but not In a throng, 
My fourth may be found In walking along. 
My fifth comes In summer but not In fall, 
My sixth Is In many but not. in all, 
My seventh was with Adam but not with his bride, 
My eighth In the rib he lost from his side, 
My ninth In the hook whose pages you turn, 
My whole gives us lessons ’tls pleasant to learn, 
jsr Answer In two weeks. Mary Wai.ky. 
PUZZLER ANSWERS.-July 12. 
Geographical Decapitation.—1. Orange; 2. Bar- 
row ; 3. Spain ; 4. Tweed; 5. Aiuoor; 6. Finland; 7. Fox; 
8. Nice; 9. Black. 
Numerical Enigma.— FARE-WELL. 
Diagonal Puzzle 
F 
Primals form “ Face.” 
Diagonals form “ Foot." 
Diamond Puzzle:— 
D 
NAP 
NOMAD 
DA M A G E S 
PAGAN 
DEN 
S 
MAGAZINES. 
Appleton’s Journal for August.— Contents: 
The Seamy Side, a novel, by Walter Besant and 
James Rice, chap. x. to xll.; A Cornish Saunter, 
D. C. Macdonald; Wandering Thoughts about 
Germany; Out of the Depths, a story, S. G. W. 
Benjamin; Reminiscences — Patrick Uranwell 
Bronte—Leigh Hunt and his Family, Francis II. 
Grundy; Wordsworth, Matthew Arnold; The 
Comedle-Franchise; The Mlrabeaus, Jas. Cotter 
Morlson; Schopenhauer on Men, Books and Music; 
Moose-Hunting In Canada, Earl of Dunraven; 
Poems by Theophlle Gautier; Editor's Table; 
Books of tbe Day. 
Thoughts about Germany.— Nowhere else, prob¬ 
ably, In Europe arc the mediaeval and the modern 
spirit, the spirit of authority and militarism, and 
the spirit of Industry, to be found ranged against 
each other In such force. Nowhere el3e Is an aris¬ 
tocracy, feudal In Ideas If not In power, confronted 
so directly by a proletariat leavened with the Ideas 
and aspirations which the late Pope summed up 
under the tern “the Revolution. 1 ’ And therefore 
those who are fostering the military spirit and 
painting up the regiment and the battalion before 
the elvll organization are, In fact, sitting on the 
safety-valve, purchasing present force and move¬ 
ment at the cost of an imminent explosion. The 
desire ot all who believe In the future progress of 
the race should be that, without any great convul¬ 
sion or cataclysm, modern Ideas may, as men are 
able to bear them, supersede those of barbarism 
and feudalism; that the age of armies and privi¬ 
leged classes may pass—as It must pass—peacefully 
and gradually Into the age of free Industrial devel¬ 
opment and equal rights. In France, indeed, the 
accumulated evils ot many generations had so 
wrought, themselves Into the very life and system 
of the nation, that they could not be dri ven out. 
without a terrible paroxysm of revolution; but In 
Germany, the mother of inquirers and thinkers, It 
might he hoped that the change should he a peace¬ 
ful and a natural process. If, however, the present 
apparent predominance of the military spirit is 
more than a mere passing symptom, if Germany 
Is to continue to be, in the happy phrase of M. 
Renan, “crushed beneath the weight of her own 
armor”—If, instead of fostering Industry and com¬ 
merce, the ruling classes are bent upon developing 
he present systtm of bloated aim8ments and of 
unproductive expenditure of the people’s earnings 
upon guns and drums and vtllalnouB saltpetre- 
then it can hardly be doubted that a terrible day 
of reckoning will come at last, and that the force 
of the ultimate explosion will bo In proportion to 
the weight of repression. In truth, the present 
policy of Europe seems calculated to force on the 
question whether, after all, smaller States are not 
better suited for the growth anil maintenance of 
liberty than these vast and sometimes heterogene¬ 
ous empires which It has been the work of modern 
Europe to pile up with much labor and to cement 
with much blood. Setting aside Great Britain, as 
having her boundaries Axed for her by nature, and 
Austria as an altogether abnormal and portentous 
growth, it may burly be questioned whether, for 
instance, the unification of Germany will have 
been a benefit or an Injury to Europe.il It causes 
her, by maintaining a vast military establishment, 
to crush her restless masses into despair, and to 
keep her neighbors’ armaments at their present 
overgrown scale. It is at least among the possi¬ 
bilities of the distant future, that a federation of 
small republics, united closely for purposes of de¬ 
fense and or commerce and intercourse, but other¬ 
wise Independent, may take the place of the enor¬ 
mous monarchies which now overshadow Europe. 
—Appleton’s Journal for August. 
CONTENTS OF ST. NICHOLAS FOR AUGUST, 1879.— 
Frontispiece. The Kalserblumen. Drawn by 
Frederick Dlelman; The Kalserbluinen. Poem. 
Illustrated. C’ella Thaxter; A Mississippi Chow¬ 
der, Mary Nonvest; Wbat was It? Jingle, M.M. 
D; The Baby’s Morning, Illustrated. Emma D. 
South wick; A Jolly Fellowship, Chapters XIX and 
XX, Illustrated. Frank R. Stockton; Avoiding the 
Heated Term. Picture; The Pease Boys’, verses. 
Illustrated. Mary L. B. Branch; The Game of Lawn 
Tennis. Illustrated. W. it. Boardman; Becky’s 
surprise Day, Helene J. Hicks; On the Beach. 
Picture; City Sparrows. Poem, Edgar Fawcett; 
Hercules-Jack. Illustrated. K. T,. Bynner; Doing 
Her Best. Picture drawn by Jessie McDermot; 
A Few of Our nahlts. M. C. Holmes; Eyebrlght.. 
Chapters vni. (continued) and IX. Illustrated, 
Susan C’ooltdge; More Un-Natural History. Pic¬ 
tures, drawn by L. Hopkins; Two Ways of Seeing. 
Poem, Margaret vandegrlft; Nan, the Newsboy. 
Illustrated. \V. H. Bishop; Agamemnon’s Career. 
A “Peterkln” Paper, Lucretla.P. Hale; The Party. 
Jingle, illustrated. M. F. P; Behind the Water¬ 
fall, A Fish Fairy-tale, Illustrated. Adelaide F. 
Samuels; On The Well-Sweep. Verse, Illustrated. 
P. F; The Chill-Life of Goethe. M ary Lockwood; 
For Very Little Folk. Happy-go-Lucky, Illustrated 
Mrs. M. F. Butts; Jack-ln-the-Pulpit; Young Con¬ 
tributors’ Department; The Letter-BOx. Illus¬ 
trated ; The Riddle-Box. illustrated. 
The Child-Life of Goethe.— About this time 
occurred an amusing Incident, wlilch came near 
being serious lor Papa Goethe. There was In 
Germany then a young poet, named Klopstock, 
who wrote a poem called “ The Messiah.” it be¬ 
came famous throughout the country, and every- 
body read it and tallied about It. Papa Goetbe 
read a little of the poem, and then he said It 
was good for nothing, because It was writ¬ 
ten in blank verse, and he would not allow 
Ills children to read such stuff. But some friend 
smuggled the book Into the house, and the chil¬ 
dren were In raptures over It. They not only 
read and reread the poem until they know a great 
deal of it by heart, but they would declaim pas¬ 
sages to each other. Now, one Saturday, about 
twilight, the barber came, as usual, to sbave Papa 
Goethe. This was done In the sitting-room, and 
the children were there behind the large porce¬ 
lain stove, and no one noticed them. In low tones 
they declaimed to each other their favorite dia¬ 
logue rrom “The Messiah” while the baiber 
lathered their father's face. Cornelia, becoming 
excited with her part In the dialogue, forgot where 
she was, and cried out In loud tones: 
“Help me 1 implore thee ! And even if thou Hhouldst 
demaud it. 
Monster, X pray thee! Abandoned One, blackest of 
sinners. 
Help me ! 1 suffer retributive pains as of doath ever¬ 
lasting. 
With the fiercest and grimmest of hate I would hate 
thee beforetime. 
I am powerlesR even for that! This is deep, unap¬ 
proachable anguish-” 
Moon, seizing her brother’s arm, she ralrly 
shrieked, 
“ Oh ! how I am tortured-” 
The poor barber, who knew uothlng of Klop- 
stoek’s “Messiah,” and believed some creature 
to be walling in mortal agony, was frightened 
nearly out of his wits; and poured nearly the 
whole basin of lather down the ruffled shirt-front 
of Papa Goethe 1 Then there was an uproar. The 
smalt offenders were drawn out from the shelter 
of the friendly stove, an.: Cornelia was asked, lit 
an awful voice, what she thought would have hap¬ 
pened on account of her bad behavior it the bar¬ 
ber had had a razor In ills hand Instead of a basin 
of lather. Cornelia was very sorry, and greatly 
shocked, and confessed the reading of “The 
Messiah.” This made the matter still worse: but 
fortunately, Papa Goethe found so much fault 
with the poem that he had not much breath left 
to scold the children, and contented himself with 
insist,lug that the book should be sent out of the 
house. 
All that has been told here gives but a brief 
glimpse of the wonderful child, Johann Wolfgang 
Goetne. He entered college at Letpslc when he 
was sixteen years old, and then Goethe’s child-life 
may be considered closed. 
Bur. the whole story of his after life Is deeply 
Interesting. It seemed as If ho had only to at¬ 
tempt a thing to excel in it. He was distinguished 
in athletic sports and college pleasures, and was 
considered one of the most graceful skaters In 
Germany. He was beautiful In appearance, a fa¬ 
vorite in society, brilliant in conversation, a good 
friend, loving and lovable, a great student, and 
an original thinker.— St. Nicholas jt>r Aug, 
