failing for t|f |oung. 
FALL WORK IN THE GARDEN. 
The season tor out-of-door gardening Is now 
nearly over; there still remains, however, some 
little work that should he attended to before cold 
weather comes. If not already done, It, Is now high 
time to plant bulbs of Lilies, hyacinths, Tulips, 
Snowdrops, Narcissus, etc. Every member of our 
society should have at least a couplo of Lilies. To 
have these beautiful Powers to perfection, dig the 
soil out of the bea or border to the depth of eighteen 
Inches, and fill the hole with a compost of peat, 
manure and leaf mold about a root deep ; the re¬ 
maining six laches may be rich garden soil mixed 
with peal. The bulbs Cl' strong growing Lilies 
should be planted about four or live inches deep; 
for the weaker sorts three Inches deep will do. The 
White Lily—Ltttum candldum, J-. Icmghlorum and 
L. tlgrlnum, the Tiger-spotted Lily, arc the most 
common. They are hardy, but they will flower 
better next year a' they are covered wit h manure 
during the winter. 
Hyacinths should be planted now. ;>et the bulbs 
about eight Inches apart and two Inches below the 
surface. The ground should be enriched with 
well-rotted manure and Unely pulverized. Plant 
also some in puls, soak the soil with w ater and set 
them away In a cellar in a cool place for live or sLx 
weeks. At the end of this time the bulbs will have 
formed roots, and they can be transferred to the 
room or greenhouse where they will flower. 
The pots may also be set in a pit in the ground 
and covered up with soil. This will keep the soil 
In the pots moist and the temperature even- the 
most favorable conditions for the formation of 
roots. 
Tulips are planted like Hyacinths, only closer 
and not so deep. For winter flowering, three or 
four bulbs may be set Iu a pot large enough to hold 
one Hyacinth. 
Now is also the time to sow seeds of apples, 
peam, grapes, peaches, plums, etc. All kinds of 
nuts can now be sown also. Sow' all these seeds 
la drills about nine inches apart aud regulate the 
depth that each Is to be bulled by Its size; the 
smaller ones are to becovei-ed but little, the. larger 
ones more. Cover 1 he bed during the winter with 
longmauure. Alter everything Is cleared off the 
gardens, the gx-ound should he spaded but not 
raked and lay In this condition over winter. This 
fall spading should never be neglected; on stiff, 
clayey soils especially, It Is very beneflclent. 
Uncle Mark. 
THAT GOOD DOG JACK. 
Some dogs, In their love and affection for their 
masters, have at times equaled human beings In 
their constancy, and even surpassed them In the 
marvelous intelligence, with which they foresee 
and avert approaching danger, the following ex¬ 
ample, related to us by one of the ladles of the sto¬ 
ry, may prove Interesting. Two girls, daughters 
of au English country doctor, were once out for a 
walk together. It was an autumn afternoon, sun¬ 
ny and” pleasant. They were accompanied by 
their little dog, named jack, who was a clever lit¬ 
tle terrier, and more than once had proved his 
claim to be considered, as Indeed he was, their 
protector while out walking. Their father often 
said he felt "quite happy when Jack was with 
them; he wa3 sure no harm could come to them." 
The two girls pursued their walk merrily. The 
flne afternoon tempted them to go further than 
they ought, however, and by the time they turned 
the dusk had fallen and they were afraid they 
would be late lor tea. One of them proposed to 
take a short cut through a wood with which they 
were so well acquainted, having very olleu 
gathered blackberries In it on a summer after¬ 
noon. The other agreed, and so they arrived at 
the edge of the wood and prepared to enter it. 
“ All the same I am rather afraid.” said Dora, the 
younger of the two; "there have been several 
robberies In the neighborhood, and 1 saw some very 
odd-looking men pass our door to-day; besides, 1 
am wearing my new watch which papa gave me 
on my birthday.’ 1 ’• Oh, nonsense 1" her sister re¬ 
plied. " 11 is nearly six o’clock now, and we shall 
be late. Be sure no one will wish to harm us.’ 
“ i wish l were as certain as you are. But what’s 
the matter with Jack ?” Just as she ha d said tiffs, 
Jack advanced toward them, and planting htinsel[ 
In the middle of their pa th, sat down and whined. 
“ That is odd,” said Dora. “ I never remember 
him doing that before.” The other girl derided 
her fears, and attempted to pass the dog; but lie 
caught her dress In Ills teeth, and held her so 
flrmlytbat she hardly dared to set herself free. 
One more effort she made, but Jack was resolute; 
so at last, seeing how determined he was to pre¬ 
vent their further progress, she gave up trying. 
“ Well, well, you stupid little brute!” she said 
angrily. “I suppose we must go all that loug way 
round.” SO the two slaters abandoned the idea of 
taking the short path through the wood, and went, 
home by the safe Idgli-road. When they arrived, 
how grateful, how unutterably thankful did they 
feel to their little protector, whose Intelligence 
had been so far superior lo theirs, and had saved 
them despite themselves. A man had been found 
in the wood shortly after thoy had left It, mur¬ 
dered and robbed, it was conjectured, by the 
tramps who had passed through the village In the 
morning. Thus Jack had preserved lffs mistresses 
trom meeting perhaps a similar fate. Tlielr grati¬ 
tude, It Is needless to add, was profound toward 
their little four-footed protector, who, we are glad 
to hear, lived to a good old age.— chambers’ Jour¬ 
nal. 
- 4 • »- 
LETTERS FROM THE COUSINS. 
Uncle Mark You say all readers of the Rural 
are welcome to Join the Horticultural Club, I have 
taken great Interest In It, so I would like to be¬ 
come a member. Flowers are my special pets. 
I have a great variety and take much pleasure In 
caring for them. If any of the club grow Fuch¬ 
sias let me advise them to plant some In the 
ground next summer where they wlU be shaded 
from the noonday sun. I have a bed of them on 
the north side of the house. It is really " a tiling 
of beauty" It it. docs not prove quite •* a Joy tor- 
ever.” But the great desire of my heart has 
been to have some nice hardy shrubs. We have 
succeeded well with the Rural seeds. I have 
some Welgela plants nearly a foot high now. I 
have been, trying to Improve a wild flower that 
grows here, b Is a perennial and a good bloomer, 
the plants grow about three feet high. I will send 
you a flower and leal tor name. 
An Oregon Farmer’s ’Wife. 
Tangent, Oregon. 
[You are welcome to join the club. The flow¬ 
ers and leaf scut are those of the Moth Mullein, 
Vevbascum Blattarta. This species, like all the 
Mulleins, Is introduced trom Europe, and it now 
grows wild along roadsides and In waste places 
all over the country. It is hardly worth cultivat¬ 
ing. Li. M.] _ 
Dear Rural Cousins:— Good-morning[ Is old 
Jack Frost going to kill all of our flowers? We 
have had three or tour quite hard frosts, but they 
have not done any harm to speak of. My Dahlias 
are blossoming quite profusely at present. 1 have 
tour different kinds, and also some house plants 
which look very nice. Ivy Speaks ot autumn as 
being his favorite season. 1 think mine must be 
spring, when the flowers begin to show Uldr faces 
In the cold days of April. All the seasons bring 
pleasure with them. 1 have read some of .sir Wa Iter 
Scott’s poetry and aLsoPoe. Milton I know nothing 
about; Shakespeare l do not like. For prose 
writers, Mrs. Holmes, Mrs. Evans and Sirs. 
Stephens, are iny favorites. E. K. Kexford is a 
good writer, both In prose and poetry, aud others 
too numerous to mention. None of the cousins have 
spoken ot music. I love to hear good music, both 
Instrumental end vocal. My favorite music Is 
that of the Sabbath School, for It means some¬ 
thing more than to please the ear. cousins. 1 
guess that Ivy was ourinteresi Ing correspondent 
from the Sandwich Islands, and l believe also that, 
he lives In New York city ivysrest maybe the 
name of lffs residence, and perhaps he occupies a 
small corner in the Rural office. This letter Is 
getting most long enough tor the waste-basket. 
Here Is a recipe for a pudding. It la good 1 know, 
because we have used It and like It very much. 
C,ueen of Puddings: One pint white bread crumbs, 
one cup white sugar, one quart, ot milk, grated 
rind of one lemon, the beaten yelks of four eggs, 
one-halt cup of butter, all to be mixed and deli¬ 
cately baked In a shallow pan; when cool, spread 
over with the fruit of peach preserves, drained free 
from sirup, or with very thick irull jelly; then 
beat The whites to a stiff troth, sweeten with pow¬ 
dered sugar, add the j ulce ot the lemon, spread 
over the pudding aud brown, to be eaten cold, with 
cream. It Is better without the cream. This let¬ 
ter Is too loug already, so I will wish you a kind 
good-night. Old Maid. 
Hillsdale Co., Mich. 
[This is a very good letter from Old Maid; she 
Is, however, mistaken In her conjectures about 
Ivy.—U. M.] 
Dear Uncle Mark :— I saw that you wanted the 
members of the Horticultural Club to report how 
tlielr plants were getting along. Mine arc not get¬ 
ting along as well as 1 wish they were. I have 
taken the best care l know how ot them, but they 
do not, seem to grow although they blossom very 
nicely. Some kinds are very large, though and 
doing splendidly. 
1 have not a very great variety of flowers this 
year, for i have not the room, but next year I hope 
to have more. On my bed I have Asters, Zlnlas, 
Marigolds, Phlox. Scablosa, Verbenas, Portulaca, 
Petunias,Mignonette,Snapdragon and Cockscomb. 
My Verbenas, Fetunias and Marigolds are very 
arge, while the rest of my plants are quite small. 
The ground Is rich, and 1 have kept It, well 
weeded and mellow. What next to do l do not 
know. 1 hope Unit when the cooler weather comes 
they will do better. Alice B. G iffoud. 
Chautauqua Co., N. Y. 
Dear Uncle Mark I am very glad, Indeed, to 
see so many new members Joining our Club, and 
I hope that there will he a great many more. I 
would like to know how the cousins raise peanuts 
and pop-corn. I have noticed that some ot them 
wrote they hud planted these; it any ot them will 
tell me 1 shall be much obliged. 1 have had a 
number of radishes, but they arc so bitter that we 
can hardly eat them; 1 guess I did not water them 
enough. I liked Ivy s left-u very much. 1 think 
that Lizzie flay ought to write again, she has not 
written us a single line since last spring. Dolly 
Varden’s letter was very nice, it was so lively. My 
flowers are getting along very nicely Indeed. I 
have such a lot of Portulaca, It Is coming up 
everywhere. The Grapevines look very well, only 
the fi’uiI, Is so long In ripening. In a few days we 
have all got to go hack to school again; but I must 
close now, or my letter will go into the waste 
basket. Your affectionate niece. 
New York City. Lizzie E. Blair. 
Dear Uncle Mark 'This summer wc picked 78 
boxes of red raspberries out ot our garden. Sold 55 
boxes at to and HD* cents per box. My flowers are 
nice and don’t you believe lt,l had two nice water¬ 
melons which wefe larger than the rest, and some¬ 
body stole them. So I took my dog “ Dick,” he is 
a savage hunting dog—and chained him up there, 
1 vdsh all the cousins hud such a dog. 
Frankie M. A. Brooks. 
Dane Co., Wls. 
Uncle Mark:—I belong to that class of 
cousins somewhat advanced In years, but still I 
havo a great desire to join your Horticultural 
Club. I have been thinking It would benefit many 
cousins out ot tlielr teens If they would only do 
what their hands find to do. I have some pet 
flowers, of which I think much, and would like to 
tell about them If I was only a regular accepted 
cousin. Our plants of Llflum aura turn and lancl- 
follum have Just faded away, and beautiful and 
sweet do not do Justice as expressions of them. 
Llflum llumboldtll 1 could uot get acclimated here. 
Should 1 be am acceptable member I will call 
again. Yours truly, J. W. Maple. 
Oregon, Mo. 
Uncle Mark and Rural Cousins :— I have much 
enjoyed reading your letters In the Rural, and 
would like to become a member of your club. 1 
am very rond of flowers, but have not much of a 
variety to write about. I planted an Almond 
about two months ago, scarcely expecting It would 
come up, but It has, and Is growing fluely. Can 
you tell me what kind of culture it will require, 
aud whether It, will live out ot doors or not in our 
land or frost and snow 7 1 will write no more now, 
hut will write again some other time If this is ac¬ 
ceptable. I am 14 years old. Ellen Beckwith. 
Chenango eo., N, Y. 
[The Almond must be grown In a pot and kept 
iu a greenhouse In the winter.—u. M.j 
Uncle Mark:—I wish to join the Horticultural 
Club. I have read the letters with great Interest 
and cannot resist the temptation any longer. T 
have a small flower garden and a flue eoUectlon ot 
house plants, among which are sixteen different 
kinds of Geraniums and seven kinds of coleus, live 
species of Cactus, three ot Begonia, and a number 
of other plant.s, which include Amarylhs, Fuchsias, 
Calla Lilies, Music plant. Cigar plant, two kinds or 
Sea Lily, Oxalls, Strawberry Geranium. Coral 
plants, Ac., <£c, But l must close, otherwise you 
will not want to hear from me again. 
Oneida Co., N. Y. Clara M. Wood. 
Dear Uncle Mark :— 1 have been very much In¬ 
terested in the children's letters, and would like to 
Join ilie Horticultural Club. I have a nice patch 
of cucumbers. I sowed radishes twice with seed 
trom the store, but they didn’t come up as well as 
Mr. Vick a seed, lam fourteen years old and go 
to school; when school Is out we are going to have 
a picnic. We have taken your paper eleven years 
and think we cannot get along without it. We 
have picked about as bushels of peas for market. 
Yours truly, Ella Paddock. 
Wyoming Co., N. Y. 
Dear Uncle Mark :—I wish to enroll my name 
upon your list of nieces. I am eleven years old, 
and have been the reader ot the Rural l'or a long 
time; 1 like very much to read the letters from the 
young cousins. I have been living In Kansas 
only about seven months, and like it very much. 
1 expect to have a little garden next year, aud 
would like to join your Horticultural club. Hoping 
you will accept me, I will sign myself, 
Allen Co., Kans. Stella M. Pratt. 
iTIjf fuller. 
ENIGMA. 
[The following beautiful poem, by J. P. John¬ 
ston, author ot “Uallileo” and other poems, Is a 
literary curiosity, and a very ingenious enigma. 
The name of a lady is here entwined In verse, as 
a sweet flower hidden In a garden. Who can And 
It? w. B. D.J 
As. In some garden’s most uncultured maze, 
A lovely rose, with virgin sweets arrayed, 
Which breathes a sort and tender perfume round, 
concealed the while from thy most prying gaze, 
With eager quest when yon at length have found, 
Yougladly pluck, nor leave It there to fade; 
,So I—too happy task—have here entwined 
A sweet, rare blossom—a most blooming treasure— 
A flowTet, radiant with all light and pleasure, 
And tcnd’rer beauty, though 1 fear't will And 
No recognition,since it lies enshrined 
in my rude verae—a most entangling measure. 
Then closely con It till the spell Ls known, 
So deeply hidden, yet most clearly shown. 
Answer In two weeks. 
ACROSTICAL ENIGMA. 
My first is in flower but not In seed, 
My second s In plant but not In weed, 
My third is in silver but not in brass, 
My fourth is In something we spy through a 
glass; 
My fifth dwelt In heaven ages ago, 
My sixth comes In breezes that merrily blow, 
My seventh’s In the rivulet murmuring along, 
My eighth lu the plodder that lists to the song, 
My ninth In the traveler, weary and sore, 
My tenth's in the caller that knocks at your door. 
My eleventh aids the lady that trips o’er the 
green, 
My whole in the Rural may weekly be seen, 
car Answer In two weeks. Mary W. 
-W- 
HIDDEN CHANNELS. 
1. I dlnna ken, Ned, you rascal. 
2 . I am well 1 In Q tongues are salted. 
3. The peacock burned to death. 
4. Bah! a married flirt Is disgusting. 
5. I owe no man a cent. 
o. Meg! rip open that scam. 
7. His talent I crave. 
8 . That Rlkl rides well. 
9. See the camel, Eda 7 
By Answer lu two weeks. Little One. 
■ 444 - 
PUZZLE. 
The first letters of what live months In the year 
form the name of a great hero In Mythology. 
J4r“Answer In two weeks. 
RURAL SPECIAL REPORTS. 
(Continued from page 627.) 
Iowa, Florence, Ben tou Co., Sept. 10.— 
Wheat was almost a failure here last year, 
owiug to dry weather aud the chinch bugs; 
it yielded only from five to six bushels per 
acre ; but some pieces of Odessa wheat, sowu 
last fall, yielded 80 bushels an acre. Oats and 
coru arc very good crops, the latter is out of 
the way of frost now. Blount’s Prolific has 
some stalks 11 feet high with four or five ears 
apiece, and 1 think it will ripen before frost 
hurts it. Beauty of Ilebrou and Early Bose were 
planted side by side; but the Beauty came up 
about ten days before the Rose aud was grow¬ 
ing ever so uieely, when, lo ! a frost struck it 
out of sight, for some time at least, but I’ve 
managed to get half a peck of as uice pota¬ 
toes as ever grew. The Acme tomato is the finest 
I ever cooked or ate iu auy shape. We have 
canucd aud ate all wc wished, and now a 
bushel hangs ripe ou the vinus. My next 
neighbor took a pocketful homo for seed; 
he says they beat anytbiug in the tomato line 
he ever saw. The lettuce was good, but the 
beets were a failure. Only a part of the flower 
seeds came up. The weather has been dry aud 
so are a great many of (he wells. Some of our 
farmers have to go a mile or more to get 
water for their stock. Some of the sloughs 
that eveu “ the oldest settler ” never knew to 
have dried up, have done so now, and the 
fish in them have all perished. Farmers have 
plowed scarcely anything. a. e. 3. 
Neb., Purple Cane, Dodge Co., Sept. 4. —We 
are situated on the north side of the Platte 
River, which is four miles off. Wo have the 
bluffs close to our backs, and sec those ou the 
south side of the Platte, say seven miles dis¬ 
tant. The intervening country is as flat as u 
pancake, aud in the fall, after frost, of about 
the same color Houses and barns surrounded 
with trees spot the bottom pretty thickly. This 
pancake upon which vve live and move, etc., 
etc., can he seen SO miles lo the east and to the 
west. The purple bluffs hound it all round, 
and just uow are saw-toothed with stacks of 
grain, which seem to shoot up daily, as if 
Nebraska were just cutting her eye teeth. 
Yonder to the left is a crowd of men, horses 
aud red machinery, nearly enveloped and hid¬ 
den iu a cloud of golden dust, from which a 
humming sound enlivened by frequent shouts 
aud cheers, shows that king Barlyeoru is hav¬ 
ing his heard shorn. Just south on a stubble 
field is a three-horse team and an iron vehicle 
prancing around the edges, turning under all 
trash, weeds, etc., for next year's crop of 
wheat. Along the hank of the river are now 
in sight three trains of ears, en route for San 
Francisco. In the foreground is the Rawhide, 
not such a one as old-time schoolmasters used, 
but made of bona-fide water, mud, rushes, 
reeds, weeds aud crookedness. This meanders 
along through the country and produces crops 
iu abundance of* frogs, mosquitoes, snakes, 
green-licad flies, aud gives shelter for in¬ 
numerable blackbirds and brown eats, for we 
cau see their tails slicking up straight out of 
the reeds all the summer and fall. There are 
also water hens, thunder pumpers, wolves, 
polecats, weasels and badgers, and rabbits 
more than sufficient. The middle of this Raw- 
hide is cattail; then, going toward the banks, 
common reeds, slough grass, aud. along the 
top of the low banks ou each side, a belt of 
sunllowers. Ribbon gardening is done here ou 
a large scales, as the Rawhide is about 40 miles 
loug. This stream takes its name from an 
Indian tragedy of revenge enacted ou its banks 
about 20 years ago, and is an enduring monu¬ 
ment to the fact that our coppery brethren 
were the originals of the so-called “ skinners,” 
which arc uow au established order of society. 
8. u. M. 
Tenn., Humboldt, Gibson Co., Sept. 2. —The 
Rural New-Yorker of Aug, 30 is very inter¬ 
esting, particularly the Bornological Depart¬ 
ment. I am pleased to see the merits of the 
new, and also old varieties of fruits discussed. 
We should hold fast to all old and new varieties 
which are really good and valuable in every 
respect. Mr. W, C. Barry, speaking of the 
Alexander andAmsdcu peaches, says they were 
ripe with him this year by Aug. 8; with us 
they wore ripe ou June 8. Last year we had 
them ripe on the 28th of May. Now this 
makes just two mouths’ difference in their 
time of ripening between Rochester, N. Y., 
aud Humboldt, Tenn. Our Alexander was two 
or three days earlier in ripening than the Ams- 
den, which was about all the difference wc 
could see, aud ten days ahead of the Beatrice. 
The Summer Rose apple is one of our best 
summer apples, and profitable. A few years 
ago we shipped several barrels of them to 
Louisville, Ky., when the market was crowded 
with peaches; yet about the middle of July wc 
received six dollars per barrel containing 
three bushels apiece—a better price than wc 
ever received for any other variety of winter 
or summer apples. 
Crop prospects with us are unusually prom¬ 
ising. We have an abundant rain for fall 
plowing and seeding. We have no yellow 
fever iu our State outside of Memphis and its 
vicinity. B - T i 
