m 
IRcaihitg for tjjr gounfl. 
THE CHILDREN'S CHICKENS. 
ALICE P. ADAMS. 
Tom and Kitty had always lived In the city, un¬ 
til their father moved to California to take charge 
ot a large ranch. Their knowledge of domestic 
animals and fowls was quite limited, as their pets 
In the Eastern Lome were only two—Ucauty, the 
gray pony, and Tiny, a saucy little scotch terrier. 
so the children were greatly pleased when, on 
the very day after their arrival In Lhe new, strange 
lanu, Lhe chickens were given to them, on condi¬ 
tion that they assumed entire responsibility, and 
gave iootl and drink at the proper time. The two 
young people soon became fascinated with their 
feathered pets, an l spent Lours in the poultry- 
yard watching every motion and aally discover¬ 
ing wonderful traits of character. 
of course names were given to all the ravorltes, 
and prominent among these were Jack and Jill, a 
pair or handsome Light brahmas. Old Jack was 
so large that he could pick com from the top 
of a barrel while he stood on the ground, and he 
stalked about the yard In a lordly manner that 
greatly Impressed the other roosters. He was not 
greedy, and when he called to the hens, or ‘ gur¬ 
gled" as Kitty expressed U, he never ate the nice 
tidbit himself, but gave It up with evident satls- 
, faction. 
Jill wms the largest hen In the yard, with an 
abundance of dully white feathers and a little 
perky tail, she Was Toms especial favorite, and 
would hop Into his lap and eat corn from his hand 
as long as he would feed her. She never objected 
to being carried any where about the pLaee, or 
even to being stroked on the head and back when 
she was on the nest; but when Kitty took 
liberties and shook Jllly’s bill she would “sing,” 
and her song was the most unmusical croak 1 ever 
. heard. 
Then there were little Jack and Jill, young 
Brahmas, resembling the older pair so much that 
i they were called by the same names with the 
, diminutive pretlx. Little Jill was very tame, and 
, would walk up to you at any time If you lield out 
: your hand, and allow herself to be taken up, and 
, curl her claws contentedly over your linger. But 
j I imagine that this docility was partly due to the 
i fact that she expected something to cat, lor she 
vWas a sad gormaud; Kitty declared that she never 
-carried her head like the other chickens, but al¬ 
ways Ueld It down, looking or some unlucky Insect 
to snap up One day w hen Papa was planting the 
premium corn sent by the Kdkal, he heard a 
slight noise, and turning around found that little 
Jilt had been complacently following, picking up 
tlie kernels as he dropped them. And when the 
corn came up there was a long empty space, a 
monument to little Jill’s gluttony. 
Perhaps the homeliest hen tu the yard was Ket¬ 
tle Hanford, who wore yellowish-brown with con¬ 
siderable red about the head, and had a disagreea¬ 
ble habit ot picking at, the buttons on KttLy r s wrap¬ 
per. she received the name of an unsuccessful 
lady editor whose paper was discontinued within 
six months after the first Issue, and whom she was 
Supposed to resemble In personal appearance. 
Kettle had the reputation, too, of being a most 
astonishing soratcher. She executed no fancy 
figures but every scratch counted, and woe to the 
Juekless chick that stood behind her energetic 
plaws. 
Two of tJje roosters were special pets; one of 
them, Dr. Latham, a dashing White Leghorn, was 
hauled for a spruce young doctor In the neighbor¬ 
hood ; Lhe other, a handsome Brown Leghorn, was 
also very gay until he hud a serious light with old 
Jack lu which the latter was victorious. After the 
battle when Jack came near, the Leghorn would 
slink away with drooping head and tall, his whole 
altitude so expressive of humiliation, that Tom 
christened him Mr. Church, la memory ot a little 
Insignificant gentleman living at their old home, 
who never dared to make a remark unless It was 
sanctioned by his wire. Poor Churchy I 'lhe 
children tried lu vuiu to help him recover hls lost 
spirits li is tail feathers drooped lower and lower 
till they swept the ground, he refused to eat, and 
one morning Tom discovered him in an out-of-the- 
way comer, dead. 
A trim Utile (Quakeress was Friend Ruth, dressed 
in modest gray with a touch of white, having a 
shining gray topknot, and a hint, of worldly vanity 
In the delicate sea-green of her ear lobes. 
t hen there was the old Gourd Ueu, so called be¬ 
cause she hatched her ilrst chickens In a large 
gourd; and Yankee Doodle, who had a very pecu¬ 
liar crow, supposed to resemble the first strain In 
the chorus of the song for which he was named , 
and a host ot others all more or less famous, but 
the one that was most frequently shown to visitors 
in preterence to the rest was undoubtedly Shanksy. 
He was noticed from the first as having a long 
slim body, and alter the down came off from hls 
back and wings it was nearly two months before 
the feathers appeared. He possessed a long thin 
neck, also destitute or plumage, that he was con¬ 
tinually stretching “upward and onward;” and 
he presented such a ridiculous figure with hls 
naked wings which looked as it the sun had blis¬ 
tered them, that his name was remarkably appro¬ 
priate. 
Shanksy's plumage diminished hls queer appear¬ 
ance but Utile; Tor the feathers on hls neck would 
not Ue smooth, but bristled as lr he was In a 
chronic sLate of Irritation; and he had a most 
cumleal tad composed of a bunch of down with 
one black feather shooting out at the aide. 
The children had many alspuces over the sex of 
Shanksy. Tom declared him lo be a rooster, and 
Kitty as stoutly Insisted that she was a hen. X 
heard them one day as they were coming from the 
chicken yard. 
“ Kow, Kit, any body that’s got eyes could tell’t 
.Shanks Is a rooster !” 
“ Humph t You don’t know any thing about it. 
THE 
RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
Shanksy told me fiersetf that she was a dear little 
pullet /” 
Los Angeles Co.. Cal. 
A REMARKABLE KNIFE. 
Dkak Nephews I venture to say that most of 
you are perfectly posted In regard to premium 
lists and other devices that the Insinuating pub¬ 
lisher, about tlits time or year, sends around to all 
hls friends, and to a great many people besides 
whom he would like to secure for friends. They 
are works of art, and I always like them because 
they are rull of pictures and nice, seductive Utile 
romances, which, like the stories In the dictionary 
are “ unco short," but very plain as to meaning. 
Well, the Kukat/s publisher has proven no ex¬ 
ception t.o the rule, and 1 fiud On my table (fresh 
rrotn the mall.> a very nice premium list. Indeed, 
one article took my fancy captive immediately 
and carried me back to days when r should have 
considered that to possess It. would have been the 
acme of happiness It Is simply a Jack-knife, but 
such a jack-knife! Look at It. 
It would have been worth more to Itoblnson 
Crusoe than hls man Friday, could he have owned 
It. Old as I am, 1 nevertheless, could not resist 
the temptation, and I now own a “inultum In 
parvo” knife, as It la called. Indeed, It is much In 
little. I have goue about the house hunting for 
loose screws on which to try the serew-driver, 
which Is so conveniently placed in the head of the 
knife Just beside the big blade. I have notched 
the furniture (on the sly; with the saw-blade, have 
bored luto door-jambs with the gimlet (I had 
nothing that I could open with the cork-screw), 
punched with the brad-awl, used the hook¬ 
shaped blade to lift covers from your Aunt True’s 
stove, and then cracked nuts In the jaw formed 
by hair closing It; In short, 1 have been the grand 
nuisance of the house (so your aunt says) lor one 
whole day. 
Now, boys. It you want something that will be 
more useful than your best friend, do as I did and 
get the knife—but, something occurs to me. You 
can t secure It as I did. I had to pay money, you 
may have it for nothing, or what amounts to the 
same thing, by merely sending in the subscriptions 
of five or jour friends, which will cost them two 
dollars, each. I am not sure that l would own a 
nephew who would do without this knlTe-l would 
turn him over to Uncle Mark. I want to hear 
from the first boy who raises a club and pockets a 
TunUum in parvo, because then he can compare 
notes with Uncle True. 
PENITENCE. 
There Is a touching story of the famous Dr. 
Samuel Johnson, which has had an influence on 
many a boy who has heard it. Samuel s father, 
Michael Johnson, was a poor bookseller, In Litch¬ 
field, England. On market-days he used to carry 
a package of books to the village of Uttoxeter, and 
sell them from a stall in the market-place. One 
day the bookseller was sick, and he asked hls son to 
go and sell the books In hls place. Samuel, from a 
silly pride, refused to obey. 
Fifty years afterward .Johnson became the cele¬ 
brated author, the compiler of the " English Dic¬ 
tionary," and one of the most distinguished 
scholars In England, hut he never forgot, hls act of 
unklndness to hls poor, hard-tolling father; so 
when he visited Uttoxeter be determined to show 
hls sorrow aad repentance. 
lie went Into the market-place at the time of 
business, uncovered hls head, and stood there for 
an hour In a pouring rain, on the very spot where 
the book-stall used to staud. “This,' - he says, 
••was an act of contrition for my disobedience to 
my kind father." 
The spectacle of the great Dr. Johnson standing 
bareheaded lu the storm, to atone for the wrong 
done by him fifty years before, is a grand and 
touching one. There Is a representation of it (In 
marble) on the doctor’s monument. 
Many a man In after life has felt something 
harder and heavier than a storm of rain beating 
upon hls heart, when he remembered hls acts of 
unklndness to a good father and mother now in 
their graves. 
Dr. John Todd, of Pittsfield, the eminent writer, 
never could forget, how, when hls old father was 
very sick and sent him away for medicine, he (a 
little lad) had been unwilling to go, and made, up a 
lie that “the druggist had not got any such medi¬ 
cine." 
The old man was Just dying when little Johnny 
came In, and said to him, “My hoy, your father 
suffers great pain for want of that medicine.” 
Johnny started In great distress for the medicine, 
but it was too late. The father on hls return was 
almost gone. He could ouly say to the weeping 
boy, “ Love God and always speak the truth, tor 
the eye of tiod is always upon you. Kow kiss me 
once more, and farewell." 
Through all hls after-life Dr. Todd often had a 
heartache over that act of falsehood and disobe¬ 
dience to hls dying father. It takes more than a 
shower of rain to wash away the memory of such 
sins. Dr. Todd repented of that sin a thousand 
times. 
The words. “ Honor thy father and thy mot her,” 
mean four things, always do what they bid you, 
always tell them the truth, always treat them 
lovingly, aud take care ot them when they are 
sick or grow old. I never yet knew a hoy who 
trampled on the wishes ot hls parents who turned 
out well. God never blesses a wllfully-dlsobedlent 
son. 
When Washington was sixteen years old he de¬ 
termined to leave home and be a midshipman In 
the colonial navy. After he had sent off tils trunk 
he went to bid hls mother good-by. She wept so 
bitterly because he was going away that he said 
to hls negro servant, “ Bring hack my trunk; I 
am not going to make my mother suffer so by my 
leaving her.” 
He remained at home to please hls mother. This 
decision Jed to hls becoming a surveyor, and after¬ 
wards a soldier. Ills whole glorious career In life 
turned on this one simple act ol trying to make 
hls mother happy. And happy, too, will be the 
child who never had occasion to shed bitter tears 
for any act ot unklndness to his parents. Let us 
not forget that God has said, “ Honor thy father 
and thy mother."— Youth's companion. 
LETTERS FROM THE COUSINS. 
Dear Uncle Mark I have been a constant 
reader of the letters from the cousins belonging to 
the Horticultural Club, arid have been so much in¬ 
terested that I, at this late date, request the best 
of Uncles to enroll my name with the rest of the 
Rural Cousins. 1 run eleven years old and am 
very tond of flowers, I can do a great many kinds 
of work, but my delight Is the flowers or which we 
have many kinds. We have also a great many 
beautiful wild ilowers. r wish you could see them, 
they arc such curiosities. Your nephew, 
Butler Co., Kan. Luther H. Brown. 
Uncle Mark Will you please put my name on 
the list of the Horticultural Club. 1’apa gave me 
all of the flower seeds from the Rural this spring, 
some of the plants are nearly three feet high now. 
Papa made me a rusi lc fio wer-stand for the w indow 
this winter. It la filled with plauts now. Uncle 
Mark, will you please tell me how to grow English 
Ivy from cuttlugs, 1 have tried It aud they all die. 
Your niece Nellie. 
Hamilton Co., Ohio. 
[Cut off the cutting just below a leaf and also 
half way between tbe second and third bud, set 
them In a pot or box aud keep them moist and 
warm.—U. M.j 
Uncle Mark :—I am nine years old. My father 
has a farm, and has given me a piece of ground to 
cultivate. I have raised some nice vegetables this 
year. He takes the Rural too and from tne Acme 
seeds which you sent to him, he raised some of 
the finest tomatoes ever grown. 1 like to read the 
letters from the boys and girls and I also wish to 
join the Horticultural Club, If you cau take me as 
a member, Willie C. Hoyt. 
Dutchess Co., N. Y. 
Uncle Mark :—t see that you are letting the 
Aunties Join the Horticultural Club and as I am a 
lover of flowers and also of tbe Rural, l thought 
I would like to join. 1 have two sisters, Abble and 
Hattie, with me aud we each have quite a variety 
of house plants. If I am accepted as a member I 
will write again. Aunt Eliza. 
Oakland Co., Mich. 
[You are welcome Auntie.—U. M.j 
Dear Uncle Mark I was very glad to see my 
letter In print, but I was sorry I did not tell you 
where I live, as I want to join the Horticultural 
Club with the rest of the cousins. Please put my 
name down how. Mamma and I dug the Beauty 
of Hebron potato you sent, and we had eighteen 
pounds from one potato; lifty-rour large ones and 
thirteen small ones. Freddie Stack polk. 
Snohomish Co., Washington Territory. 
Dear Uncle Mark : I am a very little girl, hut 
love flowers so much. I and little sister Kellie try 
to have nice flowers all the time. We have such 
lovely warm weather here, that we can have flow¬ 
ers all the time. Kellie and I wish to Join your 
Horticultural club, so we can get some of your 
flower seeds. Eugenia 8. Mitchell. 
Fort Meade, Fla. 
MAGAZINES. 
Harper s Magazine for November.— Contents: 
The Old National Pike.—W. H. Rideing. 
With Twdw J Uusirauons by Pyle. 
Early American Art.— 8 G. W. Benjamin. 
With Eleven Illustrations. 
Rosamond. A Poem.— C. P. urancti. 
Upon Julia’s Clothes.— Robert Herrick. 
With Illustrations tty Abbey. 
A Legend of All-Hallow-Eve. A Story. 
WUh Three Illustrations. 
The Sparrow War,—Prof. H. W. Elliott. 
With Two Illustrations. 
A Night on the Tete Noire. A Story. 
With tour illustrations. 
The Mimicry of Nature.— J. C. Beard. 
With Fifteen Illustrations by the Author. 
The Cobbler’s Catch.— Robert Herrick. 
With Illustration by Abbey, 
NOV. i 
The Cattle Ranches of Colorado.—A. A. Hayes, Jr 
With Fourteen Illustrations by lingers. 
White Wings: A Yachting Romance.—W. Black. 
With Two Illustrations. 
Young Mrs. Jardlne. A Kovel.—D. M. Craik. 
With Two Illustrations. 
Mary Anerley. A. Novel. —R, D. Blackmore. 
Stock Raising in Colorado.— It Is can-led on, as 
must be generally known, from Texas to a region 
considerably north of the Union Pacific Railway, 
and great herds pass from the Lone Star State 
through Kansas, and up to the great Iron roads 
running east and west. In New Mexico, In South¬ 
ern Colorado, on the Arkansas and Its tributaries— 
the Fountain, the St. Charles, the Muddy, the cu- 
charas, the Huerfauo, and others— In the great 
parks over across the range, and over the plains In 
Colorado, Nebraska, and Wyoming, the herds 
roam, and the ranr.heros ride. Between Denver 
and Julesburg, on the Union Pacific Railroad, lay 
the immense range c<f the late Mr. Ayllff. one side 
of which was fifty miles In length. He Is said to 
have begun fifteen years ago with a capital of $ioo, 
and Ills estate Is valued at $1,500,000. It was In¬ 
teresting and Instructive to hear how one of hls 
friends accounted for this unusual success : “Some 
people try to attend to several things, or to do 
more than one kind ot business, but he only 
thought of one thing for those fifteen years, and 
that one thing waH cattle. And attending only to 
that, and working at It and thinking about It all 
the time, he came to understand It wonderfully 
well, and to have perfect Judgment about making 
the most or stock.” 
A dissertation on the cattle herds of the Great 
West would occupy a large volume, and those who 
have chosen other parts of this domain than 
Southern Colorado are doubtless competent to 
“ give a reason for the faith which Is In them,” 
and amply support the wisdom of their choice of 
location. To us this same southern Colorado 
seems to present on the whole, the greatest, ad¬ 
vantages. It Is traversed by railroads, and acces¬ 
sible from all sides ; and the climate Is most salu¬ 
brious, and so mild In winter that the stock can 
remain on the range throughout the year, other 
things being equal, there are many men who 
highly prize the grand, ever-present spectacle and 
genuine companionship of •• the everlasting lillls.” 
No doubt in other regions land can be had more 
cheaply, and sometimes occupied without fee or 
reward, but there are sure to be counterbalancing 
disadvantages. 
Above a certain latitude, and notably In Wyo¬ 
ming, great losses have occurred from severe win¬ 
ters, and not very far to the north the “ Lo fam¬ 
ily” (as the noble red man—“ Lo! the poor In¬ 
dian”—Is called on the plains) comes In to disturb 
and molest. All admlrere and advocates of these 
hyperborean regions have ample opportunities to 
rise and explain ; be ours the pleasant task, re¬ 
clining under the spreading cotton-wood, and In 
the shadow of the sierra Mojada, of singing the 
eclogues of the valleys of the San Carlos and the 
Huerfano,, for ft, is “ not that wo love Caesar less, 
but Rome more." 
We have said that water was the prime requi¬ 
site, and the banks of streams are the first, sought,. 
Government land Is divided Into sections of wo 
acres (a mile each way), and quarter sections of 
Kio acres. What more simple and easy, we hear 
some one ask, than to take up four quarter sec¬ 
tions In a line along the stream, and while we 
only own, strictly speaking, a quarter of a mile In 
width, to occupy, without let or hindrance, away 
back to tbe divide (ridge between that valley and 
the next), being sure that no one will have either 
the motive, or the will to dispute with us the pos¬ 
session of this arid area ? Nothing, certainly, ex¬ 
cept that a number ot able-bodied citizens beside 
yourself have not only conceived this same Idea, 
but acted promptly on It, and that In consequence, 
the supply of water frontage may be round In¬ 
adequate to meet the demand, and Its market 
value, consequently and proportionately Increases. 
There are always, however, ranchmen willing to 
sell, for one reason or another, and no one need 
despair of obtaining a good location at a fair rate, 
with the improvements ready made. Then Ue can 
buy hls stock, mainly, If he be wise, on the spot 
and In the neighborhood; for, with the great Im¬ 
provement now taking place In breeds, It Is no 
longer desirable to buy largely in Texas. Then 
come hls “ cow-boys,” or herders, not Mexicans, 
as In old times, but generally stalwart, Americans, 
quick of hand and deliberate of speech. They are 
provided with swift and sure-footed horses, gen¬ 
erally, In these days, of the broncho type— a mix¬ 
ture of the American horse and the mustang. 
It may now' fairly be asked, where else In the 
world, and In what other known way, cun a man 
sit down and see lil3 possessions Increase before 
bis eyes with so little exertion Involved on hls 
part ? With the dawn the oattle are all grazing. 
Thin and gray enough the grass looks to the Inex¬ 
perienced eye, but the ranchero well knows the 
tufts of buffalo and gramma growth, gauges the 
value of this feed as compared, In the matter of 
nutriment, with the richest, greensward of appar¬ 
ently more fertile regions, and remembers that it 
grows afresh twice a year. Then, with the utmost 
regularity, and some time before noon, t he whole 
herd—the splendid bulls, the plump steers, the red 
and white and roan and motl led cows—take their 
accustomed trail, and seek the water with uner¬ 
ring certainty. Then back to the grazing again, 
and again, and feed until 
" The embora of the suuset’B fireB 
AIoue the clouds burn down," 
and night brings them repose.— A. A. Hayes, in 
Harper's Magazine for November. 
The Musical Record for Oct. is, besides many 
Interesting articles on musical matters contains 
the music of Mlclialls’s celebrated Turkish Parade 
March, and that of Handel’s popular, Angels Ever 
Bright and Fair. The Record Is published by Oliver 
Dltson & Co„ Boston. Single copies .05. Yearly 
subscription $ 2 .oo. 
