My ill health induced my father to take me 
to Philadelphia, where he left me for a time, 
and I returned home by way of New York, 
which gave me quite an idea of “the world.” 
The following Winter I spent in Virginia, and 
during the Winter my father died. My only 
sister had died while I was in school, and my 
oldest brother, a young man of brilliant prom¬ 
ise, had fallen in the war. It seemed a very 
sad world to me. My father’s death deprived 
me. of everything that was stable, and in the 
indecision that followed, as to what I was to do 
with myself, I concluded to see what I could 
do with my pen. The matrimonial gate 
was accommodatingly open, but I resolved 
that it ever I entered in thereat, it must be 
a long way off. I had no health to speak 
of, but I bad a little fortune and abun¬ 
dant hope, so I went to New York, following, 
as I had all my life, a sort of bap-hazard 
destiny, without direction from anyone. That 
I was successful in my writing from this first 
year in New York was chiefly owing. I think 
to my “country greenness.” I saw everything 
with an unhackneyed eye, and I expressed 
myself with a vim and audacity devoid of dis¬ 
cretion or conventional propriety. 
Very soon after this, Mr. Moon? came with 
the then Moore’s Rural New-Yorker to 
Now York, and I called upon him at hisofiice 
and asked him to give me a place ou the 1 Lur al. 
It was a very amusing interview, and I remem¬ 
ber very well his expression when I gave him 
my name: “Why, you’re just, the girl I wanted 
to see," and lie proceeded to tell me what lie 
wished me to do. In a day or two Mr. Brag- 
don arrived from Chicago as Associate Editor, 
and 1 was very much guided in my work by 
his advice, and during several years there¬ 
after he was my most helpful and valued 
friend. Ho was a mau of rare qualities, true, 
devoted and generous to a fault. The Rural 
office was a pleasant place. Mr. Moore was 
kindness itself, and treated me with great gen¬ 
erosity. Col. Harris was there for a time— 
, one of the most genial of men. I had charge 
of the Department of Domestic Economy, and 
established the Fashion Department., which 
went under the name of “Mintwood's Conver¬ 
sazione.” In addition, I wrote of art, re¬ 
viewed some l>ooks and described some events. 
1 think it was iu the Summer following my 
connection with the Rural that I made a 
trip “out West,” going nearly to the extreme 
westerly limit of Kansas. The previous Sum¬ 
mer I had spent a month in New Hampshire. 
Another Summer I spent in Newport, Sara¬ 
toga and on Lake George, and still another at 
Long Branch—always winding up the sum¬ 
mer mont hs in the neighborhood of my old 
home in Central New York, Two Winters 1 
spent in Washington, and it; was during the 
second one that I decided to go to Europe, I 
was never able, iu my best days, to write 
more than two or three hours at the most 
without suffering greatly from nervous ex¬ 
haustion, although it was no special effort for 
me to write. Whatever ambition 1 may have 
had to “amount to something,” was very 
thoroughly nipped by typhoid fever as to its 
realization, although I don’t imagine that I 
should ever have “set the Thames on fire” if I 
had had the strength of Hercules. I should 
have done much better work and more of it, 
simply. 
The two years I had in Europe I spent in 
England,*Franee, Italy, Austria, with a tour 
into Hungary and a short stay in Munich. I 
spent all of one Winter In close study in the 
National Library of Paris, where I collected 
material for various magazine articles, which 
afterward apjxiared in the “Galaxy,” “Good 
Company,” “Lippincott’s,” “Appleton’s Jour¬ 
nal.” and Harpers" Bazar. I wrote letters 
during the time to the Rural, the New York 
Worhl and the Daily Graphic. While in 
Rome, I rnade the acquaintance of the gentle¬ 
man whom I married in New York in 1870— 
one year and a half after my return from 
Europe. Ill 1875 I was engaged as correspon¬ 
dent of the “American Register,” a journal 
published in Paris and London, which position 
I have since held. During the years I spent in 
New York, connected with the Rural, I also 
wrote for the World, Tribune, Herald, New 
York Citizen, Harpers’ Weekly (some stories), 
the Coach maker's Magazine (stories and 
French translations), etc., etc. 
During the transition of the RURAL, when 
it, passed from the hands of Mr. Moore, and 
eventually into those of its present owner, I 
contributed very little, if any, to its pages. 
But, since the inauguration of its present man¬ 
agement, my contributions have certainly 
been frequent, enough to satisfy my most 
“ardent admirers,” if there be any such, and 
it is but natural to Infer that, with my long 
association with the Rural from “youth to 
old age,” my affection for it is of a very pro¬ 
nounced character, and 1 feel as much pride 
in Ite beautiful appearance and prosperous 
condition ns if I owned it. And its thousands 
of readers, I trust, are my friends. 
MARY WAGER-FISHER. 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
Piurij 
IT IS REASONABLE, LET’S DEMAND IT. 
J. S. WOODWARD. 
The agents and lobbyists who represent tlio 
bogus-butter makers at Washington are an un¬ 
mitigated set, of liars, when they assert, that the 
stuff is made ouly of the purest materials and 
is mainly sold only for what it is. It is a fact, 
patent to every i me,t hat ninety-nine-hundreths 
of all that is sold is put up iu packages exactly 
like those used for the best butter, and is sold 
as genuine butter and under names suggestive 
only of the product of some favored herd, 
whose only food is the fragrant gross, and 
whose drink Is water as bright and sparkling 
as the dew-drops. The whole business of its 
sale is a fraud, an unblushing fraud from be¬ 
ginning to end. The people at large will uot 
eat any compound made from the waste of the 
slaughter-houses if they know it, and in order 
to force its sale, bogus butter must be dressed 
in the habiliments of pure butter and labeled 
as such. If occasionally sold for what it is, it 
is to dealers to sell again, or to restaurant or 
boarding-house keepers, for the express pur¬ 
pose of taking the place of pure butter to the 
deception of the consumers. 
If it were true that it is always made of the 
cleanest; caul fat or even of the best suet, it 
would not be so bad; but men who make a 
business ol’ deception and fraud are not at all 
scrupulous as to the extent of the fraud, so 
long as it adds to the percentage of profit, and 
by the aid of modern chemistry there, is 
nothing in the fat line so filthy or disgusting 
that it cannot be deodorized and incorporated 
into the stuff. The lively opposition 
of the manufacturers of cotton-seed 
oil to the measures now before Congress 
proves very clearly that much of their pro¬ 
duct finds its way into the stuff, and the claim 
made by the Western butchers that the passage 
of these laws would reduce the price of every 
bullock slaughtered $10, shows that much be¬ 
sides the caul aud kiduey fat of these animals 
must be used for this purpose. The whole 
business is dishonest and worse than the issue 
of counterfeit money; for while that only af¬ 
fects tin? medium of exchange, tins directly 
affects the foot! of the whole people. Possibly 
it can be made so as not to be absolutely un¬ 
healthy; but that it can be made as good us 
pure butter is a falsehood, and no one knows 
it better than the manufacturers of the stuff. 
It is not the dairy interest alone that is in¬ 
jured by this fraud; for the economy of every 
family is outraged; nothing is further from 
the purpose of its makers than to make a sub¬ 
stitute for butter; such claims are fraudulent; 
what they aim to do is to make a cheap imita¬ 
tion and to fraudulently sell it. as butter, and 
for the price and iu the place of butter, and 
every one to whom it is sold is robbed. If 
such was not the case, the manufacturers could 
not and would not object to nny law com [id¬ 
ling it to be put ii]i, and colored even, so that 
it could not lx? mistaken for butter. If peo¬ 
ple are to be induced to eat any compound in 
the place of butter, it must be attractive, 
wholesome, and the consumers must be made 
to believe it to be cleanly made, and nothing 
will so quickly bring this about as legislation 
placing its manufacture under the supervision 
of projxir officers. 
We farmers ask for no restrictions on its 
manufacture, nor for more than a mere nom¬ 
inal tax, just sufficient to pay the cost of super¬ 
vision; butwedemaud a law regulating its 
manufacture, so that it shall be innocuous to 
health aud put up so as to be distinguished, 
and then sold for just. what, it is. If the dairy 
interests of this count ry cannot compete with 
an honest substitute for butter, then let them 
go to the wall. They have no more right to 
ask for any restrictions ou t he manufacture of 
any competing substance than have the manu¬ 
facturers of iron; nor do t hey oak for any such. 
We ask for only what.every honest man has a 
right to demand of the Government,, protec¬ 
tion against fraud aud false pretences, and 
these are the pillars on which rest the whole 
bogus butter trade. Without those it could 
not exist, and against these it is t he acknowl¬ 
edged duty of the Government, to protect both 
producers and consumers. In this Ixigus pro¬ 
duct can b© used the nastiest and most revolt¬ 
ing fats and at an enormous profit, aud the 
ordinary [ample have no means of detection, 
anil Congress owes it to the Nation to place 
the manufacture under supervision, nud to in¬ 
sist, that the product shall bo so made as to be 
a safe food and to be easily aud certainly dis¬ 
tinguished ; this is us pluiu as that the people 
have the right to be proteeted in the money 
the}- use, or protected from lottery or other 
swindles. 
It is for the interest of the whole people 
that Congress should move promptly in this 
matter, aud all farmers should see to it that 
the members from their districts be made 
aware of their desires. That Congress has an 
eye to the wishes of the country, is plain to 
every one who has watched the sudden change 
of certain Senators even on the bill modifying 
the [xistage ou seeds. Let [letitibns asking for 
a stringent law be circulated in every neigh¬ 
borhood, and Jet the names be scut, in a flood 
upon the members, aud no one need have a 
fear of some salutary action. 
Niagara Cq., N. Y. 
THE LARGEST TWO-VEAR-OLD MILK AND 
BUTTER RECORD. 
We have just received from Messrs. Smiths, 
Powell & Lamb, of Syracuse, New York, the 
sworu statement of the milk aud butter re¬ 
cords of two of their Holstein-Fnesian two 
year-old calves, which are certainly marvels. 
Albino 2d, H. H. B. 3500, dropped her first calf 
April 7, 1885, being then two years, one month 
and 23 days old. Her record commenced on 
the morning of April 11, 1885, and ended ou 
the evening of April 10, 1880, .lust 305 days. 
During this time she gave 18,300 pounds two 
ounces of milk, and at the end her daily re¬ 
cord was higher tbau at the beginning. From 
the morning of May 5, 1885, to the eveuing of 
May 0,1886, one year, she gave 18,402 pounds 
one ounce, surpassing by 715 [tonnils 15 ounces 
the famous two-year-old record of Aggie 2d, 
which was 17,7445 pounds two ounces, and she 
was some months older t.bau Albino 2d when 
her record began. Several well known Hol- 
stein-Friesian men, such as Mr. S. Hoxie, 
Dudley Miller, etc., tested her on special oc¬ 
casions during the trial, and her yield was 
always wonderful for an auimal of her age. 
These gentlemen testify under oath to her 
performances. 
Nearly as remarkable is the butter test of 
Bcnola Fletcher, H. H. B. 6861, belonging to 
the same firm, which dropped her first calf ou 
April 18, 1885, and was put to a butter test on 
April 30,1885, being then two years, one month 
and 20 days old. From April 80 to May fi, 
inclusive, she gave 3(Hl pounds, one ounce of 
milk, from which were made 10 pounds nine 
ounces of worked, unsalted butter, being an 
average 1 of one pound of butter from 18 11-100 
pounds of milk. In just one year, ending 
April 10, 1880, she has given 13,150 pounds 
four ounces of milk. Her butter and milk 
records are sworn to by the mau who made 
the butter, the superintendent of the farm and 
the [icrsou who milked her through the year. 
Certainly both t hese records are memorable 
additions to the honorable achievements al¬ 
ready accomplished at. the Lakeside Farm. 
i «*» 
MILKING STOOL. 
All kinds of milking stools are in use. Few 
other furtn implements have so wide a range 
of construction. Frequently a simple block 
of wood is made to answer, or a Ixxird is 
nailed to the top of the stick. In the South, 
where the greater part of the milking is doue 
by negro women, we have frequently seen the 
milkers on their knees under the cows, with 
the pail reeling on the ground. Some dairy¬ 
men, more elegant, and with an eye to their 
own comfort, bring out a comfortable chair, 
or even make a stool out of the pail itself. 
The stool shown at Fig. 212 is simple, easily 
made and convenient. It is used by Robert 
Crane, Jr., of Bucks Co., Pa., who prefers it 
to all others. It is made of ordinary pine 
boards. Tho legs are six inches long. A cloth 
is kept in the box, so that the cow’s udder cun 
be quickly cleaned. The pail is placed on the 
board iu front aud held in place with the 
knees. The cow is unable to kick it. away, 
aud it is up out of the dirt, and there is no 
danger of its slipping from between the 
knees. 
ABORTION AMONG COWS. 
Breeders have had much trouble the past 
few years with abortions. These premature 
births have so lessened the profits os to partiy 
discourage some of our brooders. I have not 
had a single case, but in my observation 
among herds when* it has occurred, I wondered 
if the cause could not lie often easily divined. 
I u one place horses aud cattle were al 1 together, 
due kick from a playful colt is enough to pro 
due© premature parturition. In other herds 
frisky steers and young cattle were with 
breeding cows. 1 am fully persuaded that 
much of the dreaded abortion could bo avoid¬ 
ed if we should keep our breeding stock away 
from all other stock that could or would drive 
them harshly about or worry thorn. Cows, if 
Short-horns aud in proper condition, will 
rarely injure each other. A little more ex¬ 
pense iu yard-making may be a sure and econ¬ 
omical remedy for abortion, shout-horn. 
VALUE OF PURE BREEDS TO FAR¬ 
MERS. 
Value of pure breeds; best crosses for grad¬ 
ing up; inclosing fowls; overfeeding; green 
food; daily rations; lice. 
Were the nature aud characteristics of the 
various pure breeds of fowls better under¬ 
stood, no doubt farmers would resort to them 
more generally to improve their stock by 
crossing or use pure breeds altogether. As 
all the pure breeds possess sonic points of value 
peculiar to themselves, I could uot recommend 
any one that answers all requirements. That, 
judicious crossing of some of the pure breeds 
upon common fowls improves the latter is a 
fact too well known to be doubted. Introduc¬ 
ing new blood, an incidental feature of such 
crosses, is in itself a cause of improvement, as 
it infuses stamina and constitutional vigor 
into a flock. Some varieties are much hardier 
than others, and this is a feature that should 
be sought; for bens arc profitable as egg 
producers just in proportion as they arc 
able to withstand the hardships of severe 
weather. Tho Brahmas and VVynndottos are 
among the very hardiest, of all the breeds. 
The former has the advantage of great size, 
while the latter matures early, and both have 
very small, low combs—a very essential feat¬ 
ure iu a hardy fowl. Hence, a cross with 
these breeds in the order named, is, 1 believe, 
the best to begin with to grade up common 
stock, followed another year by one with Pit 
Games or Leghorns, then reverting back to 
the larger breeds. Such a cross, if followed 
uj), will produce a marked improvement in 
common fowls at a light expense each year 
foragood, pure-bred cock, which will l>e amply 
repaid in their Improved condition both for 
laying and for market. 
I find by experience that fowls inclosed iu 
spacious runs, where t hey can have shade and 
grass in Summer, and warm, well lighted 
quarters in Winter, with cleanliness and prop¬ 
er diet, will thrive better the year round and 
yield better returns than if allowed to run out 
during nil kinds of weather and trust to the 
bap-hazard subsistence so common on many 
farms. Why should we exjx'ct poultry to 
pay when they get poor keeping and no pro¬ 
vision is made for their comfort, any more 
than we would expect the best results from 
horses, cows or sheep under like conditions? 
While all fowls may be made to pay well 
with good care, I believe th© pure breeds or 
their crosses, where judiciously selected and 
fed uccordiug to the requirements, will give 
the best results; the heavier breeds, such as 
the Brahmas, Cochins, and Plymouth Rocks, 
are too often overfed; thuir quiet disposition 
gives them a tendency to lay on tattoo readily 
when ted all they will eat, and care should be 
taken to avoid this. The lighter breeds may, 
with impunity, be fed as much as they will 
cat up clean. Aside imm a constant supply 
of gravel, ground oyster shells, etc., we all 
know, or ought to know, the value of green 
food for poultry the year round. Under this 
head, I may name potatoes, cabbage, onions, 
turnips, beets, etc. Few know what an excel¬ 
lent. winter food is the mangel-wurzel. A very 
large quantity can t>e raised on a small piece 
of ground, aud the roots tiro easily kept by 
merely [fitting and covering them from severe 
frost, aud then when taken out in Winter they 
are so crisp aud tender that the fowls eat them 
ravenously. My practice has been to feed in 
the morning a mash of one hall boiled po¬ 
tatoes, the other half about equal parts of 
corn meul, wheat bran, and ground oats, with 
Occasionally a little ground oil cake added, 
and a few onions and meat scraps seasoned 
with a Uiblospoonful of salt—(wo should leave 
this out.— Eds.] —to one-half bushel of feed, a 
little red pepper or ginger added now and 
then. At night, corn, wheat, oats, and buck¬ 
wheat are fed each night alternately. No feed 
is given at noon, but, instead, we give what is 
no less beneficial to them, an manful of chaff 
or clover hay. This starts t hem scratching at 
once, and affords them exercise. Give them 
plenty of exercise in this way, especially when 
confined, and see that they as well as their 
quarters arc kept clean and free from lice. 
Don’t ho afraid to jack up a fowl and examine 
it now und then. Part the feathers of the 
Huff nud examine the skin underneath; you 
will samel imes in this way discover a condi¬ 
tion of things that you did not suspect before. 
If you find upon thus examining your fowls 
