SUPPLEMENT T© THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
seeds of which the largest quantities have been 
obtained are as follows: Vitus heterophylla 
variegata (Ampelopsis), Eulalia Japonica 
Zebrina. Pinks itt variety, Clematis (requiring 
a long time to germinate). Canna iu variety, 
Asters in variety. Perennial Phlox, Spi- 
rseas, Yellow-wood, Col u teas, Geranium 
sanguine um, Marsh Mallow, Yuccas, 
Viburnum Lantanoides, Verbenas in vari¬ 
ety, Sweet Williams iu variety, Magno¬ 
lias, Sweet Peas in variety, Virginia Stock, 
Zinnia, Portulaca, Poppies, Phlox Drum- 
mondii, all in variety; Petunias. Pansies, 
Nigella, Nemopkila, Dwarf Nasturtiums, 
Marvel of Peru. Mignonette, mixed Lupins, 
Godetias, Gaillardia picta Lorenziana, 
Esehscholtzia, Chinese Pinks, Heddewigii, 
etc:., Convolvulus, major and minor mixed; 
Candy tuft mixed, Calliopsis mixed, Calendula. 
Balsams double mixed, Amaranthus, Sweet 
Alyssum, Agrostemma, Ageratum, Adonis, 
etc., etc., etc. 
We have seen a number of gardens filled 
with plants from last year’s Garden Treasures 
and they were very pretty, interesting and in¬ 
structive to those who care to learn the names 
of such flowers. We hope our lady friends, 
for whom they are chiefly intended, will give 
these seeds good care and the young plants 
ample space. 
EXTRA EARLY ORANGE SQUASH. 
As its name indicates, this new squash is of 
a beautiful, deep, orange color, and the earli¬ 
est of all squashes, excepting the summer 
varieties. In form it is a little more elongat¬ 
ed than the Boston Marrow, to which it seems 
to be distinctly related, as the rim, leaf and 
manner of growth are nearly the same. But 
in the fruit of the vine the resemblance 
ceases. Tbe Early Orange is very much more 
prolific; is of a deeper, richer color both in¬ 
side and out; is finer grained, richer flavored, 
and a much better keeper. But its main dis¬ 
tinctive feature, and the ono which will give 
it the greatest and most widespread popular¬ 
ity, is its extreme earliness. It is at least 10 
days earlier than any other long keeping 
variety and will keep as late as the latest. 
PLEASE NOTE THIS. 
The Rural New-Yorker has never in any 
case sold seeds or plants to subscribers. 
This neing well known, our reports of the re¬ 
sults of our tests are fully accepted as trust¬ 
worthy, and the true value of hundreds of 
new and high-priced seeds and plants is made 
known. When, by such tests, we find that a 
given plant is more valuable than others of its 
kind which have been generally cultivated, 
we, at once, if practicable, place it in our next 
Distribution, and send it without charge to 
all of our subscribers who apply. These dis¬ 
tributions are not premiums and are 
ABSOLUTELY FREE, 
and their primary object has always been, 
and is. to promote the interests of agriculture 
and horticulture. 
AND, FURTHER, 
in order to protect ourselves from imposi¬ 
tion, we shall send the seeds to such appli¬ 
cants only as are regular subscribers and 
whose names are therefore upon our lists. 
tW IT WILL SAVE 
us trouble , and it will so re- our subscribers 
trouble and expense if they will make their 
applications f hr the seeds and plants in the 
same letter in which they renew their sub¬ 
scriptions. It is only necessary to say 
pff- “Send seeds.” But the application jgfJ 
must be made upon a separate slip 
^“giving the fall name and address of^JS 1 
i^rthe applicant JSl 
WE SHALL BEGIN 
to distribute the seeds about the end of Janu¬ 
ary—or sooner if possible. The request is 
made that uoue will apply for the seeds unless 
they are willing to give them a careful 
trial. 
Previous Free Seed Distributions 
Of the RuraMlew-Yorker. 
We give below a list of the leading seeds 
and plants which have been sent to our sub¬ 
scribers through the Rural's Free Seed Dis¬ 
tributions since they wen: begun in 1877. This 
list also shows how many of these seeds and 
plants have boon popularized. 
1377 —Pelargonium (seedsmixed), Moluccella 
lsevis (Shell-Flower), Dioscorou batatas (Chin¬ 
ese Yam), Ricinus Gibsonii (Purple Castor- 
oil Plant), Cleorne spiuosa. 
1878—Pearl Millet, Beauty of Hebron Potato, 
Voorhis Watermelon, Golden Rural Tomato, 
Acme Tomato, Bronze Ricinus, Hibiscus Mos- 
cheutos, Callicarpa Americana, Ckater’s Lem¬ 
on Hollyhock, Weigelas in variety (seeds), 
Deutzia crenata fl. pi., Hibiscus militaris, 
Eringium Lsevenworthii, Geranium sanguin- 
eum, Yucca filamentosa, Vitis heterophylla, 
Rural Hybrid Aquilegias, Defiance Wheat, 
Grind elia spuarrosa. 
1870—Cutkbert Raspberry Plants, Chester 
Co. Mammoth Corn, Telephone Pea, Mold’s 
Ennobled Oats, Bebb’s Aquilegia (seed), Mag¬ 
nolia seeds (in variety), Abies Sibirica, Pont- 
stemous, Ipomo'a loptophylla, Iris lievigata, 
Aristoloehia Sipho, Mangel New Golden. 
1880— Blount’s White Prolific Corn. Champ¬ 
lain Wheat, Clawson Wheat, Salix poutandra 
(cuttings), Pentst-emon Hybrids, Rural Hy¬ 
brid Riciuus, White Elephant Potato, Rural 
Branching Sorghum, Argeuteiiil Asparagus, 
Giant Dutch Purple Asparagus, choicest 
strains of Chinese Pinks, Carnations aud Pic- 
otees, including "Eastern Queen’, and “Crim¬ 
son Belle.” 
1881— Rural Dent Corn, Rural Thorough¬ 
bred Flint Corn, Wysor’s Fultzo-Clawson 
Wheat, Surprise Wheat, Shumaker Wheat, 
Challenger Lima Beans, Perfection Golden 
Heartwell Celery, Perfect Gem Squash, Rural 
Chater Hollyhock (mixed.) 
18S3—Catalpa speciosn, Black-bearded Cen¬ 
tennial Wheat, Niagara Grape (seeds), Rural 
Blush Potato. Garden Treasures (in great va¬ 
riety), Perfection Watermelon. 
1883— Wysor’s Early Shoe-peg Corn. Rural 
Union Corn, Cleveland's Rural N. Y, Pea, 
cross-bred Diehl-Mediterranean Wheat, Thous¬ 
and-Fold Rye, Horsford’s Market Garden Pea, 
Black Champion Oats, Best varieties of toma¬ 
toes mixed. 
1884— Corn, 50 ditferent varieties, crossed at 
the Rural Grounds, Carter’s Stratagem 
Pea, Sorghum halapense. Rural Bicolor To¬ 
mato, King Humbert Tomato. Prince of 
Wales Pea, Green Flageolet Bean, Garden 
Treasures. 
1885— Bird Cantaloupe, Alaska Pea, Best 
Watermelons. Angel of Midnight Field Corn, 
Hackensack Melons, Garden Treasures. 
The Seed Distribution is not to be considered 
iu any sense as a premium. Its prime object 
is to promote the interests of agriculture or 
horticulture. Our aim is to carefully test the 
varieties before they are sent out. Wo desire 
to place in the hands of our subscribers seeds 
of promising novelties, so that they may be 
tested at a small cost, saved if good, rejected 
if inferior. As to the value of the distribu¬ 
tion, we can only point to the fact that many 
of the most valuable plants in cultivation have 
been given to the public in this way. No 
seedsman would care to send to us for dis¬ 
tribution a new plant that did not possess su¬ 
perior merits. Anything like a unanimous 
condemnation on the part uf the readers of the 
Rural would kill any plant forever. 
OP INTEREST TO ALL. 
We may be pardoned for speaking about 
ourselves. Our own opinion concerning the 
merits of the Rural New-Yorker may he 
different from that of others, but it at least 
represents wbat we attempt to carry out in 
the management of the paper. The best way 
to judge of any paper, as we have always 
claimed, is to examine itearefully, in compar¬ 
ison with others, We only ask our friends to 
send for specimen copies so that they can care¬ 
fully and critically examine them. If the pa¬ 
per is not. then considered worth its price, we 
have nothing more to say. 
Those who are familiar with this journal 
will, as we believe, support us iu the following 
claims: 1. The Rural New-Yorker is 
filled with original reading matter from lie- 
ginning to end by the best writers of America 
and England. 2. It is printed upon tine, 
natural-colored paper. 8. It contains yearly 
not less than 500 engravings, mostly original, 
by our iwn artists. 4. It is conducted by 
practical farmers, whose first aim it is, irre¬ 
spective of advertisers and ull merely pecuni¬ 
ary or personal interests, to toll the whole 
truth. 5. The RURAL isthe first newspaper to 
have established Experimental Grounds in con¬ 
nection with journalism. All new farm aud 
garden implements, seeds and plants are 
there tested and the results are impartially re¬ 
ported upon in its columns. 0. The Rural 
New-Yorker is conscientious, progressive, 
aggressive, sparkling and original. It admits 
no ambiguous or fraudulent advertisements. 
It is pure in tone. 11 contains 1C pages weekly 
and four-page supplements are issued when¬ 
ever advertising would otherwise trench upon 
its readiug matter. 8. The value of its 
FREE SEED DISTRIBUTIONS 
is now well and widely known. Only seeds 
or plauts which have originated atthe Rural’S 
Experiment Grounds, or which arc new or the 
best of their kinds,are distributed. 9. We have 
introduced or disseminated during the past 
eight years not less than 100 dl fferent species or 
varieties among our subscribers without cost 
to them. 10. Truth, progress; tho real inter¬ 
ests of the land and those who cultivate it, the 
dissemination of improved seeds and plants 
and of the knowledge how best to cultivate 
them; and finally so to conduct the journal 
that it may have a just claim upon all who 
love nature, are among the aims of the Rural 
New-Yorker. 
Among its most important departments are 
cattle, horses, sheep, poultry, swine, arbori¬ 
culture. dairy, domestic economy, farm econo¬ 
my, field crops, garden crops, floriculture, po¬ 
mology—especially grapes and all small fruits 
—farm implements, landscape gardening, 
veterinary, crop reports from all parts of the 
country, industrial societies, agricultural sci¬ 
ence, chemical fertilizers; news from all parts 
of the world, rural architecture, and a depart¬ 
ment for women. 
The Rural Experiment Grounds, conducted 
as they are purely iu the interests of readers, 
offer rare facilities for making the paper valu¬ 
able. All new and high-priced seeds are tested 
at once, and reported upon according to their 
worth, so that subscribers have before them 
a trustworthy guide as to what novelties arc 
worthy of trial. Tho present season, for ex¬ 
ample, we have tested, or arc testing 80 differ¬ 
ent kinds of new potatoes, 25 different kinds 
of corn, many different ltinds of wheat and 
oats, 00 of grapes, 00 of strawberries, all of the 
different kinds of raspberries, blackberries, 
currants, besides a rare collection of the most 
hardy shrubs, trees aud herbaceous plauts. 
Wo ask all progressive farmers aud horti¬ 
culturists to examine the Rural New- 
Yorker before subscribing for any family 
journal another year. For this purpose, as 
we have said, specimen copies will be cheer¬ 
fully sent to any address. We wish to make 
the truth appear, and to show that those who 
would meet with success in laud-culture can¬ 
not afford to do without the journal, mid that 
it should be subscribed for as a measure of 
economy. 
The price is ?2 per year for single copies ; 
£1.50 in clubs of five or over. Those who 
would aid in getting up clubs should send for 
our new premium lists and posters, which will 
be promptly forwarded at once. A postal 
card addressed to the li. N.-Y., Park Row, re¬ 
questing specimen copies, premium lists, or 
outfits, is all that is needed. 
SPECIAL N0TICET0 ALL. 
The R. N- Y. is as hith¬ 
erto invariably $ 2.00 a 
year in advance. But in 
clubs of five or over, 
$ 1 . 50 , that is 50 vents 
commission for each 
subscriber is allowed. 
Those who prefer premi¬ 
ums to cash must, of 
course, send us $ 2.00 
for each subscriber. The 
regular Premium List 
which will be sent on ap¬ 
plication, will be found 
to be so scaled as to allow 
from one to two dollars 
for each subscriber in the 
articles therein offered. 
m DM IDVI1TIMS SAY. 
Perhaps a word of commendation of your 
paper as an advertising medium from us may 
not be out of place, aud I certai dy think it is 
duo you. We have been, as you know, quite 
extensive advertisers: and while it is difficult 
for us to determine what one of the many 
papers paid us the best, yet we have felt for 
some time that yours was one of the best me¬ 
diums which we, have ever used, and we sin¬ 
cerely hope that it will continue to improve, 
not only as a good medium for advertisers, 
but also as an exponent of tbe best agricul¬ 
tural thought. Wo believe it bus been and 
is now in excellent hands, aud, judging by tbe 
past, its future progress is assured. 
Yours, very truly, 
W. H. Bowkeu, 
President Bowker Fertilizer Co. 
The fact that we are introducing many of 
the celebrated Cornish Organs aud Pianos 
through your paper in now localities is all the 
guarantee we want that it is a valuable me¬ 
dium. Such we emphatically consider tho 
Rural New-Yorker. 
Cornish & Co., Organ aud Piano Mfrs. 
Reference to our advertising books show 
that the Rural New-Yorker is one of the 
very best papers on our list. It brings us 
more inquiries than many papers which cost 
double the money. Yours very truly, 
S. L. Allen & Co., 
Mfrs. of the “Planet Jr.” Implements. 
Out of the few agricultural papers that we 
have used extensively the past, season tbe Ru¬ 
ral New-Yorker is one that has always 
made good return for our investment, and a 
large and thrifty patronage. It gives us 
pleasure to speak highly of its merits as an ad¬ 
vertising medium. Yours truly, 
B. L, Bragg & Co. 
Seedsmen, Introducers of the Top Over Com. 
We have advertised in the Rural New- 
Yorker a number of years and the results 
have always been very satisfactory. We hope 
to continue to use its columns, and are pleased 
to recommend it to others who wish to reach 
the best class of farmers. 
Respectfully, Wm. Parry. 
The advertisement of the Dutton Mowing 
Machine Knife Grinder in your paper brought 
us very satisfactory results, anil we shall con¬ 
tinue to use your valuable publication, for 
this useful tool, as well as for our general 
business. Respectfully, 
R. H. Allen Company. 
I have had my card inserted in the Rural 
New-Yorker frequently for several years, 
and I consider it a very valuable advertising 
medium. John S. Collins, 
Pleasant Valley Nurseries. 
In the course of our advertising experience 
we have had occasion to use most of the jour¬ 
nals throughout the United States, and in 
some instances the results have been very 
meager. Our experience however with the 
Rural New-Yorker has been very satisfac¬ 
tory and we regard it. as one of the best pay¬ 
ing papers on our list. It will, no doubt, 
prove a valuable advertising medium to any 
one wishing to reach the better class of the 
agricultural population. 
Yours respectfully, 
Ind. Paint & Roofing Co. 
The Rural New-Yorker has proveu to be 
one of the best mediums for advertising our 
seeds. In fact, it heads the list. 
Johnson & Stokes, 
Seedsmen, Phila., Pa. 
We have always obtained good results from 
advertising iu tho Rural New-Yorker. Re¬ 
gard it as ono of our very best advertising 
mediums for reaching our customers; that is, 
a dollar with you will go as far, or farther, 
than in any other direction. 
Respectfully, A. B. Farquhar. 
The Rural New Yorker is on precisely 
the same footing with the Nation, the Even¬ 
ing Post, the New York Times and all tho 
other good papers in which we advertise. 
Yours truly, 
Houghton, Mifflin & Co., 
Publishers, Boston, Mass. 
Rural New-Yorker: While we do not get 
as many calls for our small fruit catalogue 
from our advertising in the Rural os from 
some other papers, it dues bring us an un¬ 
usually fine class of customers. A class that 
appreciate a good thing and are willing to 
pay for good stock. A class of customers that 
stand by us every year and want every new 
and choice plant that wo have to offer. 
Therefore, we consider the Rural a very 
valuable advertising medium. 
Truly yours, G. H. & J. H. Hale. 
Elm Fruit Farm and Nursery, 
South Glastonbury, Conn 
Experience convinces us that we discrimi¬ 
nated wisely in selecting the Rural New- 
Yorker as a medium for making our inven¬ 
tion known to the public. 
The Dana Windmill Co. 
Fairhaven, Mass, _ 
Bear in mind that the Rural never sells 
its premiums. Wo give them as payment for 
work. We will not. under any circumstances 
sell them for cash. The Rural soils nothing 
and hence is not bound to praise any imple¬ 
ment or plant except as it deserves praise. 
The Rural New-Yorker is for the 
West, North ami South, as well as for the 
East. It circulates on the Pacific slopes 
as well us in the States of the Alantic; on 
Southern plantations as well as Eastern 
farms. It is for the North, South, East 
and West. Its writers are everywhere. 
The Premium TAst of the Rural New- 
Yorker has never been equaled for liberal¬ 
ity by any paper in the country. One sub¬ 
scription agent who writes; ''l have canvassed 
for dozens of papers, but never knew one to 
offer such terms as these," voices the senti¬ 
ments of those who have st udied our Premium 
List. Examine the list of premiums on page 
777. Where can you make better terms? 
