i8o 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
March 8 
From Day to Day. 
THE BEE-HUMS IN THE MEADOWS. 
I'm gittin’ weary, Molly, of our visit here 
in town. 
Though daughter’s done her very best to 
keep homesickness down. 
With sixty years spent on the farm, the 
town don’t seem to be, 
Fcr all its gayety an’ sich, the fittest place 
for me. 
It’s true the girls is married an’ the boys 
is gone away, 
An’ home is sorter like ourselves—a bit 
run down an' gray, 
But still I want to git back there whar’ 
life flows slow an' sweet, 
With bee-hums in the meadows an’ the 
pattridge in the wheat. 
I’ve read the volumes, Molly, my daughter’s 
had me read; 
I've gone about the city twice an’ all its 
sights I’ve seed; 
But—will you b’heve it!—lookin’ down there 
on the cold and slush, 
There comes a flood o’ memories an’ a sort 
o’ solemn hush. 
1 see the children rompin’ round the prem¬ 
ises once more. 
An’ sproutin' jonquils in the yard an’ roses 
by the door— 
An’ then I somehow hear ’twixt me an’ 
noises of the street, 
The bee-hums in the meadows an’ the pat¬ 
tridge in the wheat. 
—Will T. Hale in New York Times. 
* 
The Youth’s Companion says that Dr. 
Gordon, who was the first minister of 
the church in Jamaica Plain, Mass., 
about the year 1771, was a Scotchman, 
very stern and arbitrary in his manners, 
and precise and orderly in his own 
habits. The following anecdote of him 
is recorded in the family journal of one 
of his old pai’ishioners; One Sunday 
while preaching he began to develop his 
theme with the usual “firstly,” and got 
through that and “secondly.” Then, 
turning the leaves of his manuscript, 
he said: “Thirdly,” a second time 
“Thirdly,” and again in great embar¬ 
rassment, “Thirdly!” 
Just then a little girl in one of the 
front pews stood up and said: 
“Please, sir, thirdly flew out of the 
window some time ago.” 
* 
Among new fabrics for Spring are 
many beautiful combinations of silk 
and wool. Eolienne is a figured weave, 
the ground being something like poplin 
with silky dots or figures; it costs $1.50 
to $2 a yard ,and is as pliable as crdpe 
de chine. These crepes are seen now 
with plain and panne finish. Crepe 
gloria is similar, but said to wear better; 
it costs $1 to $1.25 a yard. Barege in 
silk and wool is much handsomer than 
the stuff our grandmothers wore under 
that name; it costs $1.75 a yard. What 
we. used to call nun’s veiling is now 
called voile; in addition to the plain it 
may be had figured, or adorned with 
hemstitched stripes. Very similar to 
voile is French carmelite, which is very 
soft and sheer. Crepe voile looks like 
nun’s veiling with a crape finish; it is 
so soft and clinging that it makes up 
beautifully. It usually costs about $1.50 
a yard. 
* 
The openwork herringbone stitch 
known as faggoting, with which our 
grandmothers trimmed caps and fichus, 
has come in fashion again, and will be 
greatly used on Summer frocks for both 
young and old. kittle girls’ frocks have 
yokes formed of clusters of fine tucks 
with faggoting used as insertion be¬ 
tween. Handsome foulard gowns recent¬ 
ly seen had circular yokes formed of 
rows of milliner’s folds fastened to¬ 
gether by faggoting; the folds were 
mounted on bobbinet, which gave the 
transparent look, while holding the folds 
and faggoting in place. A striking gown 
recently noted was of black freely 
trimmed with rows of narrow white 
satin ribbon, which had black silk fag¬ 
goting crossing over it Stock collars 
are made of narrow ribbon (No. 2) fag¬ 
goted together, the open space being 
same width as ribbon; then worn over 
a plain stock of contrasting color. To 
make these openwork stocks, the ribbon 
should be basted in the required form 
on a sheet of stiff paper, and the fag¬ 
goting worked over this. 
* 
A woman in New York State recently 
brought suit against a street railway 
company, for damages sustained in 
alighting from a car. Her skirt caught 
on some part of the car, which was 
started before she could disengage her¬ 
self, and she was thrown to the street 
and dragged some distance in conse¬ 
quence. The car company made the re¬ 
markable defense that the woman was 
guilty of contributory negligence, be¬ 
cause she had worn a long skirt, when 
a short one would have answered the 
purpose better. Just how short the skirt 
should be, to avoid entangling alliances 
with car steps, was not stated. How¬ 
ever, the Court of Appeals has decided, 
upon the second trial, that the victim of 
the car step is entitled to damages, the 
length or brevity of the skirt making no 
alteration in the liability of the defend¬ 
ants. This is a verdict to be received 
with gratitude; if the street-car com¬ 
panies were permitted to dictate the 
length of our skirts, women would feel 
obliged to vindicate their independence 
by wearing coronation robes in place of 
walking costumes, and the sensible 
short skirt would receive another dis¬ 
couraging setback. 
Starting Plants in the House 
The most successful flower beds are 
those in which the plants were first 
started in the house. There is only here 
and there an annual that will not bear 
transplanting. This takes time, but it 
is time both pleasantly and profitably 
spent; the lover of flowers never mourns 
over time spent in their care. The mid¬ 
dle of March begins the seed-sowing 
season as a rule, though the time may 
be extended to the middle of April. Use 
small shallow boxes, not over three 
inches deep, perforate the bottoms well 
in at least a dozen places (in cigar-box 
size), using a good-sized gimlet, or, bet¬ 
ter still, a small auger. Fill with good 
garden soil and leaf-mold if you can 
possibly get it, in the proportion of two 
to one. If you cannot get leaf-mold use 
a very little rich earth from the barn¬ 
yard; the leaf-mold is preferable. Mix 
the two soils thoroughly, then sift 
through the coal sieve. If preferred, use 
one-third each of sand, loam, and leaf- 
mold, as the professionals direct. Fill 
the boxes full of the prepared soil, but 
do not press or pack it down with the 
hands, as it must be kept porous. A 
good way is to give the box a good 
shaking, to allow the soil to settle down 
somewhat. 
Sow the seeds at intervals of an inch 
or 1% inch apart, the depth of plant¬ 
ing depending on the seed, the larger 
ones having from one-eighth to one- 
quarter of an inch covering, the smaller 
ones a slight dusting only. When sown, 
press lightly but firmly the surface of 
the soil with a bit of fiat board. The 
boxes are then placed in a pan of water 
from which the chill has been taken. 
The pan must not have enough water to 
overflow the box. Let the boxes remain 
until the surface is moistened, when 
they must be removed immediately. 
Place on two sticks, to allow any sur¬ 
plus water to drain off quickly. As the 
bottoms are so well perforated, the soil 
can be kept moist, but not wet, which 
would cause the seeds to decay. 
The boxes are put on a shelf back of 
the range, being kept there until the 
seeds germinate, when they are put in 
a sunny bay window in the dining-room, 
moving the boxes at least three times a 
day, so as to keep the tender plants out 
of the strongest sunlight, and yet in a 
sunny locality. Water the seed boxes 
when the surface begins to look dry, as 
at first. Once in five or six days is 
usually often enough; the size of boxes 
and temperature of room determine 
largely the time when water is needed. 
Of course this treatment would be fatal 
to plants which have a tendency to 
damp off—primroses, for instance. But 
such plants as Asters, pansies. Verbenas 
and Phlox thrive wonderfully under 
such treatment. By this method of 
watering the soil it is kept porous; the 
needed moisture reaches tender roots 
and rootlets. If water is poured on the 
surface the soil becomes packed, is often 
washed from the plants, and the roots 
do not receive the moisture they require. 
By giving each plant an inch or so of 
room, the seedlings in most cases will 
not have to be transplanted into another 
box, but can be transplanted directly to 
the flower bed. They are also trans¬ 
planted with greater ease and safety. 
As the plants grow larger, be sure 
to stir the surface of the soil with a 
small pointed stick occasionally; when 
the leaves look dusty give them a 
shower bath. When a box of seedlings 
shows a tendency to grow up “spind¬ 
ling,” they are given a very liberal 
sprinkling of sifted loam around the 
slender stems; this always induces a 
stocky growth. When plants have not 
enough light, the tendency is to grow 
thin and weak; a lack of sufficient air 
calls the green fly. Bearing these tests 
in mind, it is easy to give them as much 
light and air as they require. As men¬ 
tioned in a previous paragraph, do not 
set the boxes where the strongest sun¬ 
light will beat on them, thus burning 
them. 
When the weather becomes warm 
enough, set the seedlings out of doors 
to toughen them, gradually lengthening 
the period, until it is safe to leave them 
out all night. Then, when transplant¬ 
ing time comes, when all danger from 
frost is past, the change from box to 
flower bed will be slight, and can be 
safely accomplished. I raise by this 
method all plants that will bear trans¬ 
planting, being guided regarding time of 
sowing by the cultural directions on 
each package. I have been very suc¬ 
cessful with the following annuals: As¬ 
ters, Phlox, Verbenas, Chinese pinks, 
pansies, Petunias, hei.en c. Andrews. 
BAKING powder. 
Imparts that peculiar lightness 
and flavor noticed in the finest 
cake, biscuit, rolls, crusts, etc., 
which expert pastry cooks declare 
is unobtainable by the use of any 
other leavening agent. 
Made from Pare, Grape Cream of Tartar* 
ROYAL BAKING POWDER CO., 100 WILLIAM ST., NEW YORK. 
Nobody else but 
me puts his name 
on lamp chimneys 
— there’s mighty 
reason for 
Macbeth. 
00 < 
that. 
If you’ll send your address, I’ll send you 
the Index to Lamps and their Chimneys, to 
tell you what number to get for your lamp. 
Macbeth, Pittsburgh. 
Neglect of a Cough or Sore 
Throat may result in an 
Incurable Throat Trouble or 
Consumption. For relief use 
BROWN’S BRONCHIAL 
TROCHES. Nothing excels this simple 
remedy. Sold only in boxes. 
A Model Dairy 
Every corner of the dairy can be neat 
and clean with little expense and almost 
no labor. 
Same of the milk pails, milk pans, milk- 
jars, milk bottles, butter tubs, butter 
jars. Everything that 
Banner Lye 
touches it cleans and makes safe from 
contamination of every sort. 
Soap Making 
One can of Banner Eye 
(costing a few cents) will 
make ten pounds of good, 
pure, hard soap in ten 
minutes, without boiling, 
without waste, without 
large vessels and with al¬ 
most no trouble at all 
Easy directionsou every can 
Sold by grocers and 
druggists every¬ 
where. If your dealer 
doesn’t sell it, send us 
liis name and address, 
and we will see that 
you get it. 
The Penn Chemical Works, 
Philadelphia, U. S A. 
Artificial Arms and Legs. 
Marks’ Improved Rubber Hands and Feet are 
natural in action, noiseless in motion and the most 
durable in construction. It is not unusual to see a 
farmer working In the fields with an artificial leg, or 
an engineer, conductor, brakeman, carpenter, mason, 
miner, in fact, men of every vocation, wearing one 
or two artificial legs, with rubber feet of MARKS' 
I’atents, performing as much as men in possession of 
ail their natural members, and experiencing little or 
no Inconvenience. Over 25,000 in use. scattered in 
all parts of the world. They are endorsed and 
purchased by the United StateBand Foreign Govern¬ 
ments. a Treatise, containing 500 pages, with 80(1 
illustrations, sent FREE; also a formula for taking 
measurements by which limbs can be made and sent 
to all parts of the world with tit guaranteed. Re¬ 
ceived -‘Grand Prix ” Paris Exposition, 1900, Gold 
Medal Pan-American Exposition. 1901, and 87 other 
highest Awards. A. A. MARKS, 701 Broadway, N. Y. 
1427 ! 
f Bilk Frlngo Cards, Love, Transparent, £&*■ 
cort A Acquaintance Cards, New Pozzies, I 
New Games, Premium Articles, &C. Finest i 
Sample Book of Visiting A Hidden Name . 
Cards, Biggest Catali 
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e. Bend So. stamp 
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CARDS! 
PRICES REDUCED jjayS? 
$4.00 Vapor Bath Cabinet $2.25 each 
$5.00 Quaker* 4 44 3.50 each 
$10.00 4 4 44 “ 0.10 each 
$1.00 Face & Head Steam. Attch. 65c 
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World M’fg Co., 97 World lildg., Cincinnati* O. 
