IO 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
JAN. 4 
in the handling of such a perishable sub¬ 
stance as milk and its manufactured pro¬ 
ducts. 
Following close upon improved apparatus 
came co-operative dairying, which simpli¬ 
fied the farm work and abated or consider¬ 
ably lessened some of the causes produc¬ 
tive of evil. This led up, also, to a great 
change in the commercial conditions, which 
had before prevented butter from being 
sold by the producer upon its merits. The 
butter business of the country stores has 
been greatly abridged, and the principle of 
basing price strictly upon quality, impar¬ 
tially and intelligently judged, has greatly 
extended. 
These changes have materially improved 
the status of the middle class of farmers, 
while those dairymen who cater to special 
or individual tastes are also better off not 
only in the use of better, easier and cheaper 
methods, but also in the great improve¬ 
ments in feeding upon scientific principles, 
to say nothing of an equal gain in the ap¬ 
plication of science to the production and 
handling of all feeding crops. 
As a consequence of ail these changes, 
the less intelligent and poorer class of 
farmers, away from creameries, or rejected 
by them, are worse off than ever. Of old, 
they could get in their butter at something 
like an average price; now it is not wanted 
at all. Cut off thus from dairying, and 
finding absolutely no market for any other 
animal product except hides, their condi¬ 
tion is becoming almost desperate. Pota¬ 
toes are about the only crop from which 
money can be extracted, and these, when 
subject to long cartage over hilly roads, 
bring a most pitiable return. To get to¬ 
gether money to pay taxes and store bills, 
to say nothing of interest or principal on 
debts, seems impossible. There would 
seem, for these unskilled hill farmers, to be 
nothing left except to return to the old- 
time style of farming, where everything 
for family use and support was produced at 
home. But the old domestic arts by which 
this was done are practically lost. The 
natural result is that many of this 
class of farms will be abandoned, unless 
they can be taken up by foreign immi¬ 
grants who will know how to make a liv¬ 
ing upon them. 
Woman’s Work, 
CONDUCTED BY EMILY LOUISE TAPLIN. 
CHAT BY THE WAY. 
S NOW is the delight of the children— 
adults too—when it first appears, out, 
oh, how soon it becomes cold, dirty slush, 
destructive to clothes and foot-gear alike. 
Rubbers are at best but a partial protec¬ 
tion ; the slush will work over them, or 
through some unsuspected crevice, apart 
from the uncomfortable condition of the 
feet produced by wearing them. Whenever 
rubbers can be dispensed with by wearing 
thick shoes dressed with oil, we think the 
feet are healthier and more comfortable. 
We have all experienced the misery of 
seeing our pet shoes hardened and shape¬ 
less when dried after a rain-storm. We 
have entirely obviated this difficulty by 
giving up the use of “ French dressing ” or 
any of the so-called ladies' shoe polishes, 
substituting sweet oil or vaseline. Once a 
week, or oftener in bad weather, the shoes 
are well rubbed with the oil. They soon 
become almost impervious to damp, and the 
leather remains soft and pliable to the 
very last, nor does it crack. The various 
polishes always crack the leather, while 
the oil both preserves it and keeps it black. 
We are inclined to give the preference to 
vaseline. 
* 
* * 
The family tone—what is it ? How often 
we notice the same tone running all through 
a family; it may be kind and gentle, or 
harsh and loud, or dismal, or gay—and you 
know that it expresses the prevailing feel¬ 
ing of the household. Children so readily 
pick up the speech and manners of their 
elders, whether it be good or evil. We 
know some families where every voice is 
genial and good-natured from the parents to 
the baby—others where crabbed discontent 
seems the prevailing note, easily recognized 
in the family tones. 
Fretfulness and discontent leave their 
impress on the voice, quite as readily as the 
face, and we all need guard against the dis¬ 
cordant note, rt. is often a matter of habit, 
tW i the fre-Hviiuess js pot really intention¬ 
al, but there it is in the voice, and looks or 
manner will not remove it. A really pleas¬ 
ant voice usually prejudices one in favor of 
the speaker, and we really do think the 
possession of a sweet voice in ordinary con¬ 
verse to be of far more value than the abil¬ 
ity to perform vocal gymnastics in the way 
of singing. 
■* * 
* 
“Howl do wish I wasn’t so awkward 
with strangers,” observed a young girl just 
growing into the period of long skirts and 
turned up hair. Her aspiration is echoed 
by many another who feels her lack of 
social ease and training. We always feel 
sorry for one who is awkward and ill at 
ease with strangers; it deprives one of 
much real pleasure, apart from put¬ 
ting one at a great disadvantage. 
This awkwardness is not by any means 
always the result of isolated life, though 
naturally those who live a secluded life are 
most likely to suffer from it. But we 
know many possessing all social advan¬ 
tages who are equally timid and bashful 
when encountering strange faces. Now 
really, this timidity is the result of vanity. 
When people first think of their own ap¬ 
pearance and manner—whether thev are 
making a favorable impression or not, the 
result is rarely pleasing. The perfection of 
manner is unconsciousness, and our advice 
to the girl who feels her awkwardness is 
that she think of others rather than her¬ 
self. A hearty desire to be interested in 
the interests of others—to meet people 
more than half way—does much to produce 
an agreeable manner ; sympathy with oth¬ 
ers and personal unselfishness entirely do 
away with awkward timidity of manner. 
THE HOME PAPER. 
J. H. G. 
I N a recent issue of the R. N.-Y., S. J. L. 
says : “ In this era of papers which 
combine all that is practical in agriculture 
and entertaining in domestic affairs, there 
are few who would wish to replace such a 
paper by trashy literature.” I wish the 
facts warranted the statements of S. J. L., 
but, unfortunately, they prove quite the 
contrary. The best agricultural papers 
—the papers “ which combine all that 
is practical in agriculture and enter¬ 
taining in domestic affairs ” have to seek 
as long and as diligently for a large sub¬ 
scription list as their cheap and trashy 
rivals. In fact, I can name a family 
“ story ” paper whose circulation is greater 
than that of all the first-class agricultural 
papers put together. As a rule, the female 
members of the family select the family 
reading. Putting these two facts together, 
is it not evident that the majority of 
women prefer story papers ? My exper¬ 
ience has satisfied me that it is only a 
waste of time and breath to solicit a 
woman, or a man accompanied by a woman, 
to subscribe for the R. N.-Y. Time and 
time again I have been in the position of 
the newsboy in the following anecdote 
from the Free Press. 
“A farmer who was seated with his 
wife in a wagon on the market yesterday 
beckoned to a newsboy who was shouting: 
“ All about—! ” etc., and asked: 
“ What’s up now ? ” 
“All about the message.” 
“ What message ? ” 
“The President’s.” 
“ Oh, that’s it. The President sent a 
message to some one, did he ? ” 
“ It’s the message to Congress,” said the 
boy after looking at the headlines. 
“ Must be mighty important! ” 
“ Yes, sir.” 
“ Guess I’ll take one then.” 
“I guess you won’t!” exclaimed the 
wife as he felt for his change. “ What on 
earth do you want of a message ? ” 
“ Want to see what it is, don’t I ? ” 
“ But it’s nothing but reading.” 
“No, I s’pose not, but the President must 
a had sunthin’ on his mind when he made 
it up.” 
“S’posen he had. We’ve got ’null on 
our minds, haven’t we ? You haven’t fin¬ 
ished that Life of Dan’l Boone yit.” 
“That’s so. Say, bub, sorry to have 
troubled ye, but I guess I don’t keer for 
any message, and the ole woman is rayther 
agin it, too. It’s probably all right, but I 
don’t keer for it. I’ve got a book to home 
that makes my hair stand right up on 
every page, and I guess the President can’t 
beat that ‘Lite o’ Uan’l Boone’ and the 
way he did knock injuns and b’ars about 
would make your feet cold to read. No, I 
guess 1 won’t buy. I’ll continue on with 
Dau’l Boone, ’’ 
GOLDEN GRAINS. 
C ARLYLE says properly, there is no 
other knowledge than that which is 
got by working ; the rest is yet. all a hy¬ 
pothesis of knowledge ; a thing to be ar¬ 
gued of in schools ; a thing floating in the 
clouds, in endless logic-vortices, till we try 
and fix it._. 
I AM, says Mr. Beecher, in favor of any 
movement that helps anybody to appre¬ 
ciate Sunday as a day of rest, of healthful 
and pure pleasures, and that will gently 
lead men, women, and children from the 
things of low estate up to the higher. 
Every action, every thought, every feel¬ 
ing contributes to the education of the 
temper, the habits and understanding and 
exercises an inevitable influence upon all 
the acts of our future life. 
We have no right to be a cause of distur¬ 
bance by living in that part of our nature 
which tends to interfere with the happi¬ 
ness or welfare of our fellow-men. 
As steady application to work is the 
healthiest training for every individual, so 
is it the best discipline of a State. Honor¬ 
able industry always travels the same road 
with enjoyment and duty, and progress is 
altogether impossible without it. 
With us, law is nothing unless close be¬ 
hind it stands a warm, living public opin¬ 
ion. Let that die or grow indifferent, and 
the statutes are waste paper, lacking all 
executive force. % . 
Senator Platt, in a recent address, 
said: Oh, my drinking friends, do you 
not see that the primal condition of further 
temperance progress in the country is an 
assured majority of total abstainers ? And 
what prevents such a majority except that 
men who drink only occasionally refuse to 
give up drinking ? The liquor-sellers, the 
men of ungovernable appetites, the habit¬ 
ual drinkers alone could not hold up the 
liquor traffic for six months. It is only be¬ 
cause they are reinforced by those who say 
they do not drink to satisfy appetite, and 
only drink in moderation, that the liquor 
traffic thrives boldly and defiantly. The 
sale goes on simply because the occasional 
drinker must have the opportunity to buy 
what he wauts for occasional consumption. 
The temperance movement is dying in the 
house of its worshippers because the occa¬ 
sional drinker will drink. 
In a recent sermon the Rev. Mr. Halsey 
said that our religious progress is not 
keeping pace with our spiritual progress. 
The Herald says that this is a very large¬ 
sized fact. One difficulty is that we are a 
hard working people, and by Saturday 
night are glad to look forward to a day of 
rest at home, or a quiet and refreshing trip 
to country or seashore. Another difficulty 
however, is that a majority of the clergy 
are rather behind the times, perfunctory, 
slow and—pardon us—sometimes awfully 
dull. Talmage, Behrends, Taylor, Hall 
never complaiu of small congregations. 
They have large churches and tley are al¬ 
ways full. Why ? Oh, we must avoid 
criticism, and simply remark that whenever 
and wherever there is a pulpit on fire the 
people always go in crowds to see it burn.. 
Domestic Cconamij 
CONDUCTED BY MRS. AGNES E. M. CARMAN. 
f 890. 
CHRISTMAS has come and gone ! The 
J old year is dead aud buried. We 
have laid him away in the grave of the past 
with his 1880 predecessors. A new year 
has dawned, bringing with it hopes and 
prayers for a safe guidance through an¬ 
other twelve-month. New Year’s Day, 
though not invested with the sacred char¬ 
acter of Christmas, appeals to all our best 
emotions. Our hearts seem warmed to¬ 
wards one another and the words of con 
gratulation spring to our lips. With the 
old year let all our bitter feelings die! Let 
us begin anew. 
To some of us it is a sad time, for many a 
loved form, many a sunny smile, and many 
a merry voice are gone—gone never to re¬ 
turn. But we must not be discouraged ; 
we must remember that life at most, is not 
very long, aud perhaps before many more 
earthly new years have dawned we may be 
called into that Great New Year which has 
no ending. 
The festivities begun on Christmas Eve 
do not cease with the close of New Year’s 
pnj\ The JCpisc°p&Uwm and Cattmiios es¬ 
pecially observe the Twelth Day and Night 
(so called from its being the twelfth after 
Christmas), or as we call it, the Epiphany. 
This is a Christian church feast instituted 
in the fourth century to commemorate the 
manifestation of our Saviour to the Gen¬ 
tiles—and the name “ Epiphany ” (says the 
authority from which I quote) “ which 
signifies an appearance from above, was 
given to it in allusion to the star described 
in the Holy Writ, as the guide of the Magi 
or wise men, to the cradle of the blessed in 
fant.” 
* 
♦ * 
That all readers of the R. N.-Y. both 
young and old shall have a prosperous and 
happy year; that the trials and sorrows 
many of us have had to bear in the year 
that has just died should mark the “darkest 
hours before the dawn that when the 
year of our Lord 1890 shall close, we may 
not be compelled to look back and regret it 
as wasted, is the wish of the writer. 
A HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL ! 
DORA HARVEY VROOMAN. 
-- 
FOR CHRISTMAS. 
C HRISTMAS is near at hand and think¬ 
ing that there may be others beside 
myself who have neglected to prepare their 
gifts until the last few days, I will de¬ 
scribe a few trifles that may be quickly aud 
easily made. There is a great variety of 
“throws” to be selected from. After the 
China crapes and pongees come those made 
of the finest tulle with ends embroidered 
with silk or applique or scrim finished in 
drawn-work with variously colored ribbons 
run in, the edges feather-stitched with a 
corresponding color of embroidery silk. 
Others are of cream-colored scrim with one 
corner cut off entirely, and the space filled 
in with wheels crocheted of cream linen 
thread with a fringe of the same tied 
across the ends. 
Then there are the beautiful painted ones 
on white sheet wadding. Cut the ends to 
imitate fringe; also an inch above the 
fringe cut small slits, several rows in line 
with each other; run ribbon one-half 
inch wide in these rows, making a kind of 
basket-work. Then paint a bunch of roses 
or of any flower you wish, above the bor¬ 
der. Any one of these is very pretty tied 
in a loose knot and thrown over a large 
picture, one end hanging down and the 
other laid along the top of the frame. 
Another pretty trifle for those who have 
birch bark, is a hanging match safe to rep¬ 
resent a canoe. Cut the two sides into the 
proper shape, sewing the lower edges to¬ 
gether ; then spread it apart with the three 
little seats across, which are to be made of 
wood. The sides can be ornamented with 
sketches in India ink, done with a pen. 
Indian wigwams, figures, or any simple 
landscape are pretty. Those who haven’t 
the bark can use card-board and trim with 
scrap pictures, or hand-paint them. 
They are to be suspended from a hanging 
lamp. 
Zephyr ruches make dainty gifts. Cro¬ 
chet them of soft white wool, with an 
edge of white embroidery silk. Do not 
make a mistake and sew tinsel on the edge; 
nothing looks so cheap and tawdry. 
The most unique pen-wiper I have seen 
was made in plain book form, the cover of 
chamois leather with gilded lettering as 
follows: “ Extracts from the pen of- 
writing the name of the friend it is intend¬ 
ed for. The edges were cut iu the finest 
fringe not an-eighth of an inch deep, mak¬ 
ing a sort of ragged edge. 
Button bags are also made of the leather. 
Stitch them on the sewing machine an 
inch or more from the edge, then cut the 
bottom in fine fringe aud either fringe or 
pink the top, cutting Loles for the draw¬ 
string. Write in fancy letters diagonally 
across the front: “ Button, button, who’s 
got the button l” 
Darning bags are among the most useful 
gifts for housekeepers. They are made of 
any material from cretonne to fancy tick¬ 
ing. These are the directions: Cut a piece 
of cretonne 13 inches wide, and a yard and 
a quarter long. Cut three pieces of paste¬ 
board, six inches wide and seven and one- 
half inches long and round them at one 
end, cover these pieces with some of the 
cretonne, and sew two of them together 
along the straight ends. On the other 
£tti.$ccUnncou.$ ^tUcrtisiug. 
When baby was sick, we gave her Casteria, 
When she w as a Child, she cried for Casioria. 
When slic became Miss, she clung to Casloria 
V h» h she had C hlidreu, she gjive thejn Casting 
