238 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
APRIL 12 
have been dropped? I am anxious to know 
how many such triplets there are.” 
The little steers are almost exactly alike 
in color, with white stockings on the hind 
legs and white flank on the right side. One 
has a star on its forehead. The horns of 
all three turn back at much the same angle. 
The steers will be exhibited at the leading 
New England fairs during the season and 
ought to prove an attraction anywhere. 
An elegant little chariot has been made for 
them to draw and when harnessed to it, 
they will present a novel spectacle. The 
Chariot will be called the “ Lawson Valen¬ 
tine,” because it has been varnished and 
finished in the “best” manner. 
Cvcnjuiljcre. 
RURAL SPECIAL REPORTS. 
Illinois. 
Shelbyville, Shelby County, March 27. 
—We have had the mildest winter ever 
known in this latitude, and the greatest 
amount of rainfall. On January 29, 
buds were swollen so much that peaches 
began to show bloom, and the mercury 
ranged from 50 to 62 degrees above zero. 
Creeks and rivers ran open all winter. No 
ice was harvested. The mercury has not 
been down to zero this winter. The 
weather was somewhat colder from the 
middle of February to the 20th of March, and 
we had considerable freezing and thawing, 
which killed from one-half to two-thirds of 
the fruit crops, and about two-thirds of 
the wheat is dead and out of the ground. 
The ground is now settled and in fair con¬ 
dition for plowing. Farmers are generally 
at work during the good weather getting 
out their oat crop and planting a few early 
potatoes. E. J. M. 
North Carolina. 
McAboy, Polk County, March 25.— Al¬ 
though the freezing snaps on March 1 and 
15 killed nearly all the forward blooms of 
peaches in this section, there is quite a fair 
show from the later-blooming buds. The 
Thermal Belt has seemingly few advan¬ 
tages over the surrounding region in re¬ 
gard to peaches, at least. On top of White 
Oak Ridge, the blooms of the late-bear¬ 
ing (usually) yet early-blooming peaches 
were killed by the freeze of March 1. 
Quinces were also killed. Pears are com¬ 
ing into bloom. E. S. w. 
Dakota. 
Wheatland, Cass County, March 24.— 
We have had a fine winter; no storms, 
very little wind till this month came in, 
and but little snow. In view of the amount 
of moisture in the ground, the outlook for a 
crop is more encouraging than it was a 
year ago. During the winter we had a few 
showers that froze into the ground, and 
several little snows that gradually melted, 
soaking into the ground. I think that, on 
the whole, farmers will sow with more 
faith than they had last year. The subject 
of irrigation has been agitated to some ex¬ 
tent and petitions for government aid have 
been circulated rather widely. I have lived 
here for the last 11 years and during that 
time we never suffered from lack of rain 
till 1889. The season of ’88 was dry, but 
not so much so as ’89. During the other 
nine years we had abundance of rain. Irri¬ 
gation was not thought of during those 
years, for we had an average per acre of 
from 15 to 30 bushels. Last season, with 
comparatively no rain, we had from three 
to 10 bushels. Now, the question is, 
would it pay to go to the enormous ex¬ 
pense of irrigation to make good the de¬ 
ficiency one year out of 10? I have come to 
the conclusion that when I cannot farm in 
Dakota without artificial water pots, I will 
move east to some of those abandoned 
farms. Our first State legislature has ad¬ 
journed ; we would have been as well off 
had it never met. Hay, straw and grain 
feed is scarce; but owing to the mild win¬ 
ter stock has been able to run at large the 
greater part of the season. Quite a consid¬ 
erable number of farmers are going to raise 
some flax this season. A few have raised 
it for some years and report it a success. 
We are anxiously looking forward to the 
ultimate collapse of the ranching business 
to the west of us, then we can realize some¬ 
thing for our surplus stock. We have 
been much interested in the tool discussion; 
here we do not need such a diversity of im¬ 
plements as where mixed farming is carried 
on; but what we use are very expensive 
and a great amount of money is invested 
in them, and they are used only a short 
time each year. B. W. H. 
jLUomaix’ss Work. 
CONDUCTED BY EMILY LOUISE TAPLIN. 
CHAT BY THE WAY. 
N odd scent sachet recently seen con¬ 
sisted first of a silken bag about 
nine inches deep. It was made of four 
strips of ribbon about an inch wide, joined 
together. The ribbon may be either two 
or four harmonizing colors. The lower 
part of the bag was filled with wadding, 
sprinkled with sachet powder. A small 
Japanese doll, with a very self-satisfied 
smirk on its pink countenance, was then 
slipped into the bag, which came just be¬ 
low its arms. The bag was drawn up with 
narrow ribbon, which was tied in a full 
bow at one side. It was hung up by one 
of the loops, leaving the little Jap appar¬ 
ently trying to get out. 
* 
* * 
A very toothsome delicacy recently tried 
was a baking of German prune cakes. A 
light sponge was set overnight, and mixed 
for further rising in the morning, just the 
same as for raised doughnuts. While this 
was rising, some prunes were stewed, and 
then mashed through a colander, making 
a paste. When the dough was light, it was 
rolled out until it was about a quarter of 
an inch thick, and then cut into small 
oval cakes. A little depression was made 
in the middle and a spoonful of the prune 
paste put in. The edges of the cake were 
then moistened with white of egg, and an¬ 
other cake was stuck on top of it, covering 
the fruit in the middle. The cakes were then 
dropped into boiling fat, and cooked like 
doughnuts. It makes a very delicious lit¬ 
tle cake. 
* 
.* * 
Is there anything more trying in the 
house, we wonder, than that species of 
moral dyspepsia which results in unceasing 
gloom and fault-finding ? Or silent gloom 
without the fault-finding is fully as 
bad. How hard it is, always to have cold 
water thrown on one's cheerfulness, gloom 
returned for gladness, and mournful 
would-be piety for warm smypathy. The 
worst of it is that these gloomy people are 
often really good and pious, only, instead 
of feeling that their piety gives them the 
right to be glad, they think that laughter 
and cheerfulness argue an unregenerate 
heart. If they only realized how much 
harm they do the sacred cause of their 
Master by perpetual sadness! We can’t 
go through life with a perpetual smile; 
sadness enough comes to all, but at least 
we can refrain from adding our own sad- 
nes to the burden of another. 
♦ 
* * 
As we do not live in the Palace of Truth, 
where every thought and emotion were as 
evident as if people had windows in their 
breasts, we are entirely unable to judge 
each other fairly. We don’t know what 
our neighbor has to contend with—“ the 
heart knoweth its own bitterness”—per¬ 
haps the very one we envy is most deserv¬ 
ing of pity. Think then, what a responsi¬ 
bility we incur when we wilfully add our 
own gloom to the sorrow of another. 
■ft 
* * 
We know some people whose coming we 
hail with joy, because we know they will 
give us a sunshiny smile, a pleasant word t 
or a little joke. We meet them on a rainy 
day, when draggled skirts and unruly um¬ 
brellas are a constant exasperation ; they 
make some laughing speech, not very witty, 
perhaps, but very good-natured, and be¬ 
hold—there seems a little streak of sun¬ 
shine in spite of the weather. Others there 
are—very good people too—who are depres¬ 
sing enough to turn June sunshine into 
fog ; life seems harder than ever after meet¬ 
ing them, and they make any real trouble 
an insupportable burden. They certainly 
think they are doiDg their duty, and they 
are apt to think any sunshiny person, 
who meets trouble with a smiling face, is 
unfeeling or frivolous. 
* 
* * 
These gloomy persons deserve pity as 
well as blame, for they can neither enjoy 
the good things of life nor endure the ill. 
We pity one who can lie down at night and 
think : “ This day I have neither smiled at 
my own happiness, nor smiled to lighten 
the unhappiness of others.” Just think 
how often a smiling face encourages an¬ 
other, or a word of praise, that costs noth¬ 
ing to bestow. It lightens one’s personal 
troubles, too; one always thinking if there 
is anything she can do for others will find 
that she has no ti me to worry about her¬ 
self. 
GOLDEN GRAINS. 
D OES any man wound thee ? Not only 
forgive, but work into thy thought 
intelligence of the kind of pain, that 
thou mayest never inflict it on another 
spirit. 
He only is advancing in life whose heart 
is getting softer, whose blood warmer, whose 
brain quicker, whose spirit is entering into 
living peace. 
I have a good deal of respect for the old 
woman who, in the time of war, started out 
with a poker when the enemy was approach¬ 
ing. She was asked what she could do with 
that, and replied: “ I can show them which 
side I am on.” —Moody . 
Going to church is like going shopping ; 
you generally get what you go for—no more, 
no less. A woman will go into a store where 
there is a hundred thousand dollars’ worth 
of goods, buy a paper of pins, and walk out. 
That was all she came for. You get about 
what you come to church for. 
Cecil says, it is always a sign of pov¬ 
erty of mind where men are ever aiming to 
be great; for they who are really great never 
seem to know it. 
The true Christian is like the sun, which 
pursues his noiseless track, and everywhere 
leaves the effects of his beams in a blessing 
upon the world around him. 
White Butter will not bring within 
from three to eight cents per pound as 
much as it would if brought to a good, rich, 
desirable shade. Thatcher’s Orange Butter 
Color is warranted to satisfy every con¬ 
sumer. Dealers keep it .—A dv. 
Pomtstk Ccortunuj 
IN HOUSE-CLEANING DAYS. 
A S the days lengthen and spring comes, 
the bright sun, in spite of the dusty 
blinds and dingy windows, penetrates 
through and floods our rooms with light, 
even to the farthest corners. Instead of 
welcoming it with thanksgiving, we too 
often see only the accumulation of dust, 
which the coal stoves or furnaces in-doors, 
and the rain and mud out-doors, inevitably 
make in our homes, and the disposition to 
rush around and commence the annual 
home-cleaning is awakened in many a 
thrifty housewife. Within certain limits 
this is well; no home can be renovated too 
thoroughly. But, dear house-keeper, be 
wiser this year than you have ever been, 
and let your longing be confined to only a 
tendency, or the making of a well-defined 
plan of operations, until the weather is 
warm enough so that you will not endan¬ 
ger the health either of yourself or your 
family. A great deal of advice finds its 
way into the press annually in regard to 
the best methods of performing this work, 
very much of which is sheer nonsense. To 
be sure, there are some well-established 
rules which should not be deviated from ; 
but otherwise house-cleaning is a matter 
in which every home-keeper must be a law 
unto herself. Even if you have every mod¬ 
ern labor-saving appliance extant, and the 
most orderly and systematic arrangement 
of work, yet it is a hard and exhaustipg 
operation, one in which you must draw on 
your reserve force every day. It is never 
wise to go beyond oui reserve of strength, 
to work on “ nerve and excitement,” trust¬ 
ing that we shall rest and regain our vi¬ 
tality when the work is done. Better 
commence by first doing the numerous 
little jobs which pertain to the thorough 
renovation of a home, and by only working 
a part of the day. Any sensible man 
would prefer to see a room in disorder for 
a week, and his wife amiable and only 
healthfully tired, than to know that she 
had goaded herself to the last limit of en¬ 
durance in order that she might commence 
and finish a room in one day, lest he should 
be annoyed by the disorder. Matters are 
expedited greatly if you decide the best 
ways find means of doing things before 
commencing operations t then you have but 
to go forward, instead of trying this plan 
and that, and accomplishing very little. 
Now is the time to cook those dishes which 
can be kept edible for several days at a 
time, such as a pot of baked beans, a large 
joint of boiled or roast beef, a roast ham, 
brown bread, fried cakes, ginger snaps, 
cookies, etc., etc. A supply of food like 
this will lighten the routine work greatly. 
When the bureau drawers, trunks, 
chests, cupboards and closets have been 
thoroughly cleaned, every drawer removed 
and the dark corners behind them searched 
for moths, then saturate them, as well as 
every cleat on which a shelf rests, with 
spirits of turpentine. Cover every shelf 
with newspapers and paste a lining of them 
inside the boxes and old trunks in which 
you intend to pack away the winter cloth¬ 
ing of the family. Before doing the latter, 
hang all woolen clothes out-of-doors and 
brush and clean them thoroughly, pockets 
and all; then put a few whole cloves in the 
pockets, and sprinkle them plentifully 
among the folds of the garments. News¬ 
papers, spirits of turpentine and whole 
cloves, properly used, are sure safeguards 
against the ravages of the common moth. 
One ounce of strong carbolic acid added to 
each gallon of benzine makes a mixture 
which I think better than spirits of tur¬ 
pentine for destroying carpet bugs—but 
eternal vigilance must be used in conjunc¬ 
tion with any remedy if once the pests get 
a foothold in a home. A closet floor should 
never be carpeted, and every crevice and 
corner should be carefully cleaned. 
Commence at the attic next, and this 
should not be either a long or a laborious 
job if, when you were able to replace your 
old furnishings with new, you lightened 
some poor woman’s load by the gift of the 
worn articles, instead of hoarding them up 
and storing them in the attic, thus mistak¬ 
ing the vice of parsimony for the virtue of 
economy. Nowhere should the cleansing 
process be more thorough than in the cham¬ 
bers or sleeping apartments. But before 
commencing work here reflect a little—and 
if you belong to that class who devote the 
largest, sunniest room they have to the use 
of the “ some-time guest,” while they sleep 
on the north side of the house themselves 
or let their children do so, where the best 
efforts at hygienic living cannot coax the 
sun to enter the room, don’t you think that 
you are wise enough and strong enough 
this year to reverse this order of things and 
have the good of your home yourself ? Or 
if, like another class, the girls of your fam¬ 
ily have nice, pleasant rooms, and the boys 
have a little back chamber, because you al¬ 
ways thought that boys did not notice or 
care how a room looked if only the bed was 
comfortable, believe me a bright boy’s 
wants are not all met by a comfortable 
bed and sufficient to eat, any more than 
are those of girls. Make the boys’ rooms 
neat and attractive; hang on the walls 
the kind of pictures they like; show that 
mother love studied th'eir nature and 
sought to make them happy, and within 
certain limits, let them do as they choose 
in their own room. Boys have a much 
finer taste and keener appreciation of pleas¬ 
ant surroundings than all mothers give 
them credit for. No doubt this is a digres- 
sion'and yet a very pardonable one, I trust; 
for what do we seek to attain by all this 
home-cleaning but added health and hap¬ 
piness for our families. When home is the 
dearest spot on earth to a boy, he is not 
very apt to go astray. 
Feather beds and pillows should be ren¬ 
ovated and put in clean cases as often as 
once in two or three years; and when this 
is not necessary they should be placed semi¬ 
annually out-of-doors where they will be 
exposed to the full effects of sun and air 
for one, or, better yet, two days. The same 
is true of mattresses. The labor is not hard¬ 
er or more difficult than are many other 
tasks which the ingenious woman accom¬ 
plishes. Rip them apart, and after care¬ 
fully dusting and cleaning the material 
with which they are filled, replace it and 
retie them. This is done by using strong 
cord and a straight mattress needle for the 
tops and a curved one for the sides. 
If a little pulverized borax be added to 
the water in which woolen blankets are 
washed, the dirt will be got rid of more 
easily than by any other means. Good soap 
made into a suds and not applied directly 
to the blankets, a little borax and washing 
and rinsing in water of the same temper¬ 
ature, will solve the question of washing 
Pis’ceUaneoujii ^dmti.oing. 
When Baby was sick, we gave her Castorla, 
When she was a Child, she cried for CaBtorla. 
When she became Miss, she clung to Castorla 
When she had Children, she gave them Caatont* 
