89o 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
DEC. 20 
“Rough on Rogues .” 
LOOKOUT 
ALMANAC 
LOOKING OUT FOR NUMBER ONE. 
DECEMBER. 
MOIldftV kook out for schemes like that 
“ of the Niagara White Grape Com- 
22, pany. Here is a note from one 
who signs himself “Victim.” While, un¬ 
fortunately. our warnings may come too 
late to save those who have already in¬ 
vested, the same plan will undoubtedly be 
tried in the future with other fruits. “I 
thank The Rural for its late article on 
the Niagara White Grape Company. It 
has come rather late to help many who 
have been ‘drawn in’ by this professed 
band of Christians. Their representations 
and promises have not proved true. They 
exacted exorbitant prices for vines, and 
now behold the sad results.” * * * 
Again we say look out for those crayon 
portrait societies. We have exposed their 
methods several times. Here comes a note 
from one of our West Virginia readers, 
which shows what the business is: “I 
notice a caution in a late Rural telling us 
to beware of the artistic crayon portrait 
fiends. Some time ago my wife sent them 
the only picture she had of a daughter. 
They then proposed to furnish the frame. 
Then the swindle began to appear. We de¬ 
clined to be cheated and never got the 
picture back. It was a Chicago fraud.” 
2 3 • months in a certain locality there 
have been several disastrous fires among 
dairy farmers, which have all been trace¬ 
able to the use of kerosene lanterns in the 
barns. At this time of year on large dairy 
farms the milking must all be done before 
daylight in the morning and after dark at 
night, and the person who invents a safe 
lantern will confer a boon on dairymen. It 
is easy to say, * Take care that the burners 
are kept clean, and the lanterns are hung 
in a secure place.’ Accidents will sometimes 
happen in spite of these precautions.” 
Thus wrote a friend in Wisconsin and we 
make haste to print the note here. The 
dangerous lantern is a bad fraud. The old 
candle lantern is not half so nice-looking, but 
10 times as safe. Before next Christmas we 
hope to announce an electric lantern that 
will be cheap, safe, and bright. Why not ? 
* 
* * 
Look out that you do not 
lose your faith in “ Santa 
2 4* Claus” and Christmas. This 
is the day of all days when you should 
stand by our good old friend, “ Santa 
Claus 1 ” What is that but a name for 
hope and faith ? In helpless childhood we 
look to old Santa Claus to reward our good 
behavior, to make us happy and to gratify 
our childish desires. Many a little country 
boy has, on Christmas Eve, put an armful 
of sweet hay and a little bag of grain out 
on the snow so that the “reindeer” might 
eat while Santa Claus distributed his pres¬ 
ents, and it made the little heart happy in 
the morning to fiDd that the hay and grain 
had disappeared. As we grow into men 
and women “ Santa Claus ” comes to repre¬ 
sent the power and satisfaction that come 
to each of us as the result of honest, ear¬ 
nest work and thought. Our “ stocking ” 
is filled in proportion as we feel that we 
have been true to ourselves. Look out that 
you believe in “ Santa Claus ”—he is your 
best friend. 
* 
* * 
Ttllirsdfl V Lookout that you know whether 
• you are a “meat type” or a 
25. “milk type.” That is a good 
Christmas thought for you. Read the ac¬ 
count of Prof. Davenport’s feeding test on 
page 884, to get yourself started. In every 
breed of cattle there are individuals built 
by Nature for the special business of mak¬ 
ing good meat quickly and economically. 
There are also thin, raw-boned, coarse in¬ 
dividuals, built in every part for thes-pecial 
function of making milk and butter. The 
man who would run a dairy of “meat” 
animals, or his friend who would attempt 
to make beef from “ milk ” animals would 
both starve to death. These same “ types ” 
are found just as distinct in men. Many a 
man has proved a failure simply because he 
misapplied his energies, not having been 
able to “ strike the right key ” early in life. 
Study your “type.” See what you are 
good for. Find your place and then stick 
to it like a dog to a root. 
• * 
FridaV Look out for Golden Rod, our 
^ “ “National Flower.” One of our 
2 Pennsylvania friends talks the fol¬ 
lowing sense about it: “ This much-petted 
beauty will turn us all out of the house and 
farm yet if we don’t quit our sentimental 
nonsense and go to fighting it. It has a 
terrible grip on old Mother Earth. Look 
out!” It doesn’t pay to pet weeds. * * * 
Look out for a man through Massachusetts 
pretending to solicit subscribers for the 
“Illustrated Bazaar.” He has samples of 
six different chromos and also samples of 
frames which he offers for $1. * * * Look 
out for the Craig Machine Company and 
also for E. L. Jones & Co., Beekman Street, 
New York. The latter firm advertise 
“ Sappho Pellets.” All the “ office ” they 
have is a small wooden box for letters. 
* * * Lightning-rod swindlers are still 
working in Iowa. 
• * 
Satnrdav Look out out for wicked adven- 
J turers who attempt to wed 
2 7• wealthy young country girls. 
Hardly a day passes without a story of this 
kind from some part of the country. These 
rascals are handsome, good talkers, and 
there is a general “ dash ” about them. 
They tell great stories about their wealth 
and position, and pretend to be desperately 
in love with some pretty girl who either 
has money of her own or who has good 
“prospects.” One such scoundrel came 
within an ace of marrying a young woman 
of Middletown, Ohio, only to be denounced 
as a bigamist and criminal on the morning 
of the wedding day. A young Kentucky 
girl now in this city has just been deserted 
by a so-called Spanish “count,” who 
took $70,000 of her money. These black¬ 
hearted scoundrels are everywhere. Young 
women—as you love home, honor, life it¬ 
self—refuse to marry a stranger until he 
makes his past history clear and proves 
himself by his present conduct. 
Poultry Yard. 
Barley for poultry. 
Hens have hearts. 
Soft food once a day is enough. 
Any better form of charcoal than parched 
corn ? 
It is now claimed that roup in poultry is 
transmissible. 
Catching Guinea Hens. 
R. S., Charlotte, N. C .—How can I catch 
my flock of guineas? They roost in a large 
apricot tree, and if approached while on 
the roost they will fly up into a very large 
oak. 
Ans. —You will have to trap them. Turn 
a large box on end so that it will fall on its 
face. Set a stick to hold it up and tie a 
long string to the stick. Put some grain in 
under the box, take the end of the string, 
and get off out of sight. The guineas will 
go under the box to get the grain. Then 
pull the string, out comes the stick, and 
the box falls, with the birds inside where 
you can catch them. This is the principle 
of the fall or box trap. 
A Bkown Leghorn Record.— On page 
804, under the head of Poultry Notes, Mrs. 
E. C. G. gives a record of 40 hens for 10 
months, from January 1, 1890. I started 
with a flock of 38 hens and 2 roosters 
(Brown Leghorns) last winter, and from 
January 1, to October 31, they had fur¬ 
nished 4,925 eggs (410 5-12 dozens.) During 
the summer three hens died and five hens 
and one rooster were eaten, so that by 
August 1, we had only 30 hens and one 
rooster. We sold $42.70 worth of eggs dur¬ 
ing that time, at an average of 17 cents per 
dozen. Do you think hens pay ? We kept 
no account of the feed. f. m. h. 
Spencerport, N. Y. 
Lime for Poultry,—The Rural asks 
for facts as to the necessity of lime in some 
form for fowls, and especially for hens lay¬ 
ing eggs, and what the best form of it is ? 
My observation is that, in the estimation of 
hens whose range is black soil prairie, cul¬ 
tivated land and grass, the forms of lime 
stand in this order: Small shells from the 
sea beach; crushed oyster * shells; egg 
shells and coarse ground raw bone. I have 
placed these before them and they were 
eaten in the order named, where the feed 
was corn. When the three first are sup¬ 
plied in quantity, egg shells are wholly 
neglected, and when sound, hard wheat is 
the main ration, the neglect of any form of 
lime is still marked. When corn exclusively 
is fed, the first thing after taking a full 
meal of it, the fowls start for a grass plat 
and make a dessert off the fresh blades, and 
this they do in every case where the fresh 
grass is to be had. Laying hens, as might 
be reasonably inferred, consume more car¬ 
bonate of lime in some form than hens not 
laying and young chickens, and males still 
less. Was there ever a better illustration 
of the insufficiency of corn as a main ration, 
than these efforts of the fowls to supple¬ 
ment it with green grass and some form of 
lime? And, by the way, it is not phosphate 
of lime they are after as the main thing, 
but the carbonate, and here a curious fact 
comes in: in the lead regions of Missouri 
and Illinois the carbonate of lead is very 
common. This the newly arrived fowls 
mistake for carbonate of lime, and are fre¬ 
quently poisoned by it and die; but they 
soon learn to know the true from the false, 
and a fowl of some experience, learns to dis¬ 
criminate between lead and lime as readily 
as between a “ hawk and a handsaw.” 
Champaign County, Ill. B. F. JOHNSON. 
I] 
I 
I 
I 
I 
i 
i 
I 
I 
I 
I 
THE HOUSEWIFE FOR DECEMBER. 
Entertaining and helpful will be the verdict of every 
one who reads the stories, poems and practical articles 
in the Christmas number of The Housewife. There 
will be a Christmas story by Kate Upson Clark, a 
Christmas tale for the children, entitled “Jeff and 
Jim,” by Mary C. Hungert'ord; and the third chap¬ 
ter of the serial story, “One Blue Stocking’s Hus¬ 
band,” by Marion Ilarland. 
Mrs, John Sherwood will furnish an article on 
“How Shall We Treat Odr Guests?” 
Emma Moffett Tyng will write in her happy way 
about “Holiday Times;” how to decorate the house 
and table for the joyous festival, and how to make a 
“Jack Horner Pie” and a “Christmas Bag.” 
Dinah Sturgis in “ Practical Dress,” will show 
what constitutes a “ Good Figure,” and how it may be 
obtained. She will discuss “School, Afternoon and 
Evening Dresses,” and “Children’s Clothing,” con¬ 
cluding with many “Helpful Hints and Suggestions.” 
George R. Knapp will write about “ Home made 
Conservatories,” “Some Winter-blooming Plants,” 
and “ The Flower Shows.” His “ Timely Pointers,” 
“Answersto Correspondents,” and “ShortLessons” 
abound with help for the window-gardener. 
In “The Kitchen,” Sallie Joy White will furnish 
“A Christmas Dinner,” M. J. Ashton will show 
“ How to Serve Chicken,” and Maria Parloa will 
contribute more of her interesting facts for housewives. 
For poems there will be “Christmas Scenes,” by 
Anna R. Henderson, “A Christmas Glee,” by Sarah 
I>. Hobart, and “A WAIL,” by Soflhie St. G. Law¬ 
rence, in which many housewives will feel like uniting. 
The Woman’s Chat box, by Agnes C. Stoddard, and 
the Needle-worker, by Emma C. Monroe, an article 
entitled “ How to Secure a Beautiful Complexion,” 
with other interesting matter, will complete the Decem¬ 
ber number. 
U5P Every department in charge of a special editor. 
Every article contributed expressly for THE HOUSEWIFE by the best talent 
obtainable. 
50 CENTS A YEAR. 5 CENTS A COPY. 
SPECIAL OFFER: To introduce it into thousands of new homes, we oiler it 
4 months tor only 10 cents, if you mention The Rural New-Yorker. 
) THE HOUSEWIFE on all new T s-stands, 5 cents a copy. 
THE HOUSEWIFE PUBLISHING CO., 
KTEW YORK. 
