1U 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



and SniKAM, of December Sib, 1S76, page '116, under the caption, "Pipe 

 Fish." The upper edge o' the pipe, na yon will see, Ib broken, hut I 

 have no doubt it waa a sonni pipe, and that the growth or expansion of 

 the oyster's shell caused the fracture; but be that, as it may, the whole 

 thing bears evidence that the bivalve was brought forth and cradled in 

 the bowl of a tobacco pipe, and that he is true to his nature, i8 shown 

 by his oloee adhesion to his house. Tmly yours, 



J, F. Mfedock. 

 Ans. This really valued curiosity lias attracted much at- 

 tention in our office. "We have acted upon our correspondents 

 suggestion, and turned it over to the New York Aquarium. — 

 [Ed. P. and S.]. 



« i» 



The Moines.— If there be truth in the statement that 

 is going the rounds of the press, regarding that most retir- 

 ing of quadrupeds, the mole, it is, just now, worth while to 

 commend it, with whatever truth it may be found to con- 

 tain, to the management of the Greenwood Cemetery. From 

 their last Teport, we learn that such a war has been waged 

 upon the ground-moles, in the interest of smooth turf and 

 solid path, that in the past year nearly 1,8110 of these little 

 animals have been destroyed. And the item we have in 

 mind records a very similar fact with regard to a very 

 choicely-kept estate abroad, where a similar work of exter- 

 mination was carried out. But there, it is said, the result 

 was not all that could be coveted, for such was the unex- 

 pected and alarming increase of insects and slugs in the 

 sward, that the noble, proprietor, discovering that he hud 

 disturbed one of the balances of nature, set at work, at 

 large cost, and restocked his grounds with moles. The state- 

 ment, which comes with apparent authenticity, is an inter- 

 esting one, and by no means unusual in its bearing and ar- 

 gument. The mole preys on what are a far greater pest to 

 cultivated tracts than he can be, with all the vexation caused 

 by his little subterranean alleys. All authorities declare 

 that this annoyance, easily repaired by spade and roller, is 

 far more than counter-balanced by the services of the 

 humblo little Telpa family, who are classed as insectivorous 

 mammals, and deserve to be protected as such. When the 

 gardener has banished the toad for its ugliness, the warb- 

 lers for the sake of his small fruits, and the mole because 

 he burrows lawlessly in his lawns and pathways, the folly 

 invitos its own speedy penalty, for an army of insects 

 and creeping things are ready to improve all such ad- 

 vantages, and revenge the unwise slaughter. Greenwood 

 may need the moles, as well as the birds. We are getting 

 wiser on such subjects, but we make wisdom sometimes very 

 costly. — Brooklyn Union, 



Hffoadfand, $nrm and %ardm. 



QUAILS IN CONFINEMENT. 



ALTHOUGH it is rather late for sneh information to be of 

 service during the present season, yet the experience 

 of some of our correspondents, who have been keeping quails 

 through the winter, for the purpose of turning them out in 

 Bpring, may be of great benefit to those who propose follow- 

 ing their example another year. And we would here say to 

 our numerous readers, who are writing to us with regard to 

 procuring live birds for this purpose, that they have delayed 

 too long. During the month of January, quails could have 

 been purchased in our markets in any quantity, but at that 

 time very few cared to take the trouble and risk of carrying 

 them through; hence, the dealers, finding themselves with 

 large stocks on hand, declined making further contracts with 

 their western or southern sources of supply, and when March 

 came, or even in February, no birds were to be had. The 

 moral of which is that those who wish to replenish their stock 

 of birds must procure them early, and provide for them until 

 the weather permits of their being set adrift to take care of 

 themselves. 



One of the most successful of our friends in keeping his 

 birds over, is Mr. James Bryce of Madison, N. J., and to him 

 we are indebted for the cut of his coop or box, in which his 

 birds have thrived, and which we give herewith. 



^ 



The box]is six feet long and four feet wide, and is raised by 

 the supports H H four feet from the ground The coop is di- 

 vided by the partitions C into three compartments. The 

 ends and sides are perforated with augur holes. The top and 

 bottom are alike, being made with boards, DDDD, left half 

 an inch apart, and wire netting E in the middle. B B B rep- 

 resents the water tanks. As regards feed, Mr. Bryce gives 

 his birds just as much as they will eat, morning and night, of 

 wheat, buckwheat, rye and corn mixed, with plenty of fresh 

 water three times a day, and gravel and wood ashes morning 

 and night. He also gives them plenty of cabbage (cut fine) 

 celery tops, etc., daily, and twice a week onions, eut fine and 

 mixed with hay or grass seed. The advantage of this coop is, 

 that the birds keep it, in a measure, clean themselves, the 

 refuse, etc., passing out at the bottom, or the apartments can 

 be cleaned separately. Thus far this season he has lost only 

 six birds out of some seventy. The coop is kept on an en- 

 closed piazza, which has windows and doors, and the birds 

 get the sunshine whenever it is possible. 



— An excellent liniment to apply to sores on horses' backs, 

 legs, or elsewhere, can be made as follows : Take, inner bark 

 uf the ordinary white oak, boiled down in as iron kettle 

 until it is t\s black as ink ; while boiling drop in a piece of 

 alum about the size of a hen's egg. Never tine a brass kettle 

 to boil it in. This liniment is to be applied with a sponge, 

 and, indeed, it is good for any sore or bruise. It is a safe 

 thing to keep in any one's barn ready to use when occasion 

 requires. — Our Home Journal. 



House Flesh Sacrificed in New Jersey. — A Marlboro cor- 

 respondent sends us the following notice of the great horse 

 sale which took place there last week, at C. E. Oorneliu'B 

 farm. He says: 



"It, waa the opinion of all the local horsemen present, this 

 was the most valuable sale and the most largely attended of 

 any that has ever been held in Morris County' The dele- 

 gation from New York City was immense, and many noted 

 turfmen present, attracted no doubt by the brilliant display, 

 to be sold without reserve. But, oh ! what a sad shrinkage 

 in values, paid and received for the same. I was told by 

 good authority, that the celebrated stallion 'Kirkwoodj' 

 cost Mr. Carman more than all that was sold yesterday 

 brought." 



ORNAMENTAL PLANTING. 



THE beauty of many of our country homos is sadly 

 marred by the injudicious planting of ornamental 

 trees and shrubs, and there is no branch of the landscape 

 gardener's busines that demands more sound judgment, 

 correct -ideas, or refined taste. It is not enough to admire 

 and appreciate a well defined and harmoniously colored 

 landscape; to be able to judge of its merits, or defects, he 

 must also be able to select the materials, and so arrange or 

 dispose of them as to produce an effect at once the most 

 powerful, agreeable, and perfect that they are. capable of 

 doing. To attain this end, the planter requres an amount of 

 skill and knowledge only attainable by perseverance, study, 

 and practice. These remarks apply principally to large and 

 extensive country seats, but also bear weight with regard to 

 less pretentious residences. In former years the rage has 

 been altogether for mixed planting, without, any regard to 

 the future size of the trees or shrubs planted, or to the effect 

 of the shades of color either in summer or fall (how often 

 have we seen Norway spruce, and other large growing tree, 

 that will not stand pruning without spoiling their contour, 

 planted within six feet of a Carriage drive), but now a more 

 tasteful and natural idea prevails, and planting in groups 

 with reference to the future general effect, the ultimate size 

 of the trees, and their coloring in summer and fall, is more 

 generally carried out. Trees having a resemblance to one 

 another in the size and form of their leaves may be associ- 

 ated in groups, but it is more desirable that they possess 

 some other marked characteristic in common, such as color 

 of foliage, bark, or flower, habit of growth, or form, etc. 

 Thus when depth of color in leafage is desired, fit associates 

 are found in the Purple Beech, Elm, Oak, Hazel, or Barberry; 

 when light colors are wanted they are at command in the 

 Golden Birch, Alder, Elder, and Willow, as also among the 

 naturally silvery foliaged trees, as the silver Poplar, Linden, 

 Maple, Huntingdon and other willows, and Sea Buck thorn, 

 while among strictly variegated trees and shrubs there ex- 

 ists a wide field to select from. The autumnal colors and 

 tints of falling foliage desorve marked attention. The rich 

 scarlet and purple of the Oaks, Liquid Amber, Nyssa, or 

 Scarlet Maple, the golden yellow of the Norway and other 

 Maples, Tulip trees, etc. ; the chestnut with its yellow and 

 brown; gorgeous festoons of Virginia Creeper, or Yellow 

 Celastrus, contrasting beautifully with the deep green of the 

 Spruces, Hemlocks, or other evergreens. Color in bark is 

 most appreciable when branches are denuded of their foliage, 

 and small groups having distinct colors tend to relieve the 

 dull monotony of the winter and early spring months. White 

 Birch, Linden, Golden Ash, Copper, Purple, and Golden 

 Willow, Virgilia, the red Dog-wood, etc., all work in well; 

 while Deutzias, Spiraas, Weigelias, Dwarf Magnolias, Tar- 

 tarian Honeysuckle, Pavias, the Japanese Judos Tree, 

 double Almonds, and the dwarfer Evergreens, either singly, 

 or in groups, may fill up the foreground, and give lightness 

 and beauty to the carriage drive and lawn during the whole 

 season. Irregularity of outline to the lawn gives an idea of 

 size, and the margins and points may be well filled up here 

 and there by n border of hardy herbaceous and other plants. 

 Daphne Cneorum and other dwarf dowering plants— the 

 noble and striking Pampas grass, Arundo donas variegata, 

 or Arundo Conspicua, in prominent positions, or as single 

 specimens on the lawn, while, of course, nearer the house, 

 the flower-beds are located, radiant with beauty during the 

 summer and fall months. w. j. r>. 



NOTES ON ORANGE CULTURE. 



M_iM>.uaN, Fla., March 17, 1877. 



Editor Forest and Stream. 



Theories concerning the c 

 numerous and varied that o] 

 which to adopt. Almost ev 



the inexperienced may wel 

 lis 



i of I 



at a los! 



i trei 



t) so 



68 to know 

 pet idea to 

 I indefatigable energy, and 

 njy.zled at such variety of 

 I part of the subject. 

 only suitable place for a 

 ■ous thrifty groves on low 



id that high-land is the 



grove: but what about the numc 

 land that bear their yearly abundn 



There are numerous learned essays on the necessity of a 

 substratum of clay, or marl, or what not, but I have seen 

 groves where, if there were anything of this kind, it was so 

 far beneath the surface as to be only discoverable to the well 

 digger. 



There are groves on the hills where the soil, during the 

 season, retains barely sufficient of the rainfall to nourish 

 plant life; and there are others on the flat, low lands, where 

 the drains are dug deep, and the trees set high on ridges, to 

 escape the continued superabundance of water. 



The man who has paid a hundred dollars for his acre of 

 choice hammock, and he who has bomesteaden from the 

 government llifi tract miles back in the pine lands, possess 

 their utovi s, with no apparent difference in the condition of 

 tht bra -; ■■■.<-, j,i. what is flw to fertility Of the Boil, 



The rich, black hammock will, unaided bv fertilizers, pro- 

 duce fine growth, as will also the I. , .- i: if pine land; 

 but even on land which is so poor that it seems little else but 

 white sand, the orange tree mil wave its green leaves in 

 vigorous growth, if cared for and fertilized. 



For the first few years the plough should do its duty in 

 keeping the weeds and grass down, but when both foliage and 

 roots have spread for and wide, the plough should hp run 

 lightly, or the cultivator or harrow used" in its place. Si) 

 rapid'and extensive is the growth of the roots, that when the 

 grove is well in bearing, the space between the trees is prac- 

 tically covered with the fine yellow fibrous network, and 

 the rake is then deemed the proper thing to loosen the soil, 

 and avoid injuring the roots. 



Pruning the trees is practiced mote or less by some, and 

 by others not at all. 1 shall not Bay which is OBSt, as the 

 tree appears to flourish oithel way, and he who has his grove, 

 may take his choice between the 'native lux tuiantgro will, or 

 the pruned symmetrical tree. In this vicinity, however, prun- 

 ing is done but moderately, if at all, many preferring low- 

 headed, bushy trees, and some being of opinion that the low 

 foliage affords a protection against frost, and against the too 

 fierce rays of the sun, and keeps the roots coul and moist 

 in hot, dry weather. Possibly, as in mflnj other things, the 

 best course maybe a medium between the two extremes, the 

 pruning knife being used sparingly. 



Florida oranges are getting to "be a scarce commodity as 

 the season wears on, and the price is correspondingly high. 

 The State is full of visitors, and local demand is sufficient to 

 maintain the price. H they seem abundant at (he North 

 now, I suspect the placard of "Florida Oranges'' may be too 

 often used to give a good name to inferior fruit from foreign 

 sources. c. d. d. 



Value or Ayrshire Cows. — It is the practice in many 

 parts of Ayrshire to let the cows to a professed milkman at 

 so ranch per cow per annum. This is provinoially called a 

 bowing, or boyening, from boyen, a milk pail. The farmer 

 provides the cows and requisite dairy vessels, the whole sum- 

 mer pasturing and winter foddering", and houses and litter 

 for cows, and a habitation for the milkman : while the boy- 

 Oft'ertatesthi whole charge of the milking, si a 



whey, as 'he chooses. The price jarii a fi <m £8 to £15. In 



and if to this be added the wages of a milkman or milkmaid 

 for every eight cows, the whole expense of the cow will bo 

 £18 ; and the money received at 10U per gallon, for 600 gal- 

 lons, being but £26, there will result only £7 per annum 

 profit on each cow ; but this supposes that the. milk of the 

 cow is fairly disposed of without, adulteration or trickery. 

 Mr. Alton rates the profit of the Ayrshire cow at a higher 

 value. He says : "To sum up all in one sentence, I now 

 repeat, that hundreds and thousands of our best, Scotch 

 dairy cows, when they are in their best condition and well 

 feed", yield' at the rate* of 2,000 Scotch pints of milk ( 1,000 

 gallons ) in one year, that in general from seven and a 

 half to eight pints ( three and three-quarters to four gallons ) 

 of their milk will yield a pound of butter, country weight 

 ( one and a half pounds avoirdupois ); and fifty-five pints 

 (twenty-seven and a half gallons) of their milk will pro- 

 produce one. stone and a half imperial weight of full milk 

 cheese ; that at the proper season, and when a healthy calf is 

 fed, and the prices of veal as high as they have frequently 

 been within the last fifteen years, milk will yield a profit in 

 veal equal to three and a half pence, and four pence pei 

 pint ( half gallon ) ; and where the buttermilk can be. sold, 

 that will yield a similar profit. The quidity of the milk is 

 estimated by the quantity of butter or cheese, that it will 

 yield. Three gaUons and a half of this milk will yield 

 about a pound of this butter, country weight, or a pound 

 and a half avoirdupois, and when one gallon of 

 added to four of milk, the buttermilk is worth to the 

 farmer two pence per gaUon. An Ayrshire cow, therefore, 

 may be reckoned to yield 257 English pounds of butter per 

 annum, or about five pounds per week all the year round, 

 besides the value of buttermilk and her calf." — Western 

 Mural. 



Plants as Weather Guides. — Florists know that many 

 plants are extremely sensitive to changes in the atmospheric 

 condition, so the opening and closing of the flowers servo 

 measurably as barometers. Hannemann, u botanist, of 

 Proskan, Prussia, gives the following signs, which he has 

 has found reliable in the following plants: The small bind- 

 weed ( i •■/ ' olvuhis wrvti sis ) and eompimpernel, or poor man's 

 weather-glass (AnagaBis arvensiaj, expand their flowers at the 1 

 approach of wot weather, whilst, on the other hand, tho dif- 

 ferent varieties of clover contract their leaves before rain. 

 If fine, bright weather is in prospect, the leaves of tho chick- 

 weed (Stsllaria media) unfold, and the flowers remain awako 

 and erect until mid-day. When the plant drpopB and its 

 flowers do not oxpanil, rain may be expebted. The half 

 opening of the flowers is a sign that the rain will not last 

 long. The hornet saxifrage (Pimp® . indicates 

 the coming weather in the same manner. As to the small 

 Cape marigold (On ■ ), should it open at or 7 

 a. m., and not close till i p. m.. we may reckon on settled 

 weather; if tho flower continue.- sleeping alt. -r 7. it beipkens 

 rain. With tho corn-thistle and common sow-thistle ;>•'.- 

 sis and ulcraceius), the non-closing of the flower- 

 heads warns us that it will rain the next day ; whilst the 

 closing of them denotes fine weather. Ib-pecting the 

 weather indications of ladder ketmir l Uibinmut iriomm), 

 the stemless ground thistle (Handuus aeavlis), marsh mari- 

 gold (China pofaslr&J, ere. [dug crow foot (Ba wuta repents), 



wood sorrel ( Oxrtlis acdoseua), and othi r species of the oxalis 

 genius, rain may be confidently expected when the flowers 

 of tho first do not open, when the calyx of ttu s. mud closes, 

 and when the rest fold their leave.-. We may look also for 

 wet weather if the leaves of the whitlow grass ( Drain Ufrna) 

 droop, und lady's bed-straw (Gall ■ - in- 



flated and gives out a strong odor. Finally, the approach 

 of rain is indicated in the case of 1 1n yellow wood anemone 

 i .\„- „!..„'■ nihil), riih.iiiles) by the closing of the flowi rs, and in 

 that of tho wind-flower (Anemone wmurrittl) b> jin-ir droop- 

 ing. — M, 



Effect oi ■.'■:.-.:.. ..I ■•-■•. observations made during 

 the An lie Exp dition have brought to light one or hvo curious 

 facts in connection with Ihe pow, rs of growth possessed by 

 different plant- under varying conditions of climate. Ameri- 

 ca i research has pi oyed that, the seed-; oi certain plants, if 

 gathered iii one climate and sown in another, will germinate 

 earliar or later, and with mora or less vigor, according :.^ the 

 new climate is warmer or coldai than the eld. And 

 perceptible change of climate is no!, required to she.', 

 suits; a difference of a few degrees only in latitlldl 

 cient to do so. For example, wheat from Scotland, sown in the 

 south of England, vrill germinate and ripen much more quickly 

 : similar quality gathered in the South, and 

 planted in the same latitude in which it was grown. 



This fact is of the utmost importance to agriculturists. To 

 Becure early-growing wheat, it is only necessary to take care 



