18C5.] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
87 
flower is four or five inches long, and looks so 
like a white lily that it is not strange that the 
Chinese call it Yulau — or lily-tree. Not only 
are the flowers beautiful from their brilliant 
whiteness, but they have a most delightful 
fragrance. Tlie tree is also a pleasing object 
after the flowers are succeeded by the leaves, as 
its foliage has a healthy and vigorous look. 
The shape of the flowers and leaves is shown 
in the engraving. The fruit, for the reason that 
only a portion of the seeds perfect themselves, 
is curiously contorted and variable in shape. 
The tree will grow in any good soil, and is per- 
fectly hardy at Newburgh, and probably further 
North. In the nurseries it is propagated by 
grafting on Magnolia acuminata, one of our 
natives that grows readily from layers. It may 
also be grown from seeds, but grafted plants are 
more readily transplanted. Another Magnolia, 
much resembling the foregoing, also frequently 
cultivated, is calletl Magnolia Sotilangcana. It is 
a variety of M. conspicua, and believed to be a 
cross between it and a purple Japanese species, 
M purpurea. It gets its name from having 
originated on the grounds of JI. Soulange 
Bodin, near Paris. The tree has almost pre- 
cisely the same appearance as the other, but the 
flowers are tinged witli purple and bloom a 
little later. Several other varieties of M. conspi- 
cna are to be found in the catalogues, the tree 
having a tendency to sport when raised from 
the seed. The trees are to be had in all first- 
class nurseries at about $1.50 or $3, we believe. 
Makino Flowers Usefdi,. — According to 
La Belgique Ilorticole, anewculturehas sprung 
up near Nuremberg. The flowers of the very 
dark variety of hollyhock, which appear nearly 
black, are found to contain coloring matter in 
such quantity as to render them valuable as a 
dye. The flowers are sent to England where 
they are used in dyeing cotton, and the culture 
is said to be quite a profitable one in Belgium. 
A Home-made Easy-Chair. 
A subscriber to the AgricuUurisl describes an 
easy chair which almost any one can make with 
materials very easily procured. Take a good flour 
barrel, cnt away a few 
staves at the bight of 
a common rocking 
chair, then make a 
deeper cut about afoot 
higher to form the 
arms, as shown in the 
engraving. Nail in a 
circular board for the 
bottom ; then make a 
suitable cover of any 
kind of cloth, stuff it 
well with hair, moss, 
tow, or other proper 
material, and it is com- 
plete. A sm.all open- 
ing or door can be made under the seat, which will 
furnish a convenient work box. Before commene- 
iug to m.ake a chair of this kind from a barrel, it is 
necessary to nail all the hoops securely, especially 
those which are to be cut, to each of the staves. 
I^imc ft>r 'Wliltcwaf-tU in the spring 
bIiohUI be slaked now. Take quick-lime in lumps ; 
start the slaking with hot water, and add more as 
needed to bring it to a creamy consistence. Do 
this in a half barrel or similar vessel ; stir it well, 
cover and leave it in a still place, undisturbed until 
wanted for use. A crust of carbonate of lime will 
form on the surface ; this will have to be skimmed 
off. Lime prepared in this way becomes smoother 
and softer, the gritty portions and particles imper- 
fectly burned settle to the bottom, and tlie slak- 
ing is more complete than if slaked at the time it 
is used, and fur nice work it is much preferable to 
lime slaked at the time it is wanted for application. 
Washing Machines.— A Good One. 
The meshes of cloth catch and hold many sub- 
stances which do not belong there. These are usu- 
ally made up of various matters floating in the air, 
or gathered by contact with dusty surfaces, and in 
wearing apparel, exhalations from the body help to 
soil the cloth. Water, properly applied, carries out 
some of the foreign particles mechanically, others 
are dissolved, and thus separate chemically. Hot 
water acts more readily than cold, but even when 
it is heated, some substances do not yield to it, and 
soap, or other chemical additions, are necessary to 
prepare them for separation from the cloth. To 
wash clothing effectually, it is necessary to bring 
the water and soap, or other detergent, into repeat- 
ed contact with every fibre, and the hotter the bet- 
ter ; and the process, or machine, which does this 
best, and with the least labor, is first in excellence 
and most desirable, provided it is not too costly. 
Above we have illustrated a Washing Machine 
invented by Mr. Wm. M. Doty, which, in our judg- 
ment, combines the desired points in an excellent 
manner. It consists of tub. A, nearly square, but 
with the front and rear ends eloping toward the 
bottom. A movable wash-board, £, is suspended 
within the tub, by means of pins, on the two up- 
right side-pieces into which the board is mortised. 
The clothing is placed between the wash-board, B, 
and the sloping side. A, and the wash-board is 
swung against it by means of a frame, or handle, 
with its lower ends entered into slots in the upper 
end of the side pieces. A brass spring at C, be- 
tween the side piece and the side of the tub, and 
fastened to each, brings the board back after it has 
been forced against the clothing by the downward 
motion of the arms. The wash-board is placed to 
strike the clothes, so that they are kept rolling 
over and over, and a new surface is presented for 
e.ach blow, thus operating on the principle of a 
fulling mill. A cover for the tub is provided, to 
keep the water hot, which is an important addition. 
The tub is readily emptied by a faucet in front, not 
shown in the engraving. The family size of this 
machine will take the bulk of sis shirts at a time, 
and wash them in three to five minntcs, with much 
less wear to the clothing than by rubbing over the 
board. Our estimate of the value of this household 
implement may be judged liy the fact that, after 
several mouths' trial in the family of the Proprietor 
of tljo AyrieiiUurhl, by the side of several others, 
this was finally selected to offer .as a premium to our 
friends sending subscribers. The machine is also 
being introduced for w.ashing wool, and is 
much liked for this use by those who havo 
tried it. Subscribers west of the Ohio rivei 
can be supplied with these machines by 
Messrs. Doty Brothers, Janesville, Wis., 
others by H. B. Lane, Agent, 151 Nassau-et, 
New-York City. The arms and legs aro 
easily removed, and the whole readily pack- 
ed in small comp,ass for shipping. With 
the handles slipped out, and a cover laid on 
it answers as a small t.able in the kitchen. 
The price here is $13, at Janesville, %W.r,0. 
This low price is a prominent consideration, 
and recommends this m.achine to the public. 

Our Bachelor in the Household. 
The publication of the Bachelor's crusade 
agninst the recipes we placed in his hands 
has, as we anticipated it would, brought 
down upon him the just indignation of sev- 
eral of our lady friends. This has evidently 
had an effect, as he is moved to reply as 
follows ; — " Now, Mr. Householder, you 
h.ave done it ! .and my ' private opinion, pub- 
licly expressed,' has gone forth in your soap 
and salcratus columns. Judging from the 
letters which you have handed me, there 
must have been a flutter in more than one 
kitchen, when the last Agriculturist came to 
hand. Tou seem to have taken a malicious 
pleasure in setting forth and emph.asizing 
the fact of my singleness, and then have 
done all you can to prevent my bettering my con- 
dition (or otherwise), by making public my views on 
some domestic matters. 
Well, I accept the situation, and take the let- 
ters of indignation as the reward which those 
who try to reform popular abuses always reccirc. 
But I am happy to know that all the housekeepers 
are not irate, and some have written sensible letters, 
which aro good to read, and one lady has sent me 
her cook-book, with a request to exchange. Let her 
wait till mine is out, and she shall have two copies. 
As to your fling at a bachelor's knowledge of cook- 
ery, it is merely a specimen of the airs of superior- 
ity which married people are apt to indulge in. A 
man no more need be of the matrimonial persua- 
sion, before he can judge what is good and whole- 
some food, than he need be a gardener to know a 
good rose, a fiddler to judge of music, or a painter 
to be able to appreciate a good picture. But I be- 
lieve that I do know something about culinary art. 
Once in my life, I was some years where cooks were 
not to be had, and was obliged to investigate the 
subject myself, or eat my food raw. I found that 
the great essentials were : something to cook, some- 
thing to cook it in, a fire, and common sense. The 
first three are easily obtained everywhere, but the 
last and greatest of these is as rare in the kitchen 
as elsewhere. Now if I could ouly teach people 
that fat pork, seven days in the week, w.as neither 
necessary nor healthful ; that a good breakfast may 
bo made without meat ; that when water boils it is 
as hot as it ever will be ; that a rich mince pie or 
pudding, after one has eaten meat to the limit of 
his capacity, is one thing too much ; that alkalies- 
soda and salcratus — when they meet with fat — short- 
enins — will form soap, which, though good in its 
place, is not good in bread and cakes ; that peas, 
asparagus, and other delicate vegetables, are rained 
if boiled with pork, or other meats, and a hundred 
other such obvious and commonsensic.al things, 
they would be prepared for my coolv-book, to which 
I jocularly referred. Seriously, I am glad that your 
good lady friends send in their recipes, for it shows 
that they think that what we eat is of some conse- 
