1865 .] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
87 
flower is four or five inches long, and looks so 
like a white lilj'^ that it is not strange that the 
Chinese call itYulan—or lily-tree. Not only 
•ire the flowers beautiful from their brilliant 
a'hiteness, but they have a most delightful 
fragrance. The 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 called Magnolia Soulangeana. It is 
a variet}’^ of M. conspicua, and believed to be a 
cross between it and a purple Japanese species, 
M. purpurea. It gets its name fi'om having 
originated on the grounds of M. Soulange 
Bodin, near Paris. The tree has almost pre¬ 
cisely the same appearance as the other, but the 
flowers are tinged with purple and bloom a 
little later. Several other varieties of J/i coras^i- 
cua are to be found in the catalogues, tlie tree 
ha^^ng 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, v/e believe. 
---- 
Making Flowers Useful.— According to 
La Belgique Horticole, a new culture has 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. 
TOE lE[(DinglEM(D]Lm. 
A Home-made Easy-Chair. 
A subscriber to the Agriculturist describes an 
easy chair which almost any one can make with 
materials very easily procured. Take a good flour 
barrel, cut away a few 
staves at the hight of 
a common rocking 
chair, then make a 
deeper cut about a foot 
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 small open¬ 
ing or door can be made under the seat, which will 
furnish a convenient work box. Before commenc¬ 
ing to make 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. 
A.ime for Whitewasli in the spring 
should 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. Bo 
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 the slak¬ 
ing is more complete than if siaked at the time it 
is used, and for nice work it is much preferable to 
lime slaked at the time it is wanted for application. 
■■■ ■ I ■ ■- - - 
The meshes of cloth catch and hold ma'ny 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 sloping toward the 
bottom. A movable wash-board, B, 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 (7, 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 
each blow, thus operating on the priucipie 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 six shirts at a time, 
and wash them in three to five minutes, with much 
less wear to the clothing tlian by rubbing over the 
board. Our estimate of the value of this household 
implement may be judged by the fact tliat, after 
several months’ trial in the family of the Proprietor 
of the Agriculturist, by the side of several others, 
this was finally selected to offer as a premium to our 
friends sending subscribers. The machine i.s also 
being introduced for washing wool, and 
much liked for this use by those who have 
tried it. Subscribers west of the Ohio rivet 
can be supplied with these machines by 
Messrs. Doty Brothers, Janesville, Wis., 
others by H. B. Lane, Agent, 1.51 Nassau-st., 
New-York City. The arms and logs are 
easily removed, and the whole readily pack¬ 
ed in small compass for shipping. With 
the handles slipped out, and a cover laid on 
it answers as a small fable in the kitcher.. 
The price here is 813, at Janesville, $10..50. 
This low price is a prominent cousidcr.ation, 
and recommends this machine to the public. 
- 0 - 
Our Bachelor in the Household. 
The publication of the Bachelor’s crusade 
against 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 .is 
follows :—“ Now, Mr. Householder, you 
have done it! and my ‘ private opinion, pub¬ 
licly expressed,’ has gone forth in yonr soap 
from the 
mo, there 
must have been a tlutter in more than one 
kitchen, when the last .igricidturisl came to 
hand. You seem to have taken a malicious 
pleasure in setting forth and emphasizing 
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 reeeire. 
But I am happy to know that all the housekeepers 
are not irate, and some have written sensible lelters, 
which are good to read, and one lady has sent me 
Aer cook-book, with a request to e.vchangc. 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 supci-ior- 
ity which married jicople 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 whei e 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 tlie 
last and greatest of these is a.s rare in the kitchen 
as elsewhere. . Now if I could only teach j'eople 
that fat pork, seven days in the week, was neither 
necessary nor healthful; that a good breakfast may 
be made without meat; that when water boils it is 
as hot as it ever will be ; that a rich nance pie or 
pudding, after one has eaten meat to the limit of 
his capacity, is one thing too much ; that alkalies — 
soda and saleratus—when they meet with fat—short¬ 
ening—will form soap, which, though good in its 
place, is not good in brc.ad and cakes; that peas, 
asparagus, and other delicate vegetables, are ruined 
if boiled with pork, or other meats, and a hundred 
other such obvious and commonsensic.al things, 
they would be prepared for my cook-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 couso 
Washing Machines.—A Good One. 
