be changed, and if some definite law direct¬ 
ing future planting were established, many a 
public highway Would be the gainer. Ave¬ 
nues for public travel should, so far as possi¬ 
ble, be straight lines, and the planting of 
trees, to form the archway covering, be alike 
in straight lines, or rather at uniform dis¬ 
tances from the center roadway, in order to 
assist in forming the water courses and also 
the side-walks. The season of tree planting, 
spring, will soon again be with us, and mean- 
tune we call attention of alt lovers of our 
country, and especially of those who are 
about to plant, to the necessity of some sys¬ 
tem of unity in distances, and perhaps, also, 
of trees. 
The saying, “ lie sure you’re right, then go 
ahead," is certainly one applicable to this 
matter; for once a tree is planted and well 
established in growth, no matter how erro¬ 
neously it may have been placed, we dislike 
to change it; yet it too often happens that 
it must he removed, in order to give any 
character to the road, or to render a side¬ 
walk free ami unobstructed, so that it can be 
traversed at night as well as by day. 
Fanners, think of it! Is it worth while 
to lock up five hundred, or two thousand 
dollars, in a wood-lot V 
L. L. F.vtncniLD. 
boiling Prairie, Wis., 1808. 
Remarks. — Let prairie fanners plant 
wood-lots. Let that be the. first thing, when 
practicable, after purchasing and fencing a 
prairie farm. Then the wood is at home; 
and the growth of timber will enhance, in 
rapidly-increasing ratio, the market value of 
tiie farm itself; and if the planting is properly 
disposed it will add to the comfort and con¬ 
tent of the farmer and his family. 
long but fine burner, a very slender llame 
some two feet high is obtained. This is seu- 
sitive to the slightest sharp or sibilant sound, 
even at long distances. Jingle a bunch of 
keys at the other end of a long room, and 
the flame will dodge as if shot, lowering to 
only eight or ten inches in height. If you 
stand near and talk to it, it will remain per¬ 
fectly quiet till you pronounce S, when down 
it goes. It is an unexplained curiosity." 
A method for separating the solid from 
the liquid constituents of the sewerage of 
our cities, so as to use the former for ma¬ 
nure, has been much sought, for by econo¬ 
mists, especially since Liktuu called partic¬ 
ular attention to the subject. A patent has 
been recently taken out, in England, for a 
compound, composed of animal charcoal, 
blood, clay, alum, and some other materials, 
which precipitates the solid matter into a 
floeculent mass; and this, after drying, will 
serve as an excellent fertilizer. 
It has been claimed that steel boilers could 
never be used, not. being Sufficiently tena¬ 
cious; but recent experiments at Pittsburgh 
seem to prove the contrary. A boiler, made 
of two plates of No. ft steel, one quarter of 
an inch thick, six feet long, and three feet in 
diameter, has been subjected to several trials, 
and the pressure carried up to 725 pounds 
to tiie square inch. The boiler has stretched 
three inches since the trial began, hut thus far 
has stood the greatest pressure successfully. 
Mahouanv is so abundant in Nevada as 
to be used for fuel. Several thousand cords 
are contracted for at $8,50 per cord. 
rbartcttlfurr 
ncittifir anb (fistful 
EVERGREENS FOR OHIO 
POPULAR SCIENTIFIC LECTURES. 
The Ohio State Horticultural Society, at 
its recent meeting, selected a few evergreens 
to recommend. Among them the American 
Spruce, in its varieties, was advised to be 
planted in place of the Norway, because of 
its compactness, beauty and lessened size or 
extent of growth, making it a tree more 
suited than the Norway to positions where 
the space was circumscribed. The Norway 
was advised for hedges and for positions 
where it could be given room to grow as 
single trees. The dwarf pines, jmmitto and 
nnur/ho, were specially commended to the at¬ 
tention of all who desire the use of a low- 
growing, hardy evergreen, in door yards, on 
rock work, cemetery lots, &c\ On motion of 
Dr. W adder, Air. F. R. ElriOTT was re¬ 
quested to prepare an address on the uses of 
ornamental trees and shrubs, and present, to 
the Society at its next annual meeting 
that our researches are very soon impeded 
by the limits of our sight. The telescope 
and the microscope increased our powers in 
a most wonderful degree, and gave us 
knowledge of heavenly bodies and terrestrial 
objects, of which the unaided human vision 
could never have formed any conception. 
Sanitary science rests upon an empiricism 
dependent upon minute examinations which 
are made, to a great extent, with the micro* 
scope and are most, important in indicating 
the sources of many diseases of men, plants 
and animals, some of which were caused by 
microscopic fungi. The microscope lmd 
furnished more knowledge of morbid anat¬ 
omy in a few moments examination than 
long study could have attained without it. 
The importance of its revelations in these 
departments had been comparatively re¬ 
cently recognised. In medical jurispru¬ 
dence, too, its services were most, valuable, 
indeed almost, indispensable, ns it enabled 
us to determine whether stains were caused 
by human blood, that of animals, or by other 
causes, and unerringly identified even the 
sand upon a murderer’s boots with that 
taken from the place where his victim was 
found. One of the most curious instances 
cited of its power was that of its confirming 
a certain English local tradition that the 
nails protruding in a door of a public build¬ 
ing lmd, many years before, fastened to It 
the skin of a Danish pirate who, after execu¬ 
tion, had been flayed and liis skin nailed up 
as a part of his punishment. An antiqua¬ 
rian, observing something like leather under 
one of the nails, carefully removed it- and 
had it, submitted to microscopic examina¬ 
tion, when it was not only found to be human 
skin, but the few hairs upon ii were proved 
to lie those of a fair haired pyfson—which 
the Danes were known to lie./ 
tn detecting adullcniliohs In food, the 
microscope was of the greatest service; and 
the supplies for our army and navy are con¬ 
stantly subjected to its scrutiny by the gov¬ 
ernment Inspectors, and every wrong ingre¬ 
dient declares itself as plainly as though it 
spoke- its name. The lecturer said that the 
revelations of the microscope excited greater 
astonishment than the grandest discoveries 
of Astronomy. It showed us that in a 
single cubic inch of water two thousand 
millions of monads could live. Yes, and 
more; for wo will imagine a cube of only 
one-tenth of an inch on its edge, A little 
block of oak of such dimensions would only 
weigh a quarter of a grain and might be 
represented by a drop of water, such as 
might be lifted upon the point of a pencil. 
Yet within this Insignificant space may be 
easily contained two thousand million of the 
more minute monads—that is, more than 
twice the number of inhabitants of the 
entire globe. And again, a cube having 
sides equal to the onc-thousandth of an inch 
is invisible to the naked eye; but in its com¬ 
pass may reside two thousand of the 
minuter monads; and yet these are generally 
regarded as true animals, although Agassiz 
and others consider them as but the germs 
of various kinds of sea weed. 
At the close of the lecture, Dr. Barnard 
illustrated the various forms of animal life 
he had mentioned by line diagrams thrown 
upon a screen by means of a magic lantern. 
ARRANGING BOUQUETS 
WHAT I DID 
TRIP OF THE FIRST LOCOMOTIVE 
Major IIoratio Arden, Engineer of the 
Erie Railway, in a recent address, thus told 
the story of the first trip ol the first locomo¬ 
tive in America: 
“ When was it ? Who was it ? And who 
awakened its energies and directed its move¬ 
ments V It was in the year 1828, on the 
banks of the Lackawaxen, at, the commence¬ 
ment of the railroads connecting the canal 
of the Delaware and Hudson Canul Com¬ 
pany with their coal mines, and he who 
addresses you was the only person on the 
locomotive. The circumstances which led 
to my being alone on the road were these; 
The road had been built in the summer; 
the structure was of hemlock timber, and the 
rails, of large dimensions, notched on caps 
placed far apart. The timber had eracked 
and warped from exposure to the sun. A tier 
about three hundred feet of straight line, 
the road crossed the Lackawaxen Creek on 
trestle-work about thirty feet high, with a 
curve of three hundred and fifty-live to four 
hundred feet radius. The impression was 
very general that (he iron monster would 
either breakdown the road, or it would leave 
i he track at the, curve and plunge into tin* 
creek. My reply to such apprehensions was 
that it was too late, to consider the probabili¬ 
ties of such occurrences; there was no other 
course than to make a trial of the strange 
animal which had been brought hero at a 
great expense, but that it was not. neoessaiy 
that more than one should be involved in its 
fate; that I would take the first ride alone, 
and the time would come when 1 should look 
back to the incident wii h great pleasure. As 
1 placed my hand on the throttle-valve 
handle, I was undecided whether to move 
slowly, or with a fair degree of speed; but, 
believing that the road would prove safe, and 
preferring, if wo did go down, Lo go hand¬ 
somely, and without any evidence of timidity, 
1 started with considerable velocity, passed 
the curve over the creek safely, and was soon 
out of healing of the vast assemblage. At 
the end of two or three miles, I reversed the 
valve, and returned without accident, having 
thus made the first railroad trip ou the 
Western Hemisphere. 
THE YUCCA 
Tins is one of the most Hardy and also 
most, beautiful of flowering perennials. Our 
illustration, herewith, was made from a draw¬ 
ing of a plant of IVm mperba when flow¬ 
ering in the grounds of Prof. J. P. Knn- 
dajxd, near Cleveland, Ohio. The (lowers 
are bell-shaped and produced in great profu¬ 
sion, numbering from fifty to seventy on a 
stem, and lasting from three to four weeks. 
We shall, in a future number, give illustra¬ 
tions of other varieties and also remarks re¬ 
specting the soil and locations for planting. 
PRAIRIE WOODLANDS, 
Is it Profitable for it Prairie Fur met- to own 
a Wood-Lot? 
It is quite a common practice, here, for 
farmers to own a timber lot to get their fuel 
from, They buy from ten to forty acres of 
timber. It is, generally, from live to twelve 
miles away from their farms. Woodland Is 
worth, 'say fifty dollars per acre. Money is 
worth ten per cent. Maple wood is worth, 
delivered on the prairie, five dollars per cord. 
Bay that, an ordinary family will want, fifteen 
cords per year; let us see how the account 
would stand with a forty-acre wood-lot: 
Debtor. 
Interest ou forty acres, valued at $2,000, 
at ton per cent. $200 00 
Cutting fifteen cords, at $1.00 per cord . 15 00 
Taxes on lund, say.. 10 00 
Twenty days hauling (man and team) at 
$2.00 . 40 00 
Total. $265 00 
Contra , Cr. 
Fifteen cords of wood, at $5.00. 75 00 
Loss. $100 00 
Making no account of the wood, the growth 
making good the amount taken, the wood 
costs the farmer (nearly) eigteen dollars per 
cord, or two hundred and sixty-five dollars 
for his year’s supply. 
Now, let us see how it would be with the 
farmer who owns a ten-acre wood-lot: 
Debtor. 
Interest on ten acres, value $500, at ten 
per cent. $50 00 
Taxes on land, say. 4 00 
Cutting fifteen cords, at $1.00 per cord... 15 00 
Twenty days hauling, at $2.00 . 40 00 
Total. ... $i(jij 00 
Cwitra, Or. 
Fifteen cords of wood, at $5.00. ... 75 00 
boss. $34 00 
In this case, the year’s supply costs one 
hundred and nine dollars, or over seven dol¬ 
lars per cord. We have taken into account 
no increase in. the value of the land. In 
order to make good the loss, it would need 
to rise in yearly value, from three to five 
dollars per acre. If the land does not rapid¬ 
ly increase in value, it is a poor investment, 
entailing a yearly loss upon its owner. If 
the land remains of the same value, year 
after year, then the prairie farmer is paying 
from seven to eighteen dollars per cord for 
his wood ; whereas, he could buy it, delivered 
at his door, for five dollars per cord. 
Vick’s f.'dialogue for I HGtt. —We have a copy of 
Vine's Illustrated Catalogue ami Floral Guide 
for 1869. Our readers don’t need to he told what 
we third; of Jamks Vick and his business. He 
wins his own way. He establishes his own repu¬ 
tation without any external aids. He merits all 
the confidence the public gives him, and all tho 
success which results from public confidence. 
His catalogue is worth five times the amount 
asked for it, and it Is given to all Ids regular cus¬ 
tomers. This, for i860, excels all previous issues. 
EXTRAORDINARY METEOR. 
As the schooner Urania was oft' Crowdy 
Head, Australia, on Monday, August 17th, 
about midnight, a heavy southwesterly squall 
came on, and all hands were called to shorten 
sail. A seaman named II. G. Sales was 
steering, and at 12.30 A. M. a meteor, like a 
ball of tire, fell immediately over the vessel’s 
stern, and exploded with a loud report re¬ 
sembling that, of a heavy piece of ordnance. 
Sparks of fire were scattered all about the 
deck, and the steersman was killed by the 
shock. Every one on board felt a violent 
shock like that of a galvanic battery; but 
none of the crew were injured except Sales, 
who was at his last gasp when picked up. 
His body showed no marks, but appeared to 
be blackened, and, some six or seven hours 
after, decomposition sot in, and tho poor fel¬ 
low was buried over the side. The fire-ball 
apparently traveled with the wind, which 
was from the southwest, and when it burst 
the flash was so intensely brilliant that the 
steward, who was lying in his berth below, 
declared that he saw the fire through the 
seams of the deck. The cabin, at the same 
moment, was filled with smoke, which black¬ 
ened papers lying about.— Observer. 
USEFUL AND SCIENTIFIC NOTES. 
Preparing the Ground for Flower Seed.—The 
soil for flowers should be a mellow loam, if pos¬ 
sible, made deep- -a foot or eighteen Inches at 
least—and thou the plants will not sull'er so 
much In dry weather. It should also he well 
pulverized - completely broken op and made 
as fine and mellow ns possible. It Is useless to 
try to grow good flowers on a poor soli; so, if 
not naturally rich, make it so with a liber. I sup¬ 
ply of well-rotted manure. Every one, even 
those who do not keep a horse or cow- can have 
a good pile of manure for flowers without cost. 
Obtain a lot of turf from tho sides of the roads 
and the corners of the fences, place it, in a pile, 
and throw all tho soapsuds and slops upon it. 
fn the autumn collect the fallen leaves and put 
them upon this compost heap. Keep adding to 
it, as you have time and convenience: and when 
well-rotted you will have excellent manure for 
flowers. Always drain tho flower garden, so 
that water will not lie on or near the surface. 
— Vick'e Catalogue. 
In 1775, the French Academy of Sciences 
decided to pay no attention to any solution 
of the following problemsThe duplica¬ 
tion of the cube, the tri-section of the circle, 
the squaring of the circle, and perpetual 
motion by means of a machine. A paper 
having recently started the story that a large 
sum was offered by the Academy for a solu¬ 
tion of the quadrature of the circle, one of 
the secretaries advocated the republishing of 
the decision mentioned. He justified this 
course by stating that many weak-minded 
persons, entirely ignorant of mathematics, 
but, deluded with the notion that large sums 
would be paid them In case they succeeded, 
devoted their time to its solution, neglecting 
their regular business and the interests of 
their families, and even sometimes losing 
their reason by following such a vain pursuit. 
Tins American Journal of Mining men¬ 
tions a new contrivance, called the “hissom- 
eter,” which illustrates some of the curious 
effects of sound-waves upon flame. It says: 
“ By driving gas under pressure through a 
WAY-SIDE TREES. 
It is to be regretted that some general rule 
lias not been established, either by an order 
ol country or town authorities, or by a State 
law, directing the distance at which road-side 
trees shull be placed from the actual center 
of the road. It is, of course, too late to remedy 
the position of trees planted ten, fifteen, or 
more years since, but recent plantings might 
Bouvardla Lelantha.—As a scarlet no plant is 
better for the bouquet maker in winter thau the 
H. Leiantha. Or as a decorative plant for those 
who do not wish to cut their flowers, It is emi¬ 
nently satisfactory. Easy of culture and a free, 
continuous bloomer, it is just the thing for the 
purpose.— Prat/rLe Farmer. 
