MOOSE'S RURAL NEW-YORKER 
Hiitrg af a |jiuralifit. 
DAILY BUBAL LIFE. 
FROM THE DIARY OF A CENTtEMAN HEAR HEW YORK CITY. 
The Rural's New Departure.— Jan. 8. 
—J ant much pleased with the change in size 
ami dress of the Rural, Nkw-Yokker, I 
never did like tile bed-blanket style of paper 
which some persona seem to think is a sign 
of great success. It is true that the Rural 
has always been so modcBt in this direction 
that a copy could be opened and read in an 
ordinary room, or even In a railroad coach, 
which is more than can be said In favor of 
some more pretentious but far Ie9s valuable 
periodicals that might be named, llut the 
Rural has certainly progressed in this last 
change, for In its present form a bound vol¬ 
ume will be of a convenient size, not only for 
reading, but preservation in one’s library. 
I predict that there will be many thousands 
of volumes of the Rural New-Yorker for 
this year preserved that would not have 
been if the size had remained unchanged. 
Every volume thus preserved, becomes a 
work of value to the possessor, and a per¬ 
petual advertisement for the publisher. Our 
daily and weekly papers, as a rule, are so 
large that a man cannot read them in any 
public conveyance without annoying his 
neighbor. When our publishers pay more 
attention to contents and less to display, 
the people will t hink more of their produc¬ 
tions. 
Sanchczia nobilis variegata.— Jan. 0. 
.—The introduction of the many beaut iful 
variet ies of the Colcux lias produced a won¬ 
derful change ill the taste of our people in 
regard to the summer decoration of their 
gardens. Ornamental foliagCd plants have 
been such a grand success there is little 
danger of a falling off in the demand. The 
Sanclwzia nobtlln varleijata is a compara¬ 
tively new plant, but jt deserves to rank 
with the most beautiful of the Coleuses, its 
leaves are ten to fifteen inches long, of a 
bright green color, with golden-yellow veins. 
It may be propagated with the same ease 
and rapidity as the Coleus, tin* leaves and 
Btema being used for cutting*. 
Storing Ico.-.fan. 10 . — 1 have com¬ 
menced to fill my ice-house to-duy. Tin* ice 
is about six Inches thick, and clear as a crys¬ 
tal. I would prefer to have the ice about 
twelve inches thick, not only for Convenient 
handling, but it will keep bettor than when 
of a less thickness. The main thing t o be 
observed in storing ice in a small house, is to 
have it well packed. If there are large, open 
spaces among the cakes, it will soon melt 
away when warm weather comes. I have 
quite an expensive house, built of stone and 
lined iuBido with plank and Bawdur-t. Tim 
building Stands in the shadoof several large 
trees, and all the circumstances are favora¬ 
ble for preservation of ice, and still some of 
my neighbors, with the cheapest kind of an 
Jcc-hcnise, have bettor success, and have ice 
after mine has all melted away. A good, 
large heap of ice, carefully put together, and 
thou covered with u foot In depth of saw¬ 
dust, tan-bark or straw, will keep under al¬ 
most any kind of a shod, provided the wind 
and sun do not have free access. Ice i* a 
great luxury in summer, and I am surprised 
that so few people in the count ry ever think 
of laying in a supply at t he proper time. 
Plants Under the Drip of Trees.— 
Jan. 11.—A lady writes me to give in the 
Rural New-Yorker a list of evergreen 
Bhrubs that will thrive under the drip of 
largo trees. There is one precaution need¬ 
ed in at tempting to plant shrubs under or 
near a large tree and that is arrange in some 
way to give them plenty of water the tlrst 
season after planting. The roots of the? large 
trees usually prevent a t borough preparation 
of the soil, beside taking up a large propor¬ 
tion of the moisture needed by the smaller 
plants. For evergreen shrubs that succeed 
well and require considerable shade in this 
climate 1 would select the following: — 
American llolly, (Ilex opaca,) Inkberry, 
(Her glabra,) M about a AgulfoUum, Ma¬ 
han ia Japonica , Duxux xrmpcrrirmx and 
its many varieties, Liguftrutn JaponUsun, 
Taxus hacra ta, T. canadenxlx and all the 
varieties of both species. Kalinin la til alia 
and K. auijUxUlolla should also receive u 
high place in the list. 
Ilow to Send Insects by Mall.— Jan. 
12.—E. F. of Kingston, Mass., writes to the 
Editor of the Rural New-Yorker that he 
would collect a bottle of beetles for “ Daily 
Rural Life,” if he know how to send them. 
Of course T should be pleased to receive all 
such contributions to my cabinet, and will 
therefore tell how they may be sent. First 
catch the beetles; next put them into alco¬ 
hol kept in a bottle for the purpose. When 
enough have been collected to make a small 
package take them out of the alcohol and 
put into a small wooden or tin box, with 
sufficient fine sawdust to fill up all inter¬ 
stices between the beetles. It is very im¬ 
portant that the beetles should be packed 
in some manner so a* to prevent them from 
being shaken about in the box during tran¬ 
sit, cither by mail or express. I would be 
pleased to receive specimen? of insects from 
all parts of the country, and acknowledge 
the receipt of the same in the columns of 
the Rural New-Yorker. 
Too warm for Ice.— Jan. 18.—The 
weather has become so warm that I have 
had to stop getting hi ice. I think it is use¬ 
less to st ore Ice in thawing weather, for it is 
likely to be soft and spongy and soon melt. 
The colder the weather when the ice is put 
into the house the better, tuid then when¬ 
ever the temperature outside goes below 
20' above zero, open the bouse. Sometimes 
poor, soft ice can be greatly improved by 
watching our chances for giving it a severe 
freeze. 
Jnda.'itrinl tropics. 
GLEANINGS FROM LETTERS. 
We have received many letters which 
contain suggestions of greater or loss value 
and interest which we cannot print entire. 
From these we propose from time to t ime 
to segregate and comment upon them. 
Fault is Found with Artists who at¬ 
tempt to draw or paint rural scenes, be¬ 
cause they do not. “Stick to the original.” 
“Woodman" complains of the falsity of 
these pictures. The artists' fences are too 
low; the gates too rickety; the burs torn 
down; stick fences around coney dwellings; 
the well-hon.se or curb In a state of dilapida¬ 
tion, &c., Ac. Ho protests against this 
artist fancy and fiction, :uid asks, “ Who 
will give us, through the Rural New- 
Yorker a real live representation of a 
country landscape, with a good fence, neat 
surroundings, and just such scenes as would 
strike us as true to theorigiiuilI” “ Wood¬ 
man's" “point" is well taken. And what 
he complains of is the result of an impres¬ 
sion that most artists try to picture the 
world as they would have made it if their 
artistic taste aud judgment had been con¬ 
sulted. 
Treatment of Hired Mon.—“An Every 
Day Laborer” in Livingston Co., N. Y., 
thinks something should be done for the 
“ Hired men of Fulton Co., N. Y.,“ accept¬ 
ing “ Reform's” statement of the state of 
things there as true. He knows of no in¬ 
stance where sin industrious laborer has over 
dreamed of lodging in a poor-house. “ For 
the last two years farmers have paid 820 to 
$30 per month and board; in winter, day 
laborers have received $1.25 aud $1.00 per 
day; in summer and fall, $2; in harvest, 
$2.50 to $3, with board. This is not regard¬ 
ed quite sufficient, considering the extreme 
price of grain and produce generally—wheat 
at $1.30 to $1.00; barley at 60 to 75c.; oats, 
10c.; potatoes, 40o.; pork, $5 per cwt. Of 
course the farmer complains; but if he re¬ 
ceived specie instead of greenbacks, he cer¬ 
tainly could not say but these would be 
round prices. The laborer gets greenbacks 
for his labor, not “truck.” His manly 
spirits are not crushed out. If he misuse 
his stogies upon a horse aud is remonstrated 
with, his reply Is, “If you don’t like my 
‘ style/ fork over the ‘ stamps.' This is most 
likely to occur about the commencement of 
haying, with ‘month’ men/’ The tone of 
our correspondent’s article indicates that 
ho is not in sympathy with chronic grum¬ 
blers. 
.Management of Hired Girls.— An 
Onondaga Co., N. Y., lady who is her only 
domest ic, complains of the idea most preva¬ 
lent among the upper classes that have the 
unpleasant necessity of employing domes¬ 
tics, is that they are merely lit for drudg¬ 
ery', are hardly human, and are treated ac¬ 
cordingly ; hence the necessity of employing 
Germans, Swedes and Chinese who can be 
induced to conform to such requirements 
wheu a proud-spirited American girl will 
not. She giveB the following practical 
opinion:—“ If those who endure hired help 
merely as a necessary evil, would bring the 
better part of tlielr natures to bear upon 
the feelings of their domestics, would give 
them some stipulated time to devote to 
their own pleasure, and treat them as a 
class of humans, such employers would be¬ 
come their own ‘Moses’ and would liberate 
t hemselves from bondage.” Our correspon¬ 
dent takes care to concede that there are 
exceptions to all rules and in all classes, 
which it is always well to remember. 
dyntmolotfinil. 
THE HORNED PASSALUS- (Passalus Cor- 
nutus, Fabr.) 
BY C. V. RILEY. 
Two different correspondents have sent 
me this beetle, with the request to give 
some account of it in the Rural New- 
Yorker, and tell them whether or not it is 
injurious. Many' an one will doubtless re¬ 
cognize In the Insect illustrated at c, the 
“bug” with which he, or she, as a child, 
was wont to play at “oxen”—the carved 
horn on the head forming such au inviting 
projection on which to hitch, by means of a 
thread, small chips and other diminutive 
objects, to be dragged by the rather awk¬ 
ward beast of burden. Every pioneer in 
the Western country, as he rolled over huge 
decayed logs, in the work of clearing his 
land to make it ready for the plow, must 
have become familiar with this highly poli¬ 
shed, Coal-black beetle. Every woodsman 
who has split or grubbed an old stump, will 
be likely to recognize in this horned “bug” 
au old acquaintance. Every entomologist 
who has dug into or pulled to pieces old rot¬ 
ting stumps, in search for other treasures, 
must, time and again, have seen this lazy, 
clumsy Pawnlui tumbling down with the 
loose and crumbling dust and excreta of its 
own making, and expressing its dlsproval 
of such summary disturbance *n the plainest 
manner, by emit ting a peculiar, half-hissing, 
half-creaking noise. And though met with 
at almost every step in hlsforoRt rambles, 
" Wli< to wild birds ninir beneath tho leafy bowers," 
the inquisitive student has no doubt found 
himself repeatedly examining specimens 
not uiily to admire the elegance and beautv 
of form, but to ascertain the means by which 
the peculiar noise is produced. A sufficient¬ 
ly careful examination will end in the 
knowledge that it is caused by the rubbing 
of the rather horny terminal joints of the 
abdomen, known as t he pygidium , against 
the inside of the hard wing-covers. 
This insect cannot bo considered anything 
else than beneficial. It is never found in 
'sound or green wood, but invariably in that 
which is decaying, aud it very materially 
assists and hastens the reduction of stumps 
which might otherwise remain treble the 
length of time to occupy valuable ground 
and serve as an eye-sore to the careful 
farmer in wooded countries. 
Unseen and unheard, it carries on inces¬ 
santly the good work of converting useless 
timber into mold which enriches the Boil; 
and this has been Its office in all the past ages 
of its existence. A decaying, moist condi¬ 
tion of the wood is necessary to its develop¬ 
ment. aud it will be found most common on 
low, moist ground, and in oak, hickory aud 
sweet gum logs or st umps. 
Common as is this beetle, its larva and 
pupa are rarely seen, and seem to be un¬ 
known even to most entomologists, while 
no good figures of them have been published. 
The larva. Fig. a, is of a very exceptional 
character, being the only one in this coun¬ 
try which possesses but four well developed 
legs; for though many butterflies in the 
imago state have the front pair functionally 
impotent, no other insect than our Passalus 
exhibits a similar feature in the larva state. 
become amber-brown, and lastly the wing- 
covers assume this color. The whole body 
then deepens very gradually, so that many 
days elapse before thecoal-bluck color is ac¬ 
quired, and in the month of August the 
beetle is as often found brown or black. As 
larvae? only half grown are found in company 
w ith those that, are full grown, they require 
at least two years to mature. 
-♦♦♦--— 
Texas Insects.—We have received from 
Wm. H. Williams of Texas, a splendid col¬ 
lection of beetles, for which we return our 
thanks. It is seldom that we obtain such a 
choice lot from one locality und all in good 
order. We conclude that Mr. Williams is 
not a novice in such matters, for the collec¬ 
tion sent shows that the minute species 
were not overlooked, as ia usually the case 
with new and inexperienced collectors. We 
should be pleased to receive similar contri¬ 
butions from other localities. 
of rant 3mj)lomont!). 
A MONROE COUNTY HARROW. 
During the past summer I have seen cuts 
of several different kinds of harrows in the 
Rural New-Yorker, but among the num¬ 
ber never saw the kind used to the greatest 
extent in this section—one with 40 teeth. 
pa&salus cornutus. 
Indeed, the only other larvae in the whole 
class of insects which are similarly charac¬ 
terized, are those belonging to the same 
genus in other parts of the world. The 
third pair of legs really exists, however, in 
a rudimentary state, as shown at </. This 
larva is of a bluish-white color, with the an¬ 
terior joints broader and flatter than the 
rest. It transforms in the fall of the year, 
within fhe wood it inhabits, to a whitish 
pupa, b, In which the front pair of legs is 
thrown forward under the head, aud tiie 
horns of the future beetle show plainly on 
its top. The pupa lasts but about a fort¬ 
night, when, throwing off its purple garb, 
it becomes a perfect beetle. At first the 
parts are all beautifully white and delicate; 
then the head, thorax, and limbs gradually 
pT* ^ VO hr 
The accompanying drawing is a two-horse 
harrow; but for a largo farmer, who has 
plenty of team und wishes to get oveY a 
great area of land in a day, 14 inches can bo 
added to the length of euch scantling; 
also, another tooth in each piece, making a 
harrow with 48 teeth in it, and to be drawn 
by three horses abreast. The dimensions 
for a two-hor*e harrow are as follows: 
Length of scantling 4 feet 7 inches; 8 by 3 
inches; front end pieces, j, j, 3 feet 2 inches 
long; 2 by 3 inches; are morticed in the 
front piece of each part of the harrow. The 
cross pieces, c, c, 1 by 8 inches, pass through 
each scantling at nil angle of about 10 de¬ 
grees ; the irons, y, g, at the point must 
be about 2 inches apart cross-wise, and 0 
inches up and down; the irons, /, /, }{ by 2 
inches, with uotches for a long link to slide 
back and forth, to regulate the runniugof 
the teeth, are bolted to the top of the cen¬ 
ter scantlings; the chain, i, must be 6 inches 
long, and h, one foot. Distance of teeth 
apart, 11 inches; made of % inch iron or 
steel. I prefer steel, as they are more dura¬ 
ble, and the cost is but a trifle more. 
The cost of such a harrow, well made aud 
pftintod, in this section, is $22; but any 
farmer with a moderate amount of 
f judgment, can get the scantling and 
make the wood-work himself during 
the winter. After it Is iroued, be par¬ 
ticular about painting It well, as an 
K implement that is well painted will last 
almost, if not as long again as one that 
is not. J have seen und used several 
different kinds of harrows, but never 
saw olio that would work on rough, 
uneven ground, and so thoroughly pul- 
I verize the soil for the amount of har¬ 
rowing as this kind will. Lexington. 
Steam on Alabama Plantations. 
—I purchased a six-horse power engine 
from Wood, Tarek A Morse, the past sum¬ 
mer; have use it for crushing cane, ginning 
cotton. Ac. It appears to be just the thing 
needed, leaving, the teams to plow instead 
of furnishing power to gin cotton.—J as. M. 
Moss, lluiiUfvllie , Ala. 
To Fasten a Fanning’ Mill, to the barn 
floor, H, Swept says, in the Country 
Gentleman:—“Take two pieces of steel one- 
eighth of an inch thick, three inches long 
and one inch wide—in one end file two 
notches, so ns to leave three large saw teeth 
—bend the two outside teeth at right angles 
aud the center one in the opposite direc¬ 
tion; make a hole in the opposite end where¬ 
in to tie a cord for the purpose of hanging 
it to the side of the mill when not in use. 
Put one of these under each hind leg of the 
mill and turn away with the full hope that 
your mill will stay where you put it.” 
