He declared they were superior in flavor 
and tenderness to chicken. From him I 
learned the description of the rattlesnake s 
hollow tusk and poison bag. He mentioned 
a rather remarkable fact, that the missis- 
sauga is never seen on the west side of the 
Grand River, nor does the large, yellow 
snake ever invade the territory of ids dirty 
brown neighbor. The tongue is incapable 
of being used as a weapon of offense. 
This lengthy statement is not intended to 
be incorporated with yours; but these 
things recurred to my memory on the pe¬ 
rusal of your paper, and merely tend to cor¬ 
roborate your statement of the manner in 
which the rattlesnake attacks his enemy. 
James Dickson. 
trees, stumps, or even an arbor, we have 
few hardy climbing plants that are more 
easily cultivated or better adapted to the 
purpose. 
There are several other hardy species and 
varieties in cultivation that are worthy of 
a place in every garden; but none of them 
succeed with so little care or climb more 
rapidly. The F. gru vdiflora . from China, 
has longer flowers of a similar color, and 
alt hough hardy in the vicinity of New York 
City, it is sometimes injured in winter far¬ 
ther North. 
Then? are also several hybrids between 
these t wo species, also varieties raised from 
seed of t he first named. T. xmwjuiitca is 
perhaps the best, the flowers being a dark 
orange red, approaching a crimson. 
The tender exotic species are worthy of 
attention by those who have conservatories 
or reside in the Southern States. T. Cfi- 
’penkix, from the Cape of Good Hope pro¬ 
duces long naked-pedunoled clusters of 
orange-colored flowers, and the T. jasmi- 
ARBORICULTURAL NOTES 
HOW RATTLESNAKES POISON 
lx the Rural New-Yorker, Feb. 11. 
1871, 1 read S. Hageman’s account of the 
rattlesnake’s biting, and using the tongue to 
poke in the poison. The learned doctor is 
all wrong. lie suys, “ the snake carries a 
small sack, or pouch containing the poison, 
immediately under the tongue, and when 
angry, a small quantity is thrown against 
the tongue, and ns it pierces the flesh the 
virus is left in the wound, where it is soon 
drawn into the circulation, contaminating 
the whole system.” 
I will describe what I have seen and 
know. In the year 1829 I purchased a farm 
in Canada, and with it had to take a few 
Mississauga rattlesnakes who had posses¬ 
sion. Harvesting my first crop of wheat, 
in 1830, one of the men was about to bind a 
rattler in his bundle, but saw him at the 
instant of grasping the grain, and before his 
hand came in reach of him; being terribly 
frightened, he halloed, ” Rattlesnake ! ” 
We all left work to boo him. i ran a pitch- 
fork tine through liis body, about a foot 
from his bead; he coiled Ills body round 
the fork handle. He was about three feet 
long, lie I'aised his head erect about a foot 
high, and drew back to an angle of 46*, his 
upper jaw falling back, then striking for¬ 
ward as quick as thought upon t he hard, 
smooth fork handle: Ids two poison teeth, 
or fangs, run out from the inside of the rim 
of Ids upper jaw — one each side, and a full 
half inch in length—and as they struck the 
fork handle, which was plain to be heard, 
deposited a small drop of yellowish-green 
poison, which issued from the hollow t usks 
about the twentieth part of an inch back 
from the point. 
The tusks formed about a quarter circle, 
t he size of a common darning needle, a 
little flattened, and scalloped out on the 
under side—something like a pen made 
from a goose quill. Where the lit t le drop of 
poison issued from the hollow t usks I could 
plainly see the whole performance, as my 
eyes were within two feet of him. He ap¬ 
peared to be extremely cautious about 
keeping his tongue and under jaw away 
from the poisonous tusks; as he raised his 
head from the fork handle these crooked 
tusks slowly drew back into the jaw; the ' 
little holes were plain to be seen after the. 
tusks disappeared, before he closed his 
mouth. Neither his tongue nor any part of 
his mouth came near the poison teeth. I 
made him bite many times, to learn the 
whole performance. My impression was 
that to bite on to flesh he would deposit 
the poison a half inch deep. n. c. 
Paris, Canada. 
The writer of the foregoing sends us the 
following communication received by him 
from James Dickson. It is interesting 
enough to warrant its publication in con¬ 
nection : 
Dr. l’tm,POT, late of Sitncoe, county of 
Norfolk, Ontario, had two rattlesnakes. 
Tnto a box with one of thorn he introduced 
a large rat. After a considerable period, 
during which the snake did not appear to 
take any not ice of the rut. he suddenly 
reared his head and made a dash at. him. 
The rat died in seven seconds after. Dr. 
Piiii.POT then took away the rat, skinned 
it, and found that one of the fangs had pen¬ 
etrate# through the skin and subcutaneous 
cellular tissue, and passed completely 
through one of The ribs. 
According t o the dissections made by nat¬ 
uralists, and the observations of noil-scien¬ 
tific observers, the upper jaw of the rattle¬ 
snake Is furnished with two hollow tusks, 
attached to a membranous sac, which Con¬ 
tains a greenish looking fluid. These tusks 
being of much greater lengt h than the other 
teeth, admit of being retracted, so ns to lie 
perfectIv flattened when the animal is at 
rest. When the animal strikes, those tusks 
are erected, and being driven into the body 
of its prey, press upon the sac, and the poi¬ 
son passes from thence through the tusk 
into the wound. 
On the banks of the Grand River, at Ca¬ 
yuga, the countv town of Haldimand, while 
residing there thirty years ago, I used to see 
rattlesnakes in great numbers. On the east 
side Ot the river the '* mississauga,” as t he 
Indians term him, is found ; an ugly animal, 
about two to t wo and a-half feet in length ; 
body of a dirtv, pale brown, with dark 
brown spots on it. The snake on the oppo¬ 
site side of l he river is of greater size, some 
having been known to attain a length of six 
feet . This animal has a bright yellow body, 
wit h darker spots on it. A little more t hail 
a mile below Cayuga Bridge, on the west 
side of the Grand River, is a small fall, not 
over four font in higlit, called the Rat tle¬ 
snake Fall, from the number of snakes which 
may be seen busking round It in the noon¬ 
tide sun of ft hot summer's day. 1 knew an 
individual in the neighborhood, a black¬ 
smith. well known to every one, whose name 
was N at Dennis who wore a rattlesnake’s 
skin for a hat-band This man used to 
catch rattlesnakes, cook them and eat them. 
Fellows on Peach Trees.— At a Fruit 
Growers’ Convention in Muskegon, Mich,, 
Feb. 1, Mr. Nowlen is reported to have 
given the following as a specific remedy for 
yellows in peaches;—It was to dig down two 
feet to the roots of the tree affected, throw 
on a pailful of hot water, besprinkle it plen¬ 
tifully with ashes, and fill the hole in again. 
It is believed that the cause of the disease 
is created by a fungus grmVtli at the roots. 
The Benton Harbor people were confident 
that (lie boiling hot water and the ashes 
were an effectual cure. The symptoms of 
the disease were a premature ripening of 
the fruit, (lie yellowish cast of the leaves, 
and a peculiar spiral wiry growth of twigs 
from the branches. This might occur also 
from the borer. 
TRUMPET FLOWER—(Tecoma radicans) 
We presume a majority of our readers 
will recognize in the accompanying illustra¬ 
tion an old favorite climbing plant, com- 
Sour-Wood and Cry stall zed Honey.— 
I saw in a bee journal t he statement made 
by a correspondent., that he had noticed that 
when Sour-Wood was in blossom, honey 
would become candied or cryutalized. What 
is Sour-Wood ? - D. F. PEMBROKE. 
The Sour- Wood, or Sorrel Tree, was form¬ 
erly known in botanical works as Andro¬ 
meda arhurmim, but is now called (heydett- 
drum arborevm. The leaves are quite acid, 
hence both t in 1 scient ific and common names. 
It is quite common in rich soils, from Penn¬ 
sylvania south and westward to the Rocky 
Mountains, Whether the honey gathered 
from the flowers will become candied sooner 
than that, from other plants, is a question 
for apiarians to answer. 
Locust Trees Fruiting,—Will you 
please toll me how to determine whether 
a young locust tree will bear fruit or not ? 
The fruit of the locust tree is very good 
for making hour, in N. but only some 
trees will liear. I would like to know the 
characterfulies of the fruit-bearing, (or non- 
bearing i trees, in order to determine wheth¬ 
er to let them occupy space or not.—M. F. 
Bason, Haw River, N. C. 
We do not know of any natural cause for 
one locust tree bearing fruit and another 
remaining barren. Perhaps what you call 
locust is known by some other name else¬ 
where. Please send seed and a leaf to aid 
us in determining the true name of the 
tree to which you refer. 
Planting Nuts.—I would like to learn 
how to proceed to grow (’hestnut. Hickory, 
and Walnut trees from the seeds. I pre¬ 
sume there are others who feel an interest 
in this direction.— SUBSCRIBER. 
With all large hard-shell nuts, like the 
hickory and walnut, the best way is to 
plant in fall before the ground freezes. 
Chestnuts are more delicate and must bo 
handled with more cure. We usually mix 
with sand soon after gathering them and 
bury in some dry place until spring; sow 
in drills, covering the nuts about an inch 
deep. As a rule, forest trees may be grown 
as readily us corn or potatoes. 
Hawthorn Wanted.—In the Rural 
New-Yorker of June 17, 1H7I, is a descrip¬ 
tion of the hawthorn. 1 think they must 
be beautiful, and would like to procure some 
for my yard. I would like to know if they 
will thrive so fur North, and where they 
can be obtained and at what price.—Ax 
Old Subscriber, liiiigluunlou, A. I\ 
The double aud single varieties of the 
Hawthorn will succeed in a much colder 
climate than that of Broome Co., N. Y. 
The young trees can he procured at any of 
our large nurseries. Look for the address 
of nurserymen in mu’ advertising columns, 
and send for their catalogues. 
“French Willow,” —Look out for hum¬ 
bugs and swindlers! We continue to re¬ 
ceive inquires about the “ French Willow,” 
asking if there is one. Yes, there are sev¬ 
eral, but none of them better than our 
common Golden and Grey Willow. Do not 
buy willow of peddlers, no matter what 
their representations. They are, as a rule, 
swindlers, if they tell you stories of the 
wonderful growth and variety of any species 
and of its wonderful qualities for hedging 
and wind-breaks. Please remember our 
advice ufter you have been “sold,” if you 
do not heed it before, 
T E. TJ JVL E E T 
monly known as the Trumpet Flower. It 
is, however, none the less beautiful because 
It is old mid very common; in fact, it should 
be valued more highly on account of the 
the many pleasant associations which usu¬ 
ally cluster about every plant that has for 
an}’ considerable time been an occupant of 
our garden. 
it is a native of Pennsylvania and south¬ 
ward. as well as some of the Western States, 
where we have seen it climbing to the very 
topmost branches of the highest trees, and 
there displaying its scarlet and orange- 
colored flowers in the greatest profusion. 
This particular species (Tecoma radtcaio <) 
climbs freely by means of small rootlets 
which issue from the stems, Clinging to the 
bark of trees or even rough rocks, old logs, 
or stumps. The flowers are produced in 
clusters, from the ends of the email branches, 
late in summer, and these are succeeded by 
long polls (.11 tilled with small thin-winged 
seeds (13). For covering the stems of large 
FLO W" E Ft. 
wofrles from Australia has a smooth turn¬ 
ing stem, flowers white, with a pink or pur¬ 
ple throat. It is an exceedingly lovely 
plant, mid would be a valuable addition to 
the gardens of our Southern homes. 
FLORICULTURAL NOTES 
New Lilies Wanted. —If Carrie J., 
who desires to obtain new lilies, will send 
us her address in full, we may be able to 
put her in communication with some one 
who has the lilies she desires. We wish our 
correspondents would always boar in mind 
that their address in full is always desirable, 
not necessarily for publication, but as a 
guide to us in giving answers, if no more; 
but it frequently occurs that we wish to 
communicate directly with them, and not 
through the columns of the Rural New- 
Yorker. Assume any nom de plume you 
eboose, but do not omit to give your name 
and address in addition, 
Goats Killing Trees.—Several corres¬ 
pondents have asked for information in re¬ 
gard to preventing goats from gnawing the 
bark from trees. We certainly do not know 
of a better plan than killing the goats or 
tying them up to some post from which the 
bark had already been removed. If we 
lived in a community where goats were 
allowed to run at large, we should either 
.sell out and leave, or have a law passed to 
prevent such nuisances, 
