<§rarg of a pluralist. 
DAILY RURAL LIFE. 
FROM THE DIARY Of A GENTLEMAN NEAR NEW YORK CITY. 
Bowing Grass Alone.—Sept. 2.—In sow¬ 
ing a field of oats last Spring, I adopted the 
old plan of seeding down the laud, by sow¬ 
ing grass seed at the time. I remarked at 
the time, in my Diary, that J had little faith 
in this plan, and wondered why farmers 
would stick to this old system of sowing 
grass seed with grain, instead of sowing it 
alone. I notice that my remarks in regard 
to this old-fogy system attracted the atten¬ 
tion of at least one man, who writes to a 
Philadelphia paper that some folks make 
flippant remarks about things of which they 
know nothing; but he would really like to 
know if it would do to sow grass seed alone. 
All I have to say is, that if he don’t believe 
that the best way to get a good stand of 
grass is to sow the seed alone, let him try it. 
To please my man John, I allowed him to 
sow grass seed with the oats last Spring, 
but a severe drouth followed, and what lit¬ 
tle moisture there was in the soil the oats 
took out, and there was none left for the 
young, tender grass, and, of course, it died. 
As soon as the oats were cut and drawn into 
the barn, I said, “Now, John, for an ex¬ 
periment, as you had several quarts of grass 
seed left over from your Spring sowing, I 
want you to sow it on an acre of that oat 
stubble.” 
“ It’s no use,” said John ; “ there is noth¬ 
ing to shade the young grass when it comes 
up. and it will surely die.” 
The seed was sows, however, and came 
up splendidly; and when the rag and other 
weeds appeared I had them mown and 
spread over the surface. To-day I have had 
coarse manure drawn from the barn-yard 
and spread thinly over the young grass. 
Now, if 1 do not cut a good, heavy crop of 
hay from that field next Summer, I will say 
so. The month of September is the time to 
seed down land to grass, and if no grain is 
sown with it, a good crop of hay can be se¬ 
cured next Summer- Sow the seed early 
enough to allow the grass to become well 
rooted before cold weather, and it will pass 
through the Winter uninjured. If the land 
is poor, top-dress it with manure at the ap¬ 
proach of cold weather, or even after the 
ground is frozen If clover is desired, then 
sow the seed early in Spring, as the frost is 
leaving the ground. 
That Pig-Pen. — Sept. 3. —All of my ‘ 
neighbors keep pigs or hogs; which of 
course is not a very strange thing to do in ' 
the country; but there is one among the j 
number that, in addition to the pigs and 
hogs, keeps a very filthy pig-pen, and every 
time the wind comes from that direction 
the odor that flows into my office window 1 
is anything but agreeable. Now this very 1 
same neighbor has some land upon his farm s 
that is so poor that it will not produce the 
lowest order of weeds; and he can ill afford S 
to permit the fragranoe of liis pig-pen to v 
escape, even if it annoyed no one but him- p 
self. The disagreeable gases that have es- 1 
caped from that pig-pen in the past two 11 
weeks, I should think would have pro- " 
duoed at least forty bushels of corn if 
condensed and put into some available p 
form; but the owner of that laboratory has 11 
no faith in chemistry or scientific fanning, Cl 
therefore he puts no muck, soil, or other 
substance Into his pig-pen to absorb both sl 
liquids and noxious but valuable gases, w 
which might be saved in sufficient quantity s * 
to produce corn enough to fatten an equal 0( 
number of hogs another year. Every hog 
will, during its life, manufacture and pro- ol 
duoe manure enough to raise sufficient feed 1:11 
to keep another the same length of time. m 
1 wonder how many farmers know that this te 
is a well established fact? There are, it is pi 
true, a few men who understand the gen¬ 
eral principles of manufacturing fertilizers 11 < 
from the waste materials of the farm ; and w 
their lands grow richer and their purses til 
heavier, while neighbors wonder at such dr 
great success, and think there must be some fa 
great secret-at. the bottom of it which only lai 
the few are permitted to know. My neigh- soi 
bor with the filthy pig-pen is very penuri- 1 
ous—so much so that he wont subscribe for us >< 
the It ural New-Yorker, consequently S 1 ' 1 
will never see this account of his doings, wl 
nor profit thereby; but with all his close- A1 
flstedness he is blind in his economical eye, lar 
aud cannot see the great ears of corn, the thi 
pumpkins, melons and plump grains of 
wheat, rye and oats that are constantly su] 
floating out of that pig-pen. If I was am 
good at a lecture I would go through set 
the Southern States and “ cry aloud and 
spare not ” those planters who allow their 
land to become poorer and poorer each 
successive crop, while rich fertilizing ma¬ 
terials abound on every hand. It is a sin 
to treat mother earth in the way she is in 
many parts of the country, but the men 
who do it get their reward in poor crops 
and worn-out land. 
Sports Among Plants.—Sept. 5.—Sports 
or variations from the natural forms and 
colors are common among all cultivated 
plants. A sport of the European Beech gave 
us the purple-leaved variety; another, the 
weeping; several other sorts originated in 
the same manner. Sometimes only a small 
twig or a few leaves will show some peculiar 
variation from the original type, aud the 
gardener secures these and perpetuates 
them. In taking up some bedding plants 
to-day, J found two branches of an Achyr- 
anlhes aureus, the leaves of which were 
dark purple, showing, what florists have 
claimed, that the aureus was originally a 
sport of the A. verschaJT cltil; and in this 
instance it had gone back to the original. 
By taking cuttings from these purple-leav¬ 
ed branches, I could perpetuate this freak 
if it was desirable. All these sports are 
more or less inclined to change or run back 
to the original; aud the gardener, in prop¬ 
agating, must be careful in selecting cut¬ 
tings, in order to preserve the leading char¬ 
acteristics of the type. Hundreds of the 
beautiful variegated-leaved plants in culti¬ 
vation are only sports of some plaiu-leaved 
sort; but they are none the less beautiful or 
valuable; and, knowing their origin makes 
them more interesting, and quickens our 
perception in looking for other freaks of 
nature. 
It danleit. 
THE VEGETABLE GARDEN. 
y Because the Winter is near at hand it is 
() not best to forget that garden vegetables 
8 will be wanted next Spring and Summer. 
Everything that can be done this Fall to 
lighten next Spring’s work will be so much 
I gain; besides, there are other advantages 
s in addition to that of saving time uudlatjgr. 
I The garden plot, if manured and plowed 
this Fall, will be in a better condition for 
, the reception of seeds next Spring than if 
tliis operation is delayed until planting 
, time. The rains and frosts of Winter aid 
in the disintegration of the soil and spread 
of the liquid portion of the manure, and 
when again stirred in Spring it will be of a 
more homogeneous nature than if hurriedly 
plowed and planted in the usual manner of 
treating farmers' gardens. 
Fall Planting of Beeda.—Those who 
have no hot-beds will find it advantageous 
to sow many vegetable seeds in Autumn. 
Lettuce, if sown now, and then given a 
slight protection by covering with hay or 
straw, will come forward very rapidly In 
Spring, and be in a condition for the table 
weeks before that sown next Spring. Every 
person who has a garden must have noticed 
that self-sown tomatoes come forward 
much earlier than those sown in the usual 
way in the open ground; and we have 
known them to give ripe fruit as early as 
plants started in a hot-bed. Few persons, 
however, seem to think that tomato seeds 
can be sowu advantageously in Autumn, 
but the plan is perfectly practicable and 
should be tried by those who have no other 
way of obtaining early plants. The seeds 
should not be sown until the soil has be- 
oome so cool that no growth will occur be¬ 
fore Winter; then cover the entire surface 
of the seed-bed with coarse manure to tie 
depth of one or two inches, a part of which 
may be removed in Spring. A warm, pro¬ 
tected situation should be selected for the 
purpose. 
Spinach for early Spring use may be sown 
now, aud in the richest soil at command. 
When the ground begins to freeze, cover 
the plants at least two inches deep with 
dry, clean straw. If the weather should be 
favorable a portion of the plants will grow 
large enough for use during Winter, or as ] 
soon as they can be obtained in Spring. , 
Horse-radish roots that will be wanted for ; 
use next Winter should be lifted before the ; 
ground begius to freeze aud stored in sand s 
where they can be reached wheu wanted. 
All the small crowns and side shoots, not 
large enough for use, may be planted again < 
this Fall. 1 
ter should be kept so cool that they will 
not grow, and be given light and air every 
warm day. They will withstand a pretty 
hard freeze without injury. Next Spring 
they are to be planted out the same as the 
late sorts. 
Asparagus beds may be made this Fall, 
and the plants set out. Fall-planted roots 
will make a better growth next year than 
if the operation iH delayed until next. 
Spring. Those who have raised asparagus 
plants from seed sowu in Sprlug know that 
they are very slow in making their appear¬ 
ance, and the chances are that one has to 
fight Summer weeds or see his plants smoth¬ 
ered when not more than two or three 
inches high. But by sowing the seed in the 
Fall, in good, rich ground, the plants will 
get such a start iu Spring before the rapid 
growing weeds appear, that keeping them 
clean is comparatively an easy task. 
Those who have vegetable gardens may 
find plenty Jo do in them at this season, 
preparatory for Spring operations; and it 
is not best to wait -until the last hour has 
arrived before making a beginning. 
-m- 
GARDENERS’ NOTES. 
Elevated Hot-Beds.— James Weed, 
Muscatine, Iowa, writes the Gardener’s 
Monthly:—“In a former communication I 
ventured the opinion that the use of stable 
manure for heating hot-beds is a wasteful 
practice, and that fire heat can be substitu¬ 
ted to great advantage, especially for for¬ 
warding plants in Spring, when the season 
may require only a low degree of artificial 
heat, or a full amount. The objection to 
“fire hot-beds," for forcing in Wiutcr, that 
they are inaccessible, I propose to obviate 
by elevating hot-bed frames on posts seven 
or eight feet high, with walks between 
them; each frame being provided with ef¬ 
ficient shutters; the walls of the enclosure 
to be made as perfectly iion-conductingand 
tight as possible, also the floors constitut¬ 
ing the walks between the frames above, so 
that when the shutters are closed over the 
sash, frost will be excluded in the coldest 
weather, without the aid of artificial heat.” 
(Untianurliigicitl. 
THE HARLEQUIN BUG. 
To Mr. Bug Catcher of the Rural 
New-Iorkxr:- Dk Fob, in his modern 
History of the Devil, speaks of the old 
Cloven Foot as a uouu of multitude, and 
says the Devil and his angels are certainlv 
no inconsiderable number. He relates a 
conversation between a Venetian noble¬ 
man and a priest, where the exact number 
was given — so many millions, thousands 
a i w un l r . (fd8 ’ do ' v,i to serenty-five and 
a-half. The half, in my humble opinion, I 
send, you in a vial of alcohol, If I am mis¬ 
taken, please tell mo what it is, where it 
came from, and, above all, how to get clear 
Sherman, in his “march to the sea” 
opeued Pandora’s box in North Carolina, 
and among the lesser evils this bug stands 
foremast. No one ever saw it here till 
after the war; aud ao ono has ever found 
any means against its ravages, save catch¬ 
ing them one by one and killing them. No 
kind of poultry will touch cue, not even to 
the Muscovy duck, whose capacious maw is 
the general receptacle of ail kiuds of gar¬ 
bage, both auitnal and vegetable. 
Now for a few of its habits. It is deceit¬ 
ful beyond measure, indicating its close re¬ 
lationship to the old gentleman in black, 
aud, I doubt not, with a good lens vou could 
see its hoof parted in twain. It is';orment- 
ed [with an insatiable erotomania, and its 
procreative powers seem to be unlimited. 
Where there were but few yesterday, ap¬ 
pear hundreds to-day; aud wheu they fair¬ 
ly take to a garden, you may aav “ good-by 
vegetables.” it;-, favorite food is tin- hr,, ; „u 
leafed collard, and, without mutilating the 
plant, it seems to suck its life-blood, when 
it withers aud dies. Wo call it the Terra¬ 
pin Bug m this country, because it resem¬ 
bles the speck-backed terrapin. The dif¬ 
ferent sizes are the same bug of different 
ages.—N. B. H„ Stan/tape, Nash Co., A\ C'., 
August 24. 
Brussels Sprouts.— Brasslea oleraceu. 
—Will you please tell me what are Brussels 
•Sprouts, and how to cultivate? — Trucy 
Dorr, Lewis Co., N. V. 
Brussels Bfl ROUTS are a variety of the 
cabbage, aud distinguished from other sorts 
of the cabbage tribe by their niurmer of 
growth, the tall stems being covered by 
small buds of an inch or two in diameter. 
These sprouts are the parts used. This veg¬ 
etable is seldom cultivated for market, al¬ 
though largely grown in some neighbor¬ 
hoods for home use. The same cultivation 
is required as for the common varieties of 
cabbage. Sow seeds in April or May, and 
plant out in July. 
Caterpillars on Cabbages.—One of my 
friends, a landed proprietor in the Arden¬ 
nes, informs me that, one day, having ob¬ 
served in the garden of a peasant that the 
cabbages were covered with fronds of the 
common bracken (Pleris aquillna), he in¬ 
quired the reason, aud was told by the own¬ 
er that it was a certain and easy way to get 
rid of the caterpillars. My friend made a 
trial of the remedy himself, and he assures 
me that in one hour after the bracken-fronds 
were lain on, not a caterpillar was to be 
seen. Elder leaves are said to be equally 
efficacious.—E. H., “ Belgique llortlmle." 
Club-Foot in Cabbage.—Will some of 
your many readers he so kiud as to inform 
me what is the cause of cabbage heading iu 
the ground.—A Subscriber. 
The large excresence which you call 
“heading" at the roots, is known as club¬ 
foot, and is caused by an inseot which punc¬ 
tures and deposits its eggs in the root of 
the plants while they are small. The free 
use of lime and salt upon the seed-bed will 
sometimes entirely preveut the attacks of 
this insect. 
Cabbage and cauliflowers for an earlj- 
supply next season should be started now; 
aud wheu the plants cease growing, lift and 
set in cold frames. The plants during Win- 
To Destroy Ants,—Fill small vials two- 
thirds with water, and add sweet oil to 
float on the water to within half an inch of 
the top. Plunge these upright in the 
ground, leaving only half au inch standing 
out, near the nest or runs of the ants. The 
ants will come for a sip, and go home to die. 
No insect can exist with oil stopping up its 
spiracles or breathing pores. 
Fall Planting Onions.—A correspond¬ 
ent of the Rural New-Yorker prepares 
his ground and puts out oniou sets iu the 
Fall. He says they may be planted under 
grape vines, out of the way of the plow, and 
will be all pulled, bunched, or sold before 
the vines have put forth their foliage in 
Spring 
I V our guess that the bugs sent were some 
relation to the “ Evil One,” is not far out 
of the way, inasmuch as it is known as the 
Harlequin Cabbage Bun (StracMa histri- 
onlca, Hahn). Its beautiful colors remind 
one of a clown dressed to personate his 
Satauship, as pictured in books written for 
feeble minds. The first account we have of 
the habits of this bug appeared in the 
Practical Entomologist of 18GG, Vol. I., p. 
110, from the pen of Dr. Gideon Lincecum 
O f Texas. He stated that two years before 
H appeared ill his garden, attacking and 
destroying cabbages, radishes, mustard, 
aud other cruciform plants. Since the date 
named, this Insect has been gradually mak¬ 
ing its way East and North, and has already 
reached Southern Kansas at the West and 
Virginia and North Carolina at the East. 
We have had occasion to mention it several 
times during the past two or three years, 
but do not know of any better way of de¬ 
stroying than to gather by band or with 
small sweep-nets. If the people iu the in¬ 
fested regions do not begin to do something 
towards its extermination, they will have 
to abandon all plants belonging to the cab¬ 
bage family. 
♦ ♦ ♦- 
STINGING ANT. 
'Mutllla Coccinea) 
I send you what I consider a rare insect; 
t is considered very poisonous. I kept it 
dive for several days in a glass jar; was 
joing to inolose it in a vial, but it was too 
;imll, so I send it to you in a corn cob 
there’s no patent on the envelope), with a 
ittle earth at the bottom. I intended to 
end it alive, but was afraid it would gnaw 
ts wuy out, or somebody might get stung 
>y it. If you put your heel upon it on the 
;round, and the ground is not very smooth 
•ttd hard, it will run along unharmed, ap- 
larently. Corner it, and it will fight like a 
avage, not only with “tooth and toenail,” 
nit sting also. Please state whether it is 
leneficial or not. 1 have a suspicion it lives 
ipon cut aud other worms.—D. D. Henry, 
Arkansas. 
The common and scientific names of this 
asect are given above. The specimen you 
end is a female. The males have wings 
ut cannot sting. It is not a rare insect, 
ir it is found in all parts of the country, 
ud we have frequently taken it near this 
Ity. The females have a very powerful 
tiug, but are no more poisonous than many 
f the large species of wasps. In some of 
le Southern States thid Mutilla is called 
ije “ Cow Killer; ” why, we do not know. 
Lloyd Arnold is informed that the 
“Cow Killer," which he sends with a few 
beetles, is the same as mentioned above in 
our reply to Mr. Henry. 
-**♦- 
To Destroy the Rose Slug—The Prac¬ 
tical Farmer says:—“ We absolutely know, 
and have proved, that carbolic acid soap¬ 
suds, injected over the bush through the 
rose of a common syringe, is an effectual 
cure for the rose slugs, aud also death to 
caterpillars.” 
