SEPT, as 
disappointments it would be to such people 
If they could be induced to spend a few 
dollars for books treating of such things. 
Iron pyrites, or as it is appropriately 
named, “ Fool’s Gold,” has set many a poor 
fellow crazy, believing that a veritable gold 
mine had been found. Quartz crystals are 
constantly setting ignoramuses wild on the 
diamond question, and scores of men have 
spent their last hundred dollars, or all they 
could borrow, to bring what they supposed 
to be diamonds to New York, all of which 
proved to be worthless quartz. One poor 
“There! look at those grapes! I think 
you will be willing to give up your fancy 
kinds, such as Delaware and Iona, when 
you can get such as these. 
1 opened the package, and found it con¬ 
tained a pound or two of the vilest, wild Fox 
Grapes that one could find in a day’s jour¬ 
ney through our swamps. But my visitor 
lut'd been cultivating this grape for several 
years, and really did think it was a superb 
and valuable s<*rt. A similar iucident oc¬ 
curred to-day. A stranger, and, apparent¬ 
ly, a wealthy gentleman, who had lately 
OUR FUR-BEARING ANIMALS- III 
DAILY RURAL LIFE 
COMMON AMERICAN WILD CAT. 
(Lynx Rufus—AUDUBON.) 
This animal is found in all portions of 
North America, from the tropics to the 
sixtieth degree of latitude, but it appears 
in more abundance in the Gulf States. The 
length of its body is thirty inches; of its 
tail five and a half 
FROM THE DIARY OF A GENTLEMAN NEAR NEW YORK CITY. 
Gathering Forest Seeds. — Sept. in. 
It has become a habit with me to gather a 
few forest tree seeds every autumn—not 
that I plant any of them myself of late 
years, although I used to do considerable in 
that line; but I cannot get over the idea 
that they are worth saving. Sometimes a 
friend out on the prairies sends me a few 
insects or other curiosities for my cabinet, 
then I return the compliment by sending 
him a package of Beeds, and in this vaj a 
few pounds are used, as I hope, to the ben¬ 
efit of somebody. The Ash, Maples, Bass¬ 
woods, Oaks, Tulip Trees, Hickories and 
its head is round; ears 
large, triangular, erect, tipped with coarse 
hairs an inch long, which drop out iu Sum¬ 
mer; a ruff of elongated hair surrounds 
the throat; body rather slender; legs long 
and muscular; soles of feet naked; hind 
feet webbed nearly to the claws; tail short, 
slight ly turned up. Though there is a great 
diversity of oolor, even in Individual# of the 
same locality, yet the prevailing color is 
reddish-brown in Fall and Winter, ashy- 
brown in Spring and Summer; forehead 
striped with dark brown ; yellow ej'ea, en¬ 
circled with a whitish baud; a whitish tri¬ 
angular spot on hinder part of ear, bordered 
with black; ruff black; bind head and 
back yellowish-brown, with a dorsal line of 
dark brown; sides spotted with dark brown ; 
under surface of body yellowish-white, spot¬ 
ted with black; legs somewhat darker; tail, 
above, barred with rufous and black, a broad 
band of black at the end, tipped white, be¬ 
low, light gray. 
The Bay Lynx, as this cat is called, is fond 
of swampy, retired situations, as well 11 s 
wooded hillsides. Cane brakes and desert¬ 
ed cotton plantations are its favorite local¬ 
ities. Its home is sometimes under an old, 
vine-covered log, but more frequently in a 
hollow tree, often entering an opening thir¬ 
ty feet high, or a cavity at the root Is chosen. 
It makes a comfortable lair with long moss 
and dried leaves. 
Audubon says, “ The Wild Cat pursues 
his prey with activity and cunning, some¬ 
times bounding suddenly upon the object 
of bis rapacity; sometimes, with stealthy 
pace, approaching it in the darkness of the 
night, seizing it with his strong retractile 
claws and sharp teeth, and hearing it. oil to 
his retreat in the forest.” lie feeds on 
rabbits, rats and other small quadrupeds, 
on fish found in dry beds of streams, and 
does as much mischief among pigs and 
poultry as a dozen foxes. He is exceeding¬ 
ly fond of eggs, and never finds a nest with¬ 
out sucking evury egg in it, and, if possible, 
will seize young and old birds of many spe¬ 
cies, capturing a wild turkey or partridge 
with great cunning and rapidity. Though 
night is his favorite time forprocuringfood, 
yet he is often seen abroad iu search of 
prey in full sunshine, both iu Winter and 
Summer. Its young are produced early in 
Spring, two to four in a litter. 
The Wild Cat is easily caught in a log, 
box, or steel trap, and it is often hunted 
with fox hounds and gives excellent Bport 
to the hunter. When pursued, if possible, 
was hauled oui auu riniKcu ui> *»■* 
field, where I supposed it would be less lia¬ 
ble to the attacks of the hickory borer 
(Clyhii) ptctUB , Druby,) than if left in the 
woods. John has commenced hauling it 
home to-day; »t least what there is left; 
for this destructive insect has bored it in 
all directional and its sawdust like exci'e- 
ment could be scraped up by bushels from 
under the pile of wood. 1 mentioned this 
insect April 18tb (see Rural Nkw-Yorker 
May -I, page 287,) as being destructive to 
hickory timber, cut down in Winter, but 
had no idea that it could or would do so 
much damage to hickory cord-wood in one 
Summer. This beetle is almost identical 
with the locust borer (C/jyti/s Tobl'it 'uV), and 
has often puzzled entomologists to separate 
them. They are, however, quite distinct 
iu habits, as the hickory CLylus appears In 
the Spring, while the locust species invaria¬ 
bly appears in Autumn. The size and 
markings of the two Insects are almost ex¬ 
actly the same to a casual observer; but. a 
close Inspection will show that there are 
several distinctive characteristics, the most 
prominent one is the size of the antennai, 
those of the hickory Clytm being much the 
more robust. I suppose those who believe 
in Da.kwin’8 evolution theory will claim 
that they both originally came from Lhe 
same stock. But be this as it may, they 
are very destructive insects, and their num¬ 
bers increase in proportion as man furnish¬ 
es them opportunities for .propagation by 
planting the locust tree and cutting down 
the hickory for firewood. 
The Wonders of Ignorance.—Sept. 12. 
—The wonderful things that some persons 
find are truly astonishing—to themselves. 
If a man who is a novice iu horticultural 
matters happens to find in his garden a fruit 
unknown to himself and immediate neigh¬ 
bors, he takes it for granted that it must be 
new to the rest of mankind. Of late years 
it lias beeu the habit of such discoverers to 
show the said fruit to the village Doctor 
and Minister; and they being as ignorant 
of such things as it is safe to be, are ready 
to assert all that can be said in its praise, 
affixing the usual superlative endorsement 
of, ” this is the best variety we have ever 
seen.” It is not strange, considering how 
little the masses know of wliat. exists out¬ 
side of the little circle in which they swing 
daily, that a man should feel somewhat 
elated at, his rare good fortune in procuring 
something deserving the commendation of 
the notables I have named. A few years 
since, a man of considerable eminence as a 
civil engineer, rushed into my office one 
morning, and laid a package upon my table, 
saving, as he did so: 
COM MONT AMEIt: 
taken up his residence iu the country, fame 
into my office, his countenance all beaming 
with smiles, and after inquiring if T was 
Daily Rural Rife, proceeded to take from 
his pocket a very large apple, and holding 
it, up before me, as much ns to say, “ look at 
that and be astonished,'’ said; 
“There, my man 
your attention, j 
and illustration in your 
UAL, Nkw-Yorkeh.” 
“ Why, my dear fellow,” 
la nothing new, L . . 
known Twenty-Ounce Pippin 
one of the proprietors. The gentlemanly 
clerk asked if his business was important. ! 
“Very; and cannot be transacted with 
any clerk,” was the curt reply. 
lie was shown int o the private office of 
the proprietor, who abade him be seated and 
make known his business. 
“ Well,” said our Western man, "are you 
Mr. B. ?” 
“ Yes; and what can I do for you? ” 
“ Well, sir, 1 have in my pocket a speci¬ 
men of incalculable value.” 
“ I cannot see how that interests me, ’ re¬ 
plied Mr. B. At this our Western fortune- 
seeker, whom we will call Jones, pulled 
from his inside vest pocket, a quartz crys¬ 
tal about the size of a hen’s egg and, pre- 
scuting it to Mr. B., said, “There, sir! how 
much do you think that, is worth?” 
“ About four dollars a cord, where it is 
wanted for macadamizing roads.” 
“ What! ” said Jones, do you pretend to 
say that it is not a diamond?” 
“Yes, sir," said B.; it is a very poor 
specimen of quartz, and if you have no 
further business with me, please cut your 
visit short." 
Poor Jones drew his hat as far down over 
his eyes as possible (it was on the back of 
his head when he went in), went straight 
out of the door and down Broadway, and 
I do not think he lias been to New York 
since. 
- 1 , is something worth 
and perhaps a description 
Diary for the Ru- 
I replied, “that 
but simply the old andwell- 
a scarcely 
third-rato apple, only fit for cooking.’ 
The smiles all departed at once, the bub¬ 
ble burst, and my would be originator or 
discoverer took up his hat, saying very 
meekly, “1 thought it might be a new vari¬ 
ety and that you would like to see it. Good 
day, sir.” 
“ Good day." 
This reminds me of another discoverer iu 
quite a different field. While attending a 
Fair in Iowa a few years since, a farmer to 
whom I bad been introduced led me aside, 
and, after lookiug about to be sure no one 
was listening, said; 
" Mr. D., you seem to have been around 
the world some and seen most everything; 
now I have got a great curiosity at my 
house which I would like to have you see. 
I think it is of great value, aud if you will 
go home with me to-nlglit you can see it, 
and I’ll bring you back in the morning.” I 
agreed to this, because great curiosities 
were just the things I wanted to see. A 
ride of four miles over a rough country 
road brought me to the home of my new¬ 
found friend; and after tea I signified that 
1 was readj’ to see the curio sty, and Mr. J. 
brought out, from some hidden recess, a 
small lump of something and held it out to 
me, saying, as he did so—“There did you 
ever 6ee the like of that before?” 
Remedy for Hovon in Cattle. The 
Practical Farmer says:—We once saved the 
life of a Short-lloru bull, which cost us near 
$G00, in three minutes, by twisting a wisp of 
hay into a band, placing it in his mouth, and 
tieiug it up tightly behind the horns. The 
working of the jaws, to get rid of this en¬ 
cumbrance, liberates the gas in the stom¬ 
ach, and relief is immediate. We know by 
that trial ourselves, that this remedy is ef¬ 
fectual, safe and simple. One of our best 
Chester countv farmers, when his cows 
broken Geode, the inside studded with 
quartz crystals. Of course I had to tell my 
host that it was valueless; and more, that 
he could find them iu any quantity all over 
the Western States. He was not as rich 
after uiy visit as before, for that diamond 
bubble had burst, and I am uot sure that 
he has ever forgiven me for the information 
1 gave him. There are scores of men in all 
parts of the country who are constantly 
finding rich beds of gold, silver and other 
precious metals—at least they are in imag¬ 
ination. What a Baviug of time and bitter 
