other sorts besides the Tallman Sweet and 
Rhode Island Greening ? Perhaps we might 
as well tell why. It is simply because no 
one ever did produce an apple by any such 
operation as the above. The apple referred 
to is older than any man living, and because 
it resembles somewhat the Rhode Island 
Greening, and the sweet portions are yellow, 
every novice thinks it must be a mixture of 
the two sorts named, when in truth it is hut 
a sport of some sour apple, probably the 
Greening, but no one ever produced It in the 
manner described by Mr. Blodget. Any¬ 
thing pertaining to the miraculous seems to 
possess a charm which draws the ignorant 
mind to it with an unresisting force; lienee 
committee as expressed by Mr. Bridgman, 
the chairman. I have now to say that I wit¬ 
nessed the performance of these implements, 
and I fully concur in the judgement of the 
committee. I have never seen finer work 
done in the fitting of a seed-lied, not even by 
careful hand labor in gardens, than the best 
of the work done at the trial. Private tests 
of the harrow, hi other kinds of work, have 
recently been made by several gentlemen of 
■tile club, and all with the most satisfactory 
results. Mr. Hoffman, President of the 
club, and Mr. Bridgman, spread the manure 
from their stables (which contain about one 
hundred and fifty animals) on their grass 
lands, drawing it out daily through the win¬ 
ter. They have used this harrow' to 
line it, and they pronounce the work 
complete—belter than they have ever 
before realized. Other gentlemen have 
used it on wheat with manifest advant¬ 
age. Sufficient tests Lave also been 
made to prove that it is well adapted 
to the early cultivation of corn and po¬ 
tatoes. As farmers become acquainted 
with its merits they will come to regard 
it as an indispensable implement.” 
olives, and we believe that the culture of this 
plant might be a source of great profit to the 
farmers and planters of the Southern States, 
if not at the North. 
We hope to hear of a trial with Telfaria 
pedata next year, as we are now importing 
the oil in small quantities from abroad. 
lies as you mention without seriously ques¬ 
tioning their authenticity. We have never 
happened to know of an instance like the 
one you mention, but can readily believe 
that it might often occur. 
arm 
STEAM POWER ON THE FARM, 
The efficiency and indispensableness of 
steam power in manufacturing and mechan¬ 
ical operations lias stimulated many attempts 
to produce an engine for farm purposes, 
which was so simplified in its construction 
ami so certain in its operation, that, the 
farmer of ordinary ability could use it as 
well for his work as the mechanic can use 
more complex machines for his work. The 
result of this spirit of invention has been 
the production of a great many portable 
steam engines, which have been of great utili¬ 
ty and economy on the farm, where there was 
work enough to keep them employed a con¬ 
siderable part of the time. But the number 
of farmers who can afford to buy an engine 
for $1,000, for which they lmve full employ¬ 
ment, is not large, and what with first cost, 
great weight and complexity of structure, 
their general introduction is hindered, where 
only light, efficient,simple and cheap power 
is wanted, 
All improvements in this direction have 
enlisted our attention; and it was a thing 
of this sort which we lately saw at the Mans¬ 
field Machine Works, in Ohio, which struck 
us us being a great advance in the right 
direction. 
Mr. E. II. Rees, the Superintendent of 
these works, lias spent a lifetime among 
steam engines, and knows their whole an¬ 
atomy. The engines now lining built at this 
place are what are known as the “trunk 
engines,” dispensing entirely with guides 
and cross head, thus avoiding the wear and 
tear of u very expensive part, They are 
also of a very peculiar construction; the 
steam is made to do double duty by being 
used on both sides of the piston, with only 
one escape for a full revolution of the crank. 
The steam valve is of the class known as 
“rotary,” of a very ingenious construction, 
being so balanced that it has no back pres¬ 
sure, as is the case with slide values, and the 
wear will he trilling in all its connections. 
To prevent the loss of heat on the cylinder 
from exposure to cold winds, <&e., this en¬ 
gine has a steam jacket surrounding the 
cylinder, thus, in a great measure, preventing 
the condensation of steam in the cylinder— 
an economy never before applied to portable 
engines. The whole arrangement of these 
engines combines simplicity and economy 
in the working of steam, and at. the same 
tarn of a Rural 1st 
P0M0L0GICAL GOSSIP. 
Seedling Cuiiviih. 
“ I have several seedling Guavas, and 
would like to know how they should he 
treated. 1 have examined several botanical 
works, but have not been able to find any 
mention of this plant. Is the guava a shrub 
DAILY RURAL LIFE. 
From lilt! Dim v of u (•niileitiuu near Now 
Vorlt City. 
May 1.—Seeds of the Cork-bark elm ( VI- 
mns suberosa) commenced falling. For six¬ 
teen j'ears I have examined annually the 
seeds as they fell from a half-dozen noble 
specimens of this tree, but, never found one 
containing a live germ or kernel. Why the 
seeds arc always false I cannot tell, but am 
aware of the fact to my loss. If this tree 
produces good sound seed anywhere in this 
country, will some one knowing it please 
communicate the fact to the editor of 
Moore’s Rural New-Yorker? 
May 2.—A few of the early flowering, 
hardy Chinese Azaleas in bloom. It is rather 
singular that the hardy character of many 
of the Chinese Azaleas was not discovered 
long ago; but now that this additional 
merit lias become well known we may ex¬ 
pect to hear of an increased demand for all 
the hardy species and varieties. The past 
winter has not injured, in the least, a half- 
dozen or more species that have been fully 
exposed to snows and frosts. The A. artuenu, 
obluta, aquamata and alba are in full bloom, 
and excel In beauty their American cousin, 
the Khodova Canadensis, which is also show¬ 
ing its rosy colored flowers. 1 have omitted 
to mention another magnificent early flow¬ 
ering shrub, viz., Rhododendron Jaclcsoni 
nana. This is the earliest hardy variety 
that I have seen, a few flowers appearing 
April 15th upon plants somewhat protected 
by evergreens. The first week of May, in 
this locality, is about as early as it would be 
safe for a Rhododendron to show flowers'; 
and Jackson’s Dwarf is always ready with 
un abundant supply. 
May 8,—Visited the nursery of Messrs. 
Parsons & Co., Flushing, N. Y., and saw 
and heard many things that I shall not be 
very likely to forget. A mong the many rare 
trees cultivated by these gentlemen, the ones 
that most attracted my special attention 
were several specimens of Olyptostrobm, (fig¬ 
ured and described in Rural New-Yorker 
Feb. 11.— Eds. Rural,) in full bloom. It 
was not the beauty of the flowers, however, 
that attracted my attention, for they are too 
small to he distinctly seen with the unassist¬ 
ed eye. But in a scientific point of view the 
blooming of these trees is un event of consid¬ 
erable importance, inasmuch as I believe it 
ia the first of the kiul oecuring in this coun¬ 
try—at lenst in the last ten or twenty thou¬ 
sand years; for, Judging from the fossil re¬ 
mains, there was a time when there were 
forests of Glyptostvobus in America. If the 
trees at Flushing bear cones and seeds, our 
scientific arboriculturists will have an op¬ 
portunity of settling a long disputed ques¬ 
tion in regard to the characteristics of a genus 
which is very nearly related to the Taxodium, 
wherein is placed our common Southern cy¬ 
press, T, dixtichum. Flushing has long been 
the "Mecca” of American horticulturists, 
and if 1 am not mistaken, there will be an 
increase in the number of pilgrims when 
they hear of the new idol set up in the 
temple. 
May 4.—Rain ! rain! How the water 
pours down upon our newly set trees and 
plants. Talk of sprinkling the surface of 
the soil with water from a watering pot or 
hydrant, in comparison with a copious 
shower. The first is man’s blessing, the 
other from One whose love and power are 
boundless. 
May 5.— Another rainy day, aud inside 
work is in order, such as making and wiring 
labels, cleaning out hencry, barn aud stables. 
May 0.—Have been trimming large speci¬ 
mens of evergreen trees, such us Norway 
Spruce, Austrian Pine and Hemlock. A 
quarter of a century ago, when I commenced 
planting these trees about my grounds, I was 
told to keep the kuife away from the 
branches and always to be very careful to 
preserve the leading shoot if I wanted hand¬ 
some specimens. The White Pine Weevil, 
{Pmodes strobi, Peck,) however, taught me a 
lesson; for this little beetle, which somewhat 
resembles the common curculio, although 
smaller and of a light color, deposits its eggs 
in the terminal shoots of spruce piues and 
various other species, where they hatch 
and the larva soon girdle aud destroy the 
branch. When 1 first discovered this 
at work I thought my trees would be ruined; 
but soon discovered that destroying the lead¬ 
ing shoots only made them grow more dense, 
and I took the hint and ever since have 
pruned evergreens, w hen requiring it, as 1 
would deciduous trees. Stiff, rigid outlines 
produced by pruning are not desirable in 
evergreens; lmt trees obtained from nurseries 
are often misshapen, and u few cuts of the 
knife or pruning shears wifi restore the origi¬ 
nal form. 
NOTES ON TOOLS, 
An Oliio IHirIiIuk Mncblne. 
Geo. 1). Hardorth, Jr., Wilming¬ 
ton, O., writes the Cincinnati Gazette, 
March 11, that Nathan Btarhuck of 
Ills neighborhood has invented a ditch¬ 
ing machine,and adds:—“ He came to 
my farm on last Monday, and cut in 
about six hours 130 rods of ditch 32 
inches deep. It was in six different 
pieces. One hand can grade the bot¬ 
tom as fast as one can lay the tile. 
He has cut with liis ditching machine 
300 rods in a day.” 
Kiiblx-i* oti Traction F.iieIiifii. 
John G. Wilson, Louisville, Ky., 
writing the Scientific American of a 
road steamer invented at New Albany, 
I lid., says:—“ With this machine there 
is no concussion on rough roads, and, 
while mounting an ascent of one in four, a 
brick was placed for it to run over. Even 
on tills steep grade, the machine did not 
fall after passing over the brick, hut forced 
itself farther up the incline to correspond 
with the angle at which the pushing legs 
were adjusted. 1 believe this machine has 
a grand future before it.” 
A NEW OIL PLANT. 
(Tc-Ifnrin I’rdiiin.) 
We presume that very few persons sup¬ 
pose that auy considerable jK>rLion of the 
so-called olive tvfJ of Commerce is made from 
olives. Mustard, rape, poppy, and many 
other seeds contribute largely towards mak¬ 
ing up the hulk, to say nothing of the refined 
coal oil which we are iuformed is being sold 
in New York city for pure olive oil. The 
demand for vegetable oils, especially for that 
which resembles the extract of olives, is so 
large that our farmers might ns well begin 
to compete for a share of the profits, provid¬ 
ed they will produce a good, wholesome ar¬ 
ticle from some innocuous plant, such as wo 
now propose to introduce to their notice. 
THE MEDLAR 
What kind of fruit is the Medlar? If It lias 
any oilier name, please Rive it.—T. 1L, Sherman, 
Texas. 
The Medlar is a small fruit intermediate 
between a quince and a pear. The tree is 
small, or of medium size, brandies woolly, 
and covered with a grayish hark. Leaves 
ovate, lanceolate, and somewhat woolly or 
pubescent. Fruit turban shaped, an inch or 
more in diameter; flesh hard, mixed with 
course granules, containing five small, hard 
seeds or stones. 
The fruit is seldom eaten until it becomes 
somewhat soft by decay. There are few per¬ 
sons who would desire such fruit; but we 
suppose a taste might be acquired for Med¬ 
lars as well ns for other peculiar flavored 
vegetables—for instance, tobacco. There 
are several varieties of Medlars cultivated 
in European gardens, such as the Dutch and 
Nottingham. The trees grow rapidly, aud 
arc healthy and fruitful in this country, al¬ 
though not generally esteemed. They may 
be propagated by grafting upon the wild 
Medlar Block, or upon our wild thorns or 
common quince. The botanical name of 
the Medlar is Mespilus germanica. The 
French call it A hflier; Germans, Misjxtl- 
baum, and the Italians, Nespolo. 
TRIAL OP HARROWS. 
[Mr. W. A. Armstrong, Secretary of the 
Elmira (N. Y.) Farmers’ Club, furnishes the 
Country Gentleman the following report of 
a recent trial of Harrows:] 
“ The Elmira Farmers’ Club recently made 
a very thorough trial of implements used in 
tilling the soil, principally plows and har¬ 
rows. Among the latter were the Shares, 
Nishwitz, Morgan and Thomas harrows, be¬ 
sides many others more or less noted. 
“The Committee reported the Thomas 
Smoothing Harrow ‘without a rival’ for 
pulverizing and smoothing the surface, 
and the Chairman at once purchased the 
one shown. The great number of tools 
entered precluded the testing of harrows on 
various kinds of soil within the time allot¬ 
ted, and it happened that the Messrs. Hot.- 
ruook & Co. of Boston, and* the Peeltskill 
Works tailed to get. their plows in, because 
of delay in transportation, and it was there¬ 
fore decided to hold ft supplemental trial for 
all swivel plows, and to make the occasion 
serve to test harrows under very severe re¬ 
quirements. This trial has just been made, 
and the Chairman of the Committee Las fa¬ 
vored me with his notes. The Morgan har¬ 
row was regarded as the principal compet¬ 
itor oft he Thomas harrow, and It was there¬ 
fore decided to pass each a given number of 
limes over contiguous strips of very stiff in¬ 
verted sod, well filled with the roots of quack 
grass; each strip started in mucky soil and 
ran into loam, and further on into cobble¬ 
stone bottom land. For this work the Thom¬ 
as harrow was weighted as the Nishwitz and 
Shares had been. 
“ The first si rip for each harrow was passed 
over four limes. The Thomas harrow brought 
the entire surface to the very finest tilth, in¬ 
cluding the stony end; the land was as 
smooth as if rolled, and there wag nothing 
left to be desired. The Morgan strip was 
well pulverized and left uneven, because the 
vertical teeth tore up many pieces of sod. A 
second strip for each was then worked twice. 
On the toughest of the sod the pulverization 
ivas not complete, and the performance of 
the Thomas harrow much the best. The 
greater breadth of this harrow was also a 
material advantage in point of time, while 
the draft was apparently lighter than any of 
the others. These are the conclusions of the 
Fro. 4. 
The scientific name of the guava is Psidi- 
nm Cattleyccnum. It is an evergreen shrub; 
native of the tropics, and must therefore be 
kept in a hot-house if grown in the Northern 
States. The fruit is about the size of a small 
plum, and of a deep purple color. The 
flavor somewhat resembles that of the 
strawberry. 
The plants come into bearing when three 
or four years old, and by severe pruning and 
pinching oti' the young shoots, they may he 
kept within a moderate space ami still yield 
an abundant crop. About equal parts of 
loam and peat, adding a little fine sand, is a 
good compost for these plants. 
Fia, 2. 
About forty-five years ago a Mr. Eo.tf.r 
found a plant growing wild on the eastern 
coast of Africa, which was new to him, as 
well as all other botanists of that day. He 
sent seeds to a Mr. Telfair, on the Island 
of Mauritius, and the latter named gentle¬ 
man succeeded in growing them, as well as 
forwarding seeds and drawings of the fruit 
to Sir William Hooker, who honored Mr. 
Telfair by naming the genus Telfaria 
pedata. 
To Hnv<- Fruit from (Jiirculio. 
A correspondent recommends building 
circular hencoops about the peach, plum, 
and other fruit trees. 
Croiibi-rrirn iu the South. 
A correspondent at Chocktaw Co., 
Miss., asks if cranberries will grow and 
thrive there; also, where he can get the 
plants. Those who have plants for sale 
should adverlise them in the Rural New- 
Yorker, if they do not. We cannot say 
whether the cranberry will prove productive 
in the climate of Mississippi. It is indigenous 
in some parts of Virginia, aud we should not 
hesitate to try the experiment of its culture 
(iu a small way at first) in Mississippi. 
Fio. 3. 
This plant belongs to the natural order of 
cucurhitacM, or cucumber family. It is a 
perennial climbing plant, somewhat like the 
ornamental gourds, leaves deeply cut, or di¬ 
vided, resembling a bird’s foot, bcr.ce the 
specific name pedata. The fruit grown three 
or more feet long and eight to ten inches in 
diameter, with a deeply corrugated rind, as 
shown in figure 1. Within this shell or rind 
there are five cells, each filled with large 
brown heart shaped seeds (Fig. 2.) The 
covering or husk of the seed is quite hard 
and hornlike, lmt the inside is pure white, 
(Fig. 8,) fleshy, and rich in oil. 
A full-grown fruit will yield two hundred 
and filly to three hundred seeds as they lie 
compactly side by side in the cells (ns shown 
in Fig. 4.) aud when dried are almost equal 
in flavor to sweet almonds. The oil extract¬ 
ed from them is equal to that of the finest 
Nectarine on a Pefccb Tree. 
I found, yesterday, on one peach tree a 
well formed specitncu of nectarine between 
two peaches. Can you explain the case to 
me iu the Rural New-Yorker.— L. Mek- 
ZEAU, Aiken, .S'. O. 
The nectarine is only a smooth skiu peach, 
and in some countries is known only by this 
name. In India it is called moondla aroe or 
smooth peach. In horticultural language 
the nectarine Is called a “sport" of the 
peach, and many of the varieties known 
were produced from a peach-stone—as, for 
instance, the Boston nectarine. These well 
known instances of change or sporting of the 
peach prepare us to receive just such anoma- 
