Perhaps I had ought to have said, that if a 
woodcock or duclc were waiting for a chance 
to be shot, it might do to secure tlie bird, 
and then attend to the gun. I didn’t sup¬ 
pose any one would be “greeny" enough to 
lose a shot for the sake of using the rag. If 
game is so plenty in New York that, a man 
can't find time for such little details, I would 
suggest the propriety of using a breech¬ 
loader. As to the dansrer ill lisinir nn nrmv 
room or chamber, without offeusive odors 
filling the room, so that aged people, deli¬ 
cate women and children, and all others, 
may be spared the inconvenience of going 
across the yard or garden for this indispen¬ 
sable item of every-day life. Our most emi¬ 
nent physicians decline that such diseases 
as cholera, dyspepsia, typhoid fever, tfcc., 
are propagated by germs in the excrements 
voided and allowed to exhale upon the air; 
and the eyes of cultivated people are daily 
offended by the suggestive appearance of 
portsimtn 
cirnfific antr 
|1oiuoI(rigtcaI. 
MEXICAN EVEEBEARING STRAW¬ 
BERRY. 
AN ENGLISH SETTER. 
Herewith we give an illustration of an 
English Setter, which corresponds very near¬ 
ly with Dinks’ specifications of what a Setter 
should l»e, which are as follows:—Ilia head, 
like the Pointer, should he broad at the top 
between the eyes; the muzzle though, must 
be longer and more tapering, and not over 
thick. Towards the eyes be must have a 
deepisli indenture, and on t he top of bis skull 
a higUisli bony ridge. His ears should be 
long, pendulous, and slightly rounded. The 
eyes rather dark and full.’ His nose soft, 
moist and large. Some breeds and breeders 
alfcet blaelc noses and palates; but T must 
.say there are full as many good without the 
black as with it. I rather incline In the 
opinion l hut. they are the best, not withstand¬ 
ing. Body like the Pointer, only deeper and 
broader, if anything; legs long to knee,short 
thence downwards; feet small, close, and 
thickly clothed with hair between the toes— 
ball and toe tufts they are termed ; tail long, 
fine, and tapering, thickly feathered with 
long, soft, wavy hair; stern and legs down 
to feet also feathered. His body and feet 
also should be clothed with long, soft, silky 
hair, wavy, but no curl in it. This last 
smells badly of water spaniel. Colors, black 
and while, red uud white, black and tan. 
These last I consider the finest bred ones, 
l’oan also is good. The Irish Setter is red, 
red and white, white and yellow spotted. 
The nose, lips and palate always black. He 
is also rather more bony and muscular than 
the English breed, anti ten times as head¬ 
strong and enduring. He requires constant 
and severe work, under most rigid discipline 
to keep in anything like decent subjection. 
Y e confess to a little pride in seeing our 
statements in regard to humbugs, as well as 
other things, fully verified. When the so- 
called Mexican Everbearing Strawberry 
came out, we pronounced it a swindle, inas¬ 
much as it was nothing more than the old 
Monthly Red Alpine which had been in cul¬ 
tivation for a century. Several prominent 
pomologigts differed with us, and even claim¬ 
ed that this was a really valuable variety, 
and about as large and productive as the 
Wilson s Albany ; hut for some reason, these 
“ backers” of tin! Mexican bantling have 
kept, very still of late, and we suspect that 
they are a little ashamed of their indorse¬ 
ment of such a swindle. 
While we do not believe in holding a 
grudge against even those who have de¬ 
ceived us, there is a sort of secret satisfae- 
-JNT ENGLISH SETTEE, 
cessity, but the higher sanitary considera¬ 
tions of health and the esthetic considera¬ 
tions of decency and refinement in civilized 
life. Having experienced all the inconven¬ 
ience, olfactory disgust, and offense to tho 
eyesight of tho usual privy-house system in 
all parts of the country, it was with no 
small measure of satisfaction that wo inves¬ 
tigated the latest improvements in the Earth 
Closets as made and patented by Ciiaki.es 
A. Wakjbfiei.d of Massachusetts, an illus¬ 
tration of which is given along with this ar¬ 
ticle, a glance at which maufticient to explain 
its general arrangement. In t his cut the cov¬ 
er of the seat is slightly raised, and the door 
of the closet is partly open, showing the 
pail inside, The raised part of the back at 
A, is a reservoir for dry earth, asbes, or 
whatever substance is used to cover and 
deodorize the excrements in the pail. When 
the seat-cover Is raised, the rod ft, operates 
the lever //, and the slide attached to W. 
The slide is a shallow pan which runs back 
under the reservoir, by which it is filled 
with dry earth, and after using the closet 
the person lifts a rod at M, by which the 
earth-slide is run out. from under the reser¬ 
voir, and drops its contents into the pail 
from a series of flaps, which insures a com¬ 
plete covering of the excrements. 
HOW TO CLEAN A SHOT GUN. 
: cases. It the swab is properly made, 
vorm never can come in contact with' 
barrels. Now please give me the in- 
ution you promised about, mink and 
and I will close an already tedious 
e.—H akky, Scotland , Mass. 
It does not seem to me that every one 
who uses a gun ought to know how to clean 
it properly, just because he uses it, any 
more than it follows that a man ought to 
know how to make one for the same reason. 
In the Rural N je w- Y oukjor, “ Snap-shot” 
handles my poor article on the subject with¬ 
out gloves. Now, I don’t profess to be a 
great gunner; outlie contrary, am anxious 
to learn, and always read with pleasure the 
items in " The Sportsman," whether they 
relate to loading and holding the gun or to 
cleaning it. 1 am fond of shooting, and 
have been accustomed to the use of firearms, 
and have associated with the best shots in 
our country for twenty years past, and can 
give “ Snap-shot” an item of advice in one 
particular: always respect the opinions and 
experience of others ; and whether vou dif- 
USEFUL AND SCIENTIFIC ITEMS, 
passed, and April 15 the Governor signed, 
the following bill, which is therefore a law 
of Illinois. Rural sportsmen in that State 
should take due notice thereof and govern 
themselves accordingly: 
Section l. That it shall be unlawful for 
any person or persons to hunt with gun, dog 
or net within the inclosed grounds or lands 
ol another, without first obtaining from the 
owner, agent, or occupant of such inclosed 
grounds or lauds, his, her or their permission 
so to do. 
Sec. 2. Any person or persons violating 
section one of this act shall be deemed guilty 
THE KISSENA STRAWBERRY. 
“ Audi” writes to the Cleveland -Herald 
in a disparaging tone in regard to this new 
strawberry. He says: 
“ The show of B. K. Bi.rss in New York 
brought out quite a number of new seedlings 
to annoy the amateur and commercial 
grower, and we see by it that the producer 
of hundreds in years gone by, not one of 
which is now recognized, Professor Hunts¬ 
man, is again at work, and took a prize for 
the best new seedling, which be calls “ Ivis- 
sena.” We hope no readers of the Herald 
will be green enough to semi him five dollars 
tor half a dozen plants. These berries—not 
the plants—were shown, and the committee 
must be a wise one that can tell, out of the 
five hundred or morn varieties of strawber¬ 
ries, whether this is a seedling or not, or 
whether it is worth ihe attention of the pub¬ 
lic. We want to see this sort of thing 
checked." 
We regret that our old correspondent, 
"Ainu,” has such a poor opinion of the 
ability of those judges who awarded the 
prize to the Kissena. But we can assure 
him that they are “wise enough ” to detect 
a new sort even among five hundred old 
ones, especially if it be like the Kissena, 
very distinct from any variety heretofore 
8lwwn. “Audi” has clone something in 
the way of describing new apples in the 
past twenty years, and we have often won¬ 
dered bow he should know a variety was 
new merely from a single specimen sent 
him ; still uo one has, to our knowledge, ac¬ 
cused him of want of ability in detecting 
new sorts; nor warned the public against 
Putting faith in liis judgment. It is certain¬ 
ly not unreasonable to suppose that there 
are men who know strawberries as thorough¬ 
ly as he does apples, and can tell a new and 
distiuct sort, even without seeing tho plant 
or knowing any tiling of its origin. 
Preparing Tobacco for Cliewin?. 
A correspondent of the Cincinnati Ga¬ 
zette furnishes another correspondent the 
following information with regard to pre¬ 
paring tobacco for home use. He says :—“ I 
thorough sportsman and “shootist,” has no 
f 4 ual, who 1ms this habit. You would not 
call him mi idiot, if you knew him. He will 
hit nineteen out of twenty woodcocks that 
spring within range; and here in Mussach u- 
*etts, where the birds are constantly hunted, 
they are extremely wary, dodging and turn¬ 
ing at an angle just as you pull the trigger. 
Very likely, in your State, the case may be 
different. 
Now about cleaning a gun. I got my 
i kas from “ Lewis’ American Sportnmn,” 
Hum whom a better man with the gun and 
dog never lived, excepting, always, Frank 
okrestisk. So much for my opinion, lie 
f>ays a “finely tempered gun may be injured 
dy using boiling hot water,” and my experi¬ 
ence proves that it is wholly unnecessary, in- 
asmiich as it may be thoroughly dried in a 
i provided you have removed 
' "Apples, by a free use of woolen rags or 
,0 ' V; ** l l ie hitter he of good quality, it is 
just as good as the former, and easier to ma¬ 
nipulate. There ahvavs is one nine* tlmi 
NOTES FOR SPORTSMEN, 
and woods, is the reprehensive habit of 
sportsmen in using for wadding, paper or 
other material easily ignited. The annual 
losses in this State from tires caused by the 
carelessness ot sportsmen amounts to a'very 
large aggregate. Gentlemen, buy patent 
wads or use leather, and you will, in a great 
measure, avert the danger complained of. 
The papers throughout the State will do a 
good service by calling attention to this 
matter .—Pacific Rural Press. 
One Trout Eatfuir Another. 
An English correspondent of the Field 
states Unit a trout caught, which was eigh¬ 
teen inches long and a girth of nine and a 
half inches,contained a juvenile trout, the 
tail of the latter hanging out of the former’s 
mouth. The victim must have weighed three 
ounces. This suggests to the English sports¬ 
man the propriety of making artificial bait, 
small trout instead of dace. 
P0M0L0GI0AL GOSSIP, 
California Grapes. 
Ouu correspondent, Htatt, says ripe 
grapes were in market from Yolo and 8olane 
counties, the first of July. The grape crop 
every where throughout the State, is prom¬ 
ising well. It never suffers from drouth in 
California. 
the room, or dust upon the person. There 
is also a child’s seat, which can be instantly 
substituted for the larger one. The capacity 
ot tile reservoir is such as to contain a quan¬ 
tity ol dry earth sufficient to last several 
weeks. The Wakefield Earth Closet, or 
Commode, is three feet high, to the top of 
the reservoir; two feet seveu inches from 
Iron), to back, on the floor, and two feet 
wide. This commode can be used in a bed- 
Ycllnw St. .lolm I*cncli. 
It seems from the statement of II. A. 
Swasey, editor of the Southern Gardener, 
this peach originated with a Mr. Freitas, 
an old Creole Frenchman, who called it sim¬ 
ply “ St. John” peach, who said it was cul¬ 
tivated among the old French settlers on the 
Bayou St. John, whence its name. Ils true 
name is, therefore. Yellow St. John, or 
Fleitas’ St. John. 
enquiries Tor Sportsmen.— How shall I prevent 
shot seattunuff too much? My gun is No. 17 
barrel, three feet. What is the best, and cheapest 
tm p for catching rats? What Kind of shotg-un 
is best ror shooting all kinds of game, deer being 
the largest,— C. L. P.—Will some of (be old ex¬ 
perienced trappers tell how to catch the fox in 
fall and winter—the surest way.—II. H. M. 
