Cftpers of commerce. The plant commonly 
known in this country as Caper is the Eu¬ 
phorbia Lathy vis, and belongs to quite a dis¬ 
tinct genus from the true Caper. The seed 
pods of this Euphorbia are often used as a 
substitute for the true Capers, but the milky 
juice which they contain is of a deleterious 
nature, and it is quite doubtful if all the 
noxious principle is destroyed in their prep¬ 
aration for market or home use. 
cure in the day, because of its imperfect 
vision. It is a great destroyer of poultry, 
particularly half-grown chickens, which it 
steals from their roosts, upon trees or else¬ 
where, even in the vicinity of dwelling 
Mice, young hares, rabbits, and many spe¬ 
cies of small birds and frogs, also comprise 
atijetter 
ntrnstrial § 
ONION CULTURE 
BARRED OWL— (Strix Nebulosa,) 
RURALIST'S AT LEISURE. 
We often bear of soldiers fighting their 
battles over again, as they meet together in 
social conclave and talk of days gone by. 
W by should not the farmer and gardener 
meet together in the long winter evenings 
and discuss the subjects which have so en¬ 
grossed their every hour through the season 
just brought to a victorious close? They 
have passed through 
I am a poor boy and want to do something 
for myself. I am Jiving witli my Grandpa¬ 
rents, but do not have enough to keep me in 
school all winter. 1 have thought that per¬ 
haps I might raise onions, or some other 
crop that would bring me some money. Will 
j’Oit please give, through the columns of 
the Rural, information how to raise 
its food 
About the middle of March, these owls 
begin to lay their eggs on the dust of decom¬ 
posed wood Jn hollow trees, or in the old 
nest of a crow, or red-tailed hawk. The 
eggs arc globular, pure white, have smooth 
shells, and fir© from four to six in number. 
It is believed that only one brood is reared 
in a season. The young are covered with a 
downy substance, some of which is inter¬ 
mixed with, and protruding from, the feath¬ 
ers for weeks after the bird is nearly Hedged. 
11 icy are fed by the parents fot a long time, 
on which occasions they make a hissing 
noise that mny be heard for fifty or one 
hundred yards. When domesticated, thejr 
prove admirable mongers, hut unfortunately 
cannot he restricted to the destruction of 
mice in the exercise of their natural propen¬ 
sity. All species of day-birds are (heir ene¬ 
mies, and pursue and annoy them with 
great pertinacity, but seldom have the power 
to injure them. 
I saw in some journal, Inst summer, some 
reference made to the “Barred Owl.” I do 
not think I ever saw one, and would like a 
description if you can consistently give it. 
a laborious campaign, 
[ and each of them is a soldier wearing the 
scais of battle upon his sunburnt brow and 
hands. The battles won and lost must he 
fought over again next year, and it would he 
well for both officers and privates to come 
together and draw up plans for the coming 
campaign. Such consultations could scarce¬ 
ly fail to he beneficial in a practical sense, to 
say nothing of the pleasures derived from 
conversation and discussion among persons 
of similar tastes. 
In every community a few men may be 
found who read more books and papers than 
their neighbors, consequently are better in¬ 
formed in regard to wlmt transpires in the 
world abroad; and, as a class, these men de¬ 
rive as much pleasure in imparting knowl¬ 
edge ns in obtaining it, whenever an oppor¬ 
tunity presents. Such materials should not 
be allowed to remain unused ; and isrnomnee 
ntomologrral 
year there may be a scarcity, and the next 
an abundance, the price varying according¬ 
ly. The man who always 1 ms a good crop 
of any standard article is the lucky one and 
makes money. A season of great abtm- 
unce and low prices always discourages 
planters, and thousands will abandon tliecul- 
ture of any crops thus affected; but the 
wise man does not vacillate to suit the 
whims of the unwise. We know a man near 
this city who made a fortune in raising cab¬ 
bages ; he always planted a certain number 
of acres every season, never varying for 
twenty years, and of course lie was sure to 
be on the lucky side when prices wore high. 
Onions usually return a fair profit on the la¬ 
bor expended in their culture; and as they 
do not deteriorate, if grown in the same soil 
year after year, we would advise you to pre¬ 
pare the land in the best possible manner, 
with the expectation of growing a succession 
of crops instead of one or two. TJie land 
should be made rich and as thoroughly pul¬ 
verized ns possible before the seed are sown. 
During the winter collect all the hen, sheep, 
or other fine, strong manure possible, and 
have it ready to spread over the surface in 
the spring. 
Selecting n Site. 
It is quite important that the land selected 
for onions should be quite level, at least not 
on a steep side bill or in a field that is full 
of small or large depressions and corres¬ 
ponding knolls. If the ground is very un¬ 
even, the seed, as well as small onions, are 
liable to be washed away during heavy 
rains. The land should also be free from 
small stones that would interfere with the 
seed drill or hand cultivator, if such imple¬ 
ments are used. 
l’rcpnrution of Soil. 
As early in spring as the land will do to 
Work, plow up the bod only moderately deep, 
ami before barrowing apply all ibc enrich¬ 
ing materials that, have been gathered for 
this purpose. Whatever the nature of fer- 
PARASITE^ON FOWLS. 
Tlie ( liifkiii HUH*. 
Cuas. V. Riijsy, Esq..* — 1 have again 
taken the liberty of sending you a few of 
those insects Hint infest the perches of fowl 
roosts and houses. Mr. A. S. Fuller gave 
me the bottle, wishing me to write to you, 
and to ssy it, would be a great favor to name 
them, it they have never been named. Please 
find otic (a name) for them. 1 am n breeder 
of fancy fowls—have been for manv years ; 
am acquainted with nearly all the works 
published on fowls, and not a single one of 
them gives any definite account of the differ¬ 
ent* parasites by which one can be distin¬ 
guished from Olliers. I it attending to this, 
yon will confer a great favor on yours— 
Henry Hales, Ridgewood, A’. J. 
In the Rural New-Yorker of July 24lh, 
1809, some account was given of one of the 
true lice which infest chickens, namely the 
Qontocotes hohgaster, Blum, That was a 
regular chicken louse, and a true insect; so 
1 felt that its determination was within my 
province. Blit the minute animals which 
accompany the letter given above, arc of an 
entirely different character, belonging to the 
class of spiders (Aruebnidd), and resembling 
much more closely the common Red Spider 
{Acarm klartm) of our green-houses than 
any ol the real lice. As they do not, there¬ 
fore, come exactly in my line, I at first did 
not feel' prepared to give Mr. Hales the 
needed information; hut upon being be¬ 
sought a second time, and knowing no 
arachimlogist in this country to whom to 
refer him, I finally concluded to give this 
parasite a “ local habitation and a name.” 
So 1 have been submitting the little mites to 
a rigorous microscopical examination, with 
the following result: 
“Eggs whitish, translucent, sub-oval. 
Young miles dirty-white, translucent, the 
body shaded with black, opaque marks, 
whieli vary in form, hut are usually placed 
as at b, iu the above figure; hind legs 
reaching beyond the body. Mature mites 
blood-brown ; bind legs not reaching beyond 
lllrt lwwl.r 41.#-. .. .1 . . " 
discovering something in relation to his 
crops or cattle, which is not worth relating, 
and as one incident or story begets another, 
a long evening is soon passed in the most 
agreeable manner If you have a dull, 
slow-going farmer for a neighbor, bring him 
in and rouse his ambition and excite bis 
pride, making of him a better man, neighbor 
und citizen. As example goes farther than 
precept, do not wait for some one else to 
start in this good work, but begin yourself 
and have the first meeting at your house ; 
and if no better subject presents itself, dis¬ 
cuss wliilt is said in the columns of the Ru¬ 
ral New-Yorker. 
TREATMENT OF HIRED HELP, 
— (Strix T'Te'bulosa,.) 
I am much interested in the Natural His¬ 
tory department of Die Rural New-York¬ 
er, and only regret that more space cannot 
be given to such inpies. Can you enlighten 
me ?—P. R S., MaysptUe, Ky. 
We arc glad to be able to respond to our 
correspondent’s request, and give the follow¬ 
ing description (with illustration) from the 
pen of Dr. Ezekiel Holmes, Maine. 
Desert |>Uo ii. 
Length of female, twenty-two inches; the 
male, smaller, grayish-brown with trans¬ 
verse whitish spots; beneath, whitish ; neck 
and breast, with transverse bare; belly and 
vent, will) longitudinal stripes of brown; 
iris, brown; bill, yellow; tail, very convex 
above, extending considerably beyond tips 
of wings, and barred with five or six stripes 
of brown; fore-part of neck and breast, 
whitish, barred transversely witli pale- 
brown; below, striped longitudinally witli 
brown to the tail; legs, clothed with short 
feathers; extremity of toes covered with 
scales. Female, with scapulars of dark- 
brown, and wings more spotted with white. 
The young have the tints deeper and bill 
born-colored. 
UnliilN mid Pcciiliariticft. 
I oil give liim work. You try to get him as 
cheap as you can. He is poor, and obliged 
to work, and takes your price. Yon let him 
have a little butter,or pork, or potatoes; if 
lie lias a cow yon pasture her for him. For 
all Ibis you are sure to charge the full mar¬ 
ket price. Does lie try to get them of you 
cheaper? you tell him he need not take 
them. If he wants a horse to use, you let 
him have one a short time, but are sure to 
charge him n good price for it. You don’t 
forget to have him begin work in the prem¬ 
ises at four o’clock, and work until dark, 
which is about eight at night; then you tell 
him there is another small job 3*011 would 
like to have done; but as there is not quite 
time enough, lie goes home tired yet feeling 
as if you were not satisfied. In the fall, 
when the days begin to get shorter, you do 
not give him work, and be must ioolc 
somewhere else or he idle all the fall and 
winter. If he is lucky enough to have 
saved something from his summer’s wa¬ 
ges, lie may get along; if not, then let the 
town support him. I do not charge this 
on all the farmers, but on most of them. 
I am not poor, but I feel sorry for those 
y- who are in the condition which I have 
described. 1 know of some such within 
our own town. 
Mr. Editor, please accept this, and 
publish it, or not, ns you think best. 
As I sit by tin's fire, this Thanksgiving 
Day.it comes to my mind. Farmers be 
thankful if the poor men live through 
the winter so that they can work for 
you as cheap next season as they have 
the past; but 1 will not say, Amen / 
1 Reform. 
JohnBtown, Fulton Co., N. Y. 
About four pounds of seed will be required 
for an acre; but the variety cultivated may 
be varied to suit the market in which the 
crop is to be sold. The White or Silver- 
skinned variety usually commands the high¬ 
est price, but docs not yield as well as the 
Yellow Danvers or Wethersfield Red—both 
Very popular sorts. 
Solving. 
Use a seed drill for sowing if one can be 
Imd, as much better work will be done with 
it than is possible by hand. Sow the seeds 
in drills about fifteen inches apart, and after 
all are sown pass a light roller over the sur¬ 
face to make it smooth and move convenient 
for weeding when the plants come up. 
After Culture. 
As soon ns the plants make their appear¬ 
ance commence hoeing and do not allow the 
weeds to get a start of the onions. When 
the plants are large enough to pull conven¬ 
iently, thin them out, leaving them two 
inches apart. If wood ashes or plaster are 
to be bad cheaply, sow one or both broad¬ 
cast over the bed ; the quantity used may be 
varied from five to ten bushels per acre, ac¬ 
cording to cost. All that will be required 
from this lime forward until the crop is vine 
I <L Egg; h. Young Mite; c, Full-Grown Mite- 
liighly magnified. 
is found among the feathers of I lie domestic 
fowl, and lives by sucking the blood. The 
author of the species is not given, and I 
have none of Duoks’ works to refer to, but 
rather than add a new name without being 
fully acquainted with such as have been de¬ 
scribed, I prefer to believe that our species 
is this very I), gallince. 
So much for t he name! As to remedies, 
the same that, are used for the true chicken 
lice would apply for this mite. Witli clean¬ 
liness in tlie chicken house and ajudicious 
use of cnrbolic acid, and a little grease, I do 
not think Mr. Hales will be much troubled 
with them.—c. v. r, 
*Tb(j classes Annelida. Crustacea and Aruchnida. 
London, 1833, PL 23, Fig. 1. 
Is Hu rul'd Clny Always u Valuable Ma¬ 
li lire ? 
C. H. Stockton asks“ Is burned clay 
nlwaj’S valuable as a top-dressing?” Ap¬ 
plied to stiff cln 3 *s, it alwa}*s has a mechani¬ 
cal value. It renders such soils more porous 
and better adapted to the culture of green 
crops. But ils chemical action does not 
always produce the same effect on all soiis, 
because all soils have not the same chemical 
conditions. But there are few clays in this 
country which will not give increased pro¬ 
duction by burning—especially by slow or 
smother burning. But that it will pay, is 
quite another thing. 
GARDEN NOTES. 
Fatso and True Capers. 
A correspondent asks if tlie plant com¬ 
monly known in our garden as “ Caper,” is 
the same as the one that yields the true 
