©ORE'S RURAL NEW-YORKER 
Hrarg of a |luraltst. 
DAILY RURAL LIFE. 
From the Diary of a Centleman near New! 
York City. 
&0UQUET8 Of DRIED ROWERS 
Jan. 15.—Almost every woman who loves 
flowers (and where is there one who does not f) 
regrets to see the cold of Winter destroy the 
beautiful pets of the garden. It is not every 
house that is sufficiently warm to keep house 
plants during Winter, even if the housewife 
or her daughters feel disposed to take the 
trouble of nursing a few choice flowers 
through the cold weather. Stillya little orna 
mentation of our dwellings even with the 
ghost of plants is far better than nothing, and 
often adds an inexpressible charm to a room 
which, without such decoration, would seem 
dreary enough. Everlasting flowers are in 
great request for this purpose, and many a 
lovely Winter bouquet is made with these 
charming plants; but the ornament al grasses 
are my favorites, as their delicate, faded 
colors and graceful forms are truthful repre¬ 
sentatives of the departed glories of summer. 
If ono desires to make them appear more 
natural, a little oolor might be added. Among 
the cultivated species the Pampas Grass 
(Gyntrium argenteurn) is probably the most 
showy, the spikes being a foot and a-lialt in 
length, and w hen dried are of a brilliant sil¬ 
very white. The Erianlhus Ravenna: is an¬ 
other giant among ornamental grasses, the 
flower stems growing ten to twelve feet high 
and the spikes fully two feet long, and a mass 
of fine, feathery spray of a grayish-white 
color. The roots are perfectly hardy, re¬ 
quiring no protection in my garden ; but the 
Pampas grass is quite tender, requiring care¬ 
ful protection in Whit er. To make up a good 
group one needs to add a few of the Brizos, 
not forgetting the little Feather Grass (Stipa 
p ennata). which is the most graceful of grasses 
though quite dwarf in habit. Those who 
have not the means with which to purchase 
seeds or plants, need not be without their 
phantom bouquets, for our woods, fields and 
swamps abound in beautiful grasses which 
have only"to be gathered before fully ripe in 
order to retain their beauty through Winter. 
But I did not intend (so talk of things so 
well known, although an occasional reminder 
of this kind may sometimes be useful; my 
object in writing was to show how to add 
another charm in the way of insects to grass 
boquets. We have many small, brilliant-col¬ 
ored beetles that are readily preserved in al¬ 
cohol, or by mounting in the usual way. In 
the Eastern States the little Chryaoehm au- 
ratus, which is about three-eighths of an 
Inch long and as brilliant-colored as polished 
gold, is a most valuable specie* for producing 
a fine effect when worked in among dried 
grasses The ChrysonieMdot furnish many 
Other brilliant-colored sponies which can be 
used with charming effect, appearing Uke 
precious stones of many colors when inter¬ 
mingled with the white or gray plumes of 
dried grasses. In the Southwestern States, 
and in California, the Chrysochus cobalt anus 
is abundant, its color being a deep cobalt 
blue, while the 0. aurepennis varies in color 
from a deep green to a light, rich bronze. 
There are also many other larger as well as 
smaller beetles with brilliant colors that may 
be used for this purpose. They have only to 
be collected in Summer, or whenever they 
appear, and preserved in spirits until wanted. 
By mounting upon small slender pins it is an 
easymattertofast.cn them in among either 
natural or artificial flowers, and the effect 
produced in the evening, when a room is well 
lighted, is certainly most, brilliant as well as 
oharming. 
The ladles in the West Indies use the Fire¬ 
fly, or Cucvjo, to ornament their rooms as 
well as their persons on festive occasions ; 
and tho taste displayed, tind effect produced, 
are well worthy of imitation by their sisters 
elsewhere ; and although we have not the 
same insect in our cold Northern climate, 
still there are others which might be used 
with almost as brilliant results. 
CINERARIAS IN WINTER. 
Jan. 16.—The Cineraria has never been a 
very popular plant In this country, although 
extensively cultivated in Europe, and Bold by 
the thousands and tens of thousands in the 
flower markets of England as well as upon 
the continent. Perhaps one reason why our 
people have never taken a fancy to this plant 
is owing to its resemblance to many of the 
•wild flowers of our fields, particularly the 
Asters, With their various shades of blue or 
purple. The Cinerarias, however, when well 
grown from a good strain of seedlings, or 
from well established sorts, are very showy 
plants and well worthy of the little care re¬ 
quired In culture. Some of ray largest plants 
are just coming into bloom, and from this 
time forward until Spring there will he a 
constant succession of flowers of almost, every 
shade of color, from deep purple, blue and 
white, and quite frequcntl}' all combined in 
one variety. If one produces a very choice 
seedling it can be perpetuated by offsets, but. 
the most usual method is to transplant from 
seed saved from the best sort-. I do not even 
take the t rouble to save seeds, but merely set 
the plant or plants from which I desire seed¬ 
lings in a half shady border or on the earth 
under the stage of my greenhouse, where the 
seed fall and grow without any further 
trouble, except giving a little water occasion¬ 
ally. In the autumn I pot as many plant - as 
1 desire and throw away the remainder. 
One season I neglected either to sow seeds or 
put plants in a proper place for self-sowing, 
and the. result was 1 had to pay fit per dozen 
for plants just before the holidays. Since 
that time I have never failed to have plenty 
of choice varieties. 
A DITTOS FROM KANSAS. 
Jan. 17.—Mr. T. B. Ashton of Kansas has 
sent me. a box of very handsome insects, 
among which 1 found several specimens of 
that, beautiful beetle, the Clytus chums (8a.y) 
or A rhnpatvs char ns. according to later au¬ 
thorities. Thomas Say, who is often called 
the “Fatherof American Entomology.” de¬ 
scribed this handsome insect in 1S35, and said 
that it inhabited Indiana ; but as we pone 
irate t he wilds of the far West, the geograph¬ 
ical range of many of our insects is ascer¬ 
tained to be greater than our earlier ento 
mologists supposed. I have received this 
species of Clytus from Northern and Western 
Texas, and for aught 1 know, it may have 
been found in California. The larva of this 
fine beetle lives in some kind of tree, boring 
M the stem or branches, the same 
us the Maple borer, and scores 
of other beetles belonging to the 
same genus or family ; and I 
_____ want some one who knows, to 
i ./ t-ell me the name of the tree in- 
(,#1wA tested by t.liis beetle. 1 send 
l *5*? / .VO" u sketch which will enable 
V i almost any one to identify it 
/ \ when found. The light colored 
markings in the sketch are deep orange yel¬ 
low on the insect, and the others black, as 
shown. 
^icltl Gtrojis. 
PEANUT CULTURE. 
0. G. Carmichael, Independence, Mo., 
furnishes the Editor of the Western Plan tex¬ 
tile following facts concerning his mode of 
raising t his crop :—The ground was prepared 
the same as for any ordinary Spring crop, 
and the seed was planted infurroirs from two 
to four inches deep, and covered even with 
the sui-face. Some of the seed he cracked 
the hulls before planting, and the balance he 
planted whole, in order to give them a good 
test. He does not see much difference, ex¬ 
cept that those that were cracked came up 
first and had more time to mature than those 
that were planted whole. He suffered some 
loss from the seed rotting instead of sprout¬ 
ing, which, wc suggest, might have been 
avoided by planting in ridges, or at least even 
with the surface of the ground. As there 
was some difference of opinion about the ad¬ 
vantage of covering the tops, he tried both 
ways and finds the only advantage in cover¬ 
ing the tops is perhaps a little earlier maturi¬ 
ty, but as the seasons here are long enough, 
when planted eurly, to enable t hem to mature 
well, he would not advise covering, aud is 
also opposed to planting in ridges on account 
of the greater difficulty of the stems hi reach¬ 
ing the ground. 
Mr. Carmichael raised twenty-two acres, 
on which he planted fifty-three bushels of 
seed and expects to gather 20,000 lbs. as the 
product, which, at 7 cents per pound, which 
is about the present price, w ill yield a hand¬ 
some profit. Besides tins, after lie had gath¬ 
ered them, as he supposed very earefully, he 
turned his hogs into the field and they fat¬ 
tened very rapidly on what he had failed to 
find. 
-- 
EXPEEIMENT WITH ALSIKE CLOVER. 
— 
A Saratoga, N. Y. correspondent of the 
Country Gentleman gives his experience with 
this clover as follows :—I plowed my land 
about the first of May last, and prepared it 
as usual for our common red clover. Land, 
sandy loam and dry—not rich, just fair com¬ 
mon land. The seed came up finely, and con¬ 
tinued to grow finely until I harvested the 
oats ; then I gave it a dressing of plaster, and 
in three wpeks after that I am quite sure it 
would cut at the rate of one ton of hay to the 
acre. Not wishing to mow it the first season, 
I concluded to try my cows on it and see. if it 
was palatable to them—also thought I would 
see how my thoroughbred Berkshire swine 
like it; and to my astonishment, they came 
vary near entirely spoiling it in a short, time, 
and after this it was with great difficulty I 
could keep them from it, and in fact they 
liked it so much that T could not keep them 
in sight of it ; notwithstanding the red clover 
was eight inches high in some fields, they re¬ 
fused to cut it when in sight, of this. I am 
pleased with results thus far, and if it stands 
the Winter freezing and is a good stand in 
Spring, I shall use much more the coming 
season. 1 sowed at the rate of 4 lbs. per acre, 
and T think it plenty thick enough.” 
-♦-*-*-- 
THE LATE E0SE POTATO. 
In the Rural New Yorker of Dec. 7 I 
noticed an inquiry about the Late Rose Pota¬ 
to. About the middle of May I sent to B. K. 
Bliss & Sons for four pounds of the Late 
Rose Potato. I weighed off one pound ; I 
cut it into forty--five sets, only cutting one eye 
in each set. I planted them in sandy soil 
previously manured with good barn-yard 
manure. I planted one set in each hill ; they 
were later corning up. the tops remaining 
green for several weeks longer than the Ear- 
ly.Rose. When ripe! dug them. I had the 
enormous yield of one hundred pounds of 
marketable potatoes without the small ones. 
In quality they are equal to the Early Rose. 
1 think the above will be of some benefit to 
those wishing to know something about the 
Late Rose.— Walter W. Colenutt, Huron 
Co., Ont. 
Our correspondent neglects one important 
item in the above statement. Which Late 
Rose was it—the Campbell’s, Thorburn’s, or 
whose t 
- +~*~* - 
ANIMATED OATS. 
The lire oats which B. F. T., Brockport, 
N. Y., sends us as a great novelty, with a 
request that we should give an illustration 
1 and description of the same in the Rural 
New-Yorker, are nothing more than the old 
and well-known “animated oats” (Arina 
8terili8 ), advertised in all seedsmen’s cata¬ 
logues. 
-♦♦♦- 
STORING CORN FODDER. 
At Beacon Farm, conducted by Sir. Cro- 
zier for its proprietor, twenty-five acres of 
corn fodder are grown. It. is cut with a Clip¬ 
per Mowing Machine, cured in the field, and 
then stored in stacks built on elevated plat¬ 
forms to secure ventilation below and through 
the stack. 
sMu'ejj guskndrg. 
cross of blood from the fine wool flocks of 
New South Wales—basing our opinion on ex¬ 
amination of the above named samples, and 
reports from some of the committees who 
had opportunities of making examinations 
of specimen sheep. 
A resolution was also adopted declaring 
that it would be expedient for the sheep 
breeders of Ohio to take initiatory means 
toward getting upa National sheep herd book. 
A committee was appointed to report a plan 
for the same to the next State Wool Growers’ 
meeting at Mansfield. 
The following officers were elected for the 
current year :—President.—J. C. Stevens of 
Hurd In county. Vice President— John Gur¬ 
ney of Licking. Directors S. IIarmount of 
i Tuscarawas; W. N. Chamberlin of Hardin; 
| H. L. Reed of Licking; Secretary and Treas- 
urer—U. C, Deardorff of Tuscarawas Co. 
Adjourned to meet on the evening of the 
| second day of the next State fair at Mansfield. 
---- 
WINTER FEEDING SHEEP. 
Dr. Boynton of Vermont, in an article in 
the Massachusetts Ploughman, says it is a 
mistake to suppose that when sheep come to 
the barn in flue order in early Winter they do 
not. need grain. He adds: 
“ The true and only wise course is to feed a 
little grain every day through the entire Win¬ 
ter. Whatever extra feed in the form of 
grain you propose to give to your flock, don't 
hold it back till February or March, or till 
your sheep begin to fail, but divide it into as 
many parcels as there are days in the Winter 
feeding time, and you will never regret the 
experiment. One-half bushel of oats fed to 
one hundred sheep every day will bring them 
through in a far finer condition.” 
TO AVOID RANK FLAVOR IN MUTTON. 
A Texas Correspondent of the Mobile Reg¬ 
ister says:—“Hang the slice]) by the heels 
and cut his throat thoroughly—windpipe, 
swallow, jugular vein aud all. He will die 
very quickly. So soon as life is extinct, or 
motion ceases, remove the entrails with a 
sharp knife, opening completely from tail to 
tongue. Tliis job 1 generally 'get through 
with in just, about half a minute. I am satis¬ 
fied that the peculiar flavor of the badly liun- 
dled mutton, said to come from the wool, is 
due the entrails lying too long in the animal. 
I pay no particular attention to the wool 
other t han is demanded by neatness. On the 
plan above named, I frequently kill sheep 
four miles from home, tie them to my saddle, 
take them home, and even allow them to re¬ 
main over night without skinning, and no 
woolly flavor results. My mutton is prover¬ 
bial for its delicacy and sweetness, and now 
you have exactly how 1 manage it.” 
-- 
OHIO WOOL GROWERS. 
Several leading wool growers of Ohio and 
Western Pennsylvania, present at Columbus, 
held an informal meeting in the Agricultural 
Rooms of the Capitol, on the evening pre¬ 
ceding the State Agricultural Convention. 
A large number of samples of Australian 
wools being upon the table for examination, 
a committee was appointed to examine and 
report upon the same. 
The committtee introduced the following 
resolution which was adopted; Resolved, 
That in our opinion the fine wool flocks of 
Ohio could not be benefited by introducing a 
fThc 
KILLING HOGS AT KANSAS CITY. 
Having visited several of the pork-packing 
establishments of the West, I will state some 
things I saw in one in the suburbs of Kansas 
city. The building was about one hundred 
feet Square and three stories high. The hogs 
are driven up a gang-way to a plutform op¬ 
posite a door opening into the third story. 
They are here struck on the head with a 
“billy,’’and immediately swung up by one 
hind leg and stuck just as they pass through 
the door, are pushed on to the scalding vat, 
as they hang on an iron railing over head, 
and in about two minutes are dropped into 
the vat, which I observed had nine or ten 
hogs in at a t ime. They are floated along by 
two men with poles; a third man jerks a 
lever and throws the hog out at the other 
end on a table, where some dozen men, pull, 
roll and scrape at. the hog till ho reaches the 
other end of the table. A gambrll is put in, 
and he is at once hung up by a hook on an¬ 
other Iron railing and the entrails taken out; 
is washed all over inside and out, by a man 
with hose in hand. The hog is then passed 
to the hanging place and hung up. 
The proprietor told me tluit this company 
of men had killed and dressed 1.400 hogs the 
day before I was there. I then took out my 
1 watch and found they then were killing and 
dressing hogs at the rate of three ft minute, 
the hogs averaging about 250 lbs. 1 also ob- 
seiwed in another appartment one set of men 
cut up the hogs at the rate of three per minute. 
The hams were here packed in barrels holding 
300 lbs. ; one gallon of good sirup, four ozs. 
saltpetre, and strong brine enough to fill the 
barrel This makes what is called sugar 
cured hams. At this place they will pack 
about 80,000 hogs this season, and parties in 
the West say there will be a million more 
hogs packed in the West, than there was last 
season. 1 also saw quite a large, lot of buffalo 
meat, (hind quarters’, lying at this packing 
house. It is brought here with the skin on the 
quarters. I thought this a waste as I believed 
the hide worth more than the meat. 
Doe Run, Pa., Jan 15.1878. Tnos. Wood. 
---»♦ » ~ * 
LIME FOR HOG CHOLERA. 
— 
A Kansas farmer says he uses au- slaked 
lime spread upon his feed lots and throws his 
corn upon it. This disease has been stopped 
by this means in herds where it has appeared, 
i he asserts. 
—--- 
WEIGHT OF HOGS BY MEASUREMENT. 
Can any of the numerous readers of the 
Rural New-Yorker tell me how to find the 
live or dead weight of fat hogs by measure¬ 
ment l C. H. C. 
Cuyahoga Co., Ohio. 
