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DAILY RURAL LIFE. 
From the Diary of a Gentleman near New 
York City. 
CH1HESE AZALEAS. 
March S.—We. have few plant# which make 
« more gorgeous show at this season than the 
Chinese Azaleas, The flower* of most of the 
species and varieties are large, measuring 
two to three inches in diameter, and the 
colors of a greater portion are exceedingly 
brilliant. The pure white varieties, or those 
in which the white color predominates, when 
intermingled among the deep crimsons, scar 
lets and various shades of red, produce a 
strong but pleasing contrast. The Azaleas 
are plants of such cas}' culture t hat I am 
often surprised to sec them so little culti¬ 
vated by those who keep parlor or conserv 
atory plants. They gfoW readily in almost 
any good loamy, or even peaty soils, and do 
not require a high temperature. In summer 
the pots may bo plunged in some half-shady 
border, and remain there Until time to remove 
the plants to the house. Azaleas arc plants 
of comparatively slow growth, but this pecu¬ 
liarity is a merit, for they do not become 
large and cumbersome until of great age, and 
then they can be brought within almost any 
reasonable limits by pruning, During Feb¬ 
ruary, March and April, Azaleas are the most 
shawy plants in my greenhouse, 
PRUNING EVERGREENS. 
March 4.—The opening of this spring month 
is not altoget her spring-like ; still, one begins 
to think of t he work t hat must be done soon, 
for this cold weather cannot last much longer. 
In looking about; among my evergreens J And 
some that can be improved by pruning. A 
f< v have grown too tall and sparsely supplied 
with side branches • those should be cutback, 
even to t aking off a few feet of the leading 
shoot. I know that some persons think that 
to cut- away the loading shoot, of a Norway 
spruce or pine is likely to injure the appear¬ 
ance of specimen trees ; but 1 have always 
practised this system of pruning upon all 
evergreens that were not well furnished with 
side branches. “Heading back,'-' as it is 
called among nurserymen, if far more gener¬ 
ally practised, would restore many an un¬ 
sightly tree to a oomely shape. Side branches 
that have grown out beyond proper limits, 
thereby giving the tree a one-sided, distorted 
appearance, should bo shortened, more or 
less, according to their length. March is 
usually a convenient time to do this kind of 
work, and I think that wounds made at this 
time upon evergreens will Ileal over as readily 
as at any other season. After one has been 
housed for three or four months, lie feels like 
sharpening his pruning knife and doing a little 
whit tling, and if there are evergreens at, hand 
which need pruning, they are good subjects 
to commence on, 
TULIP TREE CATERPILLARS. 
March 6.—Last summer my small Tulip 
trees (LiHodehdrnn tulip if era) warn badly 
infested by caterpillars, which stripped the 
leaves from a number of specimens before 
they were discovered. Those caterpillars, 
when fully grown, are about two ineh&s (or 
n lit tle more) in length, and of a green color, 
ornamented with rows of blue dots, a yellow 
eye-hko Spot, with a black center on the third 
ring or segment, and a yeliow and black band 
across the fourth. My workmen brought rue 
several of these caterpillars, as they have 
been instructed to do with all insects found 
while at work in the garden. I furnish my 
men with small boxes or vials, which are car¬ 
ried in their pockets, and whenever any 
worm, caterpillar, butterfly, moth, or other 
insect is found, specimens are scoured and 
shown to me before any attempt, to destroy 
is thought Of, unless ic be with very familiar 
species. My object is to teach my workmen 
to discriminate between friends and enemies, 
and not take the life of even a minute insect 
without, good and sufficient reason for doing 
so. By adopting this plan I have taught 
them to be observing, not only in examining 
insects, but with plants as well, and their 
eyes gradually become educated to see many 
things which otherwise would be overlooked. 
’ A few of the caterpillars mentioned above, 
were put into a glass jar and fed with tulip 
tree leaves until they ceased eating and 
changed to chrysalis. The jar wa-s then set 
aside in a safe place until cold weather, then 
put into the greenhouse in uvlcr to hasten 
development and bring out the butterflies in 
advance of the regular season. To-day one 
of the butterflies appeared, and proved to be 
our common Popilio turnup, Linn., a species 
which is found from Hudson’s Bay to Florida. 
Its front wings are pale yellow, bordered w ith 
black, divided by eight or nine yellow spots, 
and with four unequal transverse black bands. 
The hind wings are margined with six yellow¬ 
ish lunulcs. surmounted by bluish spots ; 
tails black, bordered on the inner side with 
yellow. The wings spread from three to four 
inches, measured across t he tips. To produce 
these butterflies was no remarkable feat or 
particularly worthy of note, and 1 only men¬ 
tion it to show how readily one may obtain 
knowledge In regard to the history of our 
common insects by placing them in a position 
where their transformations can be observed. 
I have long known that, the caterpillar of the 
Papilla turnup fed upon the apple, cherry, 
and other fruit trees, but this was the first 
tune that I had found it upon the tulip tree. 
The lame or caterpillars of closely-allied spe¬ 
cies are often so near alike, that we need to 
breed them under artificial conditions, in 
order to be positive as to their identity. If 
every farmer and gardener would not only 
look to these things themselves, but teach 
their children to observe the habits and trans¬ 
formations of the insects about them, igno¬ 
rance among those two classes of our people 
who, above all others, should study ento¬ 
mology, would be less apparent. 
THE WILLOW TREE BORER. 
March 7.—I frequently receive from Mis¬ 
souri and other Western States specimens of 
a large and showy Longicorn beetle, the 
larva of which is said to live in the willow. 
Its scientific name is I'lertrodcrn pcalalor, 
Lbc., and belongs to the same great family 
as our Locust Borer (Clytue pit-tux), Sugar 
Maple Tree Borer (Clytux ppedosus), and 
hundreds of other closely allied beetles whose 
larvae or grubs infest our fruits and forest 
trees. The Pkctrodera, or Willow Tree 
Borer, is such a showy insect that 1 uin not 
surprised that it attracts attention. The 
ground or principal color is white, but wing- 
covers, body, thorax and head are blotched 
and striped with jet block, the strong con¬ 
trast of the two colors making the beetle a 
very conspicuous object when crawling up 
the bark of a tree or at, rest. The markings 
are very Irregular, bot h in size and form fre¬ 
quently resembling some of the ancient 
hieroglyphics. 1 send you two sketches of a 
specimen lately received from Texas—a side 
and back view of the same, which will prob¬ 
ably enable any reader of the Rural New- 
Yorker, who may happen to meet with one 
of these Longicorns, to recognize it. 
pisciculture. 
RUSSIAN STERLET. 
The Agriculturist says :—An experienced 
traveler says : There is no fish more richly 
deserving an introduction among us than the 
Russian Sterlet, for, being a mud-fish, it will 
thrive where the trout, will not. Another 
great, consideration, it has no bones. Its fla¬ 
vor is considered almost if not quite equal to 
our celebrated Whitefish of tile Western lakes 
but it is not usually so large. It- abounds in 
the Volga, arid we do not know but in other 
rivers of Russia, We believe it is also found 
in the Caspian and Black Seas. 
-- 
PISCICULTURAL NOTES. 
Black Bass increase with great rapidity. 
Twenty-four bass were placed in a small lake 
in Westchester Co., N. Y. The lake was not 
fished for four years, when a ton of fine bass 
were taken with a hook and line during a 
single season without diminishing the supply 
the succeeding Summer. Each succeeding 
year gives an increased yield. 
Congress has been memorialized to aid in 
the establishment of a salmon fish-hatching 
establishment in the vicinity of Puget 
Sound, and a shad-hatching house on the At¬ 
lantic coast. 
During the year 1872 Mr. Setii Green has 
delivered no less than seventy thousand fish 
for seed purposes. 
industrial juTopin;. 
FARMING IN COLORADO. 
The Dairy is assuming considerable import¬ 
ance and profit in Colorado. The markets of 
Denver and other towns in the territory are 
the most of the year'supplied with “ranche.” 
butter, as the home made article is termed, 
and it always brings 10 to 15 cents more per 
pound t han choice Ohio or New York but ter. 
The prevailing price now, is from 45 to 00 
cents per pound. It is estimated that there 
were produced in this Territory last year 
3,000,000 pounds, worth $1,000,000. Consid¬ 
erable is packed for the ’ illltary posts and 
settlements in Wyomin . n 1 New Mexico, 
and for St. Louis cud Chicago markets, 
which is to so great an extent robbing our¬ 
selves that large quantities of Illinois and 
Kansas butter are imported and sold here. 
The season for butter manufacture generally 
lasts from the middle of April to the middle 
of November, seven months, and during this 
period a dairy of 25 to 30 cows will moke 125 
pounds of butter to the cow. 'flic average 
price of good American cows in (he spring is 
$50. Thus it will be seen the product of a 
single season pays for the cow, while the 
milk after the cream is taken of! will raise 
the calf, which in the fall is worth from $8 to 
$10. It is the experience of farmers in the 
vicinity of Denver that a dairy of thirty 
cows a single year will make them $1,500, 
enough to pay the living expenses and hired 
help, leaving the crops on the farm a net 
profit. 'Hie expense of keeping cows is 
trifling. They graze the year round, arc sel¬ 
dom grain-fed or stall-fed, the dry and nutri¬ 
tious grasses affording abundant food. Thus 
far this winter there 1ms JlOt been snow 
enough to cover the ground, and the ther¬ 
mometer has been below zero but two or 
three days. For the most pari the weather 
has been very much like October in New 
1 England. The other evening at a “ Fanners' 
Club ” (every town in the Territory has one) 
.vo heard an old settler relate his seven years 
experience In daiiying. He came here in 
1863, with bad health and little means. He 
started with throe cows. In those days he 
got 75 to 85 cents per gallon for milk and 81 
to $1.25 per pound for butter. From the 
profits he kept buying more cows. At the 
j o if of seven years he had 80 eowk, and hud 
laid up considerable money. His stock was 
grade cattle. His experience showed that. 
Texas Cattle, despite the richness of their 
milk, have no value for dairy purposes. He 
had one grade cow that lie bought for $25. 
She milked a gallon uud a ball' pc-r day for 
eighteen months. After several years milk¬ 
ing he. sold her for $50, estimating that, he 
had got $1,000 out of her. 
Cheese making in Colorado lias as yet re¬ 
ceived but little attention. But in this direc¬ 
tion-some move has now been made. During 
the past year an Englishman, Dr. Belt., has 
established an extensive cheese factory in the 
West Mountain Valley, south of Colorado 
Springs. As the result of the first, season he 
has put upon the market, 5,000 pounds of 
prime cheese, which found ready purchasers 
at 40 cents per pound. 
Regarding the interest in stock raising, it 
may be said that the Territorial Auditor’s re¬ 
port. not yet printed, will show that, in 1872 
there were assessed in Colorado 242,372 head 
of cattle, an increase over 1871 of 100,224. 
The President of the Stock Growers’ Associ¬ 
ation informs us that there were imported 
into the Territory dm-ing the past year, 
87 pedigree Short-Horns, Jersey, Hereford, 
Devon, and Galloway bulls ; and about 200 
grade bulls. Just across the Platte from 
Denver is the “ Denver Jersey Stock Farm,’’ 
established the past year, on which is a dairy 
of Ayrshire, Alderney and Jersey cows. It 
will be seen hv these facts that Colorado 
stock men and dairymen are progressive. 
It is estimated that Colorado contains from 
forty to fifty millions acres of grazing land, 
nearly one-half of this lying west of the 
Rocky mountain range in the unsettled part, 
of the Territory. Northern Colorado east of 
the range, is chosen by the great stock men 
for their field, because it has more rain and 
the grass grows higher than in Southern 
Colorado or South of the Arkansas divide. 
From a point high up in Estes Park, where 
Geo. W. Brown of Denver is wintering his 
herd of 1,500 head of cattle without the cost 
Of cutting or curing hay, thence through 
Weld, Boulder, Jefferson, Larimer and Ara¬ 
pahoe counties, occupying the valleys of the 
Platte, Cherry, Box Elder, Bijou, Kiowa, 
Beaver, east to the headw aters of the Repub¬ 
lican, are pastured the largest herds. Among 
these are John Hittson’s 4,000 head ; Major 
George, 7.(100 : J. W. Iltff, f,000 ; Brown & 
Lathrop, 1,600 ;‘J. S. Maynard, 1.200 ; L. II. 
Cole, 1,000; Samuel Hartzell, 700; W. W. 
Roberts, 700 ; J. L Brush, 1,500 : Wilson 
Bros., 8,500 ; Bartels & Co.. 1,000 ; Hughes 
& Kerr, 1,000 ; E. W. Whitcomb. 2,000 ; W. 
IT. Cranmer, 1,400 ; James Hart. 1,000 ; 
Capt. May, 1,200 ; and hundreds of smaller 
herds ranging from 100 to 800 head. 
Southern Colorado, that portion of the ter- 
ritor . drained by the waters of the Arkan¬ 
sas and Rio Grande, hits about 25,000 square 
miles of grazing lands, capable of sustaining 
1,250,000 head of cattle. At present there 
are not over 180,000head in this area. In the 
Fountains, in Bonille and other tributaries 
of the Arkansas, in the Arkansas itself and 
along the Rio Grande are scattered small 
herd*, mostly Texas cattle, while in the vi¬ 
cinity of Pueblo and Bent’s Ford are found 
several herds numbering from 1,000 to 5,000. 
Denver, Col., Feb. 14. b. 
A WOMAN’S POULTRY STATEMENT. 
Hkeing the poultry statement of E. J. 
Crawford in Rural New-Yorker, March 1., 
I feel impelled to give my experience and 
profits for 1872, in the hope that it may en¬ 
courage other women to start in this light, 
healthy, and, withal, profitable employment. 
In the Spring of 1872, 1 had 200 hens worth 
oOcts. apiece, and 18 Brahmas, worth $1.00. 
During the year I sold 0&4 doz. eggs for $130.- 
13 ; 227 chickens and old fowls for $74.73. So 
my account stands thus. 
Value of fowls. $118 GO 
Ok.— dozen eggs . $130 13 
'W fmvlw Sold... T4 73 
Fowls on hand .. .. 100 00 
- 304 86 
Profit. 0186 8C 
You may say that tins is incomplete, as I 
have no memoranda of cost of food. With 
corn at 20cts. a bushel, and with an unlimited 
range you will readily see that t he cost would 
not be great, and is fully covered by eggs 
used by two families, of which no account is 
made, approx 1 mating 100 doz., and not far 
from 75 chickens eaten. My turkey profits 
were not. so good as usual last year, because 
of sport smen and wolves who relieved me of 
24. Still they foot up $55.55. 
In conclusion. 1 would like to give a word 
of advice to overworked farmers’ wives and 
daughters. Have a good stout girl for the 
kitchen, and do you spend one-half your time 
out-ofrdoora raising chickens. Never mind 
the tan and freckles, and my word for it, it 
will pay. You can pay a girl for the busy 
season and have $150.00 besides, for your own 
pleasure. 1 have been intensely interested in 
the women’s letters that have appeared in 
the Ritual, well knowing that a great evil 
docs exist, and that yearly thousands of 
faithful women are hurried to an untimely 
grave; but it seems to me that no one has 
touched, as yet, the true reason of this terri¬ 
ble slaughter—at least as it exists in Illinois ; 
and I am sometimes seized with an impulse 
to “ say my say ; ” but some one may do it 
for me yet. Jennie P. 
-- 
WHITE BRAHMA FOWLS. 
I think I can answer C. H. M.’s question 
(see Rural New-Yorker. Feb. 22, p. 126,) in 
regard to White Brahmas. About three years 
ago niv father purchased three of these fowls, 
Which were pure white. They made good 
liens i.o lay, but were not very good mothers. 
They very often leave the nest before the 
eggs are hatched. We took the first pre¬ 
mium for the best collection of these fowls 
at the Chautauqua Co. (N. Y.) Fair, in the 
fall of 1869. We. had twelve of them, all of 
which were pure white. One of our neigh¬ 
bor has now a very fine collection of them. 
We have a few, but keep Light Brahmas 
mostly.—J. W. W., Juniestenc-n, N. K. 
It is proper to say, here, that the printer 
and proof reader made us say that we had 
never seen a fine White Brahma ; we wrote 
that we bad never seen a pure White Brahma. 
I saw in the Rural New Yorker of Feb. 
22d, au inquiry about White Brahmas. I 
would say that one of my neighbors lias 
what he calls White Brahmas. They resem¬ 
ble the Light Brahmas very much, except 
that they are shorter legged, a little thicker 
set, and of pure white.—E. B. S., Susque¬ 
hanna, Pa. 
-- 4 -*--*- 
Plan of Hen Park Wanted,—I wish to 
build a hen park this spring I have a spot 
back of my barn, 14 by 24 [feet or rods i— Eds.] 
to build it on. Will not some one please give 
me a plan.— t. c. c. 
