here. This exemption our friend attributes 
to his exposure to the river which Is here 
about three miles wide and runs nearly 
northwest, from whence come their coldest 
winds. The little we saw of Mandarin 
pleased us much. Jt. is located on a bluff 
about fifteen feet above the river and the 
residents arc chiefly people of culture and 
refinement. It is a charming place tn while 
away the winter mouths in a quiet way. 
Our three hours passed rapidly and the 
steamer coming up and calling for us, we 
were again soon steaming up the St. Johns 
River. Several settlements and orange 
groves along the river offer attractions to 
visitors, but they are not in our present pro¬ 
gramme. Pilatka. on the west bank of the! 
river, 75 miles from Jacksonville, is quite a 
town, pleasantly located, and is the terminus 
of the Savannah line of steamers. From 
thence up, the steamers arc of light draft. 
Hart’s famous orange grove, probably the 
best paying grove in the State, is directly 
across the river. The trees are about fifteen 
feet high and so close the tops touch each 
other, completely shadowing the ground, 
which is kept perfectly clean by thorough 
cultivation. 
March 03.—Soon after leaving Pilot ka W0 
encountered a dense fog and had to cast 
anchor. Towards noon the sun began to 
penetrate and dispel it so we could proceed. 
1\V occasionally passed a high bluff of ;i[H 
porently desirable land ; but large quantities 
on either are low mid undesirable. These 
low lands are very rich and generally covered 
with a. heavy growth of hickory, live oak, 
cypress, palmetto, &c, Mdonville and En¬ 
terprise, *at either end of Lake Mansoe, are 
the next settlements of importance. They ate 
located on high, sandjg pine land. .M the 
latter is one of the largest, and best hotels 
above Jacksonville, In the vicinity of Mel- 
onville. orange planting is being extensively 
prosecuted. Lands at these points are held 
at fancy prices. Both below and above 
these points the river is bordered with large 
quantities of low, level prairie, similar ha 
the Jersey salt meadows, over which roam 
at will herds Of cattle and swine; and th<>u- 
Fcnds of duck inhabit the ponds and doughs, 
Fish arc constantly jumping out of t he water 
all around us, and alligators furnish us abund¬ 
ant opportunity to test our rifles off-hand, at 
long or short range. At Cook's Perry wo 
went ashore to see an orange grove, and got 
our first installment of Florida insects, in the 
shape of fleas, which gave us some scratching 
to do. Two miles above LuLe Harney, and 
450 above Jacksonville, we made our lauding 
at the river bank, the low stage of water not 
allowing our craft to go further. Soon after 
landing, a gentleman and lady from Boston, 
Mass., and four gentlemen from Rochester, 
N. Y., came on board ou their robing trip. 
They had made the journey from Sand Point 
ill an open wagon ; time, 9 hours ; distance, 
20 miles. 
grarjT of <t llurafet 
RANDOM LEAVES T .OH MY NOTE ECOK, 
DAILY RURAL LIFE, 
.TKkSEYMAX 
B7 THE WAX: 
From the Diary of a Gentleman near New 
York City. 
CALLED All 010 FOGY. 
June. 2.-—I Am in receipt of the following 
letter, which is too good a thing for me to 
keep all to myself, therefore, I let my friends 
in for a share : 
Daily Rural Like— Honored .Sir;—Last 
season one of the members of our family, 
while looking over his young orchard, found 
a huge worm of a light, bright, green color. 
It was about four inches long and as thick as 
a man's finger, and had stripped nearly every 
leaf from the tree, it occupied. Our neigh¬ 
bors declared that this worm was a stranger 
to them. One lady, however, asserted she 
had seen one before oh a hop vine. M. (the 
finder) presented it to Miss F., whose house 
i* the receptacle of every curious worm found 
by roan , woman or child in this vicinity. Hhe 
placed it in a small, unoccupied room, till she 
could obtain a glass case of the right ri.re for 
it. The worm seemed to know the door as 
well as any one, and made amusing efforts t o 
escape whenever it was opened. This spring 
a very large and beautiful butterfly issued 
from the cocoon spun by the worm last fall. 
No one here has ever seen one like it before. 
I told Miss F, that if she would give me the 
insect I would spud it to “Daily Rural Life,’' 
and lot would probably name it for her. She 
was pleased with the idea, saying that she 
“Often obtained specimens, the names of 
which she would like to know, but would 
keep this one a few days longer, rill other 
friends had seen it.” Yesterday 1 called on 
her to procure the butterfly, but. she said, 
“ You could have none of Jier worms or but¬ 
terflies ; for she had seen a little hint from 
you in one of the old Hukals that she 
thought showed you to be against ‘Woman’s 
Rights,’ ” and l hat, in her eyes, is the unpar¬ 
donable siQ. s > 1 turned away in disappoint¬ 
ment with the words, “ He is on old fogy,” 
ringing in my ears. 1 believe in woman’s 
rights (and I trust in all other rights) myself ; 
but I do think Miss F, is rather hard on you 
in this instance.— Julia R. B., Shermm . 
Wayne Co.. Pa, 
To be called an “old fogy” is almost as bad 
as being dubbed a “ Professor in fact, the 
which they honestly owe me, I might feel 
more like listening to the arguments offered 
in favor of giving the opposite sex greater 
privileges ; but equal riqhIn is the platform 
upon which I stand, Pot woman’s rights or 
men’s rights. 
PFB81ES AND FOSSILS FROM WISCONSIN. 
June 4.—Mrs. L. 13. Kenosha, WTs., lifts 
kindly sont me a box > f fossils, pebbles and 
shells gathered in part on the west shore of 
Lake Michigan. Among them I recognize 
many an old acquaintance, and especially 
the Lily Eucrinite, a fossil belonging to the 
star-fish family, but differing from any spe¬ 
cies flow living. There are also among the 
fossil shells two of a triangular shape, re¬ 
sembling in form the Greek letter D ; hence 
their name, Delta. The fossil enrols, which 
are worn almost as smooth and round as the 
lit 1 le quartz pebbles which aeeotnpa fly them, 
show ns that, the low order of animals now 
building up huge reefs and islands in tropical 
climates had their representatives on this 
earth away back millions of years before our 
history began. The limestone ledges all over 
the country still retain the unmistakable 
relics of bygone races of animals. It is true 
that few persons who saunter along the 
shores of our lakes are able, or even oare, to 
read t he great book of t he past spread out 
before them. The shining quartz pebble, 
worn smooth through attrition with its fel¬ 
lows, reflects no view of the past to the ordi¬ 
nary observer; for it is to him a pebble and 
nothing more. These little fossils — shells, 
corals, encrinites. as well «s the pebbles of 
quartz, feldspar, agate, and hundreds of sim¬ 
ilar materials— are but the types employed 
by the naturalist in making up the pages of 
his books in which ho gives an account, of the 
pre-histone races of plants and animals. 
“DOBSON TOR FISH BAIT.'' 
June 5,—If S. H., who asks for informa¬ 
tion about a certain kind of fish bait, known 
by the name of “Dobson,” in his neighbor¬ 
hood, will send me a specimen in its perfect 
state, 1 will try to give the desired informa¬ 
tion. Common names of plants or insects are 
of little value to those who may desire tn 
I earn anything further about them, because 
they are of local application. An insect, 
known as the “Dobson” in one neighbor¬ 
hood may be known as a Crow in another. 
Send rue a specimen of the “Dobson.” for 1 
confess not to know of any such creature, at 
least not by that name. 
ALTOGETHER TOO PERSONAL. 
In my Rural jugt received, I find the edi¬ 
tor or editors have again been referring to 
my age. Now, this may be all very well for 
that “ Shukspeareaii ” Managing Editor, 
whose hair is not tinged with gray, but it is 
t aking all the poetry out. of my correspond¬ 
ence with the ladies. Suppose I am old and 
my hair grizzled by the frost of many win¬ 
ters, it is not, necessary that all my lady cor¬ 
respondents should know it. Neither Mrs, 
Ruralis, Clarissama or myself like it; and 
if you don’t stop giving sucli notices, I’ll get, 
the handsomest young man in Nc-w York to 
sit for his picture and then send copies of the 
same to all my correspondents, with a certi¬ 
ficate from our parson that they are tine 
likenesses of “Daily Rural Life.” 
ENTOMOLOGICAL NOTES 
