Any. 3.—Last night we encamped near a 
little brook not far from Idaho Springs, and 
about the same incidents and accidents oc¬ 
curred as the night previous, Mrs. “Rural- 
soft and spongy, and the miners say, decay s 
very rapidly. 
A large log house here answers for a hotel 
to those who may wish a starting pluee in 
SEPT, 8 
<§iarji of it Jhtntlist 
DAILY RURAL LIFE. 
From the Diary of a Gentleman near New 
York City. 
FIRST NIGHT OF CAMPING OUT. 
Auy. 2 .—Last night being our first in camp, 
we were all a lit tle curious to learn how each 
and every one liked this style of life. Al¬ 
though the weather yesterday was warm, 
the night had been exceedingly cold, and 
to any and bitter were the expressions this 
morning in regard to flu- cold, some declar¬ 
ing that they came very near freezing to 
death. The beds were also declared to be 
of the hardest kind, and the attempts to find 
some protruding bones through t he flesh wore 
laughable, to say t he least. A call from t he 
cook to breakfast was promptly answered, 
and then commenced a new experience to 
many of our company. The provisions were 
spread out in true backwoods style, our 
bright new tinware shining as bright as the 
best of silver. If our friends at home could 
have seen us sitting about, on the grass, each 
with a tin cup of coffee or tea, a tin plate, 
good old-fashioned iron knives and forks, 
the 3 T would have smiled at a sight, of our 
primitive appearance. Of course, there were 
many mistakes and ludicrous accidents. The 
sugar and salt being brought out in similar 
tin cups, several of the party salted their cof¬ 
fee quite liberally, and did not discover their 
mistake, until they lmd t aken a good sip. As 
each had to help her or himself, there was 
frequently some bumping of heads about the 
mess pans. Our Connecticut parson would 
almost invariably “tuck” his foot into some¬ 
body’s breakfast plate or spill his coffee 
down the neck of the ono nearest him ; hot 
tea, coffee and other drinkables and greas- 
ables were scattered indiscriminately over 
dresses and pantaloons as we attempted to 
make Turkish divans of the very narrow 
hummocks of grass. The disposition of all 
was to be happy, even in their misery, there¬ 
fore breakfast soon disappeared, and we 
started for 
springs of Idaho are of various kinds—hot, 
cold, and in fact, you have your choice of 
both for 7£ks,; hut, the drinking water might 
as well be left out, of the account. The hills 
about, the springs are bored full of holes made 
by projectors in search of silver or gold lodes. 
Some have been successful, and a few good 
mines are being worked with profit. After 
breakfast, wc walked down through the vij- 
lage, the people of which, like most, of those 
in the mining towns, care very little about 
t he. day of the week ; and although this was 
.Sunday morning, all the. stores were open, 
and Sling Wang and Gee Whoa were very 
busy washing and ironing. The scenery 
about here is of the wildest kind, and snow 
banks on the mountains are constantly in 
sight. Being anxious to reach Gray’s Peak 
to-morrow, our captain ordered the breaking 
up of the camp soon after breakfast. As we 
drove toward Georgetown over a rough road, 
[ we met another 
TOll OATE, 
and had to pay *20 to get past, which was 
comparatively cheap toll lor tin's country. 
The usual rate is ISJtfe. per mile for double 
teams and about 50 per cent, less for single. 
Reaching Georgetown about noon, welunch- 
ed in our wagons and passed on up the moun¬ 
tains on the road to Gray’s Peak. Half a 
mile beyond this town we met another Toll 
Gate, paying * 15 toll. This paying toll is get¬ 
ting to be quite a serious affair, especially 
when the traveler takes into consideration 
the fact that he min t pay as much to get out 
of the mountains as he does to get in. 
hood, and we received invitations to visit 
some of the most celebrated, among which 
the Stevens mine. To reach this, one has to 
eliinb 700 feet up the face of the mountain, 
and the only way of doing it is by clinging 
to a wire rope and going hand over hand, in 
true sailor stylo. In response to an invita¬ 
tion, I sent up my card, and received in re¬ 
turn a rich specimen of ore. 
BOILING POTATOES AND BEANS. 
Away up here. 10,oo0feet high, where the 
atmosphere is so light that the boiling point 
is far below 212", as at the level of the sea, 
cooking some kinds of vegetables becomes 
quite a serious matter, if required to be done 
in a hurry. When the weather is clear, it 
requires an hour of rapid boiling to soften 
even quite ordinary sized potatoes. If beans 
arc well soaked in advance, t on hours’ boil¬ 
ing will make them eatable. Moral.— Don’t 
try to boil beans for breakfast, especially if 
you get up late and are in a hurry to reach 
business. 
ASCENDIKO GRAY S PEAK. 
, We lmd engaged saddle horses at, George¬ 
town to come forward and meet us here at 
VA this morning, and they were promptly on 
hand. Several of our party thought they 
could easily walk to the top, and although 
some succeeded, I think they will remember 
the lesson learned to-day for some time to 
(Biitomoloqinrl. 
THE BAG OR BASKET WORM. 
Mrs. L. N., Alton, Ill.—The long, cylindri¬ 
cal pointed cocoon, ornamented with small 
sticks, placed length wavs, was made by what 
is known as the Basket worm. {Thy rid op- 
trry rphemerafnrmis . Haworth.) It is quite 
common in some of our Eastern States, the 
worms frequently entirely defoliating over 
green trees of various kinds, and particularly 
the arbor-vitaes. During the winter the bask 
et-like cocoons maybe seen hanging from the 
small twigs of infested trees. If these co¬ 
coons are cut open in winter or early spring, 
some will be found to contain only a solid 
mass of eggs : others the empty chrysalis of 
the male moth. To know how and from 
•whence, came these two kinds of cocoons, ono 
empty and the other full of eggs, we must 
study the habits and watch the transforma¬ 
tions of this very curious insect. 
The eggs found in the cocoon made by the 
female, usually hatch in May, the minute 
worms crawling out and spreading them¬ 
selves over the trees upon which they are to 
feed. At first- they are quite small; but they 
soon begin to eat, and at the same time com- 
OOnae. The path up the rocks is very prucip- >»enoo building their future habitation by 
itous, and in many places really dangerous, spuming about their ant erior extremity a 
BERGEN PARK, 
a beautiful spot up among the mountains, 
where the scattering trees and natural lawns 
would shame even ottr Central Park. Moun¬ 
tain rivulets arc quite abundant here, and 
lengthy farms arc found along their banks. 
I sa v u lengthy,” for be it known a, man does 
not wait for a Government surveyor to come 
along before selecting a farm or ranch here, 
but when he. finds a spot that suits him, he 
proceeds to stake it out in whatever form 
the best hind happens to take. Sometimes 
his 160 acres will be ten rods wide, five on 
each side of the brook, and thence along its 
banks a sufficient length to include the al¬ 
lotted number of acres ; hence the long, ser¬ 
pentine form of many of the ranches seen 
every where in This region. The possessors of 
these water front farms help themselves to 
the timber on the hills and mountains ad¬ 
joining which, of course, belongs to the Gov¬ 
ernment ; and while they are making money 
by farming in the valleys, they also drive a 
good business by stealing from the hills. 
Returning from Bergen Park, we started 
for the little village of Idaho, and on the road 
met a 
• TOll GATE 
walking along, with a long-lmndle.d shovel in 
“ it's'’ hand, audit cost us *7.50 to pass it. 
They have very novel toll gates in this coun¬ 
try, and wc do not find them at any particu¬ 
lar point, but at work along the road in the 
form of a stout-looking fellow with the usual 
sign “Toll Gate” painted in large letters 
across the front of his cap. The companies 
who own these toll roads evidently knowhow 
to economize labor as well as to charge high 
rates. Then, again, there is no dodging the 
toll gate ; for when you get into one of these 
mountain gorges, you are compelled to go 
through, as there is seldom a spot wide 
enough to turn about, if one desired to do so. 
Every road in the mountains is of this kind, 
and in the hands of some corporation who 
bleed the traveler most unmercifully, 
IDAHO SPRINGS. 
^ TIN CANS AND PAPER COllARS. 
as rou * ,oa tft ken hy summer tourists in 
the Eastern .States are “ blazed,” (to use a 
] f! backwoods phrase) with cast-off paper col¬ 
lar ; but here they are readily determined by 
empty tin wins, which glitter in the greatest 
|( profusion from the deepest canon to the high- 
s cst mountain peak. If unybody wants to 
>r know where the canned fruits put up by our 
, great establishments go, they have only to 
" visit this region to find out. 
U A TOWN WITHOUT INHABITANTS. 
3 _ A few miles from Georgetown we came 
, e upon the deserted village of Bakersville, con¬ 
sisting of a large bourding house, a dozen or 
more, commodious dwelling houses, all de- 
sorted, not a soul remaining to tell why the 
” inhabitants bad fled. The blackened ruins 
of a large smelling furnace and stamping 
mill, however, told the story, A fire having 
, demolished this establishment, “ Othiu,i.o’s 
s occupation was gone,” and the people do- 
' sorted the town like rats a sinking ship. At 
j some future day the mill may be rebuilt, and 
’ * then the owners of the houses will come back 
' to reclaim their property. 
a DUMBING THE MOUNTAINS. 
tl From Bakersville up toward the peak, the 
s road is is very steep, aud 1 left the carnage 
_ and walked, staff In hand ; and although it 
was quite a tedious tramp, still 1 collected 
1 choice specimens of insects and plants suffi- 
f cient to repay me i'or the fatigue endured. 
j The Epil jUum augwitifoUum, known about 
New York as the Willow herb, grew abun- 
_ dantly in every moist place along the ruud, 
, and I found over 50 specimens of a pretty 
( Le.pUf.ra feeding ujK)n the flowers. For two 
hours or more we kept going up, up until 
! we reached what is termed tho timber line, 
or where timber of any kind ceases to grow. 
This point is no doubt variable, and in some 
localities it is higher than in others ; here it 
is about. 10,500 feet above the sea. Nutritious 
grasses and wild flowers grew in abundance 
above the timber line, and it was for the pur¬ 
pose of finding good pasture for our horses 
that we pushed for this spot lo-day. We 
have had a hard day’s work, but are amply 
repaid in finding so pleasant a camping 
ground. Where gra«s is plentiful and in the 
edge of a grove of Engel man's spruce (Abies 
Evgehnnnii.) This magnificent evergreen 
resembles somewhat the Norway spruce, and 
will no doubt, fully equal, if not excel it , as 
an ornamental tree. That it will prove hardy 
in all parts in the country there can be little 
doubt, inasmuch as it thrives here almost up 
to the hue of perpetual enow. It is the last 
evergreen tree we find in ascending these 1 
| mountains, aud the trees in the grove where j 
J we are now encamped are 50 to 75 feet high, i 
I and as straight as an arrow. The wood is i 
because it winds along the edge of a cliff a 
thousand feet high, over loose stones ; and a 
misstep of your horse would send you to¬ 
wel), where he. or she was predestined to go, 
according to the creed of one of our parsons, 
who walked up the entire distance, perhaps 
for this reason or to save *4, T don’t know 
wliich. If it was for tho latter, then be earn¬ 
ed his money once, if never before. When 
we reached within about a thousand feet, of 
the top, our guide suggested that those gen- 
coil of fine silk. From din- to day they add 
a little more material to the lower end of the 
ring, slipping their coat or basket forward 
lroin time to time, as suits the it- convenience. 
These little worms rest occasionally for molt¬ 
ing, casting off their skin when it becomes 
too small and tight for eomfort and growth. 
They also ornament the outside of their co¬ 
coon with the midribs of the loaves upon 
which they feed, and until tho basket gets 
too large and heavy, they carry it about from 
tlemen who felt able to walk the remaining branch to branch ; but when nearly com¬ 
ist ” and myself made our bed in the open 
air, near a big reck. I cut a quantity of wil¬ 
low twigs for a mat trass, spreading oiu-india 
ascending Gray’s Peak. It is kept by Mrs. 
Lane and is a model of good cheer if not of 
elegance ; f l a day is the price of board at 
rubber blankets over these, forming a couch this mountain house ; but customers mav be 
of no great pretensions but quite comfort¬ 
able. A few larger branches of aiders stuck 
said to be transient boarders, as they seldom 
remain longer than over-night on their jour- 
. ,v J 1 I i CJ - -~ * *«Cj**v KWVJi JUUi 
m the ground and their tops crossed, made a 1 ney up or down the mountain. 
very good prot ection against dew. The I ver mines are plentiful in this neighbor 
j distance, would do their animals a great. fa\ or 
by dismounting and going the re maining dis¬ 
tance on foot; for the rarifled air, with m 1 - 
; most perpendicular path combined, prevent¬ 
ed even the strongest animal from going 
] more than 10 or 20 feet without stopping to 
rest. It was really painful to see these fnith- 
fill animals struggle over tho loose stones 
. with their burdens. The gentlemen, with 
' two exceptions, dismounted, and left their 
‘ horses tied to rocks or in charge of one of our 
two guides, and then came tho last grand 
' effort to get. high hi this world. The ladles 
kept to their horses, and although they pro¬ 
ceeded slowly, those on foot found that walk¬ 
ing here and on Broadway was quite a dif¬ 
ferent kind of recreation. Look which way 
you would, more than half our number were 
panting on some rock*aIthough the air was 
cool and delicious, but so terribly thin, that 
it did not seem to keep the bellows full, al¬ 
though we pumped away for dear life. Mrs. 
“Ruralist” and several others reached the 
Peak a few moments ahead of me, and when 
we inet I kissed her three times, hinting to 
our young couples that these little amenities 
bet ween man and wife should never be neg¬ 
lected, no matter how h igh they might ascend 
in life. Our brave and gallant Gen. Stroth¬ 
ers, {“Porte Crayon,”) who had stood si¬ 
lently gazing at the magnificent panorama 
spread out before us, cried out, as he saw me 
embrace Mrs. “ K.,” “By George, old ‘Daily,’ 
our thoughts were running in the same chan 
nel ; for I was at this moment thinking that 
I would give half my experience in life to be 
able to kiss my wife at this moment, far 
above the turbulent world below.” Among 
the loose rocks of the Peak we found many a 
card of previous visitors, and even postal 
cards directed to friends who were probably 
on ilieir way to this Mecca of those who ad¬ 
mire lofty views. 
A NOVEl DESCENT. 
In going down the mountain all dismounted 
except Gen. Strothers, who probably had 
seen more of this kind of travel than any 
other nu mber of the party. We were all too 
glad to get rid of our horses while descend¬ 
ing the first thousand feet or more ; but wluit 
to do with them ? was the question. Our 
guide, however, soon settled tlus by offering 
to take care of t hem. It would not do to let 
them go alone, and one or two men would 
make poor work leading 20 horses down a 
path so narrow thru only one could pass at. u 
time. But the guide soon settled this matter 
by tying the horses t ogether like a string of 
onions, the leading strap of the second horse 
being tied to the tail of the first, and so on to i 
the last, the guide taking the lead. In thi* j 
way our string of horses descended unt il. hav- < 
ing passed the most dangerous part , when i 
we again mounted, and soon reached our , 
camp below. After resting awhile, we moved i 
down the mountain road, reaching George- i 
town in time for supper at the hotel, and a t 
majority seeking beds in the same comfort- 1 
able place in preference to the tents which l 
were pi tolled a few blocks distant. t 
pleted, it, is fastened to a small twig with line 
threads of silk whore we find them in winter. 
b| appearance, all the worms are alike ; but 
soon after t hey have attained their growth 
ami their baskets are com pleted, a wonderful 
change takes place, the female chrysalis be¬ 
coming nearly double the size of the male. 
A few weeks later a beautiful little moth 
with a black body and whitish rings, issues 
from a portion of the cocoons. These are 
males, which fly about seeking the females 
which, being wingless, never leave their bask¬ 
ets, but wait at home for visits from their 
lovers, as n majority of our ladies would do 
if shorn of their poplin nml silk wings. The 
male moths live but a short time, and the fe¬ 
male fills up the lower port ion of her cocoon 
with eggs, stuffs the remaining part of her 
body in the garret or chimney of her house 
and dies. The eggs and skeleton of the dead 
mistress can be found at home any time dur¬ 
ing the winter months. 
-- 
RED PEPPER FOR INSECTS. 
A correspondent of the Rural Press says : 
“ I have discovered by a practical test that 
Cayenne or Red pepper (Capsicum) will de¬ 
stroy cabbage lice or cabbage mildew. I have 
some 200 fine cabbages growing, and to my 
sorrow some two weeks since, J found them 
covered with lice. I sprinkled them wherever 
the nee could be found, with the capsicum, 
and am delightdd to see my cabbages entirely 
cleaned, save a few that i did not sprinkle 
that I might contrast them, and that J can 
assure you is vary evident or speaking, fur 
those 1 so left arc covered with the little de¬ 
stroyers. Now l am of the opinion that cap 
sioum will in the same maimer destroy the 
fungi of all plants, vines, fruits, etc., spoken 
of in Tim Agricultural Report of 1371 from 
Pftge 110 to 123. I also sprinkled a bumble¬ 
bee with it. and the result was death in a few r 
minutes to the bee. Now this might be ap¬ 
plied to vines in the form of a solution ; but 
for the cabbage sprinkling dry is preferable, 
as it sticks or adheres closely to the leaf. 
-- 
EXTERMINATING THE COLORADO 
POTATO BEETLE. 
A correspondent of the Germantown Tel¬ 
egraph savs“ While the plants are small I 
go over the ground with a slanting tooth- 
harrow, the bars of which knock off the 
grubs while the teeth burv 1 hem m the earth. 
When the plants? become too rail to allow the 
use of the narrow. I use the cultivator, and 
attach by cords three or four bars of wood, 
hanging transversely across underneath just 
in advance of the shovels; these dangling 
loosely against the vines, knock off the bugs, 
and the shovels bury them. There they per¬ 
ish. as they cannot travel yet in the earth. 1 
do this in a licit, dry day. I have this year 
given up bugging entirely, and ha- e perfect 
success by my new method. I have two 
acres of potatoes, and probably could not find 
a halt gill of bugs in alL 1 go over them in 
this way once a week, occupying about two 
hours, and not only keep off the bugs, but 
benefit the crop largely bv the frequent cul¬ 
tivation.” 
