each in a single piece, and surmounted by 
capitals carved in white Carrara marble. 
Above these is a rich entablature of veined 
Sicilian marble running over the Bardillo, 
which is ornamented over each window and 
door, with a rich incised pattern of ara¬ 
besque scroll work gilt in all the sunk part. 
The whole of the marble work was executed 
by Mr. Hartley, of Pimlico. One bay or 
transept forms the end of the adjoining 
drawing room, having two glass doors and 
it window between looking into it. It is 
from this window that the view was photo¬ 
graphed which we have engraved. The 
right-hand hay abuts on a billiard-room, 
having a central door and two large win¬ 
dows looking into it; and opposite to this 
are two similar windows, and a central door 
leading on to a raised terrace, ninety feet in 
length, paved with squares of black and 
white marble, and extending all along the 
garden front of t he house. I he fourth hay 
is also divided by three equal arches, in each 
of which there are mirrors of fourteen feet, 
high by seven feet wide, patting down below 
the floor line, and Urns continuing the pat¬ 
tern of the pavement. These mirrors are 
silvered by a deposit of pure silver, and are 
not easily injured like those coated with tin- 
foil and mercury. They are kept warm at 
the back by a hot air chamber, which pre¬ 
vents any deposition of moisture on them; 
they thus, at all times, rellect clearly the 
whole interior of the building, giving it ap¬ 
parently, double its real size. 
“Around the sides of the building arc 
raised spaces for the flowers, having a sort 
of dwarf screen of polished dove-eolorod 
marble, in which are numerous gilt brass 
panels for the supply of warm air from the 
chamber below. In the central space be¬ 
neath the dome is a large basin, richly mold¬ 
ed in beautiful veined Bardillo marble, with 
four pedestals of the same material at the 
angles, which serve to support vases of white 
marble, containing some beautiful specimen 
plants. The basin is filled with rare exotic 
ferns, and has a fan palm in the center. 
Eight similar marble pedestals are also 
formed in the dove marble screen before 
named, on which are some choice specimens 
of Majolica vases by Minton, and two from 
Sevres, and containing rare plants Pen¬ 
dant from the ceiling are six Majolica flower 
baskets containing choice ferns and other 
drooping foliage. There are also eight sus¬ 
pended Roman lamps in bronze, with lotus 
leaves forming clusters of flowers in gas jets, 
and also four other suspended Roman lamps 
of classical design, giving in nil eighty gas 
burners, by means of which the whole build¬ 
ing may at night be brilliantly illuminated; 
there are also near the drawing-room door a 
pair of exquisitely chased bronzed candela¬ 
bra, which on ordinary occasions give sufll- 
cient light for walking In the evening. 
“ The floor is composed of encaustic tiles 
and tessera, tastefully arranged in panels ot 
quiet colors, so as not to interfere with the 
brilliant colors of the flowers. In this de¬ 
sign are embodied mosaics representing 
Spring, Autumn, Summer and Winter, and 
a flflh, near the entrance, represents Old 
Time, with the date of the erection of the 
building on a table beneath him; tills beau¬ 
tiful floor was erected from designs pre¬ 
pared by Messrs. Simpson, the London 
agent* for Maw’s encaustic tiles; at each of 
the four angles of the central part are life- 
sizo figures of hoys, executed in biscuit china 
at Sevres; they represent Love, Pleasure, 
Folly, and Repose. They are exquisitely 
modeled, and of pure white, standing against 
the rich crimson background of the niche, 
and supported by pedestals of Devonshire 
marble. 
“At six different parts there are semi¬ 
circular spaces left above the doors or win¬ 
dows, and these arc filled by spirited groups 
of chubby children in alto relievo, modeled 
by Wtnn, and executed in copper bronze 
by Messrs. Elkington. It is only fair to 
add that much of the richness of effect and 
real beauty of the whole is due to the excel¬ 
lent taste of the decorator, Mr. Schmidt, 
who has managed to give a rich glow of ef¬ 
fective color and gilding, without in any 
way lessening the natural beauty of the 
flowers aud foliage.'” 
--4♦» ■ - - - 
COW STABLE-CORRECTION. 
In looking over my article upon a cow 
Stable, on page 154 Rural of March 5,1 no¬ 
ticed an error in the fifth line. For two, it 
Should read twelve cows. And I also ob¬ 
served that the feed box has no length to it. 
This is one most Important point,; this box 
should he four feet long, which compels her 
to stand well back to eat; if a short box is 
used, nothing is gained when the cow lays 
down. It is true, she gets more to one side 
to lay down, and only partially relieves her¬ 
self of her excrements. But if four feet is 
given, and the box is eighteen inches high 
from the floor, and then a foot board in front, 
the box is thirty inches high in front, and 
she will not attempt to step up in it. 
Ii. Johnson. 
[The above correction was received some¬ 
time since, but has been mislaid. 
HOW POP-CORN DETERIORATES. 
Pure seed will produce a good article, if 
well cultivated; but if the seed is not pure, 
your com cannot he made to pop well, by 
any amount of good culture. 1 have seen 
pop-corn not much better than common field 
corn. It. looked very pretty, was white and 
yellow, and red and purple, and of various 
other shades of color, hut it lacked good 
popping qualities. The popping quality of 
Cora is often greatly injured, ami undoubted¬ 
ly sometimes nearly destroyed by hybridiza¬ 
tion. And this is effected unwittingly by its 
being cultivated near sweet corn or field 
corn. 
If you plant a row of pure white pop-corn 
alongside of a row of yellow field corn, or 
near it, you will observe when the pop-corn 
is ripe, that many cars contain a number of 
yellowish kernels—all of the same size, shape 
and flint-like appearance with the whiter 
germ of pop-corn. These yellowish grains 
are not pure pop-corn, hut hybrids—the 
grain of the kernel was impregnated by pol¬ 
len from the tassels of the adjoining field 
corn; and t Ins gave the yellowish appearance 
to the grain. If you should plant these 
yellowish kernels by themselves, so far from 
all other corn that hybridization would be 
impossible, and thus continue to propagate it 
from year to year, you would obtain a new 
variety. You might call it. pop-corn, but it 
would be a poor kind, and an impure- kind 
because a hybrid. But if you should not, 
select anti separate these yellowish kernels 
for seed, but plant them indiscriminately 
with the white grains, you might think you 
had very nice seed, and was raising a tine 
article of pop-corn. Perhaps you would 
take a half dozen of the handsomest cars to 
the local agricultural fair; and it might he 
that the judges would award you a premium 
for the best half dozen ears of pop-corn—be¬ 
cause it was the prettiest. But the}', as well 
as you, would he greatly mistaken, for your 
corn is very impure. 
This is not an imaginary case; for I saw 
at a respectable agricultural fair in Central, 
O., last fall, the first premium for the best 
pop-corn awarded to a mixed while and,yel¬ 
low specimen; the second premium to a 
mixed white and purple specimen, while a 
fine, uniformly-colored white hunch of pop¬ 
corn, hung by the side of the others, and 
received no premium at all. 
Hybridizing may he very beneficial in 
some cases; but crossing pop-corn with corn 
t hat, will not pop does the pop-corn a per¬ 
manent injury; and if you have once raised 
it alongside of other kinds of corn you can¬ 
not be sure 6f purity of seed, even though 
you may select those grains which seem to 
he unaffected. I think it will be ascertained, 
upon careful observation, that not only arc 
those grains affected which plainly show it 
in their color, but that others also receive a 
portion of the foreign element in their struc¬ 
ture, through the circulation of the sap. 
Howard Springs. Tonn. W. C. Condit. 
-»» » 
COTTON CULTURE. 
Your Nebraska correspondent desires in¬ 
formation relative to cotton culture, and 
asks, “ Is it necessary to plow a field twice 
for culture of cotton ?” 
No, not necessary, hut beneficial. Cotton, 
like every other plant, growing off more 
readily and attaining perfection sooner, on 
land throughly prepared. The mode we 
find to succeed best with us is as follows: 
Bed the land with turning plow four feet 
apart, in February, as deep as convenient. 
The middle of March—planting time with 
us in latitude thirty-two—run three furrows 
with a shovel, or subsoil plow, in the middle 
or water furrow. Re-bed upon this. Run a 
harrow over the ridges to pulverize the 
clods. Open ridges with a narrow bull- 
tongue as deep as possible in the center; 
plant seed in this at the rate of one bushel 
to the acre. Here, where wc have usually 
a surplus of seed, wc strew two or three 
bushels to the acre; but it is not necessary 
to a good stand. Now follow with a log 
ten inches in diameter and two feet, long, 
with a beam morticed in the center and han¬ 
dles inserted in auger holes made for the 
purpose, so as to cover the seed not exceed¬ 
ing one inch deep, and leave the surface 
smooth ami compact. By soaking the seed 
over night, and rolling them in wood ashes 
or plaster, the germination is great]}' ac¬ 
celerated, 
“ What soil is best adapted to the raising 
of cotton ?” 
All rich soils are adapted to cotton. It 
grows well in Texas on the tenacious “ hog- 
wallow ” prairies, and on the light red lands 
of the Angelina; on the high rolling prairies, 
aud the low alluvial bottoms. Depth of soil, 
however, is an important item, as cotton 
sends down a tap root, which, in deep mel¬ 
low soils, penetrates to a great, depth, and it 
is in such soils, as we shall presently see, that 
the plant attains its greatest perfection. 
As to “ the best method of working it,” 
there is a great diversity of opinion among 
planters. This is my system:—When the 
plant is two or three inches high, bar it off 
with a turning plow, run shallow and as 
near the plant as possible, without injuring 
the roots, which at this stage of its growth 
consist of a straight, downward stem. Then 
go over it with the hoc, carefully removing 
weeds and grass, and thinning to a plant for 
every six or eight, inches. This process is 
called scraping. In a few days run a shovel 
plow in the furrow made by the turning 
plow in baring off, so ns to throw a slight 
quantity of fresh, clean earth to the roots, 
then plow out and subsoil the middles, as 
occasion may require, aud when the plant 
is ten inches high, thin out, to one foot in the 
drill, and afterwards cultivate shallow, keep¬ 
ing down all weeds and grass until the cot¬ 
ton begins to open. If the land is high or 
well drained, cultivate level; if low, or wet, 
keep it ridged. It may be well for me to 
say here that, contrary to the rule in regard 
to corn, the poorer the land the closer the 
plant should he left in the drill, and that May 
will he soon enough to plant in Nebraska. 
“ The average yield per acre” depends on 
the soil and climate, and is, therefore, sub¬ 
ject to great variation. For instance, here, 
on the uplands of the Mississippi, the ave¬ 
rage yield is five hundred pounds of seed 
cotton, or ofle hundred and fifty of lint. On 
the Mississippi River lands, one bale of five 
hundred pounds lint is the average. On the 
Drosses bottom lands, a bale and a-haTf, and 
on the “ Old Caney,” or cane prairies of (lie 
lower Colorado, a light, deep, alluvial soil, 
where the tap root penetrates to the depth 
of eight feet, the ne plus ultra of cotton lands 
perhaps, in the whole world, three bales to 
the acre have been raised. As a general 
rule, with us, land that will produce forty 
bushels of corn to the acre will yield a bale 
of cotton. Our lands average fifteen bush¬ 
els of corn, and it consequently requires 
three acres to make a bale. The bales range 
from four to five hundred pounds, and are, 
therefore, “supposed” to average four hun¬ 
dred and fifty pounds. 
For the process of bagging and strapping 
Nebraska must procure him a gin, a press, 
and an old Mississippi field negro to show 
him liow to do it. 
Pike Co., Miss, 1870. Isaac Atplewhite. 
- 4 ♦ » 
FIELD NOTES. 
The Ulnclt Pen ns n Fertilizer. 
“Leighton,” Norfolk, Va.. writes us that 
his ejcncr ioppy hns proven that, the black 
pea is much better adapted to the renewing 
of worn-out lands and to keeping lands un¬ 
der cultivation in good condition than clover 
—especially in Eastern Virginia and North 
Carolina — for the following reasons:—“ 1. 
The pea will grow luxuriantly where the 
clover will not grow with sufficient vigor 
to accomplish the object. 2. The same, re¬ 
sults will be reached in a single season with 
peas that will require two seasons with 
clover. I have found the pea an admirable 
crop lor a pear orchard, except that close 
about the trees the ground should be 
mulched with pure straw or other material 
to prevent the pea climbing the trees.” 
Turnip Heed. 
Let us agitate the subject of growing tur¬ 
nip seed a little more, always keeping in 
mind that wo already use immense quanti¬ 
ties of it, that the consumption is increasing 
and that it is better for our people to grow 
their own seed than to buy it of the British 
farmers at twenty or twenty-five cents per 
pound, and sell him wheat at two or three 
cents per pound. There is not the slightest 
doubt that good turnip seed can he grown in 
unlimited quantities in this country, and wc 
want facts about the management of it. Will 
it answer to let the turnips, for seed, remain 
in the ground without transplanting, if 
slightly protected with dirt and go to seed 
the next Reason? This, 1 understand, is the 
practice of the English growers, and a great 
saving of labor is effected over the method 
of fitting or storing in cellars. Your corres¬ 
pondent from New Portville, Pa., “ P. F. IV.” 
mentions in liis letter in Rural, of March 
20th, that his neighbor David Landukth 
grows immense crops of turnip seed. Now, 
as Mr. Landreth is one of the oldest and 
most extensive seed growers and dealers in 
this country, his experience would he very 
valuable. Will not “ P. F. W.” give us Mr. 
L and ret u's method of growing turnip seed; 
how he winters his turnips. &c., also, some 
facts about growing other varieties of seod ? 
—Perin Tone. 
To Prevent rtmutry Out*. 
If Mr. A Beard, Bosic Co., Idaho Ter., 
will steep his oats in the following solution 
lie will experience beneficial and satisfactory 
results. Take one and a half pounds of sul¬ 
phate of copper, (blue stone, or blue vitriol,) 
dissolved in three gallons of hot water, 
which is sufficient to prepare ten bushels, 
the liquid being allowed to cool before 
sprinkling it on the grain. There is little or 
no risk of an over-dose. Spread out the oats 
about six Inches thick, on a barn floor; 
sprinkle the solutiriVi equally over them, and 
mix thoroughly with slmVele until the grain 
has acquired a uniform degree of dampness. 
In two or three hours it will be ready for 
sowing.— A Farmer, FayettvUle, 0. 
Untwsfrial (topics. 
FRENCH INDUSTRIAL EXHIBITION. 
BY ANNIE C. PRESCOTT. 
Did you ever go to a “ cattle show,” or to 
the more modern “ Agricultural Fair ?” and 
if so, do you remember the large oxen, with 
the glorious eyes, that, stood in pine board 
stalls, conscious of admiration; and the 
mild, generous looking cows; and the broad- 
backed, patient sheep; and the helplessly 
fat pigs, that grunted and tumbled about the 
straw V and do you recall the loud-voiced 
roosters, aud the clamorous hens, and the 
shrieking ducks? and can you bring back 
the memory of wandering through a hall 
where mammoth potatoes, and ambitious 
Corn stalks, and unwieldy cabbages, with all 
their relations, charmed the eye of the vege¬ 
table amateur; while the sweetest of butter 
and the daintiest of cheese provoked the ap¬ 
petite of the most fastidious gourmand? 
and still more, can you refill the vision with 
crowds of agricultural implements, and the 
ear with the snorting of steam engines, the 
rattling of machinery, the whizzing of 
wheels and the clicking of motion? Re¬ 
member it all, recall it all, bring it all back 
to your mind, and place it all in the heart of 
the most polished and refined capital of the 
world, opening to it, the doors of one of the 
most spacious and elegant buildings adorn¬ 
ing that metropolis of art and fashion, the 
city of Paris. 
The Pul it in tie I/Iudnstric, 
with its noble proportions, beautifying so 
large an area of the Champs Elysees, will he 
remembered by many who were fortunate 
enough in 1855 to witness the second grand 
exposition of the world’s improvement in all 
departments of science. It was commenced 
for that purpose in 1852 by an order of Louis 
Napoleon, then President of the Republic, 
and cost with its various additions between 
fifteen and twenty millions of francs. Since 
that period, it has served for annual exhibi¬ 
tions of painting and sculpture, besides all 
industrial improvements, and within a few 
years, a permanent exhibition of colonial 
produce, organized by the Algerian Gover¬ 
nor-general, lias been established there, com¬ 
prising specimens of everything connected 
with the life of Algiers, Guadeloupe, Martin¬ 
ique, Senegal, and making an interesting 
and complete collection. 
Hitherto the agricultural displays have 
been made in the country, until this year, 
when the Minister of Agriculture has inau¬ 
gurated in the Palais do L'Industrie a series 
of annual exhibitions, styled “ Concours yen- 
erredagrmle? conducted with a refinement 
of luxury and beauty, seemingly impossible 
to establish from such materials. 
But to enter and enjoy it we must cease 
considering its wonders in the abstract, and 
joining the throng of visitors, present the 
entrance fee of one franc, and avail ourselves 
Of its powers of admission. Aud even before 
doing that, we are compelled to stop and 
gaze anew upon its eight hundred and nine¬ 
teen feet of frontage, while we read, inscribed 
in golden letters upon the frieze which sur¬ 
rounds the entire building, the names of the 
most illustrious scholars, philosophers, ar¬ 
tists and mathematicians the world has ever 
produced ; and wc must again pause before 
the immense projecting arch of entrance, so 
bold In character, so massive in detail. 
A colossal statue of France stands out 
Clear and sharp against the sky, upon the 
summit of the center. Her outstretched 
arms hold wreaths over the heads of Art 
and Industry, seated at her feet, while at a 
little distance, on either side, the Imperial 
Arms arc upheld by two groups of allegori¬ 
cal figures. 
But statues and decorations, bas-reliefs 
and ornaments are so numerous in Paris that 
the understanding cannot long retain the 
merits of any particular design, and with a 
glance at the Imperial Eagle sculptured 
above the arch, as we pass through the 
door, all else is forgotten in the strange 
sights and sounds that greet U8. The whole 
interior of the great nave, over six hundred 
feet in length and one hundred and fifty in 
width, is transformed into a French farm¬ 
yard, with its beautiful fountain surrounded 
by flowers still sparkling in the center, while 
over all, at the height of one hundred and 
fifteen feet, the arched roof of crystal im¬ 
prisons the glowing day. 
My heart went back to many an enthusi¬ 
astic agriculturist at home, whose very soul 
would have rejoiced at the sight, and who 
would have questioned all these creatures 
upon pedigree and ancestors; who would 
have stared in admiration at the animals 
who so modestly bore the prix dhonneur, 
and grown eloquent before the glorious pro¬ 
portions of 
The Prize Cow. 
And she was a beauty, of the Durliam- 
Charolais race. From her earliest calf-hood 
she had been flattered and caressed, till now, 
in the zenith of her charms, she stood the 
admitted queen of the farm-yard. When I 
first saw her, she was standing for her por¬ 
trait, and gazing upon the canvass to which 
the artist was rapidly transferring her ele¬ 
gance, with an iinperturabio self-compla¬ 
cency edifying to witness. He flattered her 
countenance somewhat, but that disturbed 
her not, accustomed as she was to adulation. 
He raised his long rest, like a lance, indi¬ 
cating to her his desire that she should ad¬ 
vance or retire, but she mechanically obeyed 
his wishes, alike unmindful of the garlands 
about her, and of the admiration she oc¬ 
casioned. Her charms were valued at 2,020 
pounds avoirdupois—not sterling—and she 
wore a beautiful white stripe upon her broad 
back, with a star upon her forehead. Long 
may she enjoy her fame. No more beautiful 
creature of her kind has ever walked the 
earth since the sad story of complaining Jo. 
The Sheep Show. 
Around the sides of Lhc grand nave three 
hundred and forty sheep presented them¬ 
selves for notice, all sheared for the occasion, 
except upon the rigid shoulder, where re¬ 
mained a specimen of the fleece each had 
borne. Nearly all wore flannel coverings, 
handsomely made, ns the temperature of 
Paris has not been of the mildest during the 
week of exhibition (Feb. 23d.) They were 
placed according to the different exhibitors 
in pretty inclosurcs of wire railing, with 
beautifully clean straw around them. We 
wandered among sheep, patient as the pro¬ 
verb makes them; soft, smooth and clean, 
any one of whom had produced a fleece, be¬ 
fore which, in point of benefit to man, the 
Golden Fleece was naught. Past Merinos 
and Southdowua, Bourbonnais and Py- 
reneeans, with a Host of other names, wo 
kept on our way, till at the western end of 
the nave, we came suddenly upon 
TllC 1’ilfN. 
Think of pigs, under a crystal roof, on the 
Champs Elysees of Paris! Oh ye, whoso 
acquaintance with the porcine species is 
limited to the gaunt, long-legged specimens 
that pedestrinate the upper part of Fifth 
avenue, read and admire! In handsome 
wire cages, treading soft carpets of straw, 
with delicately white hoops, reposed these 
monsters, to the number of three hundred 
and ten, so says the catalogue. How they 
were ever brought to their evident brilliant 
state of cleanliness is a mystery. Blankets 
were throwui around them, and they lay 
burled in the straw', resembling huge bags of 
grain; it being scarcely possible, as they lay, 
to discover their heads. 
We passed hurriedly the pigs of low de¬ 
gree, till we came to the one who had gained 
the palm over all competitors. They had 
each been carefully educated to be fat, to 
sacrifice all, to turn aside from all, save “ fat,’' 
and well had they learned the lesson,—the 
prize pig above all the rest. A peasant wo¬ 
man occupied the inclosure with this pet, 
smoothing his enormous sides, nnd plying 
him with a large pall of something hot, that 
looked like Indian meal, lie was all a pig 
should be; both in seeming powerlessncssto 
get up, and thorough impossibility to remain 
up after that feat should have been accom¬ 
plished. 
My little daughter asked of the peasant 
woman the favor of a few bristles! With a 
proud smile, she pulled out five or six, the 
owner thereof giving audible and uneasy 
grunts as each was detached. They are 
carefully hud away, and labelled “Prize Pig 
Bristles,” with a view of establishing a 
museum on returning to America. 
These pigs were all on their best behavior. 
Not a squeal gave token of displeasure at 
their new quarters, but all was decorous and 
well ordered from the tip of the snout to 
the end of the fantastically-curled tail. Be¬ 
sides the native French races, there were all 
sorts of foreign crossings, and I noticed with 
pleasure many labelled “ Middlesex,” “ Berk¬ 
shire.” They may have been of English 
extraction, but the names carried me hack 
to the “ Old Bay State,” and a sentiment of 
gratitude was due even to a pig wdiich 
brought breezy memories of the New Eng¬ 
land bills. 
As we turned from the contemplation of 
pork, and commenced an examination of 
what the French call “ animmix de la basse- 
cour” and we call poultry, we stopped for 
one glance from end to end of this novel 
scene. Through the center, broken only by 
the intervening fountain, half-way, ran the 
neatly carved and painted stalls for the oxen 
and cows. They w'ere not in pens, but sim¬ 
ply open stalls, each creature by itself; and 
a superb collection of animals they were. 
Every one of them looked as though pre¬ 
pared for the ancient sacrifice; so clean, so 
smooth, so carefully groomed; and what was 
very noticeable, the greater part were of 
spotless white. Many of them had a peasant 
woman standing beside, with a stiff brush, 
and as Bhe ever and anon smoothed the glossy 
hairs upon their polished and almost colossal 
sides, the mild, glorious, humid eyes would 
turn around upon her with a glance that was 
positively beautiful.—[To be continued. 
--- 
If IdleneNg does not produce vice or malevo¬ 
lence, It commonly begets melancholy. There 
is little choice. 
« 
