id 
If 
Rrvj 
often badly fire-fanged,” (fee. Ye?, it may 
be ; but we cannot believe that any reader 
of the Rural New-Yorker is so ignorant 
or indolent as to permit it . They must know 
that muck, leaves, charcoal, or fresh soil 
should be daily mixed with the manure as it 
is t hrown from the stable — that it will pay 
to do this. 
An to the names of those roses, I think I can 
serve him better by referring him to the 
Catalogue of Dingeb & Conard of West 
Chester, Pennsylvania, from which ho will 
learn not only the names of my roses, but 
also that, t hey are not of the scrub sort, as well 
as being convinced by their low rates and 
handsome premiums how possible it might 
be for mo to have told the truth, preposterous 
as it. may have seemed. I enjoy seeing my 
neighbors' homes rendered beautiful by their 
NEST FOR EGG-EATING HENS, 
ABOUT ABUTILONS 
For the lust four or live woe ks we noticed 
to our great vexation, that our hens con¬ 
sumed nearly all their eggs as fast as they 
wore laid. Owing to this circumstance wo 
could not get more than from three to six 
Will you please give me a description of 
the Abutilon. is it an upright plant or one 
of drooping habit, and is it noted for its free- 
tiowering or beauty of foliage ?— Islander. 
The Abutilon a are mainly evergreen shrubs, 
some of the species growing very tall, form¬ 
ing elegant smail trees, The name Abutilons 
is from the A rabic, and signifies a plant like 
a Mallow, as many of the species resemble 
very much the common Mallows of our gar¬ 
dens. The leaves of ot hers are almost exactly 
like, in form, the swamp maples, and we 
have frequently heard persous refer to the 
Abutilon:; as “ [lowering maples.” The most 
common species and varieties cultivated by 
our florists are :— 
Abutilon stHat u m. —Flowers about an inch 
in diameter, bell-form, bub the ends of the 
petals turned inward instead of reflexed. 
The color is a delicate orange, striped or 
veined with red. The plant is an erect, 
handsome-shaped shrub. Leaves green, deep - 
ly cut or lobed, like our silver maple. This 
species is a very free-blootner; even small 
well rooted cuttings soon commence bloom¬ 
ing. 
A. Thompson if.—Similar to the last, the 
leaves not so deeply lobed; pale green, deeply 
mottled and blotched with yellow. 
A. venotfum .—This is a splendid species, the 
flowers similar In form to stlriatum, but 
fully double the size, and of more substance. 
The color is a rich orange, almost covered 
with a network of brownish-crimson. The 
name venosmn signifying veined. The leaves 
are very large, lobed and of a deep, rich 
green color. This is also a very vigorous 
grower, requiring frequent pruning of the 
leading branches to keep it within proper 
limits if wanted for a house-plant. 
Santana.— Flowers very dark crimson, the 
darkest variety known, similar in growth to 
the last named. 
MesopotomicMm, also called vexillariwn in 
some florists’ catalogues. This is a beautiful 
variety, with long, slender stems, drooping, 
or it may be trained like a vine to stakes or 
The. calyx of the flower is a long, 
THE PASTORAL AGE 
eggs per day, and the Rural oi Jan. m 
found us in the dilemma—either to kill all 
our hens or to keep them without sufficient 
compensation for their feed and care. Having 
roadthe description of the nest invented by 
Mr. P., we made three such nests and fas¬ 
tened them in the hen-house, taking away 
all other nests. The next day we got twelve 
eggs, and since then from twelve to sixteen 
per day. Now, Mr. Editor, in this instance 
alone your paper will save us, in less than 
three weeks, eggs enough to pay the yearly 
subscription for the Rural, and I have come 
to the conclusion, that a fanner cannot pos¬ 
sibly afford to do without a first-class agri¬ 
cultural paper. To lake, the- Rural New- 
Yorker for instructor and guide, is money 
Photograph Frame.— (See page 143.) 
bright colors and fragrant with their rich 
perfume; and among flowers the rose is 
surely queen. Aunt Lou. 
WINTER HAULING OF MANURE 
When the ground is frozen or covered with 
snow in winter, the leisure time of farmers 
and their teams can be profitably employed 
in hauling out manure on next season’s corn 
ground. Manure left in heaps — especially 
horse manure—rarely freezes in the severest 
weather. Horse manure is often badly flre- 
fanged and its value nearly destroyed if loft 
in heaps until spring. For this reason it 
should not 1 ) 0 . left in heaps on the ground 
but spread as evenly as possible over the sur¬ 
face. This is indeed the best method oT 
applying manure. The melting snows and 
spring rains dissolve the soluble portions and 
carry them directly to the soil and incor- 
EFFECTS OF SEWAGE 
At the general meeting of the Royal 
Horticultural Society, held Aug. 20, 1873, Mr. 
Berkley mat e the statement that, “ vege¬ 
tables treated with sewage were apt to be 
much deteriorated in flavor.” Do you thlnk 
this assertiou can be sustained by general 
experience Your correspondent lias only 
the following observation to report as evi¬ 
dence:— During the present summer and 
autumn a piece of grass near ( lie stable has 
been assiduously irrigated with water from 
a tank which contains urine from the horse 
stalls, the contents of the chamber vessels of 
the house, soap suds and rain water, which 
are poured upon and percolate through 
three or four cords of green vegetables. The 
result has been a very rank growth of grass 
trellises, 
oval tube, five angled or winged, pale scarlet, 
the small bell-shaped, yellow flower pro¬ 
truding from the end. The flowors are pro¬ 
duced in great, abundance on the ends of the 
slender branches » s well as upon small, late ral 
spurs or twigs. Among the more recently 
introduced sorts we may name the following 
as well worthy of a place in the smallest con¬ 
servatories or collection of house plants ; 
Ambroixe rr rarh ■iffb'dt, salmon color; Insig¬ 
nia, maroon; Norn a 'ha, white; Due de Mal- 
akoff, flowers very large, crimson ; Ve.ri.lla - 
rlum pirlum , similar to the species named 
above but the leaves are beautifully varie¬ 
gated with green and gold. The Abutilons 
are all plants of easy culture, requiring only 
a moderate heat in winter, and in summer 
may be bedded out, without fear of loss from 
transplanting. Propagated from cuttings, 
either of the young or mature wood and 
more readily than geraniums. Plants of the 
varieties named above are both plentiful and 
cheap, about twenty-five cents being the 
usual price for small but well-rooted plants, 
in pots. 
HENS IN WINTER, 
Fowls often suffer much in severe cold 
weather from lack of food, even when suffi¬ 
cient is provided. They will frequently re¬ 
main on tho roost all day, unless driven off, 
and get, absolutely no nourishment until 
nearly starved. The remedy is to see that 
such fowl are taken from the porch and fed 
immediately every morning. In very cold 
weather there is no feed better than corn. It 
is rich iu nitrogenous elements and keeps the 
hens warm. For warmer weather oats and 
wheat screenings are better to encourage the 
production of eggs. But for this purpose 
nothing is so good as meat scraps boiled and 
mixed with bran and oatmeal andall liberal¬ 
ly peppered. The pepper keeps the fowls 
warm and specially stimulates egg pro¬ 
duction. 
During the coldest weather this season 
my fowls under this treatment, have not 
stopped laying. They have a comfortable 
h m-hottse above ground with free run over 
as large a surface, as they choose, with sand, 
gravel and lime convenient. But I attribute 
their laying in winter to warm food, meat, 
scraps and the pepper, especially the latter. 
Those who cannot get meat scraps and 
butchers' offal cheaply, can at least supply 
the pepper. It does not cost much when 
bought by the pound, and its effect in chang¬ 
ing the combs of listless, half-dead fowls to a 
bright red, borders on the marvelous. In 
an experience of several years, I find no ill 
Hens thus stimulated 
THOSE “FORTY-FIVE ROSES, 
a challenge from “UncleBud,” which I will 
endeavor to answer, at t he same time correct¬ 
ing a mistake not of the Rural but of my 
own elurography. In my reference to the 
roses I had lately received, 1 said “ fort y fine 
roses,” not ‘-forty-five." “ Uncle Bud" either 
doubting my knowledge of numerals, my 
truthfulness, or my familiarity with fine 
roses, calls upon me to give the names of said 
roses, intimating that they may be of the 
scrub sort, of which ho promises to send me 
a “bushel bagful.” I hope he may do this 
in the spring, for perhaps even among these. 
I may find something worthy of a place in 
the new home I wish to adorn ; at least they 
will be there to remind me never again to 
lay myself liable to have my truthfulness or 
my judgment doubted by careless penman¬ 
ship. I shall, therefore, look for that bag of 
roses. 
i think “Uncle Bud” justly owes them 
for having intimated a doubt of a lady’s 
word without further proof. I will not do 
him a like injustice for a moment, by suppos- 
he will pot pay his honest debts, 
effects from its use, 
in winter will not lay quite so freely the next 
summer, but this is hardly to be expected. 
The advantage of winter-laying is to have 
your crop bring thirty t.o thirty-five cents a 
dozen rather than fifteen. This is an import¬ 
ant item and includes all the profit. I cer¬ 
tainly would not keep hens if l could only 
persuode them to lnv in summer. 
Western New York. 
Inquiries About Rabbits.— Lot some one 
having experience answer the following 
questions from a correspondent of the Rural 
New-Yorker :—“ Is it profitable to raise 
tame rabbits? Can you name the largest 
kinds ? Who lias them for gfl 1 " * What 
price will they command at tb< .-tew' oris 
market * How much arc their skips worth ? 
Treating Ax-Uandle Timber— It is recom¬ 
mended to cut ax-handle timber at any 
time and put it in a pool of water and let it 
remain there until it is wanted for use, 
