JUNE 20 
MOOBE’S BUBAL N£W-¥OB!R£B. 
^kricttltural. 
VARIETIES OF TIMBER. 
Oak is tho most valuable for strength and 
durability of all the timbers used for building 
purposes. Oak timber is at its best when the 
tree from which it has been eut has attained 
maturity; the grain should be straight, and 
'the heavier the timber is, the better is its 
quality. Oak is most valuable when used for 
parts exposed to the weather. The weight 
of a cubic foot of English oak is50, American 
47, Baltic 40 pounds. 
Fir or pine is the most, extensively used of 
all the timbers. The principal sources from 
which it is obtained are from the vast forests 
of Northern Europe and America: Tho 
American pitch pine Is the most valuable of 
the pines; it is very dose in the grain, is 
resinous, generally free from knots and 
streaks, and is durable ; its weight per cubic 
foot is 4ft to 42 pounds. The white pine is 
chiefly used for joiner’s work, although In 
many districts its use for heavy or carpen¬ 
ter’s work is largely on the increase. The 
weight per cubic foot is 28 to .10 pounds. 
Elm is a durable timber, especially where 
it is kept continually wet, as in piling, plank¬ 
ing, for foundations, &c. It does not work 
easily with tools, and is not liable to split 
under tho strain of nails, bolts, &e. The 
weight per cubic foot is 39 pounds. 
Beech is very durable when exposed con¬ 
tinually to wet, although it. decays rapidly in 
damp, or where exposed alternately to wet¬ 
ness anrl dryness. Beech is much used by 
the cabinet-maker for furniture purposes. 
The weight per cubic foot is 50 pounds. 
Ash is a tough and clastic timber, durable 
if kept dry but soon decays if subjected to 
alternations of dryness and damp or web 
The weight of a cubic foot is 50 pounds. 
Chestnut is a valuable timber, closely re 
sembling English oak in nearly every res¬ 
pect ; but it is easier to work, and is tougher, 
and dees not discolor at the parts exposed to 
iron. Its weight per cubic foot is 35 pounds. 
Larch is a very durable timber, and is used 
extensively in England for railway sleepers ; 
but is well adapted for building work. Tim 
weight per cubic foot ig 30 to 40 pounds.— 
English Paper. 
--♦♦♦- 
STOCKS AFFECTING FRUITS. 
Tite Warsaw, III., Hort. Soc., has been dis¬ 
cussing this subject and the discussion is 
reported as follows: 
Hathaway introduced the subject of varia- 
ations and deterioration in fruits. Thought, 
the indiscriminate, use of stocks nnsuited to 
kinds and (juaiities required more attention. 
Hammond instanced varieties which did 
notdo well, attributed it to unsuitable stocks, 
as sour upon sweet., late on early, and t ire. 
versa. And other Interesting points con¬ 
nected with the use of bad stocks, 
Whitaker cited fruit grafted on crab apple 
which partook ol' tho stock so much as to be 
nearly worthless. Supposed stocks used 
indiscriminately was the cause of the varia¬ 
tion in fruits. The slock drains nourishment 
from the soil for the support of the tree as 
well as the fruit. So do the leaves from 
the cion. These fluids must necessarily bo 
mingled together. That one may predomi ¬ 
nate over the other seems plausible. More in¬ 
organic substances must be received through 
the stock than that absorbed by the leaves, 
which is mostly oxygen. 
Dr. Taylor believed it wag generally con¬ 
ceded among vegetable physiologists that 
the capiliifry organs of the cion controlled 
the sap and maintained the characteristics 
of the fruit; that such was at least the char¬ 
acter of the cion in maintaining its identity. 
-... 
ARBORICULTURAL NOTES. 
Chinese Double Flowering Cherrg.—l have 
taken the liherty to send to you ienclosed in 
a small box) a few blossoms from a good 
sized cherry (ree. The tree blossoms annu¬ 
ally but bears no fruit. We have two of 
these trees in this section and to nearly or 
quite all the people residing in this vicinity, 
they arc a curiosity. You may bo familiar 
with trees of Ibis kind, if so, pleAse speak of 
them through the Rural New-Yorker.— 
David Alexander, 
The blossoms received are those of the 
Chinese Double Flowering Cherry. The 
blossoms being double of course have no 
organs of reproduction. In all the nursery 
catalogues our correspondent will And this 
cherry advertised us an ornamental tree. It 
is not expected to bear fruit; even if it were 
it wouldn't, and couldn’t. 
The Tea Plant in Texas .—According to 
W. Watson, the tea plant is hardy ifiid very 
ornamental in Texas. The demand for young 
plants for ornamental purposes is so great 
that it, pays him better to propagate young 
stock than to make tea ; but he has made a 
better tea from his own plants than he could 
buy at the stores. Thirteen years' experience 
with it convinces him it can be grown as 
easily as any shrub. 
Orange Cuftmev. in Santa Clam Valley, Cal. 
—From the San JOBC Mercury we learn that 
extensive orrnge orchard- —hundreds of trees 
in single orchards—art) being planted in the 
vafley. It is said that an acre of trees in 
bearing at Eos Angulos yield an average net 
profit of in n favorable season arid tho 
Santa Clara Valley cultivators expect to 
realize more because of their superior futil¬ 
ity for irrigation. 
Preserving Buckthorn Seed. — Will you 
please tell how to preserve Buckthorn seed 
through the winter—what time it should be 
gathered and whether it should be frozen. 
We are satisfled that it is the hedge plant for 
this sountvy.—S. D. L. B., Masker Co., M inn. 
Gather when the seed is mature and pack 
them in sand in a box and set out of doors 
where it is exposed to air aud moisture. 
The main thing is to keep moist and if the 
box of sand and seed is plunged it will t>c all 
that Is necessary. 
Yellows in Michigan Peach Trees. Dr. 
Hull, Alton, Ill,, is reported as saying that 
St is not improbable*that MlOllfgAn will, in a 
brief period, lose her peach trees by the yel¬ 
lows. “Ttiroe years ago only about one 
tree in ten was affected by the yellows in 
Michigan ; now we have estimates that from 
one-fourth to one half of all the trees in that 
district are dying from this cause.” 
POMOLOGICAL NOTES. 
Fruits that Crack.—S. B. Heioes, Presi¬ 
dent of the Penn. Fruit Growers’ Society, 
writes the Gardener’s Monthly :—I have dis¬ 
covered that fruits with entire skins are 
most easily cracked, viz., tomatoes, grapes, 
plums, currants, etc. Those with a hairy 
covering or furze, like the gooseberry and 
peach, with those having an opening like the 
calyx of the crab apple, apple and pear, ap¬ 
pear to be provided with a valvular arrange¬ 
ment existing in the hair, furze, or calyx, by 
which the excessive moisture escapes. The 
silicious nature of the skin of a matured Ap¬ 
ple entirely prevents the cracking by the 
means that I have briefly attempted to ex 
plain, as water does not wet it. t have fre¬ 
quently enlarged gooseberries by suspending 
them over water, and apples, by washing 
with water, slightly acidulated with sul¬ 
phuric acid, without any evidence of crack¬ 
ing. Almost all observers have seen plums 
and grapes that have fallen into a stream, 
with the skin burned, if the fruit adhere to 
the peduncle. 1 have recognized t his burst¬ 
ing by endosmotse or by capillary attraction, 
as the means devised by nature, by which 
many seed# become separated from their 
pericarp, ao as to come in contact with the 
soil under the most favorable conditions. 
Edward’s Early A pple. —In the Gardener’s 
Monthly for May, an inquiry is made as to 
tho Edward’s Early Apple. I am informed 
that it is an old variety, which originated 
with Edward French about sixty years ago, 
at Moorcstown, Burlington Co., N. J. It is 
also called Early Seek-No-Further ami seems 
not widely known. My attention has been 
called to it by William Parry of CHonainin- 
son, N. J., and Col. II. C. Williams of Vien¬ 
na, Virginia, both of whom esteem it highly 
as an early summer apple for market and 
home use. The tree is said to be a moderately 
vigorous grower, healthy, and makes a large 
round-headed tree. It commences to bear 
rather early, and is a good bearer—nearly 
every year. Fruit nearly of medium size, 
oblate; skin, pale whitish-yellow, shaded, 
striped and splashed nearly over the whole 
surface with light and dark red, a portion of 
the splashes being quite dark ; stalk, short, 
small ; cavity, rathor large ; calyx, closed ; 
basin, medium, slightly corrugated ; flesh, 
whitish-yellow, rathor coarse, moderately 
juicy, tender, mild, pleasant, sub-acid ; core, 
small ; ripens during August.— c. D. 
Favorite Morel—a Nov French Pear .— 
M. Morel of Vaise-Lyou, France, has suc¬ 
ceeded in raising a valuable seedling from 
the Bartlett pear, which he has named the 
“ Favorite Morel.” The fruit is recom¬ 
mended by M. G'arriere as of first quality, 
and is described os follows 4—"Of good size, 
handsome in shape and color, flesh, white, 
tine-grained, melting, juicy, and agreeably 
acidulous, ripening from the end of Septem- 
1 her to the middle of October or later,” 
uumut 
BEES AND WASPS. 
Sir John Lubbock has just read a paper 
on the above subject at tho Linnean Society. 
The paper commenced by pointing out, with 
reference to the power of communication 
with one another said to be possessed by 
TTymcnoptera, that the observations on 
record scarcely justify the conclusions which 
have been drawn from them. In support of 
the opinion that ants, bees and wasps, possess 
a true language, it is usually stated that if 
oVte bee discovers a store of honey,' he others 
are soon aware of the fact;. This, however, 
does not necessarily imply tho possession of 
any power of describing localities, or any¬ 
thing which could correctly lie called a lan¬ 
guage. if the boos or wasps merely follow 
their fortunate companions, the matter is 
simple enough. If, on tho contrary, the 
others are sent, tho case will lie very dilfer- 
ent. in order to test this, Sir John kept 
honey in a given place for some time, in 
Older to satisfy himself that it would not 
readily be found by the bees, and then 
brought a bee to the lionoy, marking it so 
t hat he could ascertain whether it brought 
others or sent them, the latter, of course, 
implying a much higher ordorof intelligence 
and power of communication. After trying 
(lie experiment several times with single 
bees and obtaining only negative results, Kir 
John Lubbock procured one of Marriott’s 
observatory-hives, which ho placed in his 
sitting-room. The bees had free access to 
the open air ; but there was also n small side 
or postern door which could be opened at 
pleasure, and which led into the room. This 
enabled him to feed and mark any particular 
bees ; and ho recounted a number of experi¬ 
ments, from which it appeared Unit com¬ 
paratively few bees found their own way 
through the postern, while those which did 
so the great majority flew to the window, 
and scarcely any found the hom y for them¬ 
selves. Those, on the contrary, which were 
taken to the houey, pnsred backwards aud 
forwards between it aud the hive, making 
on an average, five journeys in tho hour. Kir 
John had, also, in a similar manner, watched 
anumberof marked wasps, with very similar 
results. These and other observations of the 
same tendency appear to show that, even 
if bees and wasps have the power of inform¬ 
ing one another when they discover a store 
of good food, at any rate they do not habitu¬ 
ally do so ; and this seemed to him a strong 
reason for concluding that they arc not in 
the habit of communicating facts. When 
once wasps had made themselves thoroughly 
acquaint cil witli I heir way, their movements 
were most regular. They spent three min¬ 
utes supplying themselves with honey, and 
then flew straight to their nest, returning 
after all interval of about ten minutes, and 
thus making, like Lhe bees, about live jour¬ 
neys an hour. During September they began 
in the morning at about six o’clock, and later 
when the mornings began to got cold, and 
continued to work without intermission till 
dusk. They made, therefore, rather more 
than fifty journeys in the day. Sir John had 
also made some experiments on the behavior 
of I>ees Introduced into strange hives, which 
seemed to contradict the ordinary statement 
that strange bees are always recognized and 
attacked. Another point as to which very 
different opinions have been propounded is 
the use of the antennae. Some entomologists 
have regarded them as olfactory organs, 
some as ears, the weight of authority being 
perhaps in favor of the latter opinion. In 
experimenting on his wasps and bees, Kir 
Jolm, to his surprise, could obtain no evidence 
that they heard at all. lie tried them with 
a shrill pipe, with a whistle, with a violin, 
with all the sounds of which his voice was 
capable, doing ao, moreover, within a few 
inches of their heads ; but they continued to 
feed without the slightest appearance of con¬ 
sciousness. Lastly, he recounted some obser¬ 
vations showing that bees have the powder of 
distinguishing colors. The relations of in¬ 
sects to flowers imply that the former can 
distinguish color ; but there had been as yet 
but few direct observations on the point. 
■ ■ ■ ■ - ■ ■ ■»+-♦ ■ 
BEE NOTES AND QUERIES. 
Removing Bees front Combs, — Chari.es 
Dadent, in American Bee Journal, tells how 
he'does this, as follows: — “Here is the 
way we remove bees off the combs, to be 
emptied with the extractor : We take out of 
•the hives the combs to be emptied and we 
replace them by as many dry combs ; we 
close the hives ; then, with u small broom of 
blue grass or with a goose wing, we brush 
the bees in front of the hive. As the work is 
done quickly, tho bees do not have time to 
become cross ” 
To Keep Molh Out of a Hive .—An Illinois 
lady says :—“A teacupful of Italian bees will 
keep all moth out of a hive. You need not 
buy a hive which runs to a point at the bot¬ 
tom so that the moths will roll out; an 
Italian swarm of bees are a perfect protection 
against moth.” 
Remedy for Bee-Stings. A bee-keeper 
says “ I have made one discovery,—that a 
preparation of Ledum palustre (Labrador 
Tea) homojopaUiically prepared, is a sover¬ 
eign remedy for bee stings.” But lie does 
not tell us how to prepare it. 
licntifiq and Useful. 
OPINIONS ABOUT PATENT LAWS. 
In the Rural Nkw-Youkicu of May 23 you 
speak rather as in approval of the idea of 
Mr. Sayler of Indiana, that it would be well 
to allow all to use the inventions of others by 
paying tho inventor a royalty* of ten per 
cent. While 1 admit, that our present patent 
law instead of encouraging invention ami 
improvement is exceedingly well calculated 
to discourage inventors, aud while I also ad¬ 
mit that in isolated eases, inventors may 
monopolize to the detriment ol' the public, I 
fail to see tho justice ol' compelling inventors 
more than others to sell their property 
against their will or at a price not fixed by 
themselves. If a man makes nil invention, 
creates a new and useful combination or 
construction, 1 claim that it is his property, 
not merely for seventeen years, but absolute ¬ 
ly, and that the law should protect him in the 
ownership absolutely and not say to him 
that he may charge an exoi hi taut price for 
it for seventeen years and then lie robbed of 
it>. It strikes me that, all men should be 
equal under the law. If nature gives one the 
necessary faculties for becoming n merchant, 
that what he accumulates fairly by the use 
of these faculties lie should be protected in, 
but 1 fail to see. why if a man is endowed 
with the faculty to invent he should not have 
equal protection in what lie produces by t he 
use of such faculty. 
I fail to see why the law should say to an 
inventor “You must charge so large a royalty 
as that, you can afford to be. deprived of your 
property at the expiration of seventeen 
years,” any more than it should say to a man 
who builds a house u that lie must rent at, 
such rates as will enable him to be deprived 
of it at tho end of seventeen years.” If it is 
just that any one should be allowed to use 
an invention by paying ten per cent., it 
strikes me that it would lie more so in regard 
to other property—for instance, land ; for 
the invention is a now existence, while the 
land is a gift, of the Almighty to the public. 
Inventors are as much human beings as 
others, are as likely to have those dependent, 
upon them and for whom it is their duty and 
desire to provide, and if one of them spends 
his life in accumulating inventions or in per 
footing an invention, l fail to see why lie 
should be liar red from transmitting it to his 
posterity on the same terms as other proper¬ 
ty is tra nsmitted. 
Lot the law treat inventions as other prop¬ 
erty, make their stealing larceny and their 
ownership perpetual and royalties will go 
down, invention will be stimulated and the 
whole community benefited and none 
wrotigerl. J. A. M. 
-- 
SCIENTIFIC AND USEFUL NOTES. 
Cheap Vinegar.—Take a quantity of com¬ 
mon Irish potatoes, wash them until they 
are thoroughly clean, place them in a largo 
vessel and boil them until done. Drain off 
carefully the water that they were cooked 
in, straining it, if necessary, m order to re¬ 
move every particle of the potato. Then put 
this potato water in a jug or keg, which set 
near the stove, or in some place where it 
will be kept warm, and add one pound of 
sugar t,o about two and one-half gallons of 
the water, s me hop yeast, or ti small portion 
of whisky. Let it stand three or four weeks, 
aud you will have excellent vinegar, at u 
cost of six or seven cent s per gallon.—Jour¬ 
no! of Chemistry. 
Mending Watering Pots.—The Coun'ry 
Gentleman says Tin watering pots much 
used in the garden often become rusted at 
tho lower {_orticr$, and begin to leak. It is 
not accessary yet, bo throw them aside, as 
tin* holes ma\ bertTe.otunlly stopped without 
going to the' unker’s, by covering them in 
Hide with a sftuJl piece of linen dipped in 
co.uil varnfcli, the tin being previously thor¬ 
oughly dried. When Utp varnish hardens by 
dry ing, they are perfectly water-tight. 
