2§S 
MOORE’S RURAL HEW-YORKER 
MAY i 
<£liai[g 4 a UtoraM 
DAILY KUEAL LITE. 
From the Diary of a Centleman near Hew 
York City. 
NEAT SHRUBS FOR HOUSE CULTURE. 
April 19.—There are thousands of persons 
residing in our Northern States who would 
like to grow a few house plants if they had 
rooms adapted to this purpose. But in the 
comparatively cheap wooden structures used 
as dwelling houses it is difficult to keep the 
temperature sufficiently high or uniform 
during the coldest weather In winter for 
the more tender kinds of window plants. 
Many a woman has tried very faithfully to 
keep a few geraniums, petunias, and simi'ar 
plants, over winter, but failed, though not 
through any neglect of her own, but for the 
want of a suitable room, properly heated. 
Probably n large proportion of failures pro¬ 
ceed from attempting the culture of too 
delicate and tender kinds, where snccess 
would have followed if a better selection 
had been made. If plants with showy flow¬ 
ers cannot bo cultivated with success, then 
those with handsome foliage should be sub¬ 
stituted ; in fact, handsome leaves and no 
flowers are better than a sickly specimen of 
f ome tender kind, trying to bloom, but fall¬ 
ing short of the mark. Now, we have many 
half-hardy evergreen shrubs which make ex¬ 
cellent and showy house plants, and should 
they get badly frosted during winter, a few 
weeks of re=t may be given them in the 
cellar, then brought out and set to grow¬ 
ing again. I will name a few kinds which I 
think are especially worthy of attention for 
this purpese : 
Dwarf Pomegranate.—A. handsome shrub, 
with many small, slender branches and pret¬ 
ty but not very large leaves. The flowers 
are red and very showy, produced late in 
summer when grown in the open ground, 
but euriier os pot plants. There are also 
double red and white sorts, all of which are 
desirable, but some of the stronger-growing 
sorts will require considerable pruning to 
keep them witliin proper limits, if cultivated 
as house plants, 
Evergreen Euonynws .—Of these wc have 
several species and varieties ; the flowers of 
all are small and not very showy, but the 
foliage of most of them is sufficiently-hand¬ 
some to make up for what they lack in 
flowers. The common Japan Euonyjmuit has 
deep-green, glossy leaves, and by occasion¬ 
ally heading back the leading shoot-s, it 
makes a very handsome dwarf shrub, and 
thrives in almost any kind of soil, not too 
poor or dry. A variety of this called the 
Golden Variegated has the small twigs and 
leaf-stalks of a bright, golden color, and a 
broad patch of the same in the center of 
each leaf. To preserve the variegation, one 
has to keep watch of the new growth and 
cut our, any plain-leaved shoots which may 
appear, else in a few years the entire plant 
might revert back to the original color. A 
well-grown specimen of this golden varie¬ 
gated sort is scarcely surpassed in beauty 
among tbo best of our variegated - leaved 
shrubs. | 
Aucuba Japonica. —This is another beau¬ 
tiful variegated - leaved, half-hardy shrub 
which is well adapted to house culture. The i 
leaver are largo, deep-green, blotched or spot- 
ted with yellow; hence one of its common < 
names oi Gold-dust Tree. Like the last, it is ’ 
readily propagated from cuttings of half- s 
ripened wood, taken off in spring and plant- i 
ed in sand or good, light leaf-mold. I 
Tko A ucubas are what arc termed dioe- 1 
cious plants—that is, the pistillate and stam- ’ r 
inate flowers are borne on different plants, I 
consequently, to procure fruit, both must be £ 
present, at loast at the time of blooming. ' 
Of course it is the pistillate plants which * 
bear the fruit, but the staminates are re¬ 
quired to fertilize their flowers. Now, wheu s 
the A ucuba was obtained from Japan in 17»3 c 
its sexual characteristics were unknown, and c 
the one or more secured at Jhe time proved t 
to be pistiilates, but remained barren in con- 1 
sequence of (he absence of a staminate For e 
full three-quarters of a ceutury, or until 1 SflO, t 
if my memory serves me right, no one outside t 
of Japan had seen an A ucuba bearing per- I 
feet fruit: but about this time, or a year or c 
two previous, Mr. Robert Fortune. the well- s 
known Oriental traveler and botanist, sue- n 
ceeded in obtaining some staminate plants li 
in Yeido. Japan, and sent them safely home fc 
to England. Now. having both sexes, there o 
is no difficulty in making our pistillate plants e 
produce an abundant crop of handsome red s 
berries, not. unlike those of our common Dog- ^ n 
wood (Conus florid a), to which the Auc.u- 
bas are closely allied. 
But I cannot attempt to enumerate all the 
pretty evergreen shrubs which would suc¬ 
ceed and look well as window plants that are 
now seldom seen under such circumstances; 
still, I hope the above hints will set the lady 
readers of the Rural New-Yorker a-tbink- 
ing of what may be done in tins direction. A 
few clumps of dwarf-box or the broad and 
variegated-leaved will not come amiss for 
t-his purpose, and they are both cheap and 
common, as well as readily propagated from 
cuttings. Anything that will look green and 
fresh in winter makes the little world we call 
home appear cheerful, and that is a sort of 
happiness in itself from which bigger things 
may grow. 
SHOW BREAKING DOWN EVERGREENS. 
i 
. April 20.—The heavy sleet and scow of 
last week did considerable damage to ever¬ 
green trees in my neighborhood by breaking 
off the larger branches. This is rather an 
unusual occurrence, and I have been study¬ 
ing tlia matter m order to prevent any such 
disaster in the future. Now, those pines and 
spruces which had been permitted to grow 
naturally, without pruning, suffered the 
most, as their branches were longer and their 
heads more opcu, offering a better chance 
for a heavy deposit of snow, the weight of 
which carried them down to the breaking 
point. Those which had been pruned in from 
time to time In order to make them more 
compact did not suffer in the least, although 
to the eye of an artist the graceful, wavy 
outlines are wanting. A handsome Table 
Mountain Pine (Pimm pungent) from North 
Carolina, planted some ten years since, had 
been allowed to take i sown oourse, In order 
to see what kind of a tree it would make iti 
this climate ; but too much indulgence was 
the cause of its ruin, and it eow lacks two of 
its largest branches. Some of the Austrian 
pines suffered more or less, and the Norway 
spruce and hemlocks the least of any, be¬ 
cause their compactness of growth prevented 
the lodgement of large masses of snow upon 
the branches. The lesson is worth its cost, 
however, and 1 shall hereafter pursue the 
shortening-in process upon my evergreens 
more vigorously thun heretofore, even if it 
is not in harmony with the theories of some 
of our 14 great lights ” in horticulture. 
THE BOUTELLE OAT. 
April 22.—I have received specimens of 
this variety of the common oat, to which. I 
referred a week or two since as the “ Bulless 
Oat,” as that was t he name under which the 
proprietor advertised it. Specimens of the 
grain separated from the chaff are scarcely 
distinguishable from the old “Hulless,” but 
when examined in the head a? grown the 
difference is quite apparent. Mr. Boutelle 
claims that those who have confounded this 
variety with the “old Hulless” or naked 
oats are in error, inasmuch as it is quite dis¬ 
tinct ; but the fault is all his own, for he ga ve 
them the name of “Iiullcss,” which would 
naturally lend everybody to suppose they 
were one of the many sorts of A vena, nuda, 
while from specimens received from Win I 
am quite satisfied that it is not, but is merely 
a variety of the Arena saliva, with a rather 
loose chaff, which permits the kernel to fall 
out when threshed by machine. Of course 
1 know nothing of its value in comparison 
with other well-known sorts ; but the con¬ 
troversy which has followed its introduction 
should be a warning to Mr. Boutelle and 
others who are about “ bringing out ” new 
varieties of grain or plants, of any kind, to 
submit them to some competent authority 
in such matters before offering them to the 
public. The introducers and originators of 
new plants are frequently so ignorant of 
horticultural history, as well as of vegetable 
physiology, that the statements made in re¬ 
gard to origin are directly at variance with 
well-known laws governing the vegetable 
kingdom. 
Then ageiu, the language employed in de¬ 
scribing the various processes of hybridizing, 1 
crossing and propagating is conclusive evi- 1 
denoe of ignorance of the entire subject un- ' 
der consideration. When a man claims that I 
he has produced a “hybrid” variety, we i 
expect that he will tell us, not only what 
two species have been hybridized, but give 
us the modus operundi, if asked to do so. i 
Hybrids are the result of uniting two 6pe- ] 
cies ; crosses, that of two varieties of the j 
same species, if a man starts out In an an- < 
. I to be a little suspicious in regard to further 
details which may be given. TTnassumed 
pretension in this direction would be far bet¬ 
ter, if one is honest and has a really good 
i thing to offer on its merits. 
Had Mr. Boutelle offered the oats which 
he calls “ Hulless ” in different and less 
pretentious language, I should never have 
thought of noticing them, but to call a “ Hul¬ 
less oat” an “ Agricultural Wonder,” as 
well as a “hybrid” between two species or 
varieties, neither designated by name or 
otherwise in language sufficiently explicit to 
give one a clue to their identity, were cir¬ 
cumstances to attract my attention. Still, 
from the appearance of the specimens lately 
received from the originator, I am inclined 
to think well of this new claimant for favor; 
but the lose Mr. Boutelle says about it3 
origin or how the hybridizing was done the 
better. The farmer is only interested in its 
valuo ; whether it came from the moon or 
from California is quite immaterial to them 
or anybody else. 
Ijtoml Ardiit^tunc. 
TILE DECORATIONS. 
In regard to the application of tiles in 
furniture, the most proper place for them is 
in a chimney-picce and grate, in which posi¬ 
tion tiles are, on every consideration, quite 
in their right place. The free introduction 
of tiles in wooden furniture (sideboards, etc.) 
must l»e deprecated : the materials do not 
harmonize at all ; the hard, shining, brittle 
tile, and the softer fibrous wood, are ma¬ 
terials of so opposite a nature that binding 
them together satisfactorily Is almost out of 
the question. An exception may be made, 
perhaps, in regard to ebony, which in its 
hardness, and the brilliant polish it takes, 
approaches more to the character of the 
tile texture ; but oak furniture, for instance, 
is almost invariably spoilt by tile decorations. 
The class of productions which have been 
rather absurdly called “ art tiles,” ought in 
many of its developments to be rigorously 
repressed. It has been the excuse for all 
kinds of vulgarities, absurdities, and primi¬ 
tive and untutored delineations of figures, 
scenes and animals of most uncouth shapes, 
and most unmeaning motifs. The very sliff 
treatment necessary, however, in the use of 
figure subjects on tiles is not an objection 
when these are placed at some distance from 
the eye, aud the right use of such tiles would 
seem to be in panels in external decoration, 
where they could not be inspected too much 
in detail, and where their weather-resisting 
qualities furnish a valid reason for their em¬ 
ployment. Tile decoration, in whatever 
way introduced, especially needs to be used 
with moderation, and so as not to become 
glaring and over-conspicuous, to the detri¬ 
ment of repose and artistic decorum,— The 
Builder. 
-- 
NOTES FOR BUILDERS. 
■ ~ 
Chestnut Wood and the Spider. — We 
have seen it stated as a fact that the spider 
will not spin a web from chestnut wood, and 
hence chestnut is recommended as inside 
finish for the rooms cf dwellings. We are 
not prepared to indorse this statement, al¬ 
though we cannot say positively that it is 
not correct; for living in our youth in a 
chestnut country-, we feel confident we have 
seen spiders’ webs spun between the chest¬ 
nut, rails in fences. Yet we are not positive, 
and refer to this statement in order that our 
boys and girls may verify or explode it when 
spiders begiD their work. 
To Preserve Shingle Hoofs.— Menhaden or 
porgy oil, worth now 50 cents per gallon„is a 
great preservative of wood. After a roof is 
shingled, give it time to get thoroughly dry, 
and. then, when a warm day comes, give the 
roof two coats of oil, going ove.r it twice in 
the same way paint would bo put on. If 
this was done only once iti ten years, and a 
nail driven in every shingle that has started 
out, or a new one put in its place, I would 
guarantee a shingle roof to last from 50 to 100 
years, according to the pitch of the roof. 
Try it.— L. Ware, Jr,, Boston, Mass. 
Coal-Tar Cement Floors.— O. E. French 
asks some of our readers who hav-^ had ex¬ 
perience that will enable them to do so, to 
give the method of preparing and applying 
coal-tar cement for stable, hog-pen and shed 
^toriatlinral 
nouncement, to the public by saying that he floors—to be applied on the ground ; also, its 
lias produced n new strawberry, "a hybrid 
between the Wilson and Charles Downing,” 
or a new apple “ hybrid between the North¬ 
ern Spy and Fall Pippin,” we may rest as¬ 
sured that the man is either ignorant of the 
meaning of words, if no worse, and it i3 well 
comparative cost, with piank lumber at £2 0 
per M. Oar own observation would lead us 
to reject such a floor as too costly, even if 
put down at half t’ie cost of plank. We 
never saw a durable one yet, but perhaps our 
readers have. 
NATURE AND ART IN HORTICULTURE. 
L - 
i Probaelt one of the most, absurd, abusive 
! and persistent opponents of progression is 
. the man who is ever harping about the vio- 
i lation of natural laws. If any one possessed 
• the supernatural powers necessary to rightly 
• interpret whafis usually considered the laws 
i of nature, there might be some reason in the 
maudlin twaddle so frequently expressed 
in regard to these matters ; but infallibility 
is not a recognized attribute of even the most 
learned men who dabble in agriculture or 
horticulture, hence we always feel a little 
uncertain as to a man’s conclusions who as¬ 
serts it is thus and-so, because perfectly nat¬ 
ural. 
Now, the first discoverers of Martha’s Vine¬ 
yard would have doubtless invested their 
last dollar in vines to plant in this very “ nat¬ 
ural vineyard but time ha3 shown us that 
the grape is frequently found growing wild 
in localities and soils anything but favorable 
to good results. There are few horticultur¬ 
ists with any considerable experience, who 
have not had the natural soils and climates 
for certain kinds of plants thrown in his face 
hundreds of times and as “knock down” 
facts, against his rocommendatious to choose 
one of au opposite character, for Ihe success¬ 
ful cultivation of the kind3 under cultivation. 
Then again, how often are we told that 
“ nature” never prunes vines, trees or other 
plants, and all the diseases which prevail In 
the vegetable kingdom are owing entirely to 
those and other unnatural operations. It 
always seemed very strange to us that such 
sticklers for what they term “ natural laws,” 
should eat cooked food or sleep in beds, wear 
clothes, or drink anything but pure water, 
for all these are unnatural productions ex¬ 
cept the last. 
If we go one step in advance of the wild 
vine in the swamp3 aud commence to raise 
improved varieties and plant, train and prime 
the same, we are likely to be met with the 
argument, “ Ail this is unnatural, therefore 
wrong.” But whoever saw oven a moder¬ 
ately dpcant-fiavored grupc growing wild, 
with its canes spreading over the lofty oak 
or elm, uncared-for uuu unpruned ? Of 
course we shall be confronted with the wild 
fox grapes of New England aud the prodig¬ 
ious “six in a cluster” Souppernong of the 
South; st ill, we shall probably bear up under 
the weight of facts offered on this line, and 
hold to our opinion in the end. 
Now, if grape vines do so much better 
when left to grow naturally than when cul¬ 
tivated and close-pruned, it is strange that 
those who have till their lives been seeking 
the truth have not discovered it. But ex¬ 
periments made expressly for the purpose, 
show that improved sorts deteriorate very 
rapidly when permitted to run wild. The 
same principle pervades all horticultural and 
agricultural operations : and it should be our 
aim, object and ambition to discover the 
best methods of producing the best results, 
without attempting to decide, in every in¬ 
stance, what is or what is not, a natural law. 
It is doubtful if there was ever an advance 
step made in the animul or vegetable king¬ 
dom which was not, at the time of ire con- 
i coption, consider ’d by some self-elected phi¬ 
losopher an infringement upon natural laws. 
Our learned men, improved breeds of do¬ 
mestic animals, luscious fruits and beautiful 
flowers are all the results of art in nature. 
Grafting, budding, priming and cultivating 
plants are all artificial operations, but we 
should revert to barbarism without these 
assistants of civilization. The only things 
for us to consider are just when to begin, how 
long to continue, and when to slop. The 
man who comes nearest, is the best interpre¬ 
ter of natural laws. 
-.—♦ » » ■ — . 
ARBORICULTURAL NOTES. 
Crab Apple (Pyrus coronaria). —A more 
beautiful object than thi3, when in full 
bloom, early in spring, it would be difficult 
to find. Why is it w*Tdo sot oftener find it 
in cultivation ? Its ordinary hlght. says the 
Gardener's Monthly, is from 10 to la feet, 
with a bole nt froru’five to six iachea in diam¬ 
eter ; but trees of it are sometimes found in 
old o. Itjvftted spots, which measure from 25 
to 39 feet in higiit, with a bole of from 12 to 
15 inches in du meter. Its clusters of rose- 
colored blossoms of lar^e size. Its beautiful 
foliage aud its fragrance, make it an object 
worthy of attention. 
Evergreens in Colorado — Under the head 
“ Evergreens in screens,” the Horticulturist 
breaks out with:—“Cau we grow them 7 
Has any evergreen tree planted in any lo¬ 
cality twenty-five miles away from the’foot 
hills outlived three winters ?‘ Snail we b&ve 
an answer in the affirmative ? Ye who grow 
them please reply, stating varieties. Why 
is it that they generally fail ? To us it has 
seemed that' with many other trees, it Is 
this—While their roots are solidly frozen, so 
as to be unable to afford a supplv of sip, the 
top of the tree ia dried to death.” 
qJ 
