AMERICAN GAME BIRDS.-VI. 
BARTRANIS TATIER, OR UPIAHO PLOVER (TOTAMUS 
BARTRAMINS). 
This bird is known by various names— as 
the Upland Landpiper, Frost Bird and Grass 
Plover. By this latter name it is most fre¬ 
quently called, though it is not a real Plover, 
but a Tatler, since true Plover have no hind 
toe. 
The Grass Plover is found from Texas 
along the coast to Nova Scotia. It breeds 
from Maryland north into British America. 
Vast liocks, in autumn and spring, in the 
Mississippi Valley. 
Bill, a little longer than head, slender, 
straight, yellowish green ; iris, dark hazel ; 
head, rather small, convex above ; neck of 
moderate length ; body, slender ; feet and 
tarsus, long and slender; tibia, bare about 
half its length ; toes, slender, first very 
abort ; third and fourth connected by web 
at base. 
Plumage soft, neck and lower parts blend¬ 
ed ; upper parts rather distinct. Primaries 
tapering and rounded ; lirst longest ; second 
shorter; the rest rapidly graduated and ta¬ 
pering. Tail much rounded, of twelve nar¬ 
row feathers. 
Upper part of head dark brown, with yel¬ 
lowish brown line in middle ; forepart and 
sides of neck, with a portion of breast and 
sides of body cream-Colored, with dusky 
lines, becoming at length sagittate, and there 
are two lines of these across the breast; rest 
of lower parts and lower wing coverts white, 
barred with brownish black. Upper parts, 
the feathers are dark brown, glos’ed with 
green, with rich, yellowish margins ; rump, 
darker. Primary coverts and primary quills, 
blackish ; inner webs crossed by white 
bands ; secondaries, grayish brown, with 
dusky spotB. Two middle feathers of tail 
dark olive, barred with black, the last ar¬ 
row-shaped ; next feather on each side light¬ 
er, tinged with yellowish red ; the rest grad 
ually lighter to the outer one, which Is 
white,—all barred with black. Feet and 
logs, yellowish white. Length, 12>£ inches, 
The female is a little larger, but like the 
male in color. 
Here in Vermont the return of the Upland 
Plover is an assurance of settled spring 
weather, aud his wild, plaintive cry is a 
most welcome note to those who have en¬ 
dured our loug winter and that drearier 
season that intervenes between winter and 
real spring, llis long-drawn “Who-it-whe- 
e-e-in ” is heard in the upland pastures now, 
and is frequently uttered during the mating 
season. It ceases when family cares begin 
to weigh upon him, and his voice is seldom 
heard except when alarmed, he utters a short, 
chuckling whistle, which it is almost impos¬ 
sible to mistake. Late in summer and early 
fall this same note is often heard in calm 
nights as these birds are wending their way 
southward. 
They breed here in considerable numbers. 
Their nests, of the simplest construction, are 
placed in the open pasture or meadow, near 
a tuft of tall grass. The eggs, three or four 
in number, measure 1% inches in length by 
1at the greatest, breadth, and In color are 
a dull, grayish yellow .with spots of light 
[hi rple and reddish brown. Should you come 
upon It, the old bird will attempt to decoy 
you from it by fluttering and hobbling away. 
The greater portion of the birds breeding 
here, with their young, depart southward in 
the latter part of August, except in ex¬ 
cessively dry seasons, when grasshoppers 
abound. Under these conditions they some¬ 
times remain till late in September, and be¬ 
come exceedingly fat. But few are killed 
here, however, as they are an extremely 
wary bird and difficult to approach within 
gunshot in the close-fed pastures, which they 
frequent most ; but occasionally the sports¬ 
man is fortunate enough to find a few In tall 
grass and flush them at short range, Some¬ 
times a respectable bag is made by the 
shooter concealing himself behind a fence, 
while an assistant beats the fields and drives 
the birds over him. 
Frank Forester, a delightful writer on 
field sports, uot often inconsistent, charac¬ 
terizes this mode of proceeding as “unen¬ 
durable to sportsmen,” yet in the next sen¬ 
tence mentions having “ contrived to get 
moderately - good sport walking about in 
pursuit of them and taking my chance at 
those driven over me by other parties 1” He 
appears to have accepted something very 
much like what is “unendurable to sports¬ 
men.” 
In Rhode Island, and perhaps in some other 
parts of the country, U pland Plover are shot 
in this manner :—The party, consisting of a 
shooter and a driver, go out in a chaise, the 
shooter kneeling on the bottom, with one 
| foot on the step. The driver starts a bird 
and drives around it rapidly, narrowing his 
circles till he gets wilhiD gunshot of it, when 
he makes a short, half-turn from it and stops 
short. The shooter steps out and takes the 
bird as he riBes, which he invariably does the 
moment the chaise stops. 1 n this sport much 
depends on the judgment and skill of the 
cost of your farm and the rapidity with 
which you learned the business. To the fifth 
inquiry we respond that we do not know 
whether it would pay to keep hired help ; 
but you would have to do so if you did not 
do the required work yourself or get volun¬ 
teer help, which you will uot be very likely 
to do. There are, doubtless, many instances 
where merchants (who bad had experience 
as boys on the farm) have succeeded as farm¬ 
ers ; but we know a far greater number who 
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TTPITAJ^E) PLOVER. 
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driver ; but the Tatler flies more swiftly 
than he appears to and is not the easiest, bird 
in the world to kill on the wing, and a poor 
shot Is not likely to prove very successful in 
his “ taking off,” It issaid to be not unusual 
to bag twenty couple in a day’s sport of this 
kind when shooter and driver understand 
their business and each other well. 
The degree of fatness to which this bird 
attains is wonderful. The specimen from 
which the accompanying drawing was made 
was shot in warm weather, Sept, 11th, and 
was kept over three weeks, while a careful 
painting of it was made. So fat was it that 
it did not become offensive, but only rancid, 
the fat drying out so that the feathers of the 
back were perfectly saturated, the oil drip¬ 
ping from the bill as it was hanging. 
It is one of the most delicious game birds, 
I some giving it a place above the Canvas-back 
in gastronomic value. R. e. r. ^ 
Jirdustipal Sfopu[55. 
SHALL A MERCHANT GO TO FARMING 1 
Will you oblige an old reader of your very 
welcome aud interesting paper, by answer¬ 
ing a few questions through your paper ? I 
am a native of this city, have been engaged 
in mercantile business for many years ; have . 
made and lost considerable money aDd now 
find myself with a few thousand dollars and 
have a rather up-hill work to hold my own, 
as capital has for the past few years had a 
tendency to centralize, aud a man with small 
means in business has a wonderful obstacle 
to contend with, I have an idea of farming 
out West; have a family of small children 
growing up and tlunk they would have abet¬ 
ter prospect of the future on a farm than 
following the same routine of mercantile 
life as I have, with its risks und trials, &c. 
Now the questions are these Could a man 
at 40 years of age who has never farmed, 
learn to be a farmer and successful ! What 
would a good farm cost in a respectable, 
healthy neighborhood out West 1 How many 
acres would I want ? How much capital to 
stock it * Would it pay to keep hired help ! 
my wife is too delicate to work herself. Will I 
you please quote some experience of parties 
(merchants) that you know of who have em- I 
barked in farming t How much could a per¬ 
son save per annum by industry and econo¬ 
my ! Any other useful advice you can offer- 
will be thankfully received. — Hiram A. 
Name. 
In answer to the first question, we say, 
Yes, if he will take the time, has the pa¬ 
tience, industry and capital necessary to 
learn ; but would this merchant advise a 
farmer of his age who has had no experience 
in mercantile life to do, as a merchant„what 
he proposes to do as a farmer l The chances 
of success in either case are about equal. 
To the. second inquiry, we reply that a good 
farm would cost from $20 to $500 per acre, 
depending upon location. To the third, the 
number of acres would depend upon the 
amount of capital you have to Bink in learn¬ 
ing the business. To the fourth, the amount 
of capital would depend upon the size and _ 
have sunk more money in such experiments 
than we do of those who have made any. 
The amount a man could save would depend 
upon how much he made and his expenses ; 
a merchant ought to be wiser than to ask 
such a question ! 
font dogifitl. 
NEW NAMES vs. OLD VARIETIES. 
The Amazon Red Raspberry is represent¬ 
ed as possessing high merit. Years ago it 
was considered identical with the Belle de 
Fontenay and avoided by experienced fruit 
growers, who visited a patch of them in 
bearing on the eastern shore of Maryland, as 
not desirable or profitable to grow exten¬ 
sively. 
Has any practical cultivator of fruits yet 
discovered wherein the Amazon (so called) 
| differs from the old French variety known 
| as Belle De Fontenay i Or is it about as dif¬ 
ficult to describe as was the difference be¬ 
tween the McCormic and the Mammoth 
I Cluster Raspberry ? If there is auj r differ¬ 
ence (which having for so long a time es¬ 
caped the notice of fruit growers generally), 
an explanation would be very interesting. 
Turner’s Seedling, Red Thornless and 
Southern Thornless, obtained from different 
parts of the West, are so very similar that i 
if they were not carefully labeled it would 
be difficult to distinguish one from the other. 
All were highly recommended as being 
hardy, without thorns and very productive, 
which is true so far as refers to the plants, 
and the only thing to be said against them is 
that there is no value in the fruit. p, 
- 
P0M0L0GICAL NOTES. 
Peaches in Oakland Co., Mich. —L. D. 
Lockwood writes the Country Gentleman : 
We want peaches to ripen in succession, and 
there is a month between Hale’s Early and 
Crawford’s Early. In order to be able to 
furnish a commission merchant a steady 
supply. I should, iu planting 1,800 trees, have 
300 each of Hale's Early, Honest John, 
Jaques’ Rareripe and Barnard, and 600 Red 
Cheek Meloeoton. If late peaches sell well, 
add a few- late Crawfords. But the Red 
Cheek Meloeoton comes just in time for 
canning, and it is the hardiest and most pro¬ 
ductive variety 1 have. Early Crawford is 
not profitable here, being Bhy of bearing. 
Trees of Hale’s Early and Honest John set 
four years paid me $3,50 each, while Early 
Crawford, set at the same time, did not 
yield me 50 cents per tree. This variety 
winter-kills badly. Barnards ripen at the 
same time and are profitable. The Melo- 
coton is by far the most profitable variety. 
“ Amazon Red 1 ’ Raspberry .—We notice 
in last number of Rural New-Yorker an 
article on the Amazon Red Raspberry, now 
being sent out by a party in this county. 
You can say to your readers that they can 
buy the Belle de Fontenay Raspberry at any 
good nursery under itB proper name. “ A 
word to the wise,” &c.—W. F. Masses' & J 
Co., Kent, Md. 
Jutsurance Department. 
INSURANCE NOTES AND NEWS. 
An Unpromising Spiff.—Prosperity does 
not appear to be conducive to harmony in 
the ranks of the Underwriters. The agency 
companies, those transacting a large business 
outside the city, insist, for perhaps satisfac¬ 
tory reasons, that the uniform rates required 
elsewhere shall be maintained here also. 
The local companies, those confining their 
business to the city and immediate vicinity, 
claim that these rates are higher than neces¬ 
sary for their purposes, aud hence desire an 
abatement. To this a majority of the local 
Board of Underwriters demur. Several of 
the local companies have therefore with¬ 
drawn from the Board, the officers of some 
of them claiming that this course is justified 
by breaches of good faith and surreptitious 
under-cuttings. They should unite in main¬ 
taining uniform and remunerative rates 
from which to create ample reserve funds. 
In this direction only lies safety. 
Suicide Claims .—The distinction between 
suicide and felo-de-se seems destined to con¬ 
tinue a bone of contention. There have been 
a dozen judicial decisions of the status of 
suicide claims agamst life companies, each 
differing from every other nearly as widely 
as the orthographic essays of the prevailing 
spelling matches. The very latest is to the 
effect that self-destruction, whether in a 
sound or unsound condition of mind, voids 
the claim, if the policy so declares, and if 
not, not. The wording of applications and 
policies is held by this decision to be or em¬ 
body the terms of a contract which a man 
may not violate with impunity, even if out of 
his mind—all of which, and much more that 
characterizes recent changes of procedure, 
only tends to intensify the misfortunes of the 
doubly-bereft family. When will the law 
and the insurer begin to recognize the hu¬ 
mane aspect of suicide I 
Steps Down and Out.—The World Life 
Insurance Company has been a sick man for 
several years, and proposes to be quit of con¬ 
sumption, marasmus, and all its other ills, 
including its worst misfortune, existence, by 
reinsuring. This is well, provided it Is in¬ 
tended to transfer all its risks in a body and 
make the reinsurance complete and total; if 
otherwise, It is pretty certain that some¬ 
body, it is not difficult to guess who, will be 
hurt. We propound to the managers this 
question : — If the re-insurer takes all, or 
any considerable proportion, of the better 
risks, what will become of the remainder? 
This company is now solvent, aud if there is 
any truth in the assumption upon which life 
insurance is founded, prudent management 
will keep it solvent. If the course that is 
proposed results, as usual, in making it in¬ 
solvent, is not somebody responsible ? We 
propose to investigate and report. 
Eminently Suggestive .—An exchange says : 
“ The Legislature is about to adjourn, and 
will doubtless do so, without acting upon a 
single one of the excellent and wise recom¬ 
mendations of the Superintendent, for the 
prevention of the ruinous practices of life 
insurance that have so long dispoiled the 
luckless policy holders. It ia high time that 
some efficient measure should be permitted 
to get further than the Committee on Insur¬ 
ance, where so many have been entombed.” 
Another exchange explains “ It is rumored 
that Albany legislation has been rather ex¬ 
pensive this winter, especially upon insurance 
companies.” We place these ideas in oppo¬ 
sition, with the pious hope that they have 
nevel had a closer connection in the minds of 
our legislators. 
Flow is This t —The Life Companies had 
on hand, at the beginning of 1874, $860,141,- 
684. At the low rate of six per cent, these 
accumulations earned $21,608,500, which, 
without other sources of Income, would have 
made the gross accumulations at the end of 
the year, $381,750,18.5, The end of 1874 found 
them with $337,281,897 on hand, or a gain 
within the year of only $5,5.1,712, Accord¬ 
ing to the official returns they received 
$115,732,713 in all, or $94,124,213 from other 
sources than six per cent, interest, and spent 
it all except about $85,000,000. ThiB doe3 not 
indicate either prosperity or economic man¬ 
agement, though it is comforting to know 
that certain companies prospered. 
Retributive Legislation.— It has recently 
been proposed to add to the premiums or de¬ 
duct from the dividends of all kinds of insur¬ 
ance the taxes Imposed upon insurance by 
the State in which the risk is accepted, and 
several companies have carried the theory 
Into practice. This is resented as offensive 
and unjust in several States, and especially 
In Virginia, where it appears the Legislature 
has passed a law making this sort of compo¬ 
sition of taxes penal, and Imposing a fine of 
one hundred dollars for each offense. 
_ 9 ^ 
