e 
MOORE’S  RURAL  NEW-YORKER. 
THE  RHODODENDRON. 
A  wELi,  known  gonns  of  ovorgroon  ahnibs  or 
troea  iJolonging  to  the  natural  order  Ericaceae, 
the  Heath  family.  In  floricnlluro,  probably  no 
shrub  U  more  distinguished  or  has,  of  kte.  re¬ 
ceived  more  marked  attention  than  the  Rhodo¬ 
dendron-  a  plant,  so  unique  and  stately  in  form, 
with  its  broadly-liincoolate  dark-green  foliage 
fresli  at  all  seasons,  fairly  enchanting  when  in  the 
month  of  .Tuno  each  branch  from  its  scaly  bud 
unfolds  a  large  cluster  of  beautiful  flowers,  of 
the  richest  colors  and  most  delicate  tints  and 
poncliniga  imaginable,  a  perfect  bouquet  in 
form,  that  is  certainly  deserving  of  a  place  in 
every  collection. 
For  its  absence  in  so  many  of  ojir  gardens  and 
pleasure  grounds,  with  its  beauty  and  general 
characteristics  so  universally  recognized,  no 
other  reason  suggests  itself  to  our  mind  than  the 
erroncotis  belief,  still  prevailing  among  ama¬ 
teurs  and  gardcnoi’s,  of  its  expensive  and  diffi¬ 
cult  culture. 
The  cuHtuo  of  Rhododendrons,  however,  is 
very  simple,  as  much  so  as  that  of  the  Rose. 
They  delight  in  a  cool  and  somewhat  moist  soil, 
any  good  garden  soil  thoroughly  mixcfl  with  well 
decomposed  loaf  mold  will  grow  them  to  perfec¬ 
tion.  A  partial  shade  is  desirable,  but  by  no 
means  necessary.  It  will  prolong  the  flowering 
season  and  add  to  the  freshness  of  the  foliage 
during  hot  and  dry  weather. 
The  best  time  for  planting  is  previous  to  the 
opening  of  their  leaf  buds,  but  they  may  be 
lifted  with  safety  at  any  time  from  early  spring 
until  late  in  the  autumn.  If  transitlantcd  during 
the  summer  season  a  cloudy  day  should  bo  chosen 
for  tlie  operation ;  the  soil  for  the  reception  of 
the  plants  should  be  well  preparfsl,  tho  lifting 
and  moring  bo  done  with  care  and  wbott  the 
specimen  is  safely  lodged,  with  its  roots  carefully 
distributed  and  covered  with  tho  flne,  fresh  soil, 
the  plant  should  bo  watered  thoroughly  so  that 
the  soil  may  settle  firmly  between  the  roots—  then 
finish  nicely  around  tho  stem  and  cover  the 
whole  surface  with  a  mulching  of  straw,  hay  or 
any  other  coarse  cooling  material  and  sprinkle 
the  foliage  well  and  repeatedly  over  head,  for 
several  evenings  in  succession,  should  the 
weather  bo  dry  and  hot.  On  approach  of  cold 
and  freezing  weather  a  covering  of  tho  roots 
with  dry  loaves,  of  some  six  Inches  in  thickness, 
will  prove  beneficial.  A  bod  or  group  of  this 
charming  plimt,  once  estabUsh'id,  requires  nO 
further  care  than  tho  keeping  of  tho  soil  free 
from  woods  and  an  occasional  enricliing  with 
thoroughly  decomposed  manure  or  leaf  mold. 
On  my  own  grounds  I  have  cultivated  for  a 
number  of  years,  tho  following  hardy  varieties, 
with  continued  success  and  pleasure:  Orandi- 
flonim,  light  crimson ;  Everestianura,  lilac ; 
Albiun  ologans,  white,  most  delicately  tinted ; 
Candidissimum,  piue  white ;  Bicolor,  dark  rose ; 
Delicatissimum,  blush  and  white ;  Purpureum 
elegans,  purple ;  Rosenm  elegans,  rose ;  Colos- 
tinum,  blush  tinted ;  Azureum,  piuq^lo ;  Abra¬ 
ham  Lincoln,  crimson.  W.  R.  Bkbgholz. 
Huguenot  Park,  New  Rochelle. 
- - 
A  NEW  FUNGUS  ON  THE  PINE  TREES. 
New  species  of  parasitic  plants  are  being  dis¬ 
covered  as  well  as  now  insects,  in  fact  our  natur¬ 
alists  need  not  be  idle  for  tlie  want  of  novelties 
to  engage  their  attention.  In  a  late  niunber  of 
the  I’aciflc  Rural  Press  we  find  tho  following  in  j 
reference  to  a  now  parasitic  plant  attacking  the 
Pinos  of  California : 
Dr.  II.  VV.  llarknesg,  who  is  devoting  the 
summer  to  scientific  studies  in  the  eastern  coun¬ 
ties  of  tho  State,  has  discovered  a  new  fungus 
on  the  young  pine  trees,  which  promises  to  harm 
the  trees  and  of  which  our  readers  should  be 
forewarned.  In  a  cojnmnnicstion  to  the  San  | 
Francisco  mioro8or»pical  society.  Dr.  Harkness 
writes  as  follows :  I  have  to-day  forwarded  for 
the  society’s  cabinet  a  specimen  of  PeriO.ermium,  ] 
a  fungus  which  is  attacking  the  nmall  pine  trees  l 
in  the  vicinity  of  Colfax,  at  which  point  Mr.  i 
Moore  and  myself  disooveied  it  on  tho  26th  of  l 
May  last.  On  the  20th  inst.  I  again  visited  the  j 
locality  for  the  piuq)08e  of  noting  the  changes  i 
which  had  occurred  during  the  interval.  The 
fungus  belongs  to  the  genus  Peri/iernvium,  order 
■^cidacie,  and  appears  both  on  tho  branches  and  t 
stems  of  young  trees  of  the  Pinun  Ponderom,  ^ 
generally  forming  a  complete  circle  aroimd  the  j 
tree,  its  siwidia  appearing  as  a  zone  of  bright  •v 
orange  yellow.  The  spores  first  germinate  bo-  t 
neath  the  cuticle,  which  it  destroys.  Owing  to  a 
the  untation  of  tills  presence,  an  abnormal 
thickness  of  the  cambhun  is  produced,  which,  in 
turn,  gives  place  to  an  excessive  growth  of  wooly  c 
fiber.  This  process  lieing  repeated  from  time  to 
time,  a  large  bnlbons  expansion  is  soon  formed,  t 
TO  that,  as  often  as  oocims,  a  stem  of  hut  an  inch  c 
in  diameter  is  enlarged  to  that  of  four  or  five,  v 
Above  this  bulb  tho  further  development  of  the  j 
I  stem  is  retarded  or  arrested  altogether,  its  place 
being  supplied  by  a  dense  tuft  of  minute 
brandies. 
As  no  reference  to  this  fungus  is  found  in  any 
of  tho  books  at  my  command,  I  am  indinod  to 
the  belief  that  it  is  a  new  variety.  Yesterday  I 
received  a  letter  from  Prof.  W.  G.  Farlow,  of 
Cambridge,  Mass.,  in  which  he  says:  “  I  send 
you  a  specimen  of  Perl/lermium,  which  is 
attacking  the  Pinus  Pondprom.  of  this  vicinity. 
Do  you  find  it  in  California?”  As  the  speeimon 
an  nnanswerablG  conundrnm.  Ho  has  made  se¬ 
rious  charges  against  some  of  tho  Committee, 
and  says  he  is  able  to  prove  tJiem,  Ho  has  not 
only  oxiiresaod  a  doubt  of  Uidr  perfect  voracity, 
but  has  otlierwiso  impugned  their  personal  in¬ 
tegrity,  Mr.  Lewis  seemed,  by  his  spoochos,  to 
bo  of  tho  opinion  that  Mr.  Reail  was  not  worthy 
of  such  attentions  as  lie  was  roceiving,  and  then 
proceeded  to  give  him  about  a  half  an  hour  of 
solid,  round  abuse,  during  which  he  took  occa¬ 
sion  to  hint  in  the  broadest  terms  that  his  word 
RHOOOUElSrriRON’  CCHIRUEA  <3-R,A.NL>lirL,OH.A.. 
sent  by  the  Professor  agrees  in  every  essential 
particular  with  the  one  sent  to  the  society,  it 
would  api>ear  that  Uio  fungus  is  attacking  the 
forests  in  the  Eastern  as  well  as  the  Western 
portion  of  tho  United  States.  Rut  one  other 
variety  of  Pendenaiim.  is  yet  known  upon  this 
coast,  and  that  is  found  upon  tho  foliage  of  the 
Pinus  fmujnu,  growing  in  the  Golden  Gate 
park,  San  Francisco,  in  tho  month  of  January 
last.  This  variety  we  then  identified  as  P.  Pini, 
which  so  far  has  not  produced  any  special  dam¬ 
age. 
In  the  vicinity  of  Colfax  the  fungus  appears 
to  be  limited  to  an  area  of  but  a  few  acres  in  ex¬ 
tent.  Within  that  area,  however,  it  is  destroy¬ 
ing  the  young  growtn,  and  should  It  become 
generally  disseminated,  it  bids  fair  to  do  great 
harm  to  tho  timber  trees  of  this  coast. 
- - 
CENTENNIAL  CORRESPONDENCE, 
Centennial  Exhibition,  i 
Philadelphia,  Pa..  Aug.  12, 1876./ 
Tue  Centennial  Committee  of  the  American 
Dairymen  s  Association  held  a  meeting  to-day  at 
the  Butter  and  Cheese  Factory  on  the  grounds. 
There  were  present  Messrs.  Pope,  Shull, 
Lewis,  Ward,  Harris,  Gold,  Peters,  Hawley, 
Reail,  Caswell  and  Blanding,  The  session  was 
not  quite  as  pleasant  as  an  ordinary  tea  party, 
but  some  of  the  time  it  was  much  more  lively. 
The  principal  topic  of  conversation  was  the  resig¬ 
nation  of  Mr.  John  H.  Real!  and  his  character. 
In  justice  to  the  Committee,  I  must  say  that, 
notw.thstanding  the  position  heretofore  taken  by 
the  ilcBAL  in  relation  to  this  body,  a  cordial  In¬ 
vitation  was  extended  to  its  representative  to  be 
piosent  during  tho  whole  proceedings.  Mr.  Sco- 
villo  read  the  official  copy  of  Mr.  Read’s  reaigna- 
tioo,  whereupon  a  motion  was  made  that  it  be 
accepted.  This  opened  the  ball,  and  the  debate 
lasted  from  about  11  A.  M.  till  nearly  3  P.  M., 
with  a  half-hour’s  intermission  for  the  purpose 
of  inner  refreshment. 
Now,  whether  or  not  Mr.  Reail  or  his  charac¬ 
ter  or  his  doings  have  been  and  now  are  of  suffi¬ 
cient  importance  to  entitle  them  to  the  contin¬ 
ued  volley  of  abuse  and  vituperation  which  they 
received  at  tho  hands  of  this  Committee,  is  to  mo 
tended  to  tho  press  ni>on  tho  anggostion  of  Hab- 
BI8  Lewis  and,  had  this  movemont  been  beaded 
by  anyone  else,  I  might  say  in  this  connection 
that  1  feel  bound  to  •' give  tho  Oovil  bis  due,” 
but  of  course  I  don’t  desire  to  steal  Lewis'  thun¬ 
der  in  ibn  way  of  quotation.  Reail  miulc  a  very 
weak  fight;  but  the  odds  wore  heavily  against 
him.  There  was  Pope  with  the  history  of  this 
whole  matler  at  his  longno’s  end ;  Hawley,  who 
can  wake  np  iti  tlio  middle  of  the  night  and  talk 
against  time;  Iiewis,  who  has  the  Seri [>l urea  at 
his  back ;  Rhull,  who  has  groat  civjiacily  for 
looking  wise;  Scovillo  who  evidently  iiieans 
some  day  to  ho  President  of  tho  United  Ktates  or 
Emperor  of  all  the  Rnssias  ;  Peters,  wlio  smiles 
so  luxuriously ;  Ward  who,  like  his  namesake, 
is  so  very  funny ;  Mr.  Gold,  who  is  thoroughly 
in  earnest  and  Blanding,  whoso  tongue  seems 
to  be  quite  as  sharp  as  Ins  wits  if  not  charpor. 
Diming  my  waiideringu  yostorday  for  items  of 
interest,  I  stumbled  Ujion  one  very  oxccllont  one. 
Through  tho  united  worlting  of  Dr,  Kennedy, 
Capt.  Landreth  and  the  Stale  nuiniigors  of  Now 
Jersey,  tho  latter  State  is  to  set  apart  a  certain 
day  (I  believe  tho  24th  of  this  inontli)  for  visiting 
tho  Exhibition.  ArrangcmentH  have  been  made 
with  all  the  railroads  for  reduced  faro  fr<im  all 
parts  of  tbo  Slate  to  Pliiladolphia.  Tho  Gov¬ 
ernor  and  other  State  officials  aro  to  bo  present. 
Speeches  to  bo  iniu'e,  eollatloiiH  to  bo  disposed 
of  and  a  general  Jollillcatioii  la  to  bo  tho  rule. 
This  is  to  be  called  tho  Now  Jersey  Centennial 
Day  and  will  doubtless  lie  tho  means  of  permit¬ 
ting  many  people  to  visit  tbo  Exhibition  who 
would  not,  under  ordinary  oirounistancos,  feel 
able  to  bear  tho  expense.  Tills  is  a  vety  excel¬ 
lent  Idea  and  should  be  adopted  in  every  State 
in  the  Union.  Little  trouble  would  be  exporieiiood 
in  getting  tho  reduction  of  faros  over  tho  various 
roads  for  a  concerted  movement  like  this  and 
many  poor  peoiilo  would  be  vastly  benotitted  by 
tho  visit. 
It  is  said  that  Col.  Clay,  the  efficient  command¬ 
er  of  tho  Centetiiiial  Guard,  is  about  to  resign  to 
accept  an  appolntmont  under  tho  N.  Y.  State 
Government  and  will  bo  suocoodod  by  Capt. 
Hodges,  whose  (pKirters  are  now  in  the  Main 
Building.  Tho  important  iiart  in  tho  Exliibition 
borne  by  this  body  of  men  fully  wiUTaiits  tho 
appointment  of  so  worthy  an  officer  as  Capt. 
Ilodgos  has  shown  himself  to  bo. 
SlIOBT-IIOUN 
was  of  loss  value  than  his  bond,  if  such  a  thing 
were  possible.  CalUiig  the  Scriptures  to  his  aid 
in  quotation,  as  usual,  he  held  up  jioor  Reail  in 
no  euvialilo  light,  ScoviUo  was  extremely  anx¬ 
ious  to  have  a  committee  appointed  for  the  pur¬ 
pose  of  reporting  that  Reail  was  a  bad  man  and 
ScovRIe  was  a  good  man.  In  this  he  was  joined 
by  Mr.  Hawley,  who  for  once  did  not  say  any¬ 
thing  about  salt.  Peters  seoined  to  want  an  in¬ 
vestigation  to  expose  anything  wrong  if  such 
oonld  bo  found.  Mr.  Pope  took  the  same  posi¬ 
tion,  and  so  did  iVIr.  Gold.  There  seemed  to  ho 
several  present  who  did  not.  Scovillo  and  Haw¬ 
ley  tried  very  hard  to  get  Mr.  Caswell  to  say  that 
the  Dairy  Building  was  all  that  could  be  desired ; 
hut  Caswell,  who  oared  nothing  for  the  iiitornal 
fight  of  the  Committee,  would  not  say  anything 
of  the  kind.  He  did  say  that  ho  was  aatlslled, 
so  far  as  ho  was  concerntsl,  with  everything  ox- 
oept  that,  being  the  only  exhibitor  of  any  ac¬ 
count,  he  did  not  like  the  Idea  of  coming  so  far 
from  homo  to  compete  with  himself  alone. 
The  larger  part  of  Iho  sossion  was  occupied  in 
abuse  by  the  Comniiltoe  of  Mr.  Reail,  and  by 
Reail  of  the  Committee.  X  have  seen  a  boys’ 
debating  club  during  my  school  days  behave 
with  much  moi-e  dignity  than  did  these  sapient 
representatives  of  the  dairy  interest  of  this  great 
country.  But  everybody  finally  came  to  be  tired 
out,  and  the  question  upon  the  acceptance  of  tho 
resignation  was  put  and  the  acceptance  passed, 
A  set  of  resolutions  tolling  what  an  excellent 
building  they  had  erected  and  what  fine  fellows 
they  themselves  were  was  then  passed  with  no 
debate,  and  the  wise  Committee  dissolved  their 
session  perfectly  satisfied  with  the  expression 
they  had  given  of  their  own  opinion  of  them¬ 
selves.  Taken  In  connection  with  the  pirevious 
acts  of  this  ponderous  body  of  representative 
men,  I  sujvpose  it  was  the  best  they  could  do 
under  the  circumstances. 
So  far  as  I  was  able  to  see,  the  whole  day’s 
work  (?)  allowed  absolutely  no  practical  solid 
result,  was  undignified  in  the  extreme,  was  In 
the  worst  possible  last®  and  fully  justified  the 
position  takeu  by  the  Ruhal  in  relation  to  this 
whole  Centonnial  Dairy  affair.  The  only  re¬ 
deeming  action  which  I  could  discover  in  these 
proceedings  was  tho  open-handed  courtesy  ex¬ 
LANGUAGE  Of  ANIMALS. 
The  acuteness  of  tho  sheep’s  o,ar,  it  is  said, 
surpasses  all  tilings  in  nature  that  T  know  of. 
The  owe  will  distinguish  her  own  lamb’s  bleat 
among  a  thonsaml,  all  bleating  at  tbo  siuno 
time,  and  making  a  noise  a  thousarid  times 
louder  than  the  singing  of  psaiins  at  a  Caruer- 
onian  sacrament  In  Iho  fields,  where  thousands 
aro  congragalfd  -and  tliat  is  no  Joko  cither. 
Bosidos,  the  distiiigulshmcnt  of  voice  is  perfectly 
reciprocal  between  tlni  ow’o  and  lamb,  who,  amid 
the  deafening  sound,  run  to  moot  one  auollicr. 
There  aro  few  things  which  have  ever  amused 
me  more  than  a  sheep  shearing,  and  tiion  the 
sport  continues  tlie  whole  day.  Wo  put  the 
flock  into  the  fold,  set  out  all  tho  lambs  to  tho 
hill,  and  then  send  tho  ewes  to  them  as  they  are 
shorn.  The  moment  that  a  lamb  hears  its  dam’s 
voice  it  riislies  from  the  crowd  to  meet  her,  but 
instead  of  finding  tho  rough,  woll-olad,  com¬ 
fortable  mamma  which  it  left  an  hour  or  few 
hours  ago,  It  meets  a  poor,  naked,  slirivcling— a 
most  doplorable-looking  creatine. 
It  wheels  about,  and  uttering  a  loud,  tremu¬ 
lous  bleat  of  perfect  despair,  flies  from  the 
frightful  vision.  Tho  mother’s  voice  arrests  his 
flight—  it  returns — flies,  and  returns  again  gener¬ 
ally  for  Ion  or  a  dozen  times,  hoforo  tlvo  rocon- 
oiliatiou  is  perfact. 
NEW  METHOD 
CLEANING  WOOL. 
Les  Mondeb  describes  M.  Paulines’  new  method 
of  cleaning  wool  for  which  such  Important  ad¬ 
vantages  are  claimed.  According  to  this,  a 
current  of  air  of  thirty  or  forty  degrees  temper- 
atni-e  is  passed  through  the  ratv  wool,  followed 
by  a  current  of  hydrochloric  acid  gas,  previously 
dried  and  cooled.  In  this  way  tho  wool  is  not 
affected,  but  any  vegetable  substances  ailhering 
to  It  are  speedily  and  entirely  decomposed.  After 
this  has  been  effected,  a  current  of  air  is  passed 
through  to  diapel  the  hydrochloric  acid  gas  and 
tho  temperature  is  gradually  raised  to  one  hun¬ 
dred  and  thirty  degrees,  to  complete  the  destruc¬ 
tion  of  thfc  vorious^vegctalle  matters.  This  being 
done,  a  curreut  of  air  charged  with  ammoniaoal 
vapor  is  then  passed  through,  in  order  to  get 
rid  completely  of  any  remaining  traces  of  hydro¬ 
chloric  acid,  and  the  operation  is  completed. 
V  » — - - - 
Salt  fob  Sheep.— Salt  is  the  very  best  curative 
for  parasitic  diseasea  among  sheep,  and  it  also 
answers  every  purpose  as  a  preventive. 
