MARCH 48 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
481 
the seed, and the quantity sold would not be 
sufficient to meet the demand were we to pub¬ 
lish the name of the firm. 
Hiram Siblkt & Co. make a specialty of 
verbenas, a colored plate of which in thetr cat¬ 
alogue shows a half-dozen of the most brilliant 
colors. Verbenas, if sown In the open ground 
as 6oon as it can he worked, will bloom in late 
Summer; but it is better to start them now in 
pots or frames, in which case seedlings will 
bloom as early as potted plants set out in late 
May. For budding plants and for bouquets 
few flowers are more satisfactory than the 
verbena. ..... . . . . . 
Peter Henderson's catalogue gives promi¬ 
nence, among farm seeds, to the favorite White 
Russian Soring Wheat, to which the Rural 
New-Yorker gave prominence years ago in 
the report of a comparative test of many dif¬ 
ferent kinds of Spring wheat. Among flowers 
the new single dahlia “ Jaurezli ” is spoken of 
as bearing blossoms of a rich crimson, resem¬ 
bling in shape those of some of the cactus 
tribe. .............. 
An old and very interesting plant is Biyu- 
phyllum ca’ycinuin. When a plant is Interest¬ 
ing for oddity mainly, its popularity is usually 
confined to brief periods long separated. This 
Biyophilium has been much written of at times 
during c-ntuiles. for aught we know, always 
exciting a lively interest for a time and then, 
as it were, ceasing to exist. If a leaf of this 
plant be suspended 1 y a string, or placed on a 
mantel, or left upon the earth of a flower-pot, 
In about ten days, as we remember, little 
plants with leaves ana roots appear in the axils 
of the scallops or edges (creuatures)of the leaf 
so placed. These may be cut out and plant¬ 
ed in thumb-pots and they will grow the 
same as other tiny plants so treated. When 
young, the Biyophyllum is beautiful and 
well supplied with its flethy. smooth leaves; 
but in two or three years, as it nears the 
blooming period, it loses its foliage and the 
spreading panicles of hundreds of queei- 
looking flowers, resembling fuchsias some¬ 
what, are all that is left besides 
the tall, leafless stalk. Seeing this 
plant offered in the catalogue of 
Storrs, Harrison & Co. suggests 
the above remarks, which, though 
old to our old readers, may be 
new to our new friends. . . , 
In reply to our recent editorial 
commenting upon some rather 
unkind insinuations in connection 
with this journal and Commis¬ 
sioner 1/Due, published in our 
respected contemporary, the Prai¬ 
rie Farmer, the latter says:— 
Let the Rural New-Yorker be 
undeceived. The Prairie Farmer 
disclaims the remotest wish or 
purpose to injure that journal or 
its editor.”. 
Mr. William Robinson, the 
editor of the London Garden, 
who has proven himself an ex¬ 
cellent friend of American horti¬ 
culture. tells the Rural New- 
Yorker: —“Kindly warn your 
American apple growers that the 
Canadians will beat them if they 
don't mind, giving as they (the 
Canadians) do, fruit well and reg¬ 
ularly packed throughout, not 
merely topped off with good ones 
at each end.” Our readers may 
remember that we have already 
twice or thrice called attention to 
this 6nbject. 
through a sieve to force from it any particles 
of sand, and, after settling again, it is trans¬ 
ferred to baskets lined with ticking, where it 
1 b drained, after which the mass is placed upon 
a porous floor of half-baked tiles, and allowed 
to dry- In obtaining it from wheat or rice a 
more complicated process is required. 
The demand for starch is very great, and 
many of the uses to which it Is applied require 
that great care should be exercised to produce 
It in its puriiy. Pure water is an indispensable 
requisite in tbis connection, and on the loca¬ 
tion of the factory largely depends the success 
of starch manufacturing. 
The Buffalo Starch Factory (an engraving 
of which we are enabled to give our readers, 
herewith), is situated on the banks of the 
Niagara River, about a mile from Lake Erie, 
and the wisdom of choosing such a location 
has been abundantly demonstrated. Although 
it has been in operation but 13 y- ars, it is said 
to rank third in the world in the amount of 
its production. Something of the capacity of 
this establishment will be readily inferred 
from the representation here given. 
-»-»-♦- 
LATE EXTRACTS FROM CORRESPON¬ 
DENTS’ LETTERS. 
Kindly Words for Ihe Rural New-Yorker. 
“I am glad to eee that you are making the 
Rural by far the best horticultural publica¬ 
tion in this country. Your engravings and 
notices of new fiuits and plants are always 
looked for with great interest.” 
So. Glastonbmy. Conn. J. H. Hale. 
“I like the Rural; I think it is the best 
farmers’ paper published. The articles on 
stock are imereetirg and instructive. I like 
the independent way iu which it speaks on 
fruit, condemning all it thinks worthless, and 
praising only such as it thinks improvements 
on old BOltS.” E. N. o. 
Newburgh, N. Y. 
“I have just received the Rural Shrub and 
Tree Special, and a most beautiful and useful 
“We believe there is no better agricultural 
paper published in the world than the Rural 
New-Yorker. This is high praise, we know, 
but in our opinion it is deserved. Added to 
this, it is an excellent home journal, and every 
week’s issue contains valuable reading for each 
member of the family.”—J. A Woodward in 
the Centre Democrat. Pa. 
“ I am so well pleased with the Beauty of 
Hebron and Golden Ovoid Mangel that I am 
anxious to try the forthcoming potato, and to 
say I think your endeavors to disseminate the 
best of seeds, potatoes and berries is deserving 
of much praise aud gratitude from one and all. 
Orleans Co., N. Y. A. Sterling. 
“ My subscription to the Rural is al¬ 
most out, and I feel, though L am hard- 
pressed and a poor man, that I cannot do 
without it, so I send you my subscription for 
another year.” Wm. Harbert. 
Harrison Co , W. Va. 
“ It’s a glorious old paper; loDgmayitwave! 
I have subscribed for it for the past 18 years. 
Davidson Co., Tenn. W, H H. Truitt. 
“It is the first time I have seen the Rural 
since I have been in tbe mountains, although 
my parents, at the old homein Michigan, have 
taken it ever since 1 was a small boy. It is the 
best paper of its kind I ever saw, and brings 
back to my miud recollections of happy times 
when I was a boy, and before I left the old and 
much-loved home in the States—over 10 years 
ago. T. D. Eldred. 
Madison Co., Montana T. 
“I have taken the Rural for 29 years 
without a break—since 1852. I think tbe pa¬ 
per this year is better than it ever was before, 
and that it is the best agricultural paper in the 
world.” John Bradley. 
Wayne Co., N. Y. 
“ I tell eveiybody that the Rural is the best 
paper published, F D Curtis. 
Kirby Homestead, Saratoga, N. Y. 
“I am much pleased with the Rural, and 
“We think the Rural a necessity which we 
can’t do without. As it grows better aud better 
we become more and more attached to it. We 
thank you very much for the seeds you Bent 
us.” R. G. Paisley. 
Bond Co., Ill. 
“ I am happy to see that the Rural New- 
Yorker is a grand success.” E. W. Stewart. 
Erie Co., N. Y. 
“ We have taken your paper for several 
years and think it the best agricultural paper 
in the United States. I have tried mopt of 
them; but we cannot do without tbe Rural.” 
Marion Co., Oregon. Henry Carter. 
“ The present iB my 25 h year’s subscription 
to the good old Rural: I don’t know that I 
can say more in praise of it. I expect to take 
it as long as I live, it I can pay for it. 
Delaware Co , N. Y. Job n A. Morse. 
“ I would not take three times the amount 
of the subscription to your paper for tbe seed 
I have now on hand." A. J. Uttercach. 
Montgomery Co., Ind. 
--- 
BOOKS, CATALOGUES, ETC, 
Barn Plans and Outbuildings, with 257 
illustrations. Tbis is an excellent cloth-bound 
volume of 235 pages, 12 mo., published »y 
the Orange Judd Company. 245 Broadway, N. 
Y. City. It Contains a large numberofcleva- 
tioLB and plans of barns of all sorts suitable 
for eveiy purpose and situation as well ss 
many plans of cattle ebtds. sheep shelters, 
pig-pens, poultrj-houses, dairj -houses. mbk- 
roems, grain bins, corn dibs. granariep, 
smoke houses, dog kennels, and bird-bonsef— 
in fact, all sorts of farm outbuildings to- 
getbei with ample printed explanations. At 
tbe end a couple of chapters are also devoted 
to representations and descriptions of .various 
forms of silos for preserving fodder, as well as 
of root cellars. 
AMERICAN Sanitary Engineering, by Ed. 
ward S. Phtlbrick. C. E. Tula vol¬ 
ume of 129 pages, octavo, treats of 
the ventilation of buildings; drain¬ 
age of towns; details of sew¬ 
age; ventilation of sewers ; ven¬ 
tilation and cleaning of sewers ; 
house drainage; apparatus used 
for house drainage, and public 
sewer* and privies. Its author 
has had great experience in con¬ 
structing saritaiy wotka in differ¬ 
ent climates, and his suggestions, 
therefore, are valuable to those 
who live iu localities where ex¬ 
tremes of temperature prevail. 
Practical Artificial Incuba¬ 
tion. By Elward Brown, F. L. 
S. Cassell, Patter, Gal pin & Co,, 
New York. Tbis pamphlet of 
some 60 pages is the second edi¬ 
tion of a work which has a con¬ 
siderable saie in the United King¬ 
dom. It gives an illustrated ac¬ 
count of the various incubators 
and artificial mothers that have 
been offered to the public id Great 
Britain, together with a good deal 
of other practical information on 
artificial incubation. 
General View of C. Gilbert's Starch Works. Buffalo, New York. U. S. A. 
FIG. 161. 
STARCH AND ITS MANUFACTURE. 
Every one is supposed to have a general 
idea of the nature of this useful article, and of 
some of the sources whence it i* obtained ; 
bnt comparatively few are acquainted with 
many of its highly important qualities. Starch 
is very widely diffused throughout the vegeta¬ 
ble kingdom, and is an organized substance 
belonging to the carbo-hydrates. It occurs iu 
roundish grains iu the cellular tissues of the 
seeds of cereals and in peas, beans, potatoes, 
etc. The grains in the same kind of plant are 
quite uniform in s'ze and shape, but they vary 
slightly in different species of plants. Some 
of the larger grains exhibit a series of concen¬ 
tric rings, and in 6om > may be seen, with a 
very strong light, a well marked black cross, 
as in potato starch. Commercial starch is 
heavier than water, and dissolves in nitric 
acid, but not in cold water, alcohol or ether. 
Starch is most commonly obtained by sepa¬ 
rating it from other ingredients with which it 
is associated, ihe mode of separation varying 
much according to tbe source from which it is 
obtained. In extracting it from potatoes, they 
are first thoroughly washed and then rasped 
by machinery. The pulp thus obtained is 
ydaced upon a sieve and gently washed ty a 
stream of water until the washings have no 
longer a milky appearance. The milky liqaid 
is received into vats, the starchy matter is 
allowed to subside, and the water is drawn cff. 
The starch is then suspended in water, run 
number It is, and well calculated to elevate and 
improve the taste of all its readers, aud help 
them to adorn their homes and the country 
also around them.” A. B. Allen. 
Queens Co., N. Y. 
“ The ‘Corn Number' was most excellent. I 
take pleasure In comparing our old Rural 
with other farm papers. All the others seem 
weakly productions.” Rev. R. II. Crane. 
Orleans Co., Neb. 
“ The Rural is the best paper I get hold of. 
The Corn Number is worth the year’s subscrip¬ 
tion.” James Fenton. 
Middlesex Co., Mass. 
“I could not think of stopping the Rural, 
packed as it has been with valuable articles 
for the past year. It has been worth to me 
mauy times its cost.” J- Hunter. 
Adair Co , Iowa. 
“The Rural for January 23, is a superb 
number, and so also was your Corn Number. 
The Rural New-Yorker is a strong, honest, 
practical journal, and 1 like to read it.” 
Charles Shinn. 
Previously Editor of the California Horticul¬ 
turist, and now of the Evening Bulletin. 
“ l have received a great number of sample 
copies of agricultural papers within a few 
weeks, but for reliable Information upon agri¬ 
culture and borticu'tuve, and for interesting 
reading matter, the Rural New Youker is of 
more real value than all of them uk.n to¬ 
gether.” g. w. 
Rock Falls, Ill. 
wi3h it a continuance of prosperity based 
upon its great merits.” Jno. W. Prescott. 
Rapides Parish, La. 
“ I like your paper very much, and l can 
truly say that it has been worth many times 
its cost to me, and I wish it might find a place 
by eveiy fireside.” D B Randall. 
Franklin Co,, Kan. 
** Your special Shrub and Tree Number was 
very timely and valuable to me, and I hope to 
others. To me it is richly worth a year’s sub¬ 
scription for the Rural.” 
Oneida Co., N. Y. Lorenzo Rouse. 
“The Rural is the best paper I have seen 
of its class for suburban residents who take a 
pride in their home and its surroundings. The 
issue of Feb. 13th is worth the whole subscrip¬ 
tion price to me, containing, as it does, the 
very information 1 was looking f or—how to 
artistically plant my lawn and grounds.” 
Chicago, III. wm. p. g. 
" I will not be without the Rural as long as 
I can raise the amount of subscription ; for the 
information contained in its columns is worth 
ten times the price of the paper.” a. l. l. 
Arredonda, Fla. 
“ The illustrations and make-up of the last 
Rural Special were very liuppy. I could not 
help being reminded ot that grand old teacher 
A. J. Downing. 1 am glad I am not the editor 
of a wi ekly paper—I should become crazed, I 
am sure." C. A. Green, 
Clifton, N. Y.^_ Editor of the Fruit Grower. 
Report on the Culture of the 
Sugar Beet and the Manufacture 
of Sugar therefrom iu France 
and the United States. This 
work of 294 pages was pre¬ 
pared by Dr. W. McMurlrie, 
under direction of Commissioner L-Duc, and 
is issued by the Agricultural Department. 
Report and Proc-tdings of the Executive 
Committee of the International Dairy Fair 
held in this city iu December, 1878, containing 
lists of exhibitors, awards of premiums, re¬ 
ports of committees, etc. T. Mortimer Seaver, 
Sec’y. 
Also a similar work for the exhibition of 187P* 
Studies of tub Food of Birds, infects 
and Fishes, made at the Illiuois State Labora¬ 
tory of Natural History at Normal, Ill. S. A. 
Forbes, Director. 
Report of the Sui veyor General and State 
Laud Register of Nevada for 1879 and 18S0. 
Preliminary Report of the Department of 
Agriculture for tbe year 1880. 
Fourth Annual Meeting of the New York 
State Dairymen's Association, with trans¬ 
actions and addresses tor the year 1S83. Copies 
ot this work, which is full of useful iuforma- 
tlon on Dairy topics, can be had from Josiah 
Shull, Ilion, N. Y.; price 25c. 
Catalogue of the 
tered Jersey Cattle, 
kins, Atlanta, Ga. 
Eiigwood Herd of Regis- 
owned by John L. Hop- 
Journal of the Proceedings of the B >ard of 
Supervisors of Chatauqua Couniy N Y.—G. S. 
Josselyn, Supervisor of the town of Pomfret. 
