Naturalist I>irectory.—A -workhas 
just been published by the Naturalist 
Agency, Salem, Mass., which cannot fail 
to be of great service to Naturalists and 
scientists generally. It is a directory con- 
tainingthe names and addresses of theNat- 
uralists, Chemists, Physicists and Meteo¬ 
rologists of the United States and the Can¬ 
adas—nearly fifteen hundred names in all, 
which we think is a pretty good showing 
in the way of numbers of those who are 
interested in scientific pursuits. The want 
of such a work has long been felt by sci- 
entits, and it will doubtless give an in¬ 
creased impetus to scientific studies, and 
bring all interested in the various branch¬ 
es into closer relations and a harmonious 
interchange of ideas and specimens. 
Of course it is better to “make haste 
slowly” than to run headlong into a ditch ; 
still, there is far too much apathy among 
farmers in regard to this delaying of oper¬ 
ations which could just as well be per¬ 
formed one season as another ; and there¬ 
by they are losing precious time that can 
never be regained, no matter how great 
the efforts put forth to make up for the 
loss, or how sincere the regrets over the 
wasted moments! 
learn who are the successful ones, for they 
will talk of horses, of stock, of large crops, 
yes, even to bragging a little of what they 
have done and what they can do ; in other 
words, they are enthusiastic workers and 
take a deep interest in whatever they hap¬ 
pen to have in hand. It’s a pleasure to 
meet enthusiasts of this sort, for they 
mean business every time and all th« 
time. They are ready to sell out, per- 
! haps, and go West, or South, provided a 
customer appears who is ready to pay 
their price—which, by the way, is seldom 
below the actual value of the article of 
fered. 
Not long since we met a New' Jersey 
farmer whom we had not seen for several 
years and, as was quite natural, our con¬ 
versation turned upon farming, during 
which lie gave us an invitation to visit, 
him, remarking, “ I have bought a new 
farm of two hundred acres since your last 
visit, and it's a beauty, and I would not 
give it. for any thousand acres in the 
> Western States. ” It is perhaps unneces¬ 
sary to state that our friend not only 
makes money by farming, but has no de¬ 
sire to change his occupation. Such men 
as our New Jersey friend are often called 
“ lucky fellowsbut there are htuulrcdB, 
yes thousands, like him among the read¬ 
ers of the limtAt, New-Yokker. Their 
is not of the chance kind, 
TABLE Of CONTENTS, 
Practical Departments 
The White A bullion... 
I* there a pesnenUlDR Sap?... 
Jerusalem Artichoke . 
The White KrlntfeTrec. 
Miscellanea ... . 
Preserving Sweet Pot llow—Garden I atlis 
Plums by rlie A id of Kowl*..... 
The Buttle of Life #ui"HK Plants. 
Culture of guineas ..- . 
Foust's IIiiT-hoatlur.. -• — ••• ■ • •• • ■ • v 
Brahma* -ThOtr orliiin— How Named. «*••• 
White l.eahnrns .... 
Cheat!nu In Wool..... • .. 1 • 
Mao’s Nearest Knlaltons I .. 
Planting Fruit Tree*.... .• • • • • 
Outfit tor Blitter O.llrjr -nitTereot Method 
The Oust. War .- Dairy Operations-Sagges 
jstatisllc*. 
ftunine Aristocracy... .. .. 
Hkeoulivcries* .-.... 
lleel pus. . 
Instinct of Aiyi'Mrte..... 
Petroleum l..v Baldness.- •••- 
W'ond ltendtfr. d Incombustible.. . • 
Snow us a Kerilllscr . . 
Wditoioal Pace: 
Interested Workers... 
8tlll Delaying. 
Unfounded Fears.. 
Notes-Brevities.... 
LtTERAltv: 
Poetry.......125 
Story...... • ■ 
Miscellaneous. 
ftceenr, I.lteruturu... 
Sabbath K*?»din*. 
I.adies’ Portfolio ... , . 
Reading for the Young ... 
Publisher's Notices. 
News of the Week. 
Markets. 
Answers to Correspondents. 
Everywhere. 
Humorous... - • 
Advertisements...12a, 130. 
UNFOUNDED FEARS 
A duces from the other aide of the At¬ 
lantic indicate that among English farmers 
the increase in the importations of Amer 
ican cattle and beef, is causing growing 
appre 1 teiisioutl of injury to the domestic 
production of stock suitable for the home 
market. About forty-five years ago, dur¬ 
ing the agitation preceding the repeal of 
the “Corn Laws,” the same class were 
much more keenly excited by fears of the 
disaster and min that must, inevitably fob 
low the unrestricted importation of foreign 
grain; yet, while this feature of Free 
Trade has been an inestimable boon to 
the population at large, time lias demon¬ 
strated that the farmers’ consternation in 
regard to its expected results wore about 
as unfounded as man’s anticipations of 
evil generally prove to be. Years ago our 
own Eastern farmers, also, decried the 
extension of our railroad system us likely 
to injure their interests by bringing the 
products of the cheap, prolific regions of 
the West, iuto immediate competition 
with those of their own high-priced soil, 
already partly exhausted by cultivation, 
but here, again, these gloomy expectations 
have been doomed to cheerful dlsappoinb 
ment. 
Besides the lesson that may lie learned 
from the groundless nature of these by¬ 
gone alarms, a little calm consideration 
would do not a little to tninquilizc the 
perturbed spirits of our agricultural cous¬ 
ins over tlie water. It is conceded on all 
hands, that even at the present rate of 
consumption of meat, among them, the 
supply of domestic cattle is insufficient 
to answer the demand ; yet it is well 
known that more than one-half the popu¬ 
lation of the British Isles never touch 
meat except as an occasional luxury ; and 
of the remainder a largo proportion would 
stigmatize it as an extravagance to use it 
oftener than once a day. In this country, 
on the other hand, tlie ordinary laborer 
expects meat at every meal, and is not 
unlikely to grumble discontentedly unless 
ho finds it. 
The more liberal the supply of this 
article of food, the more extensive will be 
the demand for it, and while the multi¬ 
tude will be vastly benefited by the cheap 
addition of American beef to their scant 
dietary, tlie breeders of domestic stock 
will never be likely to laok a market for 
their choice products among the rich, 
who can afford to be patriotic enough to 
prefer home productions. 
Centennial Awards. —Although 
the crop of Centennial Bronze Medals 
was a very large one, there are, it seems, 
quite a number of persons who are still 
“hankering” after these keepsakes, as 
willfbe seen by the following note received 
from Mr. Landketh “ Having on the 
1st of January resigned my position ns 
Chief of Bureau of Agriculture, Interna¬ 
tional Exhibition, but still being in daily 
receipt of letters of inquiry in relation to 
award*, I desire to inform all parties in¬ 
terested that application should he ad¬ 
dressed to the Director-General. Burnet 
Landketh, Philadelphia, Feb. 9, 1877.” 
RURAL BREVITIES, 
An English firm haw been mulcted in tho sum 
of $1,000 for selling an art iclo called " Butter- 
inc.” or imitation butter. Served them right! 
Tub breeders of Leghorn fowls may bo pleaetd 
t<> learn that this breed is rapidly gaining in pop¬ 
ularity in Scotland, as at a late show at Aber¬ 
deen a goodly number were on exhibition. 
Ax English dealer in poultry named Nixon, 
after fleecing the farmers in the west of Cheshire, 
England, is said to have started on Lis way to 
Amenoa. He is certainly not wanted here. 
A man in Philadelphia is said to have invented 
a machine resembling a horse in shape but pro¬ 
pelled by hot air, which, it is claimed, will carry 
15.000 pounds over any ordinary country road. 
Cattle Disease -till attracts considerable at¬ 
tention in Great Britain, and the prevalence of 
diseased animals in many parte of the kingdom 
tends to make the people look with more favor 
upon American beef. 
At Lincoln. 111., on the line of the Chicago 
and Alton Railroad, there are two miles of corn- 
cribs containing 250.000 bushels of first quality 
corn, and as many as 722 teams have come in 
one day all loaded with com, 
An Englishman has figured it out that drunk¬ 
enness in that country has increased ten times 
faster than the population ; which, if true, does 
not speak well for Ihc influence of temperance 
societies or the good sense of the people. 
The list of Agricultural shows in Great Britain 
for 1877 is already made up and published; a 
fact which, wheu placed in contrast with the tar¬ 
diness of the societies in the United States, is 
anything but complimentary to the latter. 
There is a man named Dexter, "out West," 
who has been astonishing the good people of 
Cheyenne with his fast team of oxen, and he is 
willing to back up his opinion with money, that 
either of his oxou can trot his mile in 3.47*. 
If the next generation do not know more than 
the present oue about the distribution of plants 
and animals on this earth, it will not be for tho 
want of literature on the subject, 
.i . x t _ l i __ t .. . 1 \ „ J'A) .. 
luck, however, 
but the result of a determination to per¬ 
severe aud excel iu whatever they under¬ 
take, whether it be to raise a hill of oorn 
or a good horse. 
PUBLISHED EVE BY SATURDAY 
ANDREW S. FULLER, Editor 
Associate Editor, 
ELBERT 8. CARMAN 
STILL DELAYING. 
X. A. WILLARD, A. M., Little Falls, N. Y., 
Editoe or the Department or Daimt Hureanpbt 
Never was there a truer saying than 
that “ Procrastination is the thief of 
time.” Yet with this truism ringing in 
their ears, thousands of men will still per¬ 
sist in delaying to do what they well know 
should be‘done immediately. Men ad¬ 
vanced in years hxik back one, two, or 
more decades, and with a sigl^ exclaim, 
“ If I had done this or that,” at some 
stated period in the past, “how much 
better off w'ould I have been to-day !” but 
they put forth no effort to save themselves 
from such regrets in the future. Farmers 
probably suffer as much, or more, from 
neglect in performing curtain operations 
at a proper time than t hone engaged iu 
other industries; for in the raising of cat¬ 
tle, planting of trees for shade, shelter or 
fruit, years must necessarily pass between 
the inception of such enterprises and their 
fruition, consequently the more import¬ 
ant is it that, we should make a timely be¬ 
ginning, as age creeps on apace whether 
we do or not. 
There are, doubtless, many of our read¬ 
ers who can look back to tho time when a 
few hours or days judiciously spent, 
might have brought them, at this time, 
much happiness and perhaps wealth r but 
it is to be feared some among the number 
sire pursuing the Bame line of folly at this 
hour which they will again have oooasion 
sorely to regret in the future. 
The young man often refuses to act in 
such matters because, as he says, “It’s 
too long a time to waitand the man 
advanced in years, excuses himself by 
declaring that he is too old, and thus both 
fail to do what would probably redound 
to their honor and credit, overlooking the 
stern fact that time passes all the same 
whether they attempt to do something or 
spend their days in idleness. It is cer¬ 
tainly never too late to begin to do good, 
but a man may delay the act bo long that 
his reward will come in rather late for 
enjoyment,; still, it ie better to plant for 
our heirs than not to plant at, all. 
The season for planting and putting in 
the various farm crops is already at hand 
in many localities, and will soon be in 
all; consequently it is a good time to 
think of what has been neglected in past 
years and endeavor to make up for it in 
extra efforts during this. A tree set out 
this spring will be one year ahead of the 
one planted next, and the planter gains 
just that much in hischances of obtaining 
tho benefits sought in the operation. The 
same rule holds good in al l other farm 
labors; the drains laid this spring, the 
ditches dug, or the subsoiling doue to 
improve the mechanical condition of the 
soil, bring the benefits sought iu whole 
or part within the farmer’s reach, whereas 
he will never get near them by any num¬ 
ber of years* delay in making these im¬ 
provements. 
BARNETT, Publisher, 
Address 
RURAL PUBLISHING CO., 
78 Duane Street, New York City 
SATURDAY, FEB. 24. 1877 
INTERESTED WORKERS, 
Of all tho miserable mortals that, one | 
meets in this world, the man who takes 
no interest in his work beyond the very 
act of performance, is the most deserving 
of pity. It is certainly irksome enough 
to know that some of us, at least, are com¬ 
pelled to earn our bread by the sweat of 
the brow ; but when a man becomes so 
thoroughly auimalized that he works with 
no higher motives than those which cause ' 
the beast of the field to obey its master, 
then we think it is time lie should change 
either his state of mind or occupation. 
Efficient laborers are those who take a 
deep interest, in whatever they happen to 
have in hand, no matter what it may be. 
In making a pair of shoes or constructing 
a steamship or a suspension bridge, the 
incentive to excel is, or should be the 
same, except in degree. Scarcely a week 
passes in which we do not hear some one 
say, “I’m going to get out of my present 
business and get iuto something else the 
very first chance which presents." But 
we may add that this class of men are 
very likely to get into a habit of going 
out of oue kind of business and getting 
into another, through life, closing up 
among the “outs" at last. 
Who ever heard of a scientist, while 
seeking to make a discovery in liis special¬ 
ty, wishing that he had some other occu¬ 
pation, or an inventor complaining of hi6 
want of interest in his business, even 
though he be pursuing an Ignis-fat.uus 
all his life ? but these are the men who 
have done most to benefit their race. The 
same spirit or enthusiasm when exhibited 
in agricultural pursuits, produces no less 
desirable results ; for the man who says, 
“ I -will have the best horses, cows, or 
other farm stock,” and then puts forth a 
corresponding effort to obtain them, is 
not often disappointed if his health aud 
life are spared. We have only to look 
about us at any meeting of farmers to 
RURAL NOTES 
want of literature on the subject, judging from 
the number lately issued by different publishing 
houses. 
Wei.lh, Richardson A Co. make some tiug- 
geBtive points in their new announcement, and 
we should think that agents would find a new 
and profitable field in thin enterprise. We call 
their attention, as well as the attention of farm¬ 
ers and dairymen, to the advertisement. 
The American Naturalist for February gives 
a most excellent history, with illustration of old 
Gekardes Baknackle goose, of which he bad 
much to say iu his " Herbal],” 1597. The article 
referred to is an interesting expose of one of the 
most ludicrous errors of the earlier English nat¬ 
uralists. 
On the late Arctic expedition, it appears that 
the men who drank no alcoholic beverages were 
far more healthy than those who indulged iu 
such stimulants. The senior medical officer— 
Dr. Colon of the Alert—speaks very favorably 
of total abstinence as exhibited during the ex¬ 
pedition. 
The Agricultural Editor of the Baltimore 
Weekly Sun cornu, enct.. an article about Orchard 
Grass by saying; ‘ • Thte valuable grass is a 
native of America," an assertion which, we 
•think, he will find difficult to prove, for all of our 
botanical authorities agree in giving Europe as 
its native country. 
The Granges of Wisconsin are reported to have 
on hand $250,000 toward* a Btate Agricultural 
Improvement Society. They have established 
forty-one co-operative associations for selling 
goods and manufacturing, and twenty-nine in¬ 
surance companies, ail tiourishiug, and repre¬ 
senting capital to the amount of $4,000,000. 
Grasshopper Proof. — Wfiat the 
Western Grasshoppers or Locusts will 
eat, aud what they will not, is a question 
of considerable importance to the residents 
of the Locust - infested regions of the 
West. Time and again, we have seen it 
asserted that this great pest, would not 
touch the Castor Oil plant, and for this 
reason the farmers in the above named 
regions have been advised to cultivate 
castor beans extensively, but after testing 
the matter thoroughly it has been dis¬ 
covered that, while the Grasshoppers do 
not eat the leaves, they are very fond of 
the flovrers, and through the destruction 
of these prevent tlie formation of seed. 
For all practical purposes, therefore, they 
might as well eat up the entire plant. 
It has also been claimed that the Grass¬ 
hoppers would not touch peas, beans and 
several other kinds of garden and field 
crops, but these assertions need confirma¬ 
tion from parties who are placed in a po¬ 
sition to know the facts from practical 
observation. It is our opinion that the 
Grasshoppers have a choice in such mat¬ 
ters and will take the best first, and 
when there is no longer a chance for mak¬ 
ing a selection they will devour whatever 
is left them, iu the way of green succu¬ 
lent vegetation. The Colorado potato 
beetle was at first supposed to feed ex¬ 
clusively on plants belonging to the po¬ 
tato family, but time aud experience have 
shown us our mistake, and the same is 
likely to occur in seeking Grasshopper 
Proof plants. 
Don’t Irritate your Lungs with a Stub¬ 
born Cough, when Dr. Jayne’s Expectorant can 
be so readily procured. Sore Throats and Lungs 
are speedily helped by it.— Ex. 
