THE RURAL HEW-YORiiER. 
m 
© 
light. But although I recommend bottom heat 
for these plants, I, by no means, consider it de¬ 
sirable that they should be plunged into it; 
rather let them stand over this heat, and keep 
the atmosphere moist by sprinkling the stages 
and paths with water. 
Towards the end of summer, after they have 
done flowering and have finished their growth 
remove them to a cooler house and fully 
expose them to sunlight, to ripen the wood. 
The temperature they enjoy is in summer from 
garded either as crazy or a fool. Fruit-raising, 
market-gardening, and horticulture in general, 
are so little thought of, despite the distrust with 
whioh the initial steps will be observed, that 
there is oertainly a good opening in this line 
here, however unfavorably pioneer operators 
will be regarded by those wedded to the pro¬ 
duction of corn, only. The little extra care and 
interest given to orcharding and gardening by a 
few, now elicits so much derision, and we are 
so heartily characterized as trifling and foolishly 
of confounding the species. Rodgebs had in 
1856 called attention to the distinctions between 
the two, but this had been forgotten or over¬ 
looked, until Mr. Walsh oalled attention to it as 
a means of explaining differences in habits of 
what waB, until then, supposed to be races of 
the same species. 
I presume it is of very little importance to the 
general publio who first identified this species, 
yet we may as well fill up the blanks in the his¬ 
tory of so important a personage as the "Color¬ 
ado”—or as it in reality was first named by 
me in January, 1862*—“Ten-lined Potato 
Beetle;" especially as it is now receiving so 
much attention in Europe. 
* See Transactions 0 f Illinois State Agricultural 
Society. Vol. 5. pages 437 and 150. The first page gives 
the name— on ttn* second will be found the date when 
the essay was received and read—January 1862. 
BULBS FOR THE FLOWER GARDEN. 
W. O. L. DBEW. 
CROWN IMPERIALS. 
The Crown Imperial or Fritillaria Imperialis 
is an old-fashioned, stately plant, which should 
be in every garden. It is a native of Persia, 
whence it was introduced into English and 
French gardens over two hundred years ago. 
Since then, it has remained a general favorite 
among spring flowers. Being pre-eminently a 
florist’s flower, it is remarkable that it has con¬ 
tinued without change. We have to day the 
self-same varieties — red, yellow, variegated 
foliage and double flowered — that grew in Per¬ 
sia two hundred years ago uncultivated and al¬ 
most unknown. 
The construction of the Crown Imperial is in 
itself a point which should recommend it for 
cultivation if only for oareful examination. It 
is noted for the drooping habit of the brilliant 
tulip-shaped corollas which have the appearance 
of so many highly-colored cups or bells. The 
interior of the flower is unlike that of any other 
known species. At the base of the drooping 
cup, on the inside, then-e are always found Bix 
drops of water resembling pearls. What functions 
these drops of water perform has never been 
clearly det forth by any botauiBt, nor has it been 
told how they have been formed. Thoy cannot 
be shaken out of the cups even by the fiercest 
gale, and if one is removed by some instrument, 
another will soon form. Another graco which 
the flower possesses is its golden stigma which an 
enraptured poet lauds as— 
•* The dazzling gein 
That beams in tritillarla's diadem." 
With the first days of spring, before the frost 
has hardly released the ground from its icy 
grasp, the stem of the Crown Imperial begins to 
show its brilliant green. It rapidly ascends uutil 
it stands a column three feet high, of the bright¬ 
est shining green. Near the top of this column 
is produced the crown of largo pendant belle- 
shaped flowers, from five to twelve in number. 
These are re-crowned at the very summit with a 
tuft of glossy, green loaves, rendering the Crown 
Imperial one of the most conspicuous and orna¬ 
mental gems of the flower garden. The flowers are 
produced in April and May, and while in bloom 
are the chief attraction of all the garden, yet for 
fragrance they are really not at all desirable ; be¬ 
ing, in fact, almost repulsive when in the sun¬ 
shine. 
Crown Imperials grow readily in any good gar¬ 
den loam. Plant the bulbs during October or 
November, about five inches deep and one foot 
apart. They should remain undisturbed Cor, at 
least, three years, when their bloom will be mag¬ 
nificent. For effective display they should oc¬ 
cupy a position in mixed borders, in center of 
bulb beds or in shrubberies. Aurora, orange ; 
Crown upon Crown, red ; Rubra simpilis, sin¬ 
gle, red; Rubra plena, double red ; Lutoa ple¬ 
na, double yellow ; Maxima lutea, single yel¬ 
low ; Folia auroa var., with gold-striped foli¬ 
age ; Folia argentea var., with silver foliage and 
Orange Crown are the varieties in general cul¬ 
tivation. 
-♦ —-- 
DIPLADENIAS. 
These are handsome flowering plants, all 
climbers, belonging to the Apocynaceaa. They 
are excellent for the decoration of the stove. 
If for exhibition, thoy should be trained upon 
wire balloon-shaped trellises, but the young 
growths should be allowed to grow upon strings 
up to Ihe rafters of the house, and a short time 
before the blooms open they should he taken 
down and fixed upon the trellis. They should 
be treated as follows : put them in a mixture of 
peat and turfy loam in equal proportions, with 
the addition of a good portion of silver sand ; 
good drainage is also of particular importance 
with these plauts. They require a moist atmos¬ 
phere, and a bottom heat, ranging from 80° to 
90°, together with full exposure to the sim’s 
DIPLADENIA 
65° to 85° with a moderate quantity of water, 
which must be applied with great care. In win¬ 
ter very little water will bo required, and the 
temperature should be reduced to 60°—65°; 
from this. if they are wanted for exhibition in 
May or June, they must be brought, and placed 
iu heat again about the beginning of January. 
D. Williamsii, the subject of the present cut, is 
a fine garden variety and quite distinct. It is 
remarkably free, both in habit of growth and 
flower. The leaves are stout, oblong, tapering 
to a sharp poiut, and upward of six inches long, 
by about au inch iu breadth at the widest part. 
The flowers are produced in large clusters in 
the greatest abundance—indeed, a marked 
feature of this variety is the great length to 
which the spike reaches, and consequently the 
greater quantity of blooms. The flowers are 
large and of good subtance, measuring upwards 
of four inches across the limb; the lobes are 
round and full; the color is a soft delicate pink, 
while that of the throat is a deep rose. 
B. S. Williams, 
Victoria and Paradise Nurseries, Uppor Hollo¬ 
way, London, England. 
WESTERN ECHOES FROM THE MAPLE 
SHADOWS.” 
DR. A. O. WILLIAMS. 
As I have before indicated, the farmers in cen¬ 
tral Illinois are so engrossed iu raising corn and 
feeding it out to hogs, that all other branches of 
tillage and husbandry have received little or 
no attention at all, and the farmer who is not 
straining every nerve, even to over-cropping, to 
produce corn, and striving to blemish every pig 
money will buy, with liia own individual ear¬ 
mark, is regarded as not doing well, and one 
who will not bo able to cancel the mortgage 
placed, years ago, on his farm—for vve are all 
mortgaged. There is so much room for im¬ 
provement in all the avenues of agriculture 
other than that of producing and feeding corn, 
that my heart bleeds for the man who daros to 
make his money in any other manner than the 
one so prevalent, since I know he will bo re- 
WILLIAMSII 
wasteful of time, as to warrant the opinion and 
prediction I have expressed. 
The week prior to Christmas was one of the 
most remarkable “ spells of weather" ever wit¬ 
nessed in Illinois. The murenry stood at 80° 
Farh., and all sorts of seeds in the garden and 
flower beds germinated and sprung up thickly as 
if it were May, and strawberry plants sent up 
numerous young tender leaves. 
How to give my twenty-five varieties of straw¬ 
berries ample innocuous winter protection, was 
a problem with which I began to interest myself 
early last fall, and it was not until I stood with 
a forkful of prairie hay, that I came to a con- 
I elusion. Some of the sorts were tender, others 
were expensive, and yet there were others val¬ 
ued because they were givon me, and I wished 
to save all. In all of the half-dozen papers I was 
taking, were anxious inquiries from those evi¬ 
dently in the same dilemma. Of course, they 
were told how to uso evergreen boughs. I am 
ashamed to admit, that as yet I have no ever¬ 
greens. I went to the forest and cut off the tip 
ends of limbs from such oaks as hold their foliage 
till oast off iu the spriug by the swelling of the 
buds. Those limbs were selected which had two 
or more smaller branches, and I placed them 
over the plants in such a manner that they held 
up the hay, and thus prevented smothering. 
Well! “ Eureka,” and that is all about that. 
So sure as I live, I am going to put out a good 
evergreen screen around my entire grounds next 
spring. Eliminate every other consideration— 
ornamentation, protection, all—aud it- will pay 
in the item of boughs alone, used for protecting 
strawberries, and all such plants as are, or should 
be, in every lawn and garden, which are the bet¬ 
ter by judicious protection. 
I am experimenting with a dozen peach trees, 
with a view to fruit next year- I have laid down 
six, and covered them with litter; the branches of 
others I have bent down and covered with earth, 
while others again have several branches either 
wrapped with straw or old garments. I headed 
back two or time, this fall, instead of waiting 
till spring, and shall treat them so several years, 
and watch the result. When covering strawber¬ 
ries, I found those short, brushy branchs I had 
taken off, verj handy for supporting the straw 
over the plants. 
SEED EXCHANGE. 
While traveling among the mountains of 
northern California, last summer, I gathered 
the seeds of several interesting and useful 
plants. Among them are Calycanthus occiden¬ 
tals, Cercis ocoidentalis (a beautiful shrub), 
Ceanothus iutegriaus (California lilac), Mau- 
zanita (red bark), nutB of Pious Lombertiana 
(sugar pine), Schinns mollo (pepper tree), Es- 
choltzia (California poppy). I also have seeds to 
Bpare of Rouble Pink Hollyhock, Verbenas mixed, 
all colors. Also, Acrolmium aud Xeranthemum, 
seeds saved from finest specimen plants. Will 
exchange any of these for Lillium Chalcedoni- 
enm, L. auratum, L. longiflorum, L. lancif. 
album, or other Lily bulbs. 
Luther Burbank. 
Santa Rosa, Cal., Dec. 12,1S7T. 
|)oultn> getrir, 
DOES POULTRY PAY1 No. IV. 
HENRY hales. 
As eggs sell better in winter than at any other 
time, it is well to keep such fowls as lay beet in 
winter, and to keep them in laying condition, 
Hens will not lay unless kept in good order—not 
too fat but active ; combs, bright red ; eye, 
sparkling ; feathers, close aud glossy \ and 
their whole appearance lively and healthy. 
The Leghorns are fowls that answer best for 
marketable eggs ; they respond quickly to extra 
food and care, aud will lay in cold weather, if 
they have a warm house. The Brown appear to 
be a little hardier th*u the White, especially 
when young, and they are also the best layers. 
If a cross is preferred, the Light Brahma ap¬ 
pears to me to be the best cross. The cross, 
hardens their constitutions so that they care 
less about cold. It will not, however, improve 
their summer laying, but will make many of them 
want to sit, which the pure-bred Leghorn does 
not often do, yet I once had four out of seven 
youug hens sit, and after sitting steadily, they 
made good mothers. But the complaint gener¬ 
ally is that they don’t sit steadily, often leaving 
the nest after sitting half their time. The 
Browns sit better than the Whites. 
As I have said, the secret of winter laying lies 
in getting hens lip in a good condition. A prac¬ 
tical florist, when he goes into a green-house, 
can tell at a glance the exact condition of the 
plants he sees around him, and what they re¬ 
quire if out of order ; so can the keeper of 
poultry judge hia stock, if he is fit for his busi¬ 
ness. Fresh air is important. On every warm 
enough day give the houses all ihe air you can ; 
have the openings for ventilation close up to 
the ceiling. Open them when the weather al¬ 
lows, and have them a little way open in all but 
the extremest cold weather, even at night ; but 
when the wind blows cold, so as to canse a draft 
through the house, close the windward ventila¬ 
tors. 
Cleanliness is the most important considera¬ 
tion in keeping many fowls. The dirt multiplies 
faster than the comparative number of birds. 
To take up the droppings every morning (espec¬ 
ially if the stock is confined iu the house through 
bad weather) involves some labor; but if this is 
done systematically, the trouble is much light¬ 
ened. A broad shovel, and a short hoe or 
scraper, set in motion with ordinary muscle and 
locomotion, soon does the job. Keep a barrel 
just outside the door, a box can bo used to 
carry out the manura to the barrel, when the 
door cannot be left open ; keep the barrel cover¬ 
ed and dry, and wben tilled remove its contents 
to the mamne pile. One thing that requires 
special attention, when the fowls are weather¬ 
bound, is the feeding and watering without get¬ 
ting soil into their food and water. Have their 
utensils so protected that the stock cannot 
either step into or roost on them. Besides the 
food and care receommended in the Rural, 
broken oyster shells, should be supplied to every 
house; the hens crave then ; they are also fond of 
crushed bone, the lime of which enters largely 
into the composition of egg shell. 
Industrial Jmplenmrts, 
A NEW CORN SHELTER. 
Messrs. Livingston & Co., Pittsburgh, Pa., 
sent us for trial one of their small Hand Corn 
Shelters After six weeks’ use on our Experi¬ 
mental Farm, it is reported that the Shelter 
works verv uieely. shelling perfectly, leaving no 
kernels on the cob, and hence no waste. A 
clamp is used to fas eu the apparatus to any 
convenient support, and the simplicity and dura¬ 
bility of the mechanism make it proof against 
the rough usage of careless or inexperienced 
operators. Cueapuess in price is not the least 
of its merits. 
-- 11 i — 
W. A. Kelsey A Co, are making a large num¬ 
ber of their Excelsior presses for Ho'iday pre¬ 
sents. We are glad to btar of such an appre¬ 
ciative demand. A good printing press always 
leads to something educating and profitable. 
