and in a groove, near the middle of its length', 
are the nostrils, which are long and narrow. 
The wings are short, concave and rouuded, the 
qnill feathers short and feeble, the general plu¬ 
mage full, deep and soft, of a brownish black 
above and a grayish brown below; the head is 
slightly crested and the throat of a reddish hue; 
the size is about that of tho pheasant. The 
birds are very shy, running rapidly among the 
bruah-w iod, scratching for slugs, beetles and 
insects, generally among fallen loaves, aud sel¬ 
dom taking to wing. They live in pairs in rocky 
places overgrown with bushes; their motions 
are graceful, the males strutting and displaying 
their tails with ail the pride of peacocks, from 
which they greatly differ in having a pleaBing 
voice of varied intonation. 
The chief characteristic of the lyre bird, how¬ 
ever, is its ornamental tail, from tho singular 
shape of which it derives its name. This con¬ 
sists of sixteen feathers of three distinct kinds. 
The external two are broadly bnt loosely webbed 
on the inside, curve outward then inward, and 
again turn boldly outward and downward, both 
together forming an outline rosembliug that of 
an ancient lyre of which the fourteen interme¬ 
diate feathers aro tho strings. Except the two 
center ones, thosa ennsisfc of Blender shafts, two 
feet long, truly webbed with delicate, alternate 
filaments, springing out at increasing intervals 
towards the end. The two middle feathers are 
longer than the rest, pointed at the end and 
barbed only on the outer side. The color of 
this graceful ornament is an ambor brown, ex¬ 
cept the two outer feathers, which are black, 
with a narrow white border, pearly underneath, 
and with bright reddish spots on the inner web. 
This gorgeous tail is confined to the males, that 
of the female being long and graduated, the 
feathers perfectly webbed on both sides of the 
shaft, and the texture soft and flowing. 
of many Jersey cows is one-fifth butter, no won¬ 
der that it disagrees with these yonng things. 
Another year we must save a lot of cabbage 
to feed the hens in wihter. This is probably the 
best form in which green feed can be stored up 
for them, and as we are satisfied they require it, 
weeks for the dead parts to dry up, drop off and 
heal up. It does not seem to injure a fowl to 
have these parts cut away, for if it did then 
game cocks would show it, as they are denuded 
of every bit of their combs and wattles by 
sportsmen, (?) apparently without any detriment, 
as they do as well afterwards, and, they say, fight 
JOTTINGS AT KIRBY HOMESTEAD. 
COL. F. D. CURTIS, 
W 12 have out all of tho beocb wood on several 
acros, which we found to be very much decayed 
in all of the large trees at the heart, while the 
tops of almost all were more or less dead, and 
getting rotten. Wo think we have saved money 
by clearing off this wood ; as in a few years more 
the large trees wonld not have made but a very 
little of marketable wood, and the decay in all 
of them would have kept pace with the growth 
and wo arc not sure but that it would have ex¬ 
ceeded it. Where then is the profit of letting 
such timber stand ? Wo shall not clear oil all of 
the wood but have left tho Sugar-maples, the 
Basswoods, Ash, Iron wood, and the thrifty Hem¬ 
locks. The most of the timber growing on this 
ground was Beech, and now sineo it is all cut 
away the timber is thin and scattering. As the 
land is rather rough and a sidehill, wo want to 
keep it in woods, and tliereforo we shall plant on 
tins ground the nuts of the Black-walnut and 
let them grow into a grove. If wo put the nuts 
m the ground, in the fall, tho squirrels would 
doubtless dig them all up during the winter, so 
we shall bury them in a pit near the house and 
plant them m tho spots where they are wanted to 
grow in the Bpring. There aro now several bush¬ 
els of b auk-walnuts i„ the wagon-house cham¬ 
ber and wo wonder if they will grow. If they 
will, then tho grove may be started next 
spnng. Most nuts will not germinal u after they 
get dry. These may bo an exception. Any wav, we 
*uli bury a couple of bushels right-away under 
some coarser mulch, and try- to keep thorn in a 
condition to grow if possible. If they fail, an¬ 
other fall ample preparations may bo made. 
Those black-walnuts have a somewhat rank and 
oily taste, and most people do not like them, 
especially if they have plenty of hickory or 
ohesnnts ; but whore tho latter do not abound, 
folks do eat the coarser black-walnuts aud seem 
to think they are good. Tu West Virginia they 
g JV? gr ° at abundance, and are gathered and 
to the cities where they sell for from 75 
cents to n a bushel. This wonld make the nuts 
11 *™ rco of P rofi t if tho husks came off 
adily bntit is considerable work to fit them 
for market. Tho oil in them must have a value, 
l ' d j f fussed would no doubt find a sale as a 
lubricator of fino machinery. 
We observe that Mr. Dimon says tho Ayrshire 
famUy cow - 0lu ' baby has done 
splendidly on the milk of a pnre-bred Ayrshire 
cow. after getting sick on tho milk of the 
ersoy. T here is more butter in tho milk of tho 
Usov it is richer, and they aro better cows 
or a butter dairy. Once the calf of a Jersey 
weak i 6 r bing Uy datU - becaraa and 
if t* A ohan Kotoan Ayrshire cow soon cured 
UD n0t dig08t milk. Some grown- 
witiion/ 6 ° a !! UOt d ‘ gG8t buttor ? and have to do 
nout; * Tjd - wh «u we remember that the milk 
LYRE BIRD. 
we shall lay in a stock of oabbage. Tho wonder 
is wo have never thought of it before. The bas¬ 
tard heads will do for tho poultry, and so will 
the stems if they are cut fine. Where the snow 
does not cover up the gra B s they can find green 
bits for themselves, but in our cold and snowy 
climate this want ought to be provided for. 
One of the new milch cows began to run down 
on her feed of all tha hay she could eat and a 
half bushel of turnips. She could not eat hay 
enough to keep her in condition, as too much of 
her subsistence went into milk, and so a peck 
a day of buckwheat bran has been added to her 
daily rations. She is improving on this, and tho 
other cow is fed the same, so she will not also run 
down. Our long winters compel ns to economize 
in feed, and sometimes, no doubt, to oar detri¬ 
ment. 
The breeding sows have beon separated aud 
each one has a pen by herself, as the pigs are 
due within two weeks. A feed of corn once a 
a day will now be added to the mangels. It 
would not do to feed corn alone, for this would 
produce constipation, and then we might expect 
the mothers to bo restless and perhaps crazy, as 
they sometimes are when the young are born, 
and either lie on them or eat them up, accord¬ 
ing to tho degree of their malady. This is the 
cause of the “ ugliness ’’ and “ ferocity” of sows 
uheu (hey are so. And the remedy is preveu- 
tion, by giving them a variety of food, and such 
as shall put their stomachs and bowels in the 
best possible condition. Do not give them all 
corn or all roots but some of both, with a half 
bushel of ashes to root over to get the charcoal, 
and plenty of good swill. 
V* e saw, awhile ago at a friend's house, the 
host form of a ventilator. A board is fitted be¬ 
tween tho jambs, eight or ten inches high at the 
bottom of (he window. The window boing lifted 
at the bottom allows the fresh air to come in, 
which strikes against the hoard and escapos 
over tho top of tho board into tho room without 
any current or draught. The quantity of air 
desired can he regulated by tho bight of the 
board aud tho distance between it and tho win¬ 
dow, which may be dose or otherwise. 
If a chicken freezes its comb or wattles, cut 
them oil at once and they will heal over in a few 
days. If not treated in this way, it will take 
better, when deprived of these sensitive organs, 
having more courage and being less liable to get 
wounded. 
■--. 
AN EXPERIMENT WITH FERTILIZERS. 
Believing that it is for the interest, of Ritual 
readers to compare notes with each other on a 
subject in which we aro all so much interested 
as in the effects of different fertilizers, I give 
[ yon the result of some experiments I made dur¬ 
ing the past season : I broke up, in the spring 
of 1877, about four acres of poor land, such as, 
without any fertilizer or stimulant of any kind, 
would not produce a good crop, and sowed it to 
buckwheat, using on a portion of if, about two 
acres, well-rotted cow manure. On another 
portion of about one acre, I applied tho scrap¬ 
ings of tho chip-yard, which were also well 
rotted, and which my neighbors told me I wonld 
receive no benefit from. On tho remainder of 
the field, except a few rods on which I did not 
use any fertilizer, I applied 80 pounds of super¬ 
phosphate to tho acre. 
Now, for the results: I harvested from the 
wliolo field bushels of buckwheat. The 
growth of straw, except whore no fertilizer was 
used, was very uniform. On that portion 
where I had used tho superphosphate it seemed 
to be filled somewhat better than on the remain¬ 
der of the piece, while that portion on which 
the chip manure was applied was quite as good 
as where I used the stable manure; thns prov¬ 
ing satisfactorily to me, that there is some 
virtue in the scrapings of tho wood yard. The 
part on which uo manure was used, was very 
light, and had the whole field been as poor, it 
would hardly have paid for harvesting. All 
this goes to prove to me that whatever we invest 
for fertilizers, if adapted to the soil and crop on 
which they are used, comes back to us in the 
first crop, besides adding to the value of our 
^ and - E. J. Brownell. 
■ --- 
WORTH KNOWING. 
In this soction of country it is the custom of 
our farmers to fatten and kill one or more beeves 
daring the whiter. In most cases a quarter or a 
half is used in the family, and the batauce sold. 
Usually tho prices range very low, and only a 
small amount of ready cash is realized. This 
winter, haring Borne difficulty to sell half a beef 
at a paying prico, I concluded to convert the 
round of the hind quarters into smoked beef. I 
looked over my Rural papers, but could find no 
statement of profit and loss. I give the result 
of my experiment, therefore, to yonr readers, 
and would add: let the farmer note that from 
this little item lie can more than save the sub¬ 
scription prioe of the Rural : 
Dr. 
By 115 lbs. beef, at 1 cts.. 05 
Cr. 
To 70« lbs., at 16 cts. « n jo 
6 lbs- trimmings, clear meat, at 8 cts'.'.V.V.V. 40 
«!*> lbs. soup bones, at 2 cts. 69 
6 bs. shrinkage. 0J 
Value of beef.. ^ 
Profit*.*.!.,.,,,,,,,,,.. 22 
Gross weight of cow, 515 lbs.; rather fine 
boned. The grocer with whom I trade offers 
me 16 cts. cash, or 17 cts. per pound in trade. 
Walden, N. Y. IT 
Jfarm (gnniomjr. 
COST OF BARN YARD MANURE. 
W. J. FOW LER. 
If any farmer reckon the amount of produce 
in his barns and stocks in tho fall, the value of 
his stock then, and its value in the spring when 
feeding ceases, he will have the data for decid¬ 
ing how much his manure pile has cost him. 
Whoever does this will be surprised at the ex- 
ponsiveness of home-made fertilizers. In a 
large majority of instances barn-yard manuro as 
it is hauled out in the spring, coats fully one 
dollar per load, or fully as much as is charged 
for it from city stables. If this manure is kept 
a year and partially decomposod,its cost per load 
will be twice or thrice as much. Farmers are 
seriously asking themselves whether they can 
afford this expense. So near the city of Roches¬ 
ter as this, there is always a market for even 
the coarsest produce, so that there is no neces¬ 
sity, except for manuring the soil, to feed it on 
the farm. Bnt the salable value of almost every 
thing is greater than its manurial value. A load 
of straw that will sell for $6 to $8 will hardly 
make SI worth of manure. Tho difference is 
even greater with most other articles of farm 
produce. Whenever it can be done, the advan¬ 
tage is almost always in selling whatever will 
sell and maintaining the fertility of the farm by 
liberal purchases of manure. The failures in 
farming always come from buying too little fer¬ 
tilizers and never from selling too much pro¬ 
duce. 
On every farm there will always be some ma¬ 
nure from work-horses, from fowls, and from 
the cows needed to supply butter,or at least milk 
for the family. This should be saved as care¬ 
fully as if it were the main dependence. Bnt the 
bulk of fertilizers must be obtained in some 
cheaper way. We cannot afford to keep large 
stocks of cattle, sheep, and horses mainly for 
the manure they will make unless this is the 
only resource for fertilizing the soil. We had 
hotter do almost any thing rather than let the 
farm deteriorate. In my opinion commercial 
manures are the best substitute for those which 
the farmer himself can make. Care must be 
taken to get those which are what they profess 
to be, and this done, they may be ti 9 ed in much 
larger quantities than even the most liberal 
farmers have ever attempted. It may seem fool¬ 
ish to many to apply a few hundred pounds of 
fertilizer with the expectation of realizing as 
much benefit as from several tons of barn-yard 
manure. But it is not the bulk which tells. 
Analysis proves that the phosphates and nitrates 
in a largo load of coarse manure may not be 
greater in amount than those elements in a dres¬ 
sing of superphosphate or guano. Ir the ma¬ 
nure is mainly made from straw, its fertilizing 
properties will be very slight in comparison with 
any reliable concentrated manure. The hulk of 
most stable manure, especially if unrotted, con¬ 
sists of carbonaceous snbtauces in w hieh few soils 
are deficient. Carbon needed for plaut-food is 
supplied iu abundance by the carbonic acid of 
the atmosphere. It is pretty well established 
now that plauts derive through their leaves 
from the air all the material for starch and 
other carbonaceous matter which they contain. 
What the farmer needs to do is ouly to snpply 
phosphates, lime, potash aud nitrogen and to 
keep the soil in such mechanical condition as to 
make these elemonts available. A large crop 
takes from the soil only a few pounds of these 
precious elements. It is entirely reasonable to 
believe that tho restoration of an equal quantity 
wilt make good the loss. This is not mere 
theory. Messrs. Lawks & Gilbert of Roth- 
amstead, England, have proved by carefully 
conducted experiments, that fertility may be 
kept up for a long series of years with continu¬ 
ous cropping solely by tho application of con¬ 
centrated manures. This subject is one of great 
aud increasing interest to American farmers, 
