360 
THE RURAL. NEW-YORKER. 
Band quarts per acre, and the box manufacturers 
of St. Joseph will furnish you with sixteen-quart 
boxes and an outside case to pack them in for 
fourteen cents—less than one cent per quart. 
Peach baskets, also ussd for grapes, sell for from 
five to seven cents each. 
As regards the country: it is all that can be re¬ 
quired in the way of churches, schools, railroad 
facilities, etc. It is within four hours' ride, by 
rail, of Chicago, the metropolis of the west, 
whose daily morning papers reach there in the 
forenoon. The land in this locality iH very good 
fanning land. Parties living on it and cultivat¬ 
ing it as it Bhould be cultivated, will raise about 
as much as on the high prieed land of this State, 
so that men of small means who have money 
enough to make their first purchases and buy 
their trees, need not tliink they will have to wait 
for bearing orchards before receiving any iu- 
come, for most of this land is iu partial cultiva¬ 
tion, and with industry they can more than 
make a living. 
The lands held at twenty-five dollars per acre 
have usually comfortable buildings, and a good 
part of them are cleared, so there is no ext ra¬ 
ordinary outlay to get a place to live in after 
purchasing the land. Grain and stock are ship¬ 
ped to Now York and Boston by rail about as 
cheaply as from western New York, and prices 
are about the same. Lumberman. 
cdiralturd 
t 
her Tree, Judas Tree, Flowering Dogwood, 
American Black-thorn and English Hawthorn. 
Shrubs.— Rnbus delioiosns, Exooborda gr&n- 
diflora (magnificent), Lilacs. Tartarian Honey¬ 
suckle, Snowdrop Tree, Oalyoauthns, Kerrias, 
Spiral obovata, prunifolia and hyporicifolia, 
Azalea Foutica, mollis and undiflora, Fyrns ar- 
butifolia, Daphne Cneorum, Rhodotypus Kerri- 
oides. Neviusia Alabamonsis and some of the 
earlier-blooming Rhododendrons. 
Herbaceous Plants. — Stellaria nolostea, 
several kinds of evergreen Candytuft, Colum¬ 
bines in great variety, European and Asiatic 
Globe-flowers, Anemone Pulsatilla, Bleeding- 
Heart, Pursh, Shooting-star, tree Pmonias. 
Folomonium reptans and carneum, 21 kinds of 
American Violets, Cypripedium parvillorum, 
pubesceus, caudidum, arietinum and aoaule, 
Armevia vulgaris, Irises iu variety, rouud- 
leaved Saxifrages, Golden Corydalis, Fire-pink, 
early Phloxes as suhnlata, reptans, amiena, and 
divaricata, Ton-o'clook, Solomau’s Seal, Sedum 
ternatnm, Saponaria ooymoides, Vesicaria utri- 
cu’ata, Doronicum Oauoasicura, and many 
others. The first rose of the season is Rosa 
acicularis, a Siberian species. 
Among vines, the Pipe Vine has been in bloom 
Bince some time, Wistarias and Akebias are at 
their best, and the Matrimony Vine is full of 
little blossoms. As a finely colored foliage 
shrub, Acer polymorphum dissectnm has no sea¬ 
sonable equal; its leaves are deep crimson. 
GARDEN TALKS AND WALKS. 
The Beeches, May 25, 1ST8. 
The past winter was exceptionally mild, but a 
few cold snaps and the surface wetness of the 
ground were detrimental to some plantB; iu 
fact, altogether, hardy plants Buffored more 
during last winter and early spring than they 
did the previous one. The spring opened un¬ 
usually early, and excellent working weather has 
been the rule since early March. We have not 
had much hot weather so far; on the contrary it 
has been somewhat cold; nevertheless herbage 
and shrubbery are in growth considerably ahead 
of what they were this time last year, but forest 
trees are not much if any in advance. 
A few cold mornings, a week ago, did consider¬ 
able damage to strawberries and early vege¬ 
tables in some neighboring localities, but right 
round here no perceptible damage has been 
done. Thero is every probability of an immense 
fruit crop, and vegetables look thrifty and flatter¬ 
ing. 
We have had a long period of labor in tarring 
our apple and elm trees to prevent the aBcent of 
the canker-worm grub; we have been at it from 
last October till April. We tack a Btrip of tar¬ 
paper, about a foot wide, round the stem of the 
tree, and paint the paper every second or third 
day with a paint made of printers' ink and some 
cheap oil. This being wet and sticky, the grubs 
oannot pass it. Home peoplo have zinc troughs 
fixed around the trunks of the trees and which 
are filled with crude oiL I prefer the tarring 
system though the troughs are certainly the 
least troublesome. The grubs were unprece¬ 
dentedly numerous this spring. Gooseberry 
oaterpillars are at work, but dry hellebore pow¬ 
der dusted on them, destroys them. Aphides, too, 
in many places are at work, but timely and fre¬ 
quent syriugings of a weakly wash made from a 
solution of whale-oil soap and tobacco juice, ap¬ 
plied to Roses and other subjective plants, have, 
thus far, kept the vermin outside our gates. 
The mildnesB of last winter is likely to be 
severely felt during tho summer months in the 
multiplicity of the bug family, many plnrap and 
vigorous representatives of which have been ex¬ 
posed to light during the winter and spring, 
when wo were digging, plowing, and turning 
over manure and compost heaps, and the potato 
gentlemen were the most numerous of all. 
On Roconnt of the prevailing cold weather 
“ bedding out” is not so forward as it was this 
time last year. Echevorias, Feverfew, and the 
hardier plants are being unreservedly planted, 
but we delay to plant out Alternantheras and 
tho more tender things, for nothing is gained 
by committing tender plants to a cold soil. But 
we can help matters greatly by so hardening off 
our Btock that neither sun nor exposure can 
hurt them after we do plant them. 
About the first of June we usually turn onr 
Palms, green-leaved Draoamas, Fiouses, etc., out 
of the glass-houses on to the terrace in front, 
and as we have no moans of shading them from 
sun, the leaves generally got a little browned. 
By ventilating day and night for a month ahead, 
we greatly alleviate tho evil that might be. 
Were the plants movably small, we would re¬ 
move them from the green-houses to under the 
shade of trees for a little while before fully 
exposing them,and thus secure perfect immunity 
from scalding. 
Notwithstanding the beauty of tender plants 
we have a passionate fondness for hardy ones, 
hence a varied and exteusive collection of them. 
As I have encroached so much on yonr space 
already I will only mention a few of our choicest 
specimens now in perfection : 
Trees. —Fraser’s Magnolia, the Yellow Cncum- 
PLANT STRAWBERRIES EARLY. 
We occasionally are advised to set Strawber¬ 
ries early, and thuH procure a partial crop the 
first year. 
The advice to set as early as the land is in 
good condition, is sound, hut what fruit one 
gets the first year is at the expense of the future 
crop. Better cut off all the blossom bnds, and 
thns throw all the strength of the roots into tho 
growing plants. This “first” crop will at best 
be light and inferior. Have patience until the 
second year, and yon shall have yonr reward. 
Nelson Ritter. 
[The above with several other valuable timely 
articles was mislaid, for which wo apologize to 
our valued contributor.—E ds.] 
■-- 
EXTRACTS FROM CORRESPONDENTS’ 
LETTERS. 
THE KITCHEN AND FLOWER DARDENS IN THE FAR SOUTH. 
Harris Co., Texas, May 19. 
We are badly in need of rain here. We did 
not have any good soaking shower for theST 
three months. While the field crops are not 
seriously hurt as yet, by this dry weather, its 
effects are felt iu vegetable and flower gardens. 
The first green corn is sold iu market. Of this, 
for the table, gardeners generally plant only tho 
common field varieties. The taste of Texans is 
not, as yet, brought to such a fine point as to 
esteem and give due preference to the improved 
sugar varieties. It is quite different with toma¬ 
toes : when in their season, nothing short of a 
fine-grown Trophy is salable. But, unfortu¬ 
nately, this season is very short; even young 
plants refuse bearing during the hot days after 
Jane. A tomato that would keep bearing 
through the whole of summer would be a boon. 
JTithorto w T e have none that comes up to this re¬ 
quirement. 
Of all tho different varietes of melons that 
come to this market in their season, I consider 
the Peerless the best in many points. Tho so 
much landed Gipsy is nothing but a coarBe- 
meated, over-grown monster, handsome to look 
at, but insipid and stale to the taste. 
Tho onion crop is made ; and one that looks 
at some of these monster bulbs — sometimes 
measuring six inches through, would be at once 
convinced that as good aud large an onion may 
be growu here, iu one season from tho Beed, as 
in any of the New England States. Wild dew¬ 
berries and blackberries have been peddled round 
in large quantities since the last week of April. 
It is the colored population that monopolizes 
this industry. There is no prospect for a small- 
fruit cnltnrist here. These borrios go directly 
from tho picker to the consumer; thoy soli at five 
cents per quart and will, before tho BoaBon is 
gone, come down to about half this price. 
Chickasaw plums are ripening; this is the only 
cultivated species of this fruit, that will bear 
here. Judging of tho great variation in taste, 
size, color, form and adhesiveness of stone 
manifested in seedlings of this plum, it undoubt¬ 
edly would by proper selection be susceptible of 
great improvement. 
Gladioli are in full bloom; they are rather im¬ 
paired by tho nnusnally dry weather they had 
through the whole period of their growth. 
Cape Jessamines are loaded with flowers. This 
is tho flowering bush, par excellence, of Texas. 
It takes about the same rank among shrubs here, 
as the Lilac does in the Northern States. It is, 
after the planting of a rose-bush or two, the 
first thing used to adorn the door-yard even of 
the humblest cottage. Hweet Myrtles are just 
through blooming. Magnolia grandillora, the 
queen of broad-leaved flowering evergreen trees, 
is in its fall glory, exhibiting its grand fragrant 
flowers in profusion. These trees continue to 
bloom from three to four months constantly; 
mnch to the delight of a horde of sable urchins, 
who created quite an industry by picking the 
magnolia buds, arranging about half a dozen 
to a bouquet and wrapping them up with a little 
gray moss ; in which shape they are sold to rail¬ 
road passengers coming from localities whore 
the Magnolias do not exist. G. Marti. 
Bloomington, Ill., May 24, 1878. 
How pitiful the ravages of tigers aud serpents 
in Asia, and from wolves and boars in Europe! 
What sort of people can the inhabitants there 
be that give up to such pests—and why don’t 
thonsaudfe of our American and English and 
German hunters emigrate there and clean 'em 
out ? w. r. 
LOBELIA FROM SEED. 
W. C. L. DREW. 
A common complaint among amateurs is the 
difficulty of germinating Lobelia seed. Many 
fail in raising those plants, who are successful 
with much more delicate subjects. The reason 
for this failure is not far to seek. Those having 
experience with fine seed, usually call into use 
the aid of a hot-bed or cold-frame. The results 
may readily be anticipated: Cinerarias, Calceol¬ 
arias and such like, being subtropical plants, 
thrive; Lobelias fail. The fact is Lobelias 
are almost hardy plants. The seed will ger¬ 
minate folly iu a temperature a few degrees 
above the freezing point. Consequently if sown 
in tho close, moist air of a hot-bod or cold- 
frame, the seeds vegetate quickly, and also 
“ damp off ” almost as soon as up. Thick sow¬ 
ing also favors damping off. Thus between 
thick sowing and an excess of heat aud moisture, 
Lobelia seeds too frequently fail to produce a 
orop. 
The proper method is to sow the seed thinly 
in weli-draiuod pots or pans and place on a shelf 
in a oool greenhouse, or in some cool, lightsome 
situation. The soil is of secondary importance, 
one composed of equal portions of leaf-mold, 
garden soil and sand suits admirably. The 
pot or pan need not bo more than half filled 
with soil, drainage occupying the balance of 
space. 
The seed is very flue, and should never be 
covered, but merely sown on the surface and 
pressed in with a Binooth board. But little 
water should be given until they commence to 
grow freely. Lobelia seed can be sown at any 
time by placing in a cool place. Home prefer to 
sow in October ; others in April; any time from 
October to April is to bo preferred to later in the 
season. As soon as the seedlings can be 
handled, thoy should bo pricked out into pans or 
pots, setting an inch apart. Early plants grow 
stronger and bloom soouor and more profusely 
than those raised later iu the season—but do 
not hurry the Lobelia. Queen Victoria, Blue 
Stone, Emperor William, are popular varieties. 
El Dorado, Cal. 
(gntomolopal, 
HELLEBORE AND THE CURRANT-WORM. 
T. H. HOSKINS, M. D. 
I feel obliged to demur to Mr. Mauu’s state¬ 
ment that “ the most certain, economical and 
safe” way of destroying currant worms is to 
pick them off. There are many plantations of 
currauta and gooseberries, near our largo towns 
and cities, of an acre aud upwards iu area. If 
we were compelled to depend upon hand-picking, 
the business would have to be abandoned on ac¬ 
count of tbo cost, besides being so imperfectly 
done as to be very ineffective. Upon a few 
bushes, by a careful gardener, it iB practicable; 
but even iu such a case the proper use of helle¬ 
bore is preferable. 
But it seems very difficult to get into tho pub¬ 
lic mind tho proper use of this invaluable insect¬ 
icide. It is an active drug, it is true, and a 
“poison” just as tobacco is a poison, and no 
more active upon the human system. There 
does not Boom to me any probable, hardly any 
possible way, in which the use of it for destroy¬ 
ing ourrant-worms oan inflict serious harm upon 
any but the worms themselves. Used as L>y 
those who understand the quickest, simplest,, 
cheapest and most effective way of applying it, 
there is no need of even oansing a sneeze. 
That way is simply thus Have a ten-quart 
sprinkler witli a moderately fine rose ; into this 
put as much of the puro powdered hellebore 
root as can be taken upon a large table-spoon. 
(In my ourrant plantation I carry tho hollobore 
in a covered tin-pail, to prevent waste by the 
wind, and have with it a horse, a stone-boat, 
and a barrel of water). Add to the hellebore in 
the sprinkler a quart of water, and “ slosh ” it 
around until it is well mixed. Then fill up the 
sprinkler, aud quickly and lightly, yet thorough¬ 
ly, wet every leaf of your currant and goose¬ 
berry bushes. Sprinkle from the outside of the 
hushes, all around, turning the rose toward the 
center. In this way you wet without waste. 
The time to do this is when the hushes are 
just begimiing to go out of bloom. A dry day 
should be chosen, and if properly done, with 
good hellelwrre, only one general application is 
necessary. The first brood is so completely 
destroyed, before it, has timo to inflict injury, 
that it is hard to believe that there were any 
there, unless you have looked for and found the 
eggs, and the little holes made by the worms be¬ 
fore they scatter. The hellebore left on eaoh 
leaf by the drying of the water remains all sum¬ 
mer in full efficacy, with slight exceptions here 
to bo noted. Of course, the leaves that come 
afterwards do not have it; but any second or 
third brood does not spread far before reaching 
leaves that do have it. And under the drip of 
the trees it is washed off. It is only iu this last 
case that I ever have to make a secoud applica¬ 
tion, and I do not propose to grow my currants 
and gooseberries under trees hereafter. It is 
possible that very heavy and long-continued rain 
may sometimes have a like effect, but I have had 
no snch experience in 14 years. The powder 
sticks tightly, to tho hairy currant leaf especial¬ 
ly, when it has once dried thero. 
It is entirely unnecessary, as many direct, that 
the hellebore be applied to the under side of the 
leaf. The worm eats clean, takes the whole leaf, 
and will get his dose as well from one side as the 
other. Applied at the blossoming season, no 
hellebore adheres to the fruit, as there is no 
fruit to adhere to. I tbiuk there is no danger 
at other times, as I have never been able to make 
it adhere to the smooth skin of tho berry. Even 
if it did, the portion that would reach the berries 
when applied as above directed would be so 
small that an eater would kill himself eating 
currants long before he got enough hellebore to 
hurt him. 
Newport, Vt., 
OPENING OF THE FRENCH EXHIBITION. 
Paris, May 20th, 1878. 
Although the weather was bad, the work in 
the Exhibition incomplete, and tho arrange¬ 
ments for the fete a trifle defective, still the 
opening ceremony on the 1st of May wrb certain¬ 
ly a suocess. The threatening clouds did not 
prevent the light-hearted inhabitants of the gay 
French capital from turning out iu tens or 
thousands to take part in the festivities; and 
every approach to the Great Hhow was crowded 
with spectators on foot and in carriages, while tho 
building itself and the surrounding grounds, 
were thronged with those fortunate enough to 
have obtained tickets of admission to witness 
the proceedings of the day. From early morn¬ 
ing the whole city was dressed in holiday attire, 
banners aud draperies were displayed in every 
direction, while the illuminations after nightfall 
were universal and, iu many cases, extremely 
brilliant. 
Shortly before two o’clock in the afternoon, 
Marshal MacMahon, the Prince of Wales- 
wearing a field-marshal’s uniform—the Crown 
Prince of Denmark, Don Francisco D’AHsisi of 
Spain, the Duke of Aosta, Prince Henry of 
Holland, and the Grand Duke of Lechtenberg, 
together with the foreign ambassadors, the high 
functionaries, and the senators and deputies, 
assembled in the Reception Hall of the Troca- 
dero. When all had arrived, a move was made 
to the platform on the garden front of the 
building. Here the Marshal was greeted by 
M. Teisserenc de Bert, Minister of Agriculture 
and Commerce, who read an address, at the 
close of which the Marshal stepped forward, and 
in a loud voice oxolaimed: “ J,Exposition est 
ouverte /"—the Exposition is open—and at the 
same moment the gnus of the distant forts 
boomed a salute, the magnificent cascade aud 
fountains poured forth a sparkling flood, the 
band of the Garde Republicaine struck up 
Gnnod’s “ Vice la Frame," and a Bliarp shower, 
the third that morning, drenched the admiring 
crowd. 
Then was formed tho procession to visit tho 
main building across the river on the Champa 
de Mars. First came the Prefect of the Seine 
and the Prefect of Police followed by hussiers ; 
then came Marshal McMahon, with the Prince of 
Wales on the one hand and Don Francisco 
d’Assisi on the other, and abroast of the Marshal, 
the presidents of tho Senate and Assembly, jeal¬ 
ous that the Executive should not ou such occa¬ 
sion be more promiuout thau tho legislative 
departments of the government. After them 
walked a score or so of Princes aud Grand Dukes, 
followed by Mr. Kraut/., uuder whose charge the 
Exhibition was erected, together with many Com¬ 
missioners of foreign countries. 
Descending the steps, tho cortege passed across 
the Bridge of Jena to the Vestibule of the Street 
of Foreign Nations, where the Marshal and his 
guests halted, while, amid torrents of rain, tho 
various Commissioners, iu every variety of na¬ 
tional costume, hurried forward to the ir itspe 
