I3C CENTS 
ER YEAR. 
VOL. XXXVII. No. !i9 
WHOLE No. 1486. 
[Entered according* to Act of Congress, In the year 1878, by the Rural Publishing Company, In the office of the Librarian of Congress at Washington.] 
the line seen in the engraving on the end of the 
Bight and the line marked on the table together, 
and place them on a line with the given line of 
which the plumb-line marks the center; place 
the level on that line, and then turn the instru¬ 
ment to any angle marked on the table, and all 
points on that line are at a given angle with the 
given line. For example, a mason or carpenter 
has to stake out the foundations of a building : 
drive a corner stake, let the plumb-line fall over 
it, and place the instrument and table as before 
explained; anti, after getting the levels on the 
given lines, turn the instrument to an angle of 
ninety degrees marked on the table, and all 
points on that lino are at a right angle with the 
given line. You have your foundations, square 
and level. To use as a draining level, set up near 
the line of the drain, level the instrument, and 
the line A.—B will be a level hue, hold a staff 
divided into feet and inches, or feet and tenths 
of a foot, at the point you wish to find the level 
of. If the staff haye its graduations numbered 
from tbe bottom up, the point where the level 
line through A—B intersects it, will be the num¬ 
ber of feet that the bottom of the staff is below 
the level line A—B. In the same way, setting 
the stock of the Weeping Willow, which cannot 
so well endure drought, and is so often at the 
mercy of insect depredations. 
As to the identity of 8. latirifolia and S, pen- 
tandra, the leaves of the 'ormer aro longer aver¬ 
aging at this time (Jnne 27) 4 in.; they are also 
more finely crenate, more aonminate, and pro¬ 
vided with reniform stipules. The tree is of more 
rapid growth, and attains to a somewhat greater 
Light than S. pentandra, which, according to Lou¬ 
don, is from 18 ft. to 20 ft. 8. Meyeriana, which 
Linmous cilia S pentandra, more nearly corre¬ 
sponds with the form and size of the leaf, but 
the branohes cannot be called “ brownish/’ and 
the stipules do not “ soon fall off.” One of our 
oldest nurserymen, Mr. 8. B. Parsonb, imported 
it from Angers in I860, under the name of 8. 
laurifolia, which, had it been either 8. pentandra 
or 8. Meyeriana, would have been quite unneces¬ 
sary. 
In the above respeota there may be a differ¬ 
ence between the male and female trees. I 
Bpeakonly of the female, never having seen any 
other; but of it I may say with enthusiasm that, 
on account of its incomparably glossy leaves 
that reflect the slightest light, its tall, smooth 
branches that sway in the wind as if they would 
surely be torn into shreds, and, withal, its elas¬ 
ticity, freshuees, and shapeliness, it is worthy to 
fill not only those out-of-the-way places which 
are deemed unworthy of the finer plants, but of 
au imposing position upon the lawn, where, by 
the free use of the pruning-ktufe, it may bn 
made to assume a round, spreading head, or, if 
NOTES FROM THE RURAL GROUNDS, 
July 10. 
The Willow of which we have to speak, is one 
very little known as an ornamental tree in this 
country. And because it is well worthy of being 
known, we propose to distribute cuttings of it 
among onr readers. To assist them in deter¬ 
mining whether it is worth the trouble of send¬ 
ing for cuttings or not, wo give a somewhat de¬ 
scriptive article which we contributed to the 
London Garden and which waB published by 
that Journal July 28, 1877. 
SAUX LAURIFOLIA? 
“ In several of our nurserymen’s catalogues is 
mentioned a tree which they call Salix laurifolia. 
The speoiflo name iB not authorized, and I have 
not found it even as a synonym in any works to 
which I have had access. 8. pentandra is the 
nearest, from which, in several respects, it is 
yet notably different. Be this as it may, the 
tree, though but a Willow, is such a gem among 
Willows, that one admires it without oharging 
upon it the blemishes of its family. I have 
been educated to a full appreciation of this 
medium-sized tree by slow degrees. No other 
in our grounds has excited from visitors the 
same amount of praise; in truth it at first 
annoyed me, that friends would pasu by costly ' 
novelties, with polite expressions of approval, 
to pour out upon this words of real admiration; 
and so at length it happened that I saw this 
tree not as a Willow at all, with & malarial at¬ 
mosphere of swamps about it, but as one of re¬ 
markable beauty, none the worse for its lowly 
connections. 
That it should be one of the first to unfold its 
leaves in the spring, and one of the last to lose 
them in the autumn, is a characteristic of Wil- 
lows generally, though possessed by this Bpecies 
in au unusual degree; while that it should 
thrive in extremely dry situations, as well as in 
those of medium and excessive moisture is, as 
far as I am aware, peculiar to this species. We 
have one specimen growing beside a lake, upon 
a bank less than one foot above its level, so that 
its roots are perpetually in the water. Another 
specimen is placed in a situation that is neither 
dry nor moist; another grows upon high, dry 
grouud, within three feet of a wing of our 
dwelling, and still another in a situation so sandy 
and dry, that we have been obliged, after re¬ 
peated failures with other plants, to use such 
salamanders as Pines, Locusts, PrivotB, Matri¬ 
mony Vines (Lycium barbarum), and the like, 
to seoure something of au ornamental appear¬ 
ance to this half-arid belt. 
Between the above specimens—growing in 
soils and situations so widely different—there is 
little difference in growth or thrift, and this 
little is in favor of the specimen growing near 
the dwelling. 
The Weeping Willow (8. Babylonioa) is in 
England a far handsomer tree than it is with us— 
at least in the Middle and Northern States. It 
is not quite hardy in this climate (Now York)— 
not perhaps owing to the severity and extremes 
of weather alone, but because it is often weak¬ 
ened by various iusoots or their larva*, that in¬ 
fest and sometimes girdle the stem. Thus, if 
not killed outright, it is often so injured by the 
frosts of wiuter as to proaent anythiug but a 
pleasing appearanco the following summer. 
Hence we seldom Bee it in its full size and 
beauty; besides, it is not, like the 8. laurifolia, 
at home in sandy, dry situations. In view of 
this, as also of the fact that I have never known 
the Btems of 8. laurifolia to be injured by in¬ 
sects, I attempted last summer to bud the one 
upon the other. The bud of 8. laurifolia upon 
the 8. Babylonioa lived, and is uow growing vig¬ 
orously ; the bud of the 8. Babylonioa upon the 
8. laurifolia perished. Doubtless, however, the 
rule would work both ways, and thus the insect 
and drought-resisting 8. laurifolia could be made 
DRAINAGE 
B. C. CARPENTER 
LEVELING. 
The survey already described relates only to 
the location of drain«, bnt there is another I 
branch of surveying more intimately connected j 
with their construction, and absolutely necessary 
in some cases. I refer to the branoh called lev¬ 
eling, which gives us a knowledge of the rise or 
fall so essential to the proper construction of the 
drain. Leveling can be done in various wayB, 
but whatever way it is done, the principle al¬ 
ways remains the same. To perform leveling, 
you muBt secure a horizontal line of sight, then 
having a rod graduated into feet and fractions 
of a foot, hold it up, and sighting across the line 
of sight, see how far from the foot the line of 
sight intersects the rod. Call this distance a 
rod reading. Move the rod to a second point, 
and keeping the line of sight horizontal, repeat 
the process, the difference between the two rod 
readings will be the difference of level. It is to 
be noticed that we have no information of the 
point above whioh our instrument stands, but 
simply of the points occupied by our rod. This 
horizontal line of sight may be securod by many 
devices. The first to whioh I shall call your at¬ 
tention is the Wye level, in which the line of 
sight passes through a telescope, which is paral¬ 
lel to a spirit-level attached underneath. This 
is the most perfect of ail leveling instruments, is 
easily adjusted and easily managed. The coat, 
however, is so great as to preclude an extensive 
use of it. But there is an instrument sufticiently 
accurate for all ordinary purposes of leveling for 
nnderdrains, and with a price sufficiently low to 
place it within the reach of all. I refer to Sib¬ 
ley’s level. 
DE8CBIPTIJN AND DIRECTIONS FOR USE.* 
The level is made of iron, and consequently is 
not liable to warp and change like the wooden 
level. The sight marked A is made of brass, 
with an adjustable ring, in which are set cross 
wires, the intersection of which is at equal dis¬ 
tance from the bottom of the level with the pin¬ 
hole brass sight B. In the center of the table, 
on whioh the instrument sits, is & hollow pivot 
fitting a hole in the center of the instrument, on 
which it revolves. On the board is marked any 
angle desired, a plumb-line passes through the 
pivot and falls over the starting point. Plaoe 
• For the use of the out of Sibley’s Level we have to 
thank Mr. A. J. Bicknell of this city. 
Fig. 1. 
Now, if the instrument be kept level, and a 
rod held on any of the pegs, the reading on the 
rod will show the distance of the peg below the 
instrument, this we call a — sight, because, sub¬ 
tracted from the elevation of the instrument, it 
gives the elevation of the peg, whioh is the same 
as that of the ground. 
The elevation of the outlet of the drain is next 
ascertained in the same manner to this eleva¬ 
tion adding the rise per station, which is found 
by dividing the whole rise by the number of 
stations. We get the elevation of the bottom at 
the next station, proceeding in the same manner 
we find the elevation for the bottom of the'ditch 
thronghont. The depth at any point will then 
be found by taking the difference between the 
LEAF AND STIPULES OF SALIX LAURIFOLIA. (?) 
left to itself, a fastigiate form, more gloBsy than, 
and as darkly green as, Magnolia grandiflora, 
and as compact and symmetrical as need be 
desired. 
I should bo glad if you oould determine the 
name of this Willow." * * * 
River Edge, Bergen Co., N. J. 
[The Willow leaf whioh the editor of the 
