AUG. 31 
A 
now, in mid-August, the foliage of the Japan 
Dogwood is specially notable for its fine shading 
of purple on the deoaying leaf. The whole firm, 
glossy surfaoe is either suffused or mottled with 
purplish hues iu a very effective manner. 
RUSTY APPEARANCE OF HORSE-CHESTNUTS. 
The Horse-chestnut is a tree that often fails 
to retain its beauty of foliage even in August. 
In June, arrayed in bright green, with the 
softest and roundest outlines, and studded with 
dusters of red or white flowers, nothing can be 
more beautiful in Its way. Tint the beauty 
passes too soon. It is for this reason that we 
would give the palm to the Norway Maple as a 
shade or lawn tree, although in June it would 
be very difficult to choose between them. 
THE DWARF CATAIPA. 
This has been termed, botanically, Catalpa 
Keempferi, and although comparatively well- 
known, fails of the reputation it deserves. Tor 
soft, rounded outlines and delicate Hhading, 
during late summer and fall, on a remarkable 
foliage, it deserves special mention. Lawn 
planters should employ it largely to accomplish 
effects produced by round-headed plants, for 
which purpose, among shrubs, it is quite as 
valuable as the Horse-chestnut is among trees. 
Flushing, L. I 
JfloritultiitaL 
NOTES FROM THE RURAL GROUNDS. 
HIBISCUS MOSCHEUTOS 
Though everybody admires flowers, it must be 
supposed the great majority of people know lit¬ 
tle or nothing about them. The above flower is 
now in bloom, and we hear passengers in the 
rail-road cars, struck by their extraordinary 
showiness, ask what they are and if they could 
be cultivated iugardeus, and wo have been aBked 
Buoh questions a dozen tirneB or more within the 
past week during our time-wasting journeys to 
and from the Rub ax. office. The meadows through 
which we pass, are now beautiful gardens of wild 
flowers, most brilliant and striking among which 
is the Swamp Rose-Mallow. Here and in simi¬ 
lar places along the coast they have bloomed for 
many years no doubt—their brilliancy always 
admired and year after year provoking the same 
earnest questions. But the curiosity thus excit¬ 
ed must die out with the flowers, for we have 
never seen them in any garden besides this, and 
know of few instances of their cultivation ever 
being attempted. The flowers vary from white 
to a bright purple rose—some with, others with¬ 
out a dark eye, and some with a pure white eye. 
We have just spread out aud measured a flower 
that iB exactly nine inches in diameter ! 
Some authorities have it that these plants do 
better in swampy land than in dry situations. 
But we have them in both raised from seeds, and 
and those in the high situation are the finest. 
They are more dwarf and compact, the flowers 
are larger and the leaves more enduring. 
The leaves and stems are annual and the roots 
perennial. They are easily raised from the 
roots or from Beed. In the meadows the flowers 
vary from a deep rose to white, as wo have said. 
But under cultivation very likely their variation 
would prove greater. It is our iutention to Bend 
and gather a quantity of the seeds thiB fall, in 
which case those of our friends who so desire 
can raise seedlings of their own. 
PELARGONIUM "WONDERFUl” AND ABUTILON DARWINII. 
Mb. John Saul, of Washington, D. C., Bent 
us this spring a largo variety of new or rare 
plants. It waB onr misfortune to lose many of 
them by the hard, late frost, about which so 
much was said in the Rural New-Yorker at the 
time. Among the survivors, however, is Abuti- 
lou Darwinii, a distiuct and attractive plant with 
large, reddish flowers, similar to those of A. 
Boule de Neige in shape, though larger. The 
popularity of Boule de Neige seems to have 
awakened florists to an appreciation of Abuti- 
lons in general—an appreciation that is surely 
well-deserved. Easy to cultivate, very gay in 
their profusion of blossoms, adapted alike for 
the flower-bed, conservatory or window, their 
free beauty iB secured with little trouble. 
Among Mr. Saul's plants was the Pelargonium 
“ Wonderful,” sent to us also by Mr. Henry 
Hales. It has been advertised extensively in 
England as one of the most profuse-flowering 
Pelargoniums known. And we have found it so 
to be. The flowers are double—the habit dwarf. 
Very small plauts seud up numbers of flowering 
stalks, and before these have ceased blooming, 
others arc ready to take their places, until it 
would seem that the little plauts would bloom 
themselves to death. 
Batni gushniirg. 
DAIRYING AND SOIL IMPROVEMENT. 
E. W. STKWAKT. 
MILK AND CHEESE PRODUCTION. 
I have had occasion to point out how dairying 
may deplete the soil on which the cows are fed, 
that milk is rich in nitrogen and mineral con- 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
stituents. A cow that gives the moderate quan¬ 
tity of 4.000 lbs. of milk per year, would abBtraot 
from tho soil, in her milk alone, 26 lbs. of aBh 
and 24 lbs. of pure nitrogen in the 160 lbs. of 
caseine. If the milk were sold this would all be 
lost to the soil; or, if made into cheese, the 
mineral constituents, as well as nitrogen, will be 
mostly carried off in the cheese. The depletion 
is much greater in feeding milch cows than in 
fattening steers or oattle. If we are to suppose 
the steer to gain an average of 300 or 400 lbs. live 
weight per year, and then compare this with 
the moderate average we have supposed the 
oow to produoe in milk, we find the steer only 
involves a loss of three to four lbs. of mineral 
constituents aud about three lbs. of nitrogen. 
It will thus be seen that if the milk be sold, it 
will involve many times as much loss to the soil 
as in growth of the fattening steer. Whatever 
the steer eats more than sufficient to supply the 
elements of his growth, goes back to the soil in 
the rnaunre. This explains tho foundation for 
the opinion, quite prevalent, that dairying is 
more exhausting to the soil than beef raising. 
But all dairying is not thus exhausting to the 
soil. Commercially the most valuable element 
of tho milk is the cream. When cream is the 
only element of the milk sold, and all the rest is 
fed to pigs or calves on the farm, it takes little 
or nothing of value iu the butter, for that con¬ 
tains no mineral matter, no nitrogen—it iB 
merely carbon and water, which may be replac¬ 
ed from the atmosphere. 
BUTTER DAIRYING. 
This is not exhausting to the soil, as the 
mineral matter is all contained in the skimmed 
milk as well as the nitrogen. Batter has been 
the principal manufactured product of the dairy 
in the United States, as there are only 300,000,000 
pounds of cheese to 700,000,000 pounds of but¬ 
ter made. The Amerioan people are said to be 
the greatest butter eaters in the world, and the 
homo market is immense. There can be no 
doubt that the export butter-maker receives the 
best remuneration for Ids labor and capital; 
and, since this branch of dairying also keeps up 
the fertility of his soil, there is much to recom¬ 
mend it. The best article brings double the 
price of the common article aud really costs no 
more, and probably less, than the poor article. 
For the dairyman, who has studied the business 
enough to know how to make the best quality 
of butter, has also studied the selection and 
feeding of cows, so as to produce the best yield 
of milk. And he thus produces more butter 
from the same food, and consequently produces 
butter at Isbs cost per pound, besides its quality 
rendering it doubly valuable iu market. The 
skimmed milk, being fed to pigs and calves, 
makes rich manure which goes back to the soil, 
and what is lost is only that whioh is assimilated 
into the body of the young animal. Let us see, 
on scientific principles, what fertility is lOBt in 
feeding refuse milk to pigs and calves. 
REFUSE MILK FOR CALVES AND SWINE. 
If we take a pig six weeks old, that weighs 
20 lbs., and feed that pig 6kim milk for 200 days 
and increase his weight 200 lbs. it will require, 
on the average of pigs, 3,000 lbs, of milk to 
make this growth, or 15 lbs. to the pound of 
growth. The 3,000 lbs. of refuse milk will con¬ 
tain about 22 lbs. of ash constituents, and the 
200 lbs. growth on the pig will oontain only 
two lbs. of mineral matter, the milk will con¬ 
tain 18 lbs. nitrogen, and the 200 lbs. growth of 
pig, less than two lbs. of nitrogen, so that the 
loss in fertility from feeding the skim milk to 
the pig will be very little, provided the manure 
is all saved and applied. The result will be 
about the same on the calf, but requiring more 
milk to make a pound growth. We do not esti¬ 
mate the fat formed in the pig, because this 
contains no mineral constituents and no nitro¬ 
gen. It is easy to keep up the fertility of the 
soil in butter dairying. 
MIXED FARMING. 
I Air an advocate of mixed farming. I be¬ 
lieve it better for a farmer to depend on several 
crops for his money than on one alone; for, 
how often does some particular orop become a 
oomplete failure ? Then where are the funds 
ooming from to meet store bills, pay taxes, the 
minister and printer ? Some years there is so 
much of one produot raised that it is very low, 
and if you happen to depend wholly on that 
crop, where are you then ? 
Now if yon practice mixed husbandry it is 
entirely different; for you are almost certain of 
some crop selling for a good price: hence, you 
can be on a surer footing than if you raised 
Bimply one kind of crop, especially if your 
capital is limited; for then you cannot afford to 
wait until another crop can grow : accordingly 
I believe it always the surest aud best plan, for 
the young furmor especially, to grow a variety 
of crops. Tho most independent farmer is the 
one who has more than one crop to depend on. 
The farm is a place where all the different va¬ 
rieties of food can be raised, and it seems to me 
the object of the fanner should be to grow all, 
or nearly all of such kinds of food as he will 
need to consume in his family aud feed to his 
stock; or, in other words, let nothing be bought 
that can be grown on the farm at a fair cost. 
If we can raise wheal at 80 cents per bushel, 
can we afford to buy it at $1.25? or, if we can 
raise our pork at $5 per hundred, can we afford 
to buy it at eight cents a pound ? Let a farmer 
who has practiced mixed husbandry for a term 
of years, turn his attention to, and labor wholly 
upon one orop, and if he does not deny himself 
some of his customary luxuries I shall bo very 
much mistaken. f. h. d. 
Meadowbrook Farm. 
-» ♦ ♦- 
WHAT OTHERS SAY. 
Aeebican Poke. —Tho London Farmer says, 
on the authority of the Leu to ha Fleischer-Zeit- 
uug, that two butchers, in a large way of busi¬ 
ness at Cologue, have come to America with the 
intention of buying up here and taking over for 
home consumption a cargo of two thousand pigs. 
Their calculations are said to be based on the as¬ 
sumption that the current price on large trans¬ 
actions ranges from 3 to 3)4 cents per lb. live- 
weight, at which figure there is room for a 
handsome margiu of profit, after making liberal 
allowance for all the heavy expenses and risks 
beyond the mere purchase of the “ raw mate¬ 
rial." Our contemporary is, however, inclined 
to doubt tho wisdom of the fpeculation, owing 
to the apparent omission of one important ele¬ 
ment in the enterprising butchers calculations. 
It is now an established fact that American pork 
is far less free from trichinae than the flesh of 
native pigB; popular prejudice runs high against 
it, and the official inspections of the meat are 
now so rigorously aud systematically earned out 
that there is very little chance of any of it find¬ 
ing its way into consumption if not altogether 
above suspicion, as has previously happened 
with consignments from Amerioa on more than 
one occasion. 
Much or Little Manure ?—Mr. W. J. Fowler, 
in the Country Gentleman, speaks of the com¬ 
mon theory with writers on agriculture, viz., 
that if soil is made very rich there is a constant 
teudenoy to loss of fertility by leaching or evapor¬ 
ation. On heavy soils with retentive subsoil, he 
has never experienced any serious difficulty from 
this cause. His observation and experience 
show that thoroughly enriching the soil is not 
only profitable, but the most permanent improve¬ 
ment that oan be made. “ Apply little manure 
and often," is the advice usually given. Rather 
manure thoroughly as fast as you can is his ad¬ 
vice. As for the permanence of heavy manur¬ 
ing, Mr. Fowler instances a knoll in one of his 
lots where forty or fifty years ago stood a house 
and barn. That knoll has been cropped without 
manure thirty years or more, aud still that old 
barn-yard is the richest part of the field, though 
other portions have been manured on the “ little 
and often " theory at least five or six times. It 
is a question iu his mind whether it would not 
have paid better to apply these several small 
dressings in one—make it as rich as the knoll 
and then leave it without further manuring, ex- 
oept clover, till the soil needed it. 
Shingles and Shingling. — Cheap spruce 
shingles, says Col. Curtis in the Weekly Tribune, 
are not worth the oost and trouble of putting 
down. The best of sawed pine shingles may be 
had now for $4 per thousand. He had a man 
shingle a large barn once who insisted one 
nail was enough for a narrow shingle, and 
after a few years every high wind would blow 
them all over the farm. A leaky roof soon fol¬ 
lowed, and a new one. Two nails should be put 
into every shingle, and wide ones ought to have 
three or more. They ought not to be driven 
near the edge, and if the shingle is very narrow, 
the nails should not bo put opposite each other, 
for a nail near the edge of a shingle will rust 
out and the shingle will get loose. A roof well 
laid will last many years longer than one put on 
in a hurry and by cheap and careless help. 
Rothamsted.— Mr. Lawes’ experiments, says 
a writer in the London Chamber of Agriculture, 
are now directed to ascertaining the grounds for 
the belief that the conversion of ammonia, when 
introduced into the soil, into nitric acid after a fall 
of rain is due to some living aud obscure organ¬ 
ism. But be this as it may, his remarks on the 
unceasing motion and circulation of ammon ia in 
different forms through the earth and air, are 
very striking ; while nowhere better thau from 
tho ltothamsted experiments can the farmer 
learn the fugitive, flighty character of this in¬ 
dispensable agent in its passage through the 
earth, and tho “ catch-you-when-I-can" efforts 
of the roots of plants to absorb ii ere it passes 
out of their reach. 
Clover.— In “ The Grasses of Tenessee,” a 
book to which we have lately referred, Mr. TCiii - 
obrew says; “Upon whatever farm clover is 
grown in regular rotation, there will be found 
abundant crops, fat stock and improved hus¬ 
bandry." He deems it the main pillar of Ten- 
nesee agriculture, and says that it is worse than 
folly to attempt to make farming pay for any 
number ol years without it. “A farmer who is 
too poor to sow clover seed is too poor to own a 
farm, and however great may be his exertions 
(unless within reach of large towns where ma¬ 
nures are abundant), if he does not sow clover, 
he is doomed to a hopeless poverty.” 
Polluted Water.— An extraordinary fatality 
from diptheria, etc., in one house and family at 
Finchely, is recorded by Dr. Saunders i i a re¬ 
port recently presented to the Bjrnet Rural Sani¬ 
tary Authority. The water used for drinking 
purposes was from a shallow well, and was pol¬ 
luted. Dr. Saunders mentions the case particu¬ 
larly, because he thinks it very desirable to break 
down the tradition that familiar odors, such as 
farm-yards and certain offensive trades, are 
harmless. The cases of diptheria which have 
happened through his entire district have every 
one been under the influence of impure air, al¬ 
though from sources not unusual, and, there¬ 
fore, thought little of. 
The Seabon. —It is well understood, says the 
Mass. Ploughman, that in our fickle climate, sub¬ 
ject to frequent and Bevere droughts, crops of all 
kinds are subject to considerable risk from want 
of water ; it is also well known that the best re¬ 
sults obtained by the wse of chemical fertilizers 
have been in moist seasons. Is it not, therefore 
more than probable that the reason for the com¬ 
mon and general preference for yard manure 
wherever it cau be bad, is due to itH capacity to 
hold water through a severe drought and yield 
it to the growing crops in time of need ? 
The London Gardener’s Chronicle speaks of 
another Eucalyptus — E. citriodora : "Lov¬ 
ers of interesting rather than ‘strikingly 
showy ’ greenhouse plants should make the ac¬ 
quaintance of the new lemon-scented Gum tree, 
Eucalyptus citriodora. It is a slender-habited 
plant, with oblong leaves, oovered with glandu¬ 
lar hairs, which when gently rubbed, emit a 
powerful odor, resembling that of the lemon- 
scented Aloysia. A native of Australia." 
Something for Nothing. —Labor and ma¬ 
terial cost money, aud thty must be paid 
for, or somebody must be wronged. It 
makes no difference whether the business is 
selling groceries, or publishing newspapers, or 
anything else, if anybody attempts to give some¬ 
thing for nothing, or to get something for no¬ 
thing, he or somebody else will get his fingers 
burned sooner or later.— Western Rural. 
Clearing Rust from Steel. —As difficulty is 
frequently experienced iu removing rust from 
steel, we (Dublin Farmers’ Gazette) submit tho 
following mode as one of tho best and simplest 
for brightening rusted surfaces: — cover the 
metal with sweet oil, to be well rubbed in, and 
in forty-eight hours afterwards rub with finely 
pulverized unslaoked lime. 
The Poultry Bulletin says that air-slaked 
lime, such as U8ed for agricultural purposes, 
should be put where the laying hens can get at 
it at will, for they need it constantly in the 
process of egg manufacture. 
-» — ■♦- 
CATALOGUES, &c., RECEIVED. 
We beg to say that owins to the space given 
to Crop reports, vrs are obliged to slight onr 
acknowledgments of Catalogues, etc., received, 
which have accumulated in the meantime. 
The Summer meeting of the National Agricul¬ 
tural Congress occurs at New Haven, Conn., on 
August 27 to 29, its object being the discussion 
of papers and addresses relating to agriculture 
and agricultural economy. The programme will 
be arranged from day to day. The following 
gentlemen have accepted appointments to ad¬ 
dress the Congress : J. Ii. Dodge, Prof. Eug. 
W- Hilgard, John L. Hayes, Dr. C. V. Riley, X. 
A. Willard, Dr. J. T. Tichenor, Prof. Win. H. 
Brewer, Dr. E. Lewis Sturtevant, Prof. W. 
O. Atwater, B. G Northrop, J. J. Thomas. Hor¬ 
ace J. Smith, Dr. N. H. Paren, Rev. Wm. F. 
Clark, Prof. S. W. Shattuek, Ernest Th. Gcn- 
nert. The Governing Board of the Sheffield 
Scientific Sohool, of Yale College, have kindly 
tendered North Sheffield Hall for the meeting of 
the Congress. 
Hon. Thos. P. Janes, Pres., Atlanta, Ga. 
Jonathan Pebian, Sec’y, Chicago, Ill. 
Premium List of the 28 th Annnal Fair of the 
Vermont State Agricultural 8ociety and Wool 
Growers' Association, to be held at St. Albans, 
September 10-12. Henry Clark, Rutland, Sec’y. 
Premium List of the Thirty-eighth Annual 
Fair and Cattle Show of the Fairfield Co. Agri¬ 
cultural Society, to be held at Norwalk, Conn., 
September 10-13. Wm. D. Gregory, Sec’y. 
Broome Co. Agricultural Society. List of 
Premiums and Regulations for the Eighth An¬ 
nual Fail’, to be held at Whitney's Point, N. Y., 
September 3-6. Milo B. Eldridge, Sec’y. 
We thank the Secretary of the State Agricul¬ 
tural 8oeiety, of Wisconsin, Mr. George E. Bry¬ 
ant, for a copy of its interesting transactions for 
'77-8- 500 pages. 
We have to thank Gen. Albert J. Myer, ohief 
signal officer, U. S. A., for his annual report to 
the Secretary of War for the year 1877. 
Illustrated Catalogue of Rural Books. 
O. Judd <fe Co., 345 Broadway. The catalogue 
is handsomely illustrated. 
Wholesale Price List of Grape Vines, Fruit 
Trees, etc., offered by T. S. Hubbard, Fredonia, 
N.Y. 
