tion, and, for it, the Sooiety awarded a Bilver 
medal to Mr. SyraondB. In build it looked like 
a mammoth hyaointh spike. 
LILIUM SPECIDSUM VAR. MELPOMENE. 
This iH a beautiful, distinct and permanent 
variety raised by Hovey A Co. of Boston, some 
twenty years ago. Its flowers are of a deeper rose- 
color than those of the species or of most of 
the varieties I have seen ; have purple-madder, 
warty spots, and the flower-leaves are distinctly 
bsnded with white. Its leaves are shorter, less 
acuminate, and more upright in habit, than are 
those of the typical plant, compared with which 
Melpomene is just as hardy, profuse, and other- 
rum Opulus or Guelder Rose, onr common Snow¬ 
ball of gardens. It will thus be seen that when 
we want a thoroughly good shrub for orna¬ 
mental purposes, this may be in all respects de¬ 
pended on. 
to observe the relative order, to compare the 
organs of one plant with those of a similar na¬ 
ture found in other specieB or orders of plants. 
Gradually the stage microsoope was employed, 
and finally a review is taken, making use of a text 
book with lectures. 
Some may wonder why this finds a place in a 
Journal of Agriculture. Good habits of obser¬ 
vation and study are ueedod by every man who 
tends a greenhouse, raises vegetables, fruits or 
other farm crops. There iB no better place for 
such a beginning than with plants, which are 
always to be found in abundance. For early 
forming the habit of experimenting I need not 
even say a good word. Every farmer knows it 
is valuable. Patience and accuracy need culti¬ 
vating. The gardener and farmer deal largely 
with plants in some form or other from one year’s 
end to the other. The more he studies them, 
and the better be understands tbeir structure 
and peculiarities, tbs more likely will he be to 
attend to their wants and make them grow suc¬ 
cessfully. 
The members of the class in Horticulture ah t> 
make experiments, some for their instructs u 
and some of their own account. Some of tho 
made this year wore: crossing wheat, orossi 
oorn, crossiug crab-apples, lilacs, strawherri* . 
tomatoes, raspberries, gooseberries, apples ai 
cherries. They experiment on gorminatii 
seeds, layering apples; study the heads of who 
as thoy nod ; dig to ascertain the depth to whi 
the roots of barley, oats, clover, etc., extern 
They plant “buggy” peas beside those u t 
buggy for comparison; they dig up stools • 
ohess to find the old kernel from wbiob t 
plants grew. They take a deep interest in t) 
work and they are benefited by it. 
Agricultural College, Lansing, Mich. 
.- - 
THE JAPANEbE SNOWBALL. 
VIBURN UM PUC ATUM. 
In a letter recently written ub, we were aBk< 
to name the best flowering shrub. It was ai 
parently a simple question and therefore merii 
ed a Birnple, direct answer, but as we oame ti 
think farther, we hesitated. What kind am 
number of good qualities should this best sbru: 
possess? Unlike the Rhododendron, must tht. 
general average of its attractions be of high 
quality; or, in other words, must it be neithe; 
very bad nor yet supremely excellent in an; 
special way ? No, not exactly that; and yet, a 
we pondered the question, we realized tbatgroa' 
beauty »r great hardiness would nqt alone mak< 
up the beat shrub, any more than all excellences 
oould meet in one speoies or variety. Ou; 
friend, therefore, received an answer that em 
bodied the valuable attractions of severa 
shrubs. 
In the beginning, it must be confessed, we 
bad intended to declare the Japanese Snowball 
the very best of flowering Bhrubs; but, recalling 
the above train of thought, we have decided 
that it would not be consistent. We will term 
it, however, very good, and give proof thereof 
by a brief statement of its main characteristics. 
The Viburnum plicatum is a shrub of medium 
growth, consolidating its form as it increases in 
stature. While the leaf and general anatomy of 
the plant resemble somewhat those of the com¬ 
mon Snowball—Viburnum OpulUB—the entire 
shrnh is more oomDact. uiling its foliage in mas- 
FIRST OF THE ANNUAL FAIRS, 
A Fine Display marred by bad Weather, 
MAGNIFICENT SHOW OF CATTLE. 
ALL DEPARTMENTS WELL REPRESENTED. 
GARDEN TALKS AND WALKS, 
The Beeches, Mass., Sept. 9th, 1878. 
WILD FLOWERS. 
The other day a ueighbor lady brought me a 
bouquet of wild flowers,—“ I gathered them in 
the cow pasture at the back of our houBe, and 
there are lots more of them there.” And little 
THE NEW YORK STATE FAIR 
{Staff Correspondence.) 
Elmira, N. Y., Sept. 13. 
This, the last day of the fair, has been a veri¬ 
table blue day. The rain and wind conspired to 
make things as nncomfortable as they can be 
made by the elements. Wednesday was also 
rainy, and the two together have made a most 
Berions impression on the receipts, and it is prob¬ 
able that the society will have an uncomfortable 
deficit to make good without the assistance of 
the gate money that it was hoped the farmers 
of Chemung would contribute. 
It is regrettable that the inclement weather 
kept many at borne, as the thirty-eighth annual 
fair of the N- Y. State Agricultural Society, in 
point of interest to farmers, was well worthy 
their olose attention. The entries were very 
large, but by no means as full as the catalogue 
promised, while on the other band, many ex¬ 
hibitors were on the grounds who had no repre¬ 
sentation in the catalogue, and could not, there¬ 
fore, compete for the liberal premiums offered. 
An unintentional injustice was suffered by 
quite a number, who had entered in due form, 
and shipped their goods in wbat should have 
been ampletime for them to have reached their 
destination. Some of these shipments did not 
arrive until the last day of the fair, and were 
consequently returned without bulk having 
been broken. 
These delays were due to bad management of 
the local roads, though the Erie delivered its 
freight promptly in good Bhape. The arrange¬ 
ments for transporting passengers to and from 
tho fair, made by the Erie, were ample, wnil- 
ordered, and satisfactory. Fifteen-minute trains 
ran to and from Elmira, (hiring the day, and the 
crowd was so cleverly managed, that grumblers 
were as scarce as lino weather. Since its reor¬ 
ganization the Erie has been baptized anew, be¬ 
coming the N. Y., Lake Erie, A Western. A 
third rail is being laid, with a view to changing 
the guage from broad to narrow, (*t feet, in.) 
which will increase its connections, its business, 
and its prosperity. Under its present admirable 
management, trains and the time-table,agree 
its cars are clean and commodious, and near 
New York its lino is being rapidly and thickly 
settled by families who find it pleasanter, cheap¬ 
er, and more convenient, to live “ on the Erie” 
than on Manhattan Island. 
Few things besides the weather marred the 
harmony of tho arrangements. The officers of 
the society, with perhaps one exception, were 
scrupulously attentive to the wants of exhibitors 
and visitors. The accommodations for the vari¬ 
ous classes catalogued were ample, and tho inci¬ 
dental expense for material and assistance sup¬ 
plied to those needing it, was reasonable. The 
awards of the judges in a few instances seemed 
to display a sad lack of the discriminative fac¬ 
ulty, hut in tho main, their arduous duties were 
discharged to the satisfaction of those concerned. 
It is a duty to take note of one instance of the 
most abandoned cheating on the part of an ex¬ 
hibitor, but aH the tricks were discovered, and 
premiums aggregating one li midrod dollars for¬ 
feited, I think tho fellow sufficiently punished, 
and forbear disclosing the name. He had en¬ 
tered largely in various olassea, hut in his grains, 
seeds, and dried ft nits, he practiced such de¬ 
ceptions as filling the bottoms of his barrols with 
nail kegB, pouring in the grains ou top of the 
same, then exhibiting this specious arrangement 
as the best barrel of beans, for instance, to the 
prejudice of his competitors who pitted honeBt 
measure against these shams. In dried fruits 
the deception was even more glaring, as the 
prime fruit was merely a thin layer, which 
served as a top-dressing for decayed and inferior 
stuff that occupied the hulk of the vessel. Tho 
exhibitor, I am told, is au old offender, and has 
received one warning. It is probable that his 
last exploit will close his career as an exhibitor 
in future shows hold under the auspioeB of this 
society. 
It seemed to tho writer that the executive 
committee might improve their arrangements in 
several respocts, and make future fairs oven 
more attractive. 'The grouuds, for instance, are 
planned on a scale qnlt.e too liberal for the com¬ 
fort of sight-seors. If the articles that from 
thoir nature require shelter, wero grouped in one 
quartor, and in an order that indicated some re¬ 
semblance to au intelligent plan it would save 
miles of wearying travel. Tho common com¬ 
plaint was directed at the altogether too magnifi¬ 
cent distances between points of interest. Con¬ 
scientious investigators, by the time they 
reached the horse Btalls, were more sensible of 
bodily fatigue than of the good points of the 
animals. It is difficult to imagine, also, why 
carriages, that are the products of machinery, 
VIBURNUM H.ICATUM, 
wise satisfactory. Between 1844 and I860, Mr. 
0. M. Hovey—one of the most practical and 
talented horticulturists of the day—raised thou¬ 
sands of seedlings of this fine Japanese Lily 
(speciosum), and selecting nine of the best and 
most distinct, he named them after the Muses— 
Clio, Euterpe, Thalia, Melpomene, Terpsichore, 
Erato, Polyhymnia, Urania and Calliope. All 
are beautiful, but I like Melpomene far the best. 
Beyond one or two, tho remainder of these seed¬ 
lings wore all classed together and sold as L. s. 
var rubruni. 
beauties they were too. Among them were the 
purple Gerardia (G. purpurea), a little, branchy 
plant of the Figwort family, and now bearing a 
profusion of pretty, bright, purple blossoms; 
the white-floweriug form of Turtle-head or Shell- 
flower (Chelone glabra), which is commou in 
low grounds at this season; and some Ladies’ 
Tresses (Spirantlies cernua), a little orchid, with 
tall, slender stems, hearing white fragrant flow¬ 
ers. 
The gems of Bpring axe long past , the beauties 
of summer are disappearing, fall Is at hand, and 
still wild flowers are in multiplicity. Golden- 
rods border overy field, meadow and waste place; 
Marsh Rose-mallows, piuk and white, are con¬ 
spicuous in low grounds, and eunally at home 
in gardens ; the deep purple of the Iron-weeds is 
discernible all around ; brilliant Cardinal Flowers 
glitter in tho swamps, with their blue allies as 
neighbors ; the Meadow Beauty is aglow; the 
handsome white flowers of Grass-of Parnassus 
adorn wet banks; White Snake-root inhabits our 
woods, and Joe-pye-weeds our bogs; Blazing- 
stars, white and purple, and Tartridge-peas, 
laden with gold, cheer our sandy soils; the white 
spikeB of Burnet rise toweringly over the bushes 
in damp.grounds; the Butterfly-wood or Pleurisy- 
root is scattered about in dryish places ; Asters 
abound in overy direction, and golden composites 
of many genera brighten the landscape, while 
Ground-nut, Virgin's- bower and climbing Jiomp- 
weed run riot over hushes, banks and fences. 
And all, and hundreds more, are just as applica¬ 
ble for garden use as are the exotics that dis¬ 
placed them there. 
A SUPERB GOLD-RAYED LILY. 
A single flower stem of the Golden-rayed Lily 
(Lilimn auratum) of Japan, with 140 flowers 
and flower bnds on it, was exhibited by T. P. 
Bymonds, of Haleru, at the meeting of the 
Massachusetts Hort. Society at Boston, on the 
24th of last month. It commanded great atten- 
MAIDEN’S BLUSH, 
This meets with a ready sale on the N. Y. 
market. It is one of tho fairest of apples, 
having a fresh, red oheek upon a clear, wax- 
like, pale-yellow ground. It is of medium sizo, 
very smooth and even—oblate. Tho flesh is 
white, finely grained, tender, Bub-acid and it 
ripens in early autumn, though there is at this 
time (H?P- 7.) an immense quantity being sold, 
which indicates an earlier ripening than usual. 
It is a beautiful fruit to look at and tho quality 
is in keeping with its luscious appoarauco. The 
tree is spreading and vigorous and thrives in 
Michigan, Pa., N. J., Md , Va., 0., lud., Ky., 
Tonn., Ills., Iowa., its. 
The Yellows. —In spite of all the legislating 
and working of our people to oheek the Yellows 
in tho peach, I am fearful it is gaining in our 
State. I wonder if in Delaware and New Jer¬ 
sey where they have been harrassod with this 
disease, they cannot give some light upon its 
dis-establishment. We seem to know as little 
about it as about pear blight. o. 
Grand Rapids, Mich, 
