WHOLE No. 1499 
NEW YORK CITY, OCT, 19, 1878. 
PRICE SIX CENTS. 
Sti.50 PER YEAR, 
[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.] 
mm 
■ *, * /L . TT- 
" * s 
4am S’Ojnts. 
AN EASY METHOD OF IMPROVING THE 
VALUE OF SOME FARMS. 
Farm life is prosaic. Yes, in spite of all grace¬ 
ful allusions to Arcadia and its employments, 
made by poets of buoolio fancies, tbis is a fact. 
The women of the house have their bit of color 
in a few flowers about the porch or in the gar¬ 
den, but life is supposed to be too practical and 
money too hard to get, to permit much expendi¬ 
ture on mere delights of the eye. Of course, 
notable exceptions to this rule exist, but it re¬ 
mains true, nevertheless, that a farmer will buy 
books of all sorts, on poetry and art oven, be¬ 
fore he will do landscape gardening of any sort 
beyond planting Btreet trees. Nor is it to be 
wondered at; for, in the eyes of the inexperi¬ 
enced, the outlay must bear but a poor relation 
to the returns. Let ns Bee how far this is true. 
The graceful grouping of woods and water, in 
the accompanying picture, has suggested to us 
one way, at least, in which the farmer may prof¬ 
itably indulge in landscape gardening. In the 
picture we present a beanti ful feature of a coun¬ 
try seat in England, reproduced from the Lon¬ 
don Hardeners' Chronicle ; but did it ever occur 
to any odd that a similar effect might be pro¬ 
duced with moderate expense, on very many 
farms throughout America. Given a low spot 
and a Bpriug in an ordinary pasture lot, a Bmall 
dam, and a few trees and shmbs, easily pur¬ 
chased or procured from the woods, and in a few 
years the scene of the picture will be ours. No 
digging or grad¬ 
ing would, as a 
general tning, be 
necessary, for all 
inequalities dis¬ 
appear beneath 
the water, and 
above on the 
shores, the more 
irregular the sur¬ 
face, the more 
picturesque the 
appearance of 
the planting. As 
in tbo picture, 
reeds, yuccas and 
oortain appropri¬ 
ate graces may 
be naturally and 
effectively dispos¬ 
ed along the mar¬ 
gin and, here and 
there, flowering 
shrubs may be 
clustered on some 
prominent curve 
of the shore. The 
peculiarity of 
such plantations 
is that they in¬ 
crease the appa¬ 
rent size of the 
pond or lake. The 
eye wanders from 
one pleasing ob¬ 
ject to another, 
and thus fails to 
realize the small¬ 
ness of the sheet 
of water they sur¬ 
round. Ordinari¬ 
ly the monotony 
of an expanse of 
water creates a 
false improBsion 
of its area, but 
well managed 
planting ou its 
shores will keep 
opening up to the 
eye little bays 
A unexpected 
reaches of water, suggestive of increased size. 
It is customary to plant Willows on the edge 
of Btreams or ponds, but though they are pict¬ 
uresque and appropriate, the tree itself is not 
long-lived, and should therefore be used spar¬ 
ingly. In onr picture we find a mass of foliage 
clu-tored entirely on one side of the pond which 
may oooupy two acres in extent. This arrange¬ 
ment is well advised, for it leaves plenty of shore 
open for effect, and at the same time gives solid 
masses of foliage for shade, etc. As a rule, 
plenty of foliage Bhould also be clustered about 
both sides of the dam. The moat picturesque 
effeot can be produoed at this point, and here, 
therefore, we may use the choicest trees. A 
Weeping Beeoh may droop over the water, re¬ 
lieved by a dark-purple Beech in the immediate 
neighborhood. Here also may he planted the 
Salix laurifolia (or pentandra), with sbiniug 
green leaves and yellow twigs. This Willow, as 
we have said, is too little known; for it not only 
lasts long and does well in low places, but is 
equally thrifty on light, sandy soils. The value 
of itB foliage, as a contrast with that of other 
trees, cannot be overestimated. Deciduous 
trees thrive better than evergreens in low 
places, and in the picture we have before us, it 
will be seen that this fact is kept in view. 
Space will not permit us to study properly the 
special trees and shrubs that should make up 
the grouping about a pond, but no better ex¬ 
ample can be followed that, may bo found any day 
on some natural pool Jn a woodland glade. We 
find here and there, on curves of shore, shrubs 
and low-growing trees, backed up by larger 
growths of Liquidambar, Scarlet Maple. Pep- 
peridge, and sundry Oaks and Dogwoods. Sucb 
a plantation will make a truly natural bit of 
scenery in the midst of pasture land, and here 
also oattle may drink or repose themselves in 
the grateful shade. Wild flowers may be plant¬ 
ed under the trees; that is, if they do not come 
spontaneously, and thus with flowers, and the 
tints of Mummer and fall leaves, the picture will 
be always pleasing. Nor should olimbing vines 
be forgotten, to give tho finishing touch to the 
natural effect of the soene. A little oare of the 
trees and the margins of the pond will suffice 
to keep the place in good shape. 
In return for this outlay and care, the farmer 
has in his field a beautiful object which is more 
pleasiDg in a dozen ways than the unattractive, 
muddy puddle that originally occupied the spot. 
Moreover, ducks and geese can disport them¬ 
selves in such bodies of water, and successful 
attempts be made to breed fish in their secluded 
recesses. The entire cost of the construction of 
such a lakelet—trees, planting and all—will 
scarcely aiuonfli to two hundred dollars, if pro¬ 
per taste and^jugenuity be exerted: and if it 
cost five bundled or a thousand dollars, who 
would begrudge the expenditure ? If we would 
only develop the enjoyable features of farm life, 
no one could term it dull or prosaio. 
VALUE Of A SPRING. 
We know of a farm in which a single spring, 
which for many years seemed only to make 
a vVdy, unhealthy area of half an acre, was 
converted into a body of pnre water at an ex¬ 
pense of less than $250. The banks are now 
planted with various trees and the improvement 
is thought by unprejudiced persons to add sev¬ 
eral thousands of dollars to the v-ilue of the farm. 
NOTES FROM THE RURAL GROUNDS. 
MOISTURE-RETAINING POWER OF SOILS. 
Facts which seem to Controvert the long-cher¬ 
ished Theories of Agricultural Philosophers. 
“ Stir the Soil"— 11 Scarify it"—"Loosen it”— 
“ Pulverize it"— " The capillary lubes are 
thus disconnected, and Vie. moisture of the 
soil beneath the stirred surface, is preserved ” 
—‘‘It acts as a mulch"—“ It is the farm¬ 
er's best method of protecting his crops dur¬ 
ing seasons of drought,’’ etc., etc. 
Such teachings on the part of the agricultural 
press have been universal, and the advice haB 
been deemed of such importance that it oould 
not be too often or too firmly impressed upon 
the minds of all whom it was supposed to con¬ 
cern. 
From experiments which we have been con¬ 
ducting for tbe past three years, we have been 
forced to the conclusion that this advice is en¬ 
tirely erroneous—wrong in theory—wrong in 
practice. Stirring the soil does not disconnect 
the capillary tubes—does W)t act as a mulch; 
does not preserve the moisture either in seasons 
of droughts or in any other seasons, and that 
consequently, in so far as this principle is con¬ 
cerned, the incalculable amount of labor per¬ 
formed to this end, has not only been performed 
to no purpose, but to the accomplishment of re¬ 
sults precisely the reverse of those intended. 
Three years ago we made our first experi¬ 
ments in this matter. But they were made to 
ascertain the different capillary powers of soils 
of different degrees of compactness—not with a 
view to test whether there was or was not the 
supposed advan¬ 
tage to be derived 
from loosening— 
pulverizing the 
soil. That was 
taken for grant¬ 
ed. No suspicion 
of its entire 
soundness was 
entertained. An 
inkling of what 
we now believe to 
be the truth was, 
however, first ob¬ 
tained at that 
time, and it has 
been upon this 
clew that, as oc¬ 
casion has per¬ 
mitted, we have 
since endeavored 
to trace out the 
conclusions t o 
which i t might 
legitimately lead. 
Supposing that 
our main conclu¬ 
sion be true, we 
have t o regret 
that we have not 
as yet been able 
to work out the 
corollaries deriv¬ 
able therefrom. 
But another year 
at least, as the 
writer is situated, 
won Id he required 
for this purpose ; 
and, as we have 
already stated the 
upshot o f our 
main conclusion 
to a number of 
friends,* we have 
thought it advis- 
• We may men¬ 
tion Professor Beal, 
of the Mich. A jS. 
College; Mr, Libby, 
of tbe American 
Agriculturist, and 
FARM IjAKES, 
Mr. Lyons, of tbs 
N. Y. Atlas. 
