265 
APRIL. 24 
THE RURAL. HEW-VORKER. 
■winters they may not offer sufficient protec¬ 
tion, yet they would be much safer than chaff 
hives, as there would We many colonies all mu¬ 
tually helping each other to maintain the re¬ 
quisite temperature, and the walls might becvtn 
thicker than specified above, wit bout any serious 
inconvenience- Third, some thiuk it pleasanter 
and more desirable to handle bees out-of-doors, 
where they are uuconfmed. Fourth, the cost of 
the house; yet this is incurred only for once In 
a life-time, and saves providing fbade, saw- 
dast, packing-boxes, complex hives, etc. I 
predict that these structures will grow more 
and more into favor. J. G. Bingham. 
Cort. CO., N. Y. 
WHAT OTHERS SAY. 
From a prize essay delivered by Samuel 
Parsons before the Mass. Horticultural Society, 
we copy a few paragraphs. We would gladly 
present the excellent essay entire did our 
space permit: 
The Javan Maples.— They have been ex¬ 
hibited and sold in Europe, in a limited way, 
for at least fifteen years, but, strange to 6ay, 
in face of the simple facts, there has existed 
a widespread conviction that their hardiness 
is defective. Hence we read of them as pot- 
grown, a condition that must always preveut 
the full, free development of their beauty. 
Some one must have finally, aud perhaps ac¬ 
cidentally, left them unprotected in the open 
ground during winter, for we may now fiud 
them growing in the most exposed posi¬ 
tions, apparently as hardy as any Maple. 
The only weakness of which they now con¬ 
tinue to be accused, is a teudeucy to burn 
and fade under the stress of exceptionally hot 
summer day6. 
Let us look at a few of the varieties that 
may strike us as specially noteworthy. First, 
and perhaps most popular, comes Acer poly- 
morphum saoguiueuui. Its main attraction 
is the solid, rich red, or purple that dyes the 
leaf, otherwise it is simply solid aud vigorous 
for au extremely dwarf tree. The Sauguiueuin 
variety performs very much the same orna¬ 
mental part among shrubs as the Purple Beech 
docs among trees, with less shining lustre aud 
more richness of hue. Surely I could not 
give it higher praise. Iu meuliomng these 
varieties of Japanese Maple, I must not for¬ 
get the original species, Polymorphum, which 
grows better than many of its varieties, aud 
is only less exquisite thau the best of its off¬ 
springs. Indeed, though the prevailing color 
of its leaves is green, it ollen throws out 
sports of piuk, yellow aud while, thus illus¬ 
trating afresh its erratic teudeucy, .that ten¬ 
dency which has enabled Jupauese cultiva¬ 
tors to display their horticultural ingenuity iu 
perpetuating so mauy attractive varieties by 
skillful grafting. 
Magnolias. —Magnolia Halleanaor 6lcllata, 
is the most compact aud slow-growing of its 
race. It has been introduced from Japan for 
many years, hut has not until recently been 
received with anything like the attention it 
deserves. The leaves are dark-green, some¬ 
what small for a Magnolia, and given to dis¬ 
posing themselves in very picturesque masses, 
ifitisthe most dwarf of Asiatic Magnolias, 
it is also the hardiest aid most readily trans¬ 
planted. Its prime charm consists in its 
flowers. They are more thau creamy white, 
they are snow-white, with a peculiar brilliance 
of texture; but, more thau all, they are de¬ 
licately fragrant. 
The Sun hay Pine. —But the Pinus Mas- 
soniana par excellence is the golden-leaved 
form of that species. It is bright gold, that 
seems to gain a touch ot deeper gold as you 
pause to look at it. This peculiar effect is 
greatly enhanced by the fact that Pinus Mas- 
soniana has two leaves only in a sheath, aud 
these leaves are so clustered on the end of the 
branches as to spread in every direction. It 
was this peculiarity that gave rise to the uumo 
Sun-ray Pine. But the noteworthy habit of 
this Pine is its late variegatiou. in June, 
while in full growth, it is rather greenish- 
golden than goldeu, but all through the sum¬ 
mer its yellow grows brighter, until, in Sep¬ 
tember, it makes a very striking object amid 
the fading leaves of fall. 
Oil Paste Shoe Blacking.— As the Scien¬ 
tific News rciuaikd, any one may make his 
his own oil-paste slacking if he cares to take 
the trouble. The following is a trustworthy 
recipe for the purpose:— 
Molasses..........1 lt>. 
Ivory black....lii lb. 
Sweet oil... .a oz. 
Rub together iu a Wedgwood mortar till all 
tho iugrediouts form a perfectly smooth homo¬ 
geneous mixture; ibeu add a little lemon 
juice or strong vinegar, say the juice of one 
lemon, or about a wine-glasB of strong vinegar, 
and thoroughly incorporate, with just enough 
water, added slowly, to gain the required con¬ 
sistency.—Journal of Chemistry. 
War and Taxation.—*' Every war, even a 
victorious war, is a national calamity,” So 
writes the Count Von Moltke, Germany’s inoBt 
successful warrior. Last year Europe expended 
for military and naval purposes something 
near $800,000,000, and did no fighting. This 
great burden was borne chiefly by eight Pow¬ 
ers, as follows : "Russia, $173,740,000; Great 
Britain $163,510,000; France, $138,520,000; 
Germany, $101,020,000; Austro-Hungary. $53,- 
074 000 , Italy, $44,030,000; Spain, $28,500,000; 
Turkey, $23,800,000. This profitless squander¬ 
ing of money—which the over-taxed producers 
have to furnish—is unfortunately not the whole 
of the blood tax upon Europe in times of peace. 
The national debt6 of Europe, due almost en¬ 
tirely to past wars uud preparations for future 
conflicts, amount to more than twenty billion 
dollars, tbe interest ot which the producers 
have to meet, About eighteen billions of debt 
stand against the eight Powers above named. 
To this frightful extent Europe is handi¬ 
capped in the race for industrial supremacy. 
It is the penalty which the people have to pay 
for the accidents of their geographical posi¬ 
tion, tho forms of goveruuieut they have in¬ 
herited, aud their worse Inheritance of military 
history, national hatreds, aud political entan¬ 
glements.—Scientific American. 
Plants and the Electric Light.—A good 
deal has been said by some of the Loudon hor¬ 
ticultural journals respecting the practical ap¬ 
plication of the Electric Light for forcing 
purposes. It now appears that the growth of 
plants is proved to take place uuder the influ¬ 
ence of the electric light, and although matters 
are still in their infancy, enough has been de¬ 
finitely gaiued to show that, in tho future at 
least, the English, if not American gaidener 
may be able to avail himself with advantage 
of the electric light, and ultimately set the 
dark, foggy days of winter at defiance as he 
docs already their low temperature. It was 
already known in a vague sort of way that the 
action of the electric light on vegetation was 
similar to that of tho solar ray; but practical 
proof, 6uelt as would carry conviction to the 
unscientific mind, was wautiug. This has now 
been afforded, and to Dr. Siemens, as we learn 
from the Gardener’s Chronicle of Londou, is 
due the credit of being the first to place the 
matter on a practical basis. At a late 
meeting of the Royal Society, Dr. Siemens 
gave orally au accouut of his preliminary ex¬ 
periments, and exhibited illustrations of the 
power of this new agent in promoting vege¬ 
table growth. The method pursued was to 
plant quick-growing plants aud seeds, 6uch as 
mustard, carrots, beans, cucumbers and 
melons, in pots, and these pots were divided 
into four series, one of which was kept en¬ 
tirely in the dark, one was exposed to the 
iulluence of the electric light onlyq one to the 
influence of day-light only, aud one to day-light 
and electric light in succession. The electric 
light w r as applied for six hours each evening— 
from five to eleven—and the plants were then 
left in darkness during the remainder of the 
night. The general result was that the plants 
kept entirely in tho dark soon died; those ex¬ 
posed to tho electric light only or to sunlight 
only throve about equally ; aud those exposed 
to solar light first, aud then to electric light 
alter sunset, throve far better thau either, the 
specimens of muetaid aud of carrots exhibited 
to the Society showing this difference iu a 
very remarkable way. 
The Electric Middlings Purifier.—A 
public exhibition was given iu New Haven, 
March 13, of the electric middlings purifier, 
the joint invention of two young meu of that 
city. The workiog ol the device it said to 
have beeu highly promising. Over the wire 
boiling cloths is placed a bank of hard rubber 
cjliudeis, which are slowly revolved aguiust 
strips ol sheep skm and thus electrified. To 
these rollers the light brau is attracted, to be 
meehauically brushed lutoa proper receptacle. 
This substitution of electric attraction for the 
blast iu separating bran front Hour Is said to 
lessen the waste, while it obviates the necessi¬ 
ty of doing the work iu a closed chamber and 
the risk of explosions. The exhibition was 
made in an open room, and there was neither 
dust nor waste. 
The Railroad lobby is the most powerful, 
dexterous and best supplied of all lobbies, and 
no bill restricting the roads or adverse to their 
interests has auy chance of success unless it 
is clearly right and is urgently demanded by 
the great body of the people. The unjust 
favoritism of secret special rates must be abol¬ 
ished.—So says the N. Y. Herald; so say we 
all. _ 
The New Hampshire Mirror and Farmer 
says that an extensive breeder of Angora goats 
in Texas considers it a much more profitable 
business than sheep-raising. This person owns 
1,110 goats. It costs $1,000 per annum to pro¬ 
vide for them, and his profits last year he esti¬ 
mates at $2,000. The meat is claimed to be 
better than mutton, aud each goat yields about 
tw T o pounds of hair annually, which is worth 
55 cents per pound in this country and 75 
cents in England. 
Spring Has Come. —Go and commune with 
nature and be chased by the taurine quadru¬ 
ped : go walk in the aromatic fields aud val¬ 
leys where the hornet buzzes like a book-agent 
and yearns for an opportunity to imbue the 
small boy with its cimeter. Go along the rail¬ 
road beside which idle breezes osculate and 
dally with the telegraph wires, and behold the 
Dumber of quack medicines, everyone of which 
is the best, and you will be quite well aware 
that spriug is here. Just gaze upon the Dan¬ 
delion whose golden heart is wreathed in a 
snowy aureole; just gaze upon the Violet 
which offers a tempting banquet to the honey¬ 
bee ; just gaze upon the lambkin that gambols 
playfully over the balmy lawn -, and then look 
at the suits of clothes for eight dollars apiece, 
and the landlady cleaning house, and leinov- 
ing tucks from the floor with her husband’s 
best razor. Then listen to last month’s chick¬ 
en trying to evolutc its pule into a respectable 
crow; then notice how the landlord doesn't 
keep his word about having the wall re-papered, 
and the kitchen faucets fixed so that they won’t 
divulge their contents unsolicited, and you 
will be twice positive—if possible—that spring 
is at hand. 
If yon happen to be matter-of-fact, and can’t 
dlsLiuguieb the poetic affinities and attributes 
of things, and still imagine that spring is not 
here, why then there is only one way for you 
to find out positively, and that is very simple- 
look at the almanac.—Thoughts and Events. 
Forcibly put.— We flud the following in the 
Eveuiug Post: " Polsouing the wells is regarded 
as an extreme act of human atrocity ; hat al¬ 
though in almost all wars of any magnitude and 
duratiou the act or the intent to commit it is 
charged upon 'the enemy,’ there has seldom been 
any trustworthy evidence in support of the accu¬ 
sation. Is poisoning tho milk much less atro¬ 
cious ? Next to water there is no article more 
widely used, or used more unsuspectingly. 
When the adulteration is effectual and fatal, 
the priucipal sufferers from it are members of 
an inuocent and helpless class—little children, 
who are spa'ed in war as non-combatants, but 
who arc easiest and ofteuest the victims of 
those destroy era in time of peace, the venders 
of diseased milk.” 
Plowing matches are excellent things, savs 
the London Farmer. They foster in the 
teamster a love of performing good honest 
work. A straight, clean, well-cut furrow is 
pleasant to look at, and any project which 
tends to promote good plowing i« deserving of 
support. 
Mr. R. J. Black, of Bremen, Fairfield Go., 
Ohio gives prominence in his catalogue to the 
following apples: 
Celestia. From seed gathered la North 
Carolina by Dr. Mote. Dr. Johu A. Warder 
says of it: “ It combines so many excellencies 
that it will be hard to find Its compeer.” lie 
describes it as follows:—Corn small, oval, open, 
clasping; seeds numerous, loug, angular ; flesh 
yellow, very liue-graiued. very lender, juicy ; 
flavor sub-acid, very sprightly and spicy, 
aromatic, delicious; quality, very best; use, 
table aud kitcheu; season, September [near 
Cincinnati],—Warder’s American Pomology, 
page 531. 
Stuart’s Golden. See Rural New-Yorker 
for July 22, ’79, for Mr. Charles Downing’s 
description, also engraving from specimen 
sent by Mr. Downing. 
Mote’s Sweet.— Dr. Warder says:—"One 
of tho most delicious sweet apples. Origin 
til l £ am 3 as that of Celestia. 
CATALOGUES, ETC.. RECEIVED. 
Catalogue of Forest Trees of North 
America, by Prof. Charles S. Sargent, of Har¬ 
vard University. This catalogue is published 
with a view to facilitate the collection of in¬ 
formation regarding our foreBt trees, in con¬ 
nection with the 10th census of the United 
States. 
The American Standard of Excellence, 
revised by the American Poultry Association 
at their annual meetings, including the changes 
made at their annual meeting at Buffalo, Feb¬ 
ruary, 1879. This handsomely gotten up work 
of 243 pages, gilt-edged, morocco-bound and 
printed on tinted paper, is an elegant specimen 
of editorial supervision and typographical art. 
In it is a complete description of all the. recog¬ 
nized varieties of fowls, and it should, there¬ 
fore, be iu tbe hands or on the book-shelves 
not only of every poultry fancier, but of all 
lovers of domesticated fowls. Geo. S. Joselyn, 
Fredonia, N, Y., Sec’y and Treas. A. P. A. 
IIolstein Herd Book, Vol. 4. In this vol¬ 
ume are registered 208 bulls of this fine breed, 
08 of which are imported animals, and 577 
cows, of which 365 are imported- As wo have 
had frequent occasion to remark this breed of 
late years Las been gaining rapidly in popu¬ 
larity, not only in the recognized dairy dis¬ 
tricts, but all over the country. 
Catalogue of Cider and Wine Presses 
sold by Boomer &, Boschert, Syracuse, N. Y. 
THE BIRDSELL MONITOR JR. CLOVER 
SEPARATOR, 
Twenty-five years ago John C. Birdsell in¬ 
vented the Monitor Clover Separator, which he 
continued personally to manufacture until 
1870, when tlie rapidly growing demand for his 
machines necessitated the organization of the 
Birdsell Manufacturing Company, of South 
Bend, Indiana, so that by enlarging the works 
the great demand might be promptly supplied. 
Of the present workshops the main building, 
80x106 feet, and five stories high, is devoted 
exclusively to the manufacture of separators. 
The popularity of these among thiasberuien 
everywhere, is amply shown _by the fact that 
over 8,000 of them are now in use throughout 
the eouutry. The late adaptation of steam to 
thrashing machinery, however, called for a 
separator (hat would do the work much more 
rapidly. Even with Mr. BirdscH’s quartei of a 
century's experience in that particular line, it 
required a considerable number of experiments 
before Just the right improvements could be 
madeupou the "old reliable" Monitor to adapt 
it to the new requirements. 
The most efficient changes, however, were 
at length discovered, aud these were all em¬ 
bodied in the Monitor Jr. Combined Clover 
Separator. In its construction the makers 
have adhered closely to me main principles 
which made the old Monitor deservedly a 
favorite, departing from them only in form 
aud other uuesseutial details, iu which the 
changes made are conducive to greater effi¬ 
ciency under the new requirements. The 
Monitor Jr. differs from the old Monitor in the 
following particulars:—The thrasher cylinder 
runs under-shot instead of over-shot, hence 
no thrasher feed roller is necessary, while it is 
enabled to thrash much faster, as the hulling 
aud separating capacity lias been increased 
about one-third; instead of the long raddle 
belt that conveyed chaff and seed to the huller 
in the old machine, that office is more efficient¬ 
ly doue by a vibrating floor in tho new; as 
seen in the accompanying cut, the sides of 
the machine are made light, au arrangement 
which, with the addition of the Duster de¬ 
vised by the same firm, practically saves the 
operators from the annoyance of dust; the size 
of the pulleys has been enlarged, thus greatly 
ncreas.ug tho friction, and lessening the 
strain. Several minor alterations have also 
beeu tn.de, all in the line of greater efficiency. 
Great as has been tbe popularity of the old 
Moulto •, one ventures little iu prophesying that 
that of iu youthful competitor will be still 
greater, a good lortuue already presaged by 
the large sales of it made since iu Introduc¬ 
tion to the public. Wo would advise alt who 
are interested iu machinery of this kind to 
send for prices and full particulars to the 
above uddress, and also for The Clover Leaf, 
u well tdited aud instructive periodical mailed 
tree to all farmers whoso uarnus are lorwauled 
to this cuter prising Company. 
THE BIRDSELL MONITOR JR. COMBINED CLOVER SEPARATOR. —FIG. 126. 
