§84 THE RURAL WEW-YORKESS FAIR HO. 
crease, and let them alone as long as they con¬ 
tinue to do well. They are grand when in 
masses. 
The hyacinth is perhaps the most popular 
of winter-blooming bulbs and deserves all that 
is said of it. I cannot, in this column, go into 
the details of description and culture, but I am 
moved to present a list of hyacinths for ama¬ 
teurs who grow bulbs in rooms in the winter, 
I have tried, in both rooms and greenhouse, 
nearly everything that has appeared in the 
catalogues during the last thirty years, and 
this is the result for room culture. The varie¬ 
ties are almost numberless, but some do much 
better in rooms than others. The list could be 
increased in number, but with little or no gain 
to the growers. For the greenhouse, 1 should 
modify the list and increase the number to se¬ 
lect from. Shades of blue : L'Amio du Cceur, 
Oronaatue, Baron Tuyll, Porcelain Scepter, 
Envoyc, Blocksbergen, Ptince von 8axe Wei¬ 
mar, Charles DickcnB, Kiug of tho Netherlands. 
Shades of red: Bouquet Tendrc, Dibbitz Sab- 
alskauski (what a pity that such a beautiful 
flower should have such a horrid name!), Lord 
Wellington, Madame Zoutmau, Grootvorsl, 
Acteur. White and rosy white: Grand Vain- 
queur. Miss Kitty, Grandeur a Merville, Tri¬ 
umph Blandini. Yellow: Heroine (single), 
King of Holland, Rhinoceros, La Pluie d'Or 
There is a little bulb that has given me so 
much pleasure for three or four years past., 
both indoors aud out, that I must bring it to 
the notice of the readers of the Rural,. I mean 
Triteleia uniflora. It is an alliaceous plant 
It seems to be very little known, and the bulb 
catalogue of the Messrs. Thorburn & Co. is 
the only one iu which I have seen it. It is 
very likely, however, to bo in that of the 
Messrs. Woolson. The flower is star-shaped, 
nearly an inch in diameter, white, with a gray¬ 
ish-blue stripe in each petal, and is pleasantly 
fragrant, though the foliage is not. Though 
only one flower appears at the same time from 
a Btem, there is a long succession of flowers. 
The plant itself is pretty, the long, narrow 
leavos being gracefully carved. It is one of 
the best bulbs for room culture I have ever 
grown, and forces well In the greenhouse. The 
more one sees of it'tlie bettor he likes it. There 
should be not less than half a dozen bulbs in a 
four-inch pot. It is perfectly hardy, continues 
long in bloom, aud is fine in masses in the open 
air. It should be planted early in the border, 
as it makes its leaf growth iu the Fall. It is 
one of those pretty, modest little flowers so apt 
to be overlooked. 
There seem to be very few who grow the 
Plumbago Larpent*. It must be because they 
do not know that it gives us, during late Sum¬ 
mer and Fall, masses of handsome, dark-blue 
flowers, and is in ail respects a desirable bor¬ 
der plant, or, for that matter, a good bedding 
plant for late blooming. It should not be often 
disturbed, as it is not at its besttill well estab¬ 
lished. It is an old plant, and at one time was 
much admired. 
There aie very few who have grown Lilium 
auratum in the open border who have not 
complained of want of success. The trouble 
is that the bulbs gradually dwindle away until 
there is nothing left. It has been suggested 
that home-grown bulbs would do bettor; but 
there will be few of these while bulbs can be 
imported so cheaply. In my first attempts to 
grow tbe Auratum I met with the drawback 
so generally complained ot. I then began ex¬ 
perimenting, and used up a good many bulb6 
before reaching satisfactory results. I tried 
all kinds of exposures and a variety of soils. 
As the result I found that soil is more import¬ 
ant than exposure. The soil that has given 
me the best result is a light sandy loam, with 
a free admixture of leaf mold (not muck). 
In this the bulbs (planted about five inches 
deep) have maintained and increased their size, 
giving me stout stalks aud plenty of large 
flowers, even up to twelve and fourteen inches 
in diameter. This may be a useful hint to 
others, 
A good hardy herbaceous plant, which has 
been in bloom nearly all Summer, and will 
continue till frost, is the double white Lychnis. 
This Is not as common as it should be. It 
pleases me best when allowed to grow on the 
ground without support. It takes up more 
room in this way, but is less trouble, and the 
effect is much finer. 1 have it both ways. 
Horticola. 
---- 
STRAWBERRIES. 
The Marvin.— We have already referred to 
the Marvin as entitled to rank among the more 
promising of the newer strawberries. Mr. J. 
T. Lovett, at our request, gives his opinion of 
it as follows: 
Plant of the style ot Jucunda. but of 
stronger and more vigorous g rowth with larger, 
enduring foliage, and prolific. Berries very 
large, approaching those of the Bharpless, 
Uniform, bright crimson, smooth, glossy with 
prominent bright yellow seeds, rendering it 
peculiarly showy and firm. Flavor good to 
very good. It is so extremely late that the 
first berries ripened June 9, at a time when 
moat other varieties were nearly gone—and it 
continued in fruit until the 25th, It is a most 
promising variety both for home use or mar¬ 
ket, and so far as one can determine from a 
single year's fruiting, it excels all others by 
far as a very late berry. 
MARVIN no. 1. —fig. 387. 
Mr. Roe says, regarding the Marvin, that it 
is very highly praised, and thought by some*to 
be the coming berry The plants he set out 
last Spring bore some large, late, and very firm 
b .Tries of good flivor. Pros. Lyon, whoso 
opinion respecting fruits of any kind is always 
entitled to respect, says that “it is a highly 
promising, very large, late variety.” It is said 
to be a cross between the Wilson and Jucunda 
Our engravings, which are portraits from life, 
show the form and size of average berries. 
Longfellow.— Plants of this new variety 
were received from Mr. 
E. Williams last Spring. 
We do not feel justified 
in pronouncing any em¬ 
phatic opinion of its 
value from the teet of a 
firBt season’s growth 
aud production. The 
plunts have made a 
6trong growth of tall, 
healthy foliage. Ber¬ 
ries average larger 
than our portrait, with 
prominent necks. The 
LONGFELLOW. quality is very good and 
fig. 289. the season medium. 
BIDWELL NO. 1.— FIG. 290. 
Bidwell. —This is another new kind of 
Strawberry of fine promise. It has, however, 
up to this time been 
tested but by a few 
and its merits cannot 
be spoken of with¬ 
out reserve. The 
plant iB a strong grow¬ 
er with foliage, like 
the Bharpless, large 
aud healthy, forming 
thickset stools of 
uuusual productive¬ 
ness. Tbe berries are 
large, conical and reg¬ 
ular both in form and 
size, of a bright red 
color and excellent 
quality. Its Beason is BII)WKIjIj NO. 2.— FIG. 291. 
between medium and late. 
.farm tftnmomrr. 
WHY ARTIFICIAL MANURES FOR POTA¬ 
TOES DO NOT PAY. 
DR. J. B. LAWES, OF ROTHAMSTED, ENG. 
In the Rural of April 10th you ask, why I 
do not think that it will pay to use artificial 
manures for potatoes, as well as for other root 
or cereal crops. It is somewhat difficult 
fully to explain my reasons for such an opinion 
without occupying more space than can be 
spared for tbe purpose. I will, however, make 
a few observations with regard to the subject 
of the question yon put to me, which possibly 
may be interesting to your readers. 
I conceive that the selling priee of the or¬ 
dinary farm crops in the States is not depend¬ 
ent upon the cost of manure, ordinary or ar¬ 
tificial, and that a farmer who was asked to put 
down the items of cost in growing a crop of 
corn, or wheat, would confine himself to the la¬ 
bor employed in various forms, and tfle price of 
the seed. If this be the case, the profitable 
use of any manure must depend upon its capa¬ 
bility of producing an increase of crop ex¬ 
ceeding in value the cost of the manure re¬ 
quired to produce such increase. I will con¬ 
fine my remarks to artificial manures alone, 
which may be divided into two classesfirst 
complete manures; by this I understand man¬ 
ures furnishing all the soil elements of plant 
food in sufficient quantities to grow the crop: 
second* partial maun res which furnish one or 
more of the ingredients that may be deficient in 
the soil, and thus enable the plant to make use 
of those which arc in excess. 
A complete manure which increased a crop 
of corn from 30 to 60 bushels per acre, or a 
crop of potatoes from 200 to 400 bushels, 
ought to leave the land no poorer in the more 
important constituents of plant food, than it 
would be supposing the smaller crop had been 
grown without manure. 
An experiment with a complete manure has 
been under trial at Rothamsted, where, for ten 
years, the soil ingredients contained in one 
ton of hay have been applied every year to one 
acre of permanent pasture. 
The following arc the quantities: 
Sul phs te of Potash.. IS lbs. 
Sulphate of Magnesia.35 ” 
Superphosphate of L5me.......62 
Silicate of Soda. 100 ” 
Sulphate of Ammonia.82 
Muriate of Ammonia.32 
The average produce of hay obtained by thi6 
application has been 82} cwts; while during 
the same period of ten years, the permanently 
unmanured land yielded annually 20 cwts of 
hay per acre. The increase of crop therefore 
obtained by tbe application of the manure 
only amounted to 12} cwts; and, as the cost 
of the manure may be roughly estimated at 
12 dollars, it would exceed the value of the 
increase obtained. From a commercial point 
of view there are, then, two forcible reasons, 
why the result of applying artificial manures 
to bay, is less effective than their application 
to cereal erops: first, the hay crop relatively 
sells at a lower price than the cereals: Becond, 
it removes more of the constituents of the 
soil. The same may be said of potatoes, and, 
to a certain extent, of root crops in gen¬ 
eral, but with a distinction which I will now 
explain. 
In England art) Seal manures are not largely 
used for potatoes, because (as In the case of 
the hay) they would be too expensive, inas¬ 
much as the tubers are carried off the land. 
They are largely used for turnips, mangels, 
etc., but not as a complete manure, nor with 
the intention of selling the products off the 
land. The usual practice is to consume them 
tor feeding purposes, and thus they find their 
way back to enrich the soil. 
If complete manures are to be used profita¬ 
bly in the 8tates at the present time, they 
must be applied to those crops which com 
mand the highest price in proportion to the 
soil constituents which they contain. For 
equal money value corn or wheat would re¬ 
move a much smaller quantity of the soil con¬ 
stituents than either hay or roots. My reasons 
for saying that one crop may be profitably 
grown with artificial manures, while another 
cannot be so grown, are based upon the 
above-named considerations, and I am rather 
disposed to think that advocates of complete 
manures base their ideas on a somewhat erron¬ 
eous view of the true function of artificial 
manures; inasmuch as they do not take into 
account the present low prices of agricultural 
products, which in many easel will not ad¬ 
mit of artificial manures beiug used with 
profit. Soils in general contain some of the 
important ingredients of plant food in greater 
abundance thau they do others. The success¬ 
ful uBe of plaster to the clover crop in the 
States; of sulphate ‘of ammonia to the sugar 
cane in the West hi dies ; of nitrate of soda to 
cereal crops iu general in England, and of 
phosphate to root crops, all indicate that soils 
contain an excess of one food, and a deficiency 
of another. 
One important fact may be learned from the 
experiments upon hay, to which I have re¬ 
ferred above, namely, that the manure ingred¬ 
ients placed upon the land are not all recovered 
in the produce. Thi3, too, is not an isolated 
fact but one confirmed by the whole of the 
Rothamsted experiments, and is due to two 
very different causes; first, the insolubility of 
tbe compound which is formed with tho soil by 
certain manure ingredients ; second, tho very 
soluble nature of other manure ingredients, 
which results in their loss by drainage. These 
two causes combined make the distinction be¬ 
tween the amount of ingredients which chem¬ 
ists find in any individual crop, and the amount 
which experiments or practical agriculture 
have Bhown must necessarily be applied in 
order to grow that crop. 
--- 
SINKING WELLS ON GRAND ISLAND 
IN THE NIAGARA RIVER 
We have received an interesting account of 
tho manner in which this is done from ft resi¬ 
dent there. by which, in most cases, a never- 
failing supply of pure water is obtained. 
This island contains 17,300 acres and has no¬ 
where on it an elovation of over 50 feet above 
the Niagara River. It is destitute of springs 
or permanent runniwg streams, and those not 
dwelling close along side of the river are de¬ 
pendent entirely on cistern and well water for 
household purposes and watering their domes¬ 
tic animals. 
Grand Island, and in fact tho whole neigh¬ 
boring region, is underlaid by a thick bed of 
hard limestone rock, reaching from 25 to 70 
feet below the surface of tho ground, which is 
generally a good clay loam. Between this 
clay and next to the rock, is a stratum of sand 
and gravel one to two feet thick, which on 
being perforated, yields the water sought for 
in any desired quantity. The wells arc bored 
with a 14-inch augur, stone socket pipes 
eight or nine inches in diameter, are put down 
this boring to the bottom, aud iron water 
pipe and pump then inserted within tho stone 
pipe, 
Tim cost of sinking a well and inserting the 
stone pipe complete, is $1.25 per foot. The 
iron pipe and pump to be added are an ad¬ 
ditional charge of $15 to $30, according to the 
depth of the well and the kind of pump used. 
Our informant tells us he has sunk five wells 
for the accommodation of hi6 household, dairy 
aud domestic animals, of which he bus large 
herds, at an average cost of $100 each, and he 
would uot bo without them now, even if they 
were to cost him four times this amount 
(which would be $2,000) to replace them. 
The water in the wells rises to within 15 to 
20 feet of the surface of the ground. Where 
this water comes from iB a mystery, as no 
highlands are near Grand Island, and the 
river water cannot percolate through the 
dense body of clay lying above the rocks. 
Sometimes, however, water has not been 
found at the rock surface, and drilling more 
or less feet into it has been necessary here; 
but very seldom has water finally failed in 
finding passage through the seam6 of this 
rock. 
Several wind-mills have been set up on 
Grand Island for pumping water and other 
purposes, thus lessening the labor of the 
farmers considerably. A 10 to 12-foot wheol 
is large enough to pnmp water for 100 head of 
cattle. Tbe price of such a mill is from $100 
to $150, and the cost of erecting the upright 
timber frame to hold one is from $15 to $30, 
according to th finish put on it. The. limbers 
should be very strong and well bolted together 
and tho supporting post, on which they stand be 
of durable wood and Bunk five to six feet into 
the ground. The frame should be painted as 
well as the mill, thus adding both durability 
and ornament to the structure, and also giving 
it a more picturesque appearance. 
There are many different models of wind¬ 
mills advertised in this and other agricultural 
papers, some of which aio of decided excel¬ 
lence while others are only tolerably good. 
Wc advise all who wish to establish them on 
their farms to examine the workmanship and 
operation closely before purchasing, and not 
to credit more than half of what, the numerous 
agents scattered about the country tell of their 
virtues. A good wind-mill saves fully $100 
per annum in manna! labor, where any con¬ 
siderable number of animals are kept, as it 
may not only be uaed for pumping water, but 
also for cutting corn-stalks, straw and hay for 
stock feed, sawing wood, turning griudstone 
and various other purposes. 
Here Ib an excellent example for landholders 
to follow in various other parts of the United 
States, and particularly on the broad lauds of 
the West, where they are so destitute of 
springs and running streams. We are glad, 
however, to say that wind-mills have now 
come into much uso there, and we hope 
wells will rapidly follow wherever needed. 
How often have we Been in our travels there 
horses aud cattle of great value wading knee- 
deep through a wide rim of filthy mud 
sunounding a pond of foul surface water 
collected in shallow ravines and hollows 
to quench their burning thirst, is such 
