apparently 20 or 30 years old, and doubtless 
brought over from Japan by some ship-mas¬ 
ter of a generation ago. 
more than that from the Free Seed Distribu¬ 
tion alone.” 
“That is not all; he sells calves for $15 to 
$50.a head at four to twelve weeks old. You 
see, he keeps all thoroughbred stock.” 
“ I guess maybe it does pay to take a farm 
paper after all; but I never saw it in that light 
before.” 
That is the way with too many fanners 
the country over. They think the old way is 
the only way, and that “book farming” is a 
humbug. But when you see a sleek, clean 
farm, with no weeds or briars in the fence 
corners, stones and stumps cleared off, and a 
nice door-yard lawn, you are safe to bet that 
the owner takes the Rural New-Yorker or 
some other good farm paper. 
Fortville, N. Y. subscriber. 
thing I heard oi' read about, and did not get 
a squash to mature before the vines were de¬ 
stroyed by the odoriferous squash bug. Inad¬ 
vertently a hill of squash was planted near a 
coop of chickens; the vines grew vigorously 
and produced abundance of squashes. From 
that time I have grown squash near chickens 
on the same plot of ground, a coop of chickens 
being placed among six to eight, hills of squash. 
The chicks have had froe play over the patch 
by daylight from the time of planting to the 
time of harvesting the squash. The coop is 
often moved for the good of the fowls, and 
the ground cultivated frequently and thor¬ 
oughly for the good of the fowls and squash. 
Tin-key chicks will injure the squash vines. 
ROSA RUGOSA, 
THE JAPAN IVY 
AMPELOPSIS TRICU3PIDATA. 
SAMUEL PARSONS, JR. 
The best known name of this vine, an en- 
graviug of which is shown at Fig. 135, is 
Ampelopsis Veitohii, so-called from Messrs. 
Veiteh, of London, who were among the first 
to introduce it extensively in England. By 
whatever name it may he known, however, its 
renown for many valuable qualities should be 
excellent throughout the greater part of Eu¬ 
rope and the United States. The English Ivy is 
too well known, for the charming color and ar¬ 
tistic grouping of its leaves, to demand words 
of praise at this late date and the most favor¬ 
able word I can say for the Bo-colled Japan 
Ivy, is that of all hardy vines it approaches 
most nearly to the English Ivy in general ex¬ 
cellence. The Japan Ivy clings to stones, 
brick, and wood, by its small rootlets, and its 
leaves overlap each other in pleasing masses 
like the ivj T , and, like the English Ivy the 
conformation of the leaf is quaint and the 
color in Summer a shining, rich green. It 
grows quite as fast as the English Ivy, aud 
thiives in a greater variety of soils. But you 
will say “The English Ivy is evergreen!” 
True, aud the Japan Ivy is not, aud in so far 
it is inferior, but balance against this superior 
quality of the English Ivy, the rich and deli¬ 
cate shading of yellow and crimson which 
paint in Autumn the leaves of the Japan Ivy, 
and also its superior hardiness in the different 
kinds of climate where it has been tried in 
America, and you must certainly give the 
meed of superiority to the Japan Ivy. Indeed, 
to see English Ivy in its glory in America, 
one must go as far south as Norfolk, Va, 
Throughout almost the entire Middle and 
Northern States, English Ivy is apt to be cut 
down by sleet and cold winds, accompanied or 
succeeded by hot suns during the early days 
of Spring. 
It seems a little strange, in view of these 
facts, that the Japan Ivy is not moregenerally 
planted, for certainly it merits at leastas com¬ 
mon employment as the Virginia Creeper and 
honeysuckle. I am inclined to account 
for this apparent neglect of a valuable plant 
in two ways: one I think is to be found in the 
universal hesitancy of the public to employ 
new plants, uutil rnauy years of experiment 
have tested aud determined their real value, 
and the other, in the unduly bad character 
given a plant by the sale of weakly, young 
specimens by nurserymen eager for early 
profit. The right plan is to set out vigorous, 
well established Japan Ivies closely to the 
wall they are to cover, so that they may at¬ 
tach themselves as quickly as possible, and 
set out on their climbing career with as little 
beating about as possible. The application of 
rich, mellow soil at the very outset, imme¬ 
diately about the roots, is also particularly 
beneficial to its after success. We are indebt¬ 
ed to the Rural’s friend, Mr. Geo. S. Wales, 
of Rochester, N. Y., for the engraving pre¬ 
sented on page 309. 
In selecting shrubs for the lawn, one scarce¬ 
ly thinks of using roses singly, or even grouped 
as shrubs. A number of roses are usually 
huddled together in a bed for the purpose of 
making their somewhat sparse, and ofttiuies 
mildewed foliage, more presentable. A bet¬ 
ter way, lot us suggest, would be, in order to 
secure the benefit of their flowers, to dispose 
them in the nooks and corners of shrubbery in 
clusters of threes or fives, or eveu singly. 
Here their flowex-s would develop well, and 
their mildewed foliage be less conspicuous* 
while the plauts themselves would occupy a 
positiou properly and naturally related to the 
other members of the shrub group. 
The Japanese Rose (Rosa rugosa), however, 
needs no sheltered nook wherein to hide the 
deficiencies of its foliage, for in the excellence 
of its foliage under all circumstances lies its 
greatest charm. Dark, rich green leaves, 
curled aud wrinkled, whence the name, make 
up this foliage in the most luxurious abund¬ 
ance. Nor do mildew or worms seem ever to 
attack it. Broad aud rounded, and of vigor¬ 
ous habit, these solid masses give rise to th e 
SPARROWS. 
A city friend called on me a few days since 
and, presenting a top of a currant bush, asked 
what I thought of it. There being no buds on 
it, I replied: “ It looks very much as though 
in carrying it, the buds had been rubbed off.” 
He said “No!” “ Then its budless condition 
is the work o f sparrows 1” “ Yes! As I sn t in 
my library yesterday I saw the little pests 
hopping about my currant bushes, apparently 
very busy about something. An examina- 
A CHAT WITH A FARMER, 
My business takes me considerably over 
Cattaraugus and Alleghany Counties, N. Y., 
and on one of my recent trips I met a man who 
owns 140 acres of as desirable laud as one 
could desire, when the following conversa¬ 
tion took place nearly verbatim as I seud it. 
I asked: 
“ What farm paper are you taking now ?” 
“ I don’t take any paper devoted exclusively 
to the farm; I take the -, that has a 
whole page of farm news.” 
“That is good, so far as it goes; but why 
don’t you take the Rural New-Yorker, aud 
get a whole paper devoted to farming?” 
“Oh! that costs too much; I can't afford it.” 
“ But one number might pay you the price 
of a year’s subscription?” 
“ Well, I don’t believe in ‘ book farmin’, 
any way; it will do for the rich men to experi¬ 
ment, I hain’t got time or money to do that.” 
“ How many acres are there m your farm!” 
“ A hundred and forty?” 
“ Do you owu it?” 
“ Not exactly; I owe $2,000 on it.” 
“ How long have yon lived here?” 
“Fifteen years.” 
“ How much did you pay for the farm?” 
“ Thirty-five hundred dollars.” 
“How much is it worth now?” 
“1 was offered $5,000 for it yesterday.” 
“ How much stock do you keep?” 
“ Ten cows, two horses, 40 sheep, aud a few 
calves through the Summer.” 
“ What do your calves bring you on an 
average?” 
“ Five or six dollars.” 
“ How many potatoes do you get to the- 
acre?” 
“ Forty to one hundred bushels.” 
“ How much wheat?” 
“ Eight to twelve bushels.” 
“How about oats?” 
“ Thirty to forty bushels to the acre.” 
“ What do you do with your ashes?” 
“ Sell them for 10 cents per bushel.” 
“ Don’t you know thev are worth 40 or 45 
cents per bushel at home here?” 
“What for?” 
“ To put on 3 'our garden and on your pota¬ 
to ground.” 
■‘Well, now (getting excited), you can’t 
make me believe that; don’t I get just as good 
crops as my neighbors?” 
“ Do you know Mr.-, that built that 
large new barn last Summer? Do you raise 
as good crops as he does?” 
“Oh, beliasa better farm than I have.” 
“ Is it any better situated?” 
“No; but it is richer.” 
“ Was it fifteen years ago, when he bought 
it of his father?” 
“No; the old man was in the lumber 
business and let the farm inn down, and was 
glad to sell it to the son for $3,500, aud give 
him time on it at that.” 
“ Who brought up the sou?” 
4 ‘ The old man, of course.” 
"Then, how did the boy know how to farm 
it so well?” 
“Why, he took half a dozen farm papers, 
and bought fertilizers enough every year to 
keep my family.” 
“ Does he own the farm now?” 
“ Yes, and is good for $15,000 or more.” 
“ How much stock does he keep?” 
“Twenty-eight cows, one hundred sheep, 
seven horses, aud generally during Winter 
ten or fifteen head of young cattle.” 
“ Do j 7 ou know his yield of oats Co the acre 
this year?” 
“Yes: his oat ground, 40 acres, averaged 
01 bushels thrasher’s measure.” 
“ Who made that farm to raise such crops?” 
“ He did, of course.” 
“ How did he learn how, if his father did not 
teach him?” 
“Well, he had a good head on him, and I 
guess, after all, he must have to lay the most 
of it to some of the papers. I heard him say 
he would have the Rural New-Yorker if it 
cost ten dollars per year. He says he makes 
NOTES BY A STOCKMAN. 
History repeats itself. Human nature was, 
aud is always the same. In olden times, an 
instance was given of a man who refused to 
be cured of a pestilent disease, because the 
remedy^ was simpty to wash and be clean. But 
if the prescription had been written in mys¬ 
terious symbols, and some imposing forms of 
application had been ordered, the man would 
have been pleased. In something like the 
same manner, we are now told by the scien¬ 
tific investigators that the prevalent diseases 
among cattle in the West are due to ergotism, 
from ergotized grasses. It is the same old 
human vanity that cannot abide plain, simple 
truth. Smut is a species of ergot, and coru is 
a grass; therefore smutty corn is an ergot¬ 
ized grass; and smutty corn produces gan¬ 
grene of the extremities and decay of the 
LEAF-STALK OF ROsA RUGOSA. From Nature. Fig. 137 
doubt whether, after all, the plant can be 
really a rose. The shape of the leaf (seen iu Fig. 
137) and the flowers, however, at. once dispel 
any such doubt,and we find, moreover, the rich, 
full, single, distinctive rose flower a charming 
addition to the beauty of the foliage. Flecked 
with numerous clustered yellow stamens, those 
flowers stud the surface of the solid-looking 
leaves with brilliant effects, of mixed red and 
green. Usually about three inches m diame¬ 
ter, the flowers are to many persons specially 
admirable for their simple character. The 
innumerable double flowers of every shape 
aud hue seen nowadays, make it a pleasant 
ehange, to revert back once more iu rose nov 
elties to the simple combination of petals, 
such as we find in the old sweet-briar of the 
roadside. 
Rosa rugosa is hardy, easily transplanted, 
and readily propagated. A lovtd 3 r , excellent 
shrub in many ways, it is somewhat strange it 
is not used more. Nurseries have not offered 
it for sale uutil recently, but now that it has 
become well known to many, its popularity 
should rapidly increase. As an illustration of 
the length of time a good plant may grow 
and thrive in a country without gainiug recog¬ 
nition, we may cite the fact, well known to 
several, and heretofore recorded in the Ru¬ 
ral, that down on Long Island there exists a 
large hedge of what is evidently Rosa rugosa, 
tion revealed this state of things. I imme¬ 
diately covered my Fay’s with netting, or they 
would have shared the same fate. What shall 
we do with them?” “Shoot’em.” “ I have, 
but for every one I shoot, my neighbors will 
seud a dozen to take its place. A healthy pub¬ 
lic sentiment will ere long take the place of 
the present foolish sentimentalism regarding 
these pernicious nuisances, and demand their 
extermination. The English sparrow must 
HOW ABOUT ENSILAGE FOR HORSES? 
In the Rural of April 19, W. T., of Pough¬ 
keepsie, writes encouragingly of ensilage. I 
am much interested in this mode of saving 
forage, as l think we may be enabled to plant 
such crops as corn and peas, regardless of the 
rainy season which generally covers the time 
from Juno to Fall, and renders it almost 
impossible to save those crops for forage. I 
have seeu in some of my agricultural papers 
statements that the ensilage is a dangerous 
food for the horse, and I now ask W. T. and 
any other of your correspondents who may 
be so kind as to notice this, to state their ex¬ 
perience in feeding horses and colts with this 
food, aud how will it do for those animals 
while at work? e. w. a. 
Tallahassee, Fla. 
name, and recognize the simple nature ot the 
trouble, aud then sensible men will know how 
to apply the re medy. _ 
But we are getting too scientific; and a lot 
of charlatans are posing before the amazed 
public as knowing more than was ever known 
before, gaining reputation for knowledge by 
the mysterlousneas of their words aud their 
oracular manner. Stockmen should know 
something of their own business and the na¬ 
ture of the diseases to which cattle are subject 
when fed upon unwholesome food. Moreover, 
