4885 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
385 
GOVERNMENT BUILDING. 
(RURAL SPECIAL REPORT.) 
Pennsylvania is far behind the newer 
Western States in her exhibits, and her peo¬ 
ple are as unjust to themselves individually 
as to their peerless commonwealth, by their 
failure to present an exhibit worthy of her 
varied resources. Such is the opinion of Col. 
McClure, of the Philadelphia Times. There 
are, however, a good display of seeds, a large 
mineral collection, a most extensive show of 
glassware, plain and decorated china, a tine 
tobacco exhibit, several specimens of welded 
copper, which is said to be a lost art redis¬ 
covered, a neat pavillion made of slate, and a 
good silk display from the Women’s Silk Cul¬ 
ture Association. These are the cnly note¬ 
worthy things In the space. 
Rhode Island has divided her space into 
three parts, devoting one each to natural 
products, manufactured articles and the edu¬ 
cational display. The latter is quite exten¬ 
sive and embraces some excellent school work. 
Among the industrial exhibits is a very com¬ 
plete collection of jewelry. The wood-paper 
industry is well shown; tools and general 
hardware are amply represented. Dry goods 
are handsomely displayed, and there is a due 
show of electrical goods, also a large and 
noteworthy collection of stuffed State birds in 
cases. The mineral exhibit is also nicely 
cased and labeled, and the native woods are 
carefully shown. 
The exhibit of the Palmetto State is of 
peculiar interest. Its location is conspicuous 
from afar by a huge four-sided pyramid of 
phosphat.ic rock. This Carolina phogphate 
forms one of the largest and most important 
industries of the State. There are now 25 
mining companies with a total capital of over 
two aud-a half million dollars, producing 
$2,100,000 worth of products, employing about 
2,000 hands, and paying $622,860 in wages 
annually. Then there are 11 companies man¬ 
ufacturing the fertilizer, having a combined 
capital of nearly $3,000,000 more. About 
$2,500,000 worth of this phosphate is now an¬ 
nually mined in South Carolina. The ferti¬ 
lizer is also shown in jars. Iu these deposits 
are found mauy wonderful fossils, and the 
collection of these is the finest in existence. 
The agricultural display is scarcely equaled 
by any Southern State, and Northern visitors 
especially may prepare for a surprise in this 
space. Cotton in a great variety of forms, 
nearly' all cereal grains, grasses, roots, hay, 
vegetables and a large variety of soil products 
show excellent growth and quality. Native 
woods, 425 specimens; fishes, 230 specimens, 
are shown in plaster and alcohol. There are 
also many fine mineral spfceimens, gold, silver, 
tin, lead, copper, etc., and a large collection of 
manufactured articles, covering a wide range 
of adaptation. In looking over the grand 
display one almost forgets her fatal shot on 
Fort Sumpter 25 years ago. 
The exhibit of Tennessee is also excellent. 
She makes the largest and finest show of 
marble on the grounds. A beautiful solid slab 
measures 14x3x1 feet; various other building 
stones from the Knoxville quarries are in¬ 
cluded in this exhibit, and the arrangement is 
excellent. Then she excels also in her display 
of corn, at least in the ear. The grain is 
beautiful and the variety very large. A collec¬ 
tion of dried plants and grasses is notable for 
great variety and the skill displayed in mount¬ 
ing, and the vegetable display is exceptionally 
good. Peanuts, tobacco, cotton, broom-corn, 
native woods, minerals, all combine to make a 
very notable display. A neatly constructed 
pavillion contains grain and seeds in jars. 
There are also a rare geological cabinet, und a 
good show of minerals generally. The noted 
old Cumberland Furnace (1706) which made 
the cannon balls used at the New Orleaus bat¬ 
tle, sends coal, iron, coke, etc. The State is 
said to have iiou deposits under nearly three, 
fourths of its entire area, and the coal area is 
also very large, 
Texas lias one of the grandest and most re¬ 
markable exhibits on the grounds. How few 
at the North ever stop to realize what a vast 
empire Texas is, with her area of 274,346 square 
miles, producing one-fourth of the cotton crop 
of the Union, one fourth of the beef product, 
having 13,000,000 head of live stick, nearly 
78,000,066 bushels of grains, aud a school fund 
of $80,000,000. She exhibits 360 native grasses, 
150 varieties of timber, aud a very excellent 
mineral collection, coal, iron, copper, lead, 
gypsum, precious stones, and superior kaolin. 
A beautiful entomological collection is said to 
embrace 75,000 specimens in pairs. The native 
animals,birds,reptiles, etc., are shown in stuff¬ 
ed specimens. The vegetables are attractive in 
size and appearance. Cotton is shown in 
many forms and varieties. 8ugar in cane and 
barrel, tobacco, rice, wool in beautiful fleeces, 
jute, hemp, and other fiber plants attract the 
attention; one of the strongest known fiber 
plants being Lechegnilla, as known by the 
Mexicans, Agava Shawii, being the botanical 
name. 
The Woman’s Department is a labarynth 
of exquisite art and useful work, in which 
lovers of the beautiful may spend hours. 
Here among the paintings I find a pretty little 
Jersey calf by Mrs. Secretary Lamar, who 
has put a deal of life in her canvass. Texas 
is reaching out after the title “Empire State.” 
Will New York let her secure it? 
Vermont has a small apace filled with a 
creditable exhibit as far as it goes. Her slate 
quarries are represented by seven different 
shades and kinds in fine large samples. Her 
marbles and granites are constructed into a 
beautiful arch, each block being carefully 
fitted and highly polished. Wool, maple su¬ 
gar, butter and cheese, are among her leading 
products, and all are well shown. Some of 
the fine Merino fleeces are wonderful; one of 
29}£ pounds was shorn from a ram three years 
old—301 days’ growth of wooL Fifty-five va¬ 
rieties of potatoes, all flue specimens, and 27 
native woods are exhibited. 
Virginia does not make a very brilliant dis¬ 
play on the whole, and yet there are some in¬ 
teresting articles both in the State space and 
that assigned to the Richmond & Danville 
Railroad Company. Iron ore is extensively 
shown. There are good specimens of State 
tobacco, and a moderate display of grain, 
seeds and nuts. 
West Virginia has a small space fairly well 
filled. The display of coal is large. The na¬ 
tive woods are shown in section in a library; 
each section or volume having its bark for 
the back of the book. Other features of the 
exhibit are attractive to visitors. 
Washington Territory has only a small 
petroleum, gold and silver ores, polished 
agates, huge fossil fish, and an immense vari¬ 
ety of exhibits combine to give an inkling of 
her wonderful resources. Within her bonders 
lies most of the Yellowstone Park, that great 
Wonderland of the World. Some of the hot 
water specimens from the noted geysers are 
strangely beautiful. Many petrifications are 
shown. Native woods and grasses are shown; 
and the leading grains are not lacking. There 
is also a fine display of asbestos, and it would 
take much space to even enumerate the varied 
articles that have been transported from that 
far-distant, and undeveloped region. h h. 
farm iHacljinenj. 
THE CROWN MOWER. 
THE FOURTH PRESENT IN OUR DISTRIBUTION. 
In our Premium list we attempted to 
illustrate the Crown Mower which is to be 
given to the person sending the fourth largest 
club of subscribers. By some mistake we 
used an old electrotype. The machine to be 
presented is in every way much superior to 
the one shown. It has a solid iron frame; 
malleable guards with steel cutting-plates; 
wooden pitman with ball-and-socket knife- 
connections; the trucks are made of the proper 
wjdth. and the inner shoe is placed in front of 
the drive wheel, which brings both wheels on 
the stubble instead of on the cut grass. In 
fact It is to be one of the latest machines 
made by the Janesville Machine Company, 
Janesville, Wis. We show the correct cut at 
Fig. 188, and whoever gets this machine will 
be more than satisfied with it. 
Cslrbovimltural. 
NOTES ON CEMETERY PLANTS. 
SAMUEL PARSONS. 
It may seem strange to many readers that 
I should use the expression cemetery plants. 
THE CROWN MOWER. Fig. 188. 
space. Commissioner Ferguson was greatly 
hampered by lack of funds at first, and some 
of the goods did not arrive; but he still 
has a fair exhibit in many respects. The na¬ 
tive woods are finely polished. There is ex¬ 
cellent iron ore, coal, marble, building stone, 
various valuable clays, copper, silver, gold, 
salmon, grains in variety, flowers of various 
kinds, brick, wools, hops in bales, and many 
other articles of interest. A huge fir-plank 
feet wide, 2-1 feet long, takes the cake for 
size and soundness. The Indian relics are 
many aud curious. Her coal lands are thought 
to be inexhaustible, and her forests the finest 
iu the world. Her waters abound with fish, 
and her woods with game. 
A special feature of the Wisconsin exhibit 
is thut most of it is neatly inclosed in fine glass 
cabinet cases, where the articles are carefully' 
arrauged, labeled, protected from dust, or in¬ 
jury by handling. The vegetables are massive, 
yet smooth and handsome. The maple products 
are tempting, and the honey exhibit is full aud 
specially tine. There are eight cases of farm 
and garden seeds aud grains, a tine case of 
wools, and a large number of cases filled with 
all manner of manufactured goods. The edu¬ 
cational exhibit is also quite complete und 
illustrative of progress. 
Wyoming has an exhibit of which it would 
be a pleasure to writ© in detail. Her natural 
wealth is fabulous. She has huge specimens 
of her coal here. Her coal deposits are beyond 
estimate, many of the beds being from one to 
48 feet in thickness. It exists not in carboni¬ 
ferous rocks, as at the East, hut in more recent 
geological formations, as it were, “the lost 
leaves of the cretaceous chapter of the great 
stone hook of nature.” The territory is also 
said to be dotted o’er with oil springs. 
Irou ore is here from her vast mountains of 
this metal. Graphite ore, kaolin, copper, 
Are not, they may well say, all hardy, orna¬ 
mental plants in a proper sense of the term, 
cemetery plants? Yes, if we expect to make 
the term apply to all plants used ou open 
law ns of the cemetery as well as on burial 
sections. For the purposes, however, of these 
remarks, I propose to limit the use of the 
term to plants that are specially adapted to 
burial plots. These sections possess in reality' 
the only distinctive and characteristic quality 
of a cemetery, because they are set aside 
strictly for burial purposes. All other parts 
of the general cemetery might as well be 
lawns auywhere, and therefore require no 
special lawn planting treatment. It is to the 
consideration then of the best kinds of plants 
for the ornamentation of burial spots that I 
wish to call attention. 
The most common forms of lots fouud in 
public cemeteries eontaiu from 100 to 400 
square feet. These plots, now that hedges 
have fallen into disrepute, are usually sur¬ 
rounded by a low rail fence, two to three feet 
high made of oue or two copper or galvanized 
iron bars supported by square stone posts On 
purchasing such a lot, the question how to 
plant it very soon comes to the fore. The de¬ 
sire to plant the lot springs from an admirable 
instinct, that the everebauging, living beauty 
of a plant will form the best ornameut aud 
most exquisitely suggestive memorial and 
monument that can be deviseed for the home 
of the dead. But though the desire may be 
right aud admirable, its realization is, unfor¬ 
tunately, often ineffectual and unsatisfactory. 
For illustrations of this, it is only necessary 
to turn to mauy of the lots of nearly all of the 
prominent cemeteries in the country. Take 
an extreme case—a convenient sized lot con¬ 
taining 200 square feet: in it appear, living and 
thriving, two Silver Maples, which ought to 
have an area of, at least, 5,000_square feet for 
their proper development. Less striking il¬ 
lustrations of this character meet us every¬ 
where. Arbor-vitse, hemlocks, purple and 
weeping beeches, rhododendrons, and various 
other beautiful plants that are far too large- 
growing for such positions, are continually 
met in the burial plots of the best arranged 
cemeteries. It is a common mistake to assume 
that it is safe to plant such large-growing 
trees and shrubs with the intention of cutting 
them down whenever they attain dimensions 
that make tbem liable to injure the beauty of 
the lot and the health and symmetry of other 
trees. Experience proves that such trees are 
seldom cut down at any time. No one happens 
to be at hand with either the will or the au¬ 
thority to do it. But even should the cutting 
down be done at the right time, the original 
method of planting remains a mistake, for 
there can be, in such a limited area, no other 
tree coming on to take its place within a rea¬ 
sonable period, and to grow a new one will 
take a long time. Turf, moreover, cannot be 
kept in good condition under such large trees. 
All this applies equally to small burial places 
in church-yard3 and private cemeteries which 
have no interior dividing fences, for large- 
growing deciduous and evergreen trees will be 
sure to injure the vigor aud breadth of the 
turf and obscure the graves themselves, if 
they do not, when planted in the ordinary 
close manner, end in destroying each other. 
The most appropriate plants for ornamenting 
burial plots are doubtless therefore such as do 
not ordinarily grow more than three feet 
wide in the largest diameter of their foliage. 
Among such plants may be included a large 
number of beautiful herbaceous plants, such 
as anemones, larkspurs, chrysanthemums, 
phloxes, asters, spiraeas, campanulas, pinks, 
day lilies, cardinal flowers, sedums, silenes, 
veronicas and violets. Nor should the hardy 
bulb6 that bloom at different seasons through¬ 
out the year be forgotten—such bulbs as cro¬ 
cuses, snowdrops, irises, lilies, snowflakes, nar¬ 
cissus, scillas, trilliums, tulips. Beautiful hardy 
grasses, like the plume-crested, waving Eula¬ 
lias variegata and zebriua, should always find 
a place in our burial plots. Roses also should 
be favorite plants for burial places, and I 
would specially commend for this purpose 
the Japanese Rosa rugosa on account of its 
hardy, rich, vigorous, dark-green foliage 
which escapes the attacks of the mildew and 
aphis, so injurious to the ordinary rose bush. 
[An excellent plant for the purpose.— Eds.] 
The flowers of this curious Japanese rose are 
single and present a charming effect, as they 
lie embedded in the solid-looking masses of 
the dark foliage. 
Suitable, however, as these herbaceous 
plants, bulbs and roses may be for burial 
plots, it will be found that something more is 
required. The tree and shrub element must 
have due recognition and employment or an 
incompleteness will be felt in the treatment of 
the lot. But ordinary trees and shrubs are 
unfitted for employment in such work. 
A little trouble must therefore be taken to 
hunt out in different nurseries the exact kinds 
of plants required. There are really not many 
trees and shrubs adapted to the dimensions of 
an ordinary burial plot. The following short 
list will give the greater part of them, viz: 
dwarf Black Spruce (Abies nigra pumila), 
Golden Japanese Juniper. Creeping Juniper 
(Juniperus squamata). Hudson’s Bay Silver 
Fir (Picea Hudsonica), Dwarf Scotch Pine 
ipinus sylvestris pumilal, Retinisporas lyco- 
podioides, obtusa nana and obtusa naua aurea, 
Irish Yew (Taxns fastigiata! , 'Cytissus inear- 
nata, Deutzia gracilis; dwarf, erect, European 
Euonymus, Spiraea crispifolia or bullatum, 
Azalea amoena and Daphne Cneorum. Among 
the evergreens I mention as specially beauti¬ 
ful aud hardy, the Japanese Junipers and 
Retinisporas. No other evergreens assume 
more graceful and various colors and forms, 
but at the present time, few satisfactory 
specimens can be found in American nurseries. 
The temptation to use, in cemetery lots, all 
evergreen shrubs, is great. Thev grow slowly 
and are specially ornamental, but in reality 
most of them attain too great dimensions for 
the kind of cemetery planting we are consid¬ 
ering. Azalea arncena, the best evergreen 
shrub for small burial plots, ha3 exquisite, 
small, dark-green foliage which turns wine, 
red in Autumn, and is crowued with abundant 
small, purplish-red flowers in early May. Its 
shape is compact and dwarf, keeping for a 
score of years within the three feet in 
dimensions, which we have specified as desir¬ 
able for cemetery plots. Daphne Cneorum 
is a charming little plant that bears numer¬ 
ous piuk flowers on curious evergreen 
foliage nearly all Summer. Among decid¬ 
uous shrubs there are few better suited 
to small burial plots than the dwarf, erect 
Euonymus and Spiraea crispifolia, or, more 
properly, bullatum. Deutzia gracilis is well fit¬ 
ted for the same purpose, is charming in 
bloom; but the foliage is not specially inter- 
ing, and in lawn 'planting foliage is of first 
