4887 
THE'RURAL NEW-VORKfk. 
If you are fortunate enough to have a wa¬ 
terfall on your farm, no matter how rude and 
bare and unattractive it may be naturally, 
you caii, at very little trouble or expense, con¬ 
vert it into a beautiful spot. And if it be al¬ 
ready a well-furnished, pretty object, you can 
add to its beauty anti attractiveness by regu¬ 
lating the present growth about it and adding 
a further variety of trees, shrubs, small flow¬ 
ering plants and ferns, changing the position 
of a stone here, removing oue there or adding 
one yonder. But if you have no natural wa¬ 
terfall on your farm,don’t coustruet an artifi¬ 
cial one. A waterfall, large or small, should 
be in keeping with the general surroundings, 
and suggestive of necessity—that it is natural 
and indispensable. Such eminent landscape 
artists as Olin.stead, Bowditch and Miller can 
construct a waterfall so like the truth as to be 
mistaken for Nature’s work; but the average 
farmer or gardener cannot. 
Well, as we have got the waterfall, let us 
now proceed to beautify it. Save the trees 
and shrubs about it and add others either at 
or near the falls, and where they will appear 
to most advantage as seeu from your house or 
the highway. Red Cedar and cypress will 
give columnar forms, the Weeping Birch ef¬ 
fect and elegance, the Hemlock Spruce a cosy 
look in winter and afford a home for little 
birds; the Shadbush and Dogwood yield a 
patch of color in May; the Scarlet Maple in 
March and April, and then again the Sugar 
Maple some brilliant tints iu fall. Let. vines 
abound. Clothe tree truuks with Virginia 
Creeper, train Trumpet Vines, wistarias and 
wild clematises up the tree stems and in among 
the branches that they may come to the front 
aud hang down again in floral drapery to the 
ground. The Silk Vino (Periploeaj will climb 
as high and bloom more freely, but its flow¬ 
ers are loss showy. Iu such moist, shady 
places, if sheltered from cold winds, English 
Ivy will wrap in evergreen the naked stems 
of trees. 
Use shrubs to skirt about the falls, spread 
over rocks and roots aud add a touch of color 
hero aud there. The Winter Berry, White 
Alder, Button Bush and Clammy Azalea 
will flourish even if their roots are now 
and then immersed in water for days or 
weeks together, Pink Azaleas, Waving Tam- 
arix, Oak-leaved Hydrangea, and Slender 
Foraythia may show in upon patches here and 
there; and Rose Bay (Rhododendron), Moun¬ 
tain Laurel, Fragrant Surnuch, Inklierry, 
Mahonia, and Strawberry Bush (Euonymus), 
in more shady places. 
Here again, another set of vines are most 
appropriate. We want scarlet and yellow 
honeysuckles, running roses, Ground-nut 
(Apios), Climbing bempweed (Mikania), scar¬ 
let and purple clematises and the like, to 
spread upon the ground and scramble here 
aud there among aud over the bushes. 
We should avoid artificial features and ef¬ 
fects, and trees and shrulw and vines that 
would contribute to the same. Iu suitable 
locations i should like to introduce the Ameri¬ 
can holly, the Glaucous-leaved Magnolia, and 
others of our choicer plants, but they ure of 
such slow growth, aud somewhat particular 
iu their needs, that sturdier material had bet¬ 
ter be used instead. 
Remember ferns. We always must asso¬ 
ciate them with moist aud shady places and 
waterfalls, and, indeed, than those common in 
our woods and swamps we have none more 
appropriate. For bold effects lot us use the 
flowering ferns—Cinnamon, Clayton’s and 
Royal, also the Ostrich Fern. To wander 
about in spreading masses—Diekaonia, New 
England Shield Fern, Sensitive Fern, Maiden 
Hair and Beech Ferns. You can cover over 
the faces of rocks or bare blocks with mats of 
the common polypody, and in drier places 
plaut Aspklium acrostichoides, Goldie’s Aspi- 
dium and Lady Peru. It is ail very well to 
naturalize our lesser ferns, if time aud conven¬ 
ience permit, but. it takes a good deal of 
trouble and care to get any effect from them. 
Aud wo want some of the brighter jewels of 
the ground. Wood aud Rue Anemones, Star- 
flower, Goldthread, Adder’s Tongue (Krythro- 
nium), violets, little Arabias, False Mitre wort, 
1* also Solomon’s Seal, Partridge Berry, 
Meadow Beauty, Spring Beauty aud many 
other pretty little plants will bo very grateful 
for a footing by your waterfall. You can 
dig them up in the woods almost anywhere, 
and plant them hero and there among the 
ferns. They will spread and take care of 
themselves. A glimpse of color in un open 
spot, may be obtained from Moss Pink and 
Pennsylvania Pink, Bloodwood, Trilliums 
of sorts, Solomon’s Seal, Racemed False 
Solomon’s Seal, lilies of sorts, BeUworts 
(Uvularia), tall anemones, Loosestrife, Bee- 
Balm, various kinds of irises, Meadow Rue, 
columbines, Scarlet Lobelia, Day Lilies, Moc¬ 
assin Flowers, and many others will find a 
happy home in such a place. In the wetter 
parts, cowslips (eoltha), Pitcher Plant (Sarra- 
cenia), Blue and Yellow Flags and Marsh Tre¬ 
foil may be grown; and in the little ponds we 
have nothing more desirable than our frag¬ 
rant water lily. In the same way we must 
regard the improvement of the water banks 
before the falls are readied and after they are 
passed. 
Cato. 
“Every Man is premined to Jcnoiv the Law. 
Nine-tenths of all Litigation arises from Ig¬ 
norance of Law.” 
T. II. Tt., Auburn, N. Y .—A owes B a bill 
of 8185, which has run 18 months. B agrees 
verbally to settle for 8100 at the end of that 
time. A pays the money and has a receipt 
for “all claims to date.” B afterward,'sends 
in a bill for $25 balance “duo on bill.” Has B 
any legal right to collect, A holding receipt as 
above 1 
A ns.— The old rule of law was that the part- 
payment of an acknowledged debt "is no sat¬ 
isfaction of the whole debt, even when the 
creditor agrees to receive a part for the whole, 
and gives a receipt for the whole demand.” 
Parsons on Contracts, vol. 8, page fi87, says: 
“It is held that a creditor who agrees to re¬ 
ceive a less sum iu full satisfaction for a 
greater debt, aud who receives this sum aud 
gives a receipt in full, may yet sue for the bal¬ 
ance of las debt.” It appears that in the sim¬ 
ple payment of part of an ascertained and 
acknowledged debt, there is no consideration 
lor the release, which is, therefore, void. 
Formerly it was held that a release under seal 
was necessary to bind the creditor, hut. later 
decisions uphold the validity of a compromise 
where the debt as a whole was unoollecLablo 
owing to the insolvency of the debtor, and a 
part has been paid or secured to the creditor 
as a condition of his releasing the whole. This 
furnishes the consideration required. In the 
case cited, we thiuk the #85 can still be col¬ 
lected. 
M. L. S., Elmira, N. Y.—Can the owner of 
a buildiug ou the lino of my property prevent 
my planting vines (ampelopsis, for instance) 
on said line? Has he the right to remove or 
destroy vine? covering his wall ? How do such 
vines affect the interiors of walls covered by 
them? 
A ns.—W e suppose that our correspondent 
would have no legal right to cover the walls 
in that way, as when the vines creep up they 
must be supported by inserting their tiny feet 
in the neighbor’s premises. The crusty neigh¬ 
bor would have a right to destroy the vines 
from the windows or roof of his own house; 
but he has no right to trespass on your 
property to do so. The vine preserves iustoad 
of injuring the wall, promotes a dry instead of 
a damp interior, and is an ornament to the 
neighborhood. 
L. T., Steubenville, Ohio .—A firm in Pitts¬ 
burg. Pa., had a buyer here buying potatoes. 
A firm here sold him a car and had him ap¬ 
prove the iuvoice. His house declined to pay 
it, claiming that the potatoes they received 
were not as good as those they ordered; but 
they were, which can be proven. Their mar¬ 
ket value had declined iu the meantime. Can 
theyinot be compelled by law to pay for them. 
Is the United States Court not the best place 
to test it, aud about what might it cost the 
sellers if they gain the case? 
Ans. —The Pittsburg firm is bound by the 
act of its buyer in approving the quality of the 
produce, and, of course, the evidence that it 
was up to the quality order*si strengthens the 
case. If a fight “to the bitter end" is contem¬ 
plated, it would be better to hegiu in a United 
States Court, as the dispute is between the 
citizens of the different States. No human 
being can foretell tbe cost of the suit uuless the 
case is taken by some lawyer on a percentage, 
when if the case is gained, the other side will 
have to pay all costs. 
The chief of police has received a number of 
inquiries from persons in the United States, 
asking for information about a fiuancial firm 
named Read & Co.. of ^Montreal. These 'let¬ 
ters were_aocoinpanied;jw ith' a prospectus of ’a 
“grand legal lottery” in aid of the parish of 
St. Marc Church. A first prize of $40,000 was 
promised, with 10,000 prizes of different val¬ 
ues. Persons desiring to buy tickets were 
asked to address their communications to box 
l,43fl, Montreal post-office. It appears that 
tickets have been sold by ageuts all over tbe 
United States. The chief of police communi¬ 
cated with the St. Marc Church authorities, 
and they knew nothing of such a lottery. Such 
schemes for swindling the credulous are quite 
common, not in Canada only, but also in the 
United States, and farmers are usually the 
persons whom the sharpers attempt to bam¬ 
boozle. The above is mentioned merely to 
guard our readers against having anything to 
do with such concerns, however alluring and 
specious their offers or professions. 
The other day a stranger invited Peter Van 
Vranken, a wealthy elder of the Presbyterian 
Church of Marshalltown, la., to assist him in 
buying a farm. On the way they met another 
stranger. The two strangers played a card 
lottery scheme and soon got the elder interest¬ 
ed, the latter winning $5,000, which, with 
$2,000 he had put up, he left in his compan¬ 
ion’s hands. The latter soon lost this amount, 
with some more, to the other sharper, 
which cleaned him out, and the two 
started to Marshalltown for fresh cap¬ 
ital. The elder got in after dark, and 
would like to see both of them. He was 
fleeced out of #1,700 about a year ago. Such 
swindles have been frequently exposed in this 
Department. But if a man cannot be taught 
caution against sharpers by the loss of $1,700 
within a year, is it hardly likely he will learn 
to be wideawake even by reading the Eye- 
Opener? 
Roger T. Pickert, the head of the Traders’ 
Tea Company, of Boston, which the police say 
is a swindling concern, was arrested the other 
day on a warrant charging him with main¬ 
taining a gift enterprise. Pickert has figured 
many times before the courts because of his 
connection with these spurious enterprises 
and only a short time ago he was indicted on 
thirty-two counts for the same business aud 
is now awaiting trial. His advertisements 
have been, addressed chiefly to the rural 
community. 
To Several Inquirers.— E. D. Hammond, of 
Brooklyn, is a swindler. He offers to sell for 
cash a recipe for making money safely, se¬ 
curely and quietly, and he appears to be prac¬ 
ticing what he teaches. But is swindling 
others ever “safe!”....Tbe Illustrated Liter¬ 
ary World of Cincinnati is one of Gardner’s 
catch-penny affairs, like his other frauds, the 
Farming World, the Chicago Farm Journal, 
the Album and others which are a disgrace to 
the authorities who have tolerated their exist¬ 
ence. The Journal and Album having been 
suppressed by the Post Office people, the Lit¬ 
erary World takes their place. Nobody should 
have anything to do with any publication 
or enterprise with which Gardner is concerned, 
in Cincinnati, Chicago, Memphis or elsewhere. 
%\)uy j£)usbaruDnj, 
WASHING WOOL. 
FROM JAY D. STANNARD. 
I am very decidedly against the practice 
of sheep washing, although in an article which 
was printed in the Rural last year I made 
the statement that growers of light medium 
wools, could not afford, at present prices, to 
sell their wool unwashed. Heretofore when 
the wool-grower took his clip to market, the 
buyer asked, “Is your wool washed?” “No.” 
“Then I will have to dock you one-third.” 
In most instances the buyer had to rely en¬ 
tirely upon the statement of the grower, be¬ 
cause he could not tell from appearances 
whether the wool was washed or not. 
Of coarse, the grower thought the buyer 
was trying to defraud him, and upon experi¬ 
menting he soon learned that poorly-washed 
wool brought as much per pound as the best 
washed, and thus a sort of premium was 
placed upon dishonesty, aud the result has 
been, in a large majority of cases—I will not 
say all, for there are many exceptions to this 
rule—in washing,to see how much dirt could be 
left iu instead of trying to take all out. I am 
glad to see that manufacturers arc beginning 
to reprimand such dishonest practice upon 
the part of the growers • and that this year 
there is less difference in price between the 
best unwashed and washed wools than ever 
before. 
There'aremany arguments against the prac¬ 
tice of washing shoep, aud I presume -they 
will all be brought out; but iu its favor I 
could not give a single oue. I hope the manu¬ 
facturers’ side of the question will be fully 
brought out in the Rural. It seems.to me 
that a free discussion of this question between 
growers and manufacturers,. cannot fail to 
