THE RURAL NEW-YOfclFB. 
37! 
TIMELY NOTES ON TREES, SHRUBS 
AND FLOWERS. 
WILLIAM FALCONER. 
A Weeping Purple Beech ; Syringa villosa 
ancl oblata; Andromeda polifolia; hardi¬ 
ness of Crape Myrtles; forcing Mayflow¬ 
ers; Daphne Genkiva; Tliunberg's barber¬ 
ry, the Swamp Privet; Rhododendron 
Vaseyi; the Fragrant Bush Honeysuckle. 
A Weeping Purple Beech.— This is one 
of the new things we have this year received 
from Germany, and it is spoken of by those 
who have seen it growing there with much 
praise. 
Syringa villosa is a new lilac from 
Japan, and one of the prettiest and most de¬ 
sirable of the genus. The flowers are pale 
rose-purple outside, white inside, fragrant and 
very beautiful, and it comes into bloom some 
days after the common and Persian lilacs 
have done blooming. It was exhibited from 
the Arnold Arboretum, at Boston, two years 
ago, and made quite a sensation. I see it is 
offered this year by some leading nurserymen, 
price $1.50. 
Andromeda polifolia is a little native 
shrub, quite common in cold bogs in the 
Northern States, but when in bloom an ex¬ 
tremely pretty plant. In its wild condition it 
usually is a slender, straggling plant, but in 
the garden it becomes a stout, stocky specimen, 
and thrives and blooms well. Its terminal 
umbels of almost globular pale pink flower 
buds appear in April, and the blossoms open 
in May and last along time. 
The Earliest Lilac. —Syringa oblata, a 
Chinese species, is now (May 12th) in bloom. 
This is a few days ahead of any other lilac in 
our collection. The flowers are rose-purple, 
bold and ornamental, and not unlike those of 
the common lilac, but the plant itself, al¬ 
though it blooms when quite small, has more 
of a tree form than bush habit. Its foliage 
has the reputation of being mildew proof. 
[A plant each of S. villosa and oblata were 
received from Elwanger & Be rry in the 
spring of last year. Oblata is slightly behind 
the other lilacs in blooming—perhaps because 
it is not fully established in its new quarters. 
—Eds.] 
Crape Myrtles (Lagerstroemia).—These 
beautiful shrubs are to the Southern States 
what the lilac is to the Northern States; but 
we all know that tho crape myrtles are not 
hardy in the North. A year ago I sent to 
Saul of Washington for some plants and set 
them out in a well prepared place in the gar¬ 
den. They grew vigorously and bloomed 
beautifully for some six weeks. On the ap- 
proch of winter I cut them back and covered 
up each plant with leaves and a barrel, and 
when I uncovered them in April the roots 
were perfectly sound. 
Mayflower as a substitute for Violets. 
—Last fall I went out into the woods and 
brought home a lot of Epigaea plants which I 
planted quite close together in a cold-frame— 
filled two sashes with them. I hoped their 
flowers in spring would partially compensate 
for the loss of our violets by disease. Towards 
spring they bloomed full and beautifully and 
were pretty enough upon the plants in the 
frame, but too short-stemmed and of too little 
bulk altogether to be of any use as forced 
cut flowers. 
Daphne Genkwa. —Is a very interesting 
little shrub, a recent introduction from Japan. 
Its flowers are violet blue, showy, fragrant 
and appear about the first of May, lasting for 
two or three weeks. It forms a small, bushy 
plant, two to three feet high and wider than 
high, isperfectly deciduous with us and blooms 
before the leaves appear. 
Thunberg’s Barberry (B. Thunbergi)—Is 
one of the neatest, prettiest and most desir¬ 
able of all barberry bushes as an ornamental 
plant. It is a native of Japan. It makes a 
stocky bush two to three feet or more high by 
three to four feet or more across. It is one of 
the earliest to leaf out and flower in spring, 
and in fall its foliage assumes a glowing hue. 
It produces and ripens a heavy crop of bright 
red berries that not only hang on tho bushes 
all fall and winter, but still remain till the 
plants come into bloom again next spring- 
It is becoming a popular shrub and I find it is 
being planted extensively in Central Park. 
The Swamp Privet (Forestiera acuminata.) 
—Although this is a Southern plant, and indi¬ 
genous to wet ground, it thrives well here, 
and apparently is perfectly hardy. We have 
it growing in dryish ground, and it makes a 
bushy growth of three feet or more a year, 
and retains its foliage, uninjured by weather 
or insects, all summer long. Just now, May 
12, it is in full bloom and quite interesting; 
the flowers are bundles of yellow-anthered 
stamens, without any corolla, and opposite 
each other at the joints of last year’s wood. 
The leaves have not yet appeared. 
Rhododendron (Azalea) Vaseyi is now, 
the third week of May, in bloom in our gar¬ 
den, and is the earliest deciduous species in 
flower. Its blossoms are of a showy rose or 
rose-pink color, and strikingly beautiful. The 
plants survive out-of-doors unprotected over 
winter, and appear to be hardy enough. This 
desirable species was first discovered ten years 
ago (June, 1878), in Jackson Co., N. C. Bo- 
tanically, it is a most interesting plant. “It 
belongs to a section of tho genus almost ex¬ 
clusively Asiatic, entirely unrepresented in 
our Atlantic flora, and with its nearest Ame¬ 
rican relative is confined to the highest peaks of 
the Cascade and Northern Rocky Mountains. 
The Fragrant Bush-Honeysuckle.— 
This (Lonicera fragrantissima), the most fra¬ 
grant of all honeysuckles, came into bloom be¬ 
fore the snow of the great blizzard of last 
March had entirely disappeared, and it is now 
and has been ever since March full of whitish 
flowers that are so fragrant as to perfume the 
atmosphere within a rod of the bushes; and it 
will last in bloom till the end of May. It is 
perfectly deciduous with us—a few branches 
near the ground may retain some of their 
leaves all winter, but wherever exposed they 
lose their leaves. But it is perfectly hardy 
here. And it is easily grown, too, and takes 
as kindly as the barberry to dry soil. Standish’s 
bush-hone^suckle (L. Standishii) flowers at 
the same time, and in the same way as the 
above, and before the foliage appeal’s it would 
be difficult to tell the one species from the 
other, so much alike in form, color and fra¬ 
grance are their blossoms. But Staudish’s 
stops blooming about the 8th of May, when 
the leaves appear. In foliage and young 
wood both species are very different. 
Iauj. 
ll Every Man is presumed to know the Law. 
Nine-tenths of all Litigation arises from Ig¬ 
norance of Law." 
CANADA THISTLES IN NEW YORK. 
W. L. B. A Seneca Falls, New York .—Is 
there any penalty in this State for allowing 
Canada Thistles to flourish on a farm or along 
tho road? 
Ans. Yes. The law of 1885 provides that any 
persons holding lands by lease or otherwise, 
who shall allow the Canadian Thistle to go to 
seed on their premises, shall be fined $15, to 
be paid to the school fund of the district. Any 
citizen who is likely to be injured by the spread 
of the pest from his neighbor’s lands, may 
give notice to havo the weeds cut before going 
to seed, and if not done, the constable or sup¬ 
ervisor is required to enter upon tho property 
and cut the weeds and can compel the payment 
of labor and costs from the holder of the poll¬ 
uted lands. Supervisors of public roads are 
also required, by the new law, to cut the Can¬ 
adian Thistle on or along all roads or unseated 
lands in their districts, and in case of failure 
they are liable to a fine of $10, to be recovered 
for the use of the parties about to be injured 
by such neglect or refusal. Everybody inter" 
ested should see to it that this law is enforced. 
HEAVY DAMAGES FOR LOSS OF LIVE STOCK. 
In the case of Leonard Brothers and 
Estil & Elliott, just decided by the United 
States Circuit Court at St. Louis, the plain¬ 
tiffs sued the Now York, Lake Erie and West¬ 
ern Railroad Company for damages for a 
number of cattle lost while in transit on the 
line. In September, 1883, Leonard Brothers 
of Saline and Cooper Counties, and Estil & El¬ 
liot of Howard County, Missouri, purchased 
384 head of Augus-Aberdeen and Galloway 
cattle in Scotland. After crossing the ocean 
and while they were in transit to Missouri a 
wreck occurred on the above road near Nan¬ 
kin, Ohio, and many of the cattle were killed, 
and others so injured as to be rendered un¬ 
profitable for breeding purposes. All efforts 
to compromise damages proved futile, and in 
due time suit was brought in the United 
States Circuit Court, first,at Kansas City, Mo., 
where the verdict was unsatisfactory to all 
parties. A new trial was granted and the case 
was transferred to St. Louis. Leonard Broth¬ 
ers asked $58,000 damages with interest, and 
the jury gave them $44,000 with interest for 
four years, making in all, $55,889. Estil & 
Elliott brought suit for $12,000 and the jury 
allowed them $8,750 with interest, or a total 
of $11,112. The costs were enormous after 
four years of stubborn litigation. 
INCORPORATION OF A BOROUGH. 
L. T., New Jersey .—In our town there are 
three separate villages, each about a mile from 
the other two, and each having special inter¬ 
ests of its own. The inhabitants of one of 
these villages desire the incorporation of their 
section of the township as a borough or town 
of itself. How can this be done? 
Ans. —A statute of New Jersey, approved 
April 5,1878, provides that “the inhabitants 
of any township or part of township in the 
State, embracing an area not to exceed four 
square miles, and containing a population not 
exceeding 5,000, may become a body politic 
and corporate, in fact and in law, whenever 
at a special election, to be called for that pur¬ 
pose, it may be so decided by a majority of 
votes of the electors of said proposed borough 
who are qualified to vote at elections for 
State and township officers.” A petition sett¬ 
ing forth the name and boundaries of the pro¬ 
posed borough, signed by persons owning at 
least one-tenth in value of tho taxable real es¬ 
tate within the limits of the proposed borough, 
is to be presented to the Judge of the Court of 
the Common Pleas in and for the county. It 
then becomes his duty to appoint a day for 
the voting and to give due notice of it. 
BEST WAY TO HAVE A NUISANCE ABATED. 
T. L. M., Middlesex Co.,N. J .—On land ad¬ 
joining my homestead and within 100 feet 
of my dwelling-house a cesspool through 
which passes sower water from three houses, 
is overflowing. The overflow forms a miry 
pond, and finds an outlet through a hole which 
has been made in the ground, and goes no one 
knows where. The owner of the cesspool is 
also owner of the laud on which it stands. I 
asked him more than a month ago to attend to 
the nuisance. Ho has paid no attention what¬ 
ever to the matter, although the warm weath¬ 
er is at hand, which will make it malodorous, 
if not pestiferous. There is a Health Board in 
our village, but it has never done anything, 
and I doubt whether it would condemn this 
cesspool overflow as a'nuisance, because as yet 
the water does not emit an intolerable odor. 
This is the view of the land-owner. How can 
I get the nuisance abated in the quickest and 
most effective way? 
Ans. —It is a clear case of private nuisance, 
and the readiest remedy should be supplied by 
a court of equity. A suit for damages would 
lie in a court of law; but this would usually 
not order an abatement of the nuisance. A 
court of equity, on the other hand, will give 
tho plaintiff all the relief to which he is enti¬ 
tled, including an abatement of the nuisance, 
and an assessment of damages. The only 
question to be determined by a court of equity 
is whether the plaintiff ought to submit to 
the injury complained of. In cases where the 
injury is such that if allowed to continue it 
will seriously interfere with the plaintiff’s 
rights, a court of equity will grant an injunc¬ 
tion until all the rights in the matter are ful¬ 
ly determined, even though these are left to 
be settled by a court of law. 
R. N., Loclcjjort, N. 5.—Who pays the col¬ 
lateral inheritance tax when the property 
is left to nephews and nieces, part of whom 
are to receive specific amounts while the oth¬ 
ers are residuary legatees? Is the tax taken 
out of the amounts of the specified bequests? 
Ans. —The tax is taken out of the specified 
legacy where there are no conflicting provis¬ 
ions in the will. But a legacy to nephews 
and nieces is not subject to the tax upon col¬ 
lateral inheritances provided for by the stat¬ 
ute of 1885. 
DESCENT OF PROPERTY IN NEW YORK. 
T. S., Rome, N. Y.—If a wife died here leav¬ 
ing real estate inherited from her mother, to 
whom does it go, if she leaves no will and the 
father is still alive? Doesn’t the father have 
a life interest in it? 
Ans. —According to the laws of New York, 
the real estate of persons deceased descends in 
the following order: 1. To the descendants, 2. 
To the father. 3. To the mother, and, 4, to 
the collateral relatives, subject to various 
other provisions. Thus, if the deceased be a 
married woman, and she leaves a husband by 
whom she has had issue, he will be “tenant 
by courtesy” of her real estate during his 
life; or if the inheritance came to her from 
her mother, then if her mother be dead, the 
inheritance goes to the father for his life time, 
and the reversion to tho brothers aud sisters 
and their descendants. If none such are liv¬ 
ing the father will have it in fee. 
I N spite of the exposures of the Rural and 
some other papers, the action of several 
benevolent associations and the heavy sen¬ 
tences inflicted by some of the courts, the 
“frauds against women” or work-at-home 
swindles, are still numerous and thriving. 
One of the most successful of them, known by 
different names in different places, advertises 
to give out fancy work for women to do at 
home andlmake "good.returns„for the labor. 
Prom^KHo $15 a week M are guaranteed. and 
on the circular sent out is a list of some of the 
prices paid for embroidery, which are high. 
Some struggling woman sends a letter of in¬ 
quiry and the answer states that a sample of 
the work must be sent before she is taken into 
regular employ, the materials to be furnished 
by the fraudulent advertiser. For these a 
dollar is required, and if the woman sends 
the money, she receives a small package con¬ 
taining a bit of cotton velvet, six inches 
square, with a spray of flowers stamped upon 
it, and a similarly stamped piece of felt. The 
whole package costs perhaps five cents. From 
the “instructions” it is usually impossible to 
tell what the work is to be, and most women 
give up in despair. But those who persevere 
in working out some result are lured on to 
deposit $5, aud in a short time learn that they 
have been swindled. Tho Workingwomen’s 
Protective Union, No. 19 Clinton Place, New 
York City, and the Women’s Industrial Edu¬ 
cational Union, Boston, investigate these 
fraudulent advertisements without charge 
and protect women from being swindled by 
them. 
Here is a new form of an old fraud, by which 
a man thinking he is simply giving an order 
for goods, is really giving a paper which the 
swindler will readily transform into a note by 
merely cutting off the top part: 
I hereby order James Smith to send mo twenty five 
Patent Double-acting Hay Rakes, for which when 
sold, 
I promise to pay on demand to .T. Smith or bearer 
Five Hundred Dollars ($500) at First National Bank, 
Williamsport. Pa. 
Hail, Pa., July 2, 1887. 
To Several Inquirers. —We have several 
complaints against the Standard Pant Co., of 
this city. The gist of the complaints is that the 
concern sticks to all the money sent for goods, 
but never sends the goods. We would cer¬ 
tainly caution our readers against having any 
dealings with the concern_We have re¬ 
peatedly said that we have no confidence 
whatever in W. A. Ingham &Co., alias “The 
Speculative Syndicate” of this city. We have 
never known an instance in which investors 
in “blind pools” of this kind, have not sooner 
or later lost their money, and it has generally 
been “sooner.” This concern is constantly 
sending out circulars through the mails, so it 
must find the business pay, otherwise it 
would have closed up some mouths ago, 
as its expenses must be considerable. 
Concerns Censured.— Under this caption 
the Eye-Opener will, from time to time, give 
the names of various concerns he has seen 
spoken against in the papers, but which have 
not of late been investigated from the Rural 
Office: The Live Stock Insurance Company 
of Mifflinburg, Union Co., Pa., is charged with 
making extravagantly heavy assessments. 
One man complains that he was assessed $15.00 
jn three months on an actual insurance of less 
than $300. He then quit; but he has learned 
that two assessments and one annual due of 
one per cent, have since been collected, which 
would have made his outlay $20 in one year 
on a horse worth $300. The great trouble 
with all these live-stock insurance concerns 
is that the expenses are so heavy that the 
members soon give up in disgust, and the 
things collapse. . . . The Philadelphia Re¬ 
cord thus describes a swindle practiced success¬ 
fully on a number of Pennsylvania farmers: 
“Agents of a lightning-rod company induce 
owners of buildings to allow them to put up 
rods, saying they want to do it merely as an 
advertisement. But when tho job has been 
completed they put in a claim for $90, which 
is backed by a paper to which the 'agents ob¬ 
tained the signature of the owner of the build 
ing by misrepresentation. 
The folly of signing any paperjfor any person 
in whom one has not perfect confidence has 
been exposed so often that it might.seem that 
everybody would be proof against it. But the 
crop of gulliblos is perennial; hence the need 
of oft-repetition of what to intellgent readers 
is a stale and unprofitable story. 
Out in Michigan a stranger bought cattle 
of farmers in several localities, giving his 
checks in payment and taking receipts there¬ 
for. On presentation at the local banks the 
checks were duly cashed, the stranger having 
sufficient funds deposited to meet them. He 
never called for the cattle, but about the time 
the farmers began to be anxious for his com¬ 
ing they received notices that their obligations 
for sums averaging about five times the 
amounts of the checks, were coming due. The 
rascal had changed the receipts into notes. 
Moral: Sign nothing for strangers. 
“The American Literary Aid Supply Com- 
pany of Chicago” receives not a word of com¬ 
mendation from Chicago agricultural papers; 
on the contrary, all disapprove of its method 
of work, and warn their readers against deal¬ 
ing with it. 
A Pensacola paper asks the Governor of 
Florida to devise means for punishing the ras¬ 
cals who deceive trusting strangers and colo¬ 
nists by means of such frauds as the St. An¬ 
drew’s Bay Company and similar swindles so 
numerous in that State, all of which have been 
denounced here. 
