be sold in a free market in competition 
with our own. They get the most of their 
profit in the manure. How many of our 
farmers give this point due consideration ? 
Then again, fowls are so organized 
that the evacuation from their kidneys, in 
a semi-solid state, mixes with the dung 
before it is dropped, and is thus wholly 
Baved for fertilization. Chemistry as¬ 
sures us that more than half (and the 
best half), of the plant-food in the ex¬ 
crement of all domestic animals is to be 
found in the urine. Now, if our cows 
and horses were like our hens, in this re¬ 
spect of passing off their'ronal secretions 
as a semi-solid in connection with their 
dung, our stable manure would be found 
vastly superior to what it proves to be as 
we usually see it. Most of our farmers 
make hardly any effort to save the liquid 
manure, and of those who do the success 
is not always what it should be, by lack 
of proper knowledge, or proper conve¬ 
niences. 
Col. John B. Mead, the State Super¬ 
intendent of Agriculture in Vermont, re¬ 
cently stated at a public meeting that in 
five years after he had made suitable pro¬ 
vision for saving the urine of his stables 
and applying it to the land, the crops 
of his farm were doubled. A doubled 
crop means a doubled power of carrying 
6tock, and with a doubled herd comes 
again a double quantity of fertilizing ma¬ 
terial. What a vista of progress is here 
opened to the ambitious farmer ! 
These two lessons, then—the value of 
high feeding for the production of rich 
manure, and the necessity of saving the 
liquid as sedulously as we save the solid 
manure—are pressed home to us by what 
we know of the value of hen manure and 
of the “why’' of it. There can be no 
mistake about it. Every thoughtful 
farmer must see the profit there is in 
these lessons, if he will only reduce them 
to practice. They shine like beacon 
yet named. Yet so few of even the first 
of these Magnolias have been offered to 
the trade that it is not strange they are 
overlooked. It behooves us, however, to 
seek such plants in order to give our 
lawns the most rich and varied attractive¬ 
ness, and we are happy to note the in¬ 
creasing taste for extended collections of 
hardy trees and shrubs. 
PUBLISHED EVERY SATURDAY 
RURAL PUBLISHING CO., 
78 Duane Street, New York City 
SATURDAY, MAY 17, 1879. 
Square Bolts. —Why will imple- 
ment-makei’s evoke maledictions and 
cause farmers to be profane ! Surely 
these latter have enough of trouble of 
all kinds that cannot be avoided, to be 
pestered with the abominable nuisance of 
round-shanked, and what is even worse, 
round-headed bolts, in their machines. 
As a matter of course, the nuts rust fast 
and when a bolt is to be removed, it turns 
in the hole. Then two wrenches held 
by two persons must be used and the ill- 
used farmer finds most frequently that 
the bolt has a round head that cannot be 
held. Then it is sometimes well for the 
maker of that bolt that he is too far away 
to hear the fluent remarks which fall 
from the irate man. Why cannot the 
manufacturers use square bolts in square 
holes in all tools, implements and ma¬ 
chines? 
TO EVERY READER 
We respectfully and urgently call the atten¬ 
tion of our readers to the necessity which exists 
that they should address their communications 
to the Editors or the Publishers or the Ru¬ 
ral New-Yorker, if they would insure prompt 
responses. Letters addressed to individuals 
are often delayed in this office for weeks. Mr. 
Moore, to whom letters intended for us are 
still occasionally addressed, has had no con¬ 
nection with this journal for several years. 
CAPITAL, CASH AND CREDIT 
No business can be carried on without 
capital. A laborer works with his hands ; 
when he procures a tool or an implement 
he at once makes use of capital which is 
literally the accumulated labor of himself 
or others, or rather the product or result 
of it. Hi business one has fixed and 
floating capital. The fixed capital is that 
which remains year after year perma¬ 
nently invested ; it may be in the shape 
of a house, a farm, a ship, or a railroad. 
Floating capital is that which is always 
changing its form; it may now r be a pair 
of horses, a mowing machine, cows, 
sheep, seed, fertilizers, money spent for 
wages, or merchantable goods of any 
kind. This kind of capital is more pro¬ 
ductive than the other, because it can be 
turned over oftener, sometimes several 
times in a year, and if well used may 
bring a profit every time it is returned. 
The floating capital of the farmer ex¬ 
ists chiefly in the shape of stock and im¬ 
plements." When in the form of imple¬ 
ments, it may be made the most pro¬ 
ductive. For instance, a seed .drill cost¬ 
ing $80 or $00, w T ill sow 100 acres of 
wheat in ten days, and will save not only 
50 bushels of seed in doing this work, 
but will do the work better than if done 
by band, and save at least one dollar per 
acre in labor. So that the investment of 
$100 in a seed drill can be made to return 
150 per cent, profit in one year. A mow- 
er will cut five to ten acres* of hay in one 
BREVITIES 
But for cask. 
Harris goes back on the pig! 
Duncan is the first of our Strawberries to 
bear blossoms. 
A writer in the London Garden finds that 
the cracking of pears is prevented by grafting 
more than one variety on the same stock. He 
i6 very positive about it. 
Commissioner Lp. Due is more hopeful of 
corn and sorghum thau of beet roots as the 
plants which are to aid the success of our 
sugar producing industry. 
The farmers of our neighborhood take much 
trouble to collect the leaves of the Skunk Cab¬ 
bage (Symplocarpus feetidus), to feed their 
pigs at this 6casou of the year. 
Tree Peddlers.—T rees of all sorts arc now 
beiug sold from street stands about the city. 
Some of these trees are kept on hand for three 
weeks with their roots more or less exposed. 
Last fall the best authorities advised the 
late sowing of wheat to avoid the ravages of 
the Fly; this spring farmers complain in 
in "Everywhere,” that late-sown wheat is 
much inferior to early-sown. 
Mr. Thomas Hoocr in the Gardener’6 Monthly 
explains to Professor Sargent the difference 
between " introduced” and "first introduced” 
and calls attention to the fact that Cercidophyl- 
ium is spelt Cercidipbyllum is Murnel’s Florae 
Japonicae. 
Let every one of our young friends ivho 
loves plants join our Youth’s Horticultural 
Club aud send in his name to Uncle Mark. 
Let parents carefully read the leading editorial 
of the Rural New-Yorker of the 3d inst. We 
are raising hundreds of plants to distribute 
among all good members another season—per¬ 
haps in the fall. 
There is a time in the life of every child 
when he or she must have a garden to take 
care of—to own. It is one of "the noblest in¬ 
tuitions of childhood. The parent who is uu- 
williug to aid its development, neglects a duty. 
Better encourage gardening in a willing pupil 
than constrain a child to practice from two to 
four hours a day upon the piano. 
Mr. Beecher says, in the Gardener's Month¬ 
ly, that he has fallen in love with Tom Thumb 
Arbor-vitse for borders. He says : " It is hardy, 
dwarf, bears clipping well, is beautiful in win¬ 
ter, and, if not in too rich soil, keeps its fine 
foliage without apostatizing to tfee original 
species.” It dees bear clipping well, but is far 
from hardy, being always injured and often 
killed in this latitude, which is forty miles 
south of Mr. Beecher’s country residence. It 
must be confined to a foot in hight. or the 
feathery foliage above that becomes as coarse 
H6 that of its parent. Our opinion from six 
years’ experience is that it is a worthless, non¬ 
descript plant.. 
Apparently Winter-killed Trees.—Do 
not uproot too soon seemingly winter-killed 
trees. Many a Rhododendron has been thrown 
away, because its leaves were brown, that with a 
little patience would have put forth new and 
vigorous foliage. Ordiuary evergreens recover 
more slowly, sometimes only in .years, if they 
recover at ail. Iu any case,"it is always wise, 
if you value the tree, to wait until at feast the 
middle of June, so that you may note its be¬ 
havior during the growing season. A6 a rule, 
however, an evergreen that has lost all its 
leaves seldom, if ever, recovers, Rhododend¬ 
rons and one or two other plants excepted. 
Removal of dead wood, of course, assists the 
plant to recover. 
Miner’s Grapes. As reference to our Query 
column will show, we are in receipt of many 
inquiries respecting the seedling Giapoa of the 
lute Mr. T. B, Miner which were figured iu the 
Rural September 30, 187b aud have since oc¬ 
casionally been referred to. Mr. Miner a 
year before his death sent us his most valued 
varieties to be tested. As soon as they fruit, 
we shall be able to tell our inquiring friends 
all about them. The engravings above re¬ 
ferred to were made from specimen bunches 
grown upon bis grouuds. The stock of these 
Grapes, selected as we have before stated 
from 1500 Concord seedlings, is now controlled 
by Mrs. T. B. Miuor of Linden New Jersey 
who would, no doubt, answer all pertinent 
questions regarding them. 
lights on the path of agricultural pro 
gress. 
ARTIFICIAL FOODS 
Millions of dollars’ worth of so-called 
artificial foods, cotton seed-oil meal, lin¬ 
seed oil-meal, pea-nut meal aud other 
refuse materials are sent to Europe from 
this country every year. This is as though 
we furnished our enemy with a sword 
wherewith t-o slay us. We supply our 
competitors with the most effective means 
for meeting us in competition. We give 
our adversaries material help in doing 
this. Of these foods they make meat., 
butter, cheese, grain, grass and manures 
to make more of these; all of which, di¬ 
rectly or indirectly, we are making and 
selling in the closest competition with 
them. In a ton of cotton-seed meal, there 
are 500 pounds of beef, as much cheese 
and as great a value of manure as the 
meal costs to purchase. Linseed-oil meal 
is equally as valuable. By using these 
ourselves, we should secure the benefit 
of ah this production, while we should 
prevent its use by our competitors in 
business. Some may say we cannot 
afford to use these. This excuse is obvi¬ 
ously groundless, when we see that they 
are purchased by English farmers who 
pay rentals for their land of $10 to $50 
per acre yearly, and pay the cost of 
freight from our shores across the Atlan¬ 
tic upon these feeding stuffs, with the 
expenses and profits of at least two inter¬ 
mediate dealers, and yet use them with 
sufficient advantage to make them an ob¬ 
ject that is earnestly sought after. The 
fact is, by neglecting these home-made 
products, we are throwing away an im¬ 
mense advantage which cannot amount, 
in a money value, to less than a hundred 
million of dollars annually. 
WHY IS HEN MANURE SO GOOD 1 
The answer to this question is full of 
instruction in divers ways. The food of 
fowls while at large (ami also when con¬ 
fined, if they are to continue healthy), 
consists of seeds and animal substances. 
They catch vast numbers of insects and 
insect larvae. Indeed, for this purpose 
one chicken is worth a hundred robins 
or sparrows, and they seem particularly 
to like the very insects that are most 
harmful to crops—putting them into their 
crops upon the homeopathic principle, 
perhaps. This rich, concentrated diet 
makes rich, concentrated manure—which 
is the first lesson worth any farmer’s 
while to ponder upon. Rich'food judi¬ 
ciously given, not only keeps our stock 
iu good order and in a thrifty state, but it 
makes rich manure. This is an object to 
be kept in mind in choosing between dif¬ 
ferent feeding materials. Our farmers 
do not use enough of such feeding stuffs 
as are very rich in plant as well us ani¬ 
mal food. Wheat bran and oil-cake are 
made extensively, and fed out but little, 
iu America. The English buy the latter, 
freight it $000 miles, and feed it to profit 
for the production of staples that must j 
EARLY vs. LATE-FLOWERING MAG¬ 
NOLIAS. 
Most people will acknowledge, if they 
will be frank in the matter, that they ob¬ 
ject to Chinese Magnolias, so-ca'led, on 
account of their peculiarity of blooming 
before the development of leaves. We 
misB the foliage which attains such beauty 
later, and while we would not sacrifice the 
wonderful beauty of the flowers iu early 
spring, we cannot help wishing that fine 
foliage might go with such fine flowers. 
It is probably for this reason that the 
late-flowering Magnolias are so popular 
notwithstanding the comparative infer¬ 
iority of their bloom. That of M. cordata 
is yellow, of medium Bize, attractive, but 
not extraordinary in any way. The same 
may be said of M. glauca, except, per¬ 
haps, that it is sweet-scented, while the 
flower of M. maerophylla is noteworthy 
only for its immensity. What we want 
is an attractive sweet-scented, good-sized 
Magnolia flower that develops at the same 
time as the leaves. M. hypolouca is such 
a species, as well as one other variety not 
