THE FORSYTHIAS. 
Your notes on the Forsythea viridissimn 
are vnry acceptable, and a just estimate of this 
pretty Golden Bell. But you are slightly in 
error iu saying it. was “introduced by Mr. 
Forsythe from China in 1845.” If my recollec¬ 
tion serves me, it was sent home among the 
other treasures gathered by Mr. Fortune on 
his memorable excursion to Chinn, under the 
auspices of the Royal Horticultural Society of 
London. His explorations were then made 
about Shanghae, On his return in 1801, he 
went as far as Pekin, several hundred miles 
north of Canton, and here he found that most 
beautiful and desirable of all, F. suspensa, 
much hardier than F. viridissimn, a much bet¬ 
ter grower and with a habit that can be made 
into a shrub or low weeping tree, trailing its 
slender, whip-cord branches to the ground, 
forming a drooping head more dense and 
graceful than a Kilmarnock Willow, and one 
made of golden blossoms as early as the early- 
est peach bud opens. This superb species you 
do not name. I have trees 10 feet high which 
are distinguishable 100 yards away, so con¬ 
spicuous is their profusion of flowers. Besides, 
its slender shoots, the larger branches have a 
light yellow bark, as distract as the Red Cor- 
nus: altogether it is one of the finest shrubs in¬ 
troduced by Mr. Fortune. F. viridissima often 
gets killed nearly to the ground in extremely 
cold Winter’s, while I never saw the smallest 
shoot injured on F, suspensa. 
And this reminds me to say a few words in 
regard to the services of such men as Fortune, 
VonSiobold our own Dr. Hall, and others who 
brought us the rich treasures of almost un¬ 
known climes. We commemorate iu some way 
eminent men, statesmen, poets and merchants. 
We fill columns with obituaries of millionaires 
and their charities, which never began to as¬ 
sume the relative proportions of the poor man’s. 
We regale ourselves with the juicy pears, the 
delicious grapes and the luscious peaches as if 
they were Nature's productions, without ever 
a thought of such men a§ Van Mons, Knight, 
Dana or Bull, who produced them, or of their 
long, patient and laborious efforts to the eud 
attained. The owner of every country home 
throughout the land ornaments his grounds 
with beautiful trees and shrubs—the Weigela, 
the Forsy thia, the spincas. the oxoekorda, the 
hydrangea, the Japan Viburnum aud many 
others, as if they bio sprang up spontaneously 
in the nurseryman’s grounds, with no idea that 
any such men as Fortuue, Van Siebold or Dr 
Hall ever lived. The erection of a statue is 
commendable and valuable, both for its com¬ 
memoration of the man. and as a work of art; 
but how shall we estimate the introduction of 
those things which are the adornment of every 
country home, greeting us anew every Spring 
with their verdure and bloom, and are ever a 
perpetual source of pleasure and delight. 
c. M. HOVEY. 
The Rural Wheat-Rye Hybrids.— Our 
friend, the Farmers’Review, says: It is claimed 
that experiments in England to hybridize 
"heat and rye have proved successful, result¬ 
ing in a lierry closely resembling wheat, grown 
on a stalk of rye. The new gram has not yet 
been produced in sulllcieut. quantity to test its 
quality for bread. The object aimed at is to 
obtain a good bread, making grain on a straw 
more hardy than wheat. Rye does not suffer 
from winter killing as wheat does, and will 
succeed fairly well on soils too poor and thin 
for wheat. What the name of the grain will 
he is not yet made public. Perhaps it will be 
Ryeal. The Rural New-Yorker, two or 
three years ago, was working at the same ex- 
periments in hydridizing the two cereals in its 
Experiment Grounds, and, if our recollection 
serves us right, reported partial success. Has 
it allowed the English to get ahead of it in 
achieving complete success?” 
We tliink not. The report above referred 
to, no tloubt, arises from the fact that an article 
in the Century Magazine gives a description 
of our rye-wheat hybridizations, without men¬ 
tioning that the work was performed by the 
Rural or indeed iu this country. The “com¬ 
pleteness” of our success may lie seen at the 
Rural Grounds, where 40 little plots are devot¬ 
ed to fixing the varieties produced by the 
original hybridization, uot to speak of the 
three-quarter-rye hybrids which were effected 
last year. 
The “Hay Spice,” so frequently advertised 
in English agricultural papers as a condiment 
and a means of rendering even damaged fod¬ 
der palatable, appeal's to have for its chief 
constituent sugar or molasses. It is well 
known that a “sweet tooth” can be cultivated 
in cattle to such an extent that they cau be in¬ 
duced to eat large quantities of straw or coarse 
fodder that has been sprinkled with sugar. 
Sugar feeding is said to be employed with 
profit in some portions of Englaud,two quarts of 
molasses being considered a fair daily ration 
for a fattening steer. Waste sugar has even 
been used in preserving newly cut hay in what, 
is known as the silage stack. It seems gen¬ 
erally admitted that the practice of throwing 
a quantity of salt into the silo is needless if 
not unprofitable. It may be that waste sugar 
used in this way would give better results. 
Here is a chance for some of our experimental 
fanners to determine this point, which we 
think hns not yet been tested. 
Prize Ensilage.— The English Ensilage 
Society recently offered prizes for the best 
specimens of silage. There were 260 entries 
made, which were divided into eight classes. 
There were 7!) entries in the class for Meadow 
Grass. The first prize was won with a sample 
of aftermath preserved in a silage stack. This 
same sample subsequently won the champion 
prize for best specimen iu the show. The class 
for corn silage was the smallest of any in the 
show, there being but nine entries. The prin¬ 
cipal crops used for silage in England appear 
to be the grasses, clovers, beans and grains, 
It is simply uncured hay and hardly to be 
compared with our chopped corn-stalks. 
THE LATEST AND BRIEFEST. 
The Burke Peach is advertised by a Louisi¬ 
ana nurseryman, with whom it originated, as 
“the largest and best peach in the world.”_ 
Webb & Son. of Wordsley, Stourbridge, 
England, announce a new beardless barley. 
The beards drop off as the heads ripen. 
Mr. E. P. Roe. for the third year sends us 
(January 20) specimens of his Highland Beaufcy 
Apple, all well preserved and of fine quality. 
It is like the Lady Apple (Potnrae d ’api), but 
larger and of better quality. 
Dr. F. L. Oswald remarks, in his book of 
Household Remedies, that drugs can rarely do 
more than change the form of disease or post¬ 
pone its crisis. The best way to “assist” 
Nature is to give her fair play by forbearing 
to meddle with her restorative methods and 
by removing the predisposing cause of the 
disorder..,.,... 
A floral novelty to be sent out next 
Spring is a semi-double Phlox Drummondii.. 
It is a pity, as the Londou Garden states, 
that “semi-double” should lie to many rose 
growers a term of reproach. 
The Michigan Fanner is authority for the 
statement that a Grand Rapids merchant 
bought 27,000 eggs at an average price of 10 
cents per dozen last Summer. He has just 
sold them for 18'! j cents, and is so encouraged 
that he will build a cold-storage house next 
season and largely increase his business. 
T. T. Lyon advises, in the Michigan Farmer, 
that we always buy and plant peach trees one 
year old from the bud. Cut liack all side 
branches to one bud each. From two to three 
feet of clear trunk are far better than more. If 
a few branches outgrow the others, nip off the 
tips so that t.he other branches may overtake 
them. 
Mr. J. J. H. Gregory says that lots of 
cabbages are raised about Marblehead (Mass). 
But they can’t raise them oftener than once in 
four years. He tried using wood ashes this 
year on cabbages where they had been raised 
the year before. Ho used 100 bushels of un¬ 
leached ashes and had raised us thrifty a lot of 
cabbage as he ever raised. The ashes ought 
not to cost over 845, which he calls cheap ma¬ 
nuring for an acre. 
When the Rural first tried the Wyandottes 
and praised the breed, some of our friends 
spoke as if, in our iuexperience, we praised 
them merely because the breed was new. It 
was much the same when we reported our 
success with the Plymouth Rocks. Well, 
others arc praising them now—praising them 
far beyond their merits. There are good 
strains of Wyandottes and poor strains. 
It is said that the new rose, “Her Majesty,” 
is by far the largest rose ever introduced. 
According to the N. Y. Times, the cost to 
the State for graduating a student at the Now 
Hampshire Agricultural College is, $6,000.... 
At a late meeting of the Massachusetts 
Horticultural Society, the Frederick Clapp 
Pear was spoken of as of superior quality, a 
good grower and bearer. Our readers must 
not forget the Rural’s estimate of this fine 
pear. 
Sec. Chamberlain says, in the Ohio Farm¬ 
er, that the buyer has a right to know that he 
gets just what he pays for: the exact substance 
and nothing else, the exact amount aud noth¬ 
ing else. Therefore the seller must uot sub¬ 
stitute oleomargarine for butter..... 
(Continued on page 106.) 
DOGS 
AND 
THEIR MANAGEMENT. 
BY HUGH DALZIEL. 
Illustrated. 
HARPER'S 
NEW MONTHLY 
MAGAZINE 
(NO. 430) 
FOE MARCH, 1886. 
To be published February 16 th. 
CONTENTS: 
The Open-air Sacrament. 
Frontispiece (Illustration for “Cape Breton Folk”). 
From a Drawing by A. B. Frost; 
An Iron City beside the Ruhr. 
A Description of Krupp’s Gun making Establishment 
at Essen. By Mondcre D. Conway. Illustrated; 
She Stoops to Cominer. 
Beginning of Act IV. With Four Illustrations by 
E. A. ABBEY; 
Portrait of Constance Feuimore Woolson. 
Full-page Plate Engraving; 
The City of Cleveland. 
By Edmund Kirke. Illustrated; 
Cape Breton Folk. 
By C. H. Fabnham. Illustrated by A. B. Frost; 
With the Afghan Boundary Commission. 
By WILL1AM Simpson. Illustrated; 
Dogs aud their llaiiagemeut. 
By Hugh Dalziel. Illustrated: 
Africa’s Awakening. 
By David Ker. With Map; 
The Home Acre. Part I. 
By E. P. Roe; 
Easi Angels. Part XV. 
By Constance Feximore Woolson: 
Brief—as Woman’s Eove. 
A Story. By Brander Matthews: 
A Rose of Jericho. 
A Poem. By Frances L. Mace: 
Editor’s Easy Chair. 
By George William Ccrtls. 
Does the Puritan Survive?—Importance of the Indi¬ 
vidual. — American Opera in New York.— “And 
meanwhile. Brethren, how is it with us?” 
Editor’s ritudy. 
By William Dean Howells. 
Dr. Holmes's mortal Antipathy to Young Poets.—A 
Surfeit, not a Dearth, of Poets Impending.—Some 
Considerations why we should not Grieve if there 
never were any more Poets.— Difficulty of Forecast¬ 
ing Poets in the Absence of Ii Meteorologieo-Llterary 
Bureau.—Mr. Stedman’s Poets of America, and Mr. 
Courthope’s Liberal Movement hi English Litera¬ 
ture.—Defense of a Child of Darkness.—Mr. Gosse's 
Essays from Shakespeare to Pope.—Genius: a Phil, 
istlne View of it, — Grant’s Memoirs. — The First 
Napoleon. 
Monthly Record ol Current Events. 
Editor’s Drawer. 
Conducted by Charles Dudley Warner. 
The New England Farmer. A Plantation Funeral.— 
The Coolest Man in the French Army,—The Dingy 
Sod House of Dakota. A Disappointment.—Taking 
Advantage of Company. Why not Two Dozen?— 
One Satisfactory Item, Only an Incident.—Trying 
to Make It All Right (Illustration by W. H. Hyde). 
HARPER'S PERIODICALS. 
Per Year. 
HARPER’S MAGAZINE...gt <» 
HARPER’S WEEKLY...,... I oo 
HARPER’S BAZAR.... j Oo 
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HARPER’S FRANKLIN SQUARE LIBRARY 
(One Number a week for 52 weeks).10 00 
HARPER’S HANDY SERIES. (One Number a 
week for 52 weeks)...15 00 
Postage Free to all subscribers in the United States 
or Canada 
Remittances should he made by Post-office Money Or¬ 
der or Draft, to avoid chance of loss. 
IFhen no time is specified, subscriptions tcill be begun 
with the current number. 
i$r HARPER’S CATALOGUE, comprising the 
titles of between three and four thousand volumes, 
will bo sent by mail on receipt of Ten Cents. 
PUBLISHED BY 
HARPER & BROTHERS, 
NEW YORK. 
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and prices to .1. E. WHITING, Montrose, Pa. 
TH ANNUAL REPORT OF THE 
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TRENTON IRON GO., 
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Trentou, New Jersey. 
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JSfSendfor circulars and prices. 
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BAKER'S 
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