Chapter VII: Strawberries (5)

“LUPINUS.—_Leguminosæ._—The Lupine. A genus of herbaceous annuals and perennials which contain some of our most beautiful border flowers: yellow, blue, white, and pink lupines are among the oldest border annuals; _L. nanus_ is a beautiful little annual, with dark blue flowers, a native of California, and requiring the usual treatment of California annuals. _L. mutabilis_ and _Cruicshankii_ are splendid plants, growing to the height of four or five feet, and branching like miniature trees. _L. Polyphyllus_ and its varieties are perennials, and they are splendid and vigorous-growing plants, with spikes of flowers from one foot to eighteen inches in length; _L. nootkatensis_ is a handsome dwarf perennial, and _L. arboreus_, when trained against a wall, will attain six feet in height, and in sheltered situations it will grow with equal vigor trained as a bush tied to a stake; _L. latifolius_ is a perennial from California, with very long spikes of blue flowers. All the species will thrive in common garden soil; the annuals are propagated by seed sown in February or March, and the perennials by division of the roots.”

[17] Bulbs are of two kinds: those which have a number of
coats, or skins, one within the other, like the hyacinth,
which are called tunicated bulbs; those which consist of a
number of scales, only attached to the base, like the lily;
but what are called corms, are only a solid mass of feculent
matter, and which modern botanists do not allow to be bulbs,
but call underground stems. Corms do not require taking up
so often as bulbs; and when they are intended to remain for
several years in the ground, they should be planted from
four to six inches deep at first; as every year a new corm
will form above the old one; and thus, if planted too near
the surface, the corm, in a few years, will be pushed out of
the ground.—_Loudon._

PREPARATION OF SEED FOR SOWING.

Many persons suppose that when seeds have been selected, nothing is necessary but to put them into the ground just as they are. A careful preparation of seed, both for field or garden use, will add much to the success of a planting.

1. ASSORTING SEEDS.—In every lot of seed there are many imperfect ones; some are insectiferous, some are unripe, some are the extreme terminal seeds, small and weak, some are very often a little moldy. In some way all defective seeds should be removed.

Then it should be remembered, that the soundest and largest seeds will produce plants of a corresponding vigor, and that by planting only the healthiest, the variety is kept pure—or even improved.

For garden use hand picking will suffice. We pour our corn on a table, and select only the kernels which are plump and large, rejecting any which show an intermixture of other varieties. Beet seed requires careful winnowing, nearly one-fourth, as they are usually sold, being unfit for planting. Peas are more uniform in size and quality, and require but little selection. Melons, squashes, and cucumbers should be culled, or better yet, be put into water; only those which sink promptly should be used, the swimming and floating ones being light and trashy. Beans are apt to be imperfect. We have usually found occasion to reject full one-third of every quart, for seedsmen are apt to put in every seed that grows, whether they will ever grow again or not. There is no dishonesty certainly in this; but if one would habitually screen or select, and put, up only the very choicest, he would ultimately get a higher price, and secure for his seed a universal demand.

2. SOAKING SEEDS.—Some seeds will not germinate for a long period, unless they are artificially brought forward. Locust seeds are _scalded_ before planting. Peas are scalded to kill the bug, when thus inhabited. The cypress vine seed require soaking to induce a quick germination. Celery seed is very sluggish unless soaked.

Seeds are often steeped in _prepared_ liquids to force their growth. Old seeds, whose powers of germination are much diminished, are made to vegetate by being put into a weak solution of oxalic acid. Wheat is _pickled_ in salt brine, then rolled in lime, as a preventive of _smut_.

Corn is protected from worms by copperas water; and peas are put into train oil to guard them from moles and mice. Tanner’s oil, and a solution of saltpetre are often used; the first for turnip-seed, to protect them from a destructive insect; and the latter for all seeds, as a stimulant to their growth and to guard against worms and bugs.

Some excitement was made in Scotland, not long ago, by the great effects alleged to have been produced by so preparing seeds that they would contain in or on themselves all those fertilizing qualities usually looked for in the soil. It is possible, by employing chemical mixtures, or coatings, to make the seed germinate with great vigor, and to establish itself strongly; but we do not suppose any process can be made to reach beyond this. No mere soaking or coating can extend its influence through the whole growth of the crop.

When seeds are soaked they anticipate the weeds in coming up, especially seeds planted in May and June, and this is a very important object, as crops are, often, almost smothered with weeds before they are large enough to be weeded.

SOWING FLOWER SEEDS—TRANSPLANTING.

Many flower-seeds require no more skill in planting than do peas or beans, for they are as large and as easily germinated. But very many are small, and some extremely small, and if planted too deeply, they will not shoot, or will shoot very feebly.

Select a free-working and rich piece of ground—a sandy loam is best, and a stiff clay the worst—let it be spaded deeply, incorporating very thoroughly-rotted manure, _i. e._ manure full two years old and which will crumble in the hand as fine as sand. With a fine-toothed rake reduce every lump and bring the surface to the finest state of pulverization. If the seed is very small, it had better be mixed with a little sand, or dry soil, to increase the bulk. The sowing will be easier and more equal. Scatter the seed upon the bed; then with the hands or a fine garden sieve, sift fresh and mellow earth upon it from a quarter to half an inch in depth. To bring the earth compactly about the seed, spat the bed with moderate strokes with the back of a spade. If the weather is very dry, water the bed at evening with a watering-pot—to pour it from a pail or cup would wash up the surface. Keep the plants from weeds, and when they are one or two inches high, they may be transplanted to the places where they are to stand. Balsams, larkspurs, poppies, and, indeed, most flowers do better by being transplanted. The operation checks the luxuriance of the plant, and increases its tendency to flower.

Sometimes seeds are planted where they are to remain; the treatment is precisely the same as before, except they are _thinned out_ instead of transplanted. No mistake is more frequent, among inexperienced gardeners, than that of suffering too many plants to stand together. One is reluctant to pull up fine thriving plants; or he does not reflect that what may seem room enough while the plant is young, will be very scanty when it is grown.

There is much taste to be displayed in arranging flowers in a garden so that proper colors shall be contrasted. It is important that proper colors should be matched in a garden, as on a dress.

PARLOR PLANTS AND FLOWERS IN WINTER.

The treatment of house plants is very little understood, although the practice of keeping shrubs and flowers during the winter is almost universal. It is important that the physiological principles on which success depends should be familiarly understood; and then cultivators can apply them with success in all the varying circumstances in which they may be called to act.

Two objects are proposed in taking plants into the house—either simple protection, or the development of their foliage and flowers, during the winter. The same treatment will not do for both objects. Indeed, the greatest number of persons of our acquaintance, treat their winter plants, from which they desire flowers, as if they only wished to preserve them till spring; and the consequence is, that they have very little enjoyment in their favorites.

HOUSE PLANTS DESIGNED SIMPLY TO STAND OVER.

Tender roses, azaleas, cape jasmins, crape myrtles, oranges, lemons, figs, oleanders, may be kept in a _light_ cellar if frost never penetrates it.

If kept in parlors, the following are the most essential points to be observed. The thermometer should never be permitted to rise above sixty degrees or sixty-five degrees; nor at night to sink below forty degrees. Although plants will not be frost-bitten until the mercury falls to thirty-two degrees, yet the chill of a temperature below forty degrees will often be as mischievous to tender plants as frost itself. Excessive heat, particularly a dry stove heat, will destroy the leaves almost as certainly as frost. We have seen plants languishing in a temperature of seventy degrees (it often rising ten degrees higher), while the owners wondered what could ail the plants, for they were sure that they kept the room warm enough!

Next, great care should be taken not to overwater. Plants which are not growing require _very little_ water. If given, the roots become sogged, or rotten, and the whole plant is enfeebled. Water should never be suffered to stand in the saucers; nor be given, always, when the top-soil is dry. Let the earth be stirred, and when the _interior_ of the ball is becoming dry, give it a _copious_ supply; let it drain through thoroughly, and turn off what falls into the saucer.

PLANTS DESIGNED FOR WINTER FLOWERING.

It is to be remembered that the winter is naturally the season of _rest_ for plants. All plants require to lie dormant during some portion of the year. You cannot cheat them out of it. If they are pushed the whole year they become exhausted and worthless. Here lies the most common error of plant-keepers. If you mean to have roses, blooming geraniums, etc., in winter, you must, _artificially, change their season of rest_. Plants which flower in summer must rest in winter; those which are to flower in winter must rest either in summer or autumn. It is not, usually, worth while to take into the house for flowering purposes any shrub which has been in full bloom during the summer or autumn. Select and pot the wished-for flowers during summer; place them in a shaded position facing the north, give very little water, and then keep them quiet. Their energies will thus be saved for winter. When taken into the house, the four essential points of attention are light, moisture, temperature, and cleanliness.

1. LIGHT.—The functions of the leaves cannot be healthfully carried on without light. If there be too little, the sap is imperfectly elaborated, and returns from the leaves to the body in a crude, undigested state. The growth will be coarse, watery, and brittle; and that ripeness which must precede flowers and fruit cannot be attained. The sprawling, spindling, white-colored, long-jointed, plants, of which some persons are unwisely proud, are, often the result of too little light and too much water. The pots should be turned around every day, unless when the light strikes down from above, or from windows on each side; otherwise, they will grow out of shape by bending toward the light.

2. MOISTURE.—Different species of plants require different quantities of water. What are termed _aquatics_, of which the _Calla Æthiopica_, is a specimen, require great abundance of it. Yet it should be often _changed_ even in the case of aquatics. But roses, geraniums, etc., and the common house plants require the soil to be _moist_, rather than _wet_. As a general rule it may be said that every pot should have one-sixth part of its depth filled with coarse pebbles, as a drainage, before the plants are potted. This gives all superfluous moisture a free passage out. Plants should be watered by _examination_ and not by _time_. They require various quantities of moisture, according to their activity, and the period of their growth. Let the earth be well stirred, and if it is becoming dry on the inside, give water. Never water by _dribblets_—a spoonful to-day, another to-morrow. In this way the outside will become bound, and the inside remain dry. Give a copious watering, so that the whole ball shall be soaked; then let it drain off, and that which comes into the saucer be poured off. But, in whatever way one prefers to give water, the thing to be gained is a full supply of moisture to every part of the roots, and yet not so much as to have it _stand_ about them. Manure-water may be employed with great benefit every second or third watering. For this purpose we have never found anything of value equal to _guano_. Besides water to the root, plants are almost as much benefited by water on the leaf—but of this we shall speak under the head of _cleanliness_.

3. TEMPERATURE.—Sudden and violent _changes_ of temperature are almost as trying to plants as to animals and men. At the same time, a moderate change of temperature is very desirable. Thus, in nature, there is a marked and uniform variation at night from the temperature of the day. At night, the room should be gradually lowered in temperature to from forty-five degrees to fifty degrees, while through the day it ranges from fifty-five degrees to seventy degrees. Too much, and too sudden heat will destroy tender leaves almost as surely as frost. It should also be remembered that the leaves of plants are constantly exhaling moisture during the day. If in too warm an atmosphere, or in one which is too dry, this perspiration becomes excessive and weakens the plant. If the room be stove-heated, a basin of water should be put on the stove to supply moisture to the air by evaporation. Sprinkling the leaves, a kind of artificial dew, is also beneficial, on this account. The air should be changed as often as possible. Every warm and sunny day should be improved to let in fresh air upon these vegetable breathers.

4. CLEANLINESS.—This is important element of health as well as of beauty. _Animal-uncleanliness_ is first to be removed. If ground-worms have been incorporated with the dirt, give a dose or two of lime-water to the soil. Next aphides or green-lice will appear upon the leaves and stems. Tobacco smoke will soon stupefy them and cause them to tumble upon the shelves or surface of the soil, whence they are to be carefully brushed, or crushed. If one has but a few plants, put them in a group on the floor; put four chairs around them, and cover with an old blanket, forming a sort of tent. Set a dish of coals within, and throw on a handful of tobacco leaves. Fifteen minutes’ smoking will destroy any decent aphis.

If a larger collection is on hand, let the dish or dishes be placed under the stands. When the destruction is completed, let the parlor be well ventilated, unless, fair lady, you have an inveterate smoker for a husband; in which case you may have become used to the nuisance.

The insects which infest large collections of green-houses, are fully treated of in horticultural books of directions.

_Dust_ will settle every day upon the leaves, and choke up the perspiring pores. The leaves should be kept free by gentle wiping, or by washing.

* * * * *

White Clover is an important grass on flourishing old meadows. It grows very thick at the bottom of the other grass, although in a good season it will grow to the height of from twelve to sixteen inches. I have seen it in low spots completely covered for weeks together. Therefore land which produces abundant crops of grass, would require extensive draining for grain, and seeing that plowing such land destroys its life, it is far better to keep it in grass continually.

PARLOR FLOWERS AND PLANTS IN WINTER.—(_Art. 2._)

There are so few who care enough for flowers to trouble themselves with them during the winter, that it seems almost unkind to criticise the imperfections of those who do. But it is very plain that, for the most part, skill and knowledge do not keep pace with good taste. _Not_ to point out defects to those who are anxious to improve would be the real unkindness.

There are two objects for which plants are kept over.

Plants are housed for the sake of their verdure and bloom during the winter; or, simply to protect them from the frosts. Our first criticism is, that these two separate objects are, to a great extent, improperly united. Tables and window-stands are crowded with plants which ought to be in the cellar or in a pit. Plants which have bloomed through the summer _will_ rest during the winter. To remove them from the heat and dust of the parlor—to place them in a dry, light, warm cellar, will certainly conduce to their entire rest, and the parlor will lose no grace by the removal of ragged stems, falling leaves, and flowerless branches. When a large quantity of plants are to be protected, and cellar room is wanting, a pit may be prepared with little expense. Dig a place eight or ten feet square, in a dry exposure. The depth may be from five to six feet. Let the surface of this chamber be curbed about with a plank frame, the top of which should slope to the south at an inclination of about three inches to the foot. This may be covered with plank except in the middle, where two sash may be placed. The outside of the plank may be banked up with earth, and if light brush or haulm be placed upon the top, in severe weather, it will be all the better. The inside may be provided with shelves on every side for the pots, and thus hundreds of plants may be effectually protected. During severe freezing weather the sash should be covered with mats, old carpet, straw or anything of the kind; and in _very_ cold weather this should not be removed during the daytime: for if the plants have been touched with frost, the admission of light will destroy or maim them, whereas, if kept in darkness, they will suffer little or no injury. Several families may unite in the expense of forming a cold-pit and thus fill it with plants at a small expense and very little inconvenience to each. _Very little_ if any water should be given to plants thus at rest.

Even where plants are wanted to bloom in the parlor late in the winter, it is often better to let them spend the fore-part of the winter in the cellar or pit.

Our second criticism respects the _character_ of winter collections.

The most noticeable error is the strange crowd of plants often huddled together, as if the excellence of a collection consisted in the number of things brought together. Everything that the florist sees in other collections has been procured, as if it would be an unpardonable negligence not to have what others have. Hence we sometimes see scores of plants, very different in their habits, requiring widely different conditions of growth, reduced to one regimen, viz. a place near the window, so much water a day, and one turning round. This summary procedure, of course, soon results in a vegetable Falstaff’s regiment; some plants being long, sprawling, gangling, some dormant and dumpy; some shedding their leaves and going to rest with unripe wood, some mildewed, a few faintly struggling to show here and there a bewildered blossom. In such a collection the eye is pained by the entire want of sympathy arising from jumbling together the most dissimilar kinds; from the want of robust health, and from the entire disappearance of that vivid freshness and sprightliness of growth, compact while it is rapid, which gives a charm to well managed plants.

All plants which are not growing, or for whose growth your parlors are not suitable, should be put into the cellar and should there be allowed to stand over in a state of rest. According to your accommodations, select a _few_ vigorous, symmetrical, hearty, healthy plants for the window. _One plant_ well tended, will afford you more pleasure than twenty, half-nurtured.

In our dwellings, one has to make his way between two extremes in the best manner that he can. Without a stove our thin-walled houses are cold as an ice-house, and a frosty night sends sad dismay among our favorites. Then, on the other hand, if we have a stove, the air is apt to be parched, and unwholesome, fit for salamanders, fat and torpid cats and dozing grandmothers. There is not much choice between an ice-house and an oven. _There can be no such thing as floral health without fresh air and enough of it._ This must be procured by frequent ventilation.

PROTECTING PLANTS IN WINTER.

Very many shrubs, vines, roses, etc., usually regarded as tender, may yet be safely left standing in the garden if properly protected.

_The neck of plants_, _i. e._ that part at which the roots and stem come together, requires thorough protection; both because it is the most tender (as some say), and because it is at this point, that freezing and sudden thawing must occur. The black soil absorbing heat rapidly, the neck of a plant will be first and most affected by the morning sun; and this is the reason, we think, rather than any special tenderness of parts, why plants are killed at the crown of the root. Let the ground be well covered with leaves or with coarse manure, and let it come up three or four inches high on the stem. It is better to have the top strawy, rather than dark colored manure.

_It is the sun_, and not the frost, that, for the most part, kills the stems of half-hardy plants. Protection is often, therefore, only thorough shading. The Bengal tea, and noisette roses are left out at Philadelphia and at Cincinnati without detriment.

Drive a stake by the side of the plant, and drawing up the branches to it, cover them with straw, or bass-matting wrapped around them. Kegs, barrels, boxes, etc., may be turned over such as are not too high and will sufficiently protect them. Air-holes should be bored in barrels, etc., and the north side is the best for the purpose.

_Grape vines_ which need protection should be loosened from the trellis or wall, pruned, laid down on the ground and earth thrown over them three or four inches deep. Isabella and Catawba grape vines will need no protection.

TO PRESERVE DAHLIA ROOTS.

The least frost destroys these roots. In warm and damp cellars they rot. Very many persons have no cellars at all (a very frequent destitution at the West); others are so small and moist, as to be unfit (our own, for instance); and the extreme variations of temperature during the day and night make sitting-rooms and their closets very unsafe places for them. The labor of packing them in sand is not great to those who have it ready or men to procure it; but to ladies, and especially to many in towns and cities who are enthusiastic cultivators of flowers, but grievously vexed with poverty of pocket, this plan is inconvenient.

Why may not dahlias be kept in the soil? We think there is not the least doubt that they can be protected from _frost_ and _heat_. Every one knows that in spading up in the spring the dahlia beds of the previous year, large sections of the tubers, which had broken off when the main roots were removed, are found in a fresh and sound condition.

Let a pit be dug say two feet deep, the roots carefully disposed in it, covered with soil, and the whole protected by coarse litter, straw, etc. We do not advise any to adventure their whole stock in this manner; but we design to select the inferior sorts from our stock and treat them thus; and if successful, we shall, another year, try our whole stock.

HEDGES.

1. Where a hedge is properly made and carefully trimmed, it is the most beautiful fence that can be made; and, as an _object of beauty_, it may be well to form hedges in a wood country; but as a mode of general fencing we deem it totally inappropriate to the condition of a country abounding in timber. The labor of setting and tending it until it is established, is tenfold more than is required for a timber fence; a hedge requires from five to eight years for its establishment; and every year of this time it must be _well_ tended; when grown, it requires annual shearing; which, on a long line of fence, is a labor to which few farmers will submit for the sake of _appearances_. It is liable to get out of order by disease, or the death of particular parts; and, if neglected a few years, it becomes ragged, a covert for vermin and mischievous animals. In yards, gardens, and lawns, hedges should be grown for ornament, and to serve as screens, and backgrounds.

Upon the estates of the affluent where money is less valuable to the owner than decorations, hedges should be established. Hedges may also be economical in a prairie country; the labor and expense of making and keeping may be less than would be the cost of timber; but on farms in a woodland district they are to be regarded as a _luxury_; and like all luxuries, they are expensive.

2. The white thorn will do very well for hedges if carefully tended. The usual materials for hedges, at the East, are the English white thorn (_cratægus oxycantha_), the buckthorn (_rhamnus catharticus_), Newcastle thorn (_cratægas crus-galli_), honey locust (_gleditschia triacanthos_), red cedar (_juniperus Virginiana_), the Washington or Virginia thorn (_cratægus cordata_).

The Osage orange (_maclura aurantiaca_) has been highly recommended; it is eminently beautiful, and if proved to be good for hedging, should be employed. Privet makes a sightly hedge, but is thornless. The Washington thorn is employed in this neighborhood by Aaron Aldredge; it is very beautiful; will require eight or ten years to give it maturity.

3. When the thorn is used, the berries should be gathered and mashed, in the fall, and the seed exposed, mixed with moist sand, to the frost of winter. In the spring they should be sown in nursery rows, and at a year old, they should be transplanted. A reserve of plants should be kept in the nursery to supply vacancies which may occur.

The ground should be thoroughly and deeply pulverized by plowing (spading would be much better) and the plants set about six inches apart. The ground should be kept entirely free from weeds; this may be done in a profitable manner by planting bush beans on each side, the tending of which will keep the hedge clean, the ground mellow, besides the profit of the crop. Dr. Shurtliff, of Boston, gives the following brief but excellent directions:

“Prepare your land in the best manner; use suitable plants of thrifty growth, the older the better; assort and accommodate to the different kinds of soil; preserve all the roots, but crop the tops, leaving only few buds; keep a few in your nursery; set them sloping to the north, and leave the ground a little concave about the roots; keep them clear of grass and weeds, and add a little earth to the roots at each hoeing; clear away the leaves at autumn; trim the side branches carefully, and leave the main stems to nature till they are six feet high, then crop of the tops to the height you mean to have your hedge. It will look like a wedge with the sharp end upwards, and will exhibit a most beautiful appearance.”

WATERING TREES, ETC.

We have observed many persons copiously watering young trees and garden plants.

1. In many cases much water is a positive injury. The roots draw up a larger supply of liquid than there is vigor in the tree to digest or appropriate. In such cases the tissue is enfeebled, the roots decay, and the tree perishes in the trying heats of July and August.

2. It often happens that wetting the tree itself is much better than watering the root. Take a watering-pot and drench the leaves, and limbs and trunk, several times in a day. In a small tree a large bunch of cotton or rags may be put in the crotch and saturated with water. It will gradually trickle down the stem, and also evaporate, keeping the leaves in a moist medium. This trouble is worth while in case of rare trees difficult to be obtained. A tree perspires as really as an animal or a man. Every leaf is furnished with _stomata_ or pores, the number and size of which determine the amount of perspiration. Of course, as they vary in different plants, there is a corresponding difference in the amount which they perspire. Plants which grow in exposed situations, scorched by the sun, have a structure which admits but slight perspiration, while those which grow in the shade and in moist places perspire copiously.

It is upon this state of facts that watering the tree itself is beneficial. The exhalation from the leaf is diminished, and sap retained within the tree. Beside this, the leaf and young green bark absorb some moisture.

3. Where watering is resorted to it should not be upon the surface; especially is this injurious in clay soils. The moisture is immediately exhaled, and the sun hardens the wet earth into a crust, nearly as impervious to light, and air and moisture, as if it were sheet-iron. Let a slight trench be opened, and after the water has sunk away, replace the earth and pulverize it. In this way no baking will take place.

4. But the best method of watering by the root, is that which is technically denominated _mulching_. Cover the surface of the ground beneath the tree or shrub with three or four inches’ thickness of coarse, strawy manure. If watered through this the earth will not bake; the moisture will not evaporate; the root will be shielded from the sun, and enriched by the infiltration of the juices of the manure.

LABELS FOR TREES.

It is of _great_ importance for every farmer to preserve the names of his fruit-trees; and no amateur cultivator should think himself worthy of a name whose garden and fruit ground is not registered and labelled.

It is best in every case to have a fruit-book, in which should be entered the name of each tree, its place, time of planting, from whom obtained, how old it was from the graft or bud, when set out, its size, condition, etc.

Such a book, kept in the house, is a sure and permanent record of the names of your fruit-trees. Beside this, each tree should have a _label_ attached to it. For, in passing through an orchard or fruit garden, it is desirable to know the names of trees without the inconvenience of carrying your book under your arm. The labels are for daily use; the book keeps a permanent record, so that if a label be lost the name of the tree does not go with it. It is quite provoking to examine a friend’s premises without being able to learn the name of a single tree. Beside, every cultivator should know the names of his trees as well as of his cattle; otherwise they will get local names, and the same fruit have a new name in each orchard.

TRANSPLANTING EVERGREENS.

The general impression that evergreens are very difficult to transplant is not well founded if one will observe a few directions.

_The best time for transplanting_ is when the tips begin to show fresh growth in spring. This is exactly the reverse of directions in English books, which denounce spring, and enjoin fall transplanting—in the climate of England, doubtless with good reason; and it is a good illustration of the caution necessary before imitating, in our climate, the most skillful foreign practices.

A friend informs us that he has always totally lost all his fall transplantings; not saving ten in a hundred; and other men say they have had similar experience, and _it is a settled fact that fall transplanting of evergreens is bad practice_.

_The best method_ of removing is to lift the plant with as many roots and fibres as possible. More care should be used in this respect than in the removal of fruit-trees; indeed, there is little risk when good roots are obtained and kept in a moist condition. In planting, the most successful operators that we have seen, mix about half and half common soil and old rotten wood from the forests, filling it in carefully about the roots and covering the surface with substances which will prevent too much evaporation of moisture, as litter, decayed wood, sods grass side down, etc., etc.

The old wood employed should be thoroughly decomposed; and that of the hackberry, maple, and beech are preferred. The decayed wood of the black walnut and oak do not seem congenial to plants.

When large trees are to be removed it is often done with success in the winter, by opening a trench about the tree and permitting the ball of earth to freeze pretty thoroughly. The tree is then undermined and upon a sledge easily removed to its destination. The hole for its reception should have been dug while the ground was unfrozen, and it will be necessary to wait until it thaws before it can again be filled in about the tree.

FLOWERS, LADIES, AND ANGELS.

If ladies wish to get into the very best company possible, we do not know of any pleasanter way than is detailed in this beautiful scrap from a German poet:

A flower do but place near thy window glass,
And through it no image of evil shall pass.
Abroad must thou go? on thy white bosom wear
A nosegay, and doubt not an angel is there;
Forget not to water at break of the day
The lilies, and thou shalt be fairer than they;
Place a rose near thy bed nightly sentry to keep,
And angels shall rock thee on roses to sleep.

And pray what will happen if a _gentleman_ does all this? For one, we have a personal curiosity to know; for we do all these things and a good many more. If any other angels have hovered about us than angelic flowers, we make an especial request to them not, hereafter, to be so shy about it. Our natural eye would delight to behold in veritable substance all the flower-spirits which our ideality spies lurking in our garden-blossoms.

HORTICULTURAL CURIOSITIES.

Mr. Hovey, editor of the magazine which bears his name, had occasion during the year 1844 to visit Europe, for professional objects; “not the least was that of giving some account of the condition of gardening in that country, from whose works, whose practice, and experience, our own cultivators have derived so much knowledge.”

We cull from the several numbers already published in his magazine, the most interesting facts.

RHODODENDRONS.—Speaking of the Liverpool botanical gardens, he says:

“The principal clumps were filled with rhododendrons of
various kinds, which do remarkably well; the climate, from
its humidity, seems to suit them, and most of the plants
were clothed with branches from the base to the top. _R.
altaclerense_ we saw six feet high; how fine must be its
numerous clusters of splendid rosy blossoms! From the time
we entered this garden, where we first saw the rhododendrons
in abundance, until we returned home, we were constantly
impressed with the importance which this shrub is destined
to hold in our gardens. Although a native of our woods and
forests, it is scarcely known out of our native habitats;
yet abroad we see it the first ornament of the garden. By
hybridization, and the production of an immense number of
seedlings, during the last fifteen years, it has been
increased in splendor, until it now almost equals its
tender, but gorgeous eastern sisters. How long shall our
gardens be deficient in this great ornament?”

FUCHSIAS, OR LADIES’ EARDROP.—Nothing will be more surprising to those who have cultivated this beautiful plant, and thought it well grown if a foot high, and brilliant if a dozen blossoms showed at once, than the magnificent size and flowering of _Fuchsias_ as seen in England.

At the Sheffield Botanical Gardens Mr. Hovey saw the Fuchsias globosa major, upwards of _twenty feet_ high, the stem, at the base, being two inches through! Its drooping branches were clothed with thousands of flowers; another variety, “called _Youngii grandiflora_ was also twenty feet high, and equally strong, with innumerable flowers: this plant was only seven years old. It is almost impossible for those who have never seen specimens more than four or five feet high, to imagine the great beauty of such gigantic plants; notwithstanding their size they were well grown, being of symmetrical shape, and with vigorous and healthy foliage; they were planted in very large tubs, about two feet deep and two feet in diameter.

“The splendid _F. fulgens_ and _corymbiflora_ we also saw
here upward of ten feet high, and full of their showy
flowers.”

The Regent’s Park Garden occasions the following remarks:

“_Fuchsia globosa_ was, perhaps, as beautiful as anything
which we saw for this subject. There is an opinion prevalent
that fuchsias in our climate do not do well in the open
border; but we suspect such an idea has been prematurely
formed without experience, for we recollect seeing in the
garden of Mr. Johnson, of Lynn, three years ago, plants,
which were then in profuse bloom, and had been so all
summer, turned out of the pots into the soil; the
probability is that the plants have not been abundant enough
to give a fair trial. As they are easily propagated, and may
be sold almost as cheap as verbenas, we hope to hear of
experiments being tried to test their capability of enduring
our warm sun.”

At Chiswick Mr. Hovey saw the original tree of Williams’ Bon Chrétien pear (the Bartlett of Boston gardens). It was hale and healthy.

TULIPS.—Mr. H. visited Mr. Groom, at Clapham; “preparations were making for planting out the great collection of tulips in October. For this flower Mr. Groom is famous; he has raised several very splendid seedlings, some of which are priced as high as _five hundred dollars_, and a great number at _one hundred_ dollars each (£21 sterling). It would seem to those who know little of the tulip that this was something of a tulip mania; but the tulip is a most gorgeous flower, and when once a love for it takes possession of the amateur, and he obtains a knowledge of its properties, there is scarce anything he would not sacrifice to obtain the choicest kinds. In England, there are many collections valued at thousands of pounds. In this country the tulip is but little valued, and a bed of the most common kind attracts nearly as many admirers as one of the choicest and high-priced flowers.”

DWARF PEAR-TREES.—“The garden is laid out with numerous walks, and the borders of them were filled with bearing trees. They were from six to ten feet high, trained in pyramidal form, and many of them full of fruit. This mode of growing trees appears to be universally adopted around Paris; we scarcely saw a standard tree. The advantages of the pyramidal or quenouille form are, that, in gardens of moderate extent only, a collection of two or three hundred kinds may be cultivated; they occupy but little room, being placed about six feet apart, and being pruned in, they do not throw sufficient shade to injure anything growing near them. They afford greater facilities for examining the fruit while growing, and for picking it when ripe; the trees are not so much shaken by high winds, and the large kind of pears do not so easily blow off: the facilities for making observations upon the wood and leaves, are also greater; and, as regards appearance alone, they are, when well managed, far more beautiful than standards. To those who wish to plant out large quantities for orchard cultivation, they would not, of course, be recommended; but for the garden, the pyramidal form should be adopted.”

ALPINE STRAWBERRY.—This variety is especially valuable from its propensity to bear all the summer. At the gardens of the Luxembourg, Paris, Mr. Hovey says:

“The Alpine strawberry is cultivated very extensively for
the supply of the royal tables throughout the whole summer
and autumn, and one-quarter was devoted to this fruit; the
plants were set out in long rows, with alternate plantations
of dahlias, which were now in most profuse bloom; a great
many of them were the _fancy_ sorts, which are greatly
admired and extensively cultivated in and around Paris. One
of the finest we saw was the Beauty of England, purple
tipped with white; and every flower distinctly marked. The
strawberries are set out in August or September, and the
following season produce abundantly; or they may be raised
from seed in the spring, and planted out to bear a crop in
the autumn. A moist soil and half shady aspect is most
favorable, and, in our climate, to expect success, such a
locality should be selected if possible; an abundance of
fruit may then be expected. The best berries were as large
as the finest Woods we generally see in our market. We
recommend all who love this delicious fruit to try the
experiment of their cultivation. Such profusion as we saw
them exposed for sale in the cafés of Paris, shows that
there can be no great difficulty in the way of success.”

THE CORN CROP.

The valleys of the West are regarded as the corn-fields of the world, and the people seem to regard the crop of corn as the foundation crop. Lately wheat is becoming a rival, particularly in the northern part of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, and Wisconsin. Our real object, is, not to theorize,—to teach “book farming”—but to lay before practical men practical results, to inform them of _what has been done_. We give on page 382 the method of cultivating the potato as employed by eminent and successful cultivators. We here present the modes of cultivating corn which have produced the largest crops.

W. C. YOUNG’S METHOD.—Mr. Young is a Kentucky farmer, and raised 195 bushels of shelled corn to the acre. When this was first published it quite staggered the faith of eastern farmers. This roused the zeal of Kentucky, and the _Dollar Farmer_ sets forth the manner, and adds a series of explanations, all of which we give. We must say, that such a depth, for seed on stiff soils—on any soil except the lightest and mellowest, and on these, in a cool or rainy spring, would not be proper. Neither could planting be done in March in the latitudes of Indiana unless in the southern part, and then only in early seasons. That Mr. Young did produce 195 bushels to the acre, we feel just as certain as that we now hold a pen in our hand. It was measured by as respectable gentlemen as any in Jessamine County—gentlemen appointed for the purpose by the Jessamine Agricultural Society. And let it be remembered that this was no first experiment on a single acre. The corn was planted and cultivated according to the method long adopted by Mr. Young, and his whole crop was pronounced equal to the five acres measured. This extraordinary crop was produced in 1840, a year very favorable to corn; but we are told by Mr. Young that in the dryest years he does not get less than 100 bushels to the acre.

Here then is not “book farming,” but a method of cultivation _practised_ for years by a plain, practical, but intelligent farmer. Here then is actual experience for a course of years, the very thing the farmer says he must have before he can be convinced! But, reader, are you convinced? No. You can not get round the experience, provided it _was_ experience, and you will take a short way of evading the matter by simply saying that you don’t believe a word of the whole story.

Strange as it may seem, these worthy farmers that go so strong for _facts_ and _experience_, and who yet deny all facts and all experience that do not tally with their own notions—these very farmers are fond of arguing, and like mightily to have the reason or _rationale_ of things explained; and many a one of them will yield to the _theory_ who will not yield to a _fact_. Well, then, let us look into the theory of Mr. Y.’s practice. Hear him:

“My universal rule is, to plow my corn land the fall
preceding the spring when I plant; and as early in the
spring as possible, I cross-plow as deep as circumstances
will permit; and as soon as this is done, I commence
checking off—the first way with my large plows, and the
second with my small ones; the checks three feet by three,
admitting of working the land both ways. And then I plant my
corn from the 20th to the 25th of March—a rule to which I
adhere with scrupulous exactness; planting from eight to
twelve grains in each hill, covering the same from _four to
six inches deep_, greatly preferring the latter depth. So
soon as my corn is up of sufficient height, I start the
large harrow directly over the rows, allowing a horse to
walk each side; harrowing the way the corn was planted; and
on land prepared as above and harrowed as directed, the
hoeing part will be so completely performed by this process,
that it will satisfy the most skeptical. Then, allowing the
corn thus harrowed, to remain a few days, I start my small
plow with the bar next the corn; and so nicely will this be
done, that when a row is thus plowed, so completely will the
intermediate spaces, hills, etc., be lapped in by the loose
earth, occasioned by this system of close plowing, as to
render any other work useless for a time. I thin to four
stalks upon a hill, never having to transplant, the second
plowing being performed with the moldboard toward the rows
of corn; and so rapid has been the growth of the corn
between the first and second plowings, that this is
performed with ease; and when in this stage, I consider my
crop safe—my general rule being, never to plow my corn more
than four times, and harrow once. My practice is, to put a
field in corn two successive years, then grass it, and let
it lie eight years—a rule from which I never deviate. Now, I
do not pretend that the labor bestowed upon a sodfield to
put it in a state of thorough cultivation, does not meet
with a fair equivalent from one crop; but I presume no
farmer will doubt when I say the second year’s crop from sod
land is better than the first, with not more than one half
the labor. The best system of farming is to produce the
greatest amount of profit from the smallest amount of labor.”

Now what are the essentials of this method?

First—Fertility of soil, kept up by his system of manuring and grass, of which we shall not speak.

Second—Early planting. In consequence of this, the corn matures before the dry season commences, and every farmer knows that plenty of rain will make a good crop of corn in almost any soil. They all know that the essential thing for corn is rain, and there is generally plenty of rain till about the 1st of July. Mr. Young might plant his corn considerably later and have it come up as early, and grow off more rapidly, by soaking it in a solution of saltpetre. Thus would the effect of frost and chilly mornings be in a degree avoided, while we feel confident, from our own experience, all injury from the cut-worm would be avoided.

Third—Close planting. Every farmer must know that to produce the heaviest possible crop, a certain number of stalks must be upon the ground. It is often observed that the great sin of American agriculture is too thin sowing. Grass is nearly always sowed too thin, and the same is true of small grain. In England they sow four and five and sometimes six bushels of oats to the acre; in this country generally not more than a bushel or a bushel and a half. Hence in England they yield three or four times as heavy as in this country; while in this country we never hear of an extraordinary crop where less than three or four bushels to the acre were sown. Now, we venture to affirm that no very large corn crop was ever grown unless it was planted more than usually thick. In the crop of George W. Williams, of Bourbon county, Kentucky, the corn was planted in rows two feet apart, with a stalk every foot in the rows. This crop produced 167 bushels to the acre. But there is another important advantage of close planting. The corn very soon becomes so dense that the ground is shaded, and the growth of the grass is prevented, and the moisture retained in the soil. By this method of cultivation, no grass is ever allowed to absorb the moisture from the earth, or to take up the nutritious gases which ought to be appropriated exclusively to the corn.

Fourth—Deep planting. This probably operates favorably by giving the roots a bedding where the soil is always moist. Another advantage may be that the roots are thus not so liable to be broken by the plow in cultivation. But it must be here noted, that by Mr. Young’s methed, the corn is “laid by” before the roots are so extended as to be liable to much injury from the plow.

Fifth and last—It will be observed that, by Mr. Young’s method, the soil is kept very friable and loose, and that to a considerable depth. This may be considered the all-essential point in husbandry. One of the chief advantages of all manures is, so to divide the soil that the atmosphere, from which plants derive their principal nutriment, may freely penetrate to the roots of the plants. In such a loose soil, too, it is well known that much less rain is requisite than in a stiff, cold, close soil. For this reason, gravel, sand, or sawdust is often the best manure that can be put upon a stiff soil. In the fall of the year, Mr. Young turns down very deep a thick-rooted sod of eight years’ standing. The vegetable matter in the sod will obviously keep the soil very loose for a year or two by mechanical division, as well as by the slow fermentation of this matter in the soil. But this is not all. The soil is deeply broken up before planting; it is harrowed thoroughly as soon as the corn comes up, and then there is a rapid succession of plowing, until the ground is shaded by the corn, and plowing is no longer possible or necessary. No doubt the plow is preferable to the hand-hoe or cultivator in the case of Mr. Young; for it makes the soil loose to a greater depth, and we have already explained that, according to his method, the roots of the corn are not exposed to injury from the plow.

We append to this account of Mr. Young’s method, that of several other cultivators, and are indebted for them to the _Western Farmer and Guardian_. In Mr. Miller’s account the reader will observe the _depth of planting_ in a stiff clay.

MR. SUTTON’S METHOD.—Mr. James M. Sutton, of St. George, Delaware, who raised upon seventy-nine acres 6,284 bushels of corn, and who gives an accurate and detailed account of the condition and cultivation of each field, makes this remark in relation to the use of the plow:

“In order to test the advantage of the cultivator over the
plow, for tilling corn, he had five rows in this field that
he lapped the furrow to, with a plow, previous to going over
it the last time with the cultivator. He soon discovered
that the growth of these five rows fell short, in height, of
those adjacent, and yielded one-fifth less corn.

“There is no doubt but the true mode of tilling corn,
especially where sod-ground is used, is to plow deep, and
use nothing but the fallow and flake-harrow for its
cultivation. By not disturbing the sod plowed down, it
remains there as a reservoir of moisture, and an
exhilarating principle throughout the season, to the growth
of the corn.”

Upon Mr. Sutton’s report of his crop, Judge Buel adds the following: