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“The tawny, solemn Night, child of the
East,
Her mournful robes trail on the distant
woods,
And comes this way, with firm and stately
step.”
*«•*•••
“Tis midnight now! the best and broken
moon,
Battered and black, as from a thousand
battles,
Hangs silent on the purple walls of heaven."
* • * * * * *
What ahk we to say, however, of
passages like the following? It is
Don Carlos, soured by the conduct of
Ins, and yielding with contemptible
weakness, to his own gusty moods,
who thus raves, addressing, by turns,
a single astonished listner, and the
universal air 1
“01 for a name that black-cy ed maids
would sigh
And bear with parted lips at mention of,—
That I should seem so tall in minds of men,
That I might walk beneath the arch of
heaven,
And pluck the red, ripe stare as I passed
on! —
O ! to wear a Crown as dazzling as the sun!
And holdingup a sceptre, lightning-charged,
Stride out among the stars, as I have strode
A barefoot boy among the buttercups 1”
The very idea of a 'woman strikes
him half blind with fury, and he
shrinks,
“I'll stand besides you on this crag, and
curse,
And hurl my clenched fists, down upon their
heads,
Till I am hoarse as yonder Cataract /”
But these utterances are mild, gentle
eveningsazephyrs, when compared with
the burst of Bedlamite egotism, en
tirely worthy of mad Nat Lee, or of
Manlowe “in his cups,’’ which we
shall now quote. Don (Jarlos in reply to
a question, whether ho “dare meet the
curse” of his fellow men, exclaims ;
“Dare !
“I’d dare the curses of the sceptred kings,—
I'd build a Pyramid of the whitest skulls,
And step therefrom unto the spotted moon,
And thence to stars, thence to the central
suns ;
Then, with one grand and mighty leap
would land
Unhindered , on the shores oj the Gods of
’ ■'
And sword in hand, unbared, and unabash
ed,
Would stand forth in the presence of the
God
Os Gods; there on the jewelled inner
sUle
The walls of heaven, carved with a Damas
cus
Steel,'highest up a grand and tilted name
That time, nor tide should touch nor tar
nish ever /’’
Strange as it may seem, this inef
fable rant, as full of “sound and fury
signifying nothing” as the most detes
table passages in “Tamerlane,” has
been instanced by some of the English
Critics as remarkable for “rude
vigor,” a “frontier force," and un
studied strength of style and imagina
tion !!
Heaven help us, if this sort of
thing be genuine poetry! In that
case, all the canons of poetic art must
at once and forever be reversed!
One can with difficulty believe that
the author of “ Ina ” is likewise the
author of that noblest Ballad in
American literature, “Jut Carson's
Ride /” Here, at length, we find the
central gem, the [heart-jewel of Mr.
Filler’s collection of “Songs.”
To quote from it, to dwell upon de
tached lines, would be something like
artistic sacrilege; for the production
is a compact, perfect whole, glowing all
through with lyric passion “at a white
heat,” sweeping one along from the
first couplet to the last, as upon a
great, fiery, resistless tide of feeling ;
a tide as majestic and bright as those
prairie flames, the devouring power of
■which is so magnificently delineated!
This poem is alone sufficient to prove
its author the most gifted Lyrist of his
Country; and truly, we know not
where to find his equal in this depart
ment in the current Literature even of
Great Britain and the Continent! Not
one of Robert Browning’s lyrics, for
example, fine as they are, can for
a moment contest the palm of ex
BANNER OF THE SOUTH AND PLANTERS’JOURNAL.
cellence with u Kit Carsons RideF'
What in the way of commendation
can we say, of more emphatic signi
cance than this.
We conclude our notice by repro
ducing Mr. Miller's charming dedica
tory verses. They illustrate his style
at its very best; and both in rhythmic
sweetness, and natural grace of senti
ment are unsurpassed:
TO MAUD:
“Because the skies were blue, because
The sun in fringes of the sea
Was tangled, and
Kept dancing on as ina waltz, —
And tropic trees bowed to the seas,
And bloomed, and love, years through
and through,—
And birds in blended gold and blue,
Were thick and sweet as swarming
bees, —
And sang as if in Paradise, —
And all that Paradise was Spring,—
Did I too sing with lifted eyes,
Because I could not choose but sing !
“With garments full of sea-wind blown
From isles beyond of spice and balm,
Beside the sea, beneath her palm.
Site waits as true as chiselled stone
My childhood’s child, my June in May!
80, wiHer than thy father is,
These lines, these leaves, and all of his,
Are thine — a loose, uncouth bomiet: —
80, wait and watch for sail and sign ;
A ship shall mount the hollow seas,
Blown to thy plsce of blossomed trees,
And birds, and song, and Bummer-shine!
“I throw a kiss across the sea,
7 drink the winds as drinking wine,
And dream they all are blown from thee;
I catch the whispered kiss of thine :
Shall I return with lifted face,
Or head held down as in disgrace,
To hold thy two browns hands in wine ?”
To the question embodied in these
closing lines, there can, assuredly, be
hut one reply! A glorious future
opens before the young Poet's eyes, if
he will only exert his native good sense,
and not allow a clique of foolish
Criticasters to mislead his judgment
and blind him as to the real charrcter
andsoope of his endowments!
HABITS OF FLOWERS.
"Phwtcm nave 'mffllts,- or wkvrAf actTnf
just as people have. I will tell you about
some of them.
All flowersnaturally turn toward the light,
as if they loved it. You can see this if you
watch plants that are standing near the win
dow. The flowers will all be bent toward
the light, if you let the pots stand in the
same way all the time. By turning the pots
a little every day or two, while tiic blossoms
are opening, you can make the flowers look
in different directions.
There are some flowers that shut them
selves up at night, as if to go asleep, and
open again in the morning. Tulips do this.
1 was once admiring in the morning some
flowers that were sent to me the evening
before by a lady. Among them were some
tulips, and out of one of these, as it open
ed, flew a bumble bee. A lazy dronish bee
he must have been, to be caught in this way,
as the bower was closing itself for the
night. Or, perhaps, he had done a hani
day’s work in gathering honey, and just at
night was so sleepy that he stayed too long
in the tulip, and so was shut in. Avery
elegant bed the old bee had that night. 1
wonder if he slept any better than lie would
have done if he hail been in his homely
nest.
The pond lily closes its pure white leaves
at night, as it lies npon its watery bed. But
it unfolds them again in the morning. How
lieautiful it looks as it is spread out upon
the water in the sunlight. The little moun
tain daisy is among the flowers that close at
night, but is as bright as ever on its slender
stem when it wakes up in the morning.
When it shuts itself up, it is a little round
?een hall, and looks something like a pea.
ou would not see it in the midst of the
grass, if you did not look for it. But look
the next morning, and the ball is opened,’
and shows “a golden turf, within a silver
crown.” And very beautiful it is, when
there are so many of the daises together,
that the grass is spangled with them in the
bright sun. It is supposed that this flower
was first called “day's eye,” because it opens
its eye at the day’s dawn, and after a while
it became shortened to daisy.
The golden flowers of the dandelion are
shut up every night. They are folded up
so closely in their green coverings that they
look like buds that had never yet been
opened.
There is one curious habit which the dan
delion has. When the sun is very hot it
closes itself up to keep from wilting. It is
in this way sheltered in its green covering
from the sun. It sometimes, when the
weatliar is very hot, shuts itself up as early
as nine o’clock in the morning.
Some flowers hang down their heads at
night, as if they were nodding in their
sleep; but in the morning they lift them up
agam to welcome the light.
Some flowers have a particular time to
open. The evening primrose does not open
till evening, and lienee comes its name. The
flower named four-oclock opens at that
hour in the afternoon. There is a flower
commonly called go-to-bed-at-noon, that
always opens in the morning and closes up
at noon.
Most flowers last for some time, hot there
are some that last only a few hours. The
red flowers of the delicate a-d rich cypress
vine open in the morning, and in the after
noon they close up, never to open again.
It is delightful to one who loves flowers
to see every morning anew set of these
bright blossoms appear among the dark
green leaves of this vine.— Worthing ton
Hooker.
Geraniums. —ln looking over a recent
catalogue of one of the noted growers and
venders of bedding and other choice plants
in London, we note that there are no less
than five hundred and sixty-nine different
kinds, or at least names, of bedding geran
iums and their allies. 1 his is exclusive of
the large flowered, or better understood,
perhaps, Pelargonium section.
These names are divided into numberless
distinctions, or groups, indicative of some
peculiarity of the class, or locality from
whence obtained, including a few raised in
this country.
There are about thirty distinct groupings,
as golden tri-colors, golden bronze, green
ivy-leaved, hybrid ivy-leaved, and so on.
This alone will show the estimation in which
geraniums are held in England.
Os Fuctisias there are two hundred and
fifteen names ; the person, by the way, H.
Connell, (F. R. H. S.) being long known as
one of the largest Fuchsia growers in the
country. Os verbenas there are one hun
dred and forty-nine names—none of which
appear as of American raising although we
doubt if they are as good as are commonly
to be found on this side of the Atlantic at
the present day.
Os chrysanthemums the modest number
of upwards of three huudred. Singularly
enough this fine autumnal plant, is but little
appreciated here ; possibly because it rarely
gets in flower here in the fall, in any great
beauty, until after frost comes, hence no
use except housed. We do not see why
they should not be met with oftener, flower
ing out of doors, than we do, as years ago
when only a very few varieties were in exis
tence, the common old yellow used to flow
er free enough in almost every yard.
Os tree carnations, we sec besides giving
the kinds grown in England, it adds those
raised here, and now grown by tens of thou
sands for the purpose of thebonquet maker.
Among these, of course, are included La
Purite, Flatbusli, Defiance, Presidenf, De
graw and Astoria. It contains also what is
out little used here in the trade, select
lists of carnations and picotees for exhibi
tion.
Since the advent of the nvßnhly or tree
carnation, the old fashioned ones that
flowered but, once and then had done until
the next year have beenjnpoUy ruled out
Iwffc.
The show varieties, with the “dressing"
they obtained from the exhibitors, were
certainly marvels of artistic flowers, but
the extraordinary time and trouble spent to
make them so out of place in this busy
country, besides which they take more
trouble to winter than with them.
In England, it is no uncommon thing for
i anew geranium of great promise to fetch
thirty to forty shillings sterling—6ay $7 to
$lO per plant. —Prairie Parmer.
HOW TO RAISE ASPARAGUS.
For more than twenty years I have been
accustomed to hear about the same class
of questions asked by consumers, why it
was that asparagus, a vegetable that was
always in good demand, and usually com
manding high prices, was not more general
ly cultivated bv farmers, as well as garden
ers, situated favorably, and accessible to
good markets ?
During these twenty years I have been
engaged, more or less each year, in growing
vegetables for market, aiid at different
times have known each and every kind of
vegetable grown to any extent for market to
be a “ drug," with the single exception of
asparagus, which so far has always been in
go<xl demand, and that too at paying prices.
There are few persons who have been en
gaged on an extensive scale in “ trucking"
who have not been compelled to sell, in
“bail seasons,” a part or the whole of a crop
for less money than it cost to produce it.—
This would apply to the whole list of vege
tables, leaving out asparagus, which during
such dull seasons and poor markets is gen
erally made use of by those who grow it to
work off other kinds of vegetables, that is,
in case a grocer wants two or more dozen
of asparagus, to get it he would be obliged
to buy a portion of whatever the grower
had on his wagon at the time. In this way
the gardener who had an abundance of as
paragus would not lose so much in the sale
of his crops in dull seasons as he who was
not bo situated.
Within the past few years more attention
has been given to the culture of asparagus,
and it is not rare now to find fields of from
two to seven acres in different sections de
voted to asparagus for New York and other
large markets. Some of these new plan
tations have already begun to yield, and
still prices are not in the least affected, but
on the contrary have advanced. The past
season growers estimated the yield was
above an average one, and still prices rang
ed higher than they have for many years.—
This condition of matters is quite eucourag
ing for those who have young beds, or are
about to embark in this branch of gardening
with a view to profit.
To be successful in the culture of as
paragus for market, thereare a few essential
points to be fully considered and carried out
before any hopes of success can be enter
tained.
The first is a selection of the most suita
ble soil and situation. The second a thor
ough meehtypieal preparation of the soil be
fore planting, and third, heavy manuring.
The location of the bed is important, from
the fact that when asparagus first comes
into market, it sells briskly at from $5 to
$8 per dozen bunches, and frequently as
high has sl2 per dozen, Jif the spears are
large and the bunches carefully made.—
From these prices it gradually fails, as the
supply increases, until it reaches $2 per
dozen, and very seldom goes below this
price, although at $1.50 per dozen aspara
gus will pay a handsome profit.
When the soil has only been indifferent
ly prepared, adn poorly manured, earliness
of the crop and large sized spears cannot
be expected, and as a matter of course, un
der such circumstances a large share of
what would be the profits are not realized
by the producer.
SOWING TUB SEED.
Asparagus seed should be sowed in the
Bpring, in a bed made deep, mellow and
rich. When the surface of such a bed is
raked over, removing any stones or other
obstructions, then shallow drills should be
opened about one inch deep, and a foot
apart. The seed is strewn thinly by hand
in these drills, and then covered by raking
the bed with wooden rakes drawing them
in the direction of the drills. Fresh seed
will sprout in two weeks from the time of
sowing, in favorable weather. Seed older
than one year will take longer to germin
ate, and if more than three years old, is
unsafe to sow with any certainty of its
ever coming up.
It is a good plan to scatter some radish
seed in the drills at the time of sowing the
asparagus seed. The radish will germinate
and come up in a few days from the date of
sowing, marking the lines of the rows.—
This will give a chance to run a scuffle hoe
between the rows, destroying any weeds
that may appear, and keeping the surface
loose until the asparagus plants are well up.
Then the spaces between the rows should
be disturbed frequently and no weeds nor
grass allowed to grow. Under favorable
circumstances well grown one year old
plants will be strong enough for transplant
ing in the permanent bed. In case the
plants are weak, it is better to let jheni re
main in the seed bed another season before
making the bed. Plants older than two
years should not be planted, for more than
likely they will fail to give satisfactory re
sults. Those wlio only want a few hund
red plants to make a family lied, will find
it cheaper to buy them from some responsi
ble person than to raise them from the
seed. One pound of seed will sow a bed
20 by 100 feet, and if the seed is fresh will
give about 15,000 plants.
PREPARING THE GROUND.
When properly made, an asparagus bed
will produce paying crops for a quarter of
a century, under good annual treatment.—
There should be no short-sighted economy
firacticed in nutting the ground in order.—
f the ground selected is naturally wet, or
likely to become so, then by all means have
it thoroughly underdrained. Asparagus can
only be grown to the highest point of
profit on soil that is free from stagnant
water thoroughly pulverized to a depth of
at least twenty inches, and then heavily
manured. There will be more satisfaction
in planting only a quarter of an acre on
this thorough scale, than in planting an
acre under indifferent preparation and poor
manuring. The ground should be thorough
ly plowed and subsoiled both ways, and
then plenty of well rotted yard manure
plowed under. The more manure that is
applied, the more productive the yield will
be when the plants are fairly established.—
Bam yard manure, composted with the
salt and lime mixture, will be found an
excellent manure for asparagus.
PLANTING.
It has long been a mooted question
whether the Fall or Spring was the best
time to plant an asparagus lied. In most
cases more will depend ou the condition
and tilth of the soil than the time roots are
planted. Where the soil is heavy and re
tentive of moisture, and long and severe
Winters, undoubtedly the Spring is the best
time. But on sandy or clay loam, and as
far south as Delaware or Virginia, Fall
planting will do just as well, and often
better, than Spring planting under similar
circumstances. When the ground is pre
pared by frequent plowings and subsoiling
for field culture, or the garden spot thor
oughly trenched with the spade, then the
furrows should be run but three inches
deep, and three feet apart each way. A
single plant is set at each intersection, be
ing careful that every root of the plant is
stretched out to its full length, and then
covered with not more than four inches of
earth, if planted in the Fall, and only about
two inches when set in the Spring. This
light covering at first, or until the plants
have started to grow, is the safest plan to
follow. When the young shoots are three
or four inches above the surface, then, by
running a cultivator between the rows, the
loose earth will fall toward the row of
plants, adding a couple or more inches of
covering above the crowns of the plants—
making in all from four to five inches in
depth.
In garden culture, this second covering
may be drawn over the rows by the hand hoe”,
any time during the Summer. * A cultivator
should be kept going between the rows
often enough to prevent the growth of
weeds in the bed. This will be found the
cheapest method of culture. When planted
in the Fall, the rows should have a light
mulch of barn-yard manure put on in No
vember, and in the Spring, following this
mulch, with an additional quantity of ma
nure, either barn-yard, fish, guano, bone
dust, or superphosphate, should be applied,
and all turned under early in April, or as
soon as the ground is dry enough to work.
Annual dressings of common salt will
improve the quality and increase the size of
asparagus. There need be no apprehension
of danger from the application of salt to
asparagus. I have frequently put on as
much as two inches in thickness, on different
spots, on an aspargus bed, and then the
young shoots came through this coating of
salt without apparent injury. A dressing
of twenty-five or thirty bushels of salt to the
acre on an asparagus bed every second year,
will be quite enough, in connection with
the annual coating of barn-yard, a com
post to be applied in the Fall or Spring, as
circumstances may dictate.
No asparagus should be cut from the bed
the first or second year. Some growers
carry this so lar as not to cut any until the
fourth year from the time of planting. In
case the plants have grown vigorously, a
third of a crop may be cut without at” all
injuring the plantation the third year. The
amount taken off the third year depends
altogether on the condition and vigor of the
plants. In case they are weak, it would be
poor policy to weaken them still more by
cutting for market or home consumption too
soon. In the Fall of the first year it is a
good way to throw a shallow furrow from
either side toward the rows, and then
rounding them off with a hoe or a rake.—
This slightly elevated ridge will diy out
sooner in the Spring than a flat surface, and
asparagus treated in this way, will often
make a difference in earliness of five or six
days, which is an important item to those
who grow it for market.
Early asparagus always brings higher
prices than what comes in late in the sea
son, and, therefore, every advantage by lo
cating character of soil and treatment,
should be taken into consideration by those
who arc about to commence its culture for
profit.
VARIETIES.
There were only two varieties generally
cultivated for market purposes until quite
recently. These were the green and purple
topped. The identity of these two were
frequently doubted by intelligent garden
ers, and the size and difference in color at
tributed to location, soil, and heavy or light
manuring. Two years ago, 8. B. Conover,
of New York, introduced a variety under
the name of “ Conover's Colossal.” For
this variety Mr. Conover claimed extraordi
nary size of spears, and that it was equal
in quality and productiveness to those varie
ties that were in general cultivated for mar
ket purposes. Tliis claim had to be tested
by practical growers before discarding old
and tried for new and untried kinds. Many
doubted that it was any other than what
was cultivated on Long Island, and other
producing sections. I have watched the
“ Colossal" closely for two years, and firm
ly believe it is the best variety of asparagus
that we have for field or garden culture.
Tlie spears will average twice the size of J
the common kindß, and the “ Colossal” is"'
equal, in my estimation, in quality and
productiveness to any variety that I am
familiar with. Plants at one year old will
average as large as plants two years old
grown on the same soil and under the same
treatment, of the green or purple. In an
other article on this subject I will have
something to say on the profits of aspara
gus culture. — By P. T. Quinn, in New
York Tribune.
A Rising and Excited Mabkrt for
Broom Corn.— lt is now known to be a
positive fact that the recent fire in Chicago
destroyed 2,500 tons of broom coni, and
the excitement of Monday and Tuesday
continues, and prices have still further
largely advanced. In fact, it is almost im
possible to buy even common grades under
12@15 cents per lb. Telegrams come [lour
ing into holders in this market from the
growers in the West ordering their brush
held far fabulous prices. The crop of 1871
is well known to be a partial failure—it be
ing estimated by the most liberal and best
posted dealers at not over one-third: but
the immense stock of old com that was held
in Chicago prevented prices from materially
advancing, although it was generally con
ceded that they would have been high any
how later in the season, but now, since the
destruction of about one-fourth of the en
tire stock in the United States, it is fair to
presume we shall have the tallest prices for
broom com known since the war.
Messrs. J. M. Atwater & Bro. have re
ceived telegrams from all their Chicago
correspondents stating the loss variously at
from 2,000 to 2,500 tons, and ordering all
the brush held by them, both in New Y ork
and in their Philadephia house, withdrawn
from the market. One large receiver on the
West side was offered 12j cents cash to-day
for his entire stock, which two weeks ago
would not have averaged over 8 cents, and
refused to Bell. We anticipate an active
market and high prices for the balance of
the season.— New York Daily Bulletin.
ORIGIN OF PLANTS.
Peas are of Egyptian origin.
Celery originated in Germany.
The chestnut came from Italy.
The onion originated in Egypt.
The nettle comes from Europe.
Tobacco is a native of Virginia.
The citron is a native of Greece.
The pine is a native of America.
Oats originated in North Africa.
Rye originally came from Siberia.
The poppy originated in the East.
The mulberry originated in Persia.
Parsly was first known in Sardinia,
The pear and apple are from Europe.
Spinach was firet cultivated in Arabia.
The sunflower was brought from Peru.
The walnut and peach came from Persia.
The horse chestnut is a native of Thibet.
The cucumber came from the East Indies.
The reddish originated in China and Ja
pan.