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HORTICULTURAL. WM. H. WHITE, Editor. SATURDAY. MAT 88,1858. HORTICULTURAL OPERATIONS FOR JUNE. In the Kit chi n Garden all the early crops should be removed the moment .they cease to be useful, carefully saving all straw and haulm for stock or manure. Let the ground they occupied be thoroughly dug, that it may be ready for transplanting or sowing other crops. These op erations, to succeed at this time, require fresh dug soil. Between the rows of growing crops, mulching will be found useful in dry weather. All weeds should be cut down and dug into the soil, which, if not mulched, keep light by fre quent stirring. When the ground is not subject to wash, the best mulch, after all, for plants, is undoubtedly the loose, fresh dug surface soil. Thin out the growing crops of beets, carrots, Ac. Cut oft’ the upper shoots of tomato plants, when the lower fruit is half grown. Pinch off the tops of lima and butter beans, when six feet high, to throw them into fruit. Transplant cel ery, winter cabbage, tomatoes, sweet potato slips, Ac. Protect the more tender kinds from the sun by sticking shingles into the earth on the sunny side. The seeds of winter cabbages, cauliflower and brocoli may still be sown, if the Ikmls are shaded during the day. As the plants come up accustom them gradually to the light, morning and evening, and as soon as may be, take advantage of a wet day to dispense with further protection. Sow also, the last of tiie month, sweet German and ruta-baga turnips. Continue to plant sweet corn, snap beans, Ac. Beets sown at this time, if the season is propi tious, are fine for winter use. Eartli up where plants require it. '• Attend to watering when needed—give it to plants at night, and stir the soil after it becomes partly dry, to keep it from baking. Save all seeds as they ripen—those of peas, beans, Ac., when well dried, should be put up in bottles, with a little camphor or spirits of tur pentine, to destroy the bugs. In the Fruit Garden keep the strawberry beds free from weeds, and runners also, unless you wish to increase your stock of plants. If you raise them on alternate strips, prepare, by thor ough digging, the soil designed for the new plants to run upon. Where the branches of fruit trees are laden too heavily, thin out the fruit at once. You will lose little or nothing in weight, and gain greatly in the beauty and quality of the fruit. Budding may now be performed. A diligent watch should 1)6 kept upon insects. Those on the vines, Ac., should be crushed at once. See that the peach and apple borers are. destroyed. Apply soft soap to the trunks of the trees. Admit your poultry and young pigs into the older orchards; and in the younger ones, gather the fruit as it falls and feed to them. Summer pruning should lie continued. (See article in this paper.) Rub off the suckers from the stocks of the vine; shorten to a leaf or two the shoots proceeding from the axils of the leaves. Tie the rampant growing shoots to the stakes or trellis, to pre vent their being broken. Keep down the weeds. Pinch the extremities of the shoots of j>ear trees, Ac., w here required to give or retain their sym metry. Suckers, as they appear, unless required to All vacant spaces, should be removed or short ened to two or three buds. Gather fruits as they ripen. In the flower garden, bulbs may be taken up and stored. Do not expose them to the sun. Carnations and pinks may now be layered, and roses budded Water freely, when required. An occasional drench of soap-suds will throw roses into new bloom. Greenhouse plants must lie syringed each alternate evening. Water be fore syringing. Finch in growing chrysanthe mums, Ac., to get them into perfect shape; also, shrubs of all kinds, as well ns greenhouse plants. _ STRAWBERRIES. The Strawberry that, all things considered— earliness, size, productiveness, Ac.—has the last two years given us the greatest satisfaction, is Wilson's Albany. The largest berries we have ever raised have l»een of the Smythe and McAvoy's Superior. The latter is so soft that it will not bear car riage, and is worthless for the market. The finest crop of berries we ever saw were of the Smythe; but the plants are tender, and require extra care. In quality, it is not excelled. The firmest fleshed berries for market, and which best keep their shape for preserving, arc the Moyamensing and Peabody's Seedling. Longworth's Prolific lias, for the last year, given us the earliest full crop of any variety. Hovey's Seedling, Walker's Seedling, Large Early Scarlet, Bishop's Orange, and Jenny Lind, are excellent varieties. ' Among the foreign kinds, Alice Maud, Victo ria, I icomptesse Hericart de Tluiry, and Smythe, (the last above all,) are most desirable. Any of tho American varieties above named will give satisfaction, if planted on a deep soil and kept free from runners and weeds. ———lll Ms STOCKS FOR ROSES. BY J. P. W. The aptitude to throw up suckers (most felicit otsly so-called) forms a serious difficulty in both budding and grafting the rose. Extreme watch fulness is necessary in removing these, which, if not kept down, will very soon exhaust the ener gies of the parent plant. llow is this to be ob viated? Where shall I get proper stocks?— “Expeete crede .” The Noisette varieties seed very freely, and the seed germinate very readily; the seedling, in a proper position, will show flower the first summer—if worth preserving for their own good qualities, why they are there; but if not, cut them down to the ground at the end of the first year. They will put up vigorous shoots, two of which suffer to grow till first of June, then care fully cut away all but one, and when you wish to bud it do so—you will only have to disbud a , TKS 80VXXK&K VXSXtS £X» EIRKBXJOK, little during the summer and fall. Suckers will never trouble you. Remarks. —ln general we like a rose upon its own roots, and have very little patience with the rambling stolons of the stocks generally em ployed. Still, if we get the new varieties at all, we are often compelled to take those that are budded. Some varieties also, like the Persian yellow, are much finer when budded than when on their own roots. Indeed, this, the Hawser yellow and some others, are so apt to sucker that it is really a great relief to get them off their own roots upon some non-suckcring stock like the Marietta, or the one our friend describes.— By raising seedling Noisettes for the purpose we shall not only get better stocks than those usu ally employed, but many charming roses will be originated. As budding may now lie performed, we will remind our readers that the bud should be in serted in the stock as near the earth as possible, so that on re-planting it may be placed just be neath the surface, which will prevent it from being choked by strong shoots emitted from the stock below. —— - THE APIARY. A gentleman who produces over two thousand pounds of honey a year, and is the author of a valuable work on bee-culture, makes the follow ing sensible remarks on keeping beehives near the ground: W. R., in Country Gentleman , page 68, “de signs making the upper part of a shop into a bee house,” and inquires ‘“whether he had better put in one stand or four.” If he will take my advice, he will put in but one, and then put that some where else. lam down on putting bees up from the ground. If his object in putting them in a room is to prevent swarming, it would be econo my to build such room on the ground, and then protect it as much as possible from the prevail ing winds. If bees are kept for the profit of the thing, they had better be kept outside of all houses, except in winter. The farmer who should build a storehouse for his crop of a thousand bushels annually, several stories from the ground, when it could just as well be at the surface, and be compelled to take it all up by back-loads, not by convenient stairs inside, but by a long ladder, would be about as wise as to compel the bees to go up. He would have light labor in comparison to the difficulties encountered by the loaded bee in its endeavors to get to the entrance of its abode when so ele vated, in opposition to prevailing winds. A few will succeed, but so many are lost, especially in chilly weather, in vain attempts to reach the en trance, that profits are materially diminished. A building can hardly be situated so that strong winds will not interfere with bees enter ing an upper story on some sides of it. The nearest the ground you make the entrance, the easier the l>ees can reach it. I keep all mine within four inches of the ground on this account. M. Qiixby. St. Johnsville, N. Y. i ■ i [From the Gardener* a Monthly.] LETTER FROM MACON, GEORGIA. Dear Sir: We have to contend with a cli mate very hard on horticulture in the summer season. The thermometer is frequently 110 de grees, and the soil so hot that a person with thin shoes on cannot stand still. With your love of trees, I am sure you would be delighted to spend a few days down here, if only to see how glori ous some that are rare with you grow in their native places. Sterculia platan i folia, for instance, that I never saw in your neighborhood, is a beau tiful tree in the South. Pinknuya pubens is a beautiful thing. It grows about two hundred miles south of this, on the margins of wet swamps, amongst Azaleas and Androniedas; it grows as a spreading bush, about fifteen or twenty feet high when in perfection. Halesia diptera is another beautiful object. It grows about seventy-five miles from here, but is rather scarce. It is found on shady and very rich borders of streams, in a strong and rich muddy clay. It attains a height of from twenty-five to thirty feet, more like a tree than 11. tetraptera, with large, broad oval leaves, and a much larger and more pure white flower than 11. tetraptera. Gordonia is growing on the Altamaha river, about one hundred miles below this, but very scarce. Allow me, however, to draw your attention to a few others of our indigenous plants, as Erith rina; Scrankia unciata, sensitive like Mimosa pu dica, perennial, with a very strong root, which can be easily protected with you in winter, as the top dies off. The same is the case with Pas siflora incarnaea. my most troublesome weed. Hypericum, amtmum vel aureum is also to be met with—a hardy, woody shrub, about two feet high, and a most beautiful yellow flower, I think the finest Hypericum. Besides this, lam in the pos session of a most beautiful little native flower, only, so far as I know, found on one sandy place in Georgia, nowhere described, and in the pos session of no gardener. It is undoubtedly a Polygonum, with large clusters of small white flowers, and blooming from June till frost. It resembles an Erica, between Gracilis and Bowi ana, and is the most beautiful thing for bouquets you ever beheld. It is perennial, with a remark able foliage like that of Mesembryanthemum au ratinum, evergreen here, and throwing up plenty of flower-stems two feet high. In fact, I must consider it one of the greatest acquisitions in floriculture. I have named it Polygonum tereti folium. Rich Milk. — Messrs. Tucker & Son: —Mr. C. W. Gilman, of Pino Meadow, (New Hartford,) Connecticut, is engaged in selling milk, and milks twelve or fourteen cows during summer and win ter. He has in his dairy a small cow five years old, which dropped her calf in Noveml)er. Her milk was observed to have a very rich appear ance, and he had a curiosity to test its butter qualities. Accordingly -her morning's “ mess ” was put in tin pans, and after standing some thirty-six hours, two pounds twelve ounces of cream were taken oft' and churned, or stirred into butter in a few minutes. The butter as it came from the chum weighed just two pounds, and when thoroughly worked, one pound fourteen ounces, of a quality equal to the !>est- The milk was not measured before, but after being skimmed, measured six quarts. Assuming it to be seven and a half quarts when strained—which would probably not be far from it—this would be at i the rate of a pound of butter to four quarts of milk —two and three quarter lbs. per day. She gives eleven quarts of milk per day. If any one has a cow that can produce more than a pound of butter to four quarts of milk, or if ho can produce a record of one that has done it, he can " take the hat." Geo. IV. Loomis. Torrington, Ct., Dec, 1868. Country Gentleman. THE CHINESE YAM. Tliis plant lielongs to the family of Dioecorete. having annual stalks or vines, and perennial roots. The leaves; in general, are opposite, triangular-cordate, acuminate above, with round basilar lobes: having seven or eight principal nerves converging towards the top, between which is a net-work of secondary fibres crossing each other. They are about equal in length and breadth, having a smooth and glossy surface, and of a deep green color. Their petiols. or foot stalks, extend about half their length; they are strongly eanaliculated. or furrowed above, ami are of a violet color, which shows itself from the moment they spring forth. The flowers are dioecious —that is, the sexes growing on dif ferent plants, disposed in specimen bunehes at the junction of the leaves. The corolla of the males is composed of six petals of a pale 3'ellow color; the three outermost ones round ed, and the three in ner smaller ones of a roundish oval. The stamens, six in num ber, are extremely small, although well defined; and the an thers are oval and sup ported by short fila ments, grouped freely in the centre of the flower. As the male plant only has been introduced, the female cannot be described, and consequently no seeds produced ljeforc the latter can be pro cured. See engraving. The roots, or tubers, vary in length and thickness according to the nature of the soil, in reference to light ness, depth, and ne naeity, which, no doubt, influences their form and mode of de velopment. The max imum size to which they grow is .about two inches in diame ter, the larger end ta pering upwards to the size of the finger, as indicated in the cut above. They are cov ered by a brownish fawn colored skin, pierced by numerous rootlets. Under this envelop is a cellular tissue of a white opal color, very crispy, filled with starch and a milky, mu cilaginous fluid, with scarcely any ligneous fibre. In cooking, this tissue softens and dries, but to a greater degree, like that of the common potato, the taste of which it much resembles. Each plant often produces several tubers, though generally it has but one. They usually weigh about half a pound each, but sometimes three pounds, running perjK?ndicularly into the earth to the depth of a yard. M. Decaisne, of France, says, however, that those cultivated by him rarely exceed 16 to 20 inches in length. The cultivation of this yam appears to be easy and simple. M. Decaisne, in the Revue Horticole, for 1854, has described the method adopted in China, which is nearly as follows: In autumn they choose the smallest tubers, which they preserve from injury by frost by covering them in a pit with earth and straw. The spring succeeding they plant them near each other in a trench, in well pre pared soiL When they have put out shoots one or two yards in length, they cut off the joints and leaves containing the buds, and plant them for reproduction. For this purpose they form the ground into ridges, on the top of which a shallow trench is made with the hand, or some suitable imple ment, in which these joints are planted, covering them slightly with fine earth, with the leaves rising just on the surface. Should it rain the same day, they shoot immediately; if not, they wa ter them gently until they do. In fifteen or twenty days they give birth (o new tubers and stalks, the latter of which it is necessary to remove from time to time, to prevent them from taking root on the sides, and thus injure the development of the tubers already formed. The method which has been found to answer best in France, according to Le Bon Jardinier , for 1855, instead of cutting the tubers into fragments of moderate size, placing their crowns, or eyes, in small pots, in April, and then transplanting them into a deep, rich soil, as soon as the spring frosts are no longer to be feared. The following is tho analysis of the tuber, by Dr. Jackson of Boston: “I tlnd the Chinese yam to contain the following ingredients: Water 80.52 percent. Starch 9.08 Cellulose ami fibrous matter 8.65 “ Sugar 0.45 “ Fat oil 0.12 Albumen 1.27 “ Mucilage, (gum,) 8.20 " Mineral matter, (ash,). 0.86 “ 100.00 I present this full analysis, believing it will prove valuable to the public, and interesting in science.” Soil toe a Garden.— The best soil in which to cultivate flowers, is that which is usually known as a strong loam. It should not bo too sandy, or it will suffer from drought. Too much clay renders it difficult to work, and the sun and rain make it hard as a city pavement, almost, and no plant can prosper in it. Avoid, then, having too much of either clay or sand; .but a mixture , of the two makes an excellent soil. The flower borders should have an annual enrichment of horse manure, well rotted, if the soil be heavy, and cow manure if the sand predominates. By no means employ guano, or any such powerful manure; they are all dangerous to plants in the garden, except in skillful hands. Some persons never put any manure in their borders. This is wrong; flowering plants exliaust the nutriment from the soil, as well as the coarser products of the field. There is an error committed on the other side, however. Too much manure stimu lates the growth of plants at the expense of their blooming properties. It is preferable to dig in the manure in the fall, and take no pains to make the surface smooth, particularly if the ground be heavy, as the frost acts as a pulveri ser, and renders it easier to work. Then in the spring a little loosening of the surface, and neat raking off, are all that is required. Sods, cut pretty thick and piled up during the summer, and allowed to remain till tho following spring, will be found well rotted, and make an excellent manure for the flower borders. Charcoal dust is alk> excellent for the same purpose. Roses will bear more manure than most other plants; there fore dig an abundance about their roots. [Country Gentleman. — “On Raising Queen Bees.’ I — Reply to W. J. A’.. Country Gentlemen , Ftbruaiy 17.—“ Tho im- . provement of the race," can be effected with ! movable frames, (Langstroth's patent,) as follows: | Remove from a hive, which we will designate as j number 1, all queen cells, ancT place them in a hive number 2—also remove all queen cells from number 2to number 1. Make artificial swarms from numbers 1 and 2, and remove these artifi cial swarms to a new location. The young queens will hatch in hives surrounded by nobles of foreign blood, and thus “the improvement of the race” might be effected. Other methods could be given, but I do not believe any one will take tho trouble to follow this matter out, as the profit is not sufficiently apparent. E. P. —«■» Oregon Beeswax. —At the late meeting of Bee Raisers in Oregon City, we noticed a cake of very nice beeswax, made from comb produced in the apiaiy of Mr. T. T. Eyre, near Salem; also several specimens of comb, showing tho differ ent stages of the breeding of tho Bee—the Work er, Drone and Queen cells. Mr. K. evinces a spirit of progress we would wish to see partaken of by every producer in Oregon. [Oregon Fanner. | sf SUMMER. PRUNING. In growing plants into particular shapes and forms the advantage and expediency of summer pinching or pruning of the young shoots is very apparent; as I have remarked before in these pages, many beautiful shrub-like plants may be produced by setting out small plants of such trees as the sour and sweet gums, sugar and red maple, or, indeed, any tree, and keeping it low and bushy by constantly repressing growth du ring summer. Trees with fine colored foliage are preferable—so with evergreens. We lately saw specimens of Norway fir, which liave been for years deprived of their leading shoots. They formed splendid masses of foliage and could not be excelled for filling up shrubberies and close plantations. Tliis is a feature in ornamental planting which we are desirous of seeing ex tended as a ready method of producing effects, where close masses of low growth are desirable. It is but the work of a moment to check the growth of a luxuriant shoot by pinching out its point in passing. By doing [so at an early pe riod, it not only checks the vigor at that partic ular point, but induces a stronger growth on other portions of the plant. Those superb specimens of green-house plunts which occasionally grace the tables in the exhib iting rooms of our horticultural societies, are produced by judicious pruning during their growth. Those who have an eye to symmetry of form and composition, will at once detect and correct irregularity of growth; and the man who knows how to enjoy a garden, and lias fa cilities for gratifying his taste, does not “ Govern, only, or direct: But much performs himself. No works, indeed, That ask robust, tough sinews, bred to toil, Servile employ; but sueh as may amuse. Not tire, demanding rather skill than force." W. Saunders, ( horticulturist .) — Rust on Oats. —We observed, during a short | visit to the country, within the last few days, that the rust is making its appearance on the oats. We saw one fine field of sixty acres com pletely ruined, and another of lesser size greatly damaged by it. It is a question of interest to the planter to know whether these rusted oats can be safely fed to stock. We have heard it confidently asserted that they could not be. Can anybody tell us?— Montgomery Confederation. If the oats are badly rusted, it is unsafe to feed them to live stock of any kind. The Chicago Commercial Express of Tliursd*/, the sth instant, shows that the accumulat'* 1 ot grain in store last week was 115,000 vushels. against 169,000 for the corresponding vveek of last year. The difference in the an'* lo * of flour and wheat in store now r as cornered with last year is 754,000 bushels. Tli» decrease in the receipts of flour and whe»* is equivalent to 1,040,000 bushels. The increase in the receipts 1 of com exceed 200.000 bushels. [Written for the Southern Field and Fireside ] COUNTRY LIFE. BY SIBYL OBEY. \ "God made the country, and man made the , town.” Can any one enjoying the blessedness of a life in the woods, or on a farm, step out in the early morning of a Winter, Spring, Summer or autumn day from a cottage home, and not real ize with ecstacy, through every sense, the vast difference exhibited in the workmanship of the two architects ? Tis a winter morn—the glittering frost is en crusting fences, sheds, plants, and trees, it's crystal* sparkle with a thousand rainbow tints, as the sunlight, in its red glory, advances over it from the earth: beneath the foot the hard ground crackles crisply, the very feeling of its tirm resistance giving a dancing buoyancy to the step; the keen, bracing air. acts on nerves and lungs as an invigorator. Thus refreshed and strengthened, one returns to enter the home whore the bright, blazing wood tire gives cheery greeting to more than one sense, as the Southern country breakfast offers, to the exercise-sharpened appetite, its profuse abundance of savory viands. Or, it is joyous and lovely spring, who, in her garments of fragrant and many-hued beauty, has adorned bush, flower, and tree; flower-buds are bursting, grassy tufts are blooming, each and all dancing and glittering, in their dew-gemmed coronals, as the soft morning zephyr plays quietly among them. Birds! oh, how many, how va rious and sweet-voiced! are caroling, in shrill, or soft, or loud or gay notes, their grateful orisons to the God who made and keeps them; or in " their native wood-notes-wild ” are making love and joy abound. The air so balmy and fresh is perfume-laden, and the skies laughing in light and loveliness. From such a morning’s sense and soul charms, who cannot enter upon day's duties with vigor and hope? We stroll around, all domestic life is soon astir, awakening to light, love and duty: forth rush the leathered hosts, as some youngster liberates them from the coop's imprisonment. They too seek not their food, un til by lively cackle, quack, or crow, they have said good-day to all around: the dogs, faithful sentinels anil guardians of the night, released from duty at the dawn of day, spring upon child, master, and mistress, with morning greetings of buoyant aud kindly gratulation; the old horse whickers his acknowledgement of brotherhood aud fellowship with all: as the dusky laborers issue forth from tlieir cabins to commence their tasks, “ good mornings,” and good wishes, and kind enquiries are interchanged, and beaming glances of good will flash from eye to eye, strengthening heart and nerve. Are such joys untrue? Are such joys to be despised ? they are. real, and may be drawn out like living water from every acre of this rich Southern soil, that shows its gratitude to God for life and light, and dews and rain, by throwing out its thousand denizens of the forest inmates, from flower, fruit, and tree, to gaze in tlieir own beauty up to Heaven's own blue. Open the window in a crowded town—not in the overgrown metropolis, but in some city of moderate dimensions—how changed the scene! A foetid atmosphere of stifling thickness and unwholesome breath heavily enters, and through the basement comes upon the ear the dull mur muring city hum, the tramp of many feet, busy throngs pattering the pavement as they turn to mart or market—betts, cries—and other distract ing noises dull the sense to all delight. Surely at the best, early morn in town life is a aoul sickeniug contrast to the fresh delight of morn ing amid nature’s sweet haunts. True, all cannot livo in the country. The uses of life, in myriad ways, necessitate the concourse of men in crowded courts, necessitate the grow th of towns. Some prefer a city life—others are forced to it by imperious circumstances: and among these are multitudes of the good and the great, the excellent of the earth, who do good iu their day and generation, and honor and glorify God amid men, as otherg do in nature’s realms. But there uro many who might bo induced to livo in the country, and derive the benefits a country life bestows, could they but be pursua ded of the reality of these benefits: and there are others, whose unwelcome fate it is to live in the country, who find it only an irksome, dreary life, and look upon it as a doom to unceasing , ennui and gloom. Could such but be awakened to a sense of life’s duties and higher aims, and realize the riches that surround their seclusion, they would soon find, in their own experience, that life’s compensations are rich and rare, and that life in the woods, rightly appreciated and understood, rightly and vigorously acted up to in its daily duties, has its many real advantages, its |>eculiar and very superior pleasures. It is true that in the monotony of a country life, wanting these high incitements of a better existence, persons sink down into a comatose state, allowing tlieir feelings and faculties to lie dormant. They do not realize beyond the mere money-getting of the crop, with its attendant efforts, the glorious opportunities for pleasure, improvement, and usefulness, that lie scattered around them profusely as nature’s bounties; and which, with awakened perceptions arousing their energies, would fill up, most pleasurably, their days with calm enjoyment and improving duties, “ from mom till dewy eve.” This is one of the glorious privileges and advan tages of our Southern country that lias yet to be appreciated and realized, by multitudes, that country life is, or ought to be, the life of the South, city life the exception. Too few know the charms or resources for improvement and happi ness, mentally, morally, and physically, that lie embosomed in the rich woods of our own noble State. These woods need only to be cleared — and settled a very few- years—to become homes of comfort and peaceful bliss. The richness of the soil, the beauty and variety of the natural growth of Georgia’s forests, might well tempt the lover of nature only, but the sheerest utili tarian also, to establish and beautify a dome in their midst; for real aud valuable is ‘ ,le return that nature yields, in this toeming ißn( l> to judi cious labor, for a few hours dail'i during a very few years. • ♦«» The Chops.— The .yens (Ga.) Banner , ts May 19th, says: "Wheat, in all the region above this place, has been seriously- io®red by- frost, and all around and below this we regret to learn, the rust has made its ranee. We are informed that it is generally confined to the blade of the wheat, which -ome think leaves a chance of escape; thoup* most of those with whom we have oon i veiled express the opinion that the crop will be injured. The stand of cotton, we learh, is unusually good, and com and oats generally look prom ising. • >ll mm Dr. La mi has published his papers on the po tato culture, production, and disease, which re ceived the prize of the Royal Agricultural Socie ty. He asserts the disease to be a species of Fungus, and condemns all rank manures. He advocates lime aud soot as a preventative, and growing only early varieties. 7