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FALL PLOWING.
Editors Genesee Farmer: —In the northern
sections of our country, in consequence of the
short spriny time, for preparing the land for our
grain crops, corn, potatoes, Ac., it is a matter of
much consequence that everything should be
done in the fall that can serve to lessen spring
work, such as plowing green-sward, com, and
other stubble-grounds, intended to be sown with
grain and grass seeds the succeeding spring.—
These matters are all ably treated upon-in your
quotation from the New England Farmer, written
by Mr. F. Holbrook, some years since. He
says: “From the last of October to the middle
or latter of November is a good time for plowing
land, preparatory to sowing or planting in the
following spring." Upon some accounts this
late plowing may possess some advantages over
that of August or September plowing; the
weather is cooler, and usually the farmer is less
hurried with other labors of the farm. But it is
the opinion of some of our best farmers, that in
verted sod-land, turned over early in September,
will produce better crops of com, oats, Ac., than
the same land would if plowed as late as the
middle ofNovember. Direct experiments have
proven the correctness of the opinion in favor of
early plowing. The reasons for this seem quite
obvious. The vegetable matters of the green
sward, turned over in the warmer weather of
August and September, will soon after begin to
heat and decompose; gases of various kinds
will bo evolved and absorbed by the soil, if of a
loamy and clayey nature, and they will mostly
be retained for the use of the succeeding spring
crops. Portions of the potash, lime, and other
mineral ingredients of the soil be liberated
by the action of the carbonic acid, ammonia, Ac.,
formed during the decomposition of the vegeta
ble matters plowed in; but no such fermentation
will be likely to occur in the soil of the Novem
ber plowed land, and the rains and snows of
winter will so compress the inverted soil that
the decomposition of buried vegetable matters
will be much less perfect the following season.—
Your remarks, that “ the great error in fall plow
ing is in not plowing early enough,” in my view,
is to the point, and correct. Heat, air, and mois
ture, are all requisite for the decomposition of
vegetable and animal matters. The early plow
ed lands have all these requisites, while the late
plowed are mostly deprived of these necessary
conditions.
However, all farmers can not do as they would
like in those matters. Some must necessarily
delay plowing till late; others may have doubts
in reference to the correctness of our views.—
To such, we would simply suggest an experi
ment in early and late plowing of a field of green
sward. Farmers differ widely in their views in
regard to plowing, beside those of early and late
plowing, viz: as to the proper depth to which
the plow should be gauged, as also in the width
of the furrow-slice, and whether it should be
completely inverted or left at an angle of 45°—
that is, lap-furrowed. All these matters, in a
measure, depend upon certain contingencies, and
admit of considerable variation; therefore, farm
ers should experiment and investigate for them
selves, and not trust too much upon what this
or that man may say or write.
Some of the farmers, whoso farms border the
Merrimack river, in this State, I think, practice a
very judicious course of cultivating their alluvial
and other deep loamy soils. Ido not see how
they can well improve upon their system of cul
ture. The system pursued by the farmers re
ferred to, is, with a strong team, to plow their
sod-land in the fall, (some of them early in Sep
tember,) to the depth of ten or twelve inches,
some making use of the double or Michigan
plow; for reasons, others prefer the common
plow. The land remains as left by tfie plow un
til spring; then a wide harrow is run over the
field, after which the manure is carted on, spread
and plowed in to tho depth offourorfive inches,
and again harrowed. This preparation makes
the after culture, Ac., very easy; tho result is,
a crop of sound corn, ranging for sixty to eighty
bushels per acre.
The plowing of corn and grain stubble in au
tumn, for a succeeding crop of oats or other
grain the following spring, has been recently
practiced here to some extent. It saves time in
the hurry of spring work, as tho ground is read
ily prepared by the cultivator and harrow for the
reception of the seed. The crops are thought to
bo equally good, if not better, than if the ground
had been spring-plowed, and generally tho seed
can be sown earlier. For oats and barley, early
sowing generally proves the most profitable.
Levi Bartlett.
Warner, N. H, September 14, 1850.
FISH—THEIR CULTIVATION, AC.
“ Law sakes alive,” says some Mrs. Parting
ton ; “ here’s a man that's going to tell us how
to plant and raise fish in our gardens jest like
other truck." No, good woman, I shall not tell
you all this, yet I will tell hundreds and thou
sands of you how to raise your own fish. Cul
tivation means something more than plowing,
harrowing and hoeing, ar.d may well bo applied
to the raising of fish, and, perhaps, I cannot bet
ter instruct you in this art, than by describing
what I lately saw right here in South Carolina.
During my late visit to Sumpter. I was shown
all over tho plantation of my friend Freeman
Hoyt, Esq., and here I met with a perfect mod
el of a domestic fish pond. Mr. lloyt told me
that the little stream of water running through
this place was the main thing that sold him tiie
land. The branch ran through a low place of
such a form, as to enable him, by a dam of some
fifty yards long, to construct a pond of 700 feet
in length, by 150 in width, with a depth vary
ing from the shores, to 12 or 15 feet in the cen
tre. This gives him a pond of over acres
where he could raise nothing else. One year
ago, in tho spring, he deposited in this pond
eight good sized trout, and near three hundred
thousand eggs, with a large amount of smaller
sized fish, for the trout to feed upoD, and he
now has the water literally swarming with the
finny tribe. Ilis trout are now one year old,
and I caught one while there that was over
seven inches. Mr. Hoyt will not catch his trout
until next year, and then I think he will almost
be able to supply the town of Sumpterville with
fish. The w’ater running from his dam passes
through a sieve so that the fish cannot escape
from the pond. A little below the dam is built
a small two-story house, tho lower story for
bathing, whilo in the upper one is kept all the
apparatus necessary for cultivating, feeding and
taking the fish. All this convenience has been
gotten up with a trifling expense, and will be,
in tho future, a large source of pleasure and
profit to Mr. Hoyt and his family, and a perfect
blessing to his neighborhood. We all eat too
much flesh in this country, and should endeavor
to substitute, for some of it, more fish and fowl.
There are hundreds of places in this State
where just as good a pond as the one I have
told of, could be built, and tho owners not only
well supplied with good fish right from the wa
ter, but they could derive a good revenue from
their neighbors by selling them the proceeds of
their pond. A learned doctor of England said
“ that a long life in this world merely learned a
man how to live.” I wonder how many lives it
xkx sotrwKEas bxklb m vxaxsxax.
would take in South Carolina, to learn the peo
ple to live up to tho privileges that nature has
bestowed upon them. Everything must suc
cumb to cotton, if we eat nothing but hog and
hominy. Will no other money pass but what is
made by cotton, and must the country be thus
sacrificed ? Those that have the means and fa
cilities must answer. H***.
[Laurensville (S. C. ) Herald.
Price of Slaves. —ln response to the many
inquiries made from persons at a distance, as
to the prices that slaves are commanding in this
market, we publish the annexed statement fur
nished by reliable authority:
No. 1 men 20 to 26 years old, from $1,450 to
$1,500.
Best grown girls, 17 to 20 years old, from
$1,275 to $1,325.
Girls, from 15 to 17 years old, $1,150 to
$1,250.
Girls, from 12 to 15 years old, SI,OOO to sl,-
100.
Best plough boys, 17 to 20 years old, $1,350
to $1,425.
Boys, from 15 to 17 years old, $1,250 to
$1,375.
Boys, from 12 to 15 years old, SI,OOO to
$1,200.'
Likely families, and also boys and girls com
manded high prices, as there are several gentle
men in market who are purchasing for their own
plantations in the South.— [Richmond Dispatch.
Sale of Negroes — High Prices.—Twenty
eight negroes were sold on Tuesday last, at Mc-
Donough, in Henry county. The aggregate
amount of sales, was twenty-two thousand three
hundred and nine dollars, being an average of
seven hundred and ninety-two dollars. We se
lect the following from the list, as an evidence
of the high prices: One boy, field hand, 18 years
old, $1,640; three boys, 14 years old—one
$1,340; one $1,282, another, $1,207 ; two boys,
10 years old—one $902; the other, $805; one
7 years old, $726; one women, 22 years old,
with three boys—one 5 years, one 3 years, and
one 8 months, $1995; one woman 23 years old,
with two children—a boy 3 years, a girl 18
months old, $2,305; seven girls sold at the fol
lowing prices: One 19 years old, $1,200*; one
15 years old, $1,023; one 16 years old, $1,100;
one 12 years old, $400; one 7 years old, $605;
ono 7 years old, $778; one 7 years old, $7lB.
[Atlanta National American.
-———
High Prices of Slaves. —Two negro men
were sold publicly in this city on Monday last,
at the following prices: One, between forty and
fifty years of age, at $1,640; and one, about
thirty years of age, at $1,375. The man who
brought the highest price is a sort of “ workman,
and of strong constitution.”
[Raleigh (AT. C.) Standard.
ORIGINAL DOMESTIC RECEIPTS.
Baked Quince. —Bake until perfectly tender.
Pare, core, butter, and sugar while hot, thor
oughly mix. Excellent. With care in picking
and storing, quinces may be saved for baking
until mid-winter.
Sweet Potato Pie. —Boil the potatoes very
soft, then peel and mash them. To every quar
ter of a pound, put one quart of milk, three ta
ble-spoonfuls of buiter, four beaten eggs, togeth
er with sugar and" nutmeg to the taste. It is
improved by a glass of wine.
Muffins. —Mix a quart of wheat flour smooth
ly with a pint and a half oflukewarm milk, half
a tea-cup of yeast (family), a couple of beaten
eggs, a heaping tea-spoonful of salt, and two ta
ble-spoonfuls of lukewarm melted butter. Set
the batter in a warm place to rise. When light,
butter your muffin cups, turn in the mixture,
and bake the muffins light brown.
Shrew sbury Cake. —Stir together three quar
ters of a pound of sugar, and half a pound of
butter. When white, add five beaten eggs, a
tea-spoonful of rose-water, and a pound offiour.
Drop it with a large spoon upon flat tins that
have been buttered. Sift sugar over them.
Tunbridge Cake. —Six ounces of butter, six
of sugar, three quarters of a pound of flour, two
eggs, and a tea-spoonful of rose-water. Stir to
a cream the butter and sugar, then add the eggs,
flour, and spice. Roll it out thin, and cut it in
to small cakes.
Measure Cake. —Stir to a cream a tea-cup of
butter, two of sugar, then stir in four eggs beat
en to a froth, a grated nutmeg, and a pint of
flour. Stir it until just before it is baked. It is
good baked either in cups or pans.
Muffins. —One quart of milk, three eggs, one
cup of melted butter, five table-spoons of yeast,
one tea-spoon of saleratus, stir in flour until it is
a thick batter. To be baked on a gridle.
Essence of Celery. —Steep an ounce of cele
ry seed in half a pint of brandy or vinegar. A
few drops of this will give a fine flavor to soups
and sauce for fowls.
Fruit Cake. —One pound and a half of flour,
one pound of sugar, one-fourth of a pound of but
ter, one pint of sweet milk, six eggs, fruit and
spice as much as you please.
Jelly Cake. —One pound of butter, one of
sugar, one of flour, twelve of eggs, nutmeg and
rose-water. Butter a dinner plate and bake
thin; trim the edges with a pen-knife.
French Loaf. —One pound of flour, one of
butter, one of sugar, gill of milk, gill of brandy,
gill of wine, seven eggs, as much fruit as you
please.
Cookies. —Five cups of flour, two of sugar,
one of butter, one tea-spoon saleratus, three eggs,
and caraway. Baked thin.
A Rich Corn Bread.— Take two quarts com
meal, one quart wheat flour, a little salt, and
four eggs; add sour buttermilk enough
to form a stiff batter; mix well; then add two
tea-spoonfuls of soda dissolved In a little warm
water. Stir it well and pour it into greased
pans, so that it will be about two inches thick
when baked. Bake in a hot oven till done—
say about half an hour.
To Make Good Bread. —First, get good flour.
Second, tako one quart of flour, scald it by pour
ing over it some boiling water. Then for each
loaf of bread you wont to make, add one pint of
cold water; stir in flour till it is as thick as can
conveniently be stirred. Then put in one half
pint of good hot yeast for every four loaves.—
Set it to rise over night. In the morning make
up by adding flour till it is stiff dough. Knead
well, mould into loaves, and, when light, bake
it well, and you will have good bread.
Mince Pie, Salt Beef. —Boil the beef till very
tender, tako from the bone, and chop fine; then
to every pound of meat, add one pound and a
half of apples, pared and cored. Chop both to
gether until the apples are fine, then to every
five pounds of the mixture, add two tea-spoon
fuls of black pepper, two table-spoonfuls of all
spice, half a pound of raisins, one cup of vinegar,
one of molasses, one of dried blackberries, stew
ed, and one pint of sweet cream.—[ Genesee Far
mer.
DO SHEEP DETERIORATE IN THE QUALITY
OF THEIR WOOL IN WARM CLIMATES 1
Editors Genii see Farmer: —President Fan
ning, of Franklin College, Tenn., remarks, in the
Southern Homestead:
“ The effects of a warm climate is t» thin out
and shorten the fibre, lighten the fleece, and
take the wool from the limbs and under portions
of the body, and substitute rough, hairy locks,
particularly about the hips, neck, Ac. In higher
latitudes, sheep are more compact and uniform
in the fleece over the whole body, and the yield
is perhaps double that of southern flocks.”
Now is all this true? Hardly, I think, to the
extent the Professor would lead us to believe.—
Where do the finest and best wools come from?
Is it not the hot and dry climate of Aiutralia, of
Cape Colony, and of the plains of Kstramadura
and Saxony ? Is it not generally the ease that
the fine-wooled sheep, if removed to a colder
and damper climate, such as Great Briminortbe
northern States of America, are apt to have their
wool deteriorate and become coarser, from the
united effects of external moisture, th* want of
green and succulent food, and the confinement
during our long and severe winters? Would
not the same amount of care and attention ex
pended on a fine-wooled sheep in the ever green
pastures of Australia result in the production of
of a larger and finer fleece than is obtained from
the same animal in Vermont? What would be
the quality and quantity of wool obtained from
a sheep in Vermont, ifit were to have to shift
for itself all the year round, exposed to the wet
and cold, and subsisting On thedriest of hay or
a cold bite of frozen grass? Da the fine-wooled
sheep in Australia, Spain, or (saxony, yield a
less average weight of fleece thin those of Ver
mont or Ohio, of an equality if fineness? Is
there not a great difference in tiie profit of keep
ing 1000 sheep in the former :t the same ex
pense as 100 in the latter ?Is lot want of green
food in winter, such as turnips one of the causes
why sheep, when removed to < ur cold northern
climate, have a tendency to jield wool of a
coarser fibre and longer staple
Will some of our correspond nts give us their
views on this subject ? M.
—
BEST KINDS OF TURNIPS.
The different varieties of Rita Baga unques
tionably stand first in point c f nutriment, and
generally give much the larges yield per acre;
this kind is consequently the n ost profitable for
cultivation in every respect, ] rovided the soil
be suitable for them, is in good condition, and
they can be got in sufficiently early. If the
weather prove favorable and the autumn mild,
it may answer to sow Ruta Baga as late as the
20th of September, in this climate, though from
the 20th of June to the sth of July is better.
The finest varieties of Ruta Baga, according to
our experience, are the Purple Top, Skirving’s
Improved, and Laing’s Improved.
The next largest kind of Turnip, and greatest
yielder after Ruta Baga, is the English White
Globe. The objections to it are, that it does not
keep well during winter, and it is very apt to
grow pithy, and forms a coarse fibre. It an
swers much better in Great Britain than in our
climate.
The. Yellow Aberdeen grows nearly as large
as the White Globe, and is every way superior
to it.
The Yellotv Stone is about half the size of the
Aberdeen. We esteem this variety very highly.
It is sweet, solid, and a good keeper. Wo are
not sure that one bushel of it is not worth any
two of the White Globe.
The Flat English White is well liked by some,
but we have invariably found it quite inferior to
the two following American varieties:
The Red Top Flat originated in the United
States; and we say unhesitatingly, so far as
our experience goes, that it is the very best va
riety for late field cultivation, now grown among
us. It yields well, is hardy, firm-fleshed, sweet
and highly nutritious. Wo have had this vari
ety, sweet and sound as late as June, which is
as late as the Ruta Baga can be safely kept.
The Ijong White originated in Connecticut,
and is carrot-shaped. Wc have, as yet, had lit
tle experience with this variety, but several of
our friends who have cultivated it speak highly
of its merits. The soil in which this variety is
grown should be deep, friable and rich; it is
then a great yielder.— [Exchange.
——
Repair the Roads. —Everybody’s business is
quite apt to become nobody’s business. Travel
ers through almost every section of the country
find this, often to their cost, in the state of the
roads. Jaded horses, broken vehicles, mud
bespattered clothing, and limbs weary and sore
from incessant jolts, are tho almost certain at
tendants of any extended journey by private
conveyance. But the inconvenience of bad
roads to the occasional traveler is trifling, com
pared with the loss and annoyance suffered by
residents of the neighborhood. The discouraged
traveler may take the rail car or the steamboat,
but there is no escape for those living in the lo
cality. Every visit to a neighbor, every trip to
mill or to meeting, involves a loss of time, com
fort, and patience, together with much useless
wear and tear of running gear. Very soon the
Autumn rains, and alternate freezings and thaw
ings will render roads already out of repair, al
most impassable. Do not neglect bad spots ad
joining your premises, because your road tax is
already worked out, or the road-master is
remiss. A day’s work on the road will often
save a costly job at the wagon-maker’s. Exam
ine all bridges and sluices. See that ti.ere are
no obstructions to water-courses that will cause
dangerous icy slides the coming Winter. Take
advantage, also, of every opportunity to turn
the rich wash of the road upon your own pre
mises, and so arrange channels that it may be
distributed widely, and not form an unsightly
embankment near the fence where it empties
into the field. Let everybody see that his busi
ness in this respect is attended to, and then no
body’s will be neglected.— [American Agricultu
rist.
Get Ready for the “Census Man.”— Next
year will occur the great docennial Census of
the United States, made by tho General Gov
ernment. Persons will be appointed for every
locality in the States and Territories to gather
statistics of the inhabitants, and of all the agri
cultural productions, manufactures, etc. Every
cultivator will be asked for a concise, accurate
statement of land occupied by him, the number
of acres and the amount of each crop raised du
ring the year ending next June, etc. Those who
were called upon in 1850 doubtless remember
the difficulty experienced in making up an ac
curate report of the various crops. As these re
ports will be called for in June, it will be neces
sary to give in tho crops gathered this year, and
the suggestion we would now make is, that cul
tivators write down, while fresh in mind, the
number of acres under cultivation, including the
wheat, etc., already gathered. The number of
acres of each kind, the amount per acre, and the
gross amount, will be required. The milk pro
ducts also, and the amount of pork, beef, etc.,
will also be asked for.—[ American Agriculturist.
HORTICULTURAL.
WHI. N. WHITE, Editor.
SATURDAY, OCT. 8, 1859.
HORTICULTURAL.
Communications for this department are re
spectfully solicited. Address them to the editor,
at Athens, Ga. ,
Horticultural exchanges will please direct to
the same address.
HORTICULTURAL OPERATIONS FOR OCTOBER
Kitchen Garden. —Not much can be done this
month for the current year’s crops, except gath
ering and storing them. Gather tender products
before frost. Tie up Endirc, and earth up Celery
during dry weather. Cabbage plants may be
set in place, for early spring heading. Hoe
young crops of Turnips. Transplant September
sown Lettuce; hoe any advancing crops. Cab
bage for spring use may still be sown, but the
bed should have plank sides and bo covered with
the same during severe weather. If they freeze,
keep them from the sun until the frost comes
out. Turnips sown at this time sometimes make
good roots. Lettuce, Radishes, Mustard, and
Corn Salad, may still be sown. Gather all fall
en leaves and rubbish of all kinds for bedding
stock, and take measures to obtain all the ma
ure possible for spring use. It is the best month
for sowing black seed Onions. Shallots and
Garliek may be planted out. Tho main crop of
Spinach should bo planted. Give Asparagus
and Artichokes their winter dressing the last of
this, or the first of next month.
Fruit Garden. —Strawberry beds may be set.
Peaches, Ac., still budded if the bark will slip.—
The extremities of fig bushes where still grow
ing, should be broken off early in the month, if
neglected last month, to ripen tho fruit and
wood before winter. If you intend enlarging
your orchard or fruit garden, begin to prepare
the ground now. If inclined to wash, throw up
banks high enough to retain all the water, using
a level for the purpose. In our climate we gen
erally need all the rain that falls during the sum
mer, and if permitted to wash, no soil can long
retain its fertility. On these terraces the fruit
trees may bo set in the deep soil near the lower
side, which, if made sufficiently high to retain
the water, will generally be deep enough for the
tree. In this position, the roots will have suffi
cient drainage, and yet have the advantage of
all the rain that falls. The upper side of the
terrace can be trenched at leisure. If set on
level ground, a strip of the soil beneath the trees,
some six or eight feet wide, should be thorough
ly prepared, by sub-soiling or trenching. The
most fertile and friable earth should be left at the
surface in contact with the roots of the tree.—
Tho rest of the soil can be prepared another sea
son. Fruit trees do best on terraced hill-sides.
Set out your trees the last of the coming month,
or the first of the following one, thus they will
get well established by spring. Give out now
your orders for the nurseryman, and you will
have them ready, and secure better trees. Look
over your buds, and remove . the shoots that
threaten to impoverish them, by exhausting their
share of tho sap.
Flotoer Garden. —Put in hardy bulbs, and tu
bers of all kinds this month, such os Crocuses,
Hyacinths, Tulips,Crown Imperials, Lilies, Snow
drops, Jonquils, Polyanthus, Pmonias, Ac. All
these ought to be planted before the middle of
November, and certainly will bloom better than
if delayed later. They already give signs of
life. The earlier they are planted, the earlier
and stronger they will flower the coming spring,
and the more nourishment they will store up in
the bulb for the succeding year’s blooms.
Biennials should now be planted out where
they are to flower, and hardy perrennials, where
not in blossom, may bo divided and transplant
ed. If in vigorous growth, it is better to delay
until hard frosts occur.
Californian Annuals, such as Clarkias, Collin
sios, Gilias, Neraophilas, Leptisophons, Lasthe
nias, Coreopsis, Eryssimums, may still be sown.
Also, Larkspurs, Pansies, Ac. All these, if sown
now, bloom oarlier and finer than if delayed un
til spring. Indeed, if spring-sown, many of them
are quite indifferent, in comparison. As soon
as Dahlias have their foliage destroyed by frost,
cut them off near the ground, and draw up the
earth over the crown of the plant, to protect the
roots from frost. Lemon Verbenas, Night
blooming Jasmines, and some of the hardier Fuch
sias, can, thus protected, be wintered safely in
the open ground. All tender bedding plants
should be re-potted before the frosts come on.—
Verbenas will frequently survive the winter, but
a stock of each variety should be potted to pro
tect from accidents. A pit must be provided
for this purpose, unless there is a greenhouse
on the place.
Mow the lawn, rake and clear the walks,
sweep up the dropping leaves, remove them, and
keep the borders free from weeds.
“WHAT’S THE USE.”
“ What’s the use of raising flowers ? I have
no taste for them,” say some.
If you are sure you have no taste for the
beautiful, if you never admire a beautiful land
scape, a glowing sunset, a handsome face, a
tasteful residence ; if you are blind and deaf «
ali the loveliness of nature, take my advice, and
don’t have anything to do with flowers.
“ What’s the use of flowers? We c.unot eat
them, drink them, or wear them ?” If to eat,
drink, and be clothed is all that we live for; if
our only business here is to p)*i and hoard,
and keep our thoughts ever bound down to the
petty cares and distractions of our occupation,
thon we do well to cast belaud us and refuse all
the gentle and pleasant recreations which are
at our command; we do well to shut our eyes
to the beauties of citation, to neglect the re
fined pleasures and endless gratifications arising
from the cultivation of flowers.
“ What’s the use of flowers?” We answer
by asking “ what is the use of any recreation?
The care of a garden is refining and elevating
to a high degree. To the person who has passed
the day in toil, it is a positive relaxation to de
vote a few minutes of the evening to the light
employment of the flower garden. His senses
and his soul will be refreshed by its beauties
and its perfumes. Its cultivation will be pleas
ant to old and young, to parent and child. By
all means, if you will not have a garden your
self, let your children have one.
No cheaper enjoyment can be found than the
cultivation of flowers. A few shillings each
year expended in the purchase of seeds and
plants, a little hard work in the spring, a little
easy work through the summer, and a little
watchfulness and care all the time, comprehend
all that is necessary for procuring an enjoyment
as pleasing as any, and which is within the
reach of all who have a square rod of ground
to cultivate.— [Country Gentleman.
—
WINTERING PLANTS.
Many of our floricultural readers, who love
the companionship of a few plants to break the
dull monotony of the winter season, have not
the means or desire to burthen themselves with
the care attendant on a green-house, yet they
feel grieved to part on the first frosty morning,
with all that was gay and beautiful in their Ge
raniums, Heliotropes, Salvias, Verbenas, Lanta
nas, and many additional favorites. It is a ques
tion with some of them whether it may not be
better to let them die, as it will only cost a few
dollars to renew them in the Spring—than to
fret and worry over them during the winter
without any suitable place to keep them, lumber
ing up rooms, and closets, and cellars. While
there are good reasons for this course, there are
a number who prefer the trouble, and who will
spend a large amount of care to preserve them.
To these we would say, prepare timely for the
taking up and potting of any of those bedding
plants which you may desire to keep over win
ter. If allowed to remain until partially injured
by frosts, general decay may' ensue, and your
object be defeated.
Prepare a portion of potting material, com
posed of equal parts rich loam and sand. This
will be quite rich enough to winter plants in, as
tlie object is to keep them in a state of compar
ative rest. The plants may be removed at any
time alter the middle of September, a dry day
being chosen to take them up, when the foliage
is dry and in as little of a growing state as pos
sible. This removal may be more easily accom
plished by watering the soil thoroughly around
the plant, to secure the rootlets from being
much broken, as well as to secure the adhesion
of a small portion of soil. Many plants, such
as Geraniums and Salvias, may be planted in
boxes if pots are less easily obtained; boxes
one foot or a foot and a half deep, of convenient
length and breadth, will supply ample space for
the roots.
When removed from the border, prune off a
good proportion of the superfluous shoots,
which would demand more nutriment and mois
ture than the disturbed rootlets could immedi
ately supply. Place the pots or boxes contain
ing the plants in an airy though shaded place,
for a few days, till the roots become settled, giv
ing a due supply of water after potting, suffi
cient to wet the soil thoroughly. The superflu
ous portion will of courso pass off by the drain
age, which should be carefully attended to;
indeed we never think of a plant being potted
without first placing into the pot a properly ad
justed supply of potsherds, always taking pains
to cover the hole in the pot by one broad piece.
This prevents the water from carrying the soil
into and filling up eventually, this necessary pas
sago.
After keeping plants in the air until frost be
gins to indicate its proclivity, remove them to
their winter quarters, which must depend on
the conveniences and means of our several plant
nurses. Some will give them quarters in a dry
boarded cellar where a little light may reach
them, and occasionally a supply of air, and from
which the deposition of culinary valuables se
cure the exclusion of the frost-thief. Give
them very little water after being removed to
this retreat once a week for a few weeks, and
finally withdrawing it gradually during the se
verity of the winter. The temperature or the
place must not fall below 32 degrees, or at
least very little below that point.
This treatment will not suit a great variety of
plants, only such as have robust, succulent
stems or fleshy roots. Scarlet Geraniums, Sal
vias, Fuchsias, will winter successfully. But
Verbenas, Lantanas and Heliotropes require a
different treatment.
Next to the green-house in economy, and far
superior to this cellar or dwelling-house practice,
is a Green-house Pit, or sunk pit, for the re
ception of choice tender plants during the win
ter. We have not in our present article space
enough to describe the most convenient form of
the pit and its economy, but shall do so at an
early opportunity.— Country Gentleman.
——
TnE Farmer. —What a word for the Ameri
can mind to dwell upon, and, we may add, with
anxiety too, do we look at the farmer in his av
ocation. We behold the homes of the red man
passing away, where he roamed through the
forests—first east of the Alleghanies, then west
to the eatorn slopes of the Rocky Mountains,
and, we may still add, west of those mountains,
do we behold the onward progress of the farm
er, felling the forests and tossing the soil up and
over for the purpose of sowing the various seeds
or grain to be consumed by man and beast, and
then, after this comes the harvest—the Ameri
can farmer’s harvest—what a harvest it will be
if we faint not, but work wisely and judiciously.
Brother farmers, we may then sing with the
poet:
• How blest the farmer’s simple life,
How pure the joys it yields,
Free from the world’s tempestn" 8 ® strife—
Free ’mid the scented field*’
Then, farmers, are we the foundation, the
prop, the stay of all oth*f pursuits. The mer
chant, the mechanic ‘he lawyer, Ac., must all
depend upon the f.rmer’s efforts for life. Fel
low farmers, th«»gh anxious cares may some
times overtake us, let us not be discouraged, but
persevere, and with the early spring which is
just at hand, he early in bringing out of their
winter's resting place the plow, harrow and
IkwS, and with a strong arm and a willing mind
s o forth with the determination that we will
each raise more corn, wheat and oats, Ac., for the
year 1859 than any previous year.— [Ex.
Preserving Dahlia Roots. —Take up the
roots on a dry day, after the tops have been
killed by frost. Let them remain exposed to the
sun and air till quite dry. All the soil should be
shaken off them. When quite dry, put them on
a shelf in the cellar, or in a box or barrel of dry
sand. The name of the variety should be writ
ten on a wooden label, and attached to the root
with wire.
ii«. -*■»-*■
Venison in the United States, means deer
meat; in England it is applied also to the meat
of hare birds.
159