Ilo7'tlcHUi{ral JVoles. 287 



scion like a vise. T next filled up the hole even with the top eye, and I considered 

 the work done. At present writing I can show Concord, 9.5 percent., 20 feet long, 

 with well formed, healthy bunches of grapes on them; Clinton, about 25 feet, 95 

 per cent. ; Ives, 20 feet, 90 per cent. ; Martha, 50 out of 75, 15 feet, and all the 

 other varieties in proportion. I would not have lost so many were it not for the 

 dogs hunting rabbits in the grafted portion of the vineyard. I went over them once 

 a week, and pulled off all suckers as they made their appearance. I pinched out all 

 laterals, and now I have finally checked them. I expect a full crop of grapes from 

 these vines next year, so there is but one year to wait for a full crop from vines that 

 were worthless for the last six years, and would continue to be so but for grafting 

 them. I advise all who have tliose worthless varieties not to delay a moment, but 

 graft them immediately. I intend to try some experiments in grafting grapes in 

 August, of tlie success of which I will inform you in due time. There is more to be 

 learned in this braucli of the business, and 1 am confident of my ability to ferret 

 some of it out. 



The scions for grafting should be kept dry, the dryer the better, provided their 

 vitality is not destroyed, and I recommend grafting before the sap rises. 1 did not 

 take extra pains in grafting this time. I grafted as many as 200 per day. — P. H. 

 Parker, in Southern Farm and Home. 



A. l^rvtty Window I'lant. 



One of the best window plants, capable, as it appears, of resisting almost any 

 hardships, to which plants in such circumstances are subjected, is the Aspidistra 

 lurida. This plant, and its variegated variety, is grown largely in France and Bel- 

 gium, in windows, corridors, etc., and might with advantage be employed here for like 

 purposes. — Gardener'' s Chronicle. 



Ciittitif) Hlosxottis. 



All lovers of flowers must remember that one blossom allowed to mature or " go 

 to seed" injures the plant more than a dozen new buds. Cut your flowers then, all 

 of them, before they begin to fade. Adorn your rooms with them ; put them on 

 your tables ; send bouquets to your friends who have no flowers ; or exchange favors 

 with those who have. You will surely find that the more you cut ofl" the more you 

 will have. All roses after they have ceased to bloom should be cut back, that the 

 strength of the root may go to forming new roots for next year. On bushes not a 

 seed should be allowed to mature. 



Avetiue.s, Vlowcv TSedn. 



We know from experience raised beds may, in some instances, be made very efi'ect- 

 ive and at trifling expense. Take one, two or three — according to size — rough old 

 stumps and ])lace them in the center of the bed, rough side uppermost, and plant 

 climbers and trailers in the bed and allow them to run over the stumps, but do not — 

 as we have often seen attempted — plant in the cavities of the stumps, or failure must 

 result. Some of the newer Clematis make splendid permanent beds in some places, 

 and we doubt not would succeed admirably here. We have seen most excellent 

 eff"ects produced by planting good sized beds with low growing Evergreens, Juni- 

 perus, Retinosporas, Box, etc., interspersing a few good flowering plants for the sum- 

 mer months. Do not plant Rhododendrons singly, nor in dry exposed places — I 

 speak here of summer exposure. On the north side of a hill, in the shade of, but at 

 some distance from trees, if the soil be a nice loam or a peat soil, clumps of Rhodo- 

 dendron, Kalmia, etc., will thrive. Again, why should the hardy Azalea be entirely 

 overlooked ? Our native kinds, with some of the more beautiful Ghent varieties 

 interspersed, are charming when in bloom, but of all permanent beds, we have seen 

 nothing to surpass a bed of roses pegged down. Strong growing, free blooming 

 varieties, suit this latitude, and the beds well made, properly planted, and the growth 

 kept pegged down to the earth, and success is certain. — Am. Farmer. 



