SMALL FRUIT CtJLTURE. 617 



York The Gothic free fruit box, made of veneer, is sent in flats 

 ready to be put together, for ten dollars per thousand. A very 

 common basket is made by D. Cook, New Haven, Connecticut. 

 J. B. Smith's grape box, made at Ansonia, Connecticut, holding 

 about five pounds of 'grapes, is also suitable for the small fruits ; 

 price, sixty dollars per thousand. All these, and many more, 

 are patented. 



Flower Culture will be confined to the farmer's wife and 

 family, but the farmer, if he be a true lover of nature, will be 

 always ready to lend a patch of ground and an occasional hour 

 with the hoe or spade to the flower-garden; himself and his 

 family will be better for the sight of the flowers, and they 

 will be more closely attatched to the home thus beautified. 

 We can give but a few plain brief directions for flower 

 culture. 



The best soil for the cultivation of flowers, is a mixture of 

 loam, peat, leaf mould, and sand. If peat cannot be had, decayed 

 turf can be used in its stead. Leaf mould can always be had in 

 the country by covering a pile of leaves with earth in the fall, 

 and letting them rot for a year. Prepare a pile every fall, and 

 you will have a constant supply of the most valuable manure 

 for your flower-garden, vineyard, or nursery. The children 

 should be encouraged to gather all the leaves possible in the 

 fall for these purposes. 



So small a space as is occupied by the flower-garden, should 

 be spaded, hoed, and raked until it is thoroughly pulverized to 

 the depth of eighteen to twenty-four inches. Flower seeds 

 should not be planted until the earth begins to be warm. If 

 the soil tends to be too cold and heavy, add sand to it. One 

 great mistake in planting flower seeds is to plant too early and 

 too deep, so that the seeds never feel the warmth of the sun, 

 and decay without germinating. No definite rule can be given 



