^MmHi 



88 



®l)c iTanncr's illontl)lB bisitor. 



Tljis plan may also be used instead of a divi- 

 sion of the HoiiHP, by (leleriniiiiiig the vote miu-li 

 more exjieditioii^ly, also recording it. 



Anyone who has seen the tedious process oC 

 taking the votes by ayes and nays, ninst be aware 

 of tlie amount of time it consumes, and that a 

 process by which the whole business can be done 

 ill one tiiiniitc, would s^ve quite a considerable 

 sum of money during u session. We have not 

 the exact data to make an estimate of the saving, 

 butassunntig that the vote is taken once in every 

 day during a session of four monlhs, and that it 

 consnmes each time one half hour, a reasonable 

 allowance, and we will find that the cost during 

 the 220 days, will be $30,000, a sum which this 

 new plan jiroposes to save the government. — 

 Philadelphia Ledger, 



Advice to the Girls. — Do you want yood 

 husbands? Then cease to act like fools. Who 

 that possesses comnjon sense, will be seen with 

 n female who takes pride in saying she never 

 does house-work, and cannot bear the sight of a 

 mechanic ? So long as you turn up your noses 

 at honest industry, and take parlicnlar pains to 

 tell your friends that yon are not obliged to work, 

 and know nothing about the kitchen, you will be 

 Bluinncd by the best portion of young men, who 

 will esteem it as a privilege to have yon pass them 

 without iitlering a word. Your company may 

 be courted — but by whom ? The well-fed and 

 well-dreased pauper and feathered fop — and by 

 them alone. Cease, then, girls, to make fools of 

 yourselvesi Work more and gab less. Rea<l and 

 study during your leisure hours, and not labor to 

 improve upon nature. — Comet. 



CoTTiso Grafts. — Lord Bacon said very tru- 

 ly, " When nations arrive at civility and elegan- 

 cy, men come to build stately, sooner than to 

 garden finely, as if gardening were the greater 

 perfection." Yet the most of Ihrmers who ex- 

 pend one of two or three thousand dollars or 

 more on a fine dwelling, think it extravagance 

 beyond sufieraTice, to expend one or two hun- 

 dred dollars to have a good, plea.sant, profitable 

 garden themselves, wives and children. And no 

 part of the " greater perfection " aforesaid, is 

 more neglected, than that appropriated to the 

 cultivation of first rate fruit. How much better 

 10 have rich, sweet and superb cherries for one 

 or two months in the early part of siuumer, than 

 only the common pie cherry, whose only taste is 

 its intense sourness ; and apricots, almost equal 

 in flavor to the most delicious peaches, and rijie- 

 ning weeks before the earliest peaches are 

 thought of ; and melting jiears before harvest, and 

 so on in succession till mid-winter ; and the finest 

 peuclics all the autiiimi ; and other fruits added, 

 the whole making out a complete circle of snc- 

 nession the whole 5-car round. 



Now, those who have worthless, or second or 

 third rate trees, should forthwith prepare to graft 

 better -into them. Now is the time to cut the 

 grafts, which may be collected any lime during 

 winter, if they arc well preserved till spring. No 

 pains should be sjiared in gelling the very best 

 kinds ; some money and a few long rides will be 

 well employed fi)r this purpose. If the fruit can 

 be examined before the kinds arc chosen, it may 

 be done much more satisfactorily ; although those 

 who are not familiar wiili good fruiis might make 

 some blunders. We have knowii some cultiva- 

 tors, when travelling from home, and very hun- 

 gry, select as delicious some very conteintible 

 sons, which their keen appetites led them to 

 pronounce delicious. 



To preserve grafts till spring, the following 

 mode in porhaj)» the best, as it is uniformly siic- 

 cessful, aud of very easy performance : Procure 

 (t wooden box, of a size about twice as large as 

 will contain the given bundle of grafts, and open 

 on one side; put the gratis into it, aud fasten 

 them by cross sticks as far as possible from the 

 open side. Then dig a hole into the ground to 

 receive the box with its contents ; place the o\K-n 

 side downwards, and cover the whole with earth 

 till wanted. Two or three inches of earth over 

 the top of the box are enough. A dry spot of 

 ground should be selected. In this way the grafts 

 are kept damp enough, without being wet by 

 actual contact with the soil. — Jllbawi CulHvcdor. 



of them 32 foet long, and G4 stops. It is an in- 

 strument of tremendous power, and though the 

 traveller is compelled to pay eleven francs to 

 hear it on a week-day, it is worth the money. At 

 first, one imagines a trick is played upon hini, 

 and that a full orchestra accompanies the organ. 

 The mellow tones melt in and float away, wiih 

 the heavier notes, as if a band of musicians w ere 

 playing out of sight. Many refuse to believe it 

 is not a deception till they go up and examine 

 every part of the instrninenl. The eflijct is pc'r- 

 fectly bewildering. There is the trombone, the 

 cl.irionet, the flute, and ever and anon the clear 

 ringing note of the trumpet. Tlie performance 

 is closed with an imitation of a thunder-storm, 

 in which the vvonderliil power of the iustruinent 

 is fully tested. At first you Ijear the low distant 

 growl swelling up and then slowly dying away. 

 The next peal breaks on the ear uith a more dis- 

 tinct and threatening sound. Nearer and nearer 

 rolls up the thunder-cloud, sending its (piickaiid 

 heavy discharges through the atmosphere, till 

 clap follows clap with stnnicing rapidity, rolling 

 and crashing tinoiigh the building till its solid 

 arches tremble as if the real thunders of heaven 

 were bursting overhead. 1 did not dream that 

 a single instrument could possess so much pow- 

 er. — Correspondent JyT. Y. Observer. 



Redurkable Oroaw. — The famous Organ at 

 Fryeburg, in Switzerland, lios 7800 pipes, some 



Cultivatioa of Asparagus. 



Of all vegetables, treated as '■^greens,'" the as- 

 paragus is considered by most, as standing at the 

 head of the list. Com|)aratively few, however, 

 provide themselves properly with a supply, or 

 even where they have had an abundance, it is not 

 of the first quality. Perhaps a few hints on its 

 culture, and on the njode of obtaining the finest, 

 may be acceptable at this time. 



The difference between large and small aspar- 

 agus, depends very much on cultivation ; a deep, 

 rich soil, and plenti/ of room between the plants, 

 producing the largest growth. Somclhing also 

 doubtless is to be attributed to the variety ; as by 

 a successive selection of seed from the thriftiest 

 plants, an ultimate im|)iovement may be obtain- 

 ed. Hence, in making a bed, seed from those 

 plants which are known to be very large, are to 

 be jneferred. If good plants, one or two years 

 old, can be obtained at hand, the bed will of 

 course he accelerated one year. 



A common and a good practice in preparing an 

 asparagus bed, is to trench the ground two spades 

 deep, and then rctmn the earth thus removed, 

 mixed with alternate layers of nearly an equal 

 quantity of stablt: manure, until the to]> of the 

 bed is six inches above the surface of the ground. 

 But a great improvement on one part of this pro- 

 cess is — after each layer of soil is thrown on the 

 preceding layer of manure, to intermix it very 

 tliorovghly with ihe manure, by means of a coarse 

 iron rake, potatoe hook, or other suitaiile tool. 

 This thorough admi.xiure of soil and manure, 

 though scarcely ever practiced, is of the greatest 

 importance, as large lumps of piu'o manure and 

 of earth, without being finely divided aud inler- 

 ftiscil, form but a poor material for the extension 

 of the fine and delic.ile fibres of the growing 

 plants. 



The bed being ready for the reception of the 

 plants liom tlie seed bed, which should be re- 

 moved with the least possible injury to the roots, 

 proceed to lay off the trenches for the rows. 

 One of the greatest errors with most cultivators 

 is crowding their plants too closely together; 

 they wish, after so much labor in the preparation 

 of a fine bed, to obtain the largest possible sup- 

 ply from it, but deficit their own purpose by the 

 slender and diminished growth resulting from 

 such treatment. The nearest po.ssilile distance 

 which ought ever to be admitted in an asparagus 

 bed, is one (iiot apart in the row, and eighteen 

 inches between the rows. Thus, if the trenched 

 bed is fijiir feet wide, only two rows can In; ad- 

 mitted, instead of four or five as usually prac- 

 ticed. 'J'liis may be seen by the following dia- 

 gram, the dots indicating the plants, which 



are placed, not opposite, but alternating with 

 each other, which gives the more space between 

 them. If there are eighteen inches of space 

 between the row5,tlieu there will be fifteen inches 

 from Ihe rows to the edgo of the bed, which is 



none too much lor the proper extension of the 

 roots. The Ireixdies fur the plants should be 

 made six inches deep, and wide enough lo admit 

 ihe roots spread out horizontally, which must be 

 done with the fingers. The deptli should be such 

 that two or three inches of earth may he spread 

 on the crowns of the plants. The beds may be 

 made of any length lo suit cultivators. One n 

 bundled and fifty feet long and four feet wide 

 will supply an abundt^ice for a moderate ;jized 

 family. 



After a bed is transplanted, it should remain 

 uncut for two seasons. Culling sooner will great- 

 ly injure its subsequent tlirifiincss. 



If it is remembered ihat the two chief requi- 

 sites for success, are plenti/ of room for the growth 

 of the plants, and a deep, fertile soil, no one need 

 be at a loss in the cnliivaiion of this fine vegeta- 

 ble. Good, constant, and cleanly culture, as eve- 

 ry one must know, is indispensable. These re- 

 quisites are of vastly greater consequence than 

 large varieties merely. Indeed, the fact that with 

 good cultivation and management, no plants are 

 small, aud without that none are large, has led 

 many intelligent persons to suppose that the dif- 

 lerence between giant a'ld small varieties is ow- 

 ing entirely to these circum.stances, and they are 

 not fiir wrong. 



One advantage which may be derived from 

 planting the rows more dislani llian is usual, be- 

 sides large growth, is the facility of keeping the 

 ground cultivated, a light plough drawn by one 

 horse being passed freely between them. 



Will) such distances, and the facilities aflbrded 

 for horse cultivation, much finer plants may be 

 had from a rich; deeply ploughed soil only, than 

 without them from a trenched bed two feet dei[), 

 though depth and distance combined are the 

 best. — Albanij Cultivator. 



Asparagus. — A correspondent says, "I have 

 an asparagus bed, 30 feet by .'5 leet. on which I 

 put one hundred weight of salt, about the midille 

 of March, last year, and also this year. The in- 

 crease of crop, both with regard to size aud num- 

 ber, is most extraordinary." In another place, a 

 case is giveq where too heavy aud often repeated 

 a dressing of salt, destrojed the asparagus, iho' 

 the precise amount of this over dose is not given. 



Fine Pork. — Mr. Daniel Briggs, of Hyde Paik, 

 Diilchess connly, N. Y., fiitlened six sho;iip, 

 which at eight months olii were killed and 

 weighed 275 pounds each. 



r'ritin Ihe Albniiy Arixus. 



Seventh Agricultural Meeting hi the New-York 

 Legislature. — Hay-iUakiug. 



Thursday evening, March iJth — Judge Chee- 

 VER in the chair. Subject for discussion — "The 

 proper stages for cutting grasses, and the best 

 modes of making hay; with the proper time aud 

 manner of seeding grass-lands." 



Mr. BemEiNT said he had Ibrmerly been in the 

 habit of cutting limolhy grass ijiiiie late. It was 

 easier cured after it got |iretly ripe. But he 

 found in using hay thus cut, that it wanted sub- 

 stance, and lie had ascerlained that the best lime 

 for culling was uhile ilie grass was in blossom. 

 In making clover hay, he had adopted Judge 

 Buel's plan. He thought it best not 10 expose it 

 much lo the sun. His practice was lo cut it in 

 the morning, let it lay till noon, ami then cock it, 

 and let it sweat two or three days according to 

 the state of the weather. On putting ihe hay in 

 the barn, he had used about four quarts of sail to 

 the ton. Hay thus managed came out in tliu 

 spring very bright ami sweet. In ihe ordinary 

 way of curing clover hay, the best parts are wast- 

 ed. 



In sowing grass seed, he sometimes sowed clo- 

 ver, red-top and limolhy in the fiill. Clover diil 

 not generally succeed so well sown in the liill. 

 He had therelbre sown part in the tidi aud part 

 in the spring. He usually sowed clover and 

 timothy togelher, aud advised half 10 be sown in 

 the lidl aud half in the spring. His rule was half 

 a bushel of timothy aud 12 pounds of clover. 

 He had tried lyv grass and orcliard grass, but did 

 not succeed very well. He thought them not 

 very good for hay, but some thought them good 

 for paslnre. 



Mr. HowATin presumed it would be proper to 

 include clover in the discussion, allhougli it was 

 not, eiricily speaking, a grass. He was aware 



