THE GENESEE FARMER. 



Si 



WINTEE FLOWERS FOR BOOMS, &c. 



It is really surprising that so few Flowers are seen 

 ;o be used for Winter adorunient of rooms and 

 aouses, wheu so many can be brought into roquisi- 

 ion by using a little spare time. Of late, Fomponc 

 Chrysanthemums have been much in vogue for the 

 idornmeut of greenhouses in winter, and nothing can 

 je more simple than the culture of a few of them 

 or rooms. Plants bought in the spring, may be 

 urued out into the garden border all the summer, 

 lud no extra care need be taken of them. And if 

 iroperly lifted and potted in the autuum, by giving 

 .hern only ordinary attention they will amply repay 

 .he trouble, by the profusion and delicate beauty of 

 heir bloom ; after wLich they may be stov\-ed away 

 -ill spring, to be turned out again to make new 

 growth. The collection of these really beautiful lit- 

 .18 plants at ]\lessrs. EUwangcr & Barry's, of this 

 ;ity, is, I thiuk, unrivalled in tliis part of the country, 

 f not in the States. It is worth a walk of ten miles 

 .0 sec them. Such variety of color, such profusion 

 )f bloom, and such perfect beauty both in the fiow- 

 .Ts and habit of the plant, are not to be excelled by 

 iny ordinary thing ; and as they are so easy to culti- 

 vate, they ought to be grown by everybody having 

 my horticultural taste at all. 1 give a list of a few 

 )f the best, viz : Asmodea, Circe, Criterion, Daph- 

 lis, Eliza Mielliez, Gitano, Jongleur, Sylphide, Per- 

 ecta, La Radicuse, Modele, Mignonette, Bob, Bur- 

 lettiauum, Aurora Boreale. 



The larger flowered kinds may also be used to 

 freat advantage, if lifted before the coming on of 

 rost. Several of my friends have adopted this meth- 

 )d, and potted some, and they now make a sp-endid 

 display ; whereas if left out they v«'ould have made 

 lone at all. And another great thing is, that they 

 iower early in the season, and by the time very cold 

 Mrep.ther sets in they need no care at all, at the 

 cime when frost is most likely to get into a house. 



If people havt plenty of room and a little patience, 

 Spireas may be made available, for they force admi- 

 rably. Prunifolia, Lanceolata and others will flower 

 *veli in the house, if lifted properly in the fall and 

 :ared for in an ordinary manner. The new Spirea 

 iailosa, I think, will prove admirably adapted for 

 winter flowering. Camellias are recommended by 

 some ; but I tliiuk, that without great watchfulness 

 and care, they always prove a failure, as the buds are 

 io extremely liable to drop, either from being al- 

 lowed to get too dry, or from excessive moisture, or 

 from sudden changes in the temperature, and they 

 are also very apt to be discolored by smoke and 

 dust. Daisies make very pretty window plants, and 

 by selecting suitable kinds one may have a very 

 pretty show all the winter. Verbenas, if properly 

 managed, make a fine display ; but they must have 

 plenty of air and light, and not too much water, or 

 they become spindled and straggling. Scarlet Gera- 

 niums, also, if properly lifted and potted, without be- 

 ing checked much, make a good show. I have one 

 DOW which promises to be gay all the winter long, 

 with its splendid scarlet flowers. Tom Thumb and 

 Ingram's Dwarf will be found best for ttiis purpose. 

 The dwarf Double-flowering Almond and the New 

 Deutzia gracilis and Wall Flower, are very fine, if 

 properly managed ; and numerous other things may 

 be made to gratify both the grower's taste and am- 

 bition, with very little trouble. 



All the foregoing should be lifted in the autumn, 

 before they are injured by frost, and brouglit into a 

 warm place. Water sparingly till the buds begin to 

 break, and gradually increase, as the plants advance 

 in growth. It is very necessary to give them all the 

 light possible. W. T. Goi.tismitii — Rochester. 



COLTIVATION OF PliAS, &c. 



Ens. Genesee Farmer: — Your article, headed 

 "I'remiums for Short Essays," has just attracted my 

 attention. Among the subjects suggested by you I 

 observe one " on the cultivation of peas." I have 

 had singular success in the cultivation of that vegeta- 

 ble and if others will adopt my method, they will find 

 it a most advantageous one. It is as follows: 



Dig a trench of one foot deep, and then fill it again 

 with good soil taken from the surface, to within six 

 inches of the top. This, of course, leaves the trench 

 still six inches deep. Plant the peas in the trench 

 thus prepared, and cover them with six inches of 

 good soil, also taken from the surface. By the time 

 the peas come up the trench will have settled about 

 two inches, and this is to bs brought nearly even by 

 subsequent hoeiugs. I say nearly even because 

 there should always be, in our dny climate, a hollow 

 left to catch and hold tlie rains. 



Now for the results. The peas will make their 

 appearance notwithstanding the great depth of plant- 

 ing; there need be no fear about that. They will 

 grow rapidly when started, will not be affected by 

 drought, and v;ill bear three times as long, and more 

 than three limes the quantity of peas planted in the 

 ordinary way. There will be blossoms and mature 

 fruit on the vines at the same time, and the vines wi 1 

 not put on the usual yellow, sickly appearrnce at the 

 roots which is so soon followed by the drying up of 

 the whole stock. If the soil is free from' clay, it is 

 better to cover them eight inches, even, rather than 

 six. 



Let those try the experiment who have been ac- 

 customed to plant in the ordinary way, and they will 

 rejoice that they were subscribers to the Genesee 

 Farmer. 



Now, Mr. Editor, will you or some of your readers 

 inform me of the best method of preparing and 

 using the white shell marl so common in this State. 

 I have a large, and I have no doubt valuable bed 

 of it on my farm, but I have injured almost every- 

 thing I have put it on, because i did not know how 

 to prepare it. I have been told tliat by letting it 

 lie two or three years exposed to the sun and frost, 

 that it will be valuable; but if any of your readers 

 know of a method by which I may save all that time, ' 

 I should be obliged. P. M. — A''eivburgh, JVoveui' 



her 29, 1856. 



^fr*-^ 



The Garden.— No land pays a higher rate of in- 

 terest than the humble, despised garden. The quan- 

 tity of vegetables which it can be made to produce 

 almost exceeds belief; and farmers may well opea 

 their eyes when told that under good management 

 two acres of a garden will be more profitable thsjn 

 twenty acres of a farm as it is usually conducted. In 

 the vicinity of cities and large towns, the raising of 

 vegetables for market is conducted on a large scale, 

 and is very lucrative, and even the poor man ciui, 

 by his own labors at odd limes, secure an abundance 

 of food for his family, which is as good as mohey 

 saved as well as earned \ 



