376 



THE GENESEE FARMER. 



COMPOiT FOR GARDENS. 



As it is vain to expect successful gardening re- 

 sults, unless proper nourishment is supplied for the 

 flowers or vegetables planted in the soil, a few hints 

 may be useful, as lo the means within i-each of all 

 housekeepers for making their little plot of ground, 

 or their larger gardens, productive of beauty, and 

 much real help in the housekeeping department. 

 Without access to stable or farmyard manures, an 

 excellent substitute may be made by carelully saving 

 all refuse vegetable matter, weeds from the garden, 

 potato rinds, leaves of vegetables, dead flowers, the 

 contents of the dust pan, all useless bones, cracked 

 oi' pounded, wood ashes, cleanings of fish and poul- 

 try, useless fat, waste of candlesticks, a mixture of 

 the fine dust from coal ashes. Over this collecting 

 heap pour from day to day all greasy water, and 

 every slop from the house, from bed-rooms as well 

 as kitchen; soapy water is a valuable help; and, 

 should opportunity offer, add any road scrapings 

 within reach. When the heap has been collecting 

 for a year, turn it once or twice; this may be done 

 in January, at a spare time, and this will soon ren- 

 der it sulBciently dry to be riddled through a rather 

 coarse cinder riddle; it should now be kept dry, and 

 be used to enrich the soil in sowing the spring or 

 summer crops, and being mixed with the mould five 

 or six inches deep, or more as your plants may re- 

 quire, it will produce a very fine show of bloom in 

 IJie ilower garden. Large crops of vegetables of the 

 best quality, and flowers in great perfection, have 

 been grown on poor land improved by the means 

 above described; this alone as manure, together 

 with deep cultivation, by digging and trenching the 

 garden patches in autumn, and constant stirring and 

 weeding in summer between the growing crops will 

 materially assist their growth, as well as tend to the 

 permanent improvement of the soil. 



HORTICULTURAL OPERATIONS FOR DECEMBER. 



There is sometimes a good part of the month of 

 December in which such work as trenching, draining, 

 making roads and preparing ground for spring plant- 

 ing, &c., may be proceeded with. All such work, 

 that can be done in the fall and winter, should never 

 be put off till the spring. The great multitude of 

 little things necessary to be done all at one time, 

 when spring opens late, generally hinders such work 

 being done properly. Where draining is to be done, 

 the niain drains may be laid about fifty yards apart, 

 and the cross or lateral drains about twenty-seven 

 feet apart. The main drains should be laid down 

 the lowest part of the ground, and not less than 

 three feet deep, and opening into an outlet that will 

 carry off the water. The lateral or cross drains 

 should not be less than two feet deep at their upper 

 ends, and gradually descending to the level of the 

 main drains. This falling of the drains gives an im- 

 petus to the water that will clear out any sand or 

 sediment that may filter through the openings of the 

 tiles. Where trenching is to be done, and not laid 

 up in ridges, the ground should be left as rough as 

 possible; and, if for spring planting, of young trees, 

 the holes may be prepared at the same time. The 

 boles should not be less than two feet wide and one 

 foot deep, for young trees, of one and two years old. 

 The mould that comes out of the hole should be 



left in a little mound on one side of it; the winter's 

 frost will meliorate the mould, and greatly enrich it 

 for the benefit of the trees at planting. Where 

 roads and walks are to be made about a garden, in 

 order to have them dry and comfortable to walk 

 upon at all seasons of the year, they should be dug 

 out at least ope foot or eighteen inches deep, and 

 filled with large rough stones, brick-bats, ic, to 

 within four or six inches of the top, and then covered 

 with gravel, the coarse being raked upon the rough 

 stones in the bottom, and the fine gravel left upon 

 the top, and well rolled with an iron roller, if it can 

 be had. 



Moulding up Newly Planted Trees. — All newly 

 planted trees, if not previously done, should now be 

 moulded up for the winter; that is, throw a little 

 mound of earth up round the stems of all newly 

 planted trees, about six or eight inches high. This 

 prevents heaving by the winter's freezing, and in a 

 great measure their being girdled by the mice. Mice 

 generally commit their depredations beneath the 

 snow, and the snow being blown off these littte 

 mounds, and left bare, the mice do not work round 

 them much if at all. The pinning of large trees 

 may be done at all favorable opportunities during 

 winter. The pruning of large fruit trees will con- 

 sist, generally, in cutting out all the little twiggy 

 shoots which grow up from the main arms in the 

 body of the tree, and any branches that may cross 

 each other, or any straggling branches, to bring the 

 tree into better shape. Hot-bed frames and sasheSj 

 barrows and all tools, should be carried under cover, 

 and cleaned, and painted, and repaiied, at odd times, 

 and put in good condition for the spring use; but 

 especially the hot-bed frames and sashes should be 

 carefully painted and puttied, and repaired, so as to 

 make them as perfect as possible. 



JosiAH Salter. 



THE VALUE OF THE RURAL ANNUAL, 



Editors Genesee Farmer: — We have had a very 

 pleasant and fine summer, cool, and plenty rain at 

 all times, and a fine haying and harvest season. The 

 hay and oat crops have been very heavy. The 

 wheat crop rather light, but of good quality. The 

 corn is generally good. The fruit crop is fair. I 

 had a large crop of plums and pears. Apples good. 

 Small fruit good. Out-door grapes were poor- 

 poorly growed; a good many rotted, and what es- 

 caped did not ripen. In the cold grapery the Black 

 Hamburg and White Muscat were very fine. The 

 Chinese Sugar Cane proved a failure with me, the 

 seed not coming up, and what did come up grew 

 poorly ; yet I had enough to satisfy me that it is a 

 valuable acquisition to the northern farmer. The 

 problem is now solved, that we can raise our own 

 sugar and molasses, which I consider of great im- 

 portance. The recently sowed wheat looks remark- 

 ably well at this time, and promises well for another 

 year. 



And now for a short account of my experiments, 

 for which your Rural Annual for 18.57 came to 

 hand just in time to be invaluable. About three 

 years ago I had constructed a cold grapery, and 

 planted some Black Hamburg and White Muscat of 

 Alexandria grapes. This season they bore the first 

 fruit — and fine it was. The Rural Annual can^e 

 to hand just in time, with instructions to man^ 



