c82 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



t'l.e Suffolk and Middlesex breeds. One Suffolk sow, 

 §30. One sow of the Middlesex breed, $70. Pigs 

 six weeks old, $11. 



Mr. G. F. \Yliitney, of this village, purchased one 

 of the full blood Suffolk, imported by Mr. Stickney 

 ill 18i7, which weighs 450 pounds, and may now be 

 seen at his stable. 



THE PRINCIPLE ON WHICH PLANTS ARE 

 PROPAGATED BY CUTTINGS. 



The propagation of plants by cuttings is an opera- 

 tion of frequent use, and of considerable importance 

 in all horticultural establishments. The many thou- 

 s;\nd i)lants that are annually propagated to embel- 

 lish flower-gardens and pleasure-grounds, and tlie 

 taste displayed in the arrangement of colors, demand 

 the greatest skill, vigilance, and forethought to pre- 

 pare, to arrange, and to provide for the display. 



The conditions necessary for the propagation of 

 plants by cuttings are, a certain portion of organized 

 matter, the assistance of leaves, a degree of heat and 

 moisture accordant with the nature of the plant, and 

 free drainage at the roots. 



When the ascending sap reaches the leaves, the 

 water is discharged through the minute invisible 

 pores, and by the decomposition of carbonic acid gas, 

 which separates to carbon, and sets the oxygen free, 

 a vital action is performed, by which the sap is 

 changed into the organic matter, or descending sap. 

 It is then that all parts of the plant are supplied with 

 a store of organized matter, which renders the parts 

 ht to be employed as cuttings. When removed from 

 the parent, that store, under proper management, 

 will enable them to put forth roots and new leaves, 

 and develop all the parts required for the growth of 

 the plant. If the shoots are in a rapid state of growth, 

 full of rising sap, their tissues lax and not matured, 

 failures may be expected to attend all attempts to 

 propagate them by cuttings. 



The next part of the subject is to iiiquire in what 

 manner the leaves retained on the cuttings assist the 

 protrusion of roots, and the development of other 

 leaves. 



As the removal of the cuttings from the parent 

 branch will make no change in the nature of the sap, 

 which is always more or less in circulation in the 

 wliolc system of the plant, and it is the office of the 

 proper juice to descend in the cuttings to the joint at 

 wliich it was cut ; when its downward course is im- 

 peded, it accumulates there until a callus is formed, 

 and roots are protruded ; the organized matter of the 

 cutting is diminished to supply the development of 

 roots, and leaves are required to secrete more, to 

 replace that which was expended in the formation of 

 roots. It is when there is sufficient organized matter 

 in the cutting to supply the roots, without exhaust- 

 ing its own vital energies, that the external assist- 

 ance derived from the leaves may not be needed. — 

 Hcientific American. 



NAMES OF PLANTS. 



The importance of having all plants, including 

 fruit-trees, properly named, even in small gardens, 

 cannot be too clearly pointed out. A plant may have 

 beautiful foliage and flowers, but without a name it 

 yields comparatively little interest. Every plant has 

 a history of its own, and the first step towards ob- 

 taining a knowledge of that history is its name ; the 

 next, its native country and year of introduction into 

 our gardens. A garden of plants without names is 

 like a library of books without their exterior super- 

 scriptions. Numbers are only useful to nurserymen. 



All garden plants should be properly named. The 

 season of propagation is chiefly when plants are out 

 of bloom, and the want of diligent care in retaining 

 their names too frequently leads to a confused no- 

 menclature. The vast numbers of new i)lants which 

 are being continually introduced, as well as the host 

 of garden varieties every year brought under the 

 amateur's notice, are quite perplexing to him, unless 

 constant attention to correct labelling is observed. 

 Then, again, with regard to fruits, how much uncer- 

 tain.ty would be removed by keeping labels of a per- 

 manent kind to every tree ! Small gardens cannot, 

 or ought not, to find room for indifferent kinds of 

 fruit, or uncertain bearers ; hence the importance and 

 the advantage of knowing every kind we cultivate. 

 How much trouble is thereby avoided ! for it fre- 

 quently happens that the difficulty and expense of 

 obtaining the name of a single fruit are much greater 

 than the attention necessary in keeping the names to 

 the small collection which the limited space of a sub- 

 urban garden admits. 



With respect to the particular kind of label which 

 is most desirable to employ, there is a good deal of 

 uncertainty. Some persons prefer some of the new 

 kinds now in existence, while others adhere to the 

 old wooden label, which, after all, has not yet been 

 very satisfactorily superseded; whatever kind of ma- 

 terial is employed, however, the names should bo 

 accurately and distinctly written. — Granite Farmer. 



Rem-vrks. — The best mode that we have ever 

 seen for marking trees, either on labels or stakes for 

 nurseries, is that recommended in the American Fruit - 

 Book, by cutting notches. These labels are easily 

 made ; the materials are always at hand ; the system 

 is so simple that a cliild will learn it in five minutes. 

 By hanging the labels with wire, they will last 

 twelve or fifteen years ; and by writing the name on 

 the label, it may be easily read, and the numbers by 

 notches may be relied on when the writing has faded ; 

 and the name may be renewed occasionally, if neces- 

 sary, as it fades, by whitling the label again and 

 writing anew. It is the simplest, cheapest, most 

 convenient, and most reliable mode for reading readi- 

 ly, and preserving the name permanently. — Ed. N. 

 E. Fakuek. 



CULTIVATION OF CRANBERRIES. 



The Barnstable Patriot gives a full account of the 

 sixth annual meeting of the Barnstable County Ag- 

 ricultural Society, on the 16th ult. We select the 

 following rejjort : — 



This statement of Mr. Edward Thatcher, of Yar- 

 mouth, was made to the Committee on Fruit. 



The following is a statement of the course pursued 

 by me in the cultivation of the cranberry. July 12, 

 1845, I purchased, for $40, one and a half acres of 

 land — about one half a sandy beach, and the remain- 

 der a low peat meadow covered with water. A rim 

 of about six feet in width, ax-ound the bog and between 

 the water and the beach, had a few cranberry vines 

 on it, which had been closely fed off. In the spring 

 of 1846, I drained the bog and covered about one 

 eighth of an acre with sand three inches thick, and 

 set it with cranberry vines in rows two feet apart, and 

 hoed them four times in the season of 1846, and once 

 in the sjn-ing of 1847. The grass then got advantage 

 of me, and I left the vines to work their own way. 

 They have now nearly overcome and worked out the 

 grass and rushes. On the remainder of the bog I 

 strewed vines, and trod them in the mud, by walk- 

 ing OA'er them. These grew with rapidity without 



