122 



THE GENESEE FARMER. 



woiild be desirable to roll the beds with a hand 

 roller, or to batter them with the back of the spade. 



Caruots. — The Early Short Horn is the best 

 eaiTot for table usa When rapidly grown and not 

 too large, they are delicious. Sow them on a rich, 

 warm, light soil, in rows a foot apart. Do not be 

 sparing of seed, but thin out as soon as the carrots 

 are large enough to eat, or sooner if necessary. — 

 Ko error is more common than leaving plants too 

 thick in the garden. For the main crop, the car- 

 rots should be thinned out to at least three or four 

 inches apart in the rows. 



Much labor in weeding may be saved by hoeing 

 lightly between the rows as soon as the carrots can 

 be distinguished, A few radish seeds are some- 

 times scattered along the drills with the carrot 

 seed, and coming up early, serve to indicate the 

 rows, before the carrots can be distinctly traced. — 

 They should be pulled up before they injure the 

 carrots. 



Tomatoes. — The able articles published last month 

 on the cultivation of tomatoes, render any further 

 remarks unnecessary. This vegetable is so delicious 

 and healthy, so easily raised, and so productive, 

 that every farmer should see to it that he has an 

 abundance. An experienced tomato grower informs 

 us that self-sown seed, which has been in the ground 

 all winter, will produce an earlier crop than plants 

 raised from seed sown in the open ground in the 

 spring. 



Parsley should be sown as early as possible, in 

 rows fifteen inches apart, and the plants thinned 

 out four inches apart in the rows. It may be sown 

 as a border around beds or walks. 



SHSUBS FOE THE THE LAWN. 



For the sake of our readers who are intending 

 to make atlditions to their ornamental plants tins 

 spring, or arc planting new grounds, we will give 

 short descriptions of a few of the finest hardy orna- 

 mental shrubs, which, although they have at diflTer- 

 ent times been described before, it may not be 

 unprofitable again to present at this season of the 

 year. 



One of the first in the order of flowering shrubs, 

 is the Daphne mezereum^ popularly called Mezereon. 

 This plant is a native of Europe. It is a low shrub, 

 attaining the height of four feet, and is greatly 

 admired for its beautiful and fragrant flowers and 

 bright red berries. "The French call it 'genteel 

 wood,' and 'pretty wood;' the Italians, 'the fair 

 plantf the Germans, 'silky bark;' and even the 

 grave Spaniards term it, 'the lady laurel.'" The 

 flowers, which are pink in one variety and white 

 |n another, literally cover the plant, in March or 



early in April. The berries, as well as the whole 

 plant, are highly poisonous when eaten; and chil- 

 dren, to whom they are attractive, should be taught 

 not to pluck them. 



Allied to this plant in the same Natural Order, 

 is the Dirca paluitris, or Leatherwood, growing in 

 the forests throughout the United States, and Can- 

 adas, which might be extensively introduced into 

 our gardens with a desirable effect. The yellow, 

 funnel-shaped flowers, issuing three together from 

 the same bud, appear much earlier than the leaves, 

 and are succeeded by small, red, oval berries. 



Forsythia viridissima. — This shrub was intro- 

 duced from China, by Fortune, a few years since, 

 into England, and thence into this country. Dowk- 

 iNG proposed to give it, for an English name. Golden 

 Bell, but it does not seem to have been generally 

 adopted. Very early in the spring, before its 

 foliage appears, it is covered with bright, yellow 

 flowers, making it a very attractive ornament in 

 the garden, before other vegetation has started. 

 The leaves are large, pointed, and of a very beau- 

 tiful deep green color It is worthy a place in every 

 collection, and in a few years it will, no doubt, 

 become as well known and as much admired as 

 many of the older shrubs. 



Spiraa. — There are many species of this genua 

 which are indispensable in any collection of shrubs. 

 Indeed, they should demand the first attention of 

 planters. They are of easy culture, and some 

 varieties begin to blossom in May, and others in 

 succession for a period of three or four months. — 

 Among the finest species may be mentioned S. 

 prunifolia fiore plena, or the double-flowering 

 plum-leaved, which is a profuse bloomer, and tha 

 blossoms look like small, double, white daisies, 

 covering its slender branches. It flowers in May. 

 S. lanceolata, or Reevesii, is a beautiful specie?, 

 with large, round heads of pure white flowers, 

 blooming in May. S. Douglassi has elegant spikes 

 of delicate rose-colored flowers in July and August. 

 8. Fortunei, or callosa, has only been lately intro- 

 duced, and is one of the very finest. It has larga 

 clusters of beautiful rose-colored flowers. It is a 

 thrifty grower, and is in blossom a great part of the 

 summer. There are many other desirable sorts, 

 among which are, grandifiora, Niconderti, Sinensk, 

 ulmifolia, etc. 



Weigela rosea, or Rose- Colored Weigela. — This 

 plant also was found by Fortune in China ; and it 

 is one of the most charming shrubs of which our 

 northern climate can boast. When in blossom, in 

 May and June, it is a perfect mass of rose-colored 

 flowers, than which nothing can be more beautiful. 



