202 



THE POMOLOGIST AND GARDENER. 



1871 



ing to the center to shed water. Beds for aspara- 

 gus, rhubarb, and other perennial plants, should be 

 in some quarter where they can remain permanent- 

 ly, and have their rows run north and south ; and 

 wherever convenient, rows of corn, potatoes, etc., 

 should run in the same direction ; but in beds of 

 smaller growing plants, the direction the rows run 

 is not so essential. 



To the art of laying out we need the aid of a reel 

 and line, measuring rod, hoe, rake, roll, spade and 

 wheelbarrow. Where we wish to grow different 

 varieties of corn, squash, and other like plants, 

 where the fruit, etc., is liable to mix, they should 

 have separate plats, as fiir distant as possible. In 

 laying out plan so as to give the more tender 

 plants, as well as those desired for earliest maturity 

 the most protected and warmest portion of the gar- 

 den and soil. As every garden spot and location 

 must have a special plan according to various 

 requirements, the most we can do here is to deal in 

 generalities to be applied according to the best 

 judgment of each operator ; could we know just 

 the aspect, capabilities, etc., of every garden spot, 

 and the plants the proprietor desired to grow, then 

 we could give special directions. While taste and 

 good judgment are to be recommended in laying 

 out a vegetable garden, ornamentation is not actu- 

 ally required, except so far as may be for greatest 

 convenience in cultivation, etc. Yet, who is there 

 but would rather see some simple, tasty ornamenta- 

 tion even in a vegetable garden, which may be 

 done at no greater expense than the plainest work 



Arranging Cut Flonrers and Keeping Fresh. 



The first thing to be considered in arranging 

 cut flowers is the vase. 



If it is scarlet, blue, or many colored, it must nec- 

 essarily conflict with some hue in your boquet. 

 Choose rather pure white, green, or transparent 

 glass, which allows the delicate stems to be seen. 

 Brown Swiss-wood, silver, bronze, or yellow straw 

 conflict with nothing. The vase must be subordi- 

 nate to what it holds. 



A bowl for roses. Tall-spreading vases for gladi- 

 olus, fern, white lillies, and the like. Cups for vio- 

 lets and tiny wood flowers. A flower-lover will in 

 time collect shapes and sizes to suit each group. 



Colors should be blended together with neutral 

 tints, of which there are an abundance — whites, 

 grays, purples, tender greens — and which harmon- 

 ize the pinks, crimsons, and brilliant reds into soft 

 unison. 



Certain flowers assort well only in families, and 

 are spoiled by mixing. Of these are balsams, holly- 

 hocks, and sweet peas, whose tender liquid hues are 

 as those of drifting sunset clouds. Others may be 

 massed with good effect. In arranging a large bas- 

 ket or vase it is well to mentally divide it into small 



groups, making each group perfectly harmonious 

 with itself, and blending the whole with green and 

 delicate colors. And, above all, avoid stiffness. 

 Let a bright tendril or spray of vine spring forth 

 here and there, and wander over and around the 

 vase as it will. 



The water should be warm for a winter vase — 

 cool, but not iced, for a summer one. A little salt 

 or a bit of charcoal should be added in hot weather, 

 to obviate vegetable decay, and the vase filled anew 

 each morning. With these precautions your flow- 

 ers, if set beside an open window at night, will 

 keep their freshness for many hours even in July, 

 and reward by their beautiful presence the hand 

 which arranged and tended them.^Scribner. 



Concentrated Vegetables. 



The general attention that has of late years been 

 paid to the preservation and concentrati'm of arti- 

 cles of food, continues to issue in new and occasion- 

 ally valuable processes ; though many of those put 

 forth turn out on trial to be either wholly useless, 

 or quite impracticable save in the hands of such as 

 have been specially trained to their management. 

 In which category the following process for the 

 concentration of vegetables is destined to fall has 

 yet to be determined. The aim is to put the solid 

 portions of vegetables in such a shape that they may 

 be readily preserved, and easily prepared for use 

 when wanted, at the same time reducing their bulk 

 and preserving their flavor. 



The way this is attempted in the case of potatoes 

 will serve for illustration : After being thoroughly 

 washed, the potatoes are boiled until done and their 

 skins removed. The potato is then divided into fine 

 vermicular particles by mechanical means, and 

 while in this state the water is driven off by expo- 

 sure to heat. The material is left in a condition 

 much resembling rice, and in this shape it may be 

 ground to flour if desired. 



The extract of potatoes prepared in this way can 

 be used for making soups and other dishes ; and by 

 adding boiling water, a dish in every way resem- 

 bling mashed potatoes, cooked directly from pota- 

 toes in the ordinary manner, is obtained, but, it is 

 said, of superior flavor and quality. — Qalaxy. 



Death from Mulberries. — Five persons have 

 recently been found dead in Mississippi under mul- 

 berry trees. Death in all these cases has been at- 

 tributed to eating mulberries which have been 

 impregnated by locusts. In the stomach of one col- 

 ored boy, says the Woodville Republican, was found 

 a quantity of mulberry seeds and the locust eggs. 

 Two children in Wilkinson county are also report- 

 ed to have died from eating plums similarly impreg- 

 nated. 



