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THE illi:n^ois Farmer. 



Plant Trees. 



Editor of the Farmer : — I think an 

 agricultural newspaper will do most ser- 

 vice "by saying the rigiit things in the 

 right times." It is now the riglit time 

 to plant many seeds of our forest trees. 

 Acorns, black walnuts, hickory nuts and 

 the seed of the ash, should be ga- 

 thered and planted where you wish to 

 have the trees grow. On prairie farms 

 a grove near the dwelling — not too near 

 — would add great beauty, secure great 

 protection against the heavy prairie 

 winds — shield stock — add healthfulness 

 — and other advantages to a farm and 

 its occupants. What is now to be done 

 in this matter, must be done immediate- 

 ly, before the frost binds the earth in 

 chains. 



That man who has located on a prairie, 

 and designs to make it his home, should 

 not lose a single season in laying the 

 foundation for a grove. He can do it; 

 he can do it without much expense; in a 

 few years he can enjoy his grove, and 

 those who follow him "will rise up and 

 call him blessed." Nov. 10. A. 



—*- 



Gooseberries and Curranti. 



Editor of the Farmer: — Last spring 

 I obtained about a hundred gooseberry 

 cuttings, and after trimming them and 

 cutting them into lengths ten inches 

 long, I planted them out in my garden, 

 a foot apart, pressed the earth hard and 

 close about them, and now without a 

 single exception, as I believe, they all 

 grew and are good plants for spring 

 planting. 



It is now a fine time to get cuttings of 

 gooseberries and currants, and to pre- 

 serve them well, bury them in the ground 

 for setting out in spring. They should 

 be set out as early as the ground can be 

 put in order. Currant cuttings will 

 grow as freely as those of gooseberries. 



The fruit of these plants is excellent 

 and cost but little trouble or time to se- 

 cure it in abundance. 



Can't oui farmers now spend three or 

 four hours to get the cuttings? If they 

 are to be bought, a little money thus ex- 

 pended will secure a good interest. 



DEMPSEY. 



)crrics. 



Mr. Editor : I have never failed to 

 obtain a crop of raspberries "when the 

 plants were properly cared for, whether 

 they were the Antwerp, the Faslolf, the 

 Franconia, or the raspberry which is 

 cultivated about the country, and which 

 I believe is a native of New Hampshire. 



Old plantations are not likely to do 

 well. Those of from two to six years 

 old, will, if taken care of. And what is 

 the care? Simply in the fall to lay them 

 down and cover them with straw, litter 

 or evergreea branches, to keep them 

 1 rom destruction by the hot sun that some- 



times comes in February and oftener in 

 March, wJion such as are exposed to its 

 influences breeze and thaw so often that 

 the vitality of the stalks is nearly des- 

 troyed. If you Avill take the pains to 

 protect your plants, you can always 

 have fruit. It is not the intensity of 

 frcezirg, but the changes of temperature 

 in February and March and sometimes 

 in the early part of April that disappoints 

 you in your anticipations of luscious 

 crops of raspberries. It is not now too 

 late to protect your plants. 



RIBES. 



The Chryanthemura. 



This interesting plant is a native of 

 China. It has been greatly improved 

 in this country by increasing the varie- 

 ties and producing many of great beau- 

 ty. It blossoms with us Avhen the flow- 

 ers of the garden are gone, in the dreary 

 months of November and December. 



The Chi-yanthemum is of the easiest 

 culture. Cuttings of matured wood, set 

 out in the spring in the garden, will form 

 beautiful plants by fall. In the spring, 

 too, the roots of the plant can be divided; 

 a small piece Avith a bud, set out in a 

 flower pot, that flower pot set in the 

 ground, and the plants will grow beauti- 

 fully, if occasionally watered, and make 

 a fine show in the last of October, No- 

 vember and December, — the pots being 

 raised and placed where they can have 

 some heat, rain and air. 



So soon as they have done flowering, 

 set the pots in a dry, cool cellar till 

 sprin";, — water them but little. In the 



spring commence propagating the plants. 



* 

 * * 



The Sliubbcry. 

 >: Editor Farmer: There is often a 

 great mistake made in crowding small 

 gardens Avitli shubberry. If it is deter- 

 mined to have many varieties, the shrubs 

 should be constantly cut back, and made 

 to grow in small, snug, beautiful shape. 

 They should not be sufi"ered to grow at 

 random. Pinching in the growing 

 sprouts, and cutting them back with 

 shears or the knife (the knife is best) 

 should be attended to in the spring, 

 summer and fall seasons. 



It is not uncommon to see roses run 

 and spread, as they will in gardens, by 

 which wildness they disgust one of true 

 taste, instead of pleasing, and fail to pro- 

 duce the best flowers. In small gardens 

 the strong growing shrubs should have 

 no place. Why should the old coaryc 

 lilac be grown when a far more beauti- 

 ful and neater growing and blossoming 

 plant can be found in the Persian? Why 

 should the large, coarse rose bushes be 

 found in your gardens, producing flow- 

 ers once in the season, when you can 

 have the Dutchess of Sutherland, the 

 Yoland de Oregon, the Madam Laflay, 



and that class of roses, which blossom 

 most of the summer and autumn and 

 make neater bushes and occupy less 

 room? : - 



And this choice of plants runs through 

 the whole list. A few handsome plants 

 in the shrubbery are more beautiful 

 that three times the number of the 

 larger and coarser ones. 



Now is the season to throw out many 

 of your coarse plants, trim out your 

 roses and get some of the new varieties 

 if you can. It is always pleasant to be 

 improving, and to do this we should aipi 

 to obtain new varieties of approved ex- 

 cellence. ROSEA. 



-••»- 



The Wheat. 



The heavy rains have filled the ground 

 sowed with wheat. They may freeze up 

 with the water on them. What then be- 

 comes of your wheat crop? When I see 

 large fields of wheat sown on level prai- 

 ries and no attempts made to drain 

 them, it looks to me as if the owner was 

 tempting Providence. It is the business 

 of the farmer to do his duty by his lands. 

 His experience and his reason were 

 given him for useful purposes. If he 

 does not use them, let him not grumble 

 if his crops are destroyed. 



OBSERVER. 



Ornamental Deciduons Trees. 



Editor of the Farmer : A few hints 

 in regard to some of our deciduous 

 trees, adapted to the lawn or pleasure 

 grounds, may be of use to some of the 

 readers of the Farmer. 



Among the great numbers of well 

 known trees, there is no want of kinds 

 to create a variety in ornamental plan- 

 tations of any extent; but for the more 

 elegant and refined description of land- 

 scape beauty, such as the lawn or pleas- 

 ure grounds, there are many new trees of 

 recent introduction and less known, that 

 add greatly to the finished character and 

 deserve to be extensively planted. We 

 shall briefly name a few. 



The Cut-leaved Oak, {Quet'cus jyen- 

 dernhdata Hetrophylla, ) a variety with 

 deeply indented leaves; bmt not so strik- 

 ingly distinct as the beech or maple. It 

 is, however, a very fine tree. 



The Cut-leaved Beech, (^Fagus JTetro- 

 phylla,') is one of the finest cut-leaved 

 trees. It possesses the fine habit and 

 general character of growth of the Eng- 

 lish beech, though, perhaps, a little 

 more compact, and the foilage is deeply 

 and finely cut or divided, like that of a 

 fern leaf, — having a very attractive ap- 

 pearance. 



The Cut-leaved or Eagle's Claw Maple, 

 (^Aeer Plantanoides lasciniatum,) is 

 another curious leaved tree, with foliage 

 so deeply indented, that, with its fine 

 sharp points, it bears resemblance enough 

 to an eagle's claw, or hawk's foot, to give 



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