831 



It is difl&cult to speak warmly about strawberry 

 vines — the refreshing harvest having been gathered 

 and the golden gains. Everywhere the plantations 

 old and young, seemed in admirable vigor. The 

 sun shines down with all his " solstitial fervor," yet 

 we cannot see that the Jucunda, as has been re- 

 ported, winces in the least. A great company keep 

 busy cultivating, layering across the open spaces 

 and in pots. The latter ought to be popular, for 

 they are very strongly and massively rooted plants. 

 The method of culture is in rows two and a half 

 feet apart, linear but not lateral extension being 

 allowed. A mulch of straw put on in the Fall is 

 simply pushed back from the plants in the Sprifjg 

 and removed entirely for thorough cultivation after 

 planting. It is a mistake that Mr. Knox subsoils 

 before setting his beds. Of course the plants set 

 between the vineyard rows enjoys this advantage ("if 

 one,) of previous trench plowing. He plows deeply, 

 as a thorough farmer would to plant corn^ harrows 

 and rolls, then, spring or fall, as it is convenient, 

 sets his plants. When the land needs it, he en- 

 riches it with well rotted manure. 



ECONOMICAL MANAGSMEMT OP GAR- 

 DENS. 



BY GEORGE THOMPSON. 



Mr. Henderson, in his "Gardening for Profit," 

 says that it requires about one man per acre to 

 carry on successfully, and in a private place about 

 the same. There are very few private places in 

 this country where that amount of help is given, 

 nor is it necessary, except where they have much 

 glass. I propose to give a few short articles to 

 show how a private place can be kept up with 

 much less force than is generally considered indis- 

 pensable. The first thing to be considered is the 

 laying out; unless that is done properly all work is 

 done to disadvantage. Lay out the lawns and 

 plant them sa that all short grass shall be cut with 

 the mowing machine, and locate the roads and 

 walks so that the horse-roller can be used instead 

 of the hand-roller. I find that the best, easiest 

 and quickest way to keep roads and walks clean is 

 to start the scufile hoe over them as soon as it has 

 done raining, then rake them and let the horse- 

 roller follow immediately. By that means walks 

 and roads can always be kept clean and firm with 

 little trouble. A man can do more in an hour 

 after a rain than he can in half a day when it is 

 dry and hard, and it looks better. I have met with 

 several people that condemn the mowing machine ; 



[Id grass. 



they say it ruins the lawn, encouragii 



My experience is that, managed right, it 



surpasses the scythe in keeping up a lawn ; but it 

 requires intelligence to work it and use it when the 

 grass is the proper length, and not every eight or 

 ten days, as I have known some people do. An- 

 other cause of failure has been cutting with the 

 scythe, the first time, too close to the ground, 

 which gives the Crab Grrass a chance to start. As 

 a general rule, the lawns in this country will not 

 bear such close cutting as in Europe. Most people 

 think that the machine can only be used when the 

 grass is perfectly drj^ I have frequently used it 

 after continued rains, when the water splashed up 

 to the horses' belly in low places ; then we have to 

 use leather shoes on the horses' feet. i3ut I would 

 rather cut when dry, but was obliged to cut wet or 

 let the scythe do it, as it was getting too long. I 

 always use the box to catcli the grass, as, by so do- 

 ing, I can leave it four to six days longer. I have 

 fully tested the difi'erence between the machine 

 and a first-class mower. A lawn that takes a first- 

 rate mower two days to cut, a machine will cut in 

 about five hours. 



A NEW G-HAPE PATENT. 



BY WILLIAM GRIFFITH, NORTH EAST, PA. 



To all lohom it may concern : 



Be it known, that I, William Griffith, of North 

 East, in the County of Erie and State of PennsyJ- 

 vania, have invented a new and useful improve- 

 ment in the mode of propagating Grape Vines in 

 open field culture ; and I do hereby declare that the 

 following is a full, clear and exact description of 

 the same, reference being had to the annexed draw- 

 ings, making part of this specification, in which 

 the process is shown, in a vertical section of the 

 ground in which the cuttings are placed for propa- 

 gation. 



I will first explain in detail my mode of propa- 

 gation, and then indicate wherein it differs from 

 other known modes. The ground is first prepared 

 by the usual mode of cultivation for the reception 

 and development of the cutting, so as to be ready 

 at what may be described as the season of early 

 garden making. This season is, of course, de- 

 pendent upon climatic conditions. In the region 

 in which I live it will ordinarily be about the 10th 

 of April. It must, under all conditions, be so 

 early in the spring that the earth is still at a re- 

 duced temperature, before the increasing power of 

 the sun has entirely overcome the influence of 

 winter, but not so early as not to have heat enough 

 in the earth to develop vegetable action. The 

 pieces of vine to be sprouted are cut in pieces of 

 say two inches in length, and with a single bud at 



