1869.] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
339 
him out of the squash and melon vines; but 
unfortunately the vine is killed before the borer 
is discovered. Your vines are all right in the 
morning, but at night every leaf is drooping, all 
on account of this rascally borer. "We should 
like to see any surgery that will restore vines so 
afflicted. They have thus far taken only one 
vine in a hill, but suppose they should take all, 
where would we be? 
Sprouts. 
In early spring, sprouts are in great demand 
in the New York market. They come iu after 
the winter spinach has gone, and at the restau- 
rants we find sprouts substituted in those dish- 
SPK0UT3 OR GERMAN GREENS. 
es hi which spinach was used earlier. "Corned 
Beef and Sprouts" takes the place of "Corned 
Beef and Spinach" on the bills of fare. Sprouts 
are Kale or Borecole, and are in reality a form 
of cabbage that does not head, but forms a 
great abundance of wrinkled leaves, which, 
when they have been frosted, are really delicious 
eating, whether taken in early winter or left un- 
til spring. The seed is sown in September in 
rows a foot apart, and cultivated the same as 
turnips. On light soils the plants pass the win- 
ter without any protection, but on heavy ones 
it is better to give a covering of bog or salt hay, 
or some similar material. An old gardener, a 
neighbor of ours, says that " the curliest is the 
best," and saves his most curly plants for seed. 
The common market sort, of which we give an 
engraving, is known as German Greens. There 
are several new varieties which we are testing, 
and may, at another time, report upon them. 
The Pickle Crop. 
There is scarcely anything upon which we 
iiave so many inquiries as cucumbers for pick- 
les. Many persons have heard that pickles 
are a profitable crop, and having planted 
them, write to us to ask how to dispose of 
them. Let us look at the matter. Supposing 
one had planted a crop of flax or cotton, would 
he expect us to tell him how to convert these 
fibres into cloth? The raising of cucumbers is 
one thing, and the manufacture of pickles is 
another, and as distinct a branch of business as 
that of the cotton raiser and. cotton spinner. 
Those who have made money by raising cucum- 
bers for pickles are those who live near pickle 
factories, and could contract for the sale of 
their crops upon delivery. We do not think it 
will pay for those who are not thus situated to 
go largely into the business of raising cucum- 
bers. There are many obstacles to overcome in 
"getting a stand," and when the vines are in 
fruit a man can hardly earn his wages in pick- 
ing cucumbers. A highly intelligent friend in 
Michigan, who keeps an account with every 
crop, has given up the cultivation of cucumbers 
on account of the expense of picking. He had 
many acres in cucumbers, and until he kept an 
account he thought them profitable.but although 
he was doing a large business in shipping them 
to Southern markets, he has given them up. 
Near city markets and pickle factories, where 
they can be sold at once by the hundred, cu- 
cumbers may be raised at a fair profit, but 
when one has merely to salt them to preserve 
them, it is doubtful if it will 
pay. As to the growers con- 
verting them into pickles, it is 
not probable that it will meet 
with any success, as that is a 
branch of business by itself. 
In putting up cucumbers in 
salt and water for shipping, 
the friend above referred to 
operated as follows. He used 
new barrels. One head being 
taken out, about four quarts of 
salt were put in the barrel, 
which was then filled with cu- 
cumbers ; four quarts more of 
salt were placed upon the cu- 
cumbers, and the head careful- 
ly replaced. The barrel was 
then filled with water through 
the bung-hole, and tightly 
bunged up. The barrels then 
had their position changed ev- 
ery day or two for a week or more, to insure that 
the salt was thoroughly dissolved, when they 
were ready for shipping. He says that cucum- 
bers put up in this way and kept tight will 
keep in good condition for six months or more. 
— • »!■ ►-« 
The Blackberries. 
It is strange that the growth of a blackberry is 
not generally understood. We have given the 
whole story many times, and yet here are a half 
score of letters asking about the blackberry. 
Now let one of these writers go to his black- 
berry patch, and lie will see two, three, or more 
used-up looking canes loaded with fruit, and as 
many more vigorously growing green canes 
which have started up this year. Pick all the 
fruit that ripens, and when the last berry is off, 
cut out the old canes. The next year's crop de- 
pends upon the growth of the new green canes. 
Top all of these new canes that are over five or 
six feet high. By "top" we mean cut them 
off. It should have been done long ago, but 
better now than not at all. Had it been 
done earlier it could have been accomplished 
b}' the thumb and finger, but now the shears 
must be used. The canes now will have side 
branches, and these should not be allowed to 
extend themselves longer than about eighteen 
inches. Three or four canes to a stool are 
enough, and these should be kept tied up to a 
stout stake. We prefer to use tarred twine for 
these rough fellows. Suckers will come up be- 
tween the rows and everywhere. It generally 
is the case that these can be sold as soon as 
vegetation ceases, for a fair price; if not, cut 
them down before they get too woody to be 
cut with a sharp hoe. As to varieties we still 
place the Kittatinny at the head of the list. 
For market the New Rochelle will be found 
profitable where it is not winter-killed, but for 
blackberries " as are blackberries," we think 
the Kittatinny about as good as those we used 
to pick from the wild bushes on "Old Point 
Judith" — which is saying a great deal. A 
blackberry patch is something uncomfortable 
to handle. Our friend Wm. N. Doty, who is 
always inventing something, has brought us an 
ingeniously contrived pruning chisel which 
we think will prove a great help. We only 
wait for our fruit to be off to allow us to try it. 
Winter Spinach. 
One of the profitable crops of the market 
garden is Spinach. In the latitude of New 
York it is sown about the middle of this mouth 
in drills about a foot apart, and kept well 
cultivated until frost sets in. In places north 
of here it will be necessary to give it some pro- 
tection. In early spring it is ready to cut, and 
brings a good price, and it is off of the ground 
soon enough to make way for other crops. 
.►-. ■ »» — »-» 
The Rat-tailed Radish. {Baphanus caudatrus.) 
It is about time that this humbug was explod- 
ed. Some ten years ago our friend, Isaac 
Buchanan, brought from Europe as a very pre- 
cious thing, the seeds of the Madras Radish, the 
pods of which were to be good for eating or 
for pickling. With many thanks to our veteran 
florist we grew the plant, but could not see that 
the pods were either eatable or pickleable. 
Later, the Maphanns mudatus came out, and 
ten seeds were sold (we think) for 25 cents, — it 
may have been more. This year we grew it, 
giving it the best possible treatment. It gave a 
generous supply of pods, something longer, 
perhaps, than our old Madras radish. The 
English papers had lauded the pods of this 
radish as something excellent when cooked and 
treated with drawn butter, in the same way as 
asparagus. We had a guest from the city, and 
wished to treat him to a novelty, so the rat-tails 
were picked and nicely served. We never ate 
boiled rat-tails, but have no doubt they would 
be preferable to the pods of this rat-tail radish, 
albeit some of them reached the prescribed 
length of eighteen inches. Neither did we ever 
eat boiled shoestrings served with drawn butter, 
but in trying the Raplianus caudatus we think 
we got a good idea of them. It was noticed 
that no one asked to be helped the second time. 
Nutritive Value op Different Crops.— 
Mr. J. D. McGuire, of Maryland, referring to 
the article on this subject in the Agriculturist 
for May, writes : " The following statement, 
which I took from the balance sheet of the Ag- 
ricultural Academy of Hohenheim, for Nov. 
1863, whilst I was a student there, will give you 
iu part their estimate of how many pounds of 
each article are equal to 100 lbs. of bay. Fif- 
teen head of horses, 123 head of horned cattle, 
and 890 sheep were kept there and fed on this 
principle : 100 lbs. of hay are equal to 275 lbs. 
of beets, carrots, or Jerusalem artichoke ; 200 
lbs. oat straw, or potatoes; 125 lbs. Brewers' 
grains ; CO lbs. oats ; 50 lbs. groats or oil-cake." 
The Surprise Apple.— This is a small, 
rather flattened apple, having a yellow skin with 
a red blush. It gets its name from the fact that 
one in cutting it open finds the flesh, much to 
his surprise, of a red color. The quality of the 
fruit is poor, and it is grown only as a curiosity. 
