1872.] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
103 
bright yellow, it was simply a dubious white. 
But, worse yet, the plant arrayed in full dress 
revealed to me an old acquaintance of my boy- 
hood — Verbena sulphurea — a half-hardy species 
cultivated in the botanical collections of Britain 
for possibly twenty years before. Some " enter- 
prising" florist had come across it, saw in the 
name Sulphurea a " golden " tinge, and set it on 
its commercial travels, which, I am happy to 
say.were short, but to me, for one, far from satis- 
factory, for I have not yet heard the last of that 
Yellow Verbena, and from that time have been 
morbidly sensitive and skeptical until I have had 
evidence of the truth of descriptions. When- 
ever descriptions are no nearer truth than 
those of the Crimson and White Mignonettes, 
I shall not scruple to say they are fraudulent. 
Venture a Little Seed. 
The writer once lived on the Mexican border, 
where no crop could be depended upon, unless 
the land was irrigated. The best planters, after 
they had sown their crops upon all the land 
capable of artificial watering, would put in a 
field of greater or less extent, upon the upland. 
This they called planting a Dios (to God). If 
the rains came, which they did once in three or 
five years, a good crop was taken from these 
high lands ; if not, it was only the loss of a little 
seed and labor. In something the same spirit 
we have been in the habit of putting in moderate 
quantities of some seeds just as soon as the frost 
was out of the ground, without reference to the 
promise of an early spring, or a late one. Some- 
times we have received nothing for out labor, 
but more frequently we have enjoyed vegetables 
considerably in advance of the regular crop. 
We find it worth while to sow a few early peas, 
radishes, and beets, and plant some early po- 
tatoes long before our neighbors have thought 
of their gardens. The soil is manured and 
spaded in the fall, and a forking over in spring 
makes it ready for the seed. These early crops 
need not be tried in large quantities, and then, 
if they come up, they can be easily kept from 
injury, by having some bog hay or other litter to 
pull over them when frost is expected. 
When to Prune. 
Being a novice and an enthusiast about things 
rural, I have so faithfully followed your coun- 
sels regarding the study of the best books upon 
agricultural subjects, that, as my helpmeet truly 
says, poor Dickens, Thackeray, Irving, and a 
few lesser lights are being crowded from our 
shelves, or tumbled into rather familiar com- 
panionship with Miss Iugelow, Mrs. Browning, 
and Miss Mulock upon the library floor. 
Whatever useless fiction is not denied shelf- 
room altogether, is packed ignominiously be- 
hind my all-important farm books. 
Now, all this may evince an enthusiastic 
"pursuit of knowledge under difficulties," but I 
fear the wife doesn't altogether share and ap- 
preciate my zeal. 
Last evening she inquired where I had put 
"The Vicar of Wakefield." I told her behind 
"Harris on the Pig," adding that I couldn't 
find Johnson's " How Crops Grow." 
"Why," said the orderly little lady, "I put 
that among your poultry books, of course." 
I smiled wisely — or rather unwisely — for she 
continued, somewhat excitedly: "Well, how 
can I tell where any of the books belong, after 
the changes and confusion you've made ? 
' Mother's Recompense' is cast aside for 'Dadd's 
Horse-Doctor,' and you have stuck 'Gregory on 
Squashes' directly in front of 'Jane Eyre.' 
'The Marble Faun' and 'The Snow Image' 
are lucked away back of ' Youatt and Spooner 
on the Horse.' 'Agatha's Husband' and ' The 
Old-Fashioned Girl' are together in the big, 
gray chair, while 'Little Dorritt' and 'David 
Elginbrod' are on the floor under 'Bleak 
House,' with ' The Scarlet Letter.' Because 
you want to eradicate mosses from an old pas- 
ture is no reason why my precious ' Mosses 
from an Old Manse' should be cast aside." 
My helpmeet stopping to take breath, I asked 
her to please hand me Thomas's "American 
Fruit Culturist," reminding her of her promise 
to help me " study up " on pruning. 
She said a promise was a promise, and seated 
herself opposite me at the table, I with paper 
and pen to make a few notes in aid of a some- 
what fickle memory, and she with "Fuller's 
Forest Tree Culturist," to compare authorities. 
"Here it is," I exclaimed, "page 80 of Thom- 
as's book: 'Pruning, after the tree has com- 
menced growth, has a tendency, in nearly every 
instance, to check its vigor. For this reason . . . 
the work must be performed before the buds 
begin to swell.' I'm sure that is explicit enough, 
isn't it?" 
"Well, yes," said my better half, "that is 
rather explicit; but hear what Fuller says on 
page 66 : ' For this purpose, there is no better 
time [to prune] than after the leaves have be- 
come fully formed, and the tree has commenced 
to make a new growth.' '■' 
I am afraid my wife read this extract rather 
exultantly. She supplemented it with : "There, 
my dear, now you know exactly what to do ! " 
What I did was to despondently put my 
books away, secret!}- resolving to imitate the 
Father of his Country, and hack away at my 
trees whenever my hatchet is sharp. 
This is certainly the only correct "principle 
and practice of pruning," according to " the 
best authority," as nearly as I can strike an 
average. F. A. W. 
Remarks. — We publish the pleasant letter of 
our correspondent, in part because it is pleasant, 
and in part that it gives us an opportunity to 
answer a number of inquiries as to — " When 
shaH I prune ? " At the risk of incurring the dis- 
pleasure of his "better half," we would advise 
our novice to do his own reading in future. 
Had he done so, he would have found, by read- 
ing the next paragraph to the one from which 
he quoted, that Mr. Fuller, in his Forest Trees, 
says: "Pruning may also be done any time in 
summer, fall, or early winter, but should not be 
performed in the latter part of winter or just as 
the spring approaches, for at this time there is 
more or less danger of the trees bleeding." 
That is all that need to be said upon the time 
of pruning. There is one thing that our novice 
says nothing about — why does he prune at all ? 
Some persons think that it is necessary to prune 
their trees every year, just as the more ignorant 
Irish think it is necessary to be bled every spring. 
No branch nor twig should ever be cut away but 
for some well-understood reason. We have not 
space to discuss the why of pruning; suffice it 
to say that it is sometimes necessary, though 
less frequently than is by some supposed. If it 
is to be done, the above direction as to time is a 
sufficient guide. The how is a matter of no lit- 
tle importance. If our correspondent is intend- 
ing to "hack" his trees, he has read his books 
to little purpose. A good pruning saw and a 
drawing knife are the most convenient tools. 
Saw off the branch neatly, taking care that no 
tearing of the bark takes place from the falling 
of the limb. Then with the drawing knife, or, 
if more convenient, a sharp pocket-knife, pare 
the wound to a smooth, sound, clean surface. 
If the wound be covered with some protecting 
material, it makes but little difference what time 
the pruning is done, though we would always 
except early spring, when the tissues are turgid 
with sap. The neatest and at the same time 
the most expensive material with which to 
cover the wounds is shellac varnish. Common 
shellac is covered with alcohol and set hi a warm 
place. If stirred now and then, the solution 
will take place in a day or less. Thin with 
more alcohol, if necessary, until the varnish is 
of the consistence of paint. Keep in a bottle 
with a mouth wide enough to admit a brush, 
the handle of which should pass through the 
stopper, and thus prevent evaporation. For 
the amateur, nothing can be handier, cleaner, 
or more efficient than this. A single coat over 
the wound will in a few moments dry into a 
firmly-adhering water-proof film. When there 
is much work, melted grafting-wax may be ap- 
plied with a brush, or common white-lead paint 
may be used. If the paint is mixed with a little 
lamp-black or umber it will be less conspicuous. 
Greenhouses attached to Dwellings. 
BT PETER HENDEKSON. 
I omitted to state in the article under this 
head in February that these greenhouses can 
be used for all the purposes of a hot-bed. Soil 
placed to the thickness of four inches on the 
benches will grow fine plants of all varieties of 
vegetables if the proper time in sowing the dif- 
ferent kinds is attended to — presuming that the 
greenhouse has no artificial heat other than that 
produced by the sun's rays which pass through 
the glass. In this latitude, cabbage, cauliflower, 
and lettuce had better be sown about middle of 
March. By attention to ventilating and water- 
ing, fine plants may be had in five or six weeks 
from time of sowing, which will bring them 
just into the proper season for planting in open 
ground. Tomatoes, pepper, and egg-plant, and 
the tenderer kinds of flower seeds, should not 
be sown much sooner than end of April. True, 
they would not be as early as if sown a month 
sooner in a hot-bed and replanted into the green- 
house bench in May. But if no hot-bed is at 
hand, the protection of the greenhouse over 
these tender plants in May will give satisfac- 
tory results if earliness is not particularly 
wanted. 
■ i <« » ■ « . 
Shovel and Mole Plows in the Garden. 
There are no cultivator teeth of any form 
that run so easily and do so efficient work in 
loosening the soil and putting weeds out of 
ttf 
B^£ 
Fig. 1. Fig. 3. 
sight as those called shovel plows at the 
West and South, and shaped as shown in fig. 1. 
The plates, when made of steel — as they always 
should be, and dished and set forward at the 
right angle — scour bright in any soil, and never 
clog with weeds unless these are very large. 
