222 
AMERICAN AGKRiCULTUIlIST. 
[Juke, 
necessary for the first season, as the vegetable 
fibre remaining in the soil, in most cases, will be 
sufficient; but on old lands, continued and 
heavy manuring, not less than fifty (50) tons to 
the acre, is indispensable. This, however, we put 
on with our first crop of Beets, Onions, Cabbages, 
Radishes, Potatoes, or Spinach. These being 
marketed by the first or middle of July, the 
ground is at once plowed up and well harrowed 
down to receive the celery crop. The manure 
applied in spring being diffused through the 
soil by plowing and harrowing, answers to 
carry through this crop also. 
The variety of celery that we still like best 
for this section, is the "Incomparable Dwarf;" 
this, when grown for market, is planted at from 
2'\? to 3 feet between the rows, and from 5 to 6 
inches between the plants; this distance gives 
from 30,000 to So^OCfplants per acre. The av- 
erage price in the markets of New York during 
the past fall and winter was 3 cts. per root at 
wholesale — or, for the gross receipts, full}' a thou- 
sand dollars an acre. But the celery crop of 
1869 was unusually short, owing to a deficiency 
of plants at the planting season, which, together 
with continued unfavorable weather in Septem- 
ber, occasioned an unusually short crop; this 
caused the price to range about one-third above 
the average. 
We now put more labor on this crop thp.n we 
did a few years ago, and find it more profitable 
to do so. In former years only that portion 
required to be blanched for use in fall, was 
"banked up" to the top of the plant with the 
spade, now wo find it pays us to "bank up" 
all, even if it is not wanted for use until March ; 
only taking care that the " earthing," or "bank- 
ing up" process, for that wanted last, is delayed 
as long as possible. That required for use in 
October is earthed up to the top of the leaves 
in September; that for November in October; 
but that for winter and spring use is not earthed 
to the top of the leaves until November. Thus 
protected by the earth, we can leave it exposed, 
as it stands with safety in this section, to the 
end of November; about that time we take it 
up and pack it away in the trenches; for a 
description of this method see Agriculturist for 
July, 1865. These operations of earthing up 
and placing away in the trenches, arc very sim- 
ple, and can he done by any common laborer 
after a few minutes' practice, but are not very 
easily described. Any of your country readers 
interested in the matter, who happen to be in 
the City of New York, in October or Novem- 
ber, had better come over and see our mode of 
working. My own grounds can be reached 
from the office of the Agriculturist in less thau 
an hour; and our whole vicinity is a series of 
market gardens, a view of which at the differ- 
ent seasons of the year would be instructive to 
those inexperienced in the business. Celery is 
yearly becoming a more and more important 
crop, and in most country towns, if grown as 
we grow it, must bo highly profitable. It pays 
us a fair profit at 2 cts. a root. In most cities 
(New York excepted) it averages 6 cts. per root. 
Garden" Refuse.— .Green stuff, such as cab- 
bage leaves, radish and beet tops, and the like, 
should not be allowed to dry. Let them go 
while fresh to the pigpen or to the compost heap. 
Young weeds — and old ones ought not to be 
found in the garden— should have the same 
destination. By saving all the refuse of the 
garden in a heap by itself, or putting it in the 
pigpen, a surprising accumulation of valuable 
compost will be found at the end of (he season. 
Opium Culture. 
Already more space has been devoted to 
Opium culture than we intended to give, but 
our account would be incomplete did we not 
give our correspondent "B's" manner of col- 
lecting the product. He makes a scarifier for 
the purpose, and lias forwarded us one from 
which the engraving, figure 1, is made. It con- 
sists of a light wooden handle, curved so as to 
fit the hand conveniently ; at one end are insert- 
ed four small knives or lancets. This portion 
Fig. 1.— SCARIFIER, 
is curved so as to correspond with the shape of 
the capsule, and it slopes from below upwards, 
as shown in the engraving. The end of the 
handle is covered with a thin metal plate, in 
which arc slits through which the knives pro- 
ject. This plate is attached to the handle at 
the sides, but is free at the ends and acts as a 
sort of spring when the implement is pressed 
against the capsule. The manner of holding 
the scarifier is shown in figure 2. The capsule 
is held firm by the finger and thumb of the left 
Fig. 2. MANNER OF HOLDING. 
hand, and the scarifier applied to the lower side 
of the capsule and brought upward with a deli- 
cate touch, following the curve. A little prac- 
tice will enable one to scarify rapidly without 
cutting through the walls of the capsule. The 
operation is performed in the afternoon ; the 
juice when it first exudes is quite liquid, and 
care should be taken not to shake it off by 
brushing against the plants. The product is 
scraped off in the morning as soon as the dew 
is off. For 'this purpose a knife is used, shaped 
as in figure 3. The edge is smooth but not 
sharp. The opium from a dozen or so of cap- 
sules is removed, and then the knife is cleaned 
Fig. 3. — COLLECTING KNIFE. 
by transferring the accumulation to a vessel 
carried for receiving it. The amount gathered 
each dtvy is exposed to the air to dry, and when 
about half dry it is added to the mass. The 
scarifying is repeated from two to six times, ac- 
cording to the size of the capsule and the yield. 
In India the gatherers of opium sell their crude 
product to the factories, where that bought of 
various growers is mixed and worked over and 
made into cakes for commerce. The foreign 
opium is made into various sized balls, the ex- 
terior of which is covered with poppy petals, and 
sometimes with the leaves of the plant. Should 
opium become a product of importance with us, 
no doubt some plan for preparing it for market 
will be hit upon, which will be an improvement 
upon those followed abroad. Dr. B., to whom 
we are indebted for the details given in this 
and previous articles, is very confident that 
opium can be made a paying crop if proper 
pains be taken, and that it would afford easy 
and profitable labor to women and children. 
Hotes from the Pines. 
Several have written to ask what has become 
of the " Notes from the Pines." I did not, when 
I began these notes, engage for a regular series, 
but chose to put in this form the odds and ends 
of personal experience that could be more 
readily given in this way thau in a regular 
article. They will be continued, as the doctors 
prescribe mediciue — pro re nata. 
Nothing gives a more home-like aspect to a 
house than an abundance of climbing shrubs. 
These are generally put up hi an awkward man- 
ner. Some fasten them directly to the wood- 
work by means of straps of leather. This dis- 
colors the paint and is not favorable to the 
growth of the vines. Another way is to build 
trellises against the veranda. There were here 
some great ladder-like things, strong enough for 
a man to climb up by; there was more trel- 
lis than vine. These structures were taken away 
and galvanized iron wire substituted. I found 
at Patterson Brothers' hardware store some 
green-house screw-eyes, which are '^-incji rods 
of galvanized iron with an e}'e at one end and a 
gimlet-pointed screw at the other. These screw- 
eyes answer admirably for holding the wire, 
and a support maybe put up by their use, which 
will be both inconspicuous and serviceable. 
Last summer I had a word of commendation 
for the Perpetual Spinach Beet. Roots which 
had been frequently cut from, last summer, kept 
admirably through the winter with a slight 
covering of salt ha}', and in April again gave a 
supply of greens. This year I propose to plant 
some in September, for the purpose of keeping 
through the winter. These are not to be cut 
from, and will be much more vigorous in spring 
than partially exhausted roots. 
It is curious to notice how we are influenced 
by external appearances. The Irishman's mot- 
to, "Nivermind the book for the cover," is a 
favorite one with me, but I don't live up to it. 
Several dealers have sent me collections of flower 
seeds, and at sowing time I found 1 had three 
or four papers of the same thing from as many 
different establishments. I did not care to sow 
more than one paper of each, and I found ni}'- 
selfeach time selecting the packet that was in 
the best paper and the most neatly printed. 
A wooden hay-rake is an odd thing to use in 
the garden, but it is a very efficient tool. "When 
the land has been plowed and harrowed as care- 
fully as may be, there will be ridges and uneven 
portions to level, and a wooden rake does it 
better than a steel one. It is lighter to use, and 
being so broad, it gets over the surface rapidly. 
In England the winter decoration of gardens 
is an important part of the gardener's duties, and 
last winter, which was so unusually favorable for 
such things, set me to considering if a set of 
plants could not be selected which Mould allow 
us to do something pretty and effective in our less 
favorable climate. Almost every year the ground 
is bare of snow for weeks at a time, when it would 
be cheering to look out upon a well arranged 
bed, in which the yarioua shades of green were 
