fer to h*ve the prices larger than single eye 
cuttings, so that there will be more substance to 
shoot the young piants forward more rapidly 
and make a large growth of vine as soon as 
poss’ble. For this and other reasons we are be¬ 
coming more favorably impressed with the meth¬ 
od of cutting to about two eyes, and putting the 
pieces about six inches apart in hills which can 
be cultivated both ways. We do not expect to 
see any potato bugs next spring, however as 
there was no second crop last summer or fall 
in this vicinity. No strong fertilizer should 
ever be used in the hill without thoroughly 
mixing it with the soil, or placing soil between 
it and the seed.— Ed. 
New London, Conn., Dec. 10, 1882. 
Pub®. Seed-Time and Harvest: 
How long 
before spring sitting should fowls be separated 
to avoid the risk of mixing different breeds? 
T. Y. H. 
Mr. C- S. Cooper, an excellent authority, in 
answer to this question gives the following re¬ 
ply in the Rural New Yorker: My practice is 
to separate the males from the female birds 
about the first of July of each year, for two 
reasons. First from that time scarcely any 
chicks are raised. Second, as the eggs are main¬ 
ly u*ed for culinary purposes they do not re¬ 
quire to be fertilized. The males and females 
have rest until about the first of February when 
I mate them for the breeding season. I find the 
eggs are more fertile and in cave persons desire 
to procure good stock at a small cost aferthe 
breeding season is over they will be disappointed 
in raising chicks from them. Breeders differ in 
opinion in regard to distinct varieties roaming 
together. I am of the opinion that they should 
be mated and separated at least one month before 
the eggs for hatching are laid, if pure stock is re¬ 
quired. 
Tunkhannock,!Pa., Oct. 24, 1882. 
“I. F. Tillingha&t; 
Dear'Sir, l/rhejseeds I pur¬ 
chased from you the^past spring were satisfactory 
with one exception. The Pansies were superb. 
I never had better. The Verbenas gave' twice as 
many plants for the money than], Peter Hender¬ 
son’s and every thing else as good as possible, ex¬ 
cept Flat Dutch Cabbage from one oz. of seed had 
only thirty-five plants. Don’t say they were 
good, for I sowed them by the side of your Fot- 
tler’s and Winningstadt, and they were good. 
Did you find any trouble from your own sowing? 
I fortunately had no serious loss from the mat¬ 
ter for most of my neighbors raise their own 
plants in a favorable spring, but I was surprised 
at the seed not growing. I shall test my seed 
another spring and know before the sowing sea- 
sou if they are’all right. Yours Truly, 
F. P. Avery. 
We are sorry indeed, friend A., that you have, 
to mar your report with an exception, but such a 
one occasionally, though rarely, comes in. We 
plead guilty on the Flat Dutch Cabbage. Our 
own seeds were sold all out and we purchased a 
supply from a grower who had always sold us 
first class stock. A number of orders accumu¬ 
lated before the new supply was received, so we 
could not well wait to test its vitality before send¬ 
ing some of it out. We soon found however just 
as you state that but a small portion of it would 
grow, so we sent it back from whence it came 
and procured Ihe best we could find elsewhere. 
It is to cover just such cases as this, which may 
happen, (though we use every possible precau¬ 
tion to prevent them) that we warrant all our 
seeds to amount paid for them, and we shall be 
happy to refill any such orders w ithout charge. 
We have frequently noticed that the Flat Dutch 
loses its vitality by age several years sooner than 
other varieties. Some kinds will grow readily 
if six years old, while we have known that to 
spoil in three. Our Cabbage seeds this season are 
all the growth of 1882. 
The Belle Potatoes, the seel of which I re¬ 
ceived from you, was awarded first premium at 
each ;Fair. I had twenty six varieties of pota¬ 
toes to compete with, but the Belle was the fa¬ 
vorite. I bad 87 lbs. from 1 lb. of seed. There 
could be no better choice than the Beauty of He¬ 
bron for early and the Belle for main crop. The 
seeds I bought of you gave good satisfaction and 
proved to be good and true seeds. I received the 
first premium on the following vegetable®, seed 
bought of you; Bel ! e Potatoes, Marblehead 
Pquash, Henderson’s Ear’v Summer Cabbage, 
Early Jersey Wakefield Cabbage, Parsnips, Yel¬ 
low Danvers Onions, New Egyptian, Crosby’s 
Sweet, and Wausbakum Field Corn, Early Bas- 
sano Beets and Canada Victor Tomato. I re¬ 
ceived cash on premiums enough to purchase my 
coming years supply of seeds. These«ds other 
parties re-eived through me from your bouse 
gave entire satisfaction. Respectfully Your*, 
II. D. Lovelace. 
[A very good showing, indeed friend L. We 
study to please, and earnestly hope never to dis¬ 
appoint you.—E d.] 
Latest from Lily and Sunflower Circles. 
Embroidered mustard plasters are now rec¬ 
ognized as a necessary feature of aesthetic 
medication. 
