84r 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[Mabch, 
Fruit harden. 
Whatever preliminary work remains should be 
disposed of, such as delayed pruning of grapes, 
currants, etc. ; the making and repair of trellises 
and supports for grapes, raspberries, etc., and 
other matters hinted at last month. 
Planting should be done as early as the eoil is in 
good working order, that the plants may get well 
established before hot weather. Manure is to be 
given liberally, and nothing is better than well de¬ 
composed stable manure. The whole soil of the 
garden should be well enriched, if fine fruit is ex¬ 
pected. Ashes are useful here, and a dressing of 
lime once in 4 or 5 years will often be of great help. 
In mentioning varieties, we name a few of the most 
reliable, referring to the catalogues for the others. 
Dwarf Trees. —See remarks on these last month. 
Set from 6 to 10 feet apart, according to the shape 
in which they are to be trained. The union of the 
stock and tree should be just below the surface. 
Blackberries and Raspberries start early, and need 
early planting. Nurserymen furnish a cane with 
them, but this is of no use save as a handle. No 
fruit is to be expected the first year. The canes 
that grow this year will bear fruit the next. The 
“ Kittatinny ” is the best general blackberry. The 
■“Brandywine ” and “ Highland Hardy ” are among 
the leading hardy raspberries, and Miami or Mam¬ 
moth Cluster, the best Black-cap. 
Gooseberries. —The Downing is the best native. 
Currants. —Versailles and White Crape are the 
best red and white. Black Naples for black. Both 
gooseberries and currants may be trained to a sin¬ 
gle stem like a small tree, but the prevalence of 
the borers make it risky. The better form is an 
open bush with 4 or 5 stems. Both are sensitive to 
hot weather, and the ground should be mulched. 
Strawberries.— When cold weather is over, part 
the straw or hay covering over the plants to expos: 
them freely. For varieties and new beds, see p. 102. 
Grapes. —Every one who cultivate grapes largely, 
will have “ Fuller’s Grape Culturist,” or other work, 
as a guide. The neglect of farmers to grow grapes 
would be astonishing, did we not consider the great 
amount of mystery that has been thrown around 
the training, pruning, and culture generally by some 
writers. There is no reason why every farmer’s 
family should not have all the grapes they can eat; 
and there is scarcely a town or village lot 60 small 
but at least one vine may be grown. 
A Vine can be carried anywhere , almost, so tract¬ 
able is it. If one has a vineyard, he will follow 
some regular method. But grapes can be had if 
there is a fence, a shed, the side of a barn, or that 
of a house, to train them upon. Fruit may be had 
within a foot of the ground, or 15 or 20 feet from 
it. We will talk about training another month. 
Plant a Vine or Vines. —Small vines, which will 
soon become large, may be had by mail. A vine 
one, or at most two, years old is better than older. 
You do not want several feet of old cane or vine. 
You want a good root, with a piece of vine long 
enough to have about three buds. All the rest is 
useless. Having a rooted plant like this, consider 
where you are to run your vine ; give it a good, 
large hole, and if the soil is bad, put in some good, 
fresh earth. Do not put the roots in a deep hole, 
but spread evenly, and cover with 6 or 8 inches of 
earth. If but one can be set, be sure and plant 
that one. If room for more, and they may be put 
every 8 or 10 feet, set more. Before planting the 
vines, put a stake—a pole—6 or 8 ft. or more high, in 
the place, to avoid injuring the roots by driving it. 
When the buds start, there will be 3 or more; rub 
off all but 2 of the strongest, and when the shoot 
from either of these is long enough to tie to the 
stake, tie up the strongest of the two with a soft 
string, and break away the other. To start right, 
you must grow but one shoot the first year, and 
keep that tied up as it grows. 
What Varieties to Plant.— It is probably safe to 
say that the “ Concord ” will suit the greatest num¬ 
ber of localities. “Brighton” and “Creveling” 
are among the earliest. “ Delaware ” is a favorite 
for rich soils. “ Barry ” and “ Wilder ” are, with 
us, excellent. So much depends upon locality. 
Have a plenty of the Concord, and find out what 
other varieties have done well in the vicinity. 
Kitchen and Market Garden, 
Forwarding plants in hot-beds and cold frames 
will be the main work this month, except in south¬ 
ern localities, where the planting out aud seed¬ 
sowing will be going on in some States, while still 
further south, marketing will have begun. 
Hot-Beds arid Cold Frames were treated last month 
as fully as is practicable in a journal. A week’s 
experience with either will teach an intelligent per¬ 
son more than can a volume. In most northern 
localities, this month will be soon enough to start 
a hot-bed (see last month for details), or to sow 
seeds in a cold frame. In an article on page 102, 
on “ Protecting Plants in Spring,” we have endeav¬ 
ored to explain the principle of the cold frame. It 
consists in catching the sun’s heat during the day, 
and before cooling sets in, covering the bed to re¬ 
tain the heat. Judiciously managed, a cold frame 
will be found of great use, but all 
Plants Under Glass need care. The right thing 
must be done at the right time, or all the labor of 
weeks may be lost in au hour. Both hot-beds and 
cold frames must be ventilated, daily, at this sea¬ 
son, or, as gardeners say, they must “have air.” 
This is done by lifting the upper end of the sash, 
and holding it up by a long wedge-shaped block, 
which will allow the hight to be varied, or by slid¬ 
ing down the sash, or even removing it altogether. 
The sun’s heat in a closed bed will soon kill tender 
plants, and neglecting to close up on a raw and cold 
afternoon may check and injure the plants beyond 
all recovery. The care is not much, and may soon 
become a habit—but it must be given without fail. 
Watering must be attended to, and when the 6oil 
gets packed and crusted between the rows, break 
it up or mellow it with the finger, or a pointed stick. 
Seedlings, when large enough, transplant to other 
frames, giving, at least, an inch each way. 
Window Boxes, as mentioned last month, will al¬ 
low the few plants needed for the family garden to 
be forwarded nearly as well as in a hot-bed. Ob¬ 
serve the transplanting. Expose to air whenever the 
weather is mild, to get strong and stocky plants. 
Transplanting to the Open Ground will vary with 
the locality. Cabbages do not mind cool nights, if 
well hardened off, while tomatoes are readily in¬ 
jured. See p. 102, on the use of hand-lights. 
Plants Wintered in Cold P)-ames. —The gardeners 
near New York remove the sashes altogether from 
their cabbage, lettuce, and other cold-frame plants, 
early in March, and transplant to the open ground 
as soon as that can be made ready. They do this 
both to harden oil the plants and to use the glass for 
Forwarding Lettuce. — Other frames are made 
ready, with rich soil, the fall before, and filled with 
leaves. This month, the leaves are removed, the 
sashes from the cabbage frames placed on these, 
until the soil is well warmed, and lettuce plants 
which were wintered in the other frames are 
planted in these. For details of this and forward¬ 
ing cauliflower in the same manner, see Peter Hen¬ 
derson’s article “A Double Crop,” p. 63, last month. 
Prepanng the Soil. —Those who failed to take ad¬ 
vantage of the favorable weather last autumn to 
manure and plow, or spade, all vacant ground, made 
a mistake, and must now wait for suitable 
weather. Plowing, or otherwise working the eoil, 
is one thing that cannot be hurried without injury. 
If the soil will not crumble, we must wait. 
Sowing Seeds in Open Ground. —Novices often err 
in sowing many things too early. The old way was 
to have a time of “making garden,” sow pretty 
much everything at once, and be done with it. 
The consequence was, a glut of vegetables at mid¬ 
summer, with a corresponding scarcity early and 
late. It is of no use to sow seeds of sub-tropical 
plants in the open ground until the soil gets well 
warmed, and chilly nights are over; while those 
natives of temperate regions flourish all the bet¬ 
ter before the summer’s heats come on. 
Early Sowings may be made of the following, as 
soon as the beds can be got ready; the following 
to grow where sown: Beet, Carrot, Cress (Pepper- 
grass), Leek, Onion, Parsley, Parsnip, Peas, Rad¬ 
ish, Spinach, and Turnip. Among those to be 
sown in a seed-bed for transplanting are : Celery, 
Cabbage, Cauliflower, Kale, and Lettuce. Parsley 
is often transplanted, and may be included in these. 
All of the gourd or squash family, all of our gar¬ 
den Beans, Corn, Tomatoes, and others, must be left 
until warm weather, or else be sown under glass. 
A Seed Drill is a time—and back—saving con¬ 
trivance, aud will pay even in a moderate-sized gar¬ 
den. They generally are convertible into useful 
hand cultivators. We have tried only Allen’s 
Planet, Jr., and Comstock’s, and would not part 
with either for many times its cost. These, and no 
doubt others,are offered in our advertising columns. 
Peas should go in early. “ Alpha ” is a little 
later than the “ Danl. O’Rourke,” under its many 
names, and is the earliest wrinkled pea. 
Early Potatoes must be planted early. Where it 
is not time to plant, bring the seed potatoes to a 
warm room to start the eyes. We put in the 
earliest planting as 600 n as the soil will allow, and 
keep some litter at hand to pull over the rows, 
should a, fro sty night occur after they are up. 
Sweet Potatoes are “bedded” in the Southern 
States early this month, either in a gentle hot-bed, 
or more frequently on a piece of rich soil, sheltered 
by a fence, where the sun will lay during the day, , 
and the bed can be covered at night with litter or 
boards, to retain the heat. In either case, the 
tubers are laid lengthwise, and covered with rich, 
light soil. Cotton-seed and castor-pomace have 
been suggested as heating material for this use. | 
Asparagus Beds. —Wherever winter is over, rake 
off the coarse litter, and fork in the fine manure. 
Odds and Ends. —Secure pea-brush and bean 
poles, if not done, before the leaves start.... Order 
seeds, if not already done_Have extra hoes, , 
rakes, etc., and extra parts to any machine likely to 
be broken_Manure should decompose rapidly 
now; turn over the heaps, and add water, if at all 
dry... .Be prepared to meet the “ potato bug ” on 
its first appearance. If help is at command, it 
pays to hand-pick the first comers. 
Flower Garden and Lawn. 
Tree-planting, so far as deciduous trees go, 
should be done with the same care as directed for 
fruit trees. Evergreens may be left until later, and 
they require even more care, for if the roots once 
become dry, they cannot be resuscitated. 
The Lawn must be a remarkable one if a dressing 
of some kind will not help it. Manure should not 
be used, unless so thoroughly decomposed that no 
seeds remain alive. Ashes, guano, or other fertil¬ 
izers applied to meadow lands may be used here. 
Neio Lawns should have the soil thoroughly pre¬ 
pared and well enriched. Our experience in sowing 
mixed seeds has not been satisfactory. For a rich, ' : 
and especially a lime-stone soil, we should sow Ken¬ 
tucky Blue Grass, aud for light sandy soils, Red- 
top, or that variety of it known as “ Rhode Island 
Bent,” with, perhaps, a quart of White Clover 
Seed to each bushel of grass-seed. 
Small Plots and Margins of Lawns are best laid | : 
with sod. In sodding a plot, make the soil thor¬ 
oughly fertile, and take care that there are no loose 
places that will settle. 
Wallis and Drives can not be permanent and satis- 1 
factory without a good foundation of stones at bot¬ 
tom, gradually decreasing in size to the surface. 
Clumps of Perennial plants that have been in 
place for several years may be taken up, divided, 
and reset in fresh soil. Pseonies and a few others 
should only be disturbed in autumn. 
Beds oj Bulbs may be uncovered, and where the : 
weather is not settled, it is well to be prepared to 
cover the bed if a severe night occurs. 
Bedding Designs. —If any are to be planted, they 
should be well considered beforehand, and have 
the plants, whether from cuttings or seeds, in course 
of propagation, and look out for the 
Pr-opagation of Geraniums, Verbenas, Chrysanthe¬ 
mums, and other plants for decorating the grounds. ' 
