386 
AMERIGAN AGRfCUL' VU RIST. 
[OCTOBEK, 
IMPROVED FLOWER POT. 
£75 per acre, and four acres arc needed to support 
a cow that gives no more than two thousand quarts 
in the year, it is clear that milk cannot be produced 
for two cents a quart. Unless the yield of the 
cows is increased by better feeding, or by better 
breeding, or less land is made to support the cow 
by the use of fodder crops, it is clear that the dairy 
business must go west where land is cheaper. 
An Improved Flower Pot. 
BY PETER HENDERSON, JERSEY CITY HIGHTS, N. J. 
The accompanying engraving shows a flower pot, 
She idea of which is not exactly original, though I 
liave never before seen it applied to pots in general 
ase. “Propagating Pans” and “Orchid Pans,” as 
they are call¬ 
ed, are often 
tnade on the 
same prin¬ 
ciple, but with 
a series of holes 
around the 
bottom. The 
making of 
these holes of 
course entail¬ 
ed an expense 
that could only 
be afforded 
when they 
were used for the special purposes of propagating 
or growing Orchids or other rare plants. When 
made in the same manner as the ordinary flower 
pot, but with only two holes in each, our manu¬ 
facturers 6ay they can supply them nearly as cheap 
as the ordinary flower pot. We have during the 
past six months tried about a thousand, of sizes 
ranging from 3 to (3 inches in diameter, and find 
they are all we expected of them. Ail cultivators 
know the difficulty experienced when the ordinary 
flower pot is placed on a bench covered with sand 
or soil—the outlet often becomes completely closed 
by the washing of the soil through the outlet, and, 
being closed by the sand, the drainage becomes 
stopped as completely as if there was no orifice at 
all in the bottom of the pot. Again, the angle- 
worms breed quickly iu the sand or soil, and seem 
to take a special pleasure in crawling under and 
through the holes in the bottom of the pots, to get 
at the rich soil they contain. This improved pot 
is safe from the first difficulty, as the holes, being 
on the sides of the pot, can not be clogged by the 
sand ; while it is far less tempting to the angle- 
worm, as a special effort must be made before the 
hole can be reached. Still another advantage, and 
we think a very important one, is that as these ori¬ 
fices are placed above the bottom, air is admit¬ 
ted more freely to the roots, a matter which is 
very essential to the we’l-being of plants. I have 
but little doubt that if this style of flower pot 
can be as cheaply made, that it will quite throw the 
old style out of use. As this pot is not patented, 
and probably is not patentable, any worker iu pot¬ 
tery can make it, should there be a demand for it. 
Paper Covers for Hot-Beds. 
Mr. It. N. Waring, Tyrone, Pa., sends us drawings 
showing the method of making covers for hotbeds, 
from which the engravings are made, and writes: 
“ It is a common practice among gardeners, to 
place over their cold frame and hot-bed sashes as 
an additional protection during stormy or exces¬ 
sively cold weather, covers made of wood, straw, 
Tig. 1.—METHOD OF JOINING TDE STRIPS. 
or other material; but by far the best are made of 
felt paper. A gardener near Tyrone has been using 
covers made of the paper manufactured by C. J. 
Pay. [See his advertisement in our columns for the 
last 25 years.— Eds.] Many of the covers which 
were made six or eight years ago, and which have 
Taecn subjected to rough usage, are still serviceable. 
His manner of constructing them is as follows: 
Three strips of paper, equal in length to the hot¬ 
bed for which the cover is intended, are joined 
at their edges by means of hempen twine, as in 
figure 1. The ends of the covers are inserted be¬ 
tween one by one 
and a half - inch 
pine strips, which 
are then tacked to¬ 
gether, figure 2. 
In windy weather Eig. 2.— showing end-pieces. 
a couple of rails, when placed upon them, will pre¬ 
vent the covers from blowing away. Paper covers 
are cheap, light, can be rolled up and packed in n 
small space; are quite impervious to water, and 
prevent, in a great degree, the escape of the heat.” 
Currant Culture—Tlie Victoria. 
We have often wondered why the Currant was 
not more cultivated. It is easily propagated, and 
cultivated, the fruit is always in demand, it does 
not rapidly become useless ; the crop comes in just 
after - the raspberry ; its few enemies arc easily con¬ 
trolled, while the profit per acre is at least equal to 
that of any other small fruit. Probably tlie largest 
currant growers, are T. B. Wakeman & Bro., West- 
port, Conn. They are reported as saying, that 
their ten acres a verage over $SOO per acre. Growers 
THE VICTORIA CURRANT. 
have settled down upon the Versailles, and White 
Grape, as the most desirable varieties. Some re¬ 
gard the Versailles and the Cherry Currant as iden¬ 
tical, but as we know them, they seem quite dif¬ 
ferent, the Cherry has short bunches of a few very 
large berries, which are much more intensely acid 
than the Versailles. It appears to us that growers 
make a mistake in contenting themselves with 
these two varieties, as they may easily prolong the 
currant season by two weeks or more, by growing 
the Victoria, or as called by some, Queen Victoria. 
This variety is largely cultivated by J. O. Clarke, 
Milton, N. Y., who sent us, July ‘24th, specimens as a 
sample of his crop, the long stems loaded with large 
and excellent fruit. Mr. Clarke says that with 
him they are not ripe uutil the Cherry Currants are 
all gone. To show the size of bush and berry, we 
give an engraving of clusters, taken at random 
from those sent by Mr. Clarke. The fruit is of a 
bright, red color, and the quality excellent. Ac¬ 
cording to Downing, May’s Victoria is not distinct 
from this, while Mr. Clarke finds the variety he has 
uuder that name, quite different, and much inferior. 
But there is a very great confusion among currants, 
and it may easily happen, that the plants cultivated 
by both these gentlemeu as May’s Victoria, may 
not be the same. We notice that Downing gives the 
French name La Vcrsaillaise, the adjective form to 
the popular variety, which is more generally called 
Versailles, the substantive, and name of the city. 
There is the same difference between the two, as 
between New Yorker and New York, and it will be 
difficult to make Americans, who always take a 
“short cut” when possible, to substitute the- 
longer name, far the more easily written Versailles, 
The old Red Dutch should not be overlooked for 
family use, as it is the finest flavored of all, and 
when the bushes are well manured and properly 
pruned, the fruit is quite large enough for the table. 
Summer Pears. 
The Bartlett is the earliest pear that appears in 
our market in any considerable quantity. While 
this is ranked by fruit judges as only second or 
third rate, it is easily tliefirstin popular estimation. 
A nurseryman of large experience once said to us,, 
that of every one hundred pear trees planted iti this- 
country, ninety were Bartletts. It has many ele¬ 
ments of popularity. One of these Is, that if pick¬ 
ed when scarcely more than half grown, it will 
ripen up and become eatable. This quality allows 
tlie Bartlett from southern orchards to be placed iu 
northern markets as the earliest pear, and its ex¬ 
cellent keeping qualities are greatly in its favor. 
But those who raise fruit for their own use can 
liave pears and much better ones than the Bartlett, 
long before that is ripe iu northern localities. The 
earliest pear ol’ which we have any knowledge is the 
Summer Doyenne —the Doyenne d’ Etc. It it 
a small fruit, an abundant bearer, and ripens in 
July. It is the best early pear, and if gathered 
early enough and house-ripened, is acceptable, 
and vastly better than when ripened on the tree. 
manning's Elizabeth— The late Horace Greeley, 
some years ago, offered a premium of §100.00 
each for the best variety of each kind of fruit. A 
prize was offered for both early and late pears, and 
when the Committee awarded the prize to Man¬ 
ning’s Elizabeth as the best early pear, great was 
the astonishment. “ What is Manning’s Eliza¬ 
beth?”—“Who knows the pear?” were among" 
tlie questions freely asked. If these prizes had no- 
other result than to bring this pear, heretofore 
known only to amateurs, into general notice, the 
money was well expended. The tree itself lias 
every quality to adapt it to general cultivation ; the 
fruit is below medium size, of the greatest beauty, 
while the fruit is really excellent, and does not rot 
at the core. With us it is ripe early in August, and 
it lasts better than any other kind. If we could 
have but one early pear it would be this. It is the 
fault of some of the best early pears that they be¬ 
gin to decay at the core, and however fine an ex¬ 
terior they may present, they are soft and worthless 
within. This may be overcome in paid by gather¬ 
ing early and ripening in the house. But when this 
is done, tlie interval between the time at wl^ch the 
fruit is fit to eat and that at which it begins to de¬ 
cay, is so brief as to unfit them for marketing. A 
facetious friend says of such fruit, that it needs to 
be eaten “ with the watch in one hand and the 
fruit in the other,” iu order to catch it in perfec¬ 
tion. The principal varieties of this class are : 
Beurre Oiffarcl .—This is ripe with us in August, 
and needs to be picked very early. The fruit has 
beauty and is of the highest excellence, and of 
good medium size, while the tree is productive. 
Clapp's Favorite .—This is said to be a cross be¬ 
tween Flemish Beauty and Bartlett, and is one of 
the most beautiful pears of any season. The tree 
is very productive, and if thinned the fruit g-rows 
to a large size and of excellent quality. It has the 
fault of decaying at the core, and of being in per¬ 
fection but a very short time, iu a more marked 
degree than even Flemish Beauty. We have year 
after year gathered it earlier and earlier, and while 
we have succeeded in avoiding the decay at the 
core, yet after it is fit to eat, it will not last a clay. 
Tyson .—When the tree comes into bearing, it be¬ 
ing very slow about it, it yields an abundance of 
fruit of medium 6ize and handsome color, and of 
first quality. If one wishes to know how sweet a 
pear can be, let him try the Tyson A It is better 
than any of (he foregoing, coming late in August. 
