34 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[January, 
At the Beginning of tlie Year. —We would 
say a word to the many new subscribers. In overhauling 
accumulated letters at the end of the year just closed, 
with the view of the disposing of the correspondence 
so far as practicable, we were surprised at the number of 
utterly useless letters. These, while they cost the writ¬ 
ers from but one cent (Postal Cards) to three cents, in 
the aggregate count up a nice little sum. They are of 
no use to us, as we de not know who wrote them. The 
letters are often very full in those matters of interest to 
the writer, but omit the signature. Three-fourths or 
more of these letters and cards are upon matters of no 
interest to any other person in the world save the writ¬ 
ers ; and such letters, whether signed or not, we do not 
answer in the paper. It is a fixed rule to answer no 
merely personal inquiry in “ The Basket.” We give here 
no replies unless they are likely to be of use to a num¬ 
ber of readers. These nameless letters, for the reason 
that we can not reach the writers, go to the waste-paper 
basket, and have to be sold by the pound. We ask our 
new-comers to recollect that it is only in very rare cases 
that any notice is taken of an unsigned letter. We do 
not publish the name if the writer desires to remain un¬ 
known. In such case he may use any name he chooses, 
but the real name must always be given. In the coming 
year we trust that our friends will remember this request, 
which is made as much for their benefit as for our own. 
The Echo Farm. — This noted dairy farm, of 
which we gave a description a few years ago, has, 
as we are informed by its former proprietor, Mr. F. 
Ratchford Starr, passed into the hands of a joint stock 
company, with abundant capital. The future address 
will be “The Echo Farm Company.” 
Crops in Washington Territory. — From 
its far northwest situation we are accustomed to look 
upon Washington Territory as a cold and bleak country. 
On the contrary, its winters, especially on the coast, are 
remarkably mild. A correspondent, “R. S. II.,” writing 
from Lopez Island, a part of San Juan Co., says that the 
deepest snow he has known was iu 1879, when 27 inches 
fell, but it remained only three days. The land upon the 
Island is peaty, Oats, Barley, and Potatoes being the 
main crops. Oats yield from 40 to 100 bushels to the 
acre, and weigh from 2G to 42 lbs. to the bushel. Barley 
runs from 50 to 100 bush, to the acre. Potatoes vary all 
the way from 70 to 400 bush, to the acre, 100 being the 
average crop the present year. Wheat, which is not ex¬ 
tensively raised, gives from 25 to 00 bush, to the acre. 
During the winter it rains three to six days in the week. 
In mid-summer there are often drouths of six week's 
duration, but during this time there are heavy dews 
every night, and vegetation does not suffer. This letter 
confirms the testimony of other correspondents as to the 
agricultural capabilities and prosperity of this Territory. 
Nice Cooked Celery.— Thanks to the efforts of 
this and other journals, celery is now far more generally 
raised for home use as well as for the market. But the 
past dry autumn greatly stunted the growth, often en¬ 
tirely ruining the crop. It is scarce and high in the 
market, and short-stemmed, the stalks being greener 
and tougher than usual. On this account alone cooking 
it may well be resorted to, though it is always preferred 
cooked by a good many people, and if properly done is 
better thus, especially for all not possessed of effective 
mastication. The following method, new to us, we like 
very much, and more of the uublanclied portion can be 
used, the extreme upper part being necessarily rejected, 
because always stringy and bitter. Chop it very fine, as 
fine as small peas. Put it into a sauce-pan, adding just 
enough water to cover it. and put on a tight lid. Boil 
J- hour, or until perfectly soft. Leave the water with it, 
and add an equal bulk of milk, raising it to boiling. For 
each pint of the minced celery, take a large tablespoon¬ 
ful of butter, more if desired, and thoroughly mix it 
dry with two tablespoonfuls of flour. Add this to the 
celery until thoroughly incorporated with it, and cook 
a trifle. Salt to taste, and pepper if desired. 
Squash Bugs.- “ W. N. A.,” Starkville, Mass., 
sends a hint which our readers may do well to remem¬ 
ber until next spring. He advises to place boards on 
edge to make a circular or ether inclosure around the 
hill. Within this is to be placed a toad, provided with a 
shingle so placed as to afford it shelter from the sun dur¬ 
ing the day. As the bugs and toads both feed at night, 
he says that there is a lively time between them after 
nightfall. He states that the gardeners near Paris pay 
15 cents (probably centimes ) for toads to use as bug traps. 
Spanish Chestnuts.— “ C. W. CL,” Bergen Co., 
N. J. What are sold in New York and other cities as 
Spanish or Italian Chestnuts, are the fruit of the Euro¬ 
pean Chestnut, I'astanea vesca , of which our native Chest¬ 
nut is now regarded as a variety. The European tree 
has much larger fruit, but it is not so sweet as ours. The 
tree is a little less hardy than ours, but succeeds in the 
climate of New York and southward. It is kept in ull 
the principal nurseries. In Europe there are several 
varieties, differing in the size of the nuts, their abun¬ 
dance, etc. Our own Chestnut varies greatly; we know 
of one tree that has nuts nearly as large as those from 
Europe, with the superior quality of our own. If you 
could get the nuts before they get dry or mouldy, and 
preserve them in sand, they would probably grow. 
“lily First Peaoli Orchard .”— 1 The author of 
an article with this title, given on page 22, writes that 
he omitted to give the date at which the pruning or cut¬ 
ting back should be done. While the superfluous shoots 
are to be removed as they appear, any time during the 
summer, he prefers the last of Angustor the first of Sep¬ 
tember for the general shortening of the season's 
growth. This is an important item in peach culture, es¬ 
pecially in forming the heads of young trees. It pre¬ 
vents the growth of long, weak branches, and also di¬ 
minishes the weight of fruit. 
Bee-keei>ers’ and Otlier Conventions.— 
As autumn is the season of fairs in which cultivators of 
all kinds show what they have done, so winter is the 
time for conventions, in which special cultivators get to¬ 
gether, tell what they have done, and how they did it, 
and what they intend to do, and how they propose 
to do it. These winter conventions are often of 
much interest and importance; it is a time of com¬ 
parative leisure, when the members are not in a hur¬ 
ry to get home, and we get the results of the year's 
work of the various specialists. We are always glad 
to give notice of these conventions when permitted to 
do so, but w r hen, as in case of the Michigan Bee-keep¬ 
ers, the notice of their convention, to be held early in 
December, reaches us only in time forour January issue, 
what can we do? We cau only make use of this case to 
show to the Secretaries of all other such associations the 
necessity of sending the notices early— as soon as the 
time of meeting is decided upon. We do not like to be 
placed in the position of appearing indifferent to these 
meetings, as we are, when the notices come but a few 
weeks before the time. The announcement for a meet¬ 
ing in February should reach us the first week in Janu¬ 
ary, and so on. Will the Secretaries please take notice ? 
Birds and Grapes.—C. Lauppc, Champaign Co., 
Ohio, has much trouble with the birds, which destroy 
his grapes. The Robin, the Cat-bird, and the Jay do 
much mischief, but the Oriole is the worst enemy, as it 
cuts a hole in the berry to get at the juice, and one will 
soon injure all the fruit on the vine, while the others 
take the whole berry and soon get their fill. Mr. L. has 
had the best success in the use of small steel traps, 
which he baits with some blue variety, such as the Ives, 
lie does not care to catch the birds, as the snapping of 
the trap scares them away. Though Mr. L. has upwards 
of 70 varieties, he says, if confined to a single variety, 
it would be the Concord. He lays down his more tender 
varieties, and finds it pays to do so. The vines are laid 
upon the ground between two pieces of scantling, and 
covered by a board, or by laying corn-stalks over them. 
Vines need protection not so much from the cold as from 
the long continued influence of drying winds, and Mr. 
L.’s manner of covering accomplishes this. 
Prof. Asa Gray. —A wide circle of friends will 
be glad to know, that America’s great botanist has re¬ 
turned after more than a year in Europe. The visit 
abroad was not merely for recreation, but to make such 
studies and comparisons in European herbaria as will 
aid in the. completion of the “ Synoptical Flora of North 
America,” so happily begun. 
Old Postage Stamps.— Nonsense is long lived. 
There was some years ago an item in the papers to the 
effect that if old postage stamps were accumulated in 
large quantities, millions we think, they could be sold 
for a large price. Residence of buyer not stated. This 
absurdity every now and then crops out, and we have 
inquiries concerning it. Old postage stamps may be 
worth all the way from one to three cents a pound. That 
is they will bring the price of the poorest kind of waste 
paper—the only use to which they can honestly be put. 
The Mammoth Tree in England.— The 
evergreens of our Pacific Coast are quite at home 
in England, and are a wonder to any tree-lover who 
visits that country. The Big Tree ” of California, Se- 
quoia gigantea , barely exists in the Atlantic States, 
while in England it is one of their most rapid growers. 
A recent “Gardener’s Chronicle ” reports one, planted 
in 1857. when it was but two feet high, which is now 
fifty-six feet in hight; the trunk at two feet from the 
ground is eight feet and seven inches in girth. It is al¬ 
most worth the ocean voyage to see the vigor and beauty 
of the “ Big Tree ” in a congenial climate. 
Hops and Manures in England. — The 
“ Gardener’s Chronicle ” gives several items from the 
“Agricultural Returns,” for 1880, but does not state 
whether there has been a general census, or one relating 
to agricultural products only. We learn that the land 
devoted to Hop culture is 64,943 acres, of, which 41,476 
are in Kent. Manures of all kinds, including guano, 
bone, etc., were imported to the value of over eight mil¬ 
lions of dollars. England does not raise enough of the 
“ tearful onion” to supply the wants of the people, but 
pays two and a half millions of dollars to make up 
the deficiency. Besides she pays over half a million of 
dollars for imported pickles, in salt and otherwise. 
Cabkage Worms Once More.— “ J. R. S.,” 
Rowayton, Conn., says: “Pour boiling water upon 
Tansy, making the infusion very strong. When cool, 
sprinkle the infested plants with it, giving the worms 
enough of it. I have tried it and found it effective.” 
—We add this to the other remedies already published, 
and have no doubt that it will be useful if applied in 
time. The great difficulty is, that the applications are 
not made soon enough. When the cabbages begin to 
head, the worms can hide, when nothing will be of use. 
American Apples in England. — Messrs. 
Materne & Mayer inform us that their latest advices 
show a great decline in prices. Boston Baldwins sold in 
Liverpool on the last days of November at 9s to 14s, the 
demand being light and the fruit arriving in poor condi¬ 
tion. At these prices there can be little profit to any one. 
Wild Cherry for Stocks.— “ Inquirer,” Dut¬ 
chess Co., N. Y. The wild Black Cherries, of which 
there are two, with small fruit in long clusters, like 
those of currants, is too unlike the cultivated cherry to 
answer as stocks, and all attempts in this direction have 
failed. There is a wild red cherry (Prunus Pennsylva¬ 
nia ), with its fruit in umbel-like clusters, like those of 
the cultivated, that has been used as stocks ; and the 
littlo Dwarf or Sand Cherry (P. pumila), but a foot or 
two high, has been used for stocks to form dwarf trees. 
“Are Artichokes Good for Swine?” 
writes one of our friends. He certainly can never have 
seen the catalogue of Mr. E. F. Brockway, Ainsworth, 
Iowa, who gives a very full account of the feeding value 
of the tubers, and gives abundant directions for their 
cultivation. He does not describe the method of har¬ 
vesting, as the animals who do that need no instruction. 
It may be added that Artichokes are not commended for 
fattening, but for growing swine. Experience abun¬ 
dantly shows that while corn is the fattening food, the 
Artichoke is of great value in building up a frame on 
which to place the fat. 
Gypsum — Plaster of Paris. — “ Amateur.” 
When Gypsum, or crude Plaster, is heated to 272°, it 
loses the water it naturally contains, and becomes Plas¬ 
ter of Paris. Though the operation is often called 
“burning,” it takes place at a comparatively low tem¬ 
perature. When mixed with water, it re-unites with 
that, and becomes chemically the same as it was before, 
and when re-ground, is probably as valuable as a fertil¬ 
izer as the “raw stone.” We say “probably,” as we are 
not sure that it is quite so soluble as at first, though it is 
not likely that there is any perceptible difference in this 
respect. The usual time for applying Gypsum on clover, 
is in spring, when vegetation is just starting. 
Kerosene and. Canada Thistles.—“F. L. 
C.,” Bloomington HI., asks if Canada Thistles can not 
be killed by the use of kerosene ? He states that he has 
killed both Horseradish and Burdock by cutting off the 
top and applying kerosene, and while he has no Thistles 
upon which to try it, is sure that this will prove “ a sure 
cure.” Where there are but few plants of Canada This¬ 
tle, or other persistent weed, there is but little difficulty 
in exterminating them. We have known a few plants 
of Canada Thistle to be killed by cutting them off, and 
placing a small handful of salt upon the cut surface. But 
when the plants have obtained the mastery, and are in 
large numbers, then the methods that serve for a few 
are impracticable. If the evil of weeds, like many other 
evils, could be taken in time—nipped in the bud, so to 
speak, farmers would have but little trouble. One great 
difficulty is, the majority of people are not close observ¬ 
ers ; they do not notice the first approach of the enemy. 
It is only when troublesome weeds, small enough and 
easily managed in the beginning, get fully established, 
and make their presence known by the falling off of the 
proper crop, that the alarm is given. The first Canada 
Thistle, if it be taken at the right time, will yield to 
the thumb and finger; a few years later, the whole force 
of the farm may be unable to eradicate the increase. 
