1882.] 
AMERICAS’ AGRICULTURIST. 
479 
naturally throw up suckers, especially when their 
roots are wounded. The Ailanthus tree may be 
propagated by setting root-cuttings in a furrow, as 
if they were large seeds, and but few will fail to 
grow. A number of other forest trees and several 
fruit trees may be propagated in the same manner. 
This offers an interesting field for experiment. 
Half-Mardy §lii-ubs. 
A number of our shrubs are hardy in ordinary 
winters, but will not endure one of unusual se¬ 
verity, while others can not be depended upon iu 
any winter. Both kinds must be taken up and 
housed, or be protected where they stand. One of 
the simplest methods of winter protection is to 
lay the plant down and cover it with a few inches 
of soil, as practised on the large scale with the 
European Raspberry. The Fig may be protected 
in the same manner, but its roots must be so 
trained as to allow of the bending. A modifica¬ 
tion of this is to cover the plant with sods, placed 
grass-side up. This method is advised for the so- 
called Monthly Roses (the Bengal or China), which 
may thus be left in the beds with safety. On cov¬ 
ering with earth or sods, it should not be done too 
early, but delayed until there is danger that the 
ground may be frozen. 
But many plants can not be beDt down, and such 
must be protected as they stand. The old garden¬ 
ers used to take great pains to straw-up their 
shrubs, and make them into neat-looking bundles. 
Quite a6 effective a method of protecting is to use 
the boughs of some evergreen tree—spruce answers 
well. These are stuck in the soil around the shrub ; 
or, if that is too large, some may be tied in its up¬ 
per part. Some evergreen trees are tender when 
first planted, but when large and well established, 
are hardy. Such, while small, are easily protected 
by the branches of other evergreens. In the ab¬ 
sence of other means, we have used simply com¬ 
mon brush, kept from resting upon the shrub by 
using a few stakes to receive its weight. 
Parsnips and Salsify. 
The same treatment in winter will not answer for 
all root-crops alike. Beets and carrots are the 
least hardy of all, and when frozen lose their 
sweetness to a marked extent. The parsnip is not 
only not injured, but many think it is greatly im¬ 
proved by freezing. If the amount of sugar is not 
actually increased, its flesh is so modified that it 
tastes sweeter. The parsnip and salsify are our very 
hardiest roots (though we should include horse¬ 
radish,) and may be left without harm in the soil 
where they grew. But as we can not depend 
upon finding the ground open at all times, a 6hare 
should be dug to supply the table. These may be 
packed in boxes or barrels, and if they are to be 
kept in the cellar, should be covered with sand to 
prevent them from shrivelling. They can as well 
be placed in some shed, or other out-building. 
Young Fruit Trees. 
Many seem to think that when they have planted 
an orchard, they have done all that the trees re¬ 
quire. A neglected old orchard is a sorry sight, 
but a neglected young one is much worse. A stray 
animal or two, especially when snow is on the 
ground, will disfigure many trees in a short time 
by browsing their tops or gnawing the bark. 
Fences and gates need looking to. Young trees, 
especially those set last spring or this fall, should 
have a mound of earth at the base, not a mere 
heap thrown up carelessly, but made smooth and 
firm, in the form of a sharp cone, 12 or 15 inches 
high. This will not only aid in keeping the tree up¬ 
right, but will prevent the attacks of mice. Should 
snow be deep enough to cover the mound, mice 
may work under it while it is light and newly 
fallen, and it will be necessary to go through the 
orchard and press the snow around each tree with 
the foot. Rabbits will work on the snow, not only 
barking the trunks, but we have known them, 
when the snow was sufficiently deep, to cut off 
the end of every twig within their reach. These 
animals have a great aversion to blood, and will 
not touch trees that have been smeared with it. 
In large orchards, blood is procured at a slaughter¬ 
house, and applied to the trees by means of a 
swab, made by tying a few corn-husks to a stick. 
Rabbits are in good condition this month, and the 
use of traps will both prevent mischief and afford 
material for an excellent pie or fricasee. Some¬ 
times snow is very damp, and as it falls, lodges in 
the tops of the trees and accumulates there. If 
this is allowed to freeze, the branches will be badly 
injured should there come a strong wind. When 
snow thus gathers, it should by all means be 
shaken out of the tree before it has time to freeze. 
'1'lie Asparagus lied. 
The tops should remain until their turning yellow 
shows that they have finished their work of prepar¬ 
ing the roots for next season’s yield. The tops 
should be burned in order to prevent the scattering 
of the seed, as an asparagus plant is a rather obsti¬ 
nate weed. This is one of the vegetables that can 
hardly have too much manure. An abundance of 
stable manure, supplemented by a good dressing of 
nitrate of soda, and in inland localities, one of 
salt. These, the nitrate and the salt, are best ap¬ 
plied in spring, but the manure should go on be¬ 
fore winter. While it is thoroughly hardy, the 
shoots appear earlier in spring, if the bed has a 
covering of three inches or more of coarse manure. 
Wintering' the Cabbages. 
It used to be thought necessary to store cabbages 
in a cellar, or in some kind of a pit, a method of 
wintering now rarely followed. The usual way of 
keeping them is to select a dry place, if the bed 
where they grew was not so, and place the cab¬ 
bages heads downward. They are sometimes 
placed close together in a single row, running 
across the bed or field, and a furrow thrown up to 
them on either side. The more common method 
is to lay them down to form a bed S feet wide, and 
by the use of the plow and shovels, cover the heads 
and a part of the stumps. The Savoys, with their 
curled and wrinkled leaves, do not keep so well as 
the Drum-heads, when laid down in this way. For 
those a ridge may be thrown up with the plow, 
and the cabbages laid against it, heads up ; earth is 
plowed to the roots, and thrown iu to partly cover 
the stumps. When cold weather comes, the heads 
are to be covered with cornstalks, leaves, or other 
litter. Neither of these methods allows a head or 
two to be readily taken for use. It is well to have the 
family supply in some place near at hand. If there 
is an unused pit or cold-frame, the cabbages may 
be set in them upright, qnd covered with shutters, 
or with straw or leaves. A trench may be dug and 
used in the same manner. Those who like cabbage 
greens, 6hould prepare for them, by gathering up 
the stumps from which the heads have been cut, 
and covering them with earth against a ridge, or 
otherwise give them partial protection. They are 
less hardy than the heads, and will not grow well if 
exposed all winter to the weather. 
liegiiuiiiig' a Garden. 
If one proposes to begin gardening, whether to 
raise vegetables for home use or for sale, com¬ 
mencement should not be put off until spring. 
The work could have been started a month or two 
earlier, but much can yet be done in all but very 
cold localities. It is of little use to try to make a 
garden on wet land. Unless the soil has a natural 
drainage, tile or plank drains should be laid the 
first thing. If sod-land be selected, apply a good 
dressing of manure, break it up, and let it lie until 
spring, when another manuring and plowing, with 
thorough harrowing, will be needed. The success 
in the garden depends largely upon the amount of 
manure applied to it. Stable manure to the ex¬ 
tent of 50 to 80 loads to the acre is needed, or if so 
much can not be obtained, the lack should be sup¬ 
plied by the use of ground bone, fish-guano, su¬ 
perphosphate, or other good commercial fertilizer. 
Wintering tlie Celery. 
Probably more celery is injured by too much 
warmth than by excessive cold. While not so 
hardy as some vegetables, it is not injured by mod¬ 
erate frosts. Last month (p. 397), we described the 
manner of banking up that required for early 
use. Market gardeners sometimes leave the celery 
where it grew, banking it up to the tops with 
earth, and at the approach of severe weather, cover¬ 
ing with leaves. There is the risk of being unable 
to get out the celery when wanted, when left thus, 
hence the crop for use iu late winter is stored in 
trenches, where it is accessible at any time. The 
trenches must be where water will not settle in 
them, and should not be over 10 inches wide, the 
depth being equal to the liight of the plants. The 
celery is placed upright, the plants being close to¬ 
gether, but no earth is put between them. The tops 
are to be covered with leaves, straw, or coarse hay, 
but not until the weather is likely to be severe, but 
the covering material should be at hand to be ready 
iu an emergency. To avoid injury from heating, the 
packing in trenches is delayed as long as it is safe 
to do so, which, near New York, is to the end of 
the month. But the plants in the rows are protected 
by roughly earthing them up to the tops early in 
the month. The tops will not be injured if the 
thermometer falls five or six degrees below freezing, 
and the covering may be slight at first, to be in¬ 
creased as the cold is more severe, until finally it is 
6 or 8 inches thick. We mentioned last month 
the use of boxes for storing celery in the cellar. 
This is a neat and ready way, but not practicable 
in a warm cellar. Instead of boxes, boards may be 
used. A row of boarding is placed 9 inches from 
the cellar wall, and as high as the tops of the celery ; 
this is to be filled with the upright stalks as if it 
were a trench. At 9 inches from this, two 
more rows of boarding are set up, also 9 inches a- 
part, forming another trench, distant from the for¬ 
mer by its own width, this is to be filled, and so 
on. This will leave the celery iu strips 9 inches 
wide, separated by spaces the same width. The 
spaces are to avoid the heating, which would take 
place if larger masses of it were placed together. 
If the floor of the cellar is cemented or bricked, a 
couple of inches of soil should be placed on it be¬ 
fore the celery is packed. It will be necessary to use 
some strips or stays to hold up the boards. With 
a cellar bottom of earth, no soil is needed, and the 
boards may be held up by driving stakes. With such 
a mass of vegetable matter, considerable heat is 
given off, and free ventilation will be needed to 
keep the temperature low enough to prevent injury. 
Making Jiu«l Using Cold Frames. 
A cold frame is intended to merely preserve 
plants during the severe weather of winter, and not 
for growing them. It consists of two boards run¬ 
ning parallel about six feet apart, and nailed to 
posts. The rear one should be 12 in. high, and the 
front one 8 in., to give the sashes, which are placed 
lengthwise from one to the other, the right pitch. 
The cold frame may be of any desired length, and 
should be built where it can have shelter from the 
northwest. A high close board-fence is almost in¬ 
dispensable for this particular in some localities. 
The sashes slant to the south or southeast. The 
cabbage, lettuce, and cauliflower plants are first 
grown in the open ground and transplanted when 
about a month old, to the cold frames, in which 
they are to remain through the winter. Each sash, 
6 by 3 ft., will cover 500 cabbage or cauliflower, 
and 800 lettuce plants. These plants are nearly 
hardy, and only need to be protected from sudden 
changes of temperature. In clear winter days the 
sashes may be tilted at the rear end, in order to 
give the plants abundant air. All the management 
of the cold frame must keep in view the fact that 
its object is not to promote growth, but to keep the 
plants in a perfectly dormant state. In the South, 
ridges of earth serve the purpose, and take the 
place of cold frames used in the North. If the 
soil iu the frames is to be used for growing other 
plants, after the removal of the cabbage, lettuce, 
etc., to the open ground in spring, it should be both 
rich and mellow. 
