288 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST' 
[July, 
Winter Fodder—Still a Chance.— The grass 
in many places has heen destroyed by the Army Worm, 
in many other cases a short hay crop is due to the drouth. 
But farmers can still sow fodder com with a fair prospect 
of a good crop. This can be cured in the usual way, or 
stored fresh in silos. Though we have already given a 
full account of the process of ensilage , we shall describe 
it again in time for those who wish to do so, to make 
a trial of it. It is sufficient to say in this last 
word, as we close the pages, that there is no real cause 
for any one to despond. The great national plant, Indian 
Corn, now comes to the rescue. Earlyand prompt action 
—an abundance of manure, if green and fresh, no matter, 
a quick growing kind of corn, and sowing at once, will, 
in all ordinary seasons, give an abundant crop, of the 
best possible fodder. Do not lose a day, but sow the corn. 
Canoe and Camera. — A Two Hundred Mile 
Tour through the Maine Forests, by Thomas Sedgwick 
Steele. New York : Orange Judd Company. This work 
will be appreciated by two classes of persons: those who 
go to the Maine forests, and those who do not. It is not 
many years since the “back woods of Maine” were quite 
unknown to any save lumbermen, but of late, as their 
attractions became known, they have been penetrated 
by tourists, each year bringing increased numbers. To 
those who contemplate a visit to this little explored coun¬ 
try, this work will be most valuable, as it has all the ac¬ 
curacy and much of the minuteness of a guide book, with¬ 
out any of its dullness. The addition of a map, on a large 
scale, prepared especially for the work, adds greatly to the 
value of the book, and make it indispensable to all who 
visit that region. Those who do not go to the Maine 
forests—that large class of stay-at-home travellers—will 
find this work the next best thing to a tour, as it pre¬ 
sents the peculiar features of the country, the incidents 
of travel and camp life, in a fresh and pleasing style, 
while the descriptions are supplemented by a profusion 
of engravings largely the result of having a “Camera” 
with the “ Canoe,” though they are by no means all from 
photographs. Sketches by the author himself, and several 
artist-friends, give a pleasing variety, in which the humor¬ 
ous and sometimes ludicrous aspects of canoeing and 
camping are not overlooked. The general excellence of 
the engravings deserves mention, and some of them might 
be taken as examples of the present perfection to which 
the engraver’s art has reached in this country. The paper, 
press work, and binding, all combine to give the work 
a fitting setting, and make it one of the most beautiful 
volumes yet added to the tourist’s library. Price, $1.50. 
The American Bicycler.— This work, which 
was noticed a few months ago, now comes to us enlarged 
by an “ Appendix for 1880,” which adds 60 pages of new 
matter of interest to all who run on wheels. 
Sending Fruit.— Some send us specimens that we 
may see how fine they are, and others send them to be 
named. Some think to pay the express charges, others 
do not. If it were only nowand then we were required 
to pay express charges, it wonld be of little consequence, 
but when this occurs several times a day, it amounts to a 
larger tax than we care to pay. Our friends should bear 
this in mind when sending fruit. 
Special Cultures—Tobacco and Onions.— 
Within a few days we have had letters asking about the 
cultivation of Tobacco and Onions, to answer which in 
full would require us to write several treatises. It was 
to meet just such inquiries as these that we several years 
ago offered prizes for the best essays on their cultivation. 
Several essays besides those taking the prizes are 
printed, and each little book contains fuller information 
on the crops than can be found elsewhere. The same 
may be said of Hops and Flax. 
Wild Hops. —“Mrs. E. J. V.,” Howard Co., Neb., 
sends a specimen of Hops found growing in the State, 
asks if it is of a good kind for cultivation, and how to 
grow them from seed. The chief difference in the few 
varieties of hops is in the size of the clusters, and those 
sent are of very good size, the largest we have seen from 
wild vines. Hops are not multiplied from seed. It is a 
plant with separated flowers, some bearing all staminate 
or sterile flowers, and others all pistillate or fertile ones. 
When seeds are sown, a large share of the plants may be 
sterile, and this can not be ascertained until the second 
year at least. They are propagated by sets, or shoots 
taken from the old plants in early spring. Shoots 4 to 6 
inches long are used. In cultivated plants, each hill, or 
old root, pushes a great many more shoots than are 
needed, and the excess are taken for new plantations. 
The “American Wonder” Pea.— Last year 
we had a very short row of this variety in a favorable 
season ; this year we had a row over 200 feet long, in a 
mo«t unfavorable season. Taking the two together we 
have formed a most favorable opinion of the “Amer¬ 
ican Wonder” which is based upon these facts—1st, It 
is dwarf; 2d, it is early ; 3d, it is productive; 4th, it is 
of most excellent quality. While our experience does 
not allow us to make a positive assertion, we have no 
doubt that it will be found to yield more from the same 
area than any other early pea, because it can be planted 
so much closer than the sorts that require brush. It 
grows only about a foot high, and each plant is well 
loaded with, in favorable seasons, long, well filled pods. 
With us these have matured all together, allowing the 
crop to be taken at one picking, an excellent feature in 
a market pea, and while not considered so desirable in 
the family garden, it will not be found an objection 
when provided against by successive sowings. For qual¬ 
ity on the table it is easily first class. Messrs. B. K. Bliss 
& Sons deserve the congratulatious of the whole garden¬ 
ing community for having introduced so excellent a 
variety of this popular vegetable. 
SliirtH by .Hail,— The Newark Shirt Company, 
Newark, N. J., at one time advertised to send shirts by 
mail. Though they have not advertised for a long time 
orders continue to come to them, and we would relieve 
them of the trouble of returning them by saying that they 
have discontinued their retail and mailing departments, 
and confine themselves to manufacturing for the trade. 
Keep the Head Cool. —There is reason in the 
notion that a cabbage-leaf worn on the head, within the 
hat, will prevent sun-stroke. There is no special virtue 
in cabbage-leaves, any other leaves will answer—so will 
wet paper. Any thing of the kind worn upon the head 
will serve to protect it from the hot sun. 
Strawberry Jam,— A correspondent wishing 
ns to name a variety of strawberry, placed the fruit in a 
box, with alternate layers of cotton batting, the box 
being but partly full. When they reached us, there was 
too much, cotton among the strawberries, and too much 
strawberry among the cotton, for either to be especially 
useful. Strawberries need no packing material, beyond 
what their hulls, which should always be left on, afford, 
and the box should be so full, that they can not shake. 
The White Grub and June Bug. —Last 
month, p. 247, we mentioned the success of W. C. Stiles, 
Jr., of W. Ya. in catching June Bugs, by the use of a 
lantern set in a pan of water upon which was a layer of 
coal oil. Mr. S. writes that he finds the trap to answer 
as well without the oil as with, and that no beetles appear 
until two hours after sunset, hence the expense of keep¬ 
ing up the lights before that time may he saved. He says 
that he has caught with two traps in seven nights over 
1,500 June Bugs! This is a very important matter. If 
this meant only the destruction of the same number of 
white grubs, it would be worth all the trouble; hut allow¬ 
ing the beetles to be half males, which is hardly prob¬ 
able, and the female to lay the small number of 100 eggs, 
this would make 75,000 white grubs which are—not killed 
off, but prevented from existing at all. 
Hats for Horses.—In the hot days of summer, 
one rarely meets a dray horse or other hard-worked horse, 
without some contrivance for preventing the direct rays 
of the sun from beating directly upon its head. Some 
styles of these hats were given last Aug., on page 314, 
and there are a vast number of other methods by which 
the same end—the comfort of the horse—and it may be 
its safety, for horses have been known to be overcome 
by heat, and suffer greatly on its account. 
The Army Worm and Grape Vines.— Jutet 
as these pages are being closed, the report comes that in 
the vine-growing portions of Burlington and Ocean Cos., 
N. J., the Army Worm is devastating the vineyards. 
The vine has not before been considered liable to the at¬ 
tacks of this voracious eater, which seems to develop 
new likings in its present visit. 
“ Rural Improvement, by B. G. Northrop, 
Sect’y of the Conn. State Board of Education,” is the title 
of a pamphlet of about 50 pages, sent us by the author. 
In February, 1878, we gave an account of the good work 
done by the “Village Improvement Association” at Litch¬ 
field, Conn. In various other villages and towns in Conn, 
are other Associations actively engaged in improvingthe 
surroundings of the homes of its members, and conse¬ 
quently increasing the beauty and attractiveness of the 
whole town. The existence of these Societies, and the 
results they have produced, are largely due to the efforts 
of Mr. Northrop. His official duties taking him to all 
parts of the State, he has been able to see where such im¬ 
provements were needed ; having a happy way of pre¬ 
senting the subject, and a talent for organizing, he had 
only to call the people together, point ont what should be 
done, and an “ Improvement Association ” was formed 
forthwith. The present treatise is a plea for such Asso¬ 
ciations, pointing ont the good work they can do, not only 
in increasing the attractiveness of a place, but its health- 
fulness. It also presents the economic value of tree¬ 
planting, and gives useful hints to Railroad Corporations 
and manufacturers as to embellishing the grounds around 
their stations and factories. A form of Constitution foi 
a Village Improvement Association is given. The work, 
is quite as much needed elsewhere as in Connecticut ■ 
indeed, there is not a village in the land but might be 
increased in beauty, and consequently in value, by fol¬ 
lowing the hints here given. Sent post-paid for 25 cents. 
Beet Root Sugar, and Cultivation of the 
Beet, by E. B. Grant. Boston : Lee & Shephard. This 
work bears upon its title page 1880—and there is nothing 
in its preface to show that it is not a new work. One 
need not read far to learn that he has in hand an old 
work, which, however valuable in itself, is far behind the- 
present condition of the beet-sugar interest. The book 
originally appeared in 1866, and does not seem to be 
modified in any respect in this reprint. The work con¬ 
tains much that is useful, and has long formed a part of 
the standard literature of the subject. Price, $1.25. 
The Mississippi Valley Hort. Society.— 
Our usual Fair List will show that this Society's exhibi¬ 
tion will be held at St. Louis, Mo., Sept. 7th, 8th and 9th 
—but something more than this brief announcement is 
required in this case, as it is the first exhibition of an 
Association that is apparently to become one of the most 
important among our many Horticultural Societies. Del¬ 
egates from the horticultural societies of the different 
States forming the Mississippi Valley, from that of Texas 
on the south to that of Iowa on the north, met some 
time last spring and effected a preliminary organization 
and appointed an Executive Committee to arrange for a 
meeting and exhibition in September. Parker Earle, 
President Ill. Hort. Soc. is Chairman of this Committee, 
and S. M. Tracy, Sec. Mo. Hort. Soc., is Secretary; his 
address is 600 Olive street, St. Louis. Covering so many 
degrees of latitude by its territory, the coming exhi¬ 
bition should be a most varied and interesting one. It is 
to be held at the hall of the St. Louis Merchants Ex¬ 
change, which is said to be “ the largest and finest in 
America.” The Exchange moreover guarantees the sum 
of $2,500, which allows of liberal premiums, a schedule- 
of which is before us. For the best collections of each 
of the different fruits $100 is offered for apples and $50 
each for pears, peaches, and grapes. With a Society like 
this, it becomes a question whether it is desirable to offer 
money premiums at all. While it may he well to do 
this at its first exhibition, we think it will be wise to 
have medals and certificates instead of money—as this 
will relieve the Society from an element of weakness 
that always attaches to those societies, the treasuries of 
which depend upon the annual dues of members. While- 
this Society is intended especially to promote the inter¬ 
ests of the horticulturists of the Mississippi Valley, the 
co-operation is invited of “ all interested in the horticul¬ 
tural growth of the country, without regard to locality.” 
We give this new Association our best wishes for its suc¬ 
cess, and hope that many a one outside of the “Valley” 
may find it convenient to he present next September. 
Practical Camellia Culture, by Robert J. 
Halliday, Baltimore, Md. Mr. Halliday has long been 
known as a Camellia grower of large experience, and 
the results of that experience are here embodied in a 
work of about 140 pages. It is one of those satisfactory 
horticultural works, that seem to be peculiar to this 
country. It tells all that there is to be told, in a plain, 
straight forward way, beginning at the beginning, and 
treating every part in full. It is a matter of regret that in 
so useful a work, the engravings are not in keeping with 
the text—still they are intelligible, and that is the main 
point in a practical work. 
Practical Artificial Incubation, by J. F. 
Ferris, Editor of Poultry Monthly, Albany, the Ferris 
Publishing Company. But few are aware of the wide¬ 
spread interest in artificial incubation that his correspond¬ 
ence makes known to an editor. The matter appears to- 
have attained to too great success, to be disregarded, and 
it is not yet sufficiently successful to be generally adopt -d. 
Whoever will make the last step, and give us an incuba¬ 
tor that will produce chicks with as much certainty as- 
the old hen, will be a public benefactor. In this work, 
Mr. Ferris shows what has been done in the artificial 
hatching and caring for chicks, and presents various 
incubators with the claims made for them, by their in¬ 
ventors. This work allows those who are investigating 
the subject, to have the materials together in a compact 
form for ready comparison. Price, post-paid, 50 cents. 
Potato Bug Enemy.—” W. A.,” Lebanon, N. Y., 
sends Potato Beetles, covered with a minute parasitic 
insect. It is by no means new, and we wish it were 
more common. Yon are right in supposing it to be an 
enemy to the Beetle. It is a mite, first described by 
Prof. Riley as Uropoda Americana , and figured by him in 
his work on “ Potato Pests.” The same was reproduced 
in the American Agriculturist for July 1878, page 267- 
