AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
32T 
■ ■ , . -rr . -r-rr,. , ..- "“‘i 
cost only $200, which abundantly supplied a 
large family, and we know of another erected at 
a cost not exceeding $100 that produced nearly 
the same amount. We are free to confess that 
one of the first appendages to our home, and the 
comfort of our family, would be an economical, 
moderate sized, - cold vinery. 
We take pleasure in stating that these well- 
cultivated grounds, green-houses, and graperies, 
are all under the charge of that experienced 
gardener and instructive writer, Mr. William 
Chorlton, whose little work on exotic grapes 
will fully inform the inquirer of the mode of 
cultivation by which he insures such success. 
For the American Agriculturist. 
A NEW HAND AT GARDENING. 
Messrs. Editors :—I have been an attentive 
reader of your useful paper the last six weeks, 
and although it contains very valuable informa¬ 
tion to those who are “ posted up,” or “to-the- 
manor born,” I do not find in it exactly what 
will “ fill my case.” 
You must know, although not a lawyer, I 
have practised at the bar, not a rum bar, but a 
bar-handle of a printing press, and by avoiding 
“squabbling” and keeping “register,” I managed 
to get “sorts;” at last being “lead out” by 
“power,” I had to “turn” for something else. 
I contrived at last to get, in a fair way, posses¬ 
sion of twenty acres of what is considered good 
land within one mile of Stamford depot, Ct., but 
it has not been plowed for a number of years, 
some of it not having been turned up for twelve 
years, and it is four years since any of it has 
been. I wish to state, also, that about nine or 
ten acres of it are meadows, and the rest has 
a great many cobble stones on, and has been 
left to run, to take care of itself; scarcely any 
trees, except about 120 I had planted last fall 
as an orchard, plenty of stone fences, and the 
major part stands high. Manure very scarce, 
and hard to be got. No dwelling house, but 
there is a good sized barn with cellar. I thus 
describe because I want some information, as I 
profess to know more of a “ shooting-stick or a 
sheep’s-foot” than I do of a spade or shovel, and 
there are others of your readers equally igno¬ 
rant, but are willing to shoulder the “ heap” 
and work their “token,” if they knew how to 
“start” and the best time to do so. Now then, 
gentlemen, if you would, at your convenience, 
give a few hints what was best to do, not refer¬ 
ring me to books, because they are understood 
best by those who have begun. I have the 
“American Farm Book,” “Agricultural Chemis¬ 
try,” and “Bridgeman’s Works,” and still on 
the lookout for more, but give an account what 
you would do with so much land, so as to bring 
it to a profitable state of cultivation for “ market 
garden truck;” how you would divide it, what 
berries and fruits, vegetables, &c., you would 
plant, the manures or fertilizers used, the 
quantity to the acre, the proper utensils, the 
buildings for housing produce; the dwelling 
house I will see to. I thought of adopting 
Fowler’s Gravel Wall Octagon, what do you 
think of it? [We do not approve of it.— Eds.] 
When to plow, and when to plant, and the 
method of applying manure, and as I wish to 
get some return from the land next year, the 
number of hands I will require, and how to ar¬ 
range with them, whether by the year and let 
them live on the premises by erecting a house 
for them, or otherwise, as I shall remain in the 
city for a year or more, visiting the place fre¬ 
quently; also the probable outlay and returns, 
whether to keep a horse first off or pay cartage, 
advice about poultry, or pigs, or both. I am 
asking more questions you will say than I 
ought, but pray excuse. You perceive ere this, 
that I am greener than the grass on the place, 
but perhaps with your advice and a pair of will¬ 
ing hands, I may become a gardener. 
As it is, or was, a rule of the members of the 
“ Black art” to lend a helping hand to a bro¬ 
ther out of “ sorts,” especially if he did not need 
some “quads,” I have presumed on your time 
and knowledge of the subject matter in hand, 
to seek the information you seem, by professions 
in your paper, willing to impart, and if next 
year I should nave a “fat take,” you may de¬ 
pend on getting a “ token.” 
And I wiil remain yours much obliged, 
A Would-be Gardener. 
New - Tort :, Jrily 19,1854. 
If we were to reply to our humorous corres¬ 
pondent in full, it would require as much 
“ copy” as he and half a dozen “jours” and “ the 
boy” could “set up” in a twelvemonth, and he 
would be almost as much at a loss then how to 
proceed as he is now. Suppose we were to ask 
him to initiate us in the craft of a “ compositor,” 
how many pages of manuscript would it require 
him to cover to teach us the art? And when 
we had read this, suppose we had never seen 
types, what kind of a hand should we make 
with the “composing stick?” 
Our periodical is not an A B C Agricul¬ 
tural or Horticultural manual; if it were, 
our readers generally would soon tire of it. 
We pre-suppose a certain degree of practi¬ 
cal and theoretical knowledge of farming and 
gardening on the part of our readers, and then 
gather up whatever is new and improving for 
their benefit; and this we take to be the great 
aim of periodicals in general. However, we do 
from time to time describe in the plainest possi¬ 
ble manner the method of cultivating different 
plants, vegetables, &c., and we intend to write 
still more for the special benefit of just such 
new beginners as our friend M. Indeed, we 
have more than once heard said what we know 
to be true—that the Agriculturist conveys its 
teachings in the most plain and comprehensive 
manner, and is the most practical paper in the 
country. 
As our correspondent resides in the city, we 
shall be happy to have him call and converse 
with us, as it would be necessary to ask him 
more questions than he has propounded, before 
we could fully advise him. It will also be ne¬ 
cessary for him to visit a few of the best mar¬ 
ket gardens in this neighborhood, for the pur¬ 
pose of seeing what they are doing, and what 
he would more particularly require. It would 
then be requisite for him to employ one good 
gardener as the head man of his establishment, 
while all the rest may be good common laborers. 
For tke American Agriculturist. 
TO DESTROY THE GREEN APHIS ON APPLE 
TREES. 
[The following article is from an experienced 
practical nurseryman, and is worthy of consid¬ 
eration.—E ds.] 
As I am a reader of your valuable paper, I 
feel desirous of informing you and your readers 
of a cheap and effectual mode of destroying this 
insect that attacks the tender shoots. Its ad¬ 
vantage being mostly to nurserymen. I took a 
common paint keg, and put into it a good hand¬ 
ful of soft-soap, and filled it with warm water, 
which will make a strong suds. I then gath¬ 
ered a large handful of young tender shoots of 
the Chinese Ailanthus, and bruised them well 
in the keg of suds. I then passed between the 
rows of nursery trees, dipping the ends of the 
the shoots in the solution; there are always 
plenty of black ants where this insect is, and 
these received a like fate, and were perfectly 
motionless when drawn from the solution. To 
be sure of its killing them, I examined them 
again a few hours afterwards, and found them 
black and lifeless, and no injury done to the 
trees. This is the first experiment I have tried 
with the Ailanthus, but I have little doubt that, 
it will destroy and drive away every kind of in¬ 
sect. The smell of this tree drives man far 
away from its boundaries; then why should it 
not destroy the tiny insect. 
In conclusion, I would say to my brother 
farmer’s sons, read Minnie Myrtle's most in¬ 
teresting narrative in a former number of the 
Agriculturist, and reflect lor a few moments, 
as it contains a true account of the manner by 
which a young man having the requisites, can 
divest himself of all honor, houses, lands, a 
smiling garden of vegetables, fruits, and flowers, 
and of all the comforts of a social hearth and 
contented home, and be thrown upon the char¬ 
ity of the world; and all through the instru¬ 
mentality of humanity’s greatest toe, the “ Rum- 
seller with his glistening decanters filled with 
various colors of alcoholic liquors, calculated to 
rob you of honor, wealth, and happiness here, 
and lastly drown the soul in eternal woe. 
Rhinebech , N. Y. B. Snyder. 
The Largest Lettuce on Record. —Mr. G. 
W. Seger, of Green Springs, Cal., writes to the 
California Farmer , June 13, that he has a 
head of Lettuce, of the curly head variety, 
which measures six feet in circumference, (two 
feet in diameter,) and that it is as closely packed 
as a drum head cabbage. "What next from the 
golden State? 
Peach Crop.-— -The extensive orchards in the 
vicinity of Delaware City, owned by Reybolds 
and Clarkes, containing over 1,000 acres, will 
this years scarcely supply the families of their 
owners with fruit enough for their own use. 
There never was such a complete failure in the 
crop before. It is attributed to the cold weather 
experienced in the latter part of March. We 
are happy, however, to state that Mr. Fenni- 
more’s orchards, near Appoquinimink, never 
gave promise of a more abundant yield. He 
has about 150 acres in peach trees, and the 
value of this year’s fruit is estimated from ten 
to fifteen thousand dollars. It is singular that 
this difference should exist in orchards about 
ten miles apart, and apparently under the same 
condition of exposure, &c.— Wilmington {Del.) 
Statesman. 
—-««-«—-—■ 
Second Crop op Strawberries.— Professor 
Page exhibited on Tuesday, at the Patent office, 
some fine specimens of a second crop of straw¬ 
berries, produced according to Mr. Peabody’s 
method of continuous waterings. The variety 
was the favorite strawberry known as the Alice 
Maud. This is a complete verification of Mr. 
Peabody’s discovery, concerning which so much 
has been published, of making strawberries 
constant bearers by constant waterings.-— -Na¬ 
tional Intelligencer. 
A young lady having asked a surgeon why 
woman was made from the rib of man in prefer 
ence to auy other bone, he gave the following 
gallant answer: 
“ She was not taken from the head lest she 
would rule over him ; not from his feet, lest he 
should trample upon her; but she was taken 
from his side that she might be his equal; from 
under his arm, that he might protect her; from 
near his heart, that he might cherish and love 
her” 
