118 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
ipg the wood altogether. At the point or escape 
t.V.e wood is cut partially off, and usually breaks, 
when in the tree, or single stem form, and, of 
course destroys the plant. Aside from this, the 
weight of the head compels the staking of the 
plant, and a close pruning, to answer any good 
purpose in bearing fruit. On the contrary, plant¬ 
ing the slip with buds below the ground, although 
suckers will grow up, if properly pruned and at¬ 
tended to, the fruit is equally good, and the shrub 
grows large, and lasts many years. We decided¬ 
ly prefer the natural way of growing it. 
In planting currants, we object to the common 
way ot staking them thickly under fences, walls, 
and such like, and prefer to grow them out in 
open ground, quite six feet apart, and giving them 
full and free cultivation, which induces a full crop 
of well grown, well ripened, and excellent fruit; 
while on the fence method, the fruit is small, 
liable to be chocked by weeds, grass, and other 
foul stuff, and furnishing a harbor to all sorts of 
garden vermin. 
As to varieties, although the nurseryman ad¬ 
vertise, and praise a number of new sorts, the old 
Red, and White Dutch are altogether the best for 
household purposes, and by far the best bearers 
that we have tried. With good cultivation they 
grow large, with full stems, and perfect berries. 
Everybody who has garden room ought to grow 
currants in abundance. They are good, when 
green, for tarts, and pies, and when fully ripe, well 
sugared, are a delicioss appendant to the tea-ta¬ 
ble—healthful and nutritious, besides making 
a capital jelly. The black English currant is ex¬ 
cellent for jelly, which is a most grateful drink, 
diluted in water, for febrile diseases. 
Horse Eadish. 
Most people appear to think that a thing which 
will “ grow any where,” with neglect, or by acci¬ 
dent, is not worth cultivation, though ever so use¬ 
ful, or be they ever so fond of it. Thus it is that 
the horse-radish—though one of the most highly- 
prized Spring condiments—receives little or no at¬ 
tention, and is usually found in most gardens to be 
seen in the vicinity of a sink-spout, at the end of 
a drain, under the fence, in a shady, worthless 
corner of the garden, or other neglected places, 
out of sight and mind—only when it is wanted in 
early Spring for the table. Then a few meagre, 
stringy, forlorn, little, pithy, or hollow roots are 
dug up, the tops cut off and thrown away, and the 
plants “ not worth digging” are left in the ground, 
neglected and unthought of, until another Spring 
revives the appetite for a repeated digging of the 
esculent. Such is the usual “ cultivation ” which 
the abused horse-radish gets at the hands of its 
benefactors I 
Now, horse-radish is as much better for good 
culture as any other plant; and it is so little 
trouble, that we will narrate our own method of 
treating it for many years past, by which we know 
that the article is improved, at least a hundred 
per cent in value and flavor. We plant in a row, 
or rows, as we would currant bushes; taking 
a place in the garden, where we do not wish to 
plow or dig across it, and where it can stand per¬ 
manently. We then strike out a place, not under 
a fence, unless it be on the easterly or southerly 
side of it; nor under the shade of trees—but 
right out in the warm, open, exposed part of the 
garden, where the sun, rain and air can hit it 
fairly, as if it were a beet or onion bed. Staked 
out, we then threw on to it, a heavy coat of 
strong, fat, barn-yard dung, spread even over it. 
We then plow or spade it in, deep as we can, 
and pulverize the ground thoroughly. Then, with 
crow-bar, or iron-shod hole puncher (dibble)— 
which every gardener should have about him— 
we sink a line of holes in the ground, a foot or 
eighteen inches deep. When that is done we fill 
them up with the finest of the soil, well mixed up' 
with manure, to within six inches of the surface. 
Then we take the green tops of the plant, with 
about an inch of the root attached—if the tops be 
large, they may be split with a knife into three or 
four parts ; or if whole, no matter how small— 
and drop them into the hole, one root in each— 
top up, of course—and cover them in with the 
soil. The bed is thus complete, and ready for 
growing. Keep them clean by the hoe, like any 
other crop. The next Spring you can dig from the 
thriftiest, and best grown plants, all you want 
for family use, still putting back the top, as when 
first planted, if you take it all out. If you leave 
a root or two in the place from which you take it, 
that will furnish increasing roots for the next 
year. 
If you grow for market, let them stand till two 
years old, as they will be larger, and then you can 
dig and plant at pleasure. 
--- - 
Culture of Garden Seeds offered in our 
Distribution. 
Peas. —Nos. 8 9 10 and 11. These all require 
similar planting, except the Dan. O’Rourke, which 
is a lower growing variety and may be sown in 
rows nearer together, say 2^- feet apart. The 
others need 3 feet to 3£ feet between the rows. A 
moderately dry, rich sandy loam suits them best. 
Cover one half inch deep. For early use, sow 
about the midddle of April, and so on at intervals 
of two weeks until the middle of June to keep 
up a succession. The four kinds sown at the 
same time will come in one after the other, the 
Dan. O’Rourke—the earliest pea known—first, 
and the Hairs’ Dwarf Mammoth—the best, we 
think—is the latest. 
Kohl Rabi —No. 12. Sow and treat in all re¬ 
spects like rutabagas. This yields a turnip, or 
cabbage turnip above ground, which is cooked 
while green the same as a turnip. (See illustra¬ 
tion and description in our last volume, page 209.) 
Enfield Market Cabbage and Alma Cauliflower. 
—Nos. 13 and 14. These may be classed together 
in culture. They head better, either as early or 
late vegetables. The hot weather of mid-Sum- 
mer is not a good season for heading. Hot-bed 
plants, or those started in the house are better for 
early use ; and the fore part of May a suitable 
period for sowing seed for late planting. Avoid 
the use of hog manure as it forms knotty roots. 
Ashes are a good fertiliser, if there be plenty of 
organic moisture, such as black earth in the 
soil already. If not, rotten leaves or well rotted 
manure may well be added. 
Lettuce.— Mammoth Cabbage, and curled Si¬ 
lesia, Nos. 15, and 15 (b), are cultivated alike. 
Sow in the open ground from the first of April to 
the first of May, and at intervals afterwards for a 
succession. Lettuce is of most easy culture, re¬ 
quiring only covering and weeding, in ordinary 
soil, to thrive well, and may often be sown among 
vines or other vegetables. Its quick growth al¬ 
lows its early removal. If left too thickly in the 
row it does not form a large head. 
Long Orange Carrot and Saisafy, Nos. 16 and 
20 —These are both parsnep rooted plants, re¬ 
quiring the soil to be dug deeply—trenched if 
possible. Sow early, say the middle of April to 
the middle of May in drills one foot apart, and 
cover with half an inch of fine soil. Thin the sai¬ 
safy to three inches, and carrots to six inches 
apart. 
Red Strap Leaf Turnip , No. 17.—Sow middle 
of April and later lor early Summer turnips. 
Rows fifteen inches apart, and thin to six or ten 
inches according as they are to be used young or 
mature, their growth. Keep well hoed. New soil 
is much better than an old garden for them. 
Patience Dock, No. 18.—Sow at any time after 
the frost is out of the ground in rows eighteen 
inches apart and leave one foot distant in the row. 
They should be picked from only lightly the first 
year. The root being perennial will furnish abun¬ 
dance of early greens the subsequent year. Let 
the bed be in a portion of the garden, where it 
will be out of the way in plowing. 
Round Spinach, No. 19.—Of very easy culture 
and may be sown in the Fall or Spring. Put in 
at intervals of a week or two commencing as soon 
as the ground is settled in Spring. Rows one foot 
apart. Thin out for use, leaving a little standing 
through the season for seed, as it is an annual. 
Winter Cherry, No. 21.—Sow thin, and treat in 
every respect as tomatoes. A few early plants 
from a hot-bed will give fruit much sooner than 
when sown in the open ground. The seed should 
be in by the first of May. (See directions last 
month, page 85.) 
Marrow Squash, No. 22.—Plant May first on 
well manured ground in hills five or six feet apart, 
and leave two plants in each hill after the bugs 
have had their portion. In the planting dig out a 
large deep hill and enrich with hog or other ma¬ 
nure. Dust young plants with flour and black 
pepper to keep away bugs. 
--— -- - m 0 w — -- 
Flower Seeds. 
These were all described and a portion of them 
illustrated on pages 20 and 21 of the January 
Agriculturist. In giving directions for their 
culture it is not necessary to enumerate them, 
singly, as several varieties need similar soil, re¬ 
quire planting at the same time and at equal dis¬ 
tances from each other and the same manage¬ 
ment afterwards. 
A portion of them are climbers, and require 
something to train them upon ; others make 
large, bushy plants and need ample space as single 
specimens, while still others may be grown more 
compactly, or even in masses. 
Most Flower Seeds require only a light cover¬ 
ing, especially those having a broad, thin husk. 
None of them should be covered with more 
than half an inch of fine soil 
CLIMBING PLANTS-ANNUALS. 
Beginning with the ClimDing Cypress vine, 33, 
and Morning Glory, 47—each of which will rnn 
15 or 20 feet when properly trained—we may 
plant them by the side of fences, buildings, 
arbors, or No. 33 may be planted in a circle 4 to 6 
feet in diameter, around a central stake some 10 
or 12 feet in bight, with strings running to the 
vines in the circle. From the 10th to the 15th of 
May is early enough for sowing seed in this lati¬ 
tude. Soak them in warm water for a few hours 
previous to sowing. No. 47 is very hardy and 
may be sown at any time after the frost is out of 
the ground. It often springs up from seed 
dropped the previous season. 
SUB-CLIMBERS-ANNUALS. 
Nasturtiums, 25, and Sweet Peas, 45, are semi- 
running or climbing plants. Nasturtiums require 
a space of several feet to ramble over and are 
sometimes planted by the side of fences or walls, 
over which they clamber and bloom profusely 
The seed capsules, or bulbs make a beautiful 
pickle. Sweet Peas grow from 4 to 6 feet in 
bight, and may be bushed with rustic cedar ot 
trained upon twine beside a building. Both are 
hardy and may be sown the latter part of April or 
first of May 
