1884 .] 
AMEEJ OAX AGRICUL^r EEIST. 
51 
ito be three years old before they bear, and the de- 
Telopment of the flower and fruit, which was going 
•on while we were there, was a pretty sig'lit. The 
■top of the stalk turns over and produces a huge 
purple flower cf a single leaf, as large as the hand 
■of a giant. From under this large leaf starts a 
circle of small sprouts like Angers. The big leaf 
falls oH, but from the ends of the lingers burst 
•other much smaller purple flowers. Then below 
the row of fingers grotvs another large flower like 
the first; it also uncovers another rovv of fingers, 
and so on till the entire bunch of bananas, as we 
know it in the market, is formed. Even then the 
flower point does not cease growing, but exhibits 
flower after flow'er, which are merely ornamental 
and do not result in fruit. Sprouts start so freely 
from the roots, that the young bushes have to be 
■cut away every year with scythes, or they would 
become crowded and the fruit degenerate. Every 
day that was spent studying the wonderful pro¬ 
ductions of Florida, every new tree or bush which 
attracted our attention by its beauty or its oddity, 
every new species of fruit which charmed our pal¬ 
ate with its originalit 3 ' of flavor, made us more in 
love with this interesting connti-j', and wish that it 
.and its accompaniments could only exist in a colder 
climate. There was but one feeling in the minds 
■of the party on leading Mr. Hart’s plantation, which 
was a wish that each of us could own an orange 
grove, and have it close at home. 
The stories concerning the dangerous nature of 
the snakes of Florida are probably exaggerated, as 
we saw-no more of them than we would have seen 
in the same amount of country life at the North. 
The negro children bathe off the docks at Pilatka 
and Jacksonville as a common thing, and later in 
the year, when the peril from the snakes is greater. 
There are spots where, as I have said, they are to 
be dreaded, and we heard well authenticated stories 
■of men being snake bitten ; but on the other hand 
old hunters, who W'ere in the woods most of their 
time, told us they were never troubled by their at¬ 
tacks, and the camping out parties, which we en¬ 
countered all over, seemed not disturbed by them. 
•Stilt, while on the subject, I will give the prescrip¬ 
tion which was kindly furnished us by Dr. Ken¬ 
worthy of Jacksonville, and which will doubtless 
prove a better cure than the common one of getting 
•drunk on whiskey: mix two tablespoonfuls of the 
■carbonate of ammonia with enough spirits of cam¬ 
phor to make a paste. Apply this on a rag to 
the bite, changing the rag as often as it gets dis- 
■colored. Our medical associate gave his approval 
to the remedy, and if those two authorities could 
not cure a snake bite, no one can. 
In spite of the beauty of the country, there is a 
sense of desolation about the wiider parts of Flor¬ 
ida. The great trees covered with moss, and 
many of them going to decay ; the dull, sluggish I 
rivers with siow discolored current; the low lands 
never rising above a shell-mound of twenty feet 
hight, combine to produce a feeling of dreary soli¬ 
tude. This was particularly noticeable on the 
Journey to Southern Florida, through the endless 
•swamps, marshes, and reedy islands which border 
the narrow inland streams, and was only occasion¬ 
ally broken by passing a town, or one of the few 
country seat^ that are to be found on the un¬ 
healthy shores. Nor do there seem to be many 
water fowl on the Southern Atlantic Coast, until 
you pass to the south of St. Augustine and reach the 
neighborhood of Indian River. In making the trip 
up and from the St. John’s, we only saw, besides 
the ducks and English snipe, the bay-birds of which 
I have spoken, and a number of the handsome and 
imposing white herons. These stood in solemn 
grandeur on the shore of some creek, and seemed 
too glorious to shoot. Occasionally, however, we 
■could not resist, and had to murder them for their 
loveliness. Then one of us would hide himself 
among the reeds on the shore, while the other 
would go to the extreme end of the line of stately 
creatures, and put them up. They fly slowly along 
the edge of the water, and if the sportsman is well 
hid, there is no difflcult^' in getting a shot at them. 
They should never be killed unless it is to set 
ff.hem up and preserve them in a cabinet. 
A Nest Box for Sitting Hens. 
The nest box shown in the engraving, can be 
made to contain as many nests as desired, and be 
placed in the poultry house or any other convenient 
place. When a hen is set in one of the nests, the 
end of the lever is slid from under the catch on top 
of the box, and the door falls over the entrance to 
keep out other hens. They rarely molest the sit¬ 
ting hen after she has held exclusive possession 
three or four days, and the drop may be raised 
again. The box legs should not be over six 
inches long. The step in front of the nests, four to 
six inches wide, is a continuation of the bottom of 
the box. It is a vast improvement on old barrels, 
broken boxes, and other hens’ nests generally used. 
Prepare for Early Vegetables. 
Very few farmers care to give the attention 
needed by a hot-bed, and trust to sowing the seeds 
of vegetabies in the open ground. As a conse¬ 
quence, farmers rarely have early vegetables in 
their gardens. There is a method by which vege¬ 
tables may be enjoyed from one to two months 
earlier than by sowdng the seeds in the garden, and 
costs very little trouble. This is to raise the plants 
in the windows of the kitchen or other room. Our 
old-time readers understand this method, and we 
regard it of so much importance that we bring it 
especially to the attention of our many new sub¬ 
scribers. Plants sufficient for the familj'^ garden 
can be raised, usually of better quality than in a 
hot-bed as generally managed, and they will interest 
the young people who always like to see things 
grow. Boxes for the purpose are made of half- 
inch stuff well nailed together. Their length 
should be suited to the width of the window, a foot 
wide, and the depth of three or four inches. In 
modem houses window sills are rarely wide enough 
to hold such a box, and it is well to suspend it by 
means of a wire at each end. Drive in a screw 
near the upper edge of the end of the box, and 
near the side the farthest from the window, and a 
corresponding screw in the window casing. A 
piece of copper wire twisted around the screw in 
the box, and its other end made fast to that in the 
casing, will hold the box securely. Those who 
regularly use such boxes, provide the soil for them 
the autumn before. The lack of such provision 
need not deter any from trying to raise plants in this 
manner. Earth from the W'oods is a most excellent 
material for filling the boxes. This collects in the 
hollow places, and can usually be gathered in a 
mild time, even in winter. If woods-earth is not 
to be had, take advantage of a thaw, and scraping 
up some garden soil, place it in a heap in the cel¬ 
lar until it is dry enough to use. If at all lieavjq 
it may be made porous by adding sand, or, what is 
better, fine moss. Procure some sphagnum or 
peat-moss, such as nurserymen use for packing; 
dry it thoroughly, and rub it through a coarse wire 
sieve. One part of this fine sifted moss to four 
or five of soil, makes an excellent material for seed 
boxes, as it will not become packed by the needed 
waterings. As a rule, the seeds should be sown in 
them about six weeks before the plants can be 
safely set out in the open ground. When the 
seedlings are large enough to handle, usually when 
they have made two rough leaves—those after the 
seed leaves—they will need transplanting into 
another box of similar soil, setting them an inch 
apart each way. Plants in the boxes must have water 
as they need it, and on warm days they may 
be set outside in a sunny sheltered place, bringing 
them in before the air becomes chilly. The vege¬ 
tables usually started in window boxes are early 
cabbages, cauliflowers, lettuce, and tomatoes ; in 
April, egg-plants and peppers may be thus sow'ii. 
A Sheep Rack. 
W. E. Jones, Smithfield, Pa., sends us a sketch 
of a sheep rack, the dimensions of which arc : 
length twelve feet, width two feet nine inches, and 
hight three feet. The materials are : ten boards 
twelve feet long, eight of them ten inches wide, one 
seven inches wide, and one eight inches wide ; four- 
boards two feet nine inches long and twelve inches 
wide; six posts three by four inches, three feet 
long; sixty-four slats, sixteen inches long and one 
inch square; and two strips twelve feet long, and 
two-and-a-half inches wide. Nail the two nar¬ 
rower boards in the shape of a trough, turn it bot¬ 
tom up and draw aline through the middle of each 
side. Set the dividers to four and a half inches, 
and mark along the lines for holes with a three- 
quarter-inch bit, and bore the narrow strips to 
match. Set the slats into the trough, and fasten the 
strips on their upper ends. Nail tw-o of the boards 
FODDER HACK FOR SHEEP. 
to the posts on each side, as seen in thq sketch, and 
also the short boards on the ends. Lay in a floor 
one foot from the ground, and set in the trough as 
shown in the above engraving. Fit a board from the 
slats up to the top of the outside of the frame. The 
floor need not cover the middle under the trough. 
A Cheap Manure Shed. 
Many waste much of the value of stable manure 
by throwing it out of doors to be acted upon by 
sun and rain. We recently saw a very cheap, sen¬ 
sible method of almost wholly preventing such 
loss. A board roof, ten feet square, is supported 
by posts eight feet long above ground, which are 
connected inside by a wall of planks (or of poles, as 
the one examined was). Near the post at each end 
stakes a, a, are set, against which one end of the 
A SHED FOR MAHURE. 
end planks rest. This allows the front planks, d, d, 
to be removed in filling or loading. It is placed 
near the stable, preferably so that the manure from 
the stable can be thrown directly into one corner, 
whence it is forked to the opposite corner in afew 
days, to prevent too violent fermentation. A fre¬ 
quent addition of sods, leaves, and other materials 
that will decompose, will increase the heap, and im¬ 
prove its value, supplying a manure superior to 
many of the commercial fertilizers, at less cost. 
