102 
AMEEIOAI^ AaKIOULTUEIST. 
[Makch, 
•erly spread, throwing a little soil on them', if need¬ 
ed, to hold them in piace, cover the roots with the 
best of the soil, taking care to have it well filled in, 
leaving no empty spaces among the roots. When 
the hole is nearly full, press down the soil firmly 
with the foot ; do not tramp or stamp it, but press 
it squarely. There will be nothing more to do to 
the vine until growth begins. When the three buds 
left upon the stem begin to start, rub off all but 
one, leaving the lowest one, if that is as strong as 
the others, and if other shoots start during the sea¬ 
son remove them. The shoot from the vine is very 
tender at first, and care must be taken that it is not 
broken ; when it is a foot or so long it may be tied 
to the stake, using a strip of cloth, or bass matting, 
and it should be kept tied up as it grows. Try 
one vine, plant it properly, and watch its entire 
growth; it will teach how to grow many vines. 
Timothy, Herd’s Grass.—Confusion of 
Names. 
Names, especially with farm plants, should be 
■definite, and designate certain things. If a plant 
Js called by one name in a certain State and by an- 
TiMOTHT GBASS (PhUum praicnsc), 
■other name in a not very distant State, and this 
second name is also in use for a very different 
plant, confusion is sure to follow. This is the case 
-with the grass widely known as Timothy. When 
the writer was a boy, the grass was generally 
known in New England as Herd’s Grass. Though 
Timothy has since come into use in those States, 
yet there are’ localities where the name Herd’s 
grass is still retained. To add to the confusion, 
the grass called Red-top in New England is known 
as Herd’s grass in Pennsylvania. While Timothy 
is given to but one grass, when our correspondents 
ask us about Herd’s grass we are in doubt which of 
two very unlike grasses is intended. The grass did 
not receive the name Herd’s grass, as many sup¬ 
pose, because herds of cattle are fond of, and 
thrive upon it, but because a man named Herd, 
discovering it growing wild in New Hampshire, 
Torought it into cultivation and notice over a cen¬ 
tury and a half ago. It is not unlikely that this 
name. Herd’s grass, has the priority over Timothy ; 
but the dates are not given very definitely. The 
name Timothy comes from one Timothy Hanson, 
who cultivated the grass in New York State, and 
carried it to one of the Carolinas. It made its way 
northward to Virginia, being often called “ Han¬ 
son’s grass” and “ Timothy Hanson’s grass,” until 
the Hanson was finally dropped, and it became 
Timothy. In 1760 or 1761 one Peter Wynch took 
the seeds of this grass from Virginia to England, 
where, although a native of that country, it for the 
first time came into cultivation there, and is now 
regarded as one of the important grasses. This 
grass has a truly singular history. Not known as 
indigenous to this country, it must have been in¬ 
troduced from England or some other part of Eu¬ 
rope very soon after the English colonists came 
here. Its good qualities as an agricultural grass 
were first discovered far from its home, and finally, 
by way of the Carolinas and Virginia it went back 
to Europe with its character established and took 
its place among the valuable farm grasses. To 
add to the confusion of names, the grass, in Eng¬ 
land, is called “ Cat’s-tail” and “ Meadow Cat’s-tail 
grass.” The confusion often attending the com¬ 
mon names for plants, might be avoided by using 
the botanical names, which are vastly more defi¬ 
nite. Phleum pratense always stands for one and the 
same ' plant, whether it is known as Timothy, 
Herd’s grass, or Meadow Cat’s-tail. As to the 
plants themselves, they are abundantly unlike. 
Timothy {Phleum pratense,') has its flowers in a long 
narrow spike of the same diameter throughout, like 
that in the engraving. Red-top, often called 
“Herd’s grass” in Pennsylvania and southward, 
has its flowers in an open panicle, much like the 
panicle of an oat, only the flowers are much small¬ 
er. The botanical name of this is,Agrostis vulgaris. 
Producing New Varieties of Potatoes. 
The tubers will sometimes, though rarely, 
“spoi-t,” and produce a different variety from the 
one planted, giving the impression that they will 
“ mix in the hill.” The only way to be certain of 
producing new varieties, is to plant the real seeds, 
those found in the fruit or “ ball,” that succeeds 
the flowers at the top of the vine. Each seed in a 
ball may produce a distinct variety. That wonder¬ 
ful seed ball which contained the seed from which 
came the Early Rose, also produced several other 
varieties, some of which were good enough to be 
propagated. People have been deterred from try¬ 
ing to raise potatoes from the seed by the state¬ 
ment in the books, copied from English writers, 
that the tubers first obtained were very small, and 
required several years of cultivation before their 
quality could be ascertained. Mr. Breese, who 
was the fortunate originator of the Early Rose, and 
has had much experience in raising seedlings, in¬ 
formed us that he treated the potato seeds just as 
he did those of the tomato, sowing the seeds in the 
same manner, and setting out the plants at the 
same time. If a seedling did not at the end of the 
first season show some tubers of an eatable size, he 
did not bother with it any farther. Some seedsmen 
offer potato seeds, but unless it is known what va¬ 
riety produced them, we should prefer to wait and 
secure seed next fall from known varieties, and 
thus be sure of the pedigree of the seedlings. 
The Sunflower as an Oil Plant. 
Inquiries have recently been made of us concern¬ 
ing the cultivation of the Sunflower on a large scale 
for the sake of the oil contained in its seeds. The 
sunflower as an oil plant is sparingly cultivated in 
France, and to a greater extent in Southern Rus¬ 
sia. In this country, aside from Castor Oil and 
Linseed very little has been done in cultivating oil¬ 
bearing plants. We have now less need of culti¬ 
vating them than formerly, as the products of pe¬ 
troleum afford a wonderfully cheap illuminating 
oil, while oil for other uses is obtained cheaply 
from cotton seeds, formerly a waste product. 
Abroad the sunflower is not regarded with much fa¬ 
vor as an oil-bearing plant, as the yield is only about 
fifteen per cent, of the weight of the seeds, while 
cotton seed (hulled) yields fifty per cent. The 
ashes of the sunflower stem contain a very large 
amount of potash, showing that the crop draws very 
heavily upon the soil for one of its most valuable 
plant constituents and would soon impoverish it. 
Porming a Tree Top. 
W. D. BOYNTON. 
It is of the utmost importance that young trees 
start out with a well-formed top. They are to stand 
as monuments of the cultivator’s work, perhaps 
for centuries after his hands have ceased to toil. 
They may be living green 
memorials of work well done, 
or unsightly objects of man’s 
neglect and abuse. Their use¬ 
fulness depends altogether 
upon this early training. Low, 
broad tops for fruit trees are 
especially desirable, and they 
very seldom attain them, un¬ 
less trained with this object in 
view. Until young trees are 
finally placed in the orchard, 
the treatment and way of 
handling tends to draw the 
limbs up near the trunk, and 
unless this is counteracted, 
they assume an almost ver- 
j'jg_ tical growth, giving the tree 
a narrow and contracted ap¬ 
pearance. Such trees are usually unfmitful, 
and not at all convenient for gathering the fruit. 
Close contact and rapid growth in the nursery 
causes the limbs to grow up, and when removed 
they are tied in the smallest possible bundles, and 
drawn together in a little knot at the top. Per¬ 
haps alter remaining there for a week or two, they 
are untied and buried for the winter, the tops 
being pressed together unnaturally five for or six 
mouths. After all this perversion some even claim 
that any after-training is unnecessary and injurious, 
as they will naturally take that form best adapted 
to their location and its conditions. If the form 
had not been artificially molded, we could more read- 
Fig. 2.— TREE IN TRAINING. 
ily allow nature to execute her own designs ; but 
when nature’s functions are usurped, we must 
carry on the work to completion ; the contracted 
top must be brought back into a natural shape, 
if we would have a thoroughly fruitful tree. 
Figure 1 represents a tree as it usually comes 
from the nursery. The trunk is not at all protect¬ 
ed by the narrow top, but is left exposed to wind 
and sun, which work such havoc in the alternating 
weather of our Northern winters. Figure 2 shows 
an arrangement for bringing the limbs into proper 
position. The frame is made by driving four posts 
three feet apart at the ground, and five feet at the 
top, their hight corresponding to that of the tree. 
The cross strips can be cut from batten stuff or 
any odd pieces on h.and. One strip around will 
do, but two or more increase the solidity and dura¬ 
bility, and better protect trees from large animals. 
Tarred rope or cord is best for tying the limbs 
