412 
.4MEEI0AK AGEIOULTUEIST. 
[October, 
The Daikon—Japanese Winter Radish. 
Travellers in Japan mention the very general use 
in that country of a large white radish, called 
Daikon,'’ the varieties of which are given dis¬ 
tinctive names. Some of these sorts have been 
cultivated in France, and are there regarded as a 
valuable addition to the list cf winter vegetables. 
Those of our readers who have tried the “California 
Large White Winter Radish,” recently offered by 
our seedsmen, have made the acquaintance of one 
of the forms of the Japanese Daikon, which has 
been sent out with the above new name. The 
usual form of the Daikon is that of the “ Cow-horn 
Turnip,” but much larger, measuring from one to 
two feet in length, and four to six inches in diame¬ 
ter. The exterior is usually a very pure white, but 
those tinged with rose-color and violet have been 
produced. The usual form is that shown in figure 
1, and called by the Japanese Ilarw nerima ; those 
given in figure 2, Shieineain, and in figure 3, Kedis- 
sune, are the principal variations from figure 1. In 
France the seed is sown during the first half of 
August. If sown earlier, the roots throw up seed- 
stalks, and if much later, the roots do not have 
sufficient time to properly develop before frost. 
The soil should be tine and rich, and, if possible, 
manured the previous season. On poor soil, arti¬ 
ficial fertilizers are used. Tlic crop, especially on 
light land, requires an abundance of moisture, as it 
makes the roots moi'e tender. The roots are used 
as soon as large enough ; those to be stored for 
winter use are pulled, the tops removed, and 
stored in a cave or cellar, covering them with earth 
or sand. If no cellar is at hand, the roots may be 
kept in pits in the field, like turnips, covered with 
sufficient earth and strav/ to prevent freezing. 
In quality the Daikon.s are compared to a very 
mild turnip. The roots are used raw like our rad¬ 
ishes, or to form a part of salads. They are most 
generally cooked, and in France have been found 
acceptable, in soups, and when stewed and served 
with various sauces. Properly stored, so that 
they will not shrivel, the roots keep until spring. 
A Hand-Cart. 
A hand-cart can be advantageously employ¬ 
ed in drawing vegetables from the garden, lawn, 
grass to the barn, and in various other ways. 
It may be fitted for sprinkling in dry weather, by 
attaching a barrel or a water-tight tank to the 
platform. If the pig pasture is a considerable dis¬ 
tance away, the same cart may be used for convey¬ 
ing swill. A hand-cart will frequently save har¬ 
nessing the team, and may be used in many places 
where horses cannot go. A p;.ir of w’heels from 
an old buck-board, a light wagon, or a sulky horsc- 
rake, with any common axle, will answer for the 
running-gear. Two pieces of hard-wood, eight feet 
long and two inches square, make the sides of the 
platform. The axle should be mortised for the 
reception of the side-pieces, and three-quarter inch 
bolts used to hold the parts together. Cross¬ 
pieces of hard-wood are placed between the side 
strips, upon which rest the l)ottom boards, running 
lengthwise. The side-pieces should extend at 
least six inches beyond the bottom board, thus 
giving space for grasping the cross-bar at the 
end, when drawing or pushing the cart. These 
handles should be round and smooth. Legs, or 
standards, may be hung to the middle of the cross¬ 
pieces so that the cart will stand level and firm. 
The Tule Lands and their Cultivation. 
3r. E. BAMPOKD. 
For the past thirteen years efforts have been 
made in California to reclaim that part of the 
country lying along the Sacramento and San Joa¬ 
quin rivers, commonly known to the dwellers in 
this State as the “Tuies.” The tall rushes with 
which these lands are covered, furnish the Indians 
with mateilal to make their tule canoes, in which 
they could go a considerable distance to sea. The 
roots of the tule also afforded food tor the Indians. 
Tule rushes are now used for making baskets and 
carpet-lining. The latter is in use in most of the 
court-rooms of San Francisco, and in many private 
houses. However, the rushes themselves are not 
of sufficient importance to’ prevent their being- 
turned under by the tule-plows in such portions as 
can be protected by levees fi-om the river. Tule 
lands, when reclaimed, are among the most pro¬ 
ductive portions of the State. A great part of the 
vegetables sold in the Sah Francisco market, come 
from Chinese farms on these reclaimed tides. The 
Chinese market gardeners pay a yearly rent of 
from tw-elve to twenty dollars per acre. The tides 
are especially valued in dry seasons, as when it lias 
become evident that crops on the uplands are to bo 
failures by the drouth, seed may bo afterwards 
planted on the tuies, and a good return realized. 
In some counties, as San Joaquin, these swamp 
lands comprise about a quarter of the entire county. 
Yolo County, on the Sacramento, obtains its name 
from the tule rusiies, the Indian name for which 
was “yo-doy.” There are yet left in Yolo County 
several hundred thousand acres that are overflowed 
by the Sacramento every year, notwithstanding the 
very expensive attempts made to reclaim them. 
Some of the men who have spent most in the 
hope of reclaiming these lauds, have lost one crop 
in three. About twenty thousand of these acres 
have recently been bought by an English syndicate, 
worth several million dollars, and it is expected 
that about half a million dollars will be neces¬ 
sary for reclaiming the portion bought. An im¬ 
mense levee is now being built around this section. 
In many places along the Sacramento the levees 
are very large, being sometimes over twenty feet 
high, and from one hundred and fifty to two hun¬ 
dred feet thick, forming a carriage-drive on top. 
The debris sent down by hydraulic mining has 
been a constant annoyance to farmers in the tule 
districts. The bed of the river being filled up of 
course causes the water to rise, and the levees 
must be raised in proportion. This causes addi¬ 
tional expense to the farmers, who, in many 
places, as Sutter County, wdiich has for its entire 
length on Feather River a line of levees, have to 
raise funds for maintaining these bulwarks. In 
some districts the tax on the farms fortius purpose 
is very great, often averaging as high as six dollars 
and fifty cents per acre. The recent decision in 
regard to the discontinuance of hydraulic mining, 
will probably have a tendency to diminish this 
taxation in future. The levee fund raised by taxa¬ 
tion is expended under the direction of a Bo.ard of 
Commissioners chosen by the land owners. Men 
are constantly employed in watching the levees for 
any signs of breaking, in keeping down the vegeta¬ 
tion upon them, and in poisoning the gophers that 
would dig dangerous holes if left to themselves. 
Many of the tule islands of the Sacramento and 
San Joaquin, such as Union, Roberts’, Staten, 
Boulder, and Rough and Ready Islands, have been 
reclaimed by means of levees, and yield good crops. 
The total amount expended for levees by Yuba 
County alone, amounts to three hundred thousand 
dollars. Some tule lands have been known to 
yield eighty-three bushels of barley to the acre. 
After levees have been built, some fanners try to 
clear their laud by firing the tides. This process is 
attended with danger, however, as the fire some¬ 
times spreads to the uplands and destroys the 
fences and crops of the farmer and his neighbors. 
In places, tule fires will run for hundreds of feet at 
a depth of one or two feet under ground, and then 
burst out again at some unexpected place, so that 
it is impossible to estimate the probable damage of 
such a fire. Nothing but rains will stop it when 
once under way. The tule reeds are much more 
safely got rid of by use of the tule-plow made for 
the purpose. The State has sold, up to the present 
time, in the valley of the Sacramento, about five 
hundred and forty-nine thousand acres of tule laud.s. 
An Entirely New Plum. 
A number of shrubs and small trees which came 
from a European correspondent a few years ago, 
were planted in a nursery row preparatory to mak¬ 
ing a final disposition of them. This year one of 
these attracted attention by a show of fruit. It 
proved to be Prunus Simnnij Simon’s Plum, a native 
of the northern part of China. The tree, now about 
ten feet high, iias slender, erect branches. The 
lance-shaped leaves are minutely serrate on the 
margin, and with two to four small globose glands 
at the base. The leaves are dark-green and shining 
on the upper surface, and lighter colored and dull 
below. The fruit, ripe about August 10th, some¬ 
times reaches two inches in diameter, though usu¬ 
ally smaller, and has a very short stem. It is 
much llattened lengthwise, and at a short distance 
appears like a diminutive apple. Tt has a distinct, 
but not very deep suture. The skin, which is per¬ 
fectly smooth, is of the dark-red color known as 
cinnabar. The flesh is of an apricot-yellow color, 
and somewhat adherent to the stone. The stone 
has a neai'ly orbicular outline, thicker on one side 
than on the other, and marked with furrows and 
holes in a similar manner to the pehch, though in a 
less degree. The fruit ha.s an agreeable and pecu¬ 
liar odor, recalling that of the apricot. The flesh, 
while not very juicy, is, when fully ripe, agreeable, 
with a marked and pleasant flavor, in which the 
THE Simon’s plum. 
taste of bitter almond is quite perceptible. It is 
the possibilities that this new plum presents, rather 
than what it now is, that interests us. When we see 
what has been done in improving the Sand Pear by 
hybridizing, we hope some one may experiment with 
the Simon’s plum, and make it the foundation of a 
new class of plums, and perhaps of peaches. 
Pomologlsts will observe in this fruit a remarkable 
union of the characters that distinguish the plum 
and the peach. Its smooth skin, and the character 
of the flesh are those of a plum, while the glands at 
the base of tlie leaves, and the grooved and rough 
stone are like the peach. Indeed, Decaisne origin¬ 
ally named it Persica A’iuiowt, Simon’s Peach. This 
species shows that Bentham and Hooker were 
right in uniting the almond, peach, plum, cherry, 
apricot, etc., all under the single genus Prunus. 
