84 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[March, 
a few plants forward rapidly for first use, set an 
open box over each crown, and put in three or 
four inches of manure from the horse-stable. 
Also surround the box with the same material; 
this will supply much warmth and hasten 
growth. After the leaves put forth, it is the 
practice of some to place a barrel, with both 
heads out, over the plant, to induce a lengthen¬ 
ing of the stalk: it also has a semi-blanching 
effect, and there is less acidity in the edible part. 
This may be done with a part of the plants. 
As the growth increases, year by year, and new 
crowns are formed, they should be divided and 
reset, or otherwise disposed of. If they become 
crowded, the growth of leaf and stalk is im¬ 
peded, and the value for cooking impaired. 
It is better to procure crowns than to sow 
seed; as at least a year of time is saved, and we 
may be sure of obtaining the variety desired. 
Where seed is sown, the product may differ 
greatly from the parent plant. 
Bleeding of Vines. 
There seems to be a difference of opinion as 
to whether a grape vine is injured by the exces¬ 
sive bleeding which ensues whenever a branch 
is cut off late in the Spring. A paragraph has 
just met our eye in Lindley’s “ Theory of Hor¬ 
ticulture,” which is decisive on the point. He 
says : “ Nothing is more strictly to tie guarded 
against, than the disposition to bleed , which oc¬ 
curs in some plants when pruned, atfd to such 
an extent as to threaten them with death. In 
the vine, in milky plants, and in rar»s>t climbers 
or twiners, this is particularly conspicuous, 
etc., etc. .This property usually arises 
from the large size of the vessels through winch 
sap is propelled at the periods of early growth, 
which vessels are unable, when cut through, to 
collapse sufficiently to close their own apertures, 
and they necessarily pour forth their fluid 
contents as long as the roots continue to absorb 
them from the soil. If this is allowed to con¬ 
tinue, the system becomes so exhausted as to be 
unable to recover from the shock, and the plant 
will either become very unhealthy, or will die. 
The only mode of avoiding it is, to take care 
never to wound such trees or vines at the time 
when their sap first begins to flow; after, a time, 
the demand upon the system by the leaves be¬ 
comes so great that there is no surplus, and 
therefore bleeding does not take place when a 
wound is inflicted.” 
The moral of this, so far as grape-vines are 
concerned, is, to prune them in the Fall, or, if 
the work be delayed until Spring, to do it earl}-, 
fsay in this month) before the first flow of sap. 
Sometimes, it becomes desirable to remove a 
large cane la-te in the Spring, and various means 
have been tried to prevent the excessive bleed¬ 
ing at such times. Mr. Downing recommend¬ 
ed the useot gum-shellac paste; but we know, 
from experience, that it is not efficacious : the 
strong tide of sap bursts through it and soon 
washes it away. Others have recommended the 
insertion of a raw potato on the cut end of the 
branch; but this has also failed in our garden, 
after repeated t rials. * 
S'"; Andrew Knight published a remedy 
which lie had practiced with success: it is as 
follows: “ If to four parts of scraped cheese, be 
added one part of calcined oyster shells, or oth¬ 
er pure'calcareous earth, and this composition 
be pressed strongly into the pores of the wood, 
the sap will instantly cease to flow; so that the 
largest branch may be taken offi at any season 
with safety.” 
Fig. 1. 
Vases and Statuary in Ornamental Grounds. 
ECONOMICAL SUBSTITUTE FOR MARBLE, FOR THE MASSES. 
Our readers will bear testimony, doubtless, 
that the American Agriculturist inclines decidedly 
to the practical. As a general rule, when pre¬ 
paring matter for its columns, the first inquiry 
is: Will this thing pay? If it will not bring our 
readers a return of solid cash, will it yet yield 
something substantial and truly useful ? Good 
manners, home enjoyments and embellishments, 
tasteful houses, gardens, trees, lawns and vari¬ 
ous other rural decorations—these things and 
the like, add as much to the happiness of life as 
money itself, if not vastly more, and whatever 
promotes these, may fairly be included in the 
scope of this journal. We have heretofore spo¬ 
ken on this general subject of rural embellish¬ 
ment, and now wish to say a few words more, 
with special reference to vases and other orna¬ 
mental figures for the garden and lawn. 
There is an obvious propriety in the use of 
these objects. Beautiful in themselves, they al¬ 
so serve to give an air of refinement and finish 
to a place, which nothing else can impart. If a 
Fig. 2. 
handsome house stands upon a rough, untidy 
piece of ground, there is an apparent incongrui¬ 
ty between the two: there is a painfully abrupt 
transition between the finished architecture and 
the rude, uncultured land. But now surround 
l the wall at its base with a smooth terrace; set 
here and there upon it a shrub; twine a few 
vines about the porch and windows, and what 
a transformation! There is a felt harmony, a 
manifest link between the house and grounds. 
Carry the work a step further. Extend the 
lawn on all sitjes to the boundaries of the prem¬ 
ises, and plant graceful trees upon it; set here 
and there on the terrace a classic vase, yonder 
a sun-dial, and further on, among the trees, a 
statue, or fountain with its jet of spray—have 
we not ascended a step higher? 
The spirit of the architecture is carried out 
and diffused upon the grounds; nay, the senti¬ 
ment and soul of the household itself are breath¬ 
ed all over and through the lawn, and grove, 
and garden, elevating the place high above the 
coarseness of the neighboring highway and 
plowed field, and making it all instinct with 
poetry and love. 
“This is all very well, for those who can afford 
to buy marble vases and statues,” says the eco¬ 
nomical reader, “but ah ! poor me.” Save your 
tears, Sir. You may buy marble statuary if 
you can, but if not, there is a very tolerable sub¬ 
stitute for it in cast-iron. This, if well painted, 
will last about as long as marble itself. Our 
manufacturers of ornamental iron-work in this 
country have shown great good sense and taste, 
in preparing for the market copies of some of 
the finest statues and vases of antiquity. And 
it speaks well for the public taste that they have 
called for such manufactures. Whoever will 
visit one of these establishments in any of our 
large cities, will find much to interest him. Ami 
the same may be said of establishments where 
terra-cotta* is wrought into similar articles. Here 
are many sym¬ 
bolical and other 
figures, of which 
the classical stu¬ 
dent will say, 
“ Thereby hangs 
a tale” — a tale 
sometimes ex¬ 
tending into re¬ 
in o t e history. 
Here are copies 
of Egyptian, Gre¬ 
cian, Tuscan and 
Roman sculp¬ 
tures. To the 
common eye, many of these will appear attractive 
only from their symmetry and grace, but to the 
eye of the scholar they will have an additional 
meaning. They will recall the pages of Homer, 
Euripides, Virgil and Horace; they will con¬ 
jure up the memory of heroic actions, of ancient 
scenes and incidents which are full of the most 
romantic interest. 
In a stroll through one of these establish¬ 
ments in this City, we noticed vases on which 
were represented the parting of Briseis and 
Achilles; Vulcan, forging for Achilles the sa¬ 
cred arms; Ajax supporting Patroclus; I lector 
holding his last interview with Andromache; 
Niobc and her daughter, etc., etc. Here we 
saw, not in marble, indeed, but in solid iron. 
copies of some of I lie noblest productions of ge¬ 
nius—the works of Phidias, Apelles, Praxiteles, 
Angelo and Canova. And it seemed to us no 
fight thing that the public were thus enabled 
to procure, at a moderate cost, specimens of 
the ancient sculptors which have a world-wide 
renown. Copies of them set near the doorway, 
or scattered sparingly upon the lawn, will not 
only answer as ornaments, but will excite the 
* Terra Cotta signifies baked clay: the name is given lo 
statues, vases, etc., made from a paste of potter’s clay ami 
a fine colorless sand. 
