1801 .] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
vine growers practice uncovering a part of 
the roots in Spring, to check the too early start¬ 
ing of the buds, and to k the roots from 
growing too near the surface. A thorough ma¬ 
nuring is given once in four or five years. After 
a vineyard is fifteen years old, it is thought best 
to break it up, and begin anew on another piece 
of ground. If a less severe system of pruning 
were practised, it is believed a vineyard would 
last a life-time. 
Osatre Orange Hedges. 
A correspondent of the “Field Notes” re¬ 
commends to sprout the seeds of the Osage 
Orange by placing them in a warm moist at¬ 
mosphere, carefully excluding all light or sun¬ 
shine. Then plant them in a seed bed. The 
young plants are very tender for the first two 
weeks after sprouting, and should be in a light, 
friable soil, that will not bake after rains; if it 
should, the surface must be picked loose, about 
the time the plants are coming up. He says 
“ I have never known the plants to freeze out 
after the first season, (we have.—E d.) to pre¬ 
vent which, they should be taken up in the Fall, 
and packed in a cellar in moist sand. I have 
grown a good fence in four years after setting in 
the hedge-row, and every one that thinks he 
can do the same in less time, will soon find he 
is mistaken.” 
-—.——«®»— - * — - - 
Notes on Strawberry Cultivation. 
Extensive Plantation—Specimen Field—Best Sorts — 
Manner of Treatment — Cheap Baskets Wanted. 
We recently had an agreeable call from Mr. 
J. Knox, of Alleghany Co., Pa., the most exten¬ 
sive strawberry grower in the Atlantic States, if 
not in the Union. He has also a large area 
devoted to raspberries and blackberries. We 
were particularly interested to learn his success 
with the fifty acres of strawberries which he 
has now in bearing, and drew from him some 
important hints. In a specimen field he has one 
hundred varieties, in as many different rows, 
where, for his own satisfaction, and to prove 
new sorts, he exhibits nearly everything heard 
of in the strawberry line. This is of great val¬ 
ue to cultivators, and a large number visit his 
grounds during, the season of fruiting. 
The two varieties most largely grown, are the 
Wilson’s Albany, of which there are thirty 
acres, and the Triomplie de Gand. So well 
does Mr. Knox like this latter sort, that he Is 
rapidly increasing the stock, even by encroach¬ 
ments upon the well known and popular Wil¬ 
son’s seedling. In amount of yield, perhaps 
none exceed the Wilson, but for uniformly large 
size, fine flavor, firm flesh, beauty of color, to¬ 
gether with large productiveness, he places the 
Triomplie de Gand at the head of the list of 
proved sorts. The early pickings of these often 
bring $1 per quart box. 
Mr. Knox’s soil is a clayey loam—the very 
best for strawberries—plowed deep and sub- 
soiled, with a moderate amount of manure 
worked in. The plants are set in perfectly 
straight rows, two and a half feet apart, and ten 
to fifteen inches distant in the row, according as 
they are strong or weak growing sorts. Instead 
of letting the plants cover the ground and ex¬ 
haust themselves in a few years, the runners are 
clipped by women and boys, as fast as they ap¬ 
pear. This operation is somewhat laborious, 
but the increased product amply compensates 
tor the labor, besides facilitating the culture. A 
light horse-cultivator can readily be run through, 
to loosen the soil and destroy weeds. In Au¬ 
tumn the rows are lightly covered with long 
straw, which serves as a winter protection. 
This is thrown between the rows in Spring, and 
keeps the soil from drying up, prevents weeds 
from growing, and preserves the fruit from be¬ 
coming soiled. The gradual decay of the stray/ 
also enriches the ground. 
Mr. K- says his average yield is about three 
hundred bushels of fruit per acre, but some 
sorts give over five hundred bushels to the acre. 
He thinks the plants will continue vigorous for 
at least eight to ten years. 
The fruit finds a ready sale at Pittsburg, Phil¬ 
adelphia, Chicago, etc. Most of it is sent to 
market in quart boxes of the Hallock pattern, 
although some of Cook’s baskets are used. He 
agrees with us, that some very cheap box is 
wanted, which may be sold with the berries, at 
a trifling advance on the price of the fruit. Per¬ 
sons passing a strawberry stand would often buy 
a box of fruit but for the trouble of furnishing a 
basket to contain it, or being obliged to return 
the box. The appearance and quality of the 
berries are also injured by changing them from 
one basket to another. Will Yankee inventors 
please make a note of this want, and endeavor 
to supply it ? 
Watch the Cucumber and Melon Vines. 
That vexatious pest, the striped bug (Galeruca 
vittata ), though usually most destructive to vines 
in June, while the growth is tender, is still active, 
and must be looked after. Several broods of 
these insects hatch out during the Summer, and 
their ravages continue until the end of the sea¬ 
son. The best remedy we have found, is a brood 
of young chickens. Confine the parent hen in 
a movable coop near the vines, and insects 
will very soon be scarce. Or if these can not 
be had, visit the garden very early in the 
morning, before the insects are fairly awake, 
and take them with the thumb and finger. 
Do not allow the vines to have it all their own 
way in growing, or they may neglect fruiting. 
When they have grown three to five feet, ac¬ 
cording to their natural habit, nip off the ends 
and thus reserve the strength for completing the 
fruit already started. It will also be well later 
in the season to remove all small specimens that 
have started late, and which can not come to 
maturity before frost. The remaining fruit will 
be finer. In the case of muskmelons, the un¬ 
ripened fruit will come into use for pickling. 
Cucumbers for pickling should be gathered as 
fast as they grow to the proper size. If left un¬ 
til they commence to ripen, the flavor and firm¬ 
ness of the pickles will be injured, and there 
will also be a feebler growth of the later fruit. 
A Poor Man’s Pleasant Home in the 
Country. 
It is a prevalent notion that a pleasant coun¬ 
try residence must necessarily cost a great deal 
of money. As we have walked with visitors 
through the tastefully planted grounds of a cer¬ 
tain neighbor, it has often amused and vexed us 
to hear the remark made, with a long drawn 
and half envious sigh, “Well, rich, people can 
have such fine places, but we common folks 
must go without them.” While the truth has 
been, that in most cases these grumblers were 
richer than the envied proprietor: they were 
richer, but lazier. This fine place cost the own¬ 
911 
er skillful industry, continued lor many years, 
but not much outlay of money. 
It has been our pleasure to visit lately, anoth¬ 
er residence, in a neighboring county, which is 
the admiration of all who see it, yet which cost 
but little money, and is the property of an intel¬ 
ligent, hard-working mechanic. The pleasure it 
gave, and the good example it may afford to 
others, induce us to give a brief account of our 
visit: 
On alighting at the gate of this gentleman’s 
grounds, we were not struck by the grandeur of 
the house, or the pretension of the gate-way; 
by statues, vases, or ornamental structures of 
any sort. None of these things were to be seen. 
The house was an old one, renovated and slight¬ 
ly modernized, with a porch on one side and a 
piazza on the other, and a little bow-window 
for plafets. The fence w r as a simple paling, 
made and painted by the owner’s own hands. 
The lawn in front was not large, but it was in¬ 
deed a lawn—smooth, closely shaven, and of the 
finest sort of grasses, and notwithstanding the 
prevailing drouth, quite green. The trees were 
well chosen specimens of their respective kinds, 
evergreens and deciduous, pleasantly inter¬ 
mingled. Mr. Brown, the proprietor, has a 
strong preference for native trees over foreign, 
and thinks it almost a test of one’s patriotism to 
think as he does. He is very fond of raising 
trees from seed, and lias a little nursery of all 
sorts of native seedlings, from which he trans¬ 
plants to different parts of his grounds as occa¬ 
sion requires. 
One feature in Mr. B.’s planting attracted our 
particular attention, viz.: his management of 
groups. Some were open and wide-spreading, 
others as close and dense with undergrowth, as 
the wildest forest. Some were set on the out¬ 
skirts, with low-branching trees and shrubs and 
vines, and the foliage was so closely interlaced 
down to the very ground that the eye could not 
penetrate it at all. On the margins, were piled 
bowlders and broken masses of rocks,over which 
wild shrubs and vines clambered, giving the 
whole a very picturesque air. Gravel walks 
wound among these groups, frequently leading 
into the center of them, where were rustic seats, 
on which the family or visitor could sit and en¬ 
joy siestas, shielded from the sun and from all 
observation. This was the wildness and se¬ 
clusion of the forest, in the midst of a highly 
dressed lawn, and within three rods of Mr. B.’s 
parlor. 
The spaces between these groups were kept 
mowed, and here and there were circular beds 
of flowers. For instance, we noticed one bed 
of crimson petunias side by side with one of pure 
white. Adjoining these ornamental grounds, 
but concealed by hedges, were the kitchen and 
fruit gardens, in which vegetables and the small¬ 
er fruits were growing in a healthful and vigor¬ 
ous manner that showed good care. 
Leaving this part of the premises, Mr. B. con¬ 
ducted us along a carriage-road leading to a val¬ 
ley in the rear of his premises. Observing that 
this road was somewhat broken where it ran in 
a straight line, but smooth where it curved, Mr. 
B. said he had noticed the same thing, and had 
ready an explanation of it. Where the road was 
straight, the hinder wheels of his wagons (which 
were often heavy loaded) followed exactly in 
the tracks of the forward, and thereby deepened 
the rut; but where the road curved, the differ¬ 
ent wheels ran over different portions of the 
ground, and therefore did not cut any part bad¬ 
ly. So, in road-making, as in many other things, 
utility and beauty run in the same track. 
Following this road, we were soon in the 
