1877.] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
383 
The scanty tree growth was long ago cut from 
them, and being left without further human inter¬ 
ference, dense thickets of saplings and suckers have 
grown up. These will go through a long “ strug¬ 
gle for existence,” in which, by crowding and 
starving the weaker, a few of “ the fittest ” may 
ultimately survive. Not even do these tracts re¬ 
ceive the care of a thinning, to shorten the time in 
which the wood may be fit for making charcoal, 
which is the probable destiny of most of it. It is 
gratifying to know that a beginning, at least, is 
likely to be made to bring this waste land into 
profit. Misfortunes are not the only things that 
never come singly, for good things have a pleasant 
way of liking good company, and the attempt to 
excite 
An Interest in Tree Planting, 
may be directly traced to the good gift of Mr. Arnold, 
and the placing of the Arboretum in the hands of 
Prof. Sargent as Director. But I must not make 
too long a story of it. There is another good—ex¬ 
ceedingly good institution in and around Boston— 
the Mass. Society for Promoting Agriculture. In 
view of the good this Society has done, and is try¬ 
ing to do, we can forgive its unhandy name. It is 
fortunate in the possession of two exceedingly good 
things for any society to have: a handsome en¬ 
dowment and an efficient Board of Trustees— 
gentlemen who know how to be liberal with the 
Society’s income when they see that good results 
may follow expenditure. Prof. Sargent is a member 
of the Board, upon which are other gentlemen of 
similar tastes, and holding similar views as to the 
importance of awakening an interest in tree plant¬ 
ing, and a portion of the income of the Society has 
wisely been appropriated to the encouragement of 
arboriculture, with a view to show the owners of 
these now unproductive lands how they maybe 
made profitable, and while adding to their own in¬ 
come, increase the prosperity of the State. The 
Society’s first step in the matter was to offer 
Liberal Prizes for Tree Planting, 
which were noticed in Aug. last, p. 287. The con¬ 
nection between this and the Arnold Arboretum is 
this : From his position as Director, Prof. Sargent 
has a wide correspondence with and is in most 
favorable relations with arboriculturists all over the 
world, and is thus enabled to aid the Society in a 
manner in which hardly any other person 
could. The Society does more than to mere¬ 
ly offer prizes for plantations of trees, it 
proposes to aid those who wish to compete 
in making a start. There is nothing which 
ordinarily sensible people so blunder about 
as trees in general, and forest trees in parti¬ 
cular. As it now is, the Massachusetts land- 
owner has only to fix upon the prize or 
prizes for which he will compete, and he will 
not only be told whether he can best get his 
seeds or young trees at home or abroad, but 
if from abroad, his trees or seeds will be 
imported for him, or if at home, he will be 
put in communication with dealers in the 
stock especially desired. The details of this 
matter, as well as all that relates to the 
prizes, are in the hands of Mr. Francis 
Skinner, of Brookline, Mass., who is Prof. 
Sargent’s efficient aid in many of the duties 
belonging to his position, and in all matters 
relating to the prizes acts as the Agent of the 
Trustees. It will be seen that, while the Ar¬ 
boretum as a collection of trees is in only a forma¬ 
tive condition, its influence is making itself felt 
throughout the State. I have great hopes of posi¬ 
tive results from the efforts of this 
Public-Spirited Society, 
as it seems to possess every element of success. 
The President of the Society, as well as of the 
Trustees, is the Hon. Thomas Motley, whose deep 
interest in all rural matters and executive ability, 
have in various ways aided in agricultural progress, 
and as members-of the Board we find the names of 
Saltonstall, Robeson, Bowditch, Lowell, Adams, 
and others, familiar to all who take note of rural 
matters in Massachusetts. If any of my readers in 
the Bay State have failed to acquaint themselves 
with the terms of these tree planting prizes, they 
should send to Mr. Skinner, as above, for the circu¬ 
lar .... Of course I visited 
Mr. Sargent’s Own Grounds, 
and it can be no violation of the proprieties to speak 
of a place which was visited this spring by 40,000 
strangers. The finest collection of Exotic Azaleas 
in the country, is here, and for several years the 
plants, when in perfection, have been placed in an 
enormous tent upon the lawn, and all who cared to 
visit the exhibition were welcomed. There was 
given in “ Hearth and Home ” for June 21st, 1873, 
an engraving showing some of these plants, remark¬ 
able for the perfection of their training, as well as for 
their enormous size, and they have lost nothing with 
added years. The grounds of Prof. Sargent, and 
his father, Ignatius Sargent, Esq., a veteran horti¬ 
culturist, together comprise about 150 acres, and it 
would be difficult to find a spot, where variety of 
surface, rock, lake, and wood, through which vistas 
open to the distance, combine in more picturesque 
variety. The gardens, filled with rare plants, the 
trees, of which there are many fine specimens, the 
extensive ranges of houses, all bear witness to the 
skill of Prof. Sargent. Indeed, one would suppose 
that in his home grounds alone, there was sufficient 
to employ all his time—but such is his executive 
ability, that he finds this but recreation from his 
regular work at the Botanic Garden and Arbore¬ 
tum. An account of some of the striking features 
of these grounds, and other matters, must, be pre¬ 
served for another month. 
Lawn-Mowers for Horses. 
Recently on a visit to a place where there were 
acres of lawn, the grass was in such tine condition, 
that we were led to ask what machine was used. 
The reply was, “ the Excelsior.” This reminded 
us that in an account of some of the leading lawn- 
mowers, given in June last, we did not give an il¬ 
lustration of the Excelsior Horse Lawn-Mower, ow¬ 
ing to the fact that, through some mishap, an en¬ 
graving expressly prepared for the article, failed to 
reach us in time ; this we regret, as when we de¬ 
scribe machines, of which there are several styles 
and makes, we prefer to present the different kinds 
at once, in order that the reader may compare them, 
THE “EXCELSIOR” HORSE LAWN-MOWER. 
and determine which seems most desirable for his 
use. The “Excelsior ” mowers, whether for hand 
or horse power, are made by the Chadbom & Cald¬ 
well Manufacturing Co., Newburgh, N. Y., and the 
heaviest part of their business is with the horse- 
mowers, in which they have made special improve¬ 
ments, and which are largely used in this country, 
and great numbers of them are exported to Eu¬ 
rope, where large lawns being more frequent than 
with us, the demand for horse-machines is much 
greater. In order to show the form and style of the 
“Excelsior” horse-mower, we here give the en¬ 
graving that should have been presented last June, 
in company with that of the popular hand-mower. 
The Japan Creeper. —When this was first offer¬ 
ed, we presented an engraving of it, and have since 
shown that, for many purposes, it is greatly superior 
to its American brother, the Virginia Creeper. The 
Japan vine was introduced as Ampelopsis Veitchii, as 
it came into cultivation through the efforts of the 
Messrs. Veitch, but it had long before been de¬ 
scribed as A. iricuspidata, which is its proper name. 
But we trust to see it so well known, that it will be 
recognized as readily by the name Japan Creeper, 
as our own is by the prefix Virginia. While our 
native species has its leaves divided into five parts, 
the leaves in this are merely lobed, and resemble 
those of some grape vines. The vine will rapidly 
cover a surface in the closest and completest man¬ 
ner, and with a green that is livelier than that of 
our own, while its more delicate habit allows it to 
adapt itself to architectural details in a manner not 
possible with the other. Several years ago we saw 
some fine specimens near Boston, and it has since 
become quite frequent in the streets of the city it¬ 
self. Some of the new and costly residences upon 
the “ Back Bay ” lands are beautifully draped with 
this vine, which is one of the few plants of recent 
introduction, that fully meet the anticipations 
formed when they were first brought into notice. 
rang HOTSEMum 
SgsT" For other Household Items see “ Basket ” pages. 
Home Topics. 
BY FAITH ROCHESTER. 
Buying of Peddlers. 
“ 1 never trade with peddlers,” I have heard la¬ 
dies say, seeming to take credit to themselves for 
superior sagacity. Some even go so far as to ex¬ 
clude all peddlers from the house, never allowing 
one to come beyond the door step. But >s not the 
traveling trader engaged in legitimate business? 
He is not a tramp. He is not a beggar. Busy 
house-keepers, living far from stores, are sometimes 
very glad to have thread, needles, buttons, tapes, 
combs, etc., brought to them. Such has been my 
experience more than once; and even yesterday 1 
was not sorry to see a peddler coming in at the gate, 
though I now live in the neighborhood of two or 
three small country stores. It sometimes happens 
that, for a week or two, I do not feel that I have 
time to spare to run into a neighbor’s house or a 
store, but send a child on every errand. Here was 
a man who v ;uld show me his goods while I was 
making my bread into loaves; and not a minute 
wasted, you see. 
Did I want to buy anything to-day ? I thought 
of calico, shoes, ammonia, graham flour—but the 
peddler’s pack did not carry these. I asked for 
pearl buttons. He had just sold the last of his but¬ 
tons. Had he any lace footing? No. Any narrow 
embroidery suitable for the necks of children’s 
dresses. O yes! Embroidery, plenty of that. But 
it wasn’t suitable. Evidently he had nothing 
which I particularly needed, but I thought it only 
fair to buy something to pay him for the trouble of 
opening his bundle, as he would not have done had 
I answered his first question in the negative. So I 
took a linen handkerchief and a bunch of shoe 
laces, and paid him twenty cents for the two, sup¬ 
posing that the whole business was over. 
But no. Couldn’t he sell me a nice bed-spread ? 
No. I was not wishing to purchase one at present. 
But he had some very nice ones that he was selling 
very cheap, because he wanted to get back to Chi¬ 
cago this week, and he would show them to me. I 
told him he would only be sorry for opening the 
larger pack, for I was almost sure I should not buy 
anything. He wanted to show me his table-cloths, 
towels, ready-made garments, and bed-spreads, and 
I need not buy unless I chose. Before many min¬ 
utes he was doing his best to make me buy a bed¬ 
spread and a table-cloth, which he offered me for 
$3.25. The counterpane was worth $5.00, he assured 
me, and the table-cloth (buff unbleached linen), 
$125. But because he was determined to sellout 
his stock of goods immediately, he offered the 
counterpane for $2.50, and the table-cloth for 80 
cents, and he would let me have the two together 
for $3.25. Here was a bargain. I would never 
have another like it, he was certain. If I had not 
looked at these things at all, perhaps I would have 
been spared all this urging to buy. But it happened 
