I860.] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
181 
How to Pick Strawberries. 
A child knows how to pull off the ripe berries, 
but if you will examine, you will find one, two, or 
three unripe or green ones, gathered by careless 
or unskillful picking, accompanying each ripe one 
into the basket. This fruit grows in bunches 
upon a common fruit stalk, and there is a great 
difference with different varieties, in the habit 
of parting easily at the joints. The Walker’s 
Seedling, one of the richest flavored berries 
grown, and a very good bearer, is seriously in¬ 
jured by this tenderness at the joints. Unless the 
greatest care is exercised, you get more green 
than ripe fruit at picking. 
As this work is generally done, the berry is 
pulled from the stalk, causing it to part at the 
weakest point, which is sometimes below the 
whole hunch of fruit in which there is but a single 
ripe berry. In consequence of careless picking, 
less than half a crop is 
realized ; for the plant 
has no power to send 
out new fruit stalks, 
and repair the waste 
before another season. 
In the proper mode of 
picking, the berry is 
not pulled from the 
stalk. It is taken be¬ 
tween the thumb and 
fore finger, and the 
thumb nail is brought 
down upon the hall of the fore finger, cutting 
the stem as near the fruit as possible, as 
seen in the figure. The thumb nail of the straw¬ 
berry picker should he left long for this purpose. 
' The stem is made fast between the end of the 
nail and the finger, and where the stem is not 
immediately cut, it is forced off by a gentle con¬ 
traction of the thumb and finger. This leaves 
the rest of the bunch to ripen. These directions 
apply to fruit picked with the hulls left on, which 
is the way generally adopted with the finer kinds. 
Much of the profit of strawberry culture will 
be found to depend upon careful picking. It is 
easy to waste fifty bushels to the acre in destroy¬ 
ing green fruit. If children are employed in this 
business, they should he carefully instructed in 
the best mode of picking. 
Thinning out Plants. 
We hereby repeat our annual advice "on this 
subject. Most gardeners are aptto let their veg¬ 
etables and flowering plants grow too close to¬ 
gether. They sow an extra amount of seed, in 
order to guard against contingencies, and when 
the plants shoot up vigorous and handsome, it is 
quite hard to pull them up and cast them away 
like weeds. But this must be done, if we wish 
for the best results. 
Cucumbers, melons, and squashes, should be 
thinned out to three vigorous plants in a hill; 
pole beans to not more than four. Beets, onions, 
carrots, parsneps ajid the like, should be repeat¬ 
edly thinned,'until they stand far enough asunder 
to allow the full development of root and leaf. 
Let this he done, too, in good season, or the plants 
will he drawn up spindling, running to leaves 
more than to roots. A beet, or ruta-baga, without 
a good root, isn’t worth much for its leaves. 
So with flowering plants. Nearly all gardens 
suggest the idea of a jungle. Most persons seem 
ambitious to get as many plants into a given 
space as it. can hold, forgetting that a small num¬ 
ber well selected, well developed, and trained, 
give greater satisfaction. Let the annual plants 
now coining forward, be subjected to a faithful 
thinning out, and the advantage will soon be ap¬ 
parent. 
Inexpensive Household Ornaments- - - -IV. 
SPECIMENS OF BIRDS. 
In the October No. of last year’s Agriculturist, 
page. 333, we gave an illustration of the “ White 
Breasted Nuthatch,” (Sap-Sucker,) drawn from a 
beautiful specimen prepared in a manner new to 
us, and forwarded by Mr. John Marsden, Oneida 
Co., N. Y. In answer to our request, he has 
kindly furnished minute directions for the process 
of preparation. It is much less difficult than the 
ordinary way of skinning and stuffing, and a very 
life-like representation of the bird is produced. 
The feathers only are used—it is, as Mr. M. calls 
it, a method of painting a bird with his own plu¬ 
mage.” Specimens of this kind arranged in glass 
cases, or frames, are beautiful ornaments for the 
parlor. The materials required, are a bird, a 
sharp pen-knife, and scissors, a smooth pine board 
about twelve inches square, black lead, and cam¬ 
el’s hair pencils, a box of water color paints, 
drawing paper, and a smooth paste. This is made 
by dissolving a teaspoonful of gum arabic in a 
teacup of boiling water, add flour batter till the 
paste is thick, and boil well. In commencing the 
work, we must first obtain a correct life size out¬ 
line of the bird to be represented. 
As each bird has some peculiarity of shape, it 
is best for those unskilled in drawing from nature, 
to copy the outlines from some illustrated work 
on Ornithology, which can be done very neatly 
upon thin oiled paper laid over the engraving. 
But as these pictures are very seldom of the nat¬ 
ural size, it is necessary to enlarge them, which 
may be done thus: Take an outline of the print 
on oiled paper with a lead pencil, mark out the 
outlines of the wings and eyes, also the divisions 
of the different colored plumage, if you think it 
necessary. Then, rule marks across your outline, 
with a fine lead pencil, from top to bottom, and 
from side to side, one-quarter of an inch apart. 
Measure your bird by the print: if, for example, it 
be twice as large, take a piece of drawing paper, 
two inches larger every way than the bird, rule 
it with the same number of squares as are on the 
oiled paper, but make them twice as large, or half 
an inch square. So if the bird be one half, or one 
third, or any number of times larger than your 
outline copy, make the squares on the drawing 
paper larger in this same proportion. Then draw 
the small onttTne, square by square, into the large 
squares, observing to make the part of the outline 
you draw, fall in the same part ot the large 
squares, that it does in the small oner-. When 
the outline is finished, paste the paper down by 
the corners to the working board. The parallel 
pencil lines will do no harm, as the outline will be 
covered with feathers, except the bill and feet, 
which must be painted. 
The figure shows a half life-size outline of the 
Carolina Chatterer, ( Bombycilla Carolincnsis), 
known by the names of Cedar bird, Cherry bird, 
Wax wing, etc. This bird is very common in the 
Atlantic States, and one of the very best to 
feather. This may be copied, and it will be a very 
good subject for the first attempt—as he is a sad 
thief in cherry time, we shall have less compunc¬ 
tion in shooting him. Work up your paste fine, 
adding water if necessary, and with a camel’s 
hair pencil, lay on a light coat of paste where the 
feather, 1, is to be laid. Pull out the outermost 
left tail feather, lay it on your board, cut off the* 
quill, and lay it in its place at 1. Next, pull out 
the outermost right tail feather, cut off the quill, 
and paste it in its place at 2 ; lay a little paste oa 
the innermost web of 2, then take the next out¬ 
ermost right tail feather, and paste it in its place 
as at 3 ; paste 4 the same as 3 ; then fill up the. 
left of the tail, as yon have done the right. Place, 
the center feather last, which completes the tail. 
Generally, the quill end, or the base of the tail 
feathers, must have their shafts lie close togeth¬ 
er, but not crossing each other Now, take a nar¬ 
row strip of thin unsized paper, and paste it over 
the quill end of the tail, which will keep the 
feathers in place, after which, lay on a fight 
weight, and let it dry. 
Next in order come the “ tail coverts.” They 
are not shown in the outline, but by looking at 
your bird, you will see that they commence with 
a point half way down the tail, opposite 11, and 
extend upward, spreading out and filling the 
space, 10. Pull out the lowest feathers first, cut 
off the downy end, and use the tips only. Lay on 
a little paste, take up a feather with your wet 
brush, by laying it on the feather close to the cut 
end, and attach it in its place. Paste in this man¬ 
ner a row of feathers, then add a little paste, and 
put on another row overlapping the first, like 
shingles on a roof—work this color of feathers up 
through the space 10, and under part of the wing, 
which must cover them. 
Next pull out the longest right wing primary, 
cut off one inch of the quili end, and paste it 
down at 5, as you did the first tail feather. Paste 
the rest of the primaries in the order shown in 
the outline, by cutting the second shorter than 
the first, the last one only about an inch long. 
The feather ends of a folded wing lie close to¬ 
gether, one overlying another, so that the outer 
web and tips only can be seen. Paste a strip of 
thin paper over the quill end, as you did on the tail : 
generally, all large feathers must be secured in 
this way ; and if the bird is large, the shafts must 
be pared thin on the under side with a sharp 
knife. Having proceeded so far with your wing, 
lay on a light weight, and let it dry. Now, pull 
out the secondaries (the wax-tipped feathers, 6.) 
commence to paste them down on the outside of 
the wing, overlapping each other towards the 
back, and the tips overlapping part of the prima¬ 
ries. Next put on the small ‘‘ bastard ” feathers, 
7 ; then the wing coverts, 8, on the outside, over¬ 
lapping each other towards the back, and the tips 
overlapping the “ bastard ” and secondaries ; and 
then the back feathers, 9. Commence next at. 
the tail, and put on all the under feathers, 12, 13, 
each feather in its own place, till you come to the 
head. The shaded parts around l-lie head and 
throat are intended for the black feathers. A!! 
the small feathers must be put on very full, as 
much of the beauty of the specimen depends or 
