I 860 .] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
339 
placed in firmly, but the bulb not quite covered. 
When potted, give a good watering, and place 
the pqts in any out of the way place out of doors, 
covering them with a layer of spent trainer’s 
bark or coal ashes to the depth of 3 or 4 inches 
above the top of the pots. Here they may re¬ 
main till they are required, bringing them into 
warmth and light according to the time they are 
intended to flower—the less forcing they have, 
however, the finer the flower is likely to be. 
When brought into a room, let them be set in 
the window. All hyacinths do well, and come 
to the greatest perfection, when grown in pots. 
In Beds .—The soil for this purpose should be 
rich, light, and deep, and above all, well drained. 
Excavate to the depth of 15 inches, level the 
bottom, and place on it q layer of 2 inches of 
small stones, or any similar material that will 
serve to ensure good (drainage;. On this lay a 
thin covering of well (lepttyed manure, and then 
fill in with the prepared compost, making the 
bed 4 or 5 inches fibpye the surrounding soil, to 
allow for settling. Arrange the colors according 
to taste, and plant the bulbs 9 inches apart, and 
3 inches deep from the crown. The time of 
planting may range from the beginning of Oc¬ 
tober to the middle of November. It will be 
found advisable, as very severe weather ap¬ 
proaches, to cover the bed with a layer of any 
protecting material. 
■ • - 
* A Floral Question. 
Nobody ever yet saw a blue dahlia, or blue 
rose, or a yellow aster or verbena. Will such 
things ever be seen ? Some persons think so, 
and foreign florists are hard at work in hybrid¬ 
izing, hoping to accomplish it, but their suc¬ 
cess is very doubtful. And for this good reason, 
viz.: Blue, red and yellow are the three prima¬ 
ry colors, and the different hues found in the 
varieties of any species of flower, are produced 
by crossing flowers which have these different 
colors. Thus, the original colors of the verbena 
in a wild state, were red and blue; and by cros¬ 
sing these, we can get shades of red, blue and 
purple, but not yellow. The wild dahlias are red 
and yellow, and by crossing them, we get shades 
of red, yellow and orange, and white, but not 
Hue. So far as our observation extends, no ge¬ 
nus of any flower contains all the primary col¬ 
ors : hence, if the above theory be correct, none 
of the varieties can monopolize all the shades of 
color. One will lack red, another blue, and so 
on: hence the necessity of combining flowers of 
different sorts, if we would get all shades of 
color. 
Aristocratic Flowers. 
A writer in the Hartford “ Homestead,” closes 
a well considered article, as follows: 
“ There are flowers which seem to be aristo¬ 
crats by nature. They must receive a great 
deal of attention; must be “ coddled ” and pet¬ 
ted, and supplied with just the right degree of 
heat and moisture before they will condescend 
to put forth their efforts. And after all his 
pains, the florist sometimes finds, to his. disap¬ 
pointment, that they have learned the great 
aristocratic art of “ How not to do it.” Para¬ 
sites attach themselves to these, as to other great 
people. The mealy bug makes his meals on 
them; the scale-insect pursues his scaly occupa¬ 
tion at their expense; and the red spider be¬ 
coming a vegetarian, eschews flies and chews 
upon the choicest plants of the green-house.” 
Such are the inconveniences of greatness. The 
more common sorts of flowers, however, are for 
the mast part exempt from the attacks of insect 
foes. The bees hum around them, and the butter¬ 
flies hover over them, criticising them, perhaps, 
as one beauty criticises another, but robbing them 
of nothing but sweets and odors which they can 
spare and yet be none the less beautiful and fra¬ 
grant. 
Fruits with Quick Returns. 
All Americans are noted for being in a hurry. 
They want things which will surely pay, and 
pay quickly. This excessive haste is not com¬ 
mendable. But there are cases in which expe¬ 
dition may be justified. An old man, or an in¬ 
valid, or the tenant of a hired house may prop¬ 
erly wish to plant something of which he may 
reasonably hope to gather the fruit. Can such 
people be gratified? Doubtless. Let them 
plant; 
1. Strawberries. —From good vines lyell plant¬ 
ed, a little fruit may be gathered the first Sum¬ 
mer, and an abundant crop the second. Of 
course, they will need proper care, if much is 
expected from them. 
2. Raspberries.—Set these out in Spring or Fall, 
in proper soil, cut them down to the second bud 
at planting, they will throw up strong canes the 
first season, from which berries can be gathered 
the second. The white and red Antwerps and 
the Brinkle’s Orange are to our palate the best 
sorts, but they need bending to the ground every 
Winter, and covering with an inch or two of 
soil. The common black and the Allen rasp¬ 
berry require no protection. All kinds yield 
full crops the second and third years. 
3. Currants and Gooseberries. —These may be 
raised from cuttings gathered from any good 
neighbor’s garden, or from young plants bought 
at the nurseries. In either case, fruit may be 
expected in from two to four years. It is a won¬ 
der to us that the currant is so underrated. If 
it were a new thing, and slightly tender, so as 
to need a little pettipg, wouldn’t it be a great 
affair ? But the lamentable fact is, that it is an 
old customer, is hardy as a burdpek, an early 
and constant and abundant bearer, is subject to 
almost no disease, and its fruit is wholesome and 
answers many useful purposes. Alas, for it! 
4. Grapes. —These sometimes bear, the second 
or third year from the cutting. From strong 
layers, quite a number of clusters may be gath¬ 
ered the second year. We doubt the wisdom, 
however, of cropping the vine much before the 
third or fourth year. A little patient delay will 
ensure healthier vines and larger crops after¬ 
wards. 
5. Dwarf Pears , Cherries , Apples , etc. —These 
often yield fruit the first or second year after 
planting. As in the case of grapes, it is doubt¬ 
less vyisex- to allow no fruit to grow until the 
third or fourth year. 
Need we extend this enumeration ? With a 
well-stocked garden of vegetables maturing the 
first season, and with fruits coming forward and 
bearing crops in succession the second, third, 
and foqrth years, any reasonable man will be 
content. 
. -cg>-4 - ■ ■ - - 
“ CMlds’ Superb ” Grape. 
Several handsome clusters of a grape by the 
above name, have been laid on our table by a 
friend, who desires to know its origin and its 
actual value for out door cultivation. It has 
been somewhat widely disseminated as a seedling 
raised by Mr, Childs of Utica, N. Y., and re¬ 
commended as a first class grape for out door 
culture. That we might get at the exact truth 
of the matter, we applied to Mi'. Childs for in¬ 
formation, and his statement is substantially as 
follows: Eight or ten years ago, lie ordered a 
lot of exotic grapes from an eastern nursery, 
suitable for his cold grapery. Among them was 
one plant which lost its label on its way to him, 
and whose real name he never ascertained. Af¬ 
ter it came into bearing, it was found to re¬ 
semble the Royal Muscadine, but as it differed 
from it somewhat, the gardener dubbed it 
“ Childs’ Superb.” 
A few years ago, this gardener, fond of ex¬ 
perimenting, propagated several plants from 
this vine, and set one of them in the open ground. 
He likewise distributed plants to several ama¬ 
teurs in the neighborhood, some of which were 
set out under glass, and others in the open gar¬ 
den. Of the latter, those which were trained on 
brick walls, and covered in the Winter' have 
succeeded tolerably well. In some years, they 
have escaped mildew, and borne handsome 
clusters; at other times the foliage lias turned 
brown and the fruit proved worthless. On the 
whole, the best that can be said of this grape, is 
that it succeeds about as well out of doors as 
the Madeira, Sweet-Water, or any other foreign 
grape. Under glass, it is excellent in every re¬ 
spect. 
To the above, we would just add that some 
fifty vines which we saw last Summer in the 
open grounds of a nursery, were badly scorched 
with mildew, and presented a sorry look by the 
side of the same vine under glass, and of natives 
in the open garden. Any body wishing to ex¬ 
periment with a foreign grape in his garden, will 
do well to try this. The chances are against 
his success, but if the frost and mildew will only 
let him alone, he will raise some “super’*” fruit. 
Northern Muscadine Grape. 
A WORD OF CAUTION. 
Now that grape growing is attracting so much 
attention throughout the country, it is to be ex¬ 
pected that advantage will be taken of the com 
parative general ignorance on the subject, to 
send out inferior varieties, to the great disap¬ 
pointment of those who are attracted ]>y 
showy hand-bills and glowing descriptions. We 
have received a flaming circular, highly eulo¬ 
gizing the Northern Muscadine Grope and illus¬ 
trated with a cut representing it as of great size. 
The advertiser states that: “ after a trjql of fif¬ 
teen years with all the different varieties ot 
hardy grapes grown in this country to the 
amount of 30 or 40 different kinds, the Genuine 
Northern Muscadine has yielded us, in point of 
profit, as ten to one of any other kind.” Very 
likely, but money making by the propagator, is 
not always a test of excellence, as purchasers of 
Honey Blade Grass seed at $10 per bushel can 
testify. 
The above grape was brought before the pub¬ 
lic several years ago, but its foxy, wild flavor 
was opposed to its general introduction, and it 
is not to be found in the catalogues of the best 
grape growers, althouglvnewer sorts are grown 
by the thousands. It originated among the 
Shakers of Columbia Co., N. Y., and is thus 
very accurately described by Downing. “Bunch¬ 
es small, short, compact. Berry large, round, 
chocolate, or brownish red. Skin thick, with a 
pungency and odor common to tire w.ud f<>x 
grape, and is very little improvement on it. The 
berries fall from the bunch as soon as ripe, 
about two weeks before the Isabella.” 
