134 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[May, 
Vitality of Seeds.— Nearly all: seeds 
tain their vitality more than one year;' some are good for 
twenty. But the old story of the mummy-wheat is be¬ 
ginning to be discredited. It depends very much on the 
way seeds are gathered and preserved. They should be 
collected just at the point of full ripeness, not after, then 
laid away to dry. At leisure, they may be rubbed out, 
sifted, and put away in paper bags, labelling them at 
the time. They should be kept in a dry place and at a 
even temperature. Before planting, throw your seed 
into a dish of water; those which float are generall 
worthless—not always. A surer way is to try to sprout 
them in boxes of earth before planting. Those whose 
tested portions do not germinate may be thrown away. 
Treatment of tlie Amaryllis.— “Read¬ 
er,” Hampden, Me. The Amaryllis requires a period of 
rest after blooming, or after the new growth which fol¬ 
lows blooming. Set the pots in a dry portion of the 
house, and give very little water for 2 or 3 months. 
Flowers amtl Kuta.Bagas.— “Jane.” 
You mistake, if you think a man can not be interested in 
the useful and the beautiful at the same time. We hope 
your lover will have an eye to both. Look at the exam¬ 
ple of sturdy Wm. Cobbett, the author of the “ American 
Gardener,” who first introduced the ruta-baga turnip into 
tills country, and cultivated it with great zeal and suc¬ 
cess. This plain man wrote thus: “For my part, as a 
thing , to keep, not to sell, as a thing the possession of 
which is to give me pleasure, I hesitate not a moment to 
prefer a fine carnation plant to a gold watch set with dia¬ 
monds.” Please, Jane, don’t sneer at plain men, again. 
Propagating tlie Daphne Mazci'e- 
on.-T. Farrar, Kenosha Co., Wis. This is a pretty 
flowering shrub, blooming very early in Spring, before the 
leaves appear, and on this account it is better to trans¬ 
plant it in the Fall. Increase the stock by cuttings, lay¬ 
ers, and by division of the roots. Propagators succeed 
well with cuttings, making them in the Fall, and burying 
them in sand in the cellar, until April, when they are 
planted out in a light, deeply worked soil. 
Chinese Grass-Cloth Plant (Urtica ni- 
vea.)— Mrs. Jane O’Brien, Allegany Co., Pa.: This plant 
belongs to the nettle family. It is an herbaceous perennial 
plant, growing about six feet high, and flourishes best in 
a moist peat soil. We do not know whether it will suc¬ 
ceed in the Northern States or not. Will some one who 
has tried it please answer? The Rice Paper-plant be¬ 
longs to the Leguminous or Pea family; its botanical 
name is Seschynomene paludosa. This will not succeed 
in the Northern States. 
Hlaclc Pepper.— “N. T. S.”, Waldo Co., 
Me. The piper nigrum of commerce is a berry growing 
on a climbing perennial plant in the East Indies, and is 
too tender for this climate. Quite likely it might be cul¬ 
tivated at the far South. The white pepper is made from 
the same berry after removing the dark outside surface. 
Leathery Fungus.— W. H. Woodward, 
Marathon Co., Wis. The curious piece of “vegetable 
buckskin” you send is a fungus growth, analogous to 
“ spunk” used for tinder. The resemblance to sheep skin 
or buckskin in color, texture, and odor, is very marked. 
Orchard Hedge.— S. S. Sliaw, Ionia Co., 
Mich. Honey Locust, ( Gleditschia triacanthus,) makes 
the best hedge to fence out trespassers. Boys, cattle, and 
other stock can not well penetrate through the long, 
strong, and sharp thorns. Plant in single rows, two feet 
apart, and cut back to within a few inches of the ground 
to establish a bush form. It will need frequent shearing. 
©sage ©range Seed.— Several inquirers. 
Most of this seed comes from Texas, and owing to the 
suspension of intercourse with the South, no seed of last 
season’s growth has come to this market. Thorburn of 
this city has some old seed, a portion of which will doubt¬ 
less grow. Price 75 cts. per quart. 
To Propagate the Holly.—W. R. Rob¬ 
bins, Suffolk Co., N. Y. The holly is not easily propa¬ 
gated. It rarely grows from layers or cuttings, and the 
seed often lies in the ground one or even two years before 
vegetating. Meehan advises to mix the seed with sand, 
and leave for one year, when the whole should be sown. 
Transplant when one year old, and once or twice after¬ 
wards, before their final setting out in May. 
Apples in Cold Climates.—G. Y. Arm¬ 
strong, Canada East. Surrounding the orchard with a 
belt of evergreens will be very beneficial in cold cli¬ 
mates. Evergreens are sometimes set out in clumps in 
various places in the orchard itself. Plant only the hardy 
varieties of apples, such as Pomme Gris, Canadian 
Reinette, Roxbury Russet, Talman’s Sweeting, St. Law- 
rance, Bourrassa, Danvers’ Winter Sweet, Fameuse or 
Snow Apple, Ribstone Pippin, Rhode Island Greening, 
Red Astrachan, etc. We have named them in the order 
of hardiness; the last named is one of the best apples. 
Wash for Fruit Trees.— L. T. Robbins, 
Plymouth Co., Mass., has used the following wash on his 
fruit trees for 20 years, and to good satisfaction, applying 
it early in June. Take equal parts of soft soap, clay and 
fresh cow manure, mix with water to a convenient thick¬ 
ness and apply with a stiff broom or brush. With a stiff 
corn broom he coats the large limbs as far as he can reach. 
Field Hearns lor a crop in Young 
Orchards. —There is none better. Plant in hills or 
drills—if in hills 30 inches one way and 15 the other; 
if in drills, 30 inches apart and about 6 beans to the foot. 
The quality of the soil should decide the manner of plant¬ 
ing, if it be capable of producing a large crop, plant in 
drills. The Marrowfat field bean (white), or the common 
white bean are the advisable sorts. The former has a 
little tendency to run if strong manure has been applied. 
Kaspberries Failing' to Send up 
New Canes.—A. Allen, Clinton Co., 0. The princi¬ 
pal cause of failure was allowing the enfeebled canes to 
ripen fruit the season of transplanting, after a long jour¬ 
ney. The canes should have been cut down to 10 or 15 
inches of the ground, when they would probably have 
thrown up new shoots. 
Strawberries-Hermaphrodites 
Prolific.—F. M. Giddings, Ashtabula Co., O. It was 
formerly supposed that only pistillates were really pro¬ 
ductive, and a few nurserymen, like the one you refer to, 
still maintain that hermaphrodites can not bear abundant¬ 
ly. The Wilson, Austin, Hooker, Longworth’s Prolific, 
Triomphe de Gand, Bartlett, Downer’s Prolific, etc., all 
perfect varieties, entirely upset this theory. 
Strawberries with Dwarf Pears. 
—W. J. Moore, Boyle Co., Ky. Your plan of planting 
strawberry beds between the rows of dwarf pears will 
answer very well for a time, if on good, rich soil. For 
list of desirable sorts see February Agriculturist, page 36. 
White Turnip.— W. W. Johnson, Penob¬ 
scot Co., Me. The white turnip you speak of as a good 
keeper, in shape and appearance like the rutabaga, is 
probably the Long White French, which we are distribu¬ 
ting as a valuable sort. 
Hybrid Turnip Seed.— “ C. A. W.” Hud¬ 
son, N. II., writes: A carrot was set near a turnip of 
the round flat English variety. Tlie turnip seed thus 
raised produced a crop, part of which were white as usu¬ 
al, and a part deeply tinged with orange. Had the carrot 
any thing to do with this?. ..No. Some other kind of 
turnip grew within a few feet or rods. 
To Keep Black Fly or Flea from 
Cabbages.—Sift on lime while the dew is on ; sift on 
plaster, or flour and black pepper mixed, or ashes, or 
snuff; or strew tobacco stems through the field; or boil 
the stems, and sprinkle on the water; all these are rec¬ 
ommended, and we have tried some of them with partial 
success, but hardly know which to recommend. 
Sweet Fotato Plants by Mail.—H. A. 
Lamb, Worcester Co., Mass. It is cheaper to send small 
parcels by mail, and they will go safely, if well put up. 
The expense of sending by mail is 1 cent per ounce. No 
more than 8 ounces can go in a single package. 
Horse ISeaais.— S. B. Luckett, Wayne Co., 
Iowa. The horse bean is much used for stock food in 
England, where it flourishes finely. The seasons are too 
warm and dry for them in this country. 
Sorghnm Sugar Kelinery.— Lathrop 
& Smith, of Oswego, N. Y., propose to put up an expen¬ 
sive sorghum sugar mill and refinery, if they can get a 
pledge that 800 acres of the sorghum will be planted this 
season in their vicinity. The refinery will cost $60,000 
to $75,000, and preparations already made indicate that 
the 800 acres will be planted, and much more besides. 
Hood Lawn Grass.—The Kentucky Blue 
Grass, referred to in the October Agriculturist, page 292, 
appears all right. To-day (April 19) it presents a uniform 
green mat, while the Italian Perennial Rye Grass, near 
by, looks brown and much killed. We feel paid for wait¬ 
ing the slow—all Summer—starting of the Blue Grass. 
It will stand frost. One kind of grass, thinly sown, 
makes a prettier lawn or yard than any mixture can do. 
Top Dressing- for Pastures. —Bone- 
dust and guano put on after giving the land a light scratch¬ 
ing with a harrow, and then rolled in if practicable, Or 
sowed on and left to itself, is a good dressing. Use per 
acre, 5 to 10 bushels of bone-dust, and 150 to 250 lbs. of 
Peruvian guano, known to be pure. On lands benefited 
by plaster, use it in such quantity as experience proves 
best in any neighborhood—from 250 lbs. to 500 lbs. to the 
acre. Unleached ashes are often capable of renovating 
pastures for a length of time. A single dressing showing 
marked effects after six or eight years. The quantity to 
be applied varies also greatly (from 10 to 30 bushels), and 
none can advise with accuracy ; on light lands use less 
than on heavy clays. 
Salt tor Chimneys. —The Allg. Deutscher 
Telegraph says that chimneys built with mortar contain¬ 
ing salt will require no sweeping, and be free from dan¬ 
ger of catching on fire. An instance is given of a chim¬ 
ney thus built thirty years ago, which has never needed 
cleaning, and has never burned out. It is claimed that 
the salt gradually dissolves in damp weather, and carries 
the soot as it runs down. This may answer where wood 
is burned, but from coal fires the ashes or “soot” con¬ 
sists mainly of fine dry ashes, which would not be affected 
by the salt, even suppose enough of it would flow from 
the morter to dissolve anything. 
Weeds and Diet.— Johnson’s definition 
of dirt, is “ matter out of place,” which is broad, and per¬ 
haps accurate enough. To weeds have been applied a 
similar definition, viz.: “ Plants growing out of place.” 
Sillt Weed.— J. P. Cawley, Salem Co., N. J. 
The pod containing the delicate silky egret, or hairy 
down, is from the Asclepias cornuti, or milk weed. At¬ 
tention has been directed to it for giving a silky gloss to fa¬ 
brics, it is said with some success. It may answer some 
purposes, but the fiber is too tender for spinning,we judge. 
Eradicating Alders.— Ed. West, Stafford 
Co., N. H. We have cleared the Black Alder ( Alnus in- 
cana ,) from swamp land by cutting off a few of the roots 
and winding a chain about the clump, near the roots, and 
hitching a strong pair of oxen to draw them out. Begin 
upon one side, and make clean work as you proceed. It 
can be done quite expeditiously. 
Manurial Value.— P. H. Foster, a Long 
Island farmer, put us a hard question. “ What is the ac¬ 
tual value for manure of various substances, taking tho 
price of a bushel of corn as a standard ?.” Let us take 
barn-yard manure. On Long Island, and throughout tho 
Eastern States, it is called worth $1 for a load for a pair 
of cattle—that is 1 load =2 bushels of corn. In Illinois, 
manure is considered worth less than nothing in many 
places, and corn 10 to 20 cents per bushel. You see we 
can not compare them. 
All Aged. Men.— “ Subscriber,” Carlisle Sta¬ 
tion, O., writes, that he has a Prussian hen raised by him¬ 
self in 1841, which makes her 21 years old. She is of a 
clear white color, medium size, was a good layer and 
successful in raising one or two broods of chickens every 
season, until the past two or three years. ' She still 
exhibits a maternal care over the broods in general.—Is 
not this the oldest hen on record ? 
Poultry Experience. —“Hampton,” of 
Holyoke, Mass., writes, that many years ago, while yet a 
boy, he began taking the Agriculturist, and derived many 
hints from it, which he has been practicing upon since he 
has grown up, and here is one of the results : For four¬ 
teen years he has kept poultry, and considers them the 
most profitable stock in his farm. They have seldom 
failed to give him fresh eggs daily through every Winter. 
They have a light room, with a window facing south, 
roosts on one side, and laying boxes on the other. They 
have a box containing ashes and old mortar pounded 
fine, to roll in. When the ground is frozen, they con¬ 
sume finely broken oyster shells and bones freely. Their 
main food is corn and oats mixed, as much as they will 
eat, twice a day, with occasional change to scalded meal. 
Once in a week during Winter, when insects are inac¬ 
cessible, the fowls receive a little fresh meat. With the 
above treatment they have kept in good condition, and 15 
hens, have given 4 to 8 eggs a day during the entire Winter. 
A Good Scarc-Crow.— The various works 
of art which we annually see in corn-fields do not please 
the taste. The following is an old one. “ Take corn, and 
string each kernel on a horse hair—white is best—tying a 
