AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
181 
Annual Flowers. 
We do not wonder at the increasing interest 
felt in annual flowers. They are the flowers for 
the million. The seeds for raising them cost but 
a trifle, many can be got by exchange, or will 
come as gifts of friendship. And when one gets 
a good assortment, he can, ordinarily, perpetu¬ 
ate it from year to year without much trouble. 
Certainly, the work of seed-sowing is less than 
that of housing bedding- 
plants through the gut¬ 
ter, propagating them 
by cuttings, potting and 
repotting, watering, fu¬ 
migating, and then re¬ 
potting in the open bor¬ 
der. Look at these 
varieties: Drummond’s 
Phlox, the Double Zin¬ 
nia, German Stocks, the 
splendid French As¬ 
ters, and the new Japan 
Pinks! The most aris¬ 
tocratic garden would 
be tame without them. 
But after all, these and 
all annual flowers will 
generally give satisfac¬ 
tion just in proportion to 
the care that is given 
them. If sown in hard, 
barren soil, of course 
they won’t succeed. If 
huddled together, the 
matted roots will soon 
exhaust the ground in which they stand,the leaves 
and flowers will be imperfect and of short dura¬ 
tion. With a few exceptions, annuals should be 
grown as separate plants, with plenty of room on 
every side for full development. This needs on¬ 
ly to be once tried to convince all gainsayers. 
set a lighted glass lantern on a block or stone, 
in the center of the water at night. The moths 
are attracted by the lantern and its reflections, 
and fall into the water. The advantage of the 
sugar hogshead is, that it serves for a trap by 
day, as well as by night. For moths that fly by 
day, we take wide-mouthed glass bottles, half fill 
them with sweetened water and vinegar, and 
hang them in the trees, changing the liquid 
weekly. Thousands of insects are drowned. 
Hints for Lady Florists. 
One of the greatest mistakes made in flower- 
gardens every year, is attempting too much, and 
crowding the grounds. “ My lady” visits several 
fine gardens, during the Summer, and sees bril¬ 
liant novelties which she thinks she must have 
next year. Or she gets several nursery cata¬ 
logues, and reading the high sounding descrip¬ 
tions of plants, she orders more than her garden 
can well hold, or than she can take care of. The 
consequence is they fail to do well, and she 
and her visitors are not satisfied with the effect. 
A much better way is, to sit down at the be¬ 
ginning of the Summer, and settle in one’s mind 
how much room there will be for new things, 
and what are, on the whole, the best. Get only 
these, and take the best possible care of them. 
Give them the right soil, and keep it clean and 
well stirred. Keep the tall plants neatly tied to 
stakes. The edgings to the beds should be al¬ 
ways well trimmed, the walks clean and hard, 
and the whole ground neat and tidy. Such a 
garden will always give satisfaction. 
Easy Method of Killing Insects. 
For all moths, and beetles that fly at night, 
use fire to trap them. A fire of shavings, or 
any thing that will make a blaze, kindled in the 
evening, will destroy thousands. The more 
flame the better, if it do not scorch the leaves. 
A cheaper method still, is to take the half of an 
old sugar hogshead, or any open vessel, with a 
broad surface, partially filled, with water, and 
“The Hermitage.” 
On former, occasions, we have spoken of the 
desirableness of creating rustic scenes in pleas¬ 
ure grounds. We now recur to the subject for 
a special purpose. These wild scenes should 
not be very near the dwelling, but rather in a 
retired comer at a distance, where some little 
touch of natural roughness may be wrought in¬ 
to the artificial creation. Perhaps there is a 
brook at hand, which can be made to tumble 
over rocks, into a pool for fish. Along this 
brook-side, ferns, lilies, and other wild plants 
may be set. Perhaps there is some spot that 
can be converted into a rockery. Whatever and 
wherever it may be, let as much as possible be 
made out of the natural capabilities of the place.. 
To illustrate our ideas, we will describe a rus¬ 
tic scene which has been created in the grounds 
of a friend, hard by—partly represented in the 
annexed wood-cut, which we have sketched for 
the Agriculturist. The ground at the left in 
front of this arbor, is an open, highly finished 
lawn. The walk which skirts one side of it is 
kept in fine condition, and a Warwick Yase 
gives the spot an air of classic elegance. Noth¬ 
ing suggests the idea of rustic wildness. But as 
the visitor descends a slope in the walk, on the 
left, he comes among masses of shrubbery, and 
on turning to the left, suddenly finds himself in 
the shady arbor shown in our picture. Let us 
tell how this arbor was made. Six years ago; 
the proprietor planted fourteen small, low- 
branched elms around the open space here 
shown. The second year after, he built a rough 
arbor of hemlock scantling and slats, just inside 
of this semi-circle, about ten feet high, and 
twelve feet in diameter. The trees were then 
bent over the arched and open roof, and tied 
down with strong cords. The branches were 
spread out evenly, like grape-vines on a trellis.’ 
In a few years, by pruning and tying in the 
branches, he covered the arbor with a close 
network of limbs and twigs, which the summer 
sun scarcely penetrates. After the branches 
overhead shall have become more firmly inter¬ 
twined, he will remove the frame-work, leaving 
the trees alone to make the arbor as represented. 
But the above is not the whole of this Hermi¬ 
tage. For a space of eight or ten feet wide a- 
round it, our friend has set all sorts of low 
bushy trees from the forest, and among them 
has planted wild vines 
from the woods. And 
outside of this, runs a 
thick screen of arbor- 
vitae. The walk, on leav¬ 
ing the arbor, passes in¬ 
to a little woody scene 
with trees and vines on 
either side, and arching 
overhead. Here, and 
immediately around the 
arbor, it is attempted to 
make a miniature wil¬ 
derness. Throughout 
the whole of it, the nat¬ 
ural soil of the place has 
fi been removed, and leaf- 
mold from the woods 
brought in. This, with 
the shade above, furnish¬ 
es a congenial home for 
the wild plants, of which 
there is collected here a 
large number from the 
neighboring forests. 
One or two large bowl¬ 
ders being found on the spot, our friend has 
hauled in a number more of like character, which 
now look very much at home. Wild plants and 
vines clamber lovingly around them. The walk 
on the right, after winding through a darkly 
shaded spot, emerges again upon another pleas¬ 
ant open lawn in front of the dwelling. i 
In the open space of the arbor, seen in the 
cut, the natural soil has been taken out eighteen 
inches deep, and the space filled with cobble¬ 
stones and gravel, so that the ground is perfect¬ 
ly dry. A few rustic seats are placed in the ar¬ 
bor, which are very agreeable resting-places on 
a mid-summer noon. The place described, our 
friend’s family style their “ Hermitage.” They 
have a separate flower-garden, and ornamental 
grounds, but nothing which, on the whole, gives 
them or their guests greater satisfaction with so 
little labor and cost. 
Preserving Fruit—Best and Cheapest Way. 
For several years past we have been trying to 
abolish the old mode of preserving fruits, viz.: the 
addition of pound for pound of sugar, and stewing 
them down to an indigestible mass in order to 
make them “ keep.” Our efforts in this direction 
have been in a measure successful; the high 
price of sugar this year will do much towards the 
adoption of the newer and better mode. All kinds 
of fruits can be preserved for a year, of more, with 
the use of little or no sugar, and at the same time 
retain nearly all of their natural flavor. The pro¬ 
cess is not more difficult, and is less costly than 
the stewing process, while the fruit is far more de¬ 
licious and healthful. The whole operation depends 
upon simply heating the fruit through, and then 
keeping it entirely free from the access of air. 
Fruit Jars.— Periodically, as the fruit season 
approaches, there are numerous fruit jar inventions, 
patented and otherwise, brought before the public 
with wonderful assurance and an indefinite number 
of extravagant recommendations. Some seal with 
