294 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[October, 
Cotton. In Illinois. —According to estimates 
by sundry newspapers in Southern Illinois, the produce 
of cotton in the Southern counties will not fall below, but 
probably exceed 25,000 bales, or over 10,000,000 lbs. They 
further state that much more would have been planted 
could good seed have been obtained in season. These 
guess-work estimates may be far above or below the 
truth, but we doubt not there is enough growing to test 
the practicability of cotton culture north of the Ohio riv¬ 
er. We solicit information from the readers of the Amer¬ 
ican Agriculturist in that region. 
Cotton-Growing Next Year.—James 
Coulter, Sen., Randolph Co., Ill., writes that he intends 
to plant seventy five acres in cotton next Spring. He is 
confident that it can be grown in that latitude successfully. 
Tobacco in Wisconsin.—“H. W. A.,” 
Milwaukee, Wis. We have seen a good growth of tobac¬ 
co in southern Wisconsin. It will do well where Dent 
corn will. There are no books on Tobacco Culture in 
the Northern States. 
“ Holding the Bc-ins.”—“0. L. G.,” a 
young reader of the American Agriculturist, at Buffalo, 
writes that while he was pleased with our illustrated ar¬ 
ticle in May, on “Holding the Reins,” he yet thinks he 
has a method superior to that. He writes as follows : 
“As I am no draughtsman, I will illustrate my ideas in 
this way : Take a pair of shears and open them wide, then 
grasp them with your hand around the crossed blades, 
and you will see my way of holding the reins.. You have 
the reins crossed in the palm of the hand, and the fingers 
closed over them. Thus you have them held firmly, and 
you get a purchase which you can not have in most of the 
ways mentioned in that paper.” His method is not alto¬ 
gether new, but we publish it to encourage him and others 
to think and practise on the various subjects presented. 
Blest Eyes in B*ots«t«es.— J. B. W. writes 
that the eye nearest the stem of potatoes sends up a sick¬ 
ly shoot, and is unreliable. He has made extensive ex¬ 
periments this season. The center eye on the seed end 
grew the quickest, and produced the earliest potatoes. 
The Fork Ketfcr than the Spade. 
—“Rustic.” Not always. You could not make mortar 
with a forked spade. So in ditching, moving gravel, or 
sand, and in doing such like work, the time-honored 
spade and shovel will hold their old place. Yet, for some 
garden operations, the fork is preferable. In breaking up 
the soil of a garden in Spring, when the ground is a lit¬ 
tle over-moist, the fork will disintegrate it, when the spade 
would only make it a hard, compact mass. So in work¬ 
ing among the roots of choice trees and bushes, the fork 
will do less injury to the tender roots, and at the same 
time be equally serviceable in loosening the soil. 
Eook’s Evaporator.—In our report of 
the Michigan State Sorgho Convention, we spoke of the* 
first premium having been given to ‘ Cory’s Evaporator.’ 
It should have read “Cook’s Evaporator with Cory’s Im¬ 
provement.” The mistake occurred in the official report- 
of the meeting. The improvement Consists of a high 
ledge across the pan. with a gate for the more ready con¬ 
trol of the stream when used without rockers upon a 
brick arch. Messrs. Blymyers, Bates & Day furnish 
their stationary pans with high ledges and gates, without 
extra charge. We learn further that all Mr. Cory’s Evap¬ 
orators are manufactured by them. 
Clearing Ground of Blazel.—T. J. F. 
Healey, Whiteside Co., Ill. Your query seems to be 
-nswered by another correspondent thus: “Cut the 
Hazel in July or August, or even early in September, 
with a bush scythe ; burn over if it can be safely done, 
and plow at once where the roots will admit. If it can not 
be plowed, sow with winter rye, and harrow in, plowing it 
another season, when many of the roots will be decayed. 
Changing Seeds.—W. F. Troxell, Lehigh 
Co., Pa., recommends changing vegetable and other seeds 
every few years. His experience is, that they deteriorate 
if kept upon the same soil for three years, and that heavy 
or clay lands retain the seeds, or the vegetables they pro¬ 
duce, in good condition, longer than light, loamy soils. 
He would never select seeds from a rich soil to be sown 
upon poor ground, but the contrary, when practicable. 
Work for Children—Where Borers 
Work.—George A. Gratacap, Westchester Co., N. Y., 
writes: “ My fruit garden of three acres is divided into 
three districts, and one child is appointed to each, with a 
reward allotted for each borer. Five or six times during 
the past two months, I have cut out, from one tree in one 
day, as many as ten young: borers, most of them from 4 
to 10 feet fr.om the ground, and in or under the fork of 
branches. I have seen but two or three woodpeckers in 
these ten years. (More chance of course for the borers. 
Ed.) Within fifteen days after reading ‘Remedy for 
Borers ’ in the: July Agriculturist, I found one in a small, 
uncovered root of about inch in diameter.” 
Companies ifies- Government Lands. 
—Jas. Lamport, Rush Co., Ind. We believe companies 
are forming in various localities, to take up Government 
lands, and form communities of acquaintances, but can¬ 
not point to an individual one just now. Such a com¬ 
pany may perhaps be formed from your vicinity. 
Large Tomatoes, Poultry. Manure. 
—=We have received specimens of tomatoes weighing 1 
lb. each, from J. Davidson, of Washington Heights, N.Y., 
who attributes his superior success in raising, to follow¬ 
ing the advice given in the July Agriculturist, viz.: wa¬ 
tering the ground around, and manuring the plants with a 
solution of 1 shovelful of hen-droppings to 8 gallons of 
water. The same liquid manure proved equally effica¬ 
cious on other plants. 
Frmt in Wisconsin—Naming Va> 
rieties.-G. W. Hyer, Green Lake Co., writes to the 
American Agriculturist, that after much trouble in find¬ 
ing varieties of fruit that will stand the severe winters, 
cultivators in that neighborhood have at last secured a 
large and well selected stock. Grapes, particularly, prom¬ 
ise finely this year. He says there is much difference of 
opinion in naming varieties of fruit grown there. If the 
sorts are of known kinds, Downing’s Fruit Book, and 
other standard authorities will settle these questions. If 
new seedlings are to he named, they should be submitted 
to the judgment of experienced fruit-growers to decide 
upon their merits. Many specimens of natural fruit 
ought to remain nameless and unknown. 
Scraping- and Washing Trees.— “T. 
D., Syracuse.” The reasons commonly given for this, 
practice is, that trees with clean and smooth barks look 
well, and that insects lodge in rough barked and mossy 
trees. This is doubtless so ; yet, is it not also true that 
nature gives the rough bark on purpose to shield the tree 
from the vicissitudes of climate ? We would not advise 
severe scraping—nothing more than enough to dislodge 
vermin, and after this, let strong soap suds be applied. 
Follow this up with a little manure over the roots, and a 
moderate stirring of the soil. 
Tea f Blight on Pear Trees.— Charles 
O. Newton, Cortland Co., N. Y. The leaves you sent 
are affected by what in this section of the country is called 
leaf-blight. It injures the leaves of seedling pears to 
so great an extent, that nurserymen in this vicinity have 
almost abandoned growing seedlings for stocks.. They 
now import stocks mostly from Europe, or obtain them 
from parts of the country where they are not affected in 
this manner. The blight usually attacks the leaves in. 
July, and always first those upon the last or previous 
season’s growth. It does not kill the stock or tree at 
once, but gradually weakens it, and unless a favorable 
season should intervene, it will eventually destroy the 
tree. Ashes and bone are perhaps the best manures to 
apply to pear trees that are attacked by leaf blight 
Sour Bough, or Summer Pippin 
Apple.— J. C. Hart of Westchester Co., N. Y., sends 
fine specimens, and thinks this variety is not sufficiently 
dissemminated, as he finds prominent fruit-growers do not 
know it, nor is it in many of the nursery catalogues. 
Downing describes it correctly in his last Fruit Book, and 
justly calls it a valuable fruit, ripening from the middle 
of August to the middle of September. 
Mow tile Sap Overcomes Obstruc¬ 
tions.— Wrap a tape tightly around a thrifty cion, so as 
to impede the circulation, and the bark will grow from 
the top of the tape downward until it unites below. W. 
Mow to Preserve Weed Mosses, 
etc.-Miss L. W., of Central Ohio, wishes the informa¬ 
tion. There is a great and varied beauty in the fragile 
forms of our many colored wood mosses, well worth pre¬ 
serving. Simply dried and preserved under glass, or 
where dust will not get upon them, and arranged in fan¬ 
ciful and tasteful figures, they are very pretty. 
Transplanting- Old Grape Vines.— 
W. Borgemann, Leavenworth Co., Kansas^ We advise 
early Fall planting oil old vines in preference-to leaving 
them until Spring. If the vines are quite large, better 
layer them, and when well rooted, plant the layers. 
Apliis osi Grape Vines. —S. French, 
Lorain Co., Ohio. The “ plant lice ” are sometimes 
troublesome by sucking the juices from the tender grape- 
vine shoots. Dipping the ends in a strong soap-suds, 
where it can be done, is a good remedy ; otherwise syr¬ 
inge with a strong whale-oil soap solution. 
Saving Strawberry, Raspberry and 
Blackberry Seeds.—W. C. Potts, Rice Co., Minn. 
Save strawberry, raspberry and blackberry seeds, by 
mashing the berries as soon as ripe* and washing out in 
water. Put the seeds in boxes of earth and keep moder¬ 
ately dry.until Spring, then plant inch deep in lightsoil. 
Strawberries and IBaspberries for 
a Family.-J. D. Henkle, Piatt Co., Ill. For family 
j use, we advise planting the Triomphe de Gand straw¬ 
berry, and Hooker, or Wilson’s, if more than one is 
wanted. The Fastolf will suffice for a raspberry ; Brine* 
kle’s Orange, and improved Black Cap may be added. 
Large Blackberries. —Mr. C. Itivinius, 
of Morrisania, N. Y., has placed upon our table the 
largest and finest New-Rochelle blackberries we have 
and they were also juicy, sweet, and fine-flavor^i. 
Prolific Currants.— F. Trowbridge, wri¬ 
ting from New-Haven Co., Conn., says Deacon E. 
Newbury picked 19 quarts of 1 cherry currants from 5 
bushes, and challenges a better yield. 
Two-Story Boses.— C. M. Morton, Mer¬ 
cer Cov, N. J., sends to the office of the American Agri¬ 
culturist, specimens of roses, from the center of eacli of 
which a stem rises bearing another perfect flower. In 
some cases a stem has risen from the second flower, and 
borne a third rose. This curious habit may become fixed 
in a variety, so that it will alwaj s produce flowers of the 
same character. Such instances are not common, al- 
thougn there are varieties of roses that often produce 
buds from the center of the first flowers, which after¬ 
ward come into bloom. The Yellow Tea Rose, some¬ 
times called Smithii, often produces flowers of this kind. 
A Eloral {Question. —G. H. H., Madison, 
N. J. It is affirmed by some writers that the reason why 
we have no blue rose or blue dahlia, is because the rose 
and the dahlia, in their original wild stale, had no blue of 
any combination or shade of blue in their flowers. And 
they say that the French florists may hybridize till they 
are blind, and yet not be able to get a color into a variety 
of plants which did not exist in the original species. We 
have made this statement before, on the authority of an¬ 
other, but can not vouch for its truth. It is, however, 
certain, that in the dahlia we have fine purples, and a very 
near approach to blue. So in ihe rose, La Tourte- 
relle, for instance, popularly styled the “dove-colored 
rose,” we have a slight shade of blue. In the hyacinth, 
as you observe, we have all the primary colors, with va¬ 
rious shades and tints of the same. The question is a 
very interesting one, and is open for experiment. 
Best Petunias of 1863.— “Jane.” Pres¬ 
ident, double, pale rose color. Lizzie Reed, single, striped 
white and crimson, of medium size. Marginata, single,’ 
deep crimson, tipped with white, large and very fine. 
Captivation, double white. Zouave, resembles Margina¬ 
ta, but smaller. McClellan, double crimson, tipped with 
white. Countess of Ellesmere, bright crimson, with 
white throat, very good. 
Polygonatnm multiflorum, or Solomon’s 
Seal, appears to be the name of the wild flowers sent bv 
C. Hoffman, Dauphin Co., Pa. 
Sarraceuia Purpurea for Small 
Fox.—This is our native “ Pitcher Plant.” and is said 
to be a remedy for small pox in all ils forms, in twelve 
hours after the patient has taken the medicine; that, 
“ however alarming and numerous the eruptions, or con¬ 
fluent and frightful they may be, the peculiar action of 
the medicine is such that very seldom is a scar left to tell 
the story of the disease.” If either vaccine or variolous 
matter is washed with the infusion of the Sarracenia, 
it is deprived of its contagious properties. Sc mild 
is the medicine to the taste, that it may be largely mixed 
with tea and coffee, and given to connoisseurs in these 
beverages to drink without being aware of their admix¬ 
ture. The medicine has been successfully tried in the 
hospitals of Nova Scotia, and its use will be continued.— 
So says the Gardener’s Monthly. 
Hibiscus.—The leaf sent by a subscriber in 
Marion Co., Ohio, is from the common shrubby Althea, 
the botanical name of which is Hibiscus Syriacus. 
