370 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[December, 
The Westfield Seek-no-further Apple. 
Names do not always indicate real qualities, 
- especially among fruits. Many can testify to 
this from costly experience in the purchase of 
trees and plants by catalogue; it has frequently 
been found that the name was almost the only 
thing the purchased article had to recommend 
it. In this instance, however, the name, though 
pretentious, is not misapplied. For all qualities 
of tree and fruit this variety is unexcelled. It 
originated in Connecticut, hut has been exten¬ 
sively disseminated both west and south, flour¬ 
ishing well in most localities. The Westfield 
Seelc-no-further is thus fully described by Elliott: 
Fruit, medium; form , regular, roundish conical, 
broad at base; color , light yellow ground, the 
sunny side striped and splashed with red, small 
russet dots shaded around with light russet yel¬ 
low, often considerable russet about both stem 
and calyx; stem long and slender; cavity, open, 
regular; calyx, usually small, closed, sometimes 
open, with short segments; basin, regular form, 
moderate depth; flesh', yellowish, tender, sub¬ 
acid, pearmain flavor; core, medium; seeds, 
ovate. Ripens from November to February. 
When grown in rich, loamy, alluvial soils at the 
south, it is much russeted, and about the stem 
the russet has the appearance of rich bronze; 
progressing northward, it . gradually loses its 
russet, until, on light sandy soils, in Michigan, 
it becomes a pale yellow ground, with stripes 
and splashes of clear red, and minute dots. 
This description will render the fruit easily 
recognizable. It should have a place in most 
orchards, both for family use and for marketing. 
Experiment in Transplanting—A Hint. 
Having occasion, last Summer, to set out a 
Brugmansia while in full leaf, into the open 
ground, we observed that it wilted badly, and 
shed a portion of its leaves. Plentiful watering 
of top and'root, with shading, restored it to par¬ 
tial vigor. But as it did not look quite right 
for some time, we took a sharp spade and cut 
all around it, taking off all the long roots close 
up to the ball of earth. Then, we worked in a 
lot of rotten dung all about the ends of the cut 
roots, and applied a heavy dose of water. This 
treatment was of course followed up by shad¬ 
ing and mulching. In the course of ten days, 
the plant began to grow vigorously, both in root 
and branch, and soon looked as bright and 
healthy as one could desire. This result was 
owing to the fact that when some of the long, 
coarse roots were cut off, a large 
mass of new fibrous roots were 
formed, and that these numerous 
hungry mouths were supplied with 
aplenty of food close at home. 
Now for the .hint. Do we not find 
here the reason why many trans¬ 
planted things, such as lettuce, 
cabbage, tomatoes, celery, etc., as 
well as some flowering plants, do 
better when transplanted? The 
“pricking out” causes them to 
form a multitude of short, new 
roots, and being set in rich soil, 
they grow vigorously. Why not 
apply this principle in the culture 
of the melon, cucumber, the grape 
and the pear? Keep Ilie roots 
small, numerous, and feed them 
high? . Certainly, it would be a 
saving of room. This subject is worthy of more 
careful experiment. -It is often advised to be 
careful not to disturb the roots of trees. The 
Gardener of the Bible proposed to “ dig about 
and dung” the unfruitful fig-tree. May we not 
often imitate him to advantage ? ' * 
A Hew Mode of Striking Cuttings. 
The plan indicated by the accompanying en¬ 
graving is so sure and so simple as to recom¬ 
mend itself for practice by every body. Any 
lady can thus rapidly propagate pinks, roses, 
geraniums, etc., without much trouble or loss. 
Take a large, wide-mouthed pot, and partly 
fill it with small 
'stones or pieces 
of broken pots, 
for drainage, as 
seen at b. Then 
take a pot two 
inches smaller, 
stop the drainage 
hole of this with 
stiff clay or with 
a cork, to make it 
water-tight, 
shown at a. Set 
this inside of the 
large pot, on top of the drainage, so that the 
brims of the two will be on a level. Now, fill 
the space between the pots with sandy loam, 
and insert cuttings all around the pot, as shown 
at c. Have the lower end of each cutting touch 
the surface of the inner pot. This pot is to be 
filled with water. Now, plunge the. pots in a 
gentle liot-bed, or, if it is Summer, cover the 
cuttings with a bell-glass. The moisture will 
find its way through the sides of the inner pot as 
fast as the rootlets of the cuttings want it. After 
a suitable time, the inner crock can be carefully 
lifted out, to examine the cuttings and see if they 
are rooted. If they are not, it can be restored to 
its place without injury to the cuttings. When 
the young plants are started, they can be taken 
off, one at a time, with a broad-bladed knife. 
- -—-—- 
The Pelargonium. —It is not altogether an 
affectation which makes gardeners distinguish 
between this and the Geranium. The name orig¬ 
inated thus : Pelargonium is the Greek name of 
the bird called stork. It was first applied by the 
German botanist, Burman, on account of the re¬ 
semblance between the bill of that bird and the 
long, pointed seed capsule. The plant, original¬ 
ly from the Cape of Good Hope, has been found, 
also, in Australia, in Polynesia, and St. Helena. 
Planning Flower Gardens. 
One of the worst ways of planting a flower- 
garden is to set out indiscriminately, plants of 
all colors,of different flights andhabits of growth, 
without regard to any system or design. It is 
enough to make an orderly man’s head ache. 
Here is a verbena, next a poppy; beyond is a pe¬ 
tunia, and hard by is a lilac-bush; next is por- 
tulacea, and next a morning-glory, and so on. 
Such a confused mass of things is at best child¬ 
ish. Let there be some kind of system—almost 
any is better than none. This is a good one: 
Let the plants on a particular bed be similar in 
form, or color, size or style of growth. If dif¬ 
ferent colors appear in the same bed, let them 
be of such kinds as will harmonize well together. 
It is a growing custom, and a' good one, to 
have the beds small, and only one color to a bed. 
Then, when the garden is viewed from the win¬ 
dows or veranda of the dwelling, it has the ap¬ 
pearance of embroidery or carpeting. Mr. Lou¬ 
don recommends drawing out in Winter, on pa¬ 
per, the plan of the garden, and coloring the 
beds with paint, so as to see what the effect will 
be. Make the arrangement of colors a long and 
careful study. When the plan is fixed upon, it 
will be the simple work of the gardener to find 
the plants which will give the required colors 
during the entire Summer, and at the least ex¬ 
pense. We suggest this hint to the florists of 
the Agriculturist family, for winter study. 
The Embellishment of City Door-Yards. 
One excellent mode of adorning city yards is, 
to throw the front grounds of several buildings 
into one enclosure, and have them embellished 
with trees and flowers, under the care of a sin¬ 
gle gardener. The engraving below will give 
some idea of this plan. An arrangement of this 
sort would afford quite a considerable park or 
pleasure-ground for the different families to en¬ 
joy in common# It would furnish a much 
greater variety of trees and plants than could 
be possible in any one yard. By commit¬ 
ting the premises to the care of a single gar¬ 
dener, it would save much care and expense 
to each family. The plan would be excellent, 
especially where, the buildings were all owned 
by a single proprietor. The care of the grounds 
should be charged on the rent, and so save any 
further trouble. The cut represents only one of 
a great number of plans which might be adopt¬ 
ed in laying out the ground. Instead of one 
wide circular walk, a, terminating at the street, 
there might be several narrow and straight 
paths running from each door directly to the 
curb-stone; or there might be any number of 
serpentine walks, and flower beds and shrubs. 
The success of the whole arrangement would, 
of course, depend upon the good understanding 
maintained among the several tenants. . Com¬ 
mon interest in an attractive garden would seem 
to be an excellent means of promoting mutual 
good forbearance and good will. 
[This plan, prepared by an associate, has 
some advantages, and in some circumstances 
may be adopted; but as a rule, we should say, 
let every family have its own garden, and enjoy 
