6:2 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST 
[February, 
Poinsettia pulcherrima, as planted in one of the 
greenhouses. Each of these tropical-looking 
growths is about one foot in diameter, and of the 
brightest scarlet that it is possible to conceive ; 
these are not, however, exact!}' flowers, but are 
bracts or outer leaves of the flower. They are in 
perfection just at the holidays, and conduce more 
than any other flower to give the tables of our 
hospitable New Yorkers on New Year’s Day a 
look of gorgeous elegance. A space of 3,000 
square feet is devoted to this plant, and in 
bright sunshine such a blaze of scarlet is per¬ 
fectly dazzling. 
Figure 4 is a section of a Rose House, where 
the Tea Roses are being forced for their buds in 
winter. A space of 6,000 square feet of glass 
is devoted to this department, producing about 
a thousand buds daily. The varieties grown 
are very few, as we find only six or eight sorts 
are suitable for forcing. We name the kinds in 
order of excellence as we find them—Saffrano, 
Isabella Sprunt, La Pactole, Bon Silene, La Pbe- 
nix, Agrippina, and Hermosa. These embrace 
saffron, yellow, straw, pink, carmine, crimson, 
and rose colors. To force Roses in winter, the 
plants must be grown in pots during the pre¬ 
vious summer and fall. It is useless to lift a 
Rose plant from the ground in the fall and ex¬ 
pect it to flower well during winter. 
Figure 5 represents a section of the house in 
which is grown the Double White Chinese Prim¬ 
rose. This is the most prolific of all winter 
flow r ering plants. The greenhouse in which 
we grow these has about 1,000 square 
feet of surface. Each plant occupies about a 
square foot of space, and produces not less than 
500 flowers on each plant. In fact the whole 
greenhouse is one continued sheet of snowy 
whiteness from November to May. It is per¬ 
haps the most profitable of all winter flowering 
plants grown by the Florist. 
Figure 6 is a section of Carnations or Pinks, 
as they are sometimes called, growing, planted 
out on one of the greenhouse benches. Of late 
years this lias become one of our most popular 
■winter flowers, and perhaps more space is de¬ 
voted to it, than to any other flower. Its culti¬ 
vation is easy and simple, and for that reason 
it is less profitable here perhaps than any thing 
else grown. The cuttings are treated exactly 
as the Verbenas, described under (figure 1). As 
the plant is quite hardy, it is planted out from 
the greenhouses early in spring, (at the season 
Ave plant cabbages), in the open ground, at about 
one foot each way. The flowers are not allowed 
to develop during the summer, but are cut off 
as they appear—the flowering resources being 
husbanded for winter. In October they are 
lifted and planted, as shown in (figure 6). Many 
of these plants produce over a hundred flowers. 
The sorts grown are very few, mainly carmine 
and pure white. The family of Carnation, 
however, contains many hundred varieties; but 
we find comparatively few flower sufficiently 
freely in winter to warrant their growth ; but 
for private collections a score of sorts might be 
grown to represent the different colors and 
markings. 
“Hickory Farm” Adornments. 
Dear Agriculturist ,—“ Hickory Farm ” is not 
altogether terra incognita to your readers, for 
not unfrequently hints upon properly farm 
topics, drawn from experience upon it, have 
found their way to your columns, but never bo- 
fore has any story of its horticulture been told. 
The reader ought to know that the farm is in 
that region of New Jersey where “ Holland 
Dutch” is the native tongue; where, though 
within an easy drive of your great city, the 
habits of the people are as simple and quaint, 
as little affected by city airs, and almost as 
characteristic of another race from that busy, 
restless population within a few miles of them, 
and now overrunning their pleasant hill-sides, 
as if it were on Haarlem Lake itself. The 
owner goes to New York every day to his busi¬ 
ness and returns about dusk. This is a hard 
sort of life, but, on the whole, decidedly pre¬ 
ferable to life in town, for a man of rural tastes, 
whose wife also enjoys the country, loves her 
pony, her Jersey cows, her calves, and her poul¬ 
try, and is never weary of planning adornments 
for both the outside and inside of her old stone 
house and its surroundings. 
The house is of unhewn stone, roughly faced, 
but tolerably well laid, up to the eaves, which 
project several feet, nearly horizontally, run¬ 
ning into the gambrel roof upon a gradual 
curve. The gables are of wood. This is the 
prevailing style of architecture in which the 
old houses are built, and certainly it has many 
elements of beauty. I know of no more beau¬ 
tiful roof-lines than ihese old houses present, 
and no houses which, externally, convey more 
the idea of rural comfort. 
Vines cling well to the rough stones ; and ivy, 
trumpet vine, and Virginia creeper, hold on 
bravely, the rudest winds seldom tearing them 
from their hold. We have found two varieties of 
Virginia creeper (Ampelopsis quinquefolia), one 
which was taken from cultivated ground, and has 
clasping tendrils, wherewith to cling to the trel¬ 
lises or whatever it. runs over, like those of the 
grape-vine, to which it is near akin. The other, 
taken from the rocky ledges and stone Avails, 
instead of clasping tendrils, has tendrils, the 
ends of which are furnished with little flattened 
discs, like a fly’s foot, growing upon them, and 
adhering fast to the stones. This looks very 
much as if natural requirements could develop 
certain characteristics in plants. 
When Ave came, the house Avas hemmed in on 
every side with rubbish of old sheds and fences, 
smoke-house, hen-house, and corn-house, all 
“ handy by,:’ Avhich was indeed their only rec¬ 
ommendation. When this rubbish was moved, 
torn aAvay, and cleared up, the ground, dug over 
and seeded down, had a very different look. 
A fine young mulberry was crushed and smoth¬ 
ered in the coils of a hundred-headed hydra 
of a wild grape-vine, of Avhich one day it was 
barely relieved after two hours of hard labor. 
That Avas three years ago, and the vigor and 
beauty of that tree now is a joy to us every 
day. An old chestnut had been cut down be¬ 
fore we came, and around the old stump per¬ 
haps twenty young trees were struggling for 
dear life, and throttling one another in self- 
defense. There Avas little choice—the best 
would have made a light bean-pole, but it was 
picked out, and a shingling hatchet made quick 
work with the rest. We have had nuts from 
this tree now for two years; the first year a 
handful, and last fall, enough to make quite a 
satisfactory “ mess.” The ground near by has 
been manured, and the roots reaching an ever 
flowing rill, the growth it makes is remarkable ; 
—only because Ave have not been in the habit of 
watching similar things all our lives. 
There was an old bridge over the aforesaid 
rill-, which is indeed a perfect torrent after 
heavy showers. This was made by placing 
timber across between two piers, of the width 
of the road, and four feet apart, and covering 
them Avith planks. It had yielded to the se¬ 
ductive influences of the stream, and Avas all 
but ready to fall into its embrace. We en¬ 
dured it as long as Ave coiild, but one day had 
John haul some good stones to the spot, and 
a sable Avail-layer Avas hired for a day’s work. 
Two ucav walls Avere laid, and enough long, flat 
stones were found to bridge over the space be¬ 
tween them. The same evening the bridge was 
covered Avith small stones and fine gravel, mak¬ 
ing a good road and an excellent bridge, that 
Avill last a lifetime, at an actual out-go of only 
$3. I came home one day, some time after, and 
found that as I had not provided quite Avork 
enough to last a carpenter Ave Avere employing 
all day, my Avife had with his aid carried out a 
plan, Avhich we had previously talked over, for 
finishing the bridge. Four strong, rough, cedar 
posts had been set, two on each side of the 
bridge, and on a line Avith it. Upon these, rather 
heavy cedar poles had been placed for hand¬ 
rails, and lower down other rails had been in¬ 
serted between the posts; then, both by Avay of 
bracing and ornament, though no bracing was 
needed, cross-pieces of the same material (red 
cedar with the bark on, and only roughly 
trimmed) were set in the form of a very Ioav 
broad X. The Avhole affair is now decidedly 
in keeping Avith the house and surroundings, 
rough and rustic, but having at least the beauty 
of strength and fitness, and the grace of appro¬ 
priateness. Here, too, the never-failing vines 
begin already to clamber over the rails, and the 
Avild clematis with the moonseed, Avill soon 
hang in festoons, or trail in the Avater. 
Some time ago we had a visit from our good 
friend Mr. Weidenmann, Avliose elegant work on 
“Beautifying Country Homes” your house has 
just brought out. He was so kind as to give us 
upon paper his idea of how our grounds should 
be planted, so as to make the most of natural 
advantages, and so as to save expense both in 
laying out and keeping up a lawn. He agreed 
Avith us in the desire to keep up the old, com¬ 
fortable look of the place, and to make every 
thing tell for convenience as Avell as for beauty. 
It has been surprising to us to see h«w far a 
little work spent upon exactly the right place 
and according to a good plan goes. 
We have made several successful attempts to 
move trees from the swamps and the Avoods; 
not, however, attempting any thing very large. 
Red cedars may be moved with ease if dug 
about in the fall and transplanted with a good 
large ball of frozen earth. There is some 
swampy ground upon the place and in the 
neighborhood, Avliere there is only a surface 
stratum of black soil about 12 inches deep, and 
immediately beneath this a layer of impervious 
clayey sand, commonly called “ hard pan ;” not 
a root penetrates it, and all the trees that grow 
upon this soil have of course no tap roots. If 
the roots are cut off in a circle around the stem, 
a tre« may be pulled over far enough for a stone 
boat to be shoved under, and then when the 
tree is drawn back it may be drawn off without 
disturbing it very much. Last spring sev¬ 
eral considerable trees and shrubs Avere moved 
in this Avay, among them a big clump of black 
alders, several Avhite birches and some cedars, 
which hardly seemed to know they had been 
disturbed, although put upon dry ground. 
The tough sward of swamp grasses is easily 
disposed of after the trees get to growing well; 
and, previous to that time, it serves an impor¬ 
tant purpose in holding the soil about the roots. 
I have a great admiration for the swamp pin 
oak. It grows Avell upon upland, and abounds 
