1871.] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
TGI 
call a rose by any other name ”—may or may 
not bring a dollar a pound. 
Lightning as a Landscape Gardener.— 
I told you about the great pine-tree that was 
struck by lightning a year ago last summer. It 
died at last, and was cut down. It was my pet 
pine, and no reasonable sum of money would 
have bought it. I indulged in a great deal of 
unnecessary mourning at its loss, as now no 
moderate sum would induce me to have it back 
again. Such a magnificent view as is opened 
by its fall! From my “den,” I can now see a 
distant bend of the river, the steeples of the 
village peering above the trees, and in the far 
distance the mountains, which present a differ¬ 
ent hue with every atmospheric change. It is 
not often that such a calamity as the loss of the 
grand old pine appeared to be brings with it 
such ample compensation. I of course knew 
that the view was there, but it could only be 
enjoyed from the house by sacrificing the 
noblest pine. I feel much like the colored 
citizen who, after an unsuccessful search for his 
dog, said: “Now I can’t find ’urn, I’se mighty 
glad I loss ’urn." 
The Christmas Rose. —The other day (Nov. 
1st) I was quite astonished to find the Christmas 
Rose (Ilelleborus niger) in flower. In this coun¬ 
try it does not usually appear until spring. It 
is a charming, old-fashioned herbaceous plant, 
and were it not such a slow grower it would be 
much more popular than it is. I have had my 
plant for eight years, and it is now so small 
that it can be readily covered with one’s hat. 
The Winter State op Plants. —Did you 
ever notice how plants prepare themselves for 
winter ? The last growth of the season becomes 
dwarf and stunted, and the whole aspect of the 
plant is so different from what it is when flour¬ 
ishing, that the commonest ones are with diffi¬ 
culty recognized. I find much interest in ex¬ 
amining our commonest weeds after they have 
gone into winter quarters, and often find myself 
puzzled to identify them. 
Winter Pears. —How seldom do we see .a 
good late pear! They are generally poor, 
shriveled things, and altogether unsatisfactory. 
The reason is, people take too much pains with 
them, and ripen them up before their time. Have 
just been picking my Vicars. It is the fashion 
to turn up the pomological nose at the Vicar, 
and say patronizingly, “ Excellent for cooking! ” 
So it is, there is no pear equal to it for cooking; 
but, properly managed, it is excellent without 
cooking. . I assort the pears, put them in boxes, 
and place them in the cellar among the pota¬ 
toes. They will need looking at now and then, 
and when they show signs of ripening up, which 
is usually in December, they are taken up-stairs 
and allowed to finish off in a warm room. If 
the Vicar has been well grown and properly 
ripened, it is most acceptable to those who like 
very brisk and vinous fruit, but will not suit 
those who are fond of sweet fruits only. 
Keeping Geraniums. —I never have any 
trouble in keeping such Geraniums as are worth 
keeping. They are taken up and cut back pretty 
severely, removing all the succulent and unripe 
wood. They are then stacked in a box with 
some dryish earth about the roots, and put in 
the cellar for the winter. The trouble is in 
putting them away too moist. The earth should 
be almost dust-dry. I have a fine old Gloire de 
Nancy, which goes into the cellar for the fifth 
time. I have never tried the method of hanging 
them up by the heels. The plants are cut back, 
tied together by the roots, and hung up in the 
cellar, heads downwards. Those who have tried 
this, report that it is successful. 
Parsnips. —Such a yield of large fine pars¬ 
nips as we dug a few days ago! The success 
was due to deep plowing, heavy manuring, and 
early sowing, including, of course, clean work¬ 
ing. I believe that farmers can get more nutri¬ 
ment, at the same expense, front parsnips than 
from any other root. They are less trouble in 
cultivation than carrots, and pound for pound 
worth considerably more. 
Judson’s Branching Corn. —“Branching” 
pop, field, and sweet corn were offered a year 
ago. We grew the “branching” pop last year 
and the other two this year, a long row of each. 
In neither case was there the least sign of 
branching, and it was seldom that either the 
sweet or “Golden Drop” had two ears to the 
stalk. This “branching” corn must be set 
down as a failure, if not a humbug. 
How I Made a Hedge. 
Osage-hedge makers differ pretty widely as to 
the best distance to put the plants in the row, 
and a novice in hedge-making is perfectly be¬ 
wildered when he reads the advice of divers 
meu. He does not know what is really best 
to do, and so he makes a leap in the dark and 
hopes for the best. 
I intended two years ago to make a hedge 
around my orchard, aiming to erect a barrier 
against thieves and a wind-break at the same 
time. I had no experience whatever, had never 
seen a hedge, and desiring to proceed aright, I 
ordered “ Warder on Hedges,” which I carefully 
studied, but for the life of me I could not tell 
from that work whether it was best to put the 
plants in a single row, four inches apart, or in a 
double row, two feet apart, or in a single row, 
six, eight, ten, fifteen, or twenty inches apart. 
Each plan was highly recommended, and each 
said to be the best. I finally settled on a single 
row, eight inches apart. I believe Mr. Warder 
himself prefers two feet apart, but a hedge 
made on this plan would not in twenty years 
turn a two-hundred-pound hog. The distance 
now recommended by the experienced hedge- 
growers of the West—chief among whom is 
Prof. J. B. Turner, of Jacksonville, Ill.—is six 
inches, and eVen four inches is better than eight 
inches or any greater distance. In spite of all 
that the most careful and vigilant can do, many 
of the plants will die out or become so feeble 
that they do not keep up with their adjoining 
neighbors, and a “break” or “gap” in the 
hedge is the consequence, as not one replant in 
a dozen will grow and thrive sufficiently to fill 
up the missing place, no matter how carefully 
it may have been replanted and tended. For 
this reason it may be safe to infer (and act ac¬ 
cordingly) that close setting—say four to six 
inches—is the best of all plans; and then, the 
following fall after planting, if the plants are 
found to be too thick, it is far easier, and more 
satisfactory, to remove every other one than to 
depend upon replanting the following spring. 
Now for my new plan. Being tired with the 
labor of setting every plant just eight inches 
from the next, and holding it there perfectly 
straight while setting, I commenced on a back 
line to put them in a trench which had been 
made perfectly straight, regardless of exact dis¬ 
tances, putting them in carelessly all the way 
from two to four inches, and not minding 
whether the tops were straight or crooked. 
They grew just as well as any, and in the fall I 
thinned them to about four inches. Now this 
back line is the best of all my entire hedge, and 
I firmly believe it the best plan after all. 
Stanford, Ky. Woodman. 
--— *-■—<>«--»—- 
Selling Fruit and Vegetables by Weight. 
While in Denver last summer we found almost 
all farm produce except eggs sold by weight. 
Even the delicate fruits brought from California 
—pears, grapes, and plums—had their value 
tested by the scales. The fruit peddlers that cir¬ 
culate in the Rocky Mountains carry the bal¬ 
ances with them, and the purchaser knows how 
much he gets in avoirdupois. This is the pre¬ 
vailing usage upon the Pacific coast, and is 
worthy of universal adoption. With us, almost 
all fruits and garden truck are sold by no defi¬ 
nite measurement. Tiie basket, barrel, or 
box has no standard of measurement. Some 
barrels contain 104 quarts, the standard of 
the Cape Cod Cranberry Association, and 
others will not hold 80. The old-style peach- 
basket held nearly a bushel. They grow 
smaller every year, and now contain a scant 
half-bushel. The berry baskets and boxes 
are of all sizes, and the grape boxes run 
from three to ten pounds. While this mode of 
sale continues, there is a constant temptation to 
depreciate the measure and cheat the consumer. 
The producer gets the same price for his box 
or basket of fruit this year that he received last, 
although it contains but nine tenths as much. 
This is virtually a fraud, although no express 
compact has been made or violated. The loss 
to the individual purchaser is very small. The 
gain to the producer is ten per cent, for which 
he gives no equivalent. Purchasers have it in 
their power to correct this abuse, and now that 
the spirit of reform is abroad and the accounts 
of rulers are overhauled, these small robberies 
should be looked after. Bring every kind of 
produce to the test of the scales, and we have a 
remedy against cheating. Purchasers then see 
five pounds of grapes for the five-pound box 
that they buy, and are satisfied. 
Cactuses in Winter.— The reason why so 
many fail to bloom their cactuses satisfactorily 
is, because they do not treat them properly dur¬ 
ing winter. By their structure the cactuses 
are especially adapted to a long season of drouth, 
and in a dry time they take their rest, the 
same as our plants do during the winter. In 
our treatment of them we must imitate their 
natural conditions, and during winter keep them 
dry, not so dry that they will shrivel, but they 
will rarely need any water. Of course, they 
must be kept in a warm place, and where they 
will not get near the freezing point. In spring, 
when they start to grow and bloom, they should 
be freely watered. The exceptions to this treat¬ 
ment are the Epiphyllums, Crab’s Claw Cactuses, 
and the Rat-tail Cactus, Cereus Jlageiliformis. 
A Useful Hand-Cultivator, 
In •August .ast we received by express an 
implement which at first sight did not promise 
to be of any great value. At any rate, it was 
taken home for trial, with the thought that we 
were to add another to our collection of curi¬ 
osities in the way of horticultural implements. 
It was received too late to be tried upon any¬ 
thing but turnips and late spinach, and the way 
it walked through them was altogether gratify¬ 
ing. Our gardener took to it at once, as it gives 
