AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
3 4=2 
ceived from Austria. Knowing the interest Dr. 
Siudhof took in such matters, Mr. K. immediately 
wrote him an account of these standard plants, 
which brought from the Doctor an order for a 
number of them. We mention this to show 
that they are no untried thing, but have been in 
cultivation in Dr. S.’s garden for seven years, and 
though he has increased his original six to 50, 
those first planted are in full perfection and vigor. 
The stock used to graft upon is the Missouri 
Currant, Ribes aureum, well known in cultivation 
as an ornamental shrub with very fragrant yellow 
flowers. The stocks are usually propagated by 
what is known as stooling, or mound-layering, and 
are ready to be grafted when two years old ; simple 
straight stems are used, or the stocks by proper 
pinching are made to produce several branches at 
the top, each of which may be grafted and form a 
large branching head sooner than when a simple 
graft is inserted. The stocks are taken up in au¬ 
tumn and potted, or wrapped in balls of moss, and 
kept in a cold frame until about the holidays, when 
they are brought into a cool house to be grafted. 
Here they are forced very gradually at a tempera¬ 
ture of about 50°, and as soon as the stocks start 
well, the grafting is done ; the grafts are inserted 
in the heavier stocks by ordinary cleft-grafting, but 
for others what is known as the American wlnp- 
graft—without cutting a tongue—is employed , the 
operation being finished by wrapping with waxed 
paper. All unripe, pithy stocks are rejected. The 
grafted stocks are kept rather dark until they start, 
are then given full light, and when the shoots are 
two or three inches long, they arc placed in a cooler 
house,whcie they are gradually hardened off. When 
spring opens they are planted out, or those in pots 
plunged in a somewhat shaded place, and by fall 
the plants arc fit for sale. The plants usually bear 
the year of setting out, the second year of the graft, 
and increase in size and productiveness from year 
to year. The pruning consists mainly in thinning 
out the weaker branches and keeping the heads 
well open to the light and air. 
The advantages claimed for this treatment of the 
currant and gooseberry are : 1. Great fruitfulness, 
the plants bearing enormous crops. 2. Great size 
and excellence of the fruit. 3. Freedom from the 
borer; it is well known that when the currant is 
trained to a single stem upon its own roots, the la¬ 
bor is often lost by the destructive work of the 
borer; this insect has not been known to attack the 
Missouri Currant. 4. The ability to raise the fine 
large English varieties of the gooseberry without 
mildew; Dr. Siedhof states that in seven years he 
has not had a single fruit mildew upon his stand¬ 
ards, while plants near by, cultivated in the or¬ 
dinary way, were badly affected by it. 5. Cleanli¬ 
ness of the fruit, and the ease with which it may be 
gathered. G. The highly ornamental character of 
tho trees, a matter of no little importance to those 
who pride themselves upon a neat and well kept 
garden. The longevity of the plants seems to be 
well established, they having been, as already 
stated, imported by Dr. Siedhof seven years ago, 
and Mr. Kuhn informs us that the oldest he knows 
of, in Germany, are 14 years old, and as healthy and 
as productive as ever. 
Messrs. Kuhn & Co., exhibited at a recent meet¬ 
ing of the Centennial Fruit Committee, gooseber¬ 
ries which measured 51 by 31 inches in circumfer¬ 
ence, and weighing an ounce and a quarter and an 
ounce and a half each. 
We regard this treatment of the currant and 
gooseberry as one of the most interesting of recent 
horticultural developments, and are glad to find 
ourselves in this respect in accord with Mr. Chas. 
Downing, who says of the standards : “I have no 
hesitation in saying that they will become a valua¬ 
ble appendage to the garden of the amateur for or¬ 
nament as well as for general use in the family, 
and are without doubt a novel and interesting ad¬ 
dition to horticulture.” Those who know the pro¬ 
verbial caution ot Mr. Downing in all such matters, 
will see that this is for him enthusiastic praise. The 
engraving on page 341, is from one of the bushes 
at tho Centennial, and has not so large a head 
as the older ones. We understand that the trees 
will be offered for sale this fall for the first time. 
Hew Hardy Cherries. 
BY D. B. WIEIi, LACON, ILL. 
Many years ago, when I commenced the study of 
fruit culture in the North-West, I was surprised at 
the very meagre list of cherries that we could 
grow here. Only the Early Richmond (Kentish 
of Downing), Late Richmond (Late Kentish), Eng¬ 
lish Morello, and common Black Morello, could be 
planted with any certainty that the trees would 
withstand the severity of the climate. 
The Early Richmond, though nearly hardy and 
productive everywhere, is of too poor quality, being 
watery and thin of skin, it rots easily, and is too 
soft to ship ; the three others are very poor in qual¬ 
ity, and so late in ripening that the fruit is in a 
great measure destroyed by the plum cureulio. 
There appeared to be no fruit more sought after 
by the people, and in the markets, than a good 
cherry. I therefore concluded if possible to give 
them cherries that could be depended upon in this 
climate in all ]points. This was setting the mark 
pretty high, but I am sure that I have succeeded, 
even beyond my most sanguine expectations. To 
obtain this result, I grew large quantities of seed¬ 
lings from seeds of the Early Richmond, Late Rich¬ 
mond, English Morello, and the common Black 
Morello, and also a few from the hardier Duke and 
“ Sweet ” cherries. A very careful selection from 
these seedlings was planted for fruiting, or budded 
or grafted in the tops of bearing trees. I have now 
fruited something over 3,000 of these seedlings, and 
have many more yet to fruit. This, as we western 
folks so forcibly express it, “ has been a big job.” 
The task of carefully looking over, tasting, work¬ 
ing, and recording an orchard of 3,000 trees in fruit 
is no small task in hot weather. I had resolved to 
give no variety any attention that was not superior 
in several points to the Early Richmond, it being 
the standard for comparison. Firstly, the tree 
must be as hardy as that, and secondly, it must be 
as hardy in fruit bud. All failing in these import¬ 
ant points were discarded, for the North-West at 
least, at once. The grand total result, after having 
these new varieties in fruit from two to five years 
is, 36 varieties numbered and recorded for more 
or less propagation, and about one hundred 
other varieties recorded for future observation 
and trial. There can be no question of the 
complete hardiness of these varieties, they hav¬ 
ing withstood from six to ten of the most severe 
seasons ever known in Northern Illinois. As to the 
quality of the fruit, I have had that tested by as 
many competent persons as I could bring together, 
in competition with the best sweet cherries, and the 
record so made shows that with these seedlings we 
can grow cherries in the North-West nearly, if not 
quite, as good for all purposes as the best. I shall 
not at this time give descriptions of these new vari¬ 
eties, and will only add that I am more than satis¬ 
fied with the result of my labors, though if I have 
life and health, I shall continue these experiments 
until I know as near as possible, how much the 
hardy sour cherries can be improved. I have ob¬ 
tained as yet no good results from seed of the Eng¬ 
lish Morello, which is the hardiest of cherries ex¬ 
cept some of my seedlings. The Kentish family 
and the common Black Morello, appear to give the 
most seedlings of good quality. 
I cannot close without remarking on what ap¬ 
pears to me to be the most unjust and discriminat¬ 
ing thing in our laws. What chance have I to get 
an adequate return for all my labor, time, skill, and 
capital expeuded in producing these new and most 
valuable fruits ? Should I not have a reasonable pro-, 
prietory right in them protected by law ? Am 1 
not more rightly entitled to a fortune from them 
than lie who accidentally stumbled upon the adapta¬ 
tion of a little crooked piece of iron to the improve¬ 
ment of a sewing machine or other contrivance ? 
The majority of improvements in mechanics arc mere 
accidents, though, of course, with notable excep¬ 
tions. While improvements in plants, fruits and 
animals are, as a rule, the result of the long applica¬ 
tion of time, money, and skill. I have made a few 
feeble attempts to have this state of affairs remedied 
in ourhorticultural societies, but was quickly frown- 
[September, 
eddown and squelched by persons older and in au¬ 
thority, and who perhaps had never planted a seed 
for experiment. What a grand advancement in the 
world of horticulture would a proper law of this 
kind make. What skill and capital would be em¬ 
ployed in this most pleasureable and valuable pur¬ 
suit if each and every one knew for a certainty that 
if he produced something superior to what had been 
known before, his money reward would be sure. 
[Our friend Wier, whose labors with the cherry 
we have known of for a long time, has his hobbies. 
One of these is, that good varieties of fruit of all 
kinds can be found that will endure the most severe 
of north-western winters, and has done much in 
this line—a most excellent hobby. -Another is, 
that new fruits, flowers, and vegetables should be 
patentable. It does seem hard that the raiser of a 
new variety should receive but little benefit from 
his labors, and one is at first sight inclined to favor 
his view. But originators of fruits are few, and the 
people are many, and we do not think that the ag¬ 
gregate hardship of the fruit raisers begins to be 
equal to what would be the hardship of the people 
from annoyance, litigation, disputed ownership, 
and all that, should such a law as our friend asks 
for, be passed. We discussed this matter several 
years ago, and have not space in which to renew 
it, but as we let Mr. Wier “say his say,” think it 
right to indicate our own position. —Ed.J 
Hen Manure in the Garden. 
One of the best fertilizers within easy reach of the 
farmer and villager, is the contents of the hennery. 
This often goes to waste, and the hens find their 
own lodging in trees, and on sheds, and other out¬ 
buildings. But on most farms there is a roost 
under cover, where the droppings accumulate, and 
are kept in a dry state. As a rule, not much care 
is bestowed upon it. Often it lies upon the floor 
without absorbents, the ammonia constantly escap¬ 
ing, to the injury of the fowls. Sometimes it has 
an annual cleaning, but oftener it lies foryearsonly 
wasting. Analysis shows it to be exceedingly rich 
in nitrogen, worth a cent a pound, or more, in the 
state in which we usually find it. If all its good 
properties were carefully gathered, and saved by 
the use of absorbents, it would be worth much 
more than this. There are two ways of doing this, 
equally effectual—daily sweeping and gathering into 
barrels or boxes, or by frequent deposits of absorb¬ 
ents under the perches. The former method in¬ 
volves a good deal of labor, and is resorted to only 
oy those who insist upon the utmost neatness in 
the hen-house. The droppings deposited in the 
barrels are covered daily with plaster, dry peat, or 
some other good absorbent. Our own method is to 
apply the absorbents frequently under the roosts. 
The hennery has a cemented floor, and is built into 
a bank, fronting on the south, with a large supply 
of windows to give light and heat. Spring water 
is brought into the poultiy-liouse by a pipe, and by 
the turning of a faucet a constant supply of fresh 
water is secured. The whole floor is covered with 
absorbents of various kinds, in which the fowls 
scratch and dust themselves as freely as they please. 
The staple absorbent in summer is dry garden soil or 
road dust, gathered as the state of the weather per¬ 
mits. In the winter it is sifted hard-coal ashes 
from the furnace. In addition to this, sea weed, 
and the wrack from the shore are frequently thrown 
in, which furnishes food for the fowls, as well as 
helps the manure heap. As soon as the smell of 
ammonia is detected, more earth is added, and 
thus the pile of manure grows gradually through 
the year. It is removed as often as manure is 
wanted in the garden, at planting, or to assist 
growing crops. It needs to be used with caution, 
either in the dry or liquid state. We have large 
faith in the economy of liquid manure, applied to 
fruits and vegetables in the summer. It is very 
good in dry weather, and not much less good in 
wet, if the soil is well drained. The quantity of 
water that plants will take up in the growing sea¬ 
son is wonderful. We keep a large tank, which is 
supplied with manure and water from the hennery, 
