1884 .] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
243 
and become independent of the parent. As 
soon as it has fairly rooted, the runner connect¬ 
ing it with the old plant may be severed, as it 
is now able to support itself. This new plant 
when fairly rooted, and often before, will push 
out other runners, which will repeat the process, 
and thus it will go on, so that in favorable sea¬ 
sons and in good soil, the parent will be sur¬ 
rounded with a large progeny. The engraving 
shows at the left hand the original plant, next 
at the right a new one well rooted, still further 
to the right, a plant forming, but not yet fixed 
in the soil, and a runner from this last termi¬ 
nated by a bud which has not yet developed. 
Success in multiplying a variety depends upon 
making the plant push out the greatest number 
of runners and in inducing as many as possible 
of these to take root. Hence the reason for 
highly manuring the propagating bed—as this 
not only induces the formation of runners, but 
greatly facilitates their rooting. It often hap¬ 
pens that the wind blows the runners about 
and interferes with their taking hold of the soil, 
and it is well to throw a handful of earth upon 
the middle of the runner to hold it in place. 
Plants set out in September will generally pro¬ 
duce well rooted new ones, Which may be re¬ 
moved in October, and these will give a moder¬ 
ate crop of fruit the following spring. In re¬ 
moving young plants, care is to be observed to 
avoid waste. If the center plant in the figure 
were removed, the unrooted one beyond it, as 
well as the bud, which might have made a 
plant, would be lost. With common varieties 
where there are plenty of plants, no great care is 
taken, but with a rare sort it is necessary to see 
that every plant not yet rooted, and every bud, 
is left with a well established plant to support 
it Until it makes roots of its own. If small pots 
filled with earth are set in the bed the runners 
can be made to root in them, and the plants can 
be removed with little disturbance to their roots, 
as the ball of earth can be turned out and set 
in the fruiting bed. In October, when there is 
little probability that the bud at the extremity 
of the runner will root, the runner may be cut 
off near the plant from which it starts, and in¬ 
serted in the soil like a cutting, taking care to 
have the bud just at the surface. Treated in 
this way and slightly covered during winter, 
these buds, which would otherwise be lost, will 
generally make new plants. Before the ground 
freezes, give all the beds a covering of straw or 
litter, but do not cover the crowns of the plants 
more than an inch or two. 
The Leatherwood or Wicopy. 
(Birca palustris.) 
Many of the shrubs found growing wild in 
our woods and swamps, when placed under the 
care of the cultivator, becomes objects of beauty. 
In the crowded thicket, where they are obliged 
to struggle with others, they are drawn out of 
shape, and they give, in that condition, no idea 
of the beauty they will present when they have 
free space in which to develope, and the hand of 
a skillful gardener to prune their irregularities 
of growth. American shrubs have received 
very little attention at the hands of our nursery¬ 
men, while in Europe they are highly prized and 
largely cultivated. Much of our nursery stock 
of this class is imported from European nur¬ 
series. The Leatherwood or Wicopy is found 
throughout the northern States, and is more 
worthy of attention as a lawn shrub than many 
exotic species now in cultivation. It grows 
from three to six feet high and as its branches 
LEATHERWOOD OR WICOET. 
start horizontally from near the ground, it forms 
a fine compact globular mass of verdure. The 
young branches have a peculiar appearance, 
being much larger at the .joints than they are 
below. The bark of this shrub is exceedingly 
tough—whence the common name of Leather- 
wood—and is very useful for thongs and withes. 
The strength of the bark is such that a man 
can not break that which surrounds a very small 
twig. The plant belongs to the Mezerum fami¬ 
ly, and its bark in common with others of the 
same family has a very acrid, burning taste 
when chewed, and readily causes vomiting. 
The shape of the young leaves is shown in the en¬ 
graving, but when fully developed, they are more 
oval; they are of a rather pale green and are 
whitish on the under side. The flowers appear 
early in spring, and usually fall before the leaves 
expand, though in shady situations we have 
found them retained until after the leaves ap¬ 
peared; they grow in threes with the short 
flower-stalks joined at the base. The flowers 
are without petals, the showy part being a tubu¬ 
lar calyx, which is about half an inch long, and 
of a light greenish yellow color. They are pro¬ 
duced in sufficient numbers to make the plant 
quite showy when in flower. The fruit is a 
small one-seeded berry. The shrub will suc¬ 
ceed best in a soil containing considerable veg¬ 
etable mould. The de¬ 
scription and engraving 
will enable any one to 
recognize it in its wild 
state. Young plants 
may be removed from 
the woods and it may 
be propagated from 
seeds or by layera which 
take two years to root. 
In our experience it is 
perfectly hardy even on 
an open lawn—a trying 
p.'ace for many of our 
native shrubs and trees, 
especially natives of 
thick woods and banks 
of streams. The lawn is 
dry and hot in summer, 
swept by winds and 
bare of snow in winter, 
yet the Wicopy thrives 
and forms dense heads. 
The Petunia as a 
Pot Plant. —We are 
so accustomed to grow 
this as an annual, that 
but few are aware that 
it is really a perennial 
which flowers the first 
year. It is usually sown 
in masses as a bedding 
plant, and as such it 
serves a good purpose, 
making a brilliant show of flowers throughout 
the season. Its long trailing branches covei 
a great space, and as most of the common va¬ 
rieties seed freely; the plant is self-sowing. 
When grown as a pot plant, the petunia be¬ 
comes a kind of shrub, susceptible of being 
trained according to the fancy of the cultivator. 
For decorating the balconies, verandahs, etc., 
there is nothing more satisfactory than some 
of the finer kinds of petunias grown proper¬ 
ly. We prefer some of the new blotched and 
veined sorts; they may be grown from seeds, 
or more true to kind from cuttings. When 
once fairly started, they may be trained to 
form a compact bush or be spread upon a 
fan-shaped or other trellis. The plants bear 
pinching to any extent, and push out branches 
very freely. Do not let the plants bloom until 
they have taken on the required shape. If a 
bush form is desired, pinch out the end of the 
plant when it gets about a foot high; side branch¬ 
es will soon start all along the stem, and if any 
of these are disposed to outgrow the others, 
they are to be stopped by pinching. A few 
weeks training will bring the plant into the de¬ 
sired shape when it may be allowed to bloom. 
Take Care of the Peaches. 
Though our western friends mourn the loss 
of their crop of fruit by the severe cold of last 
winter, the peach growers around New-York 
congratulate themselves that the present promise 
of fruit is better than it has been for many years 
past. Peach trees are very apt to overbear, and 
the fruit needs thinning, not only for the safety 
of the tree, but for its own increased market val¬ 
ue. It is the experience of the best growers 
that it pays to remove from one half to two 
thirds of the young fruit, as what remains will 
be finer and larger, and bring more money than 
if the whole crop had been allowed to rii>en. 
