1864.] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
393 
tablishment in order aud repair, effort to con¬ 
form one’s manners, dress and style of living to 
the showy residence. A plain house comports 
well with plain, quiet, unaffected, gentle (not 
“ genteel ”) habits of life and manners.—(“ Gen¬ 
teel ” is the sham of true gentility.) Too many 
build houses less for personal comfort than for 
mere ostentation. Being , governed by fashion, 
they wish to show wealth, or superior artistic 
taste, not their own, or something else no more 
creditable.—In saying these things, we do not 
mean to object to the embellishment of home, 
far from it, but simply to indicate that this 
should be a secondary matter and for ourselves 
and not for mere show. First of all then, let the 
aim be comfort, convenience, and simplicity. 
In all improvements around a country house, 
the tendency to give things a look of newness 
and rawness which conflicts with the idea of 
repose, should be studiously avoided. If one 
has an old tree or two in his grounds, he has 
something which looks stable; let him make the 
most of it. Or if one is going to build a house, 
let him, if possible, choose his site not far from 
where a few old trees are standing. This will 
anchor him in the past, and steady him in the 
present. And in building or improving, let us 
not make everything look new-fashioned. This 
is pretentious, uneasy. Well does one say: 
“ Our new efforts express intentions and aims; 
with age comes the expression of character.” 
In painting houses or fences, we would rarely 
if ever, use white or any pure colors; these are 
too dazzling, staring and obtrusive. Sheds, 
barns and all out-buildings should be painted a 
somberer tint than the dwelling itself. 
The flower garden—where should that be put ? 
Not in front of the house, for this suggests that 
the labor required in planting and tending it is 
all for show, and not for the love of the flowers. 
The front of the dwelling should be given up 
chiefly to grass and trees grouped and not 
crowded, and by no means in stiff lines, nor in 
regular orchard fashion. Such an arrangement 
is expressive of comfort and quiet. The flower 
and vegetable garden should hold some sunny 
place, at the side or rear of the house, near 
the house; yet not ostentatiously displayed. 
Autumn Plowing for Spring Crops. 
The airing of freshly turned soil in summer, 
results, as we know, in fitting it for a succeed¬ 
ing crop better than almost any other prepara¬ 
tion, and the reason why summer fallows are 
not more advocated in the Agriculturist , is, that 
a root crop or green manure crop may occupy 
the soil and the results of the fallowing be even 
augmented. It is not so in winter. Sward 
land plowed in the autumn remains exposed to 
the action of the weather—to freezing and 
thawing, wetting and drying, for several months. 
The sod during a considerable portion of this 
time is subject to decay, and in the spring after 
cross-plowing and harrowing, almost disappears. 
The opportunity should not be neglected to put 
the plow down an inch or two, and this new 
soil which might be of damage to the crop if 
brought to the top in the spring, is thoroughly 
civilized before the crop takes possession. 
Weed seeds that germinate in the autumn, as 
many will, get their quietus. Manure if applied 
and plowed under in the fall though it may be 
be buried deep, becomes considerably incorpo¬ 
rated with the soil, aud the spring plowing 
brings it up again, well mixed with the decayed 
sods, forming an admirable seed bed. Heavy 
soils are most benefited by autumn plowing. 
A New Blackberry—The Kittatinny. 
It is only within a few years that the black¬ 
berry has been included in the list of cultivated 
fruits. The New Rochelle and Dorchester are 
such marked improvements over the ordinary 
wild fruits that we have been apt to consider 
that perfection has been reached with the black¬ 
berry. There are several varieties not yet be¬ 
fore the public, which are in some respects su¬ 
perior to the established sorts, and it is hoped 
that cultivators will go on improving this deli¬ 
cious fruit until all the good qualities are found 
combined in one berry. One of the new vari¬ 
eties, which we have known for two years, is 
called the Kittatinny, from its having originated 
in the mountains of that name. Though it has 
been in private hands for many years, it has 
only recently been brought to the notice of hor¬ 
ticulturists. Early in August, in company with 
several amateurs, we visited a garden in Sussex 
Co., N. J., where this variety is in cultivation. 
In the habit and vigor of the plant it resem 
bles the New Rochelle, and although the bush 
es had not been trained in the manner to pro 
ducc the greatest fruitfulness, they were load¬ 
ed with berries in all stages of development. 
The foliage is rather more coarsely serrate than 
in the New Rochelle. An illustration is given 
of a cluster of fruit of the natural size. The 
berries are longer and more irregular than those 
of the New Rochelle; we measured several 
which were an inch and-a-lialf long, and three 
inches in circumference. The pips large, with 
small seeds, juicy, sweet, and with a true black¬ 
berry flavor. The fruit possesses the great ad¬ 
vantage that it does not need to be over-ripe in 
order to be eatable, but while still hard enough 
