AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
185 
some sold as such, which are not the genuine. 
Common small currants now sell readily in this 
market for 5 to 6 cents per pound, and the best 
large improved varieties bring 10 to 12 cents. 
Let us look a moment at the profit of raising 
currants at present market rates. Planted in 
rows four to five feet apart, they can be plowed 
and hoed between with ease. At four feet apart, 
2,722 bushes will occupy an acre. At a very 
moderate estimate, each plant will yield five 
pounds. These, at only five cents per pound 
(less than half the present price), will give $685, 
50 as the product of an acre. This certainly 
shows a fair chance for profit on this crop. Usu¬ 
ally the yield will be much larger than we have 
given above, on plants three years old and up¬ 
ward, and the price of the improved varieties we 
have named, will seldom, if ever, be so low as 
five cents. We refer to page 112, this volume 
'or directions as to culture, pruning, &e. 
WHAT OF THE OSAGE ORANGE P 
In response to inquiries, we promised in our June 
number to give special attention to this plant dur¬ 
ing our Western travels. We have done so, and 
after seeing the plant in almost every stage of 
growth, in a variety of situations, climate, &c., 
in seven or eight different States, and after con¬ 
versing with a great number who have tried it, 
or are now doing so, we confess to being more 
unsettled than ever in regard to the general 
adaptability of the Osage Orange for hedging. 
In short, we have not yet that faith in it which 
would lead us to be at the expense of planting out 
five hundred rods of it, in any place or under any 
circumstances where there was any other resort 
whatever for fencing. We expect this statement 
will call forth strong protests, for we have visited 
a few localities where the plant now promises to 
succeed, and we doubt not it will sometimes be 
successful, but we certainly speak within due 
limits, when we say that so far the failures have 
far exceeded the cases of success. It would 
greatly exceed our limits to note particularly the 
several examinations we have made, and we can 
only speak in general terms. 
Out of 47 hedges we examined, 23 were badly 
injured by frost, either last winter or the winter 
before ; 7 were considerably injured, and 4 slight¬ 
ly so. Of the 13 apparently uninjured, 7 were 
sheltered by hill sides, groves, or by snow banks 
produced by adjacent fences. We heard of sev¬ 
eral others uninjured, but did not see them. 
We met but three persons who had tried them, 
and who were not interested in the sale of plants 
or to sustain a reputation for past statements, who 
were ready to give them their present hearty 
endorsement. A gentleman in the Great Miami 
Valley, (Western Ohio,) showed us a very good 
hedge on the east side of a hill and sheltered by it. 
He seemed to have confidence in the plant, and 
stated that a number of farmers in the vicinity 
were putting out new plots. 
Another in Western New-York, has a young 
hedge which has escaped freezing, and he is con¬ 
fident that the plant will flourish there. 
Another in Central Illinois, has a hedge now 
three years old from the setting which though 
a little nipped by frost is sending out new shoots, 
and the owner is so confident of success that he 
is preparing to plant out two miles. 
A large land-holder, nearKnoxville, Ill., inform¬ 
ed us that he had intended to plant several miles, 
but since the results of last winter's frosts have 
been developed, he has given up all idea of trying 
this hedge plant, and he is now looking around for 
a substitute. 
An intelligent farmer in Kendall County Ill., 
who has been watching this plant since its first 
introduction, and who has made long journeys of 
observation to settle the question for himself, 
said to us: “ I have come to the conclusion that 
the Osage Orange will answer for a hedge, so long 
as you have a good rail fence on one side and a 
board fence on the other.” Others, *in Ohio, In¬ 
diana and Illinois, expressed similar opinions. 
Many think there is no doubt but a good hedge 
may be produced with the Osage Orange if it is 
carefully attended to for a few years. But here is 
one great difficulty. 
The experiment of planting a hundred miles 
along the Illinois Central Railroad, heralded so 
loudly some two years since, was commenced, 
but is given up entirely we believe, and the por¬ 
tion planted is proving a failure, “for want of care,” 
it is said. 
We have thus expressed our present opinion of 
this plant, with a’ very few of the practical reasons 
therefor. Just such a hedging plant as the Osage 
Orange has been represented to be, is greatly 
needed; and so great is the want that we will 
still cling to the hope that in many localities it will 
flourish. The almost constant care required will 
in any case be an objection, but not a fatal one 
we trust, over millions of acres almost or quite 
devoid of fencing materials. 
We shall be glad to hear from our readers of 
this topic. We want facts however—not opinions, 
unless such opinions are exceedingly well forti¬ 
fied by facts. Let us endeavor to ascertain under 
precisely what circumstances of,soil, latitude, 
climate, exposure or protection, the Osage Orange 
will grow, or rather has grown to sufficient hight 
and thickness to form a safe and reliable hedge. 
Let us know what expense, including outlays of 
time as well as money, is required to bring the 
hedge to a useful condition, and also how much 
care is annually needed thereafter. 
In the meantime, while we cannot at present 
advise any one to enter largely into the use of this 
plant, we think it desirable that experiments 
should be continued. Half a dozen years or less 
will settle the question. Almost any one can rea¬ 
dily put out a border of ten, twenty or thirty rods 
in length, and himself test its adaptedness to his 
circumstances and locality. This might be done 
in different places, by Farmers’ Clubs or Associa¬ 
tions. Such experiments would be of even more 
interest and value to a community, than the best 
conducted exhibitions, though neither should be 
neglected. 
P. S. Since the above was put in type, we have 
been looking over some hundreds of letters, ac¬ 
cumulated during our absence, and in these we 
find several quite favorable allusions to the Osage 
Orange, with a few not so favorable. We shall 
examine these more carefully hereafter. 
ECONOMY IN KILLING WEEDS. 
Mr. Slapdash hoes his garden in a great hurry, 
and grudges every hour he spends among the 
onions, beets and strawberries. Corn and pota¬ 
toes are his favorite plants. The garden he over¬ 
looks, and when the cultivation is attempted, it is 
but half done. The soil is not stirred close up to 
the plants, and the germinating seeds will be 
above ground in two days, all along the neglected 
strip next to the drill. Even the weeds hoed up, 
especially the purslane, will be well rooted again 
in a week, and his garden will sadly need hoeing 
again. 
Farmer Steady knows a thing or two about the 
garden, that it pays better than any part of the 
farm, and that thoroughness in weeding saves 
time. He takes a basket along when he weeds 
the beds and drills, and every handful is carefully 
gathered up. He believes in hoeing often, but 
does not want the weeds to obstruct the hoe. He 
knows that he can stir the soil in half the time, 
where it is clear of weeds. He has use for the 
weeds too, and thinks it would almost pay to de¬ 
vote a plot of ground to them, if they did not 
grow so freely among the vegetables. Of course, 
the pigs have their share, and thrive as well upon 
them as if they were “ pigs in clover.” But the 
biddies also have a large allowance. They are 
not suffered to run at large, and destroy every- 
tmng in the garden. In the yards, they need' 
green food, as much as pigs and neat stock The 
eggs they lay is a caution to the whole Slapdash 
family to save their weeds, and thus get cheap 
eggs and pork, while they save labor in cultivat¬ 
ing the garden. 
ABOUT PRESERVES AND PRESERVING. 
In this age of “ fast living,” among the few 
things to be reckoned as improvements upon the 
“ good old ways,” we think not the least impor 
tant is the growing tendency to discard the use of 
the old fashioned “ Preserves.” The method of 
adding to a lot of fruit an equal weight of sugai, 
and then boiling it down by the hour, until all the 
natural aroma of the fruit is destroyed, and a con¬ 
centrated mass of indigestible “ sweet meats ” is 
produced, we have long esteemed not only as a 
foolish practice, but one directly conducive to ill 
health. The smallest quantity of these articles 
taken into the stomach is so much poison, since it 
enters at once into the acid fermentation, and pro¬ 
duces disarrangement of the digestive organs, 
though persons in robust health have for a time 
managed to live along in spite of this tax upon 
their systems. With this view of the subject, we 
can but hail as a decided boon, the recently intro¬ 
duced processes of conserving fruits and vegeta¬ 
bles in a condition nearly as they are prepared for 
food by nature. 
We have frequently referred to the “ Air-tight ” 
or “ Self-sealing ” Cans and Jars, and after the 
experience of another year, we are prepared to 
recommend their use still more strongly than 
ever. To-day, (July 25th,) we opened a can of 
tomatoes, and we found them just as nice and fresh 
as when they were picked from the vines last 
year, and all the Spring and Summer thus far we 
have had peaches, cherries, strawberries, rasp¬ 
berries, and other small fruits in a well kept, fresh 
condition, not “ steeped in sugar,” or boiled to a 
jelly, but the simple fruits themselves, possessing 
the delicious taste and aroma of those just gath¬ 
ered and cooked. These have been kept equally 
well in tin cans manufactured by Taylor & Hodg 
etts, (now E. Ketcham & Co.,) by Wells & Pro¬ 
vost, and by Arthur & Co. Tomatoes have also 
kept just as well in the earthen jars described on 
page 255 of our last volume, (Aug. 1856). We 
did not try the jars for other fruits than toma 
toes, but shall do so this season, under the be 
lief that they will answer nearly as well as the 
tin cans. 
EARTHEN JARS. 
These are of the common stone ware, those 
being selected which have the “ glazing” perfect, 
without and within, and having closely fitting cov¬ 
ers. The two-quart size is most convenient, and 
the higher and narrower the jars the better. Ours 
are 8 to 9 inches high, and \\ to 6 inches outside 
diameter. The neck is drawn in an inch below 
the top, and then flares outward, so that the 
cover fits “losely down into the neck, leaving a 
vacant space of half an inch above it. 
The tomatoes kept in these were picked when 
just fully ripe, before any decay had commenced, 
and dropped into hot water a moment to facili- 
