1865.j 
AMERICAN AG-RICULTURIST. 
17 
t— 
The Eeeord of a Year.—Oar Picture. 
The year 1864 was one of great events 
in the history of our country and of the world. 
Providence has wonderfully sustained us—our 
armies have been maintained in full numbers, 
and victorious, our crops have been garnered, 
our manufactures have been flourishing, the 
markets good, domestic commerce active, and 
labor well rewarded. The earth has yielded 
from the gulches of tbs mountains vast quanti¬ 
ties of precious gold; and the no less precious 
iron, and copper, and deadly lead have been 
raised to the surface in great measure,—coal, 
also, more than ever before; while a new source 
of immense value, the wonderful petroleum, 
comes welling up from the depths of the earth, 
pouring wealth into the hands of thousands. 
The farms over the broad North have parted 
with their strong men, that they might go to do 
battle for the honor of the flag, the integrity of 
the country, and for the principles of free gov¬ 
ernment. There, far away in the field, on the 
perilous picket line, watching, scouting, fight¬ 
ing, foraging, or perhaps sick, or in prison, or 
beneath the blood-soaked sod, are the men who 
wielded the axe, and swung the cradle and 
scythe—the heads that planned, and the hands 
that sowed, and hoed, and harvested. Re-enlist¬ 
ed veterans and heroes recovering from sickness 
or wounds, have spent a few quiet weeks at 
home. (How much those weeks were prized— 
how long to be remembered!) Some things 
change a great deal in two or three years—chil¬ 
dren grow fast and need a father’s care, and the 
pets of the stock-yard and fruit-garden grow too. 
Many a farmer, after his years of service, war¬ 
worn, and wounded perhaps, has this autumn 
returned to his home to be gladdened by the 
full barns and granaries, and the ample provi¬ 
sion of pork and provender for the winter, 
thanking God for an intelligent thrifty wife, 
under whose good management, with the labor 
of old men, women and boys, the farm has 
been worked. These are the women who, 
though bent upon giving a good account of 
their stewardships, stand behind the Sanitary 
Commission. Blessed women, they have spun 
the wool, or knit the stockings, made garments, 
stewed and canned the fruits, and sent off to 
the army stores of good and useful things—a 
precious freight of woman’s labor—a token of 
the sincerity of her prayers for the absent loved 
ones, and the dear distracted land.-Such 
thoughts are embodied in the strikingly beau¬ 
tiful and original picture with which we embel¬ 
lish our New-Year’s number, and seldom, if 
ever, has the vigorous pencil of our townsman, 
Mr. Nast, more delicately and vividly illustrated 
any subject. These scenes with which we are 
now so familiar, will soon be historic, and in fu¬ 
ture years this picture may quicken our patriot¬ 
ism by the memories of the year j ust past. Every 
point of the picture is suggestive. The good 
wife exhibits the result of her management. An 
ambitious boy shows the tools he has wrought 
with; the little girl pulls Papa off to see her 
poultry; and Grandpa with two stout girls is 
found hard at work among the turnips. The 
hay-making scene on the farm contrasts finely 
with that of the returning foraging party pass¬ 
ing the picket line; and the two pictures of the 
source and use of the Sanitary stores are in no 
less beautiful contrast. May the New Year which 
opens so brightly, and promises so soon an 
honorable termination of the war, bring us the 
happiness of a united people, and for farmer 
folks the realities of peace, and not of war. 
Some Hardy Evergreens. 
In planting trees we are apt to “ run to sorts.” 
If one kind of tree is found to do well, it is com¬ 
mon to see a whole neighborhood planted with 
the same species. A maple is a beautiful tree, 
but we have seen a fine landscape spoiled by a 
constant succession of round headed maples. 
This sameness is strongly manifested in the mat¬ 
ter of evergreens. The Norway Spruce and 
Arbor Vitae are hardy and grow well, but that 
Fig. 1. —AUSTKIA.N PINE. 
is no reason why we should have nothing else, 
while there are other species which are equally 
hardy and each having a 'character of its own. 
We hope to be able to give our readers from 
time to time engravings and descriptions of 
those evergreens which are suited to general 
culture.— The Austrian Pine, Finns Austriaca, 
is a tree which is worth growing for its expres¬ 
sion of sturdiness and vigor. It looks as if it 
had a right to the soil and intended fo stay 
there. It generally does remain where it is put, 
as it is perfectly hardy and is not very particu¬ 
lar as to the kind of soil, provided it be not too 
wet. The leaves are in twos, slender, straight, 
4 to 5 inches long, erect when young, but spread¬ 
ing and curved toward the branch when old. 
The buds are large, being about an inch long. 
The branches are arranged in regular whorls. 
Fig. 3.— PINUS PUMILIO. 
spreading, with the ends curved upward. The 
cones are 3 to 3 inches long, an inch and a quar¬ 
ter broad at the base, and tapering gradually to 
the point. The tree grows rapidly, and in its 
native country reaches to the bight of over 100 
feet, and when old has a flat and wide spread¬ 
ing top. The timber is tough, strong and resi¬ 
nous, and is highly valued for joiners’ work. 
Tiie Dwarf Pine, Finns pumilio, Fig. 2, ia 
a native of the Alps and other mountains of 
Europe, and there prefers a somewhat swampy 
soil. It forms in cultivation a slow growing, 
compact bush, with its low’cr branches close to 
the ground. The compact, vigorous habit and 
dark green color, render it a desirable pine for 
small grounds. The leaves are in twos, curved, 
3 inches or less in length, very thickly set on 
the branches. Cones 1 to H inches long, pendu¬ 
lous and bluntly egg-shaped. The accompany¬ 
ing engravings are from drawings taken from 
specimens growing upon the N. Y. Central Park. 
Fruit Trees as Dwarf Pyramids or Bushes. 
The dw'arfing of trees by a systematic course 
of pruning both the roots and branches, has 
been practised by Thomas Rivers, the venera¬ 
ble English Horticulturist, for nearly half a 
century. In a recent edition of his “Minia¬ 
ture Garden,” he still enthusiastically advocates 
this method of culture as peculiarly suited to 
those wdio wish to grow fruit in a small space. 
We are not aware that his system has been 
fairly and thoroughly tried in this country, but 
if all its conditions are complied with, there 
seems to he no good reason why it should not 
be as successful here as in England. Dwarf 
fruit trees do wmll in pots, and this is onlj^ anoth¬ 
er method of confining the roots within a limit¬ 
ed space and furnishing them with an abund¬ 
ance of nutriment. For those who wish to exr 
periment with this mode of training, the follow'- 
ing condensed account is given. For a dwarf 
pyramid, the young 
tree must be on a 
dw^arfing stock, as 
pear on quince, etc. 
A tree one year old 
from the bud or graft, 
with a straight stem, 
w’ell furnished with 
buds, is selected, cut 
back to 18 inches, and 
planted in good soil. 
Numerous shoots will 
start, and one, the up¬ 
per one if strong, 
must be chosen for a 
leader, and if it does 
not naturally grow 
upright it is made to 
do so by tying to a 
light stake, and the side shoots, if neces¬ 
sary, made to assume a regular shape by ty¬ 
ing. When the leading shoot is 10 inches 
long, stop its grow'th bj^ pinching the growing 
point, and if it pushes side shoots, pinch all 
but the leader back to one to three leaves. 
At the end of August or early in September, 
each side branch isent back to eight buds wiiich 
will leave the tree as in fig. 1. This ends the 
treatment for the first season.—The second year 
the side branches will push several vigorous 
shoots,' which as soon as they have made four 
leaves are to be pinched off to three, and if these 
again throw out shoots they must be pinched 
back to one leaf, and this is to be done with all 
but the leading shoot of each side branch. The up¬ 
right leader is to be pinched as soon as it has 
grown ten inches, and if it throw off side shoots 
pinch off all but tlic leading one as directed for 
the first year. The tree as it will appear m mia- 
summer is showm at fig. 3 (next page), where 
cross lines show the places for shortening 
the shoots about the end of August, and a, a, 
the spurs which have been pinched back in 
