1865.J 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
349 
fig. 1.— ROOTS CRAMPED IN POT CULTURE. • 
Tbe Eoots of Vines in Pot and Open Cul¬ 
ture. 
It is generally conceded that the best young 
grape vines are those raised from cuttings of a 
single eye. These are started by artificial heat 
in pots or boxes of pure sand, and when roots 
have fairly formed, they are potted in a soil 
which will aSord nourishment to the young 
plants. Some varieties, such as the Delaware, 
can not be successfully propagated without the 
aid of heat, and all are managed with more 
certainty by its aid. In the ordinary way of 
treatment, the cuttings, after they have root¬ 
ed and commenced to grow, are placed singly in 
2j or 3-inch pots of properly prepar¬ 
ed soil, and when the roots have filled 
these, a shift is made to larger pots, 
the plants usually receiving two 
shifts to larger pots during the sea- 
J 1 son. If the shift be made at the 
proper time, i.e., as soon as the roots 
/ ^ reach the sides of the pot, plants with 
[ good roots may be grown in this 
' ^ way. But it often happens, especial¬ 
ly where propagation is conducted on 
a large scale, that the change to lar¬ 
ger pots can not be made at just the 
right time, and the roots finding their 
direction stopped by the sides of the 
pot are bent, and even have their 
growing points turned inward to- 
avail themselves of the new supply of soil, as 
their growth has received direction away from 
the new earth. The consequence is that a new 
set of root fibres is pushed out from the twisted 
mass of roots; these grow out toward the pot, 
and if neglected, will repeat the operation of be¬ 
ing directed from their natural course, and will 
be twisted and bent as ivere the first set of roots. 
If this continues as is sometimes the case through 
all the successive shifts of the vine, there will 
be at the end of the season a mass of contorted 
tangled roots, which from having received sev¬ 
eral checks in their growth, are very difficult to 
manage when the vine comes to be planted in 
the open ground. Fig. 1, is a diagram repre¬ 
senting a section through a pot containing roots 
which have been thus neglected: the lines A and 
B show the size of the smaller pots in which the 
roots had been grown and cramped. To avoid 
this unnatural condition of the root, some of our 
best growers have discarded the potting system 
altogether, and transfer the young plants direct¬ 
ly from the cutting pots in which they are start¬ 
ed to a border which is prepared in a green¬ 
house, or out of doors, covered with sash after 
the manner of a hot-bed. In this way the roots 
are free to grow in a natural manner without 
receiving the several checks to which they are 
liable in the potting system, and as the root 
and vine bear a direct relation to one another, 
the plants thus started show a better growth 
both above and below ground. The roots 
of a vine thus treated are shown in fig. 2. 
The Sheep Laurel. —{Kalmia angustifoUa.) 
Fig. 2. —ROOTS GROWN IN OPEN BORDER, 
ward the center of the ball of earth where they 
form a twisted and tangled mass. When roots 
in this condition are transferred to a larger pot, 
it is evident that they are not in a condition to 
This plant, which is common on hill sides and 
in pastures all over the countr)', is known by 
the names. Sheep Laurel, Lambkill, and Dwarf 
Laurel. It is a small evergreen shrub, about 2 
feet high, with slender branches. The leaves 
are light-green, pale on the under side, and of 
the size and shape shown in the engraving, 
which represents a flowering branch of the nat¬ 
ural size. The flowers are crimson, and though 
not particularly showy, are, upon close inspect¬ 
ion curious and beautiful. In common with 
that of the other species of the genus, the cup¬ 
shaped corolla has ten depressions or cavities, 
in which, when the flower first opens, the an¬ 
thers of the ten stamens are caught, thus 
bending the stamen over like a bow; when 
touched, the anther is dislodged from the cavity 
in the petal, and being released springs up to¬ 
wards the pistil where it 
sheds its pollen. When 
the anther is perfectly de¬ 
veloped this movement 
occurs spontaneously. We 
notice this shrub on ac¬ 
count of its alleged poi¬ 
sonous effects when eaten 
by sheep. The very gen¬ 
eral impression that it 
possesses poisonous qual¬ 
ities is indicated by two 
of the popuiar names 
quoted above, but after a 
pretty diligent search for 
authentic statements in 
regard to its deleterious 
qualities, we find the ac¬ 
counts very vague and un¬ 
satisfactory. Mr. Morrell, 
author of a work on sheep, however, positive¬ 
ly asserts that it is poisonous, and overcomes its 
effects by gagging the animal. It would be in¬ 
teresting to know more about the effects of the 
plant, and how fiir it is fatal when no remedial 
measures are taken. From the antidotes pub¬ 
lished from time to time by the agricultural pa¬ 
pers, we infer that it is at most a weak poison, 
as they are generally the mildest of remedies or 
quite inert. A list of the proposed antidotes 
comprises things quite unlike and of contrary 
effect. Besides the gagging noticed above, we 
find recommended: roasted onions and milk, 
lard, salt, mountain dittany, white of eggs, cas¬ 
tor-oil, pennyroyal, coffee, and lastly—for it 
properly comes at the end—a muskrat’s tail. 
Concerning this we extract the following from 
a recent number of the New England Farmer : 
“My remedy for poisoned sheep or lambs, 
which never fails, is, to take a muskrat’s tail 
and cut it fine, say i-inch long, and steep it 
until soft, in hot water, (half a pint of water to 
one tail); when cool give a tablespoonful at a 
time, once an hour, until your sheep will jump 
up and run. I have seen sheep and lambs that 
lay three days unable to get i;p, made appa¬ 
rently as well as ever, by a few doses.” 
We should think that a sheep would jump up 
and run from muskrat soup if it had any life 
left it. We are not informed w'hether the po¬ 
tency of the remedy would be increased by 
chopping the tail finer, or what should be the 
precise age of the animal from which the tail is 
taken.—The generic name, Kalmia, was given 
in honor of Kalm, a Swedish botanist of the 
last century; angustifolia means narrow-leaved. 
