299 
1869.J 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
-We met Dr. K. this morning and he said, 
“ Do you know that the best strawberry in all 
this neighborhood is the Agriculturist ? I have 
been to So and So’s place, and the ground is actu¬ 
ally covered with, them.” Now the way with 
all strawberries—except the Wilson—is to do 
well here and there, but not generally. We 
hope to find a berry that has all the good quali¬ 
ties of the Wilson and none of its faults. We 
hope, but are not sure, that the Clias. Downing 
will be this berry. We are giving it a trial and 
will publish our experience and that of others. 
Are strawberries profitable ? This is a ques¬ 
tion I have not seen satisfactorily answered. I 
know that people make money by selling the 
plants, but does it pay to raise the fruit ? Will 
some one who has been in the business for five 
years give us the figures ? From all I can see 
of strawberry culture about here, I do not think 
it will pay as generally conducted. If one will 
raise choice fruit and send it to market in good 
order, it will no doubt pay; but take the aver¬ 
age of fruit in the market—small berries in 
small baskets—does it pay the growers ? 
What a center New York is ! Every day as I 
cross the ferry, I see every other man carry¬ 
ing something from the city to the country to 
plant. Were I a political economist I should 
write a dissertation on this subject; but as I 
am not, I will say that the only way to get a 
good collection of native American plants is to 
order them from England, and that the first set 
of California plants I had was from seed raised 
in the Royal Garden at St. Petersburg. New 
York gathers in and distributes; the dwellers 
for fifty miles around know that they can get 
everything they want of Henderson, Bliss, 
Thorburn, Allen, and a host of other dealers, 
and they might run about for days in their own 
neighborhood and not find the few Tomato, 
Pepper, Egg, Sweet Potato, and other plants, 
that they need. A curious illustration of this 
occurred this evening. A man came down in 
the same car with a large handful of the flow¬ 
ers of the Sweet Bay (Magnolia glauca ), and 
got out at our place. He had bought these 
flowers from a side-walk dealer in the city, and 
they were brought from a swamp not more than 
three miles from his residence. But I can’t 
discuss political economy; I leave that for II. G. 
A gentleman from Michigan, whose place we 
have visited with pleasure, called a few days 
ago. We asked about his cultivation, and 
learned that he had about twenty-five acres in 
onions; “and,” said he, pointing to a piece 
which had recently been gone over, “ all of it 
as clean as that.” “ What do you work your 
onions with*?” “ Comstock’s -weeder, elegant!” 
Now, we have used Comstock’s weeder, and 
were prepared to say that it was a good thing, 
and were glad to have Mr. G.’s corroborative 
testimony. Like all such things, one must get 
acquainted with it and learn its capabilities and 
the changes of which it is susceptible. 
That excellent horticulturist, “ H. W. B.,” 
aforesaid, once wrote in a note, “Did you ever 
try the Little Gem Pea ? It is a little gem.” I 
have tried it, and fully concur. The author 
of “Five Acres too Much” makes sport of dwarf 
peas, but he did not have the Little Gem. The 
Tom Thumb is a delusion and a snare, but the 
Little Gem is a treasure to grow, and delight¬ 
ful to eat. It comes up and then stops, and 
you wonder why the thing don’t grow ; white 
specks appear, and you wonder why it don’t 
bloom; day by day I waited impatiently for 
those peas to bloom, when lo! there were al¬ 
ready half-filled pods. The vine does not grow 
a foot high, and the blossoms are as dwarf as the 
vines, but it pods prodigiously. I wish it had 
been tried to see how many peas could be raised 
on a given space. The rows can be put as near 
as they can be worked, and I doubt not that 
they will be found as profitable as they are 
good. The Little Gem is one of the wrinkled 
Marrow Peas, early and dwarf. There are 
many people in the world who “don’t know 
beans,” but there are more who don’t know 
peas. Whoever has not eaten a Wrinkled Mar¬ 
row, which finds its glorious culmination in the 
Champion of England, has a sensation in store 
for him. I make my bow to Mr. McLean, who 
originated the Little Gem. I also bow to B. K. 
Bliss & Son, who thoughtfully sent me the seed, 
and I bow to the pea itself—which ends my 
“Peas Jubilee.” 
«. . ■ —l-Ro—->«■-■ 
Supports for Tomatoes. 
In the family garden it is almost impossible 
to get along without some kind of support for 
the straggling tomato vines. That the necessi¬ 
ty for this exists is shown by the numerous de¬ 
vices that have been sent to us, and which have 
from time to time been, published. The latest 
thing of this kind comes from L. L. H., Terre¬ 
bonne, La., and is shown in figure 1. The rack 
is 10 feet long, and 3’| a feet high. If the ends of 
the legs which go into the soil are covered with 
coal tar, the frame will last several years. A 
friend of ours, who is a tomato fancier, uses 
racks made of common laths, nailed to rough 
inch stuff or even common bean poles, and put 
Fig. 2.— LATH SUPPORT FOR TOMATOES. 
together tent fashion, as in fig. 2. They may be 
tied together or fastened by a bit of wire. The 
superior quality of the fruit and the greater 
ease with which it can be gathered will abund¬ 
antly repay the small amount of labor requir¬ 
ed to provide some kind of rack or trellis. 
-- — » .—-— . - 
Propagating tlie Rose. 
Several ask us how they can multiply their 
rose bushes. At this season layering produces 
the best results. Cuttings at this time require 
extra care, but layers can be made by those not 
skilled in horticultural operations. Layers 
may be made of vigorous and healthy shoots 
upon which the leaves are not so mature as lo 
show signs of dropping. The cut is to be made 
on the upper side of the stem and not below, as 
has been recommended. The engraving shows 
the proper manner of making the cut. The 
soil around the bush may be enriched and pre¬ 
pared to receive the cuttings, or they may be 
rooted in pots of rich soil. In either case it will 
be found advantageous to put a covering of 
moss over the layered branch, to prevent the 
evaporation of moisture from the soil. Most 
varieties of roses may be well rooted and those 
of the tender kinds may be made strong plants 
to be kept over winter in cold frames if layered 
this month in the way we have suggested. 
Saving Flower Seeds. 
The humorous author of “Five Acres too 
Much ” found great difficulty in securing his 
flower seeds. We doubt not that many of our 
readers have experienced the same trouble. Na¬ 
ture has made ingenious provisions for scatter¬ 
ing tire seeds of plants, and with our cultivated 
ones we have to observe these. If one waits 
until his Phlox, Pansy, Balsam, and some oth¬ 
er seeds are ripe, he will gather none. These 
plants and others have a way of bursting their 
capsules as soon as ripe, and throwing the seeds 
as far as possible. The only way to manage 
these is to take them as soon as the seed vessel 
is fully formed and shows signs of maturity, 
and put them where they can scatter without 
loss. We have used wire sieves to cover such 
seed pods, and found them to work admirably. 
It is necessary for one who would save seeds, 
whether for his own use or for sale, to study the 
habit of each plant, see what its natural mode 
of distributing its seed is, and anticipate it. Let 
us remark here, as we have often done before, 
that it is best to sow the seeds of herbaceous 
perennials as soon as they ripen. They will 
give plants sufficiently large to winter over and 
they will generally bloom in spring. 
-— --MSP - . »- 
Management of Black-cap Raspberries- 
Mr. J. N. Sterns, Kalamazoo, Mich., gives 
his method of cultivating the now very popular 
Black-caps, as follows: The Black-caps are 
propagated by the tips of the canes bending 
down and taking root. These roots, or plants, 
are set out in the spring. The first year after 
setting they send out long shoots, near the 
ground, which, if allowed to do so, will take 
root at the tips, as stated above. If fruit only 
is the object, they should be trimmed back to 
within ten inches of the main canes. This 
should be done about the middle or last of 
August. The second season the canes will 
grow much stronger and higher; and when 
they have reached the liight of thirty inches, 
they should be pinched at the ends, which can 
be easily done with the thumb nail, as they are 
very tender at that time. This will cause the 
canes to send out laterals in abundance, which, 
if no plants are wanted, should be trimmed as 
stated above. But if it is desired to increase 
