1866.] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
68 
pedestals, painted and sanded to imitate free¬ 
stone. The statues themselves were painted 
white, to protect them against the weather. 
These were carried into an upper loft of his car¬ 
riage-house in winter, from which they emerged 
every spring to do duty. They have now served 
for three years, and bid fair to last at least three 
years more, by which time Mr. Brown hopes to 
be able to substitute for them something more 
substantial. Now, though I do not believe in 
shams, I must highly commend the course of 
our friend. It would have delighted him to set 
up marile statues, if he only could, but as it was 
a case of necessity, he submitted to plaster. He 
partially gratified his own artistic tastes, it was 
a beautiful ornament to his grounds, and it 
promoted an elevated taste in the community.” 
[The above comes to us from a correspondent, 
and we give it place for an entirely difierent 
purpose from which it was written. It serves 
to show exactly what to avoid. A show of 
painted plaster casts upon make-believe stone 
pedestals, instead of promoting an “ elevated 
taste in the community,” but fosters that taste 
which leads to the building of wooden Corinthian 
columns to church porticoes, putting dummy 
clock-faces on the steeples, cheap jewelry, and 
a hundred other instances of false appearances, 
to be found in every community. There are but 
few places that will bear statuary of any kind, 
and whoever has such grounds, can afford the 
real thing. Even this is sometimes used offen¬ 
sively ; w’e know of one place in which statuary 
and “ bustuary ” are put about the lawn in such 
profusion, as to suggest the idea that the owner 
had retired from the marble business, and had 
thus made use of the stock which remained on 
hand. Not only do they fill the lawns, but they 
run over into the vegetable garden, where they 
look as much out of place as a pig in a parlor. 
One classical figure keeps watch over the cab¬ 
bage patch, and another—probably “Niobe, all 
tears,”—does a like service for the onion bed, and 
so on. The “ sun dial and several classical 
vases” of cast iron, alluded to above, are well, 
but painted plaster casts are very bad.— Eds.] 
■* -- 
\ 
Seeds for the Kitchen Garden. 
Having sometimes published early in the 
year a select list of seeds of garden vegetables, 
our letters indicate that it is looked for as a reg¬ 
ular thing. It is indeed a matter of the first 
importance to get the best of each variety. 
There is as much difference in the quality of 
vegetables as of fruit, and it takes no more time 
and care in cultivation to raise a really good 
variety, than it does an indifferent or poor one. 
To those who donlt care to improve, or who are 
too lazy to be at a little trouble in this matter, 
we have nothing to say; they may raise their 
mongrel squashes and flabby cabbages, while 
others enjoy delicious Hubbards and Early 
Wakefields. If it were generally understood, 
that every one within reach of a Post-Offlce has 
as ready access to the best seedsmen, as if he 
lived in the same town with them, we think 
there would be a great improvement in the 
character of the vegetables raised throughout 
the country. The expense of getting a stock of 
good seeds is but little, compared with the re¬ 
sults. The chief thing is the trouble and fore¬ 
thought. February is the month in which 
dealers have their catalogues and stocks ready, 
and we give notice timely and seasonably. Look 
over our advertisements and send to any dealer 
that may be preferred, for a catalogue. When the 
catalogue comes to hand, make a selection and 
order ’the needed supplies at once, before the 
press of business is upon the seedsmen. “Make 
a selection,” exclaims the reader. “How can 
I ? here are 25 peas, 30 squashes, a dozen radishes 
and so on, and I don’t know one from the other.” 
The object of the following list is to relieve this 
trouble. The catalogues contain besides all the 
older and proven sorts, many new kinds, which 
have not been thoroughly tested, and many 
which have distinctive names without the plant 
they represent having any claims to be thus 
honored. In the enumeration below we give 
varieties that we know to be good of their kind, 
and those that, all things considered, we deem 
suitable for general culture; though there may 
be others quite as good, we prefer to keep the 
list for general culture small. Professional gar¬ 
deners and amateurs can afford to try new and 
fancy sorts, and this list isnot intended for them. 
Beans—Dwarf or Bush : Early Valentine, 
for string or snaps, quite early and productive, 
pods remain green a long time; Newington 
Wonder, excellent when green and the small 
drab seeds are valued for soup; Eefugee, rather 
late, but prolific, and the best for pickling and 
salting; Dwarf Horticultural, for early shelling. 
—Pole Beans : Large Lima, in warm loca¬ 
tions ; Small Lima, north of New York. 
Beets. —Early Blood Turnip, an improved 
variety is called Early Short Top; Long Blood, 
for main crop; Swiss Chard, fine for greensonly. 
Cabbage. —Early Wakefield, and Early Ox- 
Heart, large and early; Little Pixie, a new early 
sort; Winningstadt, medium early, large, very 
hard heads and best for a light soil; Flat Dutch, 
for Winter; Red Dutch, for pickling; Marble¬ 
head Drumhead, very large; Green Globe Savoy, 
small, late, the richest of cabbages. 
Carrots. —Early Horn, for early table use; 
Long Orange, for main crop. 
Cauliflower. —Early Erfurt, a dwarf variety 
with large and compact heads; Early Paris; 
Thorburn’s Nonpareil, very fine. 
Celery. —White Solid; Dwarf White. 
Corn. —Dwarf Sugar, small ears, for early 
use; Stowell’s Evergreen, larger, for late use. 
Cucumbers. —White Spined, best for table; 
Long Green, late, for pickles. 
Egg Plant. —Long Purple, early; New 
York Purple, later, large and best. 
Endive. —Green Curled, for late salads. 
Kale. —Green Curled Scotch, winter and 
spring greens. 
Kohl-Rabi (“Turnip Cabbage”); Early White. 
Leek. —Large Flag, for soups. 
Lettuce. —Curled Silesian, a variety of which 
called Eai'ly Simpson is much grown here for 
market; Butter, superior; Victoria Cabbage. 
Muskmelon. —Fine Nutmeg; Jenny Lind, 
very early; Skillman’s Netted; White Japan. 
Watermelon. —Mountain Sprout, produc¬ 
tive and early; Ice Cream, very fine; Black 
Spanish, fine but only where the season is long. 
Onion.— Large Red Wethersfield; Large Oval 
Red; White Portugal; Yellow Danvers. 
Parsley.— Extra Curled. 
Parsnips.— Hollow CroMmed; the Student. 
Peas.— Daniel O’Rourke, early and fine, 2^ 
feet; Maclean’s Advancer; Tom Thumb, pro¬ 
ductive, 8 to 10 inches; Mclean’s Princess Royal, 
IJfoot; Dwarf Blue Imperial,3i feet; Champion 
of England,for main crop, 5 feet; White Marrow¬ 
fat, later and fine, 5 feet. Many new sorts are 
introduced each season, but they need trial here. 
Potatoes.— Early Goodrich, .productive and 
good; Early Cottage, is well recommended; 
Early Dykeman,much grown around NewYork. 
Radishes. — Early Scarlet Turnip; Long 
Scarlet Short Top; Scarlet Chinese Winter, 
good and keeps as well as a turnip. 
Salsify or Vegetable Oyster, very good. 
Spinach. —Round Leaved, for early; Prick¬ 
ly, for wintering over. 
Squashes. —Summer Crookneck, best early; 
Yokohama, fine, early and late; Boston Mar¬ 
row ; Turban, excellent, autumn and winter; 
Hubbard, best for late keeping. 
Tomatoes. —Early Smooth Red; Fejee, later, 
fine and productive; Pear Shaped, for preserves. 
Turnips. —Early Dutch, very early; Red Top 
Strapleaf, spring and fall; Rutabaga, to keep. 
Winter Cherry. —For sauce and preserves. 
Besides these, will be needed Peppers, Sage, 
Summer Savoiy, Sweet Marjoram, Thyme, 
and other “ sweet herbs.” 
-- I -K-Oi- 
Kenovating Old Orchards. 
There are multitudes of old orchards through¬ 
out the country, too good to cut down, yet bear¬ 
ing fruit only fit for making into cider, or feed¬ 
ing to swine. Their owners frequently and 
earnestly ask: What shall we do with them? 
First: if the fruit is poor, change it by en¬ 
grafting. It is often the case that pruning 
should go along with grafting. The tops of the 
trees which have become thick and matted to¬ 
gether, should be thinned out. But in pruning, 
let no one mount the trees rough shod, and with 
axe and saw hack away at the lower limbs and 
those in the interior. Instead of this, thin out 
the old, decayed limbs, cut out a few of the 
upper limbs as wmll as the lower, and try to 
preserve the symmetry of the tree. In grafting, 
begin at the top and renew about one-third of 
the tree each year. 
The ground will need renovating, also, by 
plowing and manuring. The work should be 
done carefully, without barking the trees or 
breaking their roots. But so much harm is 
often done to the roots, we think it best ordin- 
aril}’- to merely scarify the surface with a har¬ 
row, and to give it a good top-dressing of barn¬ 
yard manure, composted with muck, lime, and 
wood ashes. When the trunks and limbs have 
beeome mossy, and so rough as to harbor in¬ 
sects or their eggs, scrape them, and then wash 
them with weak lye or strong soap suds. A 
common whitewash brush will answer for ap¬ 
plying this mixture. 
-— — O - - - -- 
A Selection of Plums. 
Plums can be raised in spite of the curculio, 
provided one will take the necessary trouble, 
and whoever sets out trees without the deter¬ 
mination to give them all needed care, will find 
that disappointment is his only harvest. The 
trees must be jarred early every morning, and 
the curculio caught on a sheet and killed. The 
following is Mr. Barry’s selection, which com¬ 
prises most of the best sorts: 
For Table .—Imperial Gage, green; Jefferson, 
yellow with red cheek; Lawrence’s Favorite, 
greenish; Smith’s Orleans, reddish purple; 
Purple Favorite, brownish purple; Purple Gage, 
violet purple; Coe’s Golden Drop, light yellow. 
For Market .—Frost Gage, purple; Yellow 
and Red Magnum Bonum; Washington, green. 
For Drymg.—Fellenberg; German Prune; 
Prune d’Anjou; St. Martin’s Quetsche. 
