^08 
AMERICAN AGBiCULTUillST, 
fJtiNfi, 
^adwAes.—Otherwise Taeant places may be sown 
to radishes for a succession. 
Bhuharh.—U any flower stalks appear, cut them 
down. Now is a good time to dry or bottle a sup¬ 
ply for winter. Keep the beds free of weeds. 
Mata Bagas .—Sow latter part of June; as soon 
as up, dust with lime and ashes to keep off the fly. 
Salsify .—If not already sown, seed may still be 
put in. Treat the same as carrots. 
Spinach .—The New Zealand spinach is best for hot 
weather, but a supply of the ordinary kind may be 
kept up by sowing at intervals. 
Squashes .—Plant as directed last month. More 
vigilance will be required to keep off insects. 
Sioeet Potatoes.—Plant if not already done. See 
directions for preparing the ground, last month. 
Tonratoes.—Plants for the late crop may be set. 
We have given in the present and previous numbers 
sufHcient directions for those who wish to follow 
any of these different methods of training. 
Watering .—The free use of the hoe and cultivator 
Will do much in helping plants through a dry time. 
If watering must be done, let it be thorough, and 
soak the ground well. A mere sprinkling of the 
leaves of the plants and the surface of the soil are 
of little use. Liquid manure, applied in a “ grow¬ 
ing time,” will help wonderfully. Apply it weak. 
Weeds .—We can only emphasize what is said 
above. When one gets large enough to be seen, it 
is already too large to live. 
Frssit esarden. 
There is no operation in the fruit garden more 
beneficial in its results than thinning the fruit, and 
there is none so generally neglected. Over-bearing 
is generally permitted, to a fault. Fruit should be 
thinned not only for the benefit of the present crop, 
but for that of next year. The earlier the surplus 
ie removed after the fruit is set, the better, as the 
tree need not be expending its energies in develop¬ 
ing fruit that is ultimately to be destroyed. It will 
even pay to thin the 
Currant, where extra specimens are desired. Rub 
off useless suckers and branches as they start, and 
and if the soil around the bushes is not mulched, 
keep it stirred by hoeing. The worm on its first 
appearance is to be sprinkled with powdered white 
hellebore, as before directed, and if the borer 
appears, cut off the affected shoots and burn them. 
Gooseberries, when heavilj’ loaded with fruit, will 
need props to keep the branches from the ground. 
Use sulphur if mildew appears. In city markets 
both these and currants often bring a better price 
if marketed when green. 
Raspberries and Blackberries .—All suckers that are 
not needed for making new plants, are to be cut off 
as fast as they appear. Tie the canes now growing 
for next year’s fruiting to the trellis or stake. 
Grapes .—Thin out the bunches freely, especially 
on young vines. One bunch to the shoot is as 
much as a vine should carry the first year of its 
fruiting. Stop the shoot at three or four leaves be¬ 
yond the last cluster. Young vines should grow 
only a single cane the first year, and be kept tied 
up. See treatment of mildew on page 223. Hand 
picking must be resorted to for the large beetles 
and eaterpillars. 
Dwarf Pear and other fruit trees may be shaped 
nt will by pinching the young growth. The sys¬ 
tematic practice of this is given in full in Rivers’ 
Miniature Fruit Garden. The disagreeable slimy 
slug which appears on pear and other trees is 
killed by a dusting of air-slacked lime. 
Strawberries .—If the plants are not already 
mulched, they will need it before the fruit gets 
large. Straw is generally used, but corn stalks or 
any other material that will keep the fruit off of 
the ground will answer. After the fruit is off, clean 
the beds with the hoe. Newly set plants are to 
be kept free of weeds, and unless it is desired to 
multiply plants, the runners are to be cut off. 
Flower Garden and liawn. 
In this month of abundance of flowers, there is 
constant employment for the cultivator. He finds 
Weeds growing rapidly both in the beds and 
borders and on the lawn. A sharp steel rake is a 
capital implement to dress over the beds with, and 
the bayonet hoe will serve to work the soil where 
plants are too near together to allow of the use of 
the rake. Do not let perennial weeds get established 
on the lawn, but pull them while still small. 
Bulbs that bloomed this spring should be allowed 
to remain as long as the leaves continue green. 
When they begin to fade, take up the bulbs, allow 
them to dry a few days, remove the tops, wrap the 
bulbs in paper and store them in a dry cool place, 
where they will not be injured by mice. 
Annuals will need transplanting, and those sowed 
where they are to bloom are to be thinned. Crowd¬ 
ing is a common fault with those who grow annuals, 
and we seldom see a well developed specimen. 
Seeds of many sorts may still be sown. See p. 227. 
Bedding Plants. —Ageratums, Gazanias, Verbenas, 
etc., may be made much more effective if they are 
pegged down, so as to best cover the surface. This 
is especially necessary in windy places. When 
Potted Plants are used in the decoration of the 
grounds, it is much better to plunge them, putting 
coal ashes under the bottom of the pot to keep 
out worms. When the pots are not plunged, care 
must be given to the watering. 
Herbaceous Perennials of many kinds, such as 
Phloxes, etc., may be multiplied by making cut¬ 
tings of the stems before flowering. 
Neatness of a garden is in good measure through 
the agency of sticks and strings. Plants that need 
support should be kept tied up, but the means by 
which the effect is produced should be, as much as 
possible, concealed. Under head of neatness is in¬ 
cluded the care of gravel and other walks, frequent 
mowing of lawns, keeping edging in trim, etc. 
Ga-eest amd Hot-Mouses. 
The majority of the plants being out, all neces¬ 
sary repairs can be made. The plants that are left 
within, will need shading from the burning sun, 
and watering and syringing. The plants kept in 
pots out-doors should be so sheltered from high 
winds, that they will not be thrown over, and it is 
well to stand them on a layer of coal ashes, to keep 
worms from working their way up into the pots. 
Many things may be turned out with advantage. 
Azaleas, Oranges and many others make a good 
growth when treated in this way. 
Camellias and other plants of temperate climates 
should be well shaded. 
Insects, other than the usual pests of the house, 
will often attack plants that are sot out, and they 
must be looked to frequently, and 
Water must be given as often as needed. 
Stock for winter bloom may be propagated from 
cuttings, and sowing seeds of green-house plants. 
Potting Soil should bo provided for in advance, 
and a yearly provision made by stacking up sods 
from an old pasture to decompose. 
Cold Grapery. 
All sudden changes are to be avoided, and the 
temperature kept from 85 to 90, at mid-day, allow¬ 
ing it to sink very gradually to the night tempera¬ 
ture. During the time the vines are in flower, it is 
well to go through the house and give the bunches 
a gentle flirt with the finger, in order to facilitate 
the distribution of pollen. While the vines are in 
flower, the use of the syringe is discontinued, but 
after the berries are set, it is freely used. One 
bunch to a spur is enough fruit to leave, and the 
shoot is stopped by pinching it at the third or 
fourth leaf beyond the bunch. The number of 
bunches to be allowed to a vine will depend upon 
its strength. It is well to avoid an excessive crop. 
When the berries attain the size of peas, they are 
to be thinned and one half or more, according to 
the variety, removed from each bunch. As the 
fruit increases in weight, the bunches will need to 
be tied up to the wires. 
Apiary in 3nne.— Prepared by If; Quinby. 
June is the swarming season, though bees often 
commence in May, and sometimes wait until July 
to begin. Any onewishing to increase his colonies 
to the utmost, must secure at least one swarm 
from each stock that is sufficiently strong. This 
is a matter which is to a great extent under con¬ 
trol. A hive will often exhibit all the indications 
of Btvarming, except actuaily issuing,- and yet not 
swarm. Make artificial swarms as directed last 
month. If you do not intend to make all the 
swarms possible, it is well to put on the surplus 
boxes, but do not expect the greatest yield of sur¬ 
plus honey, and at the same time great increase. 
Often the non-swarming hive will store honey 
enough to buy a good hive or two of bees when 
sold. Prepare the surplus honey boxes before 
placing in the hives by sticking in the top of each 
some nice white combs the right distance apart, to 
serve as guides to the bees ; pieces an inch square 
will do. Mr. Harbison says, instead of melting 
beeswax into which one edge of the comb may be 
dipped to make it stick, these pieces may be 
glued. Stocks not strong enough to swai'm by 
the last of this month, should be made to show 
cause. If diseased, drive out as directed June, 186.5. 
If queenless, give them a new queen, unless too 
weak to keep out worms. If the queen is barren, 
destroy her, and replace with another, in a few days. 
In a good season, bees quite often swarm too 
much—more proportionally in small, than in large 
apiaries. When no queens are reared artificially 
to supply stocks or swarms, it is usually most prof¬ 
itable when loracticable, to limit the issues from 
each, to one. With the movable combs, this may 
be controled. As a rule, five or six days after the 
first issue, take out the frames, and cut out all 
queen cells but one, leaving the oldest. If any are 
not sealed, it may be necessary to open the hive 
again in three or four days, and cut off any cells 
that may subsequently be started. ‘‘After-swarms” 
usually issue from the 8th to the 13th day after the 
firet; they need not be expected after the 18th day. 
It takes two second, or four third swarms to be 
equal to one of the first. If two or more can 
not be united, it is better commonly to return 
them to the old hive. With a half dozen or 
more movable comb hives, it is needless to have 
any very weak, at least, after the weather becomes 
warm. Bees are inereasing much faster when all 
are strong, than when some are much crowded, and 
others very weak. They are easily equ;rlized, in a 
few dirys, by taking some combs from the strong 
hives, filled with brood, ready sealed, and ex¬ 
changing them with the weak ones. Should chilly 
nights occur before there are bees enough hatched 
to protect these combs, the entrances should be 
nearly closed, and old carpets or blankets used to 
help keep the hive warm. 
“Gift Enterprises” at Wasliington. 
” D. D. C.,” a well informed correspondent at Wash¬ 
ington, under the head of “ Sturdy Beggars,” has furn¬ 
ished some facts and hints recently prinled in the Tribune, 
North American, and other journals, whicli are worthy 
of still wider circulation. We print portions of Wo of 
his letters, all we have room for, not merely to criticise 
the way things are done at Washington, but as suggesting 
a reform which tlie people tliemselves may help caivy out: 
“ Tlie gift-book and seedsman business, ;is carried on 
by our national Government, actually compels members 
of Congress to neglect their legitimate duties to a great 
extent, and act as book, seedsmen and general agents 
to a clamorous constituency.—The experimental garden 
of the Agricultural Department, a most excellent feature 
of our Government, should be removed from the dust of 
the City, enlarged to the size of a farm, conducted as at 
present, and the results of the experiments spread freely 
throughout the country by means of reports to the agri¬ 
cultural and other presses, willing to devote the neces¬ 
sary space to the subject. The superintendent should, 
as at present, send a few seeds of his own raising to the 
various agricultural societies, with particular instructions 
as to their propagation, etc. But the practice of pur- 
