388 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST, 
[November, 
“ iBitrotliictiom of the Verhema.”— 
In August vve gave an account of the introduction of the 
verbena, now so common in our gardens. Several have 
written from the “ far West,” claiming that '’tht verbena” 
grows wiid there, and seem to think that South America 
gets credit for a piant that belongs to their region. We 
weli know tliat several verbenas grow wild in different 
parts of this country, and that one of those of the West 
and Southwest is tolerably showy, and has been cul¬ 
tivated. This is Verbena A ubletia, which has been recent¬ 
ly sent out as Verbena montona. It is a rather weedy 
plant, but is hardy and keeps long in bloom. Tlie article 
alluded to referred solely to the bedding plant, so common 
as to have monopolized the generic name Verbena. 
Strawberries in Iowa. —“ T.,” in refer¬ 
ring to our note in last month’s basket, says : “ Allow me 
to modify your advice somewhat. Plant in spring on the 
highest and driest spot you can select. If not perfectly 
dry, dig a small trench around the bed in autumn, throw¬ 
ing the dii't outside, and if you don’t want some big 
prairies in it, don’t try to protect with anything in winter, 
not even the slightest mulch. I will say, even to the Agri¬ 
culturist, if there is a better berry for the Nortliwest than 
Albany Seedling, take it altogether, I have yet to see it.” 
Catting' Strawberry Kunaers.— 
“ W.,” Ishester, III,, asks, if there is any implement for 
cutting strawberry runners. We believe that one or two 
contrivances for this purpose have been invented, but we 
never knew them to be used. Our large growers nip the 
runners by hand, or if too old, they cut them with a knife. 
Tbe Agricalturist Strawberry.— 
We did not intend to say anything more about this fruit 
at present, but here are two opinions that we like to put 
side by side. In tlie words of the sliowman, who was 
asked which was the tiger and which the hyena, “ You's 
paid your money and you takes your choice.”— From 
Hovey’.s Magazine for July, 1866. Agriculturist Straw¬ 
berry. * * * It is simply a good sized, rough looking, 
and fair-flavored berry—all and even quite as much as 
was expected of it, and probably of no real value, com¬ 
pared with La Constante and Hovey’s Seedling. The 
vines have not wintered well generally, and it is exceed¬ 
ingly variable according to cultivation.” 
In the Horticulturist for August, 1866, Mr. J. M. Mer¬ 
rick, Jr., Walpole, Mass., (Walpole being 18 miles aw.ay 
from Boston.) writes: Agriculturist, In size and 
vigor of plant, size of berry, and general excellence, 
lliis famous kind stands at tire head of the list and sur¬ 
passes all the other kinds—some thirty-two in number— 
wliich I now have on trial. • ■» * * In brief, I may say 
that in my opinion, the best berry, taking all things into 
account, is the Agriculturist.” 
Fine Asters.—Only those who recollect the 
China Aster of twenty-five years ago can appreciate the 
improvement that has been made in this flower both in 
form and color. They are annuals, and every one can 
raise them. A splendid show of these flowers was made 
at our office by Cuno Kretsehmai- Bros. & Co., of Brook¬ 
lyn, N. Y^., and a very fine bouquet of them was received 
from P. Hannah, of Newburgh, N. Y. 
Cwrape €|s»eries. — “ Yankee,” Fairfietd, 
Iowa. Draining is “ essential,” unless there is a very 
open subsoil that gives a natural drainage. If you cannot 
get tiles, make stone or rubble drains, or use boards. 
None of our American grapes have yet been profitably 
converted into raisins. 
'I'lie Ciiiant Wax Itean. — Under the 
above name we have received a sample of beans from 
Mr. Henry A. Dreer, Seedsman, Philadelphia. The pods 
are 6 to 9 inches long, thick and fleshy, of a pale yellow 
color, and a waxy appearance. The seeds are red. The 
peculiarity about this variety is, that its pods, even wlien 
full grown, are perfectly tender, and may be used as snap 
beans. We have tried them both separately and in succo¬ 
tash, and consider them really delicious. The variety is 
a pole or lunning bean, its origin is unknown ; but 
wherever it came from we welcome it as a valuable ad¬ 
dition in our list of varieties. 
Plants.—“A. M.,” Macon 
City. Mo., asks: “ Whetlier a small room wuth the south 
all glass will not be a good substitute for a hot-bed in 
starting plants, making the bed so as to receive the light 
anrl heat of the sun through the glass, and when cold, 
heat Ihe room with a stove.”—This is one of similar 
queries that come from those wlio think that any glass 
structure will do for a propagating house. A room like 
the one described would probablv answer as a green¬ 
house for wintering some plants, but it would be ;i very 
poor place for stalling plants from seeds or cuttings. 
Syaictures for propagating peed to have the soil some 
degi-ees warm.er than the air (bottom heat), and to have 
the glass as near the beds as possible. 
aSurying llollyliocks.—Helen A. Bur- 
rough, Floyd Co., Iowa, failing to winter hollyhocks by 
covering, keeping in the cellar, etc., at last tried burying 
them a foot deep in the soil of the garden. They kept 
well and grew finely when set out in the spring. 
Fine Glatliolns Flowers.—We thought 
we had seen the Gladiolus as fine as it could be, but some 
specimens from Mr. Geo. Such, Soutli Amboy, N. J., 
convinced us that there was a “ touch beyond.” Mr. S. 
is an enthusiastic cultivator, and imports all the new and 
rare European varieties of Gladiolus. 
Country Koads — Cross-ways for 
Water. — “Birming¬ 
ham,” of Chester Co., 
Pa., sends us a few hints 
worth practicing upon. 
The cuts show sections 
and birdseye views of 
country roads : a is the 
horse track in the mid¬ 
dle of the road ; b, b. the 
wheel tracks ; c, d, the 
gutters ; e, e, the wash- 
ways off from or across 
the road. If it is desired 
to turn the wash off on 
both sides, very slight 
depressions (e, e, fig. 1) 
Fig. 1. commencing in the 
wheel track on each side, .and widening and deepen¬ 
ing to the gutters, with a slope towards the bottom of the 
hill, are all that is neces¬ 
sary and will not cause 
a jolt to a wagon that will 
break any thing or he 
uncomfortable. If the 
wash is designed to cross 
the road, let it do so in a 
long diagonal (c, e, fig, 2). 
It does not take a very 
high cross-w'ay to turn 
w ater where it has a free 
course, but if it is d,am- 
med up and turned at 
right angles, ifwill take 
of course a high bank or 
cross-way to turn it. It 
is not always practicable 
to keep the middle of the road the highest, but it can be 
easily accomplished in many more cases than it is done. 
Unruly Salsify, — “ Carolus,” Danville, 
Ky., complains that his Salsify, the seed of which came 
from a reliable dealer, instead of making a biennial root, 
ran to seed the first year and was worthless. Moreover, 
the plants from this seed did the same thing. It is not 
unusual to see a number of plants in a field of biennial 
plants, such as carrots, parsnips, etc., flower the first year, 
but we never knew a whole crop to do so. We can only 
account for this occurrence by supposing that the growth 
of the Salsify was checked by a drouth, and tlie plant as 
effectually put to rest as it would be by cold, and when a 
“ growing time ” came again, the plant started to flower 
just as it would in spring. 
Mow to Mend a Mill Stone,—We 
have already cautioned ag.ainst the practice of filling the 
cavities of mill stones with lead. Spencer Haines, of 
Burlington Co., N. J., writes that he uses melted sulphur 
with sand poured into the cavities while the mixture 
is hot, and finds it to answer every purpose, and to last. 
Internal Kcvenne. — Every one pays 
taxes in one way or another now-a-days, and is interest¬ 
ed in knowing what the law requires. There have been 
several pu rlications of the revenue laws, but the best we 
have seen is one compiled by Horace Dresser, pub¬ 
lished by D. Appleton & Co. It contains the ori¬ 
ginal law of 1864, with all the subsequent amendments 
conveidently arranged for reference with marginal notes, 
and a complete analytical index. Price 50 cents. 
t^ood-Ioolcin;^ llHSi1>aml<$, should be 
careful where they get their photographs taken. A lady 
writes us, that while on a visit from home, a female 
friend showed her. very confidentially, a picture of the 
said friend’s promised husband. Judge of her surprise 
to find the photograph a very accurate likeness of her 
own husband, w horn she supposed to be entirely unknown 
to her friend. Her first thoughts were of unfaithfulness, 
and all that( but the matter was finally explained thus: 
The husband in question, when in the city, had ids photo¬ 
graphs taken in quantity for his friends, but rejected half 
a dozen or so which he thought not correct. The lady 
friend above referred to, seeing an advertisement of a 
“ fortune teller ” to “ send any one a likeness of her fu¬ 
ture husband for 50 cents,” had invested that sum with the 
swindling sorceress, and received the picture in return. 
The fortune teller supplied her customers with rejected 
miscellaneous photographs, gathered at a cheap rate at 
the photographic establishments, selecting of course the 
best looking ones, so as to please the fancy of her dupes. 
Ergo, good-looking husbands (and wives too) should be 
careful where they get their likenesses taken, and carry 
away all the copies made ; otherwise they may find jea¬ 
lousy and trouble created by the fortune tellers. 
Aisnenling; Wails.—As a very easy and ef¬ 
fectual method of annealing nails, a subscriber recom¬ 
mends heating them red hot and plunging in cold water. 
Better to heat and then cool slowly in ashes or sand. 
Urine on Soiir-Cront,— Q. R. Comstock 
asks why the brine on sour crout rises and falls, and 
states that sometimes the brine is several inches above 
the crout, and vice versa. We do not suppose that the 
brine changes at all, but that the apparent rise and fall 
is due to the crout, which, being in a state of fermenta¬ 
tion, gives off gas, the bubbles of which being entangled 
in the crout, make the mass light enough to rise. The 
activity of the fermentation is affected by warmth. 
Toes of SUoes,—AA'’m. H. Maxwell, John¬ 
ston, O., writes: “.. A line in the Agriculturist says: 
‘ Copper Tips protect the toes of children’s shoes.’ I 
know a betler way. Make them what is called ‘ Scotch, 
bottoms,’ that is, a sole projecting one eight of an inch, 
or about that, beyond the usual rule and always sewed. 
That makes a bottom on which to walk, an elastic easy 
sole, and protects the toes.” 
Somctliing: Entirely UnxYarranted* 
—The following is cut from a report of the proceedings 
of the American Institute Farmer’s Club for Sept. 4th: 
“Names for Grasses. —A. M. Burns. Manhattan. AViley 
County, Texas, wants to send a variely of grasses for 
names. VVe commend him and others desiring such in¬ 
formation to send specimens to Prof. Thurber, No. 41 
Park Row, New York : or J. Slanion Gould, Hudson, 
New Jersey, and always be careful to enclose $5.” 
We can only say that no one connected with this office 
was ever known to make any charge for information, 
and we have no doubt that Mr. Gould will feel quite as 
much surprised at the implication as does the gentleman 
whose name is associated with his. We believe the re¬ 
porter of the proceedings meant kindly—but when we 
are advertised to do jobs, we prefer to be consulted. Send 
on your gr.ass, and pay your postage, but keep your $5. 
SBii-face of Watei* are 
often difficult to detect, and frequently wanting alto¬ 
gether, even where water is close at hand. Sufficient 
perseverance will generally be rewarded, and so the 
willow, peach, or hazel-wand indications, if followed, 
will usually come to water sooner or later. Water ob¬ 
tained by digging wells is of two kinds ; that which flows 
into the wells from the adjacent ground in which it is 
held as in a sponge or a basin, being supplied from the sur¬ 
face, and hence called “ surface water ; ’’ and that which 
flows in under-ground channels at indefinite depths. If 
a well is sunk near, or cuts one of these channels or sub¬ 
terranean brooks, the supply of water is usually more 
permanent than surface water. Surface indications 
are uncertain, unless the inclination of the strata of 
rocks, or of gravel, clay, sand, etc., is obvious, and 
the water flows out on side-hills where these strata 
crop out, or unless the spongy or dishing character of the: 
soil is obvious or proven. AYe would rely on no general 
indications of water, but would dig our wells where we 
wanted them to stand, unless so doing would be in op¬ 
position to geologic:il indications, or to facts est;iblished 
by otlier attempts to find water in the immediate neigh- 
borliood. Certainly we would never follow Ihe AA’ater 
Wizard and his switch, in many cases fallacious. 
Ect BIS see 'S'ossh* II'''i 5 »'iiires.—A AVinne- 
bago Co., Ill., correspondent asks this triple question, 
viz. : “ Which is the most economical way to fatten 
20 steers—1st, to feed them corn on the ear (the usual 
way,'; 2d, to take the corn to mill and give one eighth, 
(they take one sixth,) for grinding; or, 3d, to buy a mill 
for $T5 and grind your own corn ? ” 
Faiiiil— Coal Xai*.— “ Is coal tar good paint 
for the outside of a small house?” asks S. L. B.—Y'es, 
if you like :i black liouse, which no sane man can. AVe 
know of no cheaper and belter paint than good boiled 
linseed oil, with best white-lead or zinc-white, tinted 
of an agreeable stone-color or earth-color. 
