1875 .] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
99 
facilitate pushing them into the soil. The distances 
apart depend upon the variety ; the common osier 
is set 12 x 20 inches, while the Golden-willow is put 
out 8 x 16 inches ; these are about the extremes ; 
the plants are set closely, to induce a straight up¬ 
ward growth. In setting, a planting frame is used, 
made with slats to marie the distance between the 
.rows, and upon these are notches, to show the 
position of the plants ; the planter having his hand 
..guarded with a leather glove, pushes the cuttings 
in a slanting direction quite into the ground. The 
surface is to be kept clear of weeds, by the use of 
cultivator and hoe, and each fall the land is stirred 
between the rows with the plow, and manured if 
need be. The first year the shoots are of but little 
value, but they must be removed, in order to induce 
a strong growth next year. As soon as the leaves 
have fallen, the shoots are cut with a sharp hooked 
knife, close to the ground; the second year’s 
shoots will be of value ; each cutting must be close 
to the ground, and no stump or stub formed above 
the surface. The rods are tied in bundles of 3 feet 
girth, measured at 8 or 9 inches from the but-end. 
In England, where the cutting is paid by the bun¬ 
dle, this is the established measurement. The bun¬ 
dles are stood on their but-ends in water, to the 
depth of 6 or 8 inches, fixed so that they will not 
blow down, and when they show signs of growth 
in spring, the bark will be sufficiently loose to peel 
easily. This article is already too long to allow the 
process of peeling to be described. Another 
method is to set the bundles up where they will 
dry, and'then put them under cover; these osiers 
are peeled by first boiling or steaming, and though 
the rods are not so white as the others, they are 
much more durable. 
As to the profits of osier culture; the commoner 
kinds, in England, bring a net return of about 830 
per acre, while in some cases the better varieties, 
under the most careful treatment, give a profit of 
about 8100 to the acre. When cultivated as here 
described, the roots are readily removed from the 
land if it is needed for other crops. 
It may be added that a few willows treated by 
-cutting back every year, will be found useful upon 
any farm, as furnishing withes servieable for a great 
variety of uses, and florists and nurserymen can in 
this manner easily provide themselves with stakes 
for flowers and other plants. 
The Management of Commercial Hot-beds. 
BT J. B. ROOT, ROCKFORD, ILL. 
To the commercial florist or gardener, even with 
'the most complete greenhouse, hot-beds are a very 
•desirable and profitable adjunct, enabling the busi¬ 
ness to be largely increased with but small expendi¬ 
ture ; and when capital is limited, and there are 
several uses for every dollar, they make a very ser¬ 
viceable substitute for a greenhouse in the produc¬ 
tion of vegetable plants, and in bringing forward 
the more popular flowering plants which have been 
procured already rooted from large growers. Well 
managed, they yield the larger profit of the two. 
They burn no wood, and need no midnight fires, 
•and the manure used in them is more valuable after 
than before, and their cost is not great, especially if a 
fair proportion of the beds be covered with cotton 
cloth, as described in the February No. of the Ag¬ 
riculturist of last year. 
But to be made profitable, it is not enough mere¬ 
ly that they be managed to produce good plants, but 
they must produce them at the least expense consis¬ 
tent with good quality. There seems to be a feel¬ 
ing with amateurs and beginners that somehow it 
helps a hot-bed to hover over it, and “fuss” with 
it lazily, which leads to a vast deal of dawdling 
that hardly comports with profit in any business. 
While everything should be touched lightly and 
haudled carefully, yet all can be done expeditously, 
and the conditions of healthy growth still be pre¬ 
served. Unnecessary labor ancl uselessly multi¬ 
plied steps in no wise promote thrifty growth, 
while every available economy of labor and of 
method does promote profit. 
After a little experience in making beds, it is not 
necessary that all the manure be piled and turned a 
certain number of times, and in fact only a part of 
it need be piled at all. Only enough hot manure 
need be used to start fermentation throughout the 
bed; but to secure this promptly, it should not be 
mingled hot and cold together, but the hot kept in 
considerable quantity, say in layers of six inches or 
more, alternately hot and cold, provided only that 
the cold be not actually frozen, or at least but a 
small part of it. If, perchance, too much cold ma¬ 
nure has been used, and the heat rises tardily or 
unevenly, afew pailfuls of scakling-hot water willat 
once start fermentation. Made in this way, half 
the labor is saved, the beds maintain their heat 
longer, the yard is less impeded with piles, and 
much time is saved at a hurrying season. 
Making compost heaps of alternate layers of sod 
and manure, from which to procure hot-bed soil, is 
expensive and laborious, and in the dry climate of 
the West, at least, the soil is not ready for use for 
two or three years. My hot-beds being on a sandy 
loam, I have found an excellent substitate for 
specially prepared soil, iu the scrapings of the hot¬ 
bed yard after the manure has been removed. The 
leachings from the manure have furnished an abun¬ 
dance of available fertility, and the soil thus im¬ 
pregnated, together with the fine scattering manure, 
having been raked 
into piles in June, 
are in excellent shape 
for sifting and stor¬ 
age in the fall. For 
most uses I prefer it 
to the rotted sod. 
In case of a clay loam, 
a proportion of sand 
should be added in 
sifting. If beds are 
located on a stiff clay, 
this method is not practicable. If the annual scrap¬ 
ing threatens to produce an excavation, it is a simple 
matter to fill it up with suitable soil from elsewhere. 
For sowing seed in beds in which the soil is placed 
upon the manure, we use a very simple marker, 
shown in the cut, made by tacking to a common 
six-inch board, narrow cleats at 2 to 4 inches apart, 
as needed, and making it 2 feet long for conveni¬ 
ence. In this is inserted a handle at a suitable 
angle. By using this from both sides of the bed, 
the little drills can be made from one side to the 
other, clear and distinct, and after the seed is sown, 
by drawing the back of the marker over the rows, 
the covering is made very even and regular. But 
usually, instead of filling the bed with soil, we find 
a profit, both for sowing seed and for “pricking 
out,” in the use of boxes of suitable size, filled 
with soil, and placed directly upon the manure. 
Not only can the boxes be moved easily, if greater 
or less heat is desired, and the bed be more quick¬ 
ly cleared when through with, but by placing them 
up on work-tables, transplanting into them is twice 
as rapid and easy as into the bottom of a bed. 
Transplanting or “pricking out,” repeated two 
or three times, and root-pruning by drawing a 
knife between the rows of plants, induce stocky 
growth and early fruiting, furnishing such plants 
as soon drive all others from the market. But 
transplanting a great many thousands repeatedly, 
becomes a large item of expense, and the most ex¬ 
peditious methods must be studied. My quickest 
workmen are usually boys 12 to 14 years of age, 
who work in twos at a narrow table of proper bight, 
upon which are placed the boxes, one at a time. 
While the right hand makes a hole, with a dibble 3 
inches long, the left picks up a plant from a lot 
conveniently near, and slips it into the hole already 
made, when the operation is finished by a down¬ 
ward punch from the dibble on one side, and the 
thumb and finger of the left hand, just released 
from its plant, on the other. Working in this man¬ 
ner, two boys transplant a great many thousand in 
a day. As soon as the boxes are full, they are 
sprinkled and screened from the full sun for a day 
or two, and are soon revelling in “ pastures new.” 
Watering, especially in clear warm days, becomes 
no small task in a large yard of beds, and water 
should never be carried when it can be made to 
flow. The best location for a yard is upon a south¬ 
east slope, and upon the highest point the cistern 
or well should be located. If a well, it pays to 
use, for supplying a large number of beds, some of 
the smaller wind-mills to raise the water into a 
tank so high that, with the help of a small rubber- 
hose, all the beds can be sprinkled quickly and 
cheaply, without lifting a bucket. The most wa¬ 
tering must always be done on clear bright days, 
when there is also most other work to be done. The 
same principle will apply to the earth-bins, imple¬ 
ments, etc., that they all be upon the upper side of 
the grounds, so that every move 6hall be down hill. 
If every third bed or frame be omitted in each 
third row of beds, it makes the most convenient 
and accessible place for a transplanting table and 
for storing shutters, sash, and mats, during the 
day, when they are not in use. 
Oftentimes, because of dull sales, or a desire to 
be ready for an unusual demand, the florist or gar¬ 
dener finds his plants crowding him, and as a freez¬ 
ing night threatens, he has not enough shutters or 
mats to protect them all. In such cases even news¬ 
papers spread over them, and held down, are a con¬ 
siderable protection, or plenty of hay or straw 
spread over the beds, and held down with boards, 
will answer excellently. Such a motley yard, of 
course, would not be regarded as ornamental in a 
fashionable quarter, but it saves the crop, and the 
next day sees no sign of the threatened disaster. 
- m ■ — ■ ■-— 
Hints on the Adornment of Rural Homes. 
BT F. R. ELLIOTT. 
Much has been written, and often well written, 
with regard to the decoration of country homes, 
but it has been too much the tendency of such 
writings to give the reader an idea that to have a 
fine lawn, beds of beautiful flowers, or masses of 
ornamental hardy shrubs, he must employ a gar¬ 
dener. Our object is to show that to change a 
place remarkable only for its want of beauty, into 
one that shall be a pleasure not only to its owner, 
but to the passers by, there is but little required 
that can not be done by the owner himself. That 
there are many excellent and most intelligent gar¬ 
deners, we know as well as we do that there are a 
lot of pretenders and charlatans, who, by calling 
themselves gardeners, bring disrepute to an honor¬ 
able profession. Unfortunately it is these fellows 
who perhaps can tell a lily from a hollyhock, that 
are most likely to offer their services to residents 
of rural districts, and by their assumption of 
knowledge and great pretensions, commend them¬ 
selves to those who do not know that there are 
gardeners and gardeners. If one wishes to improve 
his place, and has not confidence in his own ability 
to make the best use of its natural features, let 
him avoid all pretenders, and carefully study his 
own grounds, and consider what he would have 
them to be in the future. If he has no taste in 
these matters, or has not given much thought to 
such subjects, it would be much more satisfactory 
in the end, to take the advice of some competent 
landscape gardener, who for a moderate fee, will 
make a sketch of the grounds, indicate how they 
may be improved, and lay out the work, showing 
the places for trees and shrubs, which the proprie¬ 
tor can carry out at his convenience. The adorn¬ 
ment of a rural residence or farm yard, that we 
have in mind, is not such as will require the aid of 
a gardener in planting, or in keeping after it is once 
made. Any one who can manage a pasture, can 
make and keep a lawn, and whoever can properly 
set out an apple tree or currant bush, is able to 
properly treat an ornamental tree or shrub. The 
idea that the beautiful trees and shrubs that adorn 
the grounds of the wealthy, need some knowledge 
not possessed by the ordinary farmer, deters many 
who would gladly surround themselves with things 
of beauty. If such persons knew, what is the fact, 
that there are among trees and 6hrubs, a sufficient 
number as hardy as the commonest natives, to 
gratify the most exacting taste, we think that more 
would be induced to plant them. If one wishes to 
improve his place, let him begin at the entrance 
way ; the road or pathway leading from the public 
jroad to the house, is that which is first noticed by 
