1875 .] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
34:7 
following the few hours of routine work of an of¬ 
fice. A clerk like this has at least three hours be¬ 
fore and three hours after the office hours of 9 to 
3, which can be used, where it is practicable to do 
so, in no way more pleasantly than in horticultural 
pursuits. Sometime last winter I had a letter from 
a gentleman, who stated that he was a Bank Teller 
in Cincinnati, and living in the suburbs. He had 
attached a greenhouse to his dwelling, containing 
an area of about 500 feet of glass ; he began it as a 
recreation, but it had gradually merged into a nice 
little business, which, assisted by his wife in sell¬ 
ing, had that year added some $500 to his not very 
large income from the bank. He was quite elated 
with his success, and expressed the intention of 
building additional glass this season, with the hope 
that he mighkeventually make floriculture his ex¬ 
clusive business. Now what can be achieved by 
such men with flowers, may be just as well done by 
cultivating fruits or vegetables. Any active man 
engaged in an office only from 9 to 3, has an abun¬ 
dance of time in which to cultivate a quarter of an 
acre of land in fruit or vegetables, the products 
from which, in almost any town or village sustain¬ 
ing a few respectable grocery stores, will find a 
quick sale at good prices—prices that, if the soil is 
good and cultivation thorough, would bring him 
from a quarter of an acre nearly as much as our 
Cincinnati friend received from his flowers, though 
the work would be harder and not so pleasant. Of 
course this can only be done when there is some 
member of the family able and willing to dispose of 
the products; for the head of the house is pre¬ 
sumed to be engaged at his office work at just the 
time of day that purchasers would be likely to call. 
In my immediate vicinity on Jersey City Hights, 
though it is within two miles of the Washington 
Market of New York, I find that the grocers gladly 
pay one-third more for either fruits or vegetables, 
taken direct from the gardens, than for the bruised 
and sometimes stale products of the market, for 
the simple reason that the consumer is willing to 
pay a correspondingly higher price for the fresh 
fruits or vegetables. 
-.fr. ^1 .- 
The Potato Rot—An Important Discovery. 
In an article on Potato Rot, given in July last, it 
was stated that the history of the fungus of the 
potato rot was incomplete ; that the form of the 
fungus so destructive in late summer produced 
its spores, or reproductive bodies, by division of 
the plant; and that they were not, reasoning from 
the conduct of other related fungi, the spores which 
remained over winter, or resting spores. As the 
resting spores of related fungi are produced, if not 
by the union of two different plants, they are by 
the union of two different cells, corresponding to 
the action of the stamen upon the pistil in flower¬ 
ing plants, and are hence called sexual spores. 
Some other fungi, when living upon one plant, pro¬ 
duce asexual spores only, and the same fungus, 
living upon another plant, produces sexual spores. 
In the article referred to, it was stated that the 
clover had been thought to be the plant upon 
which the potato fungus formed its sexual spores, 
and some account was given of the attempt of 
Prof. Farlow, of the Bussey Institution, to ascer¬ 
tain the truth of this. The present season a potato 
rot appeared in England, which, while very destruc¬ 
tive, presented several features different from the 
ordinary rot; it appeared much earlier in the sea¬ 
son, and confined itself mainly to American sorts 
raised from English grown seed. While some 
claimed this to be a new disease, others stated that 
it had appeared in former years, and that older 
varieties as well as new ones were attacked by it. 
In examining this new potato rot, Mr. Worthington 
G. Smith, an expert fungologist, found the long 
sought for resting, or sexual spores of the Peronos- 
pora infestans, or potato-rot fungus. The common, 
or asexual spores, are produced by the fungus when 
it appears upon the surface of the potato leaf or 
stem, while the sexual spores are produced within 
the tissues of the plant. Mr. Smith feels very confi¬ 
dent that he has discovered the true resting spore 
of the fungus, and publishes bis observations with 
engravings, in the Gardeners’ Chronicle, for July 
17th, last; he is still at work at it, and we shall 
probably hear more about the matter. It is too 
soon yet to say what will be the practical effect of 
this discovery, in enabling us to avoid the potato- 
rot, but a knowledge of the enemy in all its forms, 
can not fail to produce some good results. 
-—- 
Cheerfulness. 
Just out of summer, when everybody feels 
lazy, we dare not impose on our readers a 
philosophical analysis of this word, but will con¬ 
tent ourselves with a few suggestions, and illustra¬ 
tions. Cheerfulness is like sunlight streaming in 
at the windows, too much of it at midday bums 
and blisters, whilst the soft rays of the morning 
purify the atmosphere, and give health and joy to 
the household. Cheerfulness unrestrained ends in 
burlesque, and the man who cannot control it, but 
lets it spurt in all directions, becomes a clown. 
The genuine article is clear and sparkling, not effer¬ 
vescent and noisy. A cheerful man is not known 
by constant effort to be funny and dazzling, but 
rather by the tones of his voice, the spice of his 
language, and the courtesy of his demeanor. An 
aroma of sweet joy pervades the whole man, so that 
in the household, in the factory, in the counting- 
room, he is as leaven that leavens the whole lump. 
Age and youth are alike drawn to him, and un¬ 
conscious to himself, he lightens many a burdened 
mind, and comforts many a distressed heart. 
Cheerfulness is the climax of a round of good 
qualities. If you speak of a merchant, you describe 
his financial ability, his judgment of men, his 
knowledge of goods, his great perseverance— 
but if you wish to finish his character, you say, 
“and then he is so cheerful.” So you speak of a 
farmer, a builder, a manufacturer—winding up the 
catalogue of his virtues by adding cheerfulness. 
And so with the minister of the Gospel, if in addi¬ 
tion to his ability as a preacher, and his reputation 
for learning, you can add that he is cheerful, you 
have gained your case against his competitor of 
larger ability, and greater eloquence, who unfor¬ 
tunately has a hard face and morose disposition. 
There is Dr. T., a fine example of uniform cheer¬ 
fulness. We have known him for twenty years, 
and met him on all occasions ; in seasons of sor¬ 
row and disappointment , v when he was full and 
when he was empty ; when his family was sick, 
and when they were separated by long distances. 
Other men, under many of these circumstances, 
would quail before impending adversity, or mani¬ 
fest desolateness under penury or sickness. Never 
the Doctor—you might meet him on the street 
without a penny in his pocket, or preparing to 
take a new appointment (for he is a Methodist 
preacher) without cash enough to pay his freight 
and passage, and you would not discover a break 
in his countenance. His serenity pervades all events, 
like an unruffled stream, where deep and clear wa¬ 
ters move along grassy banks without a murmer. 
We love to meet him in the street, for he drops a 
cheery word ; we are fond of his calls in the office, 
for he always puts us in a good humor, besides his 
visits are short. Now, as he reads theological and 
not agricultural papers, he will not see this article, 
and hence, when we hold him up as a model of 
cheerfulness,he will not be flattered by our allusions. 
We have another visitor, that has been thrown 
out of a lucrative situation by the death of the pro¬ 
prietor. A young man of energy and promise. We 
have watched his career closely. Disdaining idle¬ 
ness, he has seized with resolution every opening 
for employment, not minding what, so it were 
honest, until at last his energy has won him a posi¬ 
tion superior to the one he lost. During his strug¬ 
gle his cheerfulness never flagged. Whether we 
met him on the cars, or in the street, or else¬ 
where—his countenance indicated a merry heart. 
What a happy world this would be if everybody 
were cheerful !' And wouldn’t everybody be cheer¬ 
ful but for three things ! First, the pangs of a 
guilty conscience for words and deeds in the past, 
and second, evil devices concerning the future, and 
third, constant apprehension of evil arising from 
distrust of God’s Providence. Now, reader, put it 
down for a truth, that conscious guilt and cheer¬ 
fulness cannot abide in the same breast. Neither 
is there harmony between a distrusting spirit and 
cheerfulness. The sense of the whole matter is 
this—an evil man may be a clown, but genuine cheer¬ 
fulness is the inheritance of the good. C. C. N. 
SST - (For otter Household Items, see “Basket ” pages). 
About Washing Dishes. 
Mrs. C. S. R., Mansfield, O., writes : The dislike 
to dish-washing, so common among housekeepers 
and girls, arises mainly from the fact that it is so 
injurious to the hands. It is a serious objection 
to the work, as in the minds of many the preserva¬ 
tion of a pretty hand is of more importance than 
many cups and platters. By the use of what we 
call a swab, we have so far obviated the difficulty, 
that the washing of the dishes is preferred to any 
other household work. The swab may be made on 
any smooth round stick, about a foot long, and an 
inch in diameter. About two inches from one end 
cut a groove ; take candle-wicking, white carpet- 
chain, or even strips of strong cotton cloth, and 
cut or fold about eight inches in length ; tie this 
material firmly into the groove at the middle, and 
turn down and tie firmly at the end of the stick, 
and you will have a “ machine,” which will last 
many weeks, and go into boiling soap-suds, or even 
lye, without cringiug. In washing the dishes we 
have a vessel of hot soap-suds, and another, not 
scalding hot, of clear water. We wash and rinse the 
dishes, placing them to dry on a cloth spread on 
some convenient shelf or table. By inverting a few 
cups at first, the other dishes can be leaned upon 
them loosely, and more conveniently, and with 
less injury to the edges, than upon a rack ; when 
dry they will be brighter and smoother, than by 
any amount of rubbing. [It would appear from 
Mrs. R.’s note that the dish-swab is not generally 
known ; they are kept in all house-furnishing stores, 
and we give an engraving of the kind sold there, 
but of course a home-made one will answer quite 
as well.— Ed.] 
- -» . — -—•>- 
Some Household Conveniences. 
BY B. D. SNUOK, YATES CO., N. Y. 
A Beef-Steak Founder. —A friend suggests that 
a beef-steak pounder should be of hickory, and to 
be used by placing it upon the fire for some min¬ 
utes before the stake is put over it. He thinks that 
a steak which needs pounding is not worth cook¬ 
ing, but he never lived where a real steak could not 
be bought, where 
meat is dispensed 
from the butcher’s 
wagon, and one 
Fi<r.l ,—teat pounder. must take what is 
offered or go with¬ 
out ; slices of beef 
without regard to 
the “age, sex, 
Fig. 2. — round pounder. c °l° r ) or previous 
condition” of the 
animal are called “beef-steak; ” these when prop¬ 
erly pounded before cooking, are much better than 
no fresh meat. Various iron and other pounders 
are sold at the stores, but a very cheap one that 
will answer every purpose, may be made from a 
piece of hard wood. That shown in fig. 1 has its 
teeth made by sawing across in such a manner as to 
