1870 .] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
23 
not early) at $225 per acre for the older sort; 
the Colossal, he thinks, will run at least one- 
third higher, or about $350 per acre. 
Some growers estimate their profits of aspara¬ 
gus at nearly double these rates, but much de¬ 
pends on location. Asparagus must become in 
a short time a valuable crop to be raised in the 
Southern States for our northern markets. A 
small quantity of the ordinary variety sent me 
(1st April, 1808,) from Macon, Georgia, sold for 
$1 per bunch, when the bed from which it was 
taken had nearly ceased bearing for the season. 
An acre of the Colossal variety, properl}' plant¬ 
ed in such a latitude, would certainly nett $1,000 
profit per acre when in full bearing. It is an 
article with which the market is never likely to 
be glutted, for the reason that we must wait a 
few years for returns. Beginners generally can¬ 
not afford to wait, and they grow such crops as 
mature the season of sowing the seeds; hence, in 
the great majority of eases, particularly in the 
vicinity of all. large cities, there are often times 
when many articles sell helow a paying price. 
-«-•——to*—---- 
Boxes for Starting Plants. 
Several devices, patented and otherwise, have 
been offered for boxes in which such plants as 
are injured by a disturbance of their roots may 
be started and afterwards readily and safely re¬ 
moved to the open ground. It is not improb¬ 
able Unit it will be found profitable to forward 
cotton by starting it under glass and transplant¬ 
ing it; at all events a patent has been taken out 
for ail apparatus for the purpose. We gave, 
some time ago, a box with movable partitions 
in which melons, cucumbers, etc., could be 
started in the hot-bed or window and the plants 
removed at the proper season without disturb¬ 
ing them. A correspondent, “V,” Antrim, N. 
H., says in reference to these boxes: 
“ I formerly used such a one, but I have lately 
used paper boxes, which I like better. The paper 
of my hexes, not being entirely decayed, holds 
the earth firmly in its place until the plant is set 
out. To make these boxes, cut strips of thick 
paper about six inches wide and 17 long; paste 
the ends together, lapping an inch, which will 
make a circle 16 inches in circumference; then 
press the sides of the circle together flat, and 
double once, making a book of four uncut 
leaves; now, open with the fingers, pinch down 
the corners properly, and a bottomless box four 
inches square is the result. Place as many of 
these as are needed close together in a wooden 
box, fill with earth, and sow seeds or prick out 
the plants. After trying boxes of wood, birch- 
bark, earthenware, etc., etc., I have for two or 
three years fallen back upon these paper ones as 
the simplest and best. It is best not to have 
the box that holds the paper ones so high by 
two inches as they are, as the paper then does 
not decay so rapidly as in higher boxes, and 
holds the earth together better in transplanting. 
Keeping Squashes. —“Bunker Hill,” Char¬ 
lestown, Mass., states that he by accident dis¬ 
covered that squashes picked and stored in 
September will keep much better than those 
harvested later. He keeps Hubbards and 
Turbans until June by gathering early and 
placing them on the shelves of his store, leaving 
them there until spring. He sums up his account 
by saying: “Gather the squashes for late 
keeping between September 1st and 10th, taking 
only those that grow near the root; put them 
on the shelves where they are to he kept and 
keep them dry and cool. Let the remainder 
of the crop be the first to be used or marketed.” 
Notes from the Pines. No. 8. 
« Just now the Frost King, with ice and snow, 
puts a stop to out-door work and you cannot ex¬ 
pect very full notes. One of my favorite plants 
is the Christmas Rose, ( Helleborus niger ) which 
in England blooms at the time indicated by ils 
name, but very rarely does so here. I usually 
take up a clump, and pot it, and by keeping it 
in a room where there is no fire, have blossoms 
about Christmas. It is a provokingly slow 
grower, and this is perhaps one of the reasons, 
why we so seldom see it in gardens. If left in 
the ground, and the season is not favorable for 
a winter blooming, it comes out early in spring. 
A row of old currant bushes which have long 
been innocent of shears or knife is about as un¬ 
satisfactory a thing as one can spend time over. 
Here were the old bushes from which it was 
desirable to get one more crop of fruit, as new¬ 
ly set ones of better varieties would not bear 
next year. To leave them in their present con¬ 
dition was not to be thought of, as their long 
stems had fallen over and become interlaced, 
and long, stout shoots of new wood had pushed 
their way up through the 
entangled mass. Some 
people assert that trees and 
shrubs should not be pruned 
at all, as it is “ against 
nature.” Nature is a very 
good thing, but I don’t like 
too much of it, so I went at 
the unpromising job. Wish¬ 
ing otdy one more crop of 
fruit before the bushes were 
uprooted, almost all the new 
wood was cut away, and as 
much of the old as would 
relieve its crowded condi¬ 
tion. As I was at work, a 
neighbor came along and 
watched proceedings. I 
supposed he was indulging 
in mental criticism upon 
the work, which, being 
done with a particular end 
in view, was against all 
ordinary rules of pruning. 
I remarked that he must 
not laugh at my pruning as 
I only wished to save the 
stems that had fruit buds 
on them. He replied that 
he did not know that there 
was any difference between 
buds. I mentioned it to 
another that it was strange 
that a very intelligent 
farmer had not observed the difference be¬ 
tween leaf and flower buds on the currant, 
cherry, and other trees. Gentleman No. 2, was 
brought up on a farm, and carries on operations 
upon a large scale. To my great surprise he 
didn’t know any more about buds than gentle¬ 
man No. 1. Dr. K. laughs at American journals 
because they do not get beyond the A-B-C of 
horticulture. Yet here were two persons, intelli¬ 
gent and observing,who were not prepared to go 
into the a-b-abs. For the benefit of these two, 
and as many more as need if, I give a drawing 
of a portion of a branch of a currant bush 
which will show the difference in the buds more 
plainly than description. The lower portion of 
the fragment is two years old, the upper is one 
year old, or rather of one season’s growth. The 
new wood, as it is called, is drab, and paler in 
color than the old, and has upon it single scat¬ 
tered buds, which next year would produce 
leafy shoots only. The lower part or old wood 
i9 darker and bears clusters of buds on short 
spurs, and it is these buds which produce the 
flowers. The engraving represents a branch of 
partly old and partly new wood. In currant 
bushes as usually grown, shoots, entirely of new 
wood start from near the ground, or below it, and 
while they will appear the finest and most 
vigorous, will not fruit the season following 
that in which they grew. In pruning currant 
bushes, generally a portion of these new shoots 
are to be retained to replace the old ones when 
they have become weakened by several crops. 
It is a misnomer to call the Arbor Vitae an ever¬ 
green. There are some near the house which 
have put on their dull greenish-brown for win¬ 
ter. I wish they could be exchanged for some 
of the Hemlocks that grow on the hill over 
yonder, and I would give both these miserable 
sticky Balsam firs for one good White Spruce of 
half the size. Winter is the time for those who 
intend to plant evergreens to give the matter 
thought. Those which look best in summer 
are not always the most desirable for winter. 
Now is the time, also, to consider where they 
may best be planted, as the foliage of other 
trees is now out of the way. 
Stakes. —Mr. J. II. Spear, Quincy, Mass., 
writes, that stakes that have been thoroughly 
salted, last three or four times as long as 
others. He uses pine or spruce and salt in 
brine as if they were meat. Those an inch 
thick remain in the brine four or five months. 
---- - - 
Some of the New Annuals of Last Year. 
BV JAMES VICK, ROCHESTER, NEW WORK. 
[Mr. Vick, the experienced seedsman and 
florist prepared a paper upon annual flowers 
for the Horticultural Annual. A press of 
other matter crowded this article out and 
we present a portion of it here.— Eds.] 
Rhodanthe Manglesii Major. —I have 
seen charming plants of if. Manglesii in Europe 
almost a shower of graceful rosy bells, but never 
anything more wonderfully beautiful than abed 
of this new Rodantlie, in my grounds the pres¬ 
ent season. It is like if. Manglesii , except that 
the flowers are about twice the size, and the 
plant far more robust. In Western New York 
the summer has been wet and cold, something 
like an English summer, and this may have 
been the cause of the success. 
The Petunia is one of the most useful of our 
hardy annuals, and its improvement in the past 
twenty-five years has been quite marked. Only 
a few years since the Petunia was a poor, white, 
papery flower. Then small purple flowers were 
produced. Now we have them of every desir¬ 
able color, except yellow, and perhaps blue, 
though some of the purples are very near blue, 
and both double and single. For making a good 
showy bed, the single sorts are the best. 
There are two classes of Petunias; one of the 
same habit as the old Petunia, with tough, 
slender, wiry branches, bearing a mass of flow¬ 
ers, and also giving abundance of seeds. The 
best variety of this class is the Countess of Eles- 
mere, a bright rose, with a white throat. This 
variety flowers so freely, and is of such a bright 
rose color, that it makes a bed on the lawn or a 
border of great beauty. It always comes true 
from seed. The Blotched and Striped of this 
class is also very desirable — of almost every 
conceivable style of marking. There are also 
mixed varieties of almost every color. Plants 
