AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
259 
Winter Cherries are now daily ripening and falling upon 
the ground. Collect often for use, and put away a quan¬ 
tity of the latest growth with the hull on, in boxes for 
Winter use, covering with cotton to exclude air. 
Winter Cress—Sow, £f, in. 
Flower Garden ami lawn. 
The flower borders and garden should be very attract¬ 
ive this month. Several of the early blooming plants have 
fulfilled their destiny, and been cut away to give room 
for late flowering varieties. As upon the “ last rose of 
Summer,” we look fondly upon these later flowers, re¬ 
gretting that they too, are soon to pass away. But aside 
from their value as late bloomers, many of them are real¬ 
ly among the most attractive of the season. What is 
finer than the full round heads and brilliant colors of that 
choice bed of chrysanthemums now in their glory ; nor is 
the adjacent collection of stalky, well developed, and 
showy dahlias much behind them in beauty, while the 
whole tribe of bedding plants and many of the annuals are 
still in a blaze of bloom. 
Towards the end of the month some of the more tender 
green house and parlor plants, will need to be returned 
to their Winter quarters, as even a slight frost or a chilly 
night would injure them. 
Bulb Beds should also be made and stocked the latter 
part of September, when it can be done, rather than to 
defer planting until next month. Prepare the bed care¬ 
fully as it is impossible to remedy defects after planting. 
Carnations, Pinks and Pansies—Remove rooted layers, 
and transplant seedlings, m, 1. 
Chrysanthemums require careful staking now, or they 
will be blown down. Remove weak shoots and prune 
side branches from those trained to a single stem. 
Dahlias require nearly the same treatment as the chry¬ 
santhemum, only using longer and stronger stakes. Be 
sure to mark the various blooms before they finally disap¬ 
pear. Tying a white cloth or string to a white flower, a 
red one to a red flower, and so on, is a common practice. 
The amateur should however preserve the specific names. 
Evergreens, if to be set this Fall, should be planted, ff, 
m. We prefer May. 
Flower Stalks—Cutaway and remove from the grounds 
as fast as they are done blooming. 
Flower Pits—Construct, m, 11, for safely keeping ten¬ 
der varieties over Winter, w here there are no properly 
constructed houses. 
Geraniums—Remove slips and layers, potting them for 
Winter blooming in-doors. 
Gravel Walks, Drives, etc.—Keep as free from weeds 
and grass, and as well raked, as earlier in the season. 
Hedges—Give the last shearing for the season, if, pre¬ 
serving a neat form, widest at the bottom. 
Lawn—Keep neat and clean, mowing and raking occa¬ 
sionally. Scatter seed over any thin spots. 
Lillies, Pceonies, Dicentra and other perennial bulbous 
or tuberous rooted plants which have done blooming, may 
be divided and reset, m, 11. 
Roses—The perpetuals are now in bloom, for the last 
time this season. It is not too late to bud those omitted 
last month. 
Seeds—Watch their ripening and collect before they 
are wasted on the ground. Mark each package with care. 
Trees—Keep grass and weeds from growing for a few 
feet about the trunks of trees upon the lawn, or avenues. 
Verbenas and Petunias—Pot layers, f, m, to preserve a 
stock for Winter and early Spring bloom. Layers may 
till be made by simply covering a part of the base of the 
straggling branches, which readily take root. 
Water newly set plants, unless the soil be damp. 
Weeds are still disputing the possession of the ground. 
Root out the robbers, and give all the space and nourish¬ 
ment to the flowers. 
CSi’eeaa im<l Mot Iloeases. 
These should be looked to now, and, unless already 
done, they should have a thorough over-hauling and 
cleansing at once. Look to the furnaces, flues, cisterns 
and water-pipes ; see that the glazing is complete, and 
cords, pulleys, etc., in working order. If the houses have 
been entirely empty, give a thorough scrubbing, syringing 
with the force pump or garden engine, throwing the wa¬ 
ter with force into every corner, crack and crevice, to 
dislodge insects harboring there. Arrange the shelves, 
renew the bark or saw dust bed if necessary, prepare box¬ 
es and pots to receive the plants, collect mold, peat and 
sand for potting, and having completed the other arrange¬ 
ments, whitewash and paint where required, leaving the 
windows open for a few days previous to bringing in the 
plants. If tender plants are exposed to the odor of new 
paint, it often causes defoliation. Everything being com¬ 
plete, commence bringing in and ananging the plants, f, 
m, according as the w eather is warm, or cool, beginning 
with the most tender varieties. Place the taller plants 
on the back shelves, and low kinds in front, bearing in 
mind at the same time that some varieties require more 
light than others. Arrange them near or at a distance 
from tho furnace as they need a strong or light heat. A 
dry shelf should contain those plants which require very 
little water, including most of the bulbous kinds. Hav¬ 
ing brought them all in before cool nights have checked 
their grow th, it will be necessary to admit abundance of 
Air by the upper and low er ventilators, closing at night. 
Annuals—A few may be sown at intervals during the 
month for, Winter blooming in pots. 
Bulbs—Pot, if, m, and keep in a cool place to be taken 
to the forcing apartments as wanted. 
Camellias should all be repotted, if. They are now be¬ 
ginning to grow and require frequent waterings. It is not 
too late to bud and inarch. 
Fire heat may be needed in some apartments, m, 1, to 
expel dampness and raise the temperature. 
Grapes—Most of those in the early houses have already 
been cut, and the vines need to be hardened off by giving 
them little water and open ventilators. Later and retard¬ 
ing houses have ripe clusters or coloring berries. Preserve 
a moderately cool, dry atmosphere. 
Potting—There will be much of this to do now. Have 
a good heap of well prepared soil in readiness. It is well 
to prepare it some months in advance of using. Some of 
the plants will need larger pots, while others only require 
a top dressing of fresh soil. 
Prune, head back, pick off dead leaves, cleanse and 
otherwise prepare the pots before taking in. 
Salvias, verbenas, petunias, pelargonium^, and other 
bedding plants should be taken up, and potted, in, 1, for 
Winter blooming in doors. 
Water the various plants according to their nature. 
Some bulbs and orchids require very little moisture, while 
plants in a rapid growing state need free applications. 
AjJlary naa Sejat. 
BY M. QUINBY. 
All dependence on flowers as sources of honey for Win¬ 
ter stores for the bees, will fail some time this month. 
At th s period, all weak colonies, should be looked at and 
removed. These often get bees to robbing, and they 
can not be wintered successfully or profitably. If all bee¬ 
keepers would remove the weak ones immediately on the 
failure of flowers, and not expose any refuse honey to en¬ 
courage a pillaging disposition, there would be but little 
complaint about bees being plundered. A queenless hive 
with a feeble colony uninjured by the worm, and stores 
sufficient to make it safe for Winter, may yet have a 
swarm containing a queen from some condemned hive 
put into it. Unless the bees that are introduced, are from 
some distance, the hive should occupy the stand that 
contained the queen....The disease, foul brood, is more 
destructive to bees in many places, than all else com¬ 
bined. A great many are lost without their owner sus¬ 
pecting the cause. Many bee keepers although fully 
aware of its presence, are too anxious to increase their 
number of stocks to remove the diseased ones in season. 
This neglect is often attended with ruinous results.... 
Wherever it is found, it is important at this season to ex¬ 
amine every old stock, even if but one year old. They 
are as liable to it then, as at ten years old. When the 
combs of a hive are very foul, a nauseous effluvia may be 
perceived on passing by it; but there is much risk in al¬ 
lowing it to progress to this extent, as other colonies often 
take the contagion. The bees may be kept quiet during 
such examination with tobacco smoke blown among them ; 
then turn the hive over and look thoroughly among the 
biood’, if much is dead in the larva state, it should be 
condemned. Economy would never sacrifice any colony 
for the sake of its honey, yet it would dictate the removal 
of all diseased ones, although there maybe honey suffi¬ 
cient for wintering two—the hazard of wintering is very 
much increased by cells being filled with brood—Per¬ 
sons eat* ng honey taken from a hive containing foul brood, 
will experience no bad effects on that account. Portions 
of the combs occupied with brood should all be cut from 
the sealed honey. If very full of brood, or even bee-bread, 
there can be but iittle wax made from it, and it will hard¬ 
ly pay to make the effort; and to keep the few scattered 
cells containing honey, safe from the bees, it should be 
buried. The combs with sealed honey near the top and 
outside are left; such as are not suitable for the table may 
be broken up for straining, which is easiest done the same 
day the bees are removed from the hive-When a coi- 
ony of bees can not be profitably disposed of without the 
brimstone pit, it is not always best to apply it with the 
bees among the combs, as they are very much in the way 
when emptying the hive. It is less trouble to first drive 
out the bees, and then smother them.... All honey in the 
surplus boxes not sealed up, is quite sure to bo removed 
down into the hive soon after the flowers fail; to prevent 
this, the boxes must now be removed from the hive. The 
bees will still be inclined to carry it off; but it may be 
saved by the process recommended in the June No. of the 
Agriculturist, page 163, and again, page 239. New colo¬ 
nies that are sufficiently populous may be wintered, if 
they have combs occupying some twelve or fourteen hun¬ 
dred cubic inches, even” if iheir stores are insufficient; as 
these can be increased by judicious feeding—particulars 
will be in season next month. 
Wheat after Corn without Plowing. 
Mr. C. M. Kees, Calhoun Co., Mich., writing to 
the Agriculturist, gives the following account of 
a method lately followed by him in sowing Win¬ 
ter wheat, which lie says is becoming quite com¬ 
mon in that section. The ground is plowed 
deeply and thoroughly in the Spring for the corn 
crop. This is carefully tilled throughout the Sum¬ 
mer, principally with the cultivator, an occasion¬ 
al plowing and hoeing being also given, if neces¬ 
sary to keep the weeds down When the time 
arrives for sowing the wheat, if the corn is ripe 
enough and help is plenty, three or four rows are 
cut up, the stalks set one side, and the strip thus 
cleared is sowed and harrowed in. The stalks 
are then set back upon the open space, and anoth¬ 
er “ land ” cleared, the stalks being put on the 
“ land ” already sowed, and so on until the field 
is finished. If the corn is not fit to cut, or help 
is scarce, the wheat is put in with a cultivator, 
going twice in a row each way. One man will 
sow as fast as two can cultivate it in. About 
two bushels of seed per acre are used. Mr- K., 
says the average yield of wheat is not quite so 
large ; but the labor involved is much less. 
This method may be expedient in rare cases ; 
but is hardly to be commended for general intro¬ 
duction. The more mellow and thoroughly pre¬ 
pared the seed bed, the better will be the yield. 
The space left where the rows of corn stood, wiA 
be infested with weeds which will grow up with 
the wheat the following Spring. 
-- --=oo-0.i=»-- «■- 
Wheat Sowing—Remedy for the Midge- 
Daniel Steck, Lycoming Co., Pa., writes : The 
only remedy I know of for the midge, is that of 
sowing early, in a soil supplied with such con¬ 
stituents, as shall push it forward and cause the 
crop to mature early. Wheat sowed at the proper 
time on nevy land, always matures before the 
midge can cause it any material injury. The 
proper time to sow wheat here—Lycoming Co., 
Pa., Lat. 41£°—is from the first to about the tenth 
of September. If sown earlier than the first, it 
will not mature any sooner than if sown later than 
the tenth, from the fact that the top becomes too 
large in the Fall, the main stalk perishes 
during the Winter, and new shoots must start 
from the roots in the Spring. I have harvested 
wheat from seed sown on the 7th of September, 
one week earlier than that sown on the 28th of 
August; both being the same variety, and sown 
on the same kind of soil. 
Save the Vegetable Seeds. 
Many seeds are annually wasted from not be¬ 
ing gathered at the right time. They are left till 
a convenient season, and then one “job” is 
made of it. In this way, as they do not ripen at 
the same time, the first matured and most valua¬ 
ble are lost, and many are taken while yet green 
and worthless. The garden should be visited 
every day, from the first ripening, and the mature 
heads collected, the stalks being severed with a 
sharp knife or shears. Sheets or newspapers 
may be spread upon the floor of a chamber or 
garret, and the different kinds laid separately upon 
them. When the gathering is completed, and 
the seeds have thoroughly dried, rub them out, 
clean them, and put them in bags of cloth or pa¬ 
per. Each parcel should be distinctly labeled with 
the name, and the year when gathered. Many 
vexatious mistakes will thus be avoided next 
Spring. All seeds for future planting should be 
kept as far as possible from heat, moisture, and 
light. Their vitality will be impaired, if not de¬ 
stroyed, by carelessness in this respect. Tin cases, 
glass jars, or even tight wooden boxes are pre¬ 
ferable to leaving them loose in the “closet.” 
•-- -~T7a ~^ > Or. ■■■- . 
Select Seed Corn this Month. 
The best seed will be likely to produce the best 
crops next year. Pass through the corn field this 
month and select the fullest and most forward 
ears, from stalks bearing two or three ears, and 
in some way mark the hills. As soon as suffici¬ 
ently ripened they should be gathered, braided to¬ 
gether by the husks into “traces,” and hung in a 
dry place. If this plan he followed up, there will 
be an improvement in the quality, quantity, and 
early maturity if the other processes of cultiva¬ 
tion are properly attended to. 
