422 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[November, 
the victim of dyspepsia to such a degree that 
he felt as if he must soon resign his situation. 
He was then a man of forty, entirely ignorant 
of anything pertaining to country life, and it 
was with great misgivings and reluctance that, 
by the advice of his physician, he changed his 
home from a closely built part of New York 
to a cottage on the then country-like suburb 
of Bergen Heights, N. J. His means enabled 
him to purchase a modest cottage built on a lot 
50 by 150 feet; he did not want the land, he 
said, but the cottage was such as he fancied, 
and the ground had to go with it. It was 
about this time that I formed his acquaintance, 
through some business transaction, and he 
asked my professional advice as to what he 
could do with his land, which he had already 
begun to consider somewhat of an incumbrance. 
I replied to him that, if I was not greatly 
mistaken, in his little spot of ground lay a 
cure for all his bodily ills, and that besides it 
could add to the comforts if not the luxuries 
of his table if he would only work it. “ Me 
work it! ” he exclaimed. “ You don’t suppose 
that these hands could dig or delve,” holding 
up his thin and bloodless fingers, “and if they 
could I know nothing about gardening.” I 
told him I thought neither objection insur¬ 
mountable if he once begun. 
The result of our conversation was that he 
resolved to try, and try he did to a purpose. 
Our interview was in March, and before the 
end of April he had all his lot nicely dug over, 
the labor being done by his own hands during 
an hour and a half each morning. His custom 
was to get up at six o’clock and work at his 
garden until half past seven. This gave him 
ample time to dress, get breakfast, and be at 
his desk in the city by nine. The labor of 
merely digging was (to him) heavy and rather 
monotonous, but he stuck to it bravely, and 
when he again presented himself before me for 
plants and seeds and information how to place 
them, it was with some pride that I saw my 
prescription had worked so well, for my friend 
then looked more like a farmer than a pallid 
clerk. The regulating of his little garden was 
a simple matter, and was done according to the 
following diagram : 
Cauliflower, cabbage, and 
lettuce. 
Strawberries. 
Cucumbers, onions, and 
parsley. 
Raspberries. 
Beets, carrots, and 
parsnips. 
Tomatoes. 
Bush beans. 
Rhubarb. 
During his first season, of course, he made 
some blunders and some failures, but his inter¬ 
est in the work increased year by year. His 
family was supplied with an abundance of all 
the fresh vegetables and fruits his limited space 
could admit of being grown—a supply that it 
would have taken at least $150 to purchase at 
retail, and stale at that. But the benefit de¬ 
rived from the cultivation of this cottage gar¬ 
den was health—strong, rugged health—that 
"or the six years he was my neighbor never 
ence failed him. 
I know this case is an extremely exceptional 
me, for I never knew another man. who so 
•csolutcly worked himself into health. There 
vrc hundreds of business men, book-keepers, 
laiesmcn, clerks, and the like who live in the 
suburbs of all great cities, many of whom can 
fl afford to pay for the keeping of the plots 
surrounding their cottages, but who think they 
can far less afford to do the work themselves. 
As a consequence, in nine cases out of ten, 
the rear at least of their suburban plots is a 
wilderness of weeds, and the muscular force, 
because not used, brings retribution upon the 
lazy owner. The proofs are apparent every¬ 
where that garden operations are conducive to 
health and longevity. The work is not labor¬ 
ious, and when fairly entered into has a never- 
failing interest. The growing and the watch¬ 
ing of the great variety of plants gives a healthy 
tone to the mind, while the physical labor de¬ 
manded by cultivation takes care of the body. 
The Bois d’Arc for Lumber. 
In a recent visit to Northern Texas we saw 
large numbers of the Bois d’Arc or Osage 
Orange trees in the river valleys, and heard 
marvelous stories of the endurance of the wood 
in situations where it was much exposed to al¬ 
ternate moisture and drouth. It was much 
used by the Indians for bows, and the early 
French voyageurs gave it the name of Bois 
<TArc, or bow-wood, a name often corrupted 
into “Bodock.” The tree grows sometimes 
to a diameter of two or three feet, and is sawed 
into lumber for wagons. It is close grained, 
and the tire once set upon the wheels never be¬ 
comes loose until it is worn out. This is a great 
advantage in any climate, and would be invalu¬ 
able in the almost rainless region of the plains. 
They tell of wagons in Texas that came in with 
the first emigration, and, after thirty years, are 
still serviceable and in good condition. The 
wood is also much used for fence-posts, and 
resists decay longer than any other wood in 
that region. If these claims are well founded 
there must be an immense demand for the lum¬ 
ber west of the Missouri, where wood is so 
scarce, and where there is no hard wood at all. 
The forests of this wood in Texas should have 
protection by law, and it should be extensively 
planted in the more Northern States as a 
timber tree. 
Carpeting Borders Beneath Shrubs. 
In places where greenhouse plants are used 
to decorate the grounds, whether they are 
turned out or the pots are plunged, the appear¬ 
ance of the border devoted to them is greatly 
improved if the surface of the soil be covered 
with some low-growing and rapidly spreading 
plant. We have seen Portulacas sown broadcast 
with very good effect, but the trouble with 
these is that the seed germinates slowly, and 
the plants do not make much show until late 
in the season. The best attempt we have seen 
at carpeting was in the grounds of Prof. C. S. 
Sargent at Brookline, Mass.,where Onaphalium 
lanatum is used. This bedding plant is propa¬ 
gated with the greatest ease, grows rapidly, 
and soon covers the soil with a carpet of neu¬ 
tral gray tint, against which bright foliage and 
flowers show to the best possible advantage. 
This is a point in gardening that has received 
less attention than its importance demands. 
If the soil of beds in which plants are tem¬ 
porarily placed be carpeted with some rapidly 
growing plant of a pleasing color, not only is 
the general effect heightened, but of course 
much labor in keeping is saved. In permanent 
shrubberies, too, this is a matter of no little 
importance. The soil beneath our shrubs is 
either bare or covered with weeds. Why not 
grow some pleasing plant which shall cover 
the ground and save all trouble of weeding ? 
We are trying two plants for this purpose. In 
one row of shrubs we have set plants of-the 
Money-wort ( Lysimachia nummularia), which 
always grows rapidly enough when allowed to 
become a weed, and which makes as dense a 
mat as can be desired. In another clump of 
shrubs we are trying Cerastium, Biebersteini , 
described and figured upon page 421. We 
have not had either of these long enough upon 
trial to be able to say more than that they 
promise well. The common Periwinkle or 
“ Running Myrtle ” ( Vinca) would probably be 
useful in such places, and the Moss-Pink 
(Phlox subulata) might be tried. Could we get 
a set of low-growing plants that would flourish 
well beneath the drip of shrubs, and completely 
cover the surface, it would not only greatly 
improve the appearance of our grounds, but 
do away with the necessity of weeding. When 
shrubs are set out to remain in one place for 
years, the soil should be so well prepared at 
the outset that there will be no need of the an¬ 
nual forking in of manure that many think it 
necessary to give their shrubberies every spring. 
The Enemies of the Cranberry Crop. 
The cranberry crop is short in many parts cf 
New England on account of the drouth, the 
worms, and other enemies. This fruit, though 
growing mostly upon peat bogs and swampy 
places, is as much affected by drouth as other 
crops, especially upon the thoroughly drained 
and graveled or sanded plantations. The fruit 
fails to set well, or if already set the fruit is 
small. The remedy for this is to have the 
water raised in the ditches to a point where 
the roots will reach it without flowing the 
plants. The fruit-worm and the vine-worm 
are among the worst enemies of the cranberry 
grower. Flowing in the spring is a complete 
remedy for the vine-worm, and if prolonged 
late enough in the season it will destroy the 
other. Many growers draw off the water early 
in May, when the parent moths are most active. 
It is now pretty well settled that the water 
should be kept on until the first of June, or if 
drawn off early in May it should be put on 
again for a week at the close of the month. At 
that season the water is warm enough to de¬ 
stroy the eggs. The latter is the practice of 
our most intelligent cranberry growers. Dis¬ 
cretion, however, is to be used in the drawing 
off of the water. If the vines are covered to 
the depth of three feet or more the water 
would probably be too cold at the bottom to 
kill all the eggs. It should be drawn down so 
low as to barely cover the vines and give the 
surface the full benefit of the sun. Where the 
water is abundant and under control it is the 
better way to draw off the water about the 
first of May, and let it on again from the 20th 
of May to the first of June, ^recording to the 
earliness of the season. It would be still bet¬ 
ter if the plants could have a third flooding- 
ten days later, but in this case the water should 
only be left on for a day or two, lest it might 
injure the fruit buds. Many bogs are injured 
by winter killing. Flowing in winter is an 
effectual safeguard against this. The water 
should be put on as early as the first of Novem¬ 
ber, or at least before there is any danger of 
freezing, and the bottom of the ice that may 
form should be kept above the tops of the 
