isn?.] 
AMERICAN AG-RIGIJRTURIST. 
Work in the Horticultural Departments. 
A’ritin-; up these notes for the mouth, luia one 
plea.-«mt feature, for, dry us they may seem, they 
.illow a little piny to the imevinutiou, niul we often 
fancy ourselves as walkiiur in the well kept gardens 
and orchards of onr friends, and talking with them 
of the things of so much interest to both of us. 
e do not make up these hints for the professional 
gardener, for he needs nothing of the kind ; but to 
those to whom gardening is a recreation, and to those 
who follow it us adding mneh to their home com¬ 
forts, wo have reason to know they are useful helps. 
They are intended to “jog the memorj'” at the 
right time, and while they are not supposed to be 
full treatises upon the dilferent bninches of gjirdcn- 
ing, wo are gratilled to find that but few essentials 
are omitted. The enthusiastic cultivator, in what¬ 
ever department, will avail himself of the best re¬ 
corded experience, and have at least one standard 
work ni>on his favorite topic. These notes always, 
among other things, have the fanners’ garden in 
view, aud we aim to interest our agricultural friends 
In horticultural matters. If we could induce every 
farmer who reads the A(jricnUiirist to grow one kind 
of fruit or vegetable more than he now has, how 
gresit the aggreguic increase of comfort that would 
result Why should not your home be the pleasantest 
in all the neighborhood— yourx, reader, we mean— 
your family the most contented, your children the 
most intelligent and refined? Did you ever think 
how far a few shade trees go towards converting 
a house into a home? The comfort and health that 
grow upon currant bushes and strawberry patches, 
and what teachers and preachers are rose bushes and 
garden lilies ? It is picasing to know how welcome 
we arc in so many thousand homes, and to be told, 
as we often are, that these homes arc happier for 
our coming. The Horticultural Department, in 
giving its New Year’s Greeting to botli.old and new 
friends, asks each one of them to acknowledge this 
salutation by resolving to plant either one new fruit 
tree or shrub, one new garden vegetable, or one 
new omameutid flowering plant or shrub. 
3 
Orchard and \'iir»(cry. 
Did you carefully plant an orchard last autumn, 
and tliink there is nothing to do but wait for the 
fmit thereof? If so, in five years from now we 
shall have letters a.^king what is the matter with 
the orchard. The setting of a tree or i)lant of any 
kind involves a promise to take care of it. Unless 
tln-H"- conditions are accepted, plant no more trees. 
Yunng from the beginning, need constant 
superv ision. Were the trees properly planted, no 
stakes will be needed, but if from careless ])lanting 
or accident, any tree ha. been thrown out of the 
Itcqicndicular, atniighten it up and tie it to a stake. 
Il'irxen or Cuttle often do much damage in young 
plantations, and must be kept out; indeed hogs arc 
the only animals ever to be allowed in the orchard. 
There arc some annoying wild animals. 
ItaJMte arc easily kept off by anything tliat is dis¬ 
tasteful to them. Blood Is found to be as cfllcacious 
as anything else, and is easily obtained and applied. 
A small sprinkling only is necessary. 
Wire will girdle small trees and shrubs. They 
work under cover, and all dead weeds and such rub¬ 
bish mu.st be removed from around the trees. 
Cl.asping the trees with a girdle of sheet iron or old 
tin, will be found to pay where mice arc annoying. 
Tr.imp down loose snow. 
Draine should be opened on the surface, whcrc- 
cver water accumulates upon the surface. In 
j)roi>crly dniined orchards this ought not to occur. 
InKccle can now he successfully headed off. The 
eggs of the Tcnt-caterpilLir seem to be especially 
.arranged with a vjev.r to their rc.ady removal. If a 
swelling i.s seen near the end of a twig, it should be 
looked to, a.s It is likely that there is a deposit of 
eggs glued In a band around it. Thc.se clusters are 
readily s(“cn while the trees arc leafless, and may 
be removed by the aid of a step-ladder, on trees of 
modfiratc size, and on l.argcr ones a pair of shears 
Diay be arranged at the end of a polo to work l>y a 
string. Any time and labor required to remove 
these eggs will be profitably expended. 
Clone arc to be cut at any time in winter when 
the trees arc not frozen. Be careful to label every 
parcel. Saw-dust, fresh from the log, is the best 
possible material for preserving cions. Its amount 
of moisture is just that required to keep them from 
dicing, and it is not sufficient to cause injury. It 
is preferable to sand, as the knife is not injured. 
Hotit Grojt at any time during winter, and set 
the grafte^d roots in boxes of sand or earth. In 
Nurseries, the young stock is to be headed back 
and brought into shape. Never let two limbs start 
so near together as to form a crotch. Make every 
prepanition for the spring trade, and have all pack¬ 
ing material and labels ready for use. 
Manure may be carted out while the ground is 
frozen, and be ready to spread in spring. 
Labels on trees received from the nursery are, for 
safety, bound on tightly In this time of leisure go 
over the orchard and see that no strangulation can 
result from tight Avircs. 
rniit CJardcn. 
The general remarks about orchard trees apply to 
Dwarf Trees in the garden. Some pear trees may 
bo injured by lodging snoAV, which, if it remains 
in the tree, may do mischief. Shake it out. If any 
Grape Vines Avere not pruned in autumn, do it 
now in mild spells, and do the same with 
Currants and Gooseberries. —Keep the bush open 
and shorten in the new growth. Cuttings may bo 
made of the prunings by dipping the loAver ends in 
mud and setting them in a cool cellar. See that the 
Wmter Covering of strawberry and other plants 
is not bloAvii or washed off. If leaves are used, they 
may require a little soil to be throAvn over them. 
Kitchen Oarden. 
Tlie work here is that uninteresting one of prepa¬ 
ration. There is actual work to be done, and there 
is thinking to be done. Arc you growing the best 
and the earliest Amricty of every kind ? Those who 
grow for market, look to earliness as the first essen¬ 
tial, Avhilc those avIio provide only for home use, 
look for both carliness and good quality. When 
one tells us that this or that is the best variety, Ave 
must know what use he intends to make of it. If 
there is one fixed fact in gardening, it is, that the 
crop is in direct proportion to the amount of 
Manure, Avliich should now, while the ground is 
frozen, be hauled to Avhere it is to be used. Fresh 
manure for hot-beds, and composted manure to 
apply to the ground, need different treatment. Well 
decomposed manure maybe taken to the spotAvhere 
it Avill be needed, and left in small heaps, Avliile that 
for hot-beds should not be in so small heaps that it 
Avill be chilled through, but it should be kept in a 
state of fermentation. As soon as a heap shoNvs 
signs of heating, it should be turned over, and 
each turning Avill much improve its quality. Plants in 
Cdd Frames will need attention. If the weather 
is very cold and the plants arc frozen, it is not 
necessary to remoA'e the snoAV from the frames, but 
a light fall of snow, folloAved by inildAveather, must 
be immediately removed. Give air abundantly; CA^en 
take off the glass entirely in mild Aveather, as it is 
the object to keep the plants as hardy as possible. 
If fine Aveatheff’ has made it safe to delay the final 
Covering of celery and roots in pits, do it now. 
At the time Ave Avritc, the middle of December, it 
seems as if this might be delayed for some time. 
Lettuce, Avhere there is a demand for early plants, 
may be forced in a hot-bed. The bed should be ex¬ 
cavated at least 2X feet deep, and this bo filled Avith 
fermenting manure. If not already done, make 
Straw Mats for covering hot-bcd.s,these or shutters, 
will be needed ou severe nights, later in the season. 
Flower Carden and Fawn. 
But little can bo done liere, otlier than the gen¬ 
eral care that every careful person Avill give. 
Evergreens mast not bo allowed to suffer from an 
oveiloading of snoAv, and there arc many close 
groAvmg deciduous shrubs injured by this. Shake 
It out before it becomes icy, and shovel it avvay 
rom the lower branches of trees and shrubs. All 
_ Laijing out of beds and aaMIs may be planned, and 
m a mild season some of the work may be done. 
Plants that are wintered in 
Pits, need air in mild weather. Water only AAfficn 
they seem to actually need it. Keep mice from pits. 
Seedling Perennials in their first winter will do all 
the better for protection, no matter how hardy the 
old plants may be. A mulch over the bed will pre¬ 
vent the roots from injury. Leaves may be used 
or Avell Aveathered muck. ' 
C fee SI R-Sad SS©t-l¥oiises. 
It is not well to let any collection reach a tem¬ 
perature much beloAV 40°. Plants cannot, as a 
general thing, be expected to flower at much 
beloAvG0°. For stove plants proper, more heat is 
needed, according to their tropical character. 
Bulbs, that were potted last autumn and kept 
cool, may be brought to the Avarmer atmosphere of 
the green-house or dAvelling, and will soon flower. 
Whenever the floAverhas passed its prime, cut away 
the stalk, but allow the leaves to grow to ripen the 
bulb, w'hich may be useful in out-door culture. 
Camellias need an even temperature, one rather 
low with a moist atmosphere. If necessary, thin 
the buds. Keep the foliage clear by use of syringe. 
Cactuses should, generally, have rest and dryness. 
Manure Water, made with sheep or other drop¬ 
pings to the color of jiale ale, or an amber color, 
may be used upon roses and other plants just com¬ 
ing into flower. BeAvare of over-stimulating. 
Plants in cold frames, such as 
Violets and other half hardy things, need plenty 
of air Avhen the outside temperature Avill allow. 
Bedding Stock of scarce kinds may be multiplied 
by starting the stock plants into groAvth and taking 
cuttings, which, after they are rooted, will in turn 
furnish cuttings for later propagation. 
Apiary for J^aiiiiary. 
During vrinter, the colder the weatjier, the closer 
do bees crowd together in the center of the hive. 
If they could be observed, they would be seen fill¬ 
ing most of the cells of the plates of comb in the 
middle, and forming almost a perfectly solid globe. 
They eat out all the honey close to them, and the 
outer ones of course must eat most, to keep up the 
vital heat, for they are most exposed to cold. Such 
a mass of bees throw off much moisture in their 
breath (so to speak), and in cold weather and in illy 
ventilated hives, this freezes in the top of the comb, 
and as it thaws and freezes often, shuts off many 
bees from access to their stores, unless passage 
ways are provided in the middle through the combs. 
These should have been made in the autumn. Be¬ 
sides, were no ice present, the bees might be fatally 
chilled in passing around the outside of the combs. 
It is therefore sometimes advisable in case of out¬ 
standing hh-es in long protracted severe weather, to 
remove the light stocks to the bee-house described 
last month, or to any' room that can be darkened 
and warmed, when, after examining them to knoAV 
their state, clear out dead bees, etc. If neces¬ 
sary, let them remain long enough to melt the ice, 
and alloAV the bees to dry themselves, and get to 
their stores, which requires only a few hours. Ex¬ 
amine hives to see if they have been attacked by 
mice, and if so, close entrances against them with 
wire cloth, but not so as to prevent the egress of 
the bees. Watch hives that are housed against 
attacks of mice, but do not disturb them; look to 
the ventilators. If snow covers exposed hives- 
well- if light snoAVS fiill, sweep it aAvay from the 
entrances and alighting boards, and from close 
around the hives. The bees fly out somewhat m 
mild Aveather, and would be chilled and die did they 
fall in the snow. Prepare hives, frames, honey 
boxes and supers for next summer’s use. Paint¬ 
ing hives should not be deferred until summer, the 
longer they are painted before needed, the better. 
