1S<57.] 
AMERICAN AGRTCUr/rURlST. 
183 
tl»o garden.” Sage id the staple article, and is 
so readily grown from seed that it is not worth 
while to make divisions or cuttings of the old 
plants, and the same may be said of Thyme. 
Make a seed bed of good light soil and sow 
Sage, Thyme, Sweet Marjoram, and Summer 
Savory, when the ground gets warm. Keep the 
plants well weeded, and thin if crowded. By 
the time that early crops of peas, cabbages, etc., 
come off, there will be a plenty of good plants 
to set out and occupy the ground, and give an 
abimdaut supply for home use and for sale. 
JS.aspl>erTies and Black Caps. 
The great trouble with the cultivation of the 
coDimon raspberries, even when they jiass the 
winter s;ifely by being protected or otherwise, 
is that the manner of growth is not understood. 
In private gardens we frequently see the r.isp- 
berry bed a dense thicket, with new canes strug¬ 
gling with the old ones, and all in an uninviting 
and unfruitful condition. The majority of pri¬ 
vate growers do not seem to be aware that the 
stems of the raspberry are biennial, i. e., they 
grow one year and l)ear fruit the ue.\t, and then 
die. With some of the varieties called ever- 
lK*aring, the young growth flowers and fruits in 
the autumn of the same year. When a rasp¬ 
berry cane of the ordinary kind has fruited, it 
is no longer of any use, and should be cut out. 
Tlio large cultivators usually leave the pruning 
out of the old canes until the time to cover them, 
but it is much better to remove them as soon as 
fruiting is over, to allow the new growth a 
plenty of room. Those who plant nispberries 
this spring, and wish the best results, should cut 
the old canes back to a few inches, leaving just 
enough to serve as a convenient handle in plant¬ 
ing, and look to the new growth of this year to 
produce fruit the next If the canes be left 
their full length at transplanting, a poor crop of 
fruit may be had the first season, at the risk of 
the future good of the plants. The plants are 
set four feet apart each way for the more mod¬ 
erate growers, and the taller kinds five or si.x 
feet apart. The varieties are numerous, and 
every year brings additions to the list. Along 
the Hudson River the Hudson River Antwerp is 
tlie great market berry. In Southern New 
Jersey, the Piiiladelphia is the profitable mar¬ 
ket fruit, and at the West, the Purple Cane en- 
jovs great popularity. Clioice sorts for garden 
culture are: Brinckle's Orange, Franconia, 
Clark, (said to be hardy,) Fastolf, and French. 
The Black Caps, of which there are now 
many named varieties, are becoming very pop¬ 
ular. Though not to be compared in flavor of 
fruit with the others, they have many good 
qualities. They are hardy, very productive, and 
throw up no suckers. They are propagated by 
rooting from the tops of the pendent branches. 
Of this class the Doolittle’s Improved, is, per¬ 
haps, the l)est known, and doubtless many oth¬ 
ers, including native seedlings, are just as good. 
Sweet Potato Culture. 
ht w. w. rathbone, marietta, ohio. 
In April, page 139, we gave Mr. Rathbone’s 
manner of preparing the land for Sweet Pota¬ 
toes, and now add the remainder of his article, 
upon setting the plants. The plants should al¬ 
ways be set down to the first leaf, and if the 
upper portion is destroyed by a late frost, they 
will start from below and make a good growth. 
The ridges being made, they will stand 30 to 
30 inches from top to top; let them be sharp 
pointed. To mark the distances for plants, I 
use a revolving wheel, with fans every three 
feet, resembling a reaping machine fan, marking 
two rows at once. I keep the plants well set up 
on the ridge, and cut between them at the 
second and third hoeing to make the hills. 
Make the hills pointed and high. Do not be 
afraid of dry weather. We always get the best 
crops when “everything is burnt up.” 
JIoDE OP Setting Plants.— One plant per 
hill is pleut}’. Put fifteen inches apart if to be 
kept in the ridge. I have two modes of setting. 
Firet, if the weather be dry, don’t wait for rain, 
nor the “dark of the moon.” Let one boy drop 
the plants, another pour from a water-pot, with 
the rose off, suflicient water to float the rootlets, 
and immediately fill up Avith mellow earth. One 
can Avater for three to set. Never set plants 
after heavy rains. A second method of planting, 
which I prefer Avhen the earth is sufficiently 
moist, is to dip the roots in a puddle of ckay of 
the consistence of thick cream. The plants thus 
treated generally live Avell, and the objection¬ 
able hard lump formed about the plants in 
many soils Avhen watered in the hill is obviated. 
After Cultivation.—A fter every rain bi eak 
up the crust of soil in contact Avith the plants. 
I do this rapidly Avith both hands—clasping, 
naising and pressing the cartli on the tips of the 
hills. It anSAvers all the purposes of a regular 
lioeing, breaking up the ant holes and giving 
health to the young plant. Keep the surface clear 
of Avccds. Be careful in Avorking among the 
plants, not to hoe too deeply. The earliest 
potatoes lie immediately beneath the surface. 
After heavy rains the vines root at the joints. 
On sunny days they may be upturned on the 
hill or ridg?. But in no case cut off the vines. 
I have cut every alternate row in a large patch 
to fully test this point, and on harvesting found 
fully 100 per cent, in faA'or of tlie uncut hills. 
A frost that merely blackens tlie leaves does not 
hurt sweet potatoes, but if the vines are frozen 
it does. Upon digging, the potatoes should be 
carefully handled and put aAvay in boxes or 
barrels, Avith alternate layers of leaves, (some 
prefer cut straAV,) in a Avarm, dry place to keep. 
In conclusion, I repeat, if good plants are set 
as indicated, on moderately fertile land, Avith 
good surface drainage on small high hills, the 
surface kept Avell cleaned, any reader of the 
Agriculturist south of 45® nort’i latitude can 
raise good Nansemond SAveet potatoes. 
The Ail.anthus.— We hear so much against 
the Ailanthus, that avc are quite disposed to 
take its part. It Avill groAV every Avhere, is a 
rapid groAver, and is very seldom troubled by 
insects. We knoAV that it makes good fuel, and 
we cannot see why its timber should not be 
useful for a great many purposes. We have 
had a couple of blocks upon our desk for some 
time, the one varnished and the other plain, and 
of the great many Avho have examined them, 
not one has guessed the kind of Avood. Its 
disagreeable quality is an unpleasant odor \yhen 
in floAver, and its great nakedness in Avinter 
renders it less suitable as a Avind-break than 
many others. Despite all the abuse it has had, 
were we upon a tree-less prairie, Ave should 
plant the Ailanthus, notwithstanding it lias been 
condemned by several pomological societies. 
It is the tree that converts the brick andbroAvn- 
stone streets of Ncav York into beautiful avenues 
of tropical foliage, it grows among the pave¬ 
ments as if it rather enjoyed a hard life, and it 
is especially adapted to rocky and sterile soil. 
Cranberry Culture. 
To ansAver numerous letters Ave condenseore- 
cent articles upon this subject, some of Avluch 
came to us, and others appeared in papers, pub¬ 
lished in Ncav Jersey, a State some portions of 
Avhich present remarkable fiicilities for cranberry 
culture. Tlie essentials seem to be, 1st, a sandy 
peat soil; Avbcre tlie deposit of peat or muck is 
slialloAV, Avilh sand beneath, then a proper soil 
may be made by ploAving. If the peat is very 
deep, then sand must be put on to the depth of 
four to eight inches. 2nd.—The bog must be 
so situated that it can be drained, ditching is 
'the common method. 3d.—The land must be 
capable of being floAved at Avill. This is not 
considered so essential in NcAv-Jersev, as the 
other tAvo conditions, but is considered desirable 
as a means of protecting the vines from frost 
and insects. 4tli.—The land must be cleaned 
of all stumps as Avell as tussocks of sedge and 
other vegetation, and the surface made as level 
as possible. The sanding is of course the last 
thing to be done before planting. These are in 
brief the Ncav Jersey essentials. IMr. Orrin C. 
Cook, of South Milford, Mass., avIio last year 
sent us the largest and finest berries Ave ever 
saAv, has quite different notions. He says: “In 
selecting land for the cranberry, Avet swamp 
land is the best, as it requires more moisture 
than is found on high lands, but any land that 
Avill groAV potatoes Avill raise good cranberries. 
I raise my best berries on a hard clay soil. To 
prepare the ground for the plants, take out all 
the roots, brush, and tufts of coarse grass, ploAv 
deep, and, if not too Avet, harrow. Having made 
the land as level as possible, set the plants one 
foot apart each Avay. We set the plants in the 
fall, from the middle of September until the 
ground freezes, and in the Spring until the 25th 
of May. We neither ploAv nor hoe among the 
plants, but in the fall go through and pull all 
the brush and grass that may have started. In 
three years the vines Avill cover the ground, at 
Avhich lime a full crop may be expected. There 
is no crop that Ave can raise here Avith so little 
trouble as the cranberry ; after they get to bear¬ 
ing there is no trouble beyond picking the crop 
and marketing it. One acre Avill yield from fifty 
to one hundred bushels, and these sell from $7 
to $10 per barrel of three bushels each.” 
We have heretofore expressed our disbelief 
in the success of the upland culture of the cran¬ 
berry, but last autumn a gentleman from Long 
Island, Avhose address Ave have mislaid, brouglit 
us A'ery fine specimens of berries, raised on up¬ 
land. We should be glad if Mr. Cook’s state¬ 
ment that “ any land that will groAV potatoes 
AA’ill raise good cranberries” AA’cre geneially ap¬ 
plicable. Some unfortunate attempts of this 
kind that we have seen, have made us cautious 
in advising any one to invest in cranberries on 
high ground, and Ave should be glad of more 
reports, Avhether of success or failure. 
Mr. Gilbert Conant, Avhose report Avas quoted 
in the March Agriculturist, says, that in the 
article Ave copied, the word “ plowed ” in the 
third line of the quotation should be flowed. 
The question is often asked, will it do to set 
wild plants, or must the cultivated ones be pur¬ 
chased. The cranberry, like all other fruits, 
varies from the seed, and seedlings will differ 
in the size and shape of the fruit, and in the 
productiveness of the vines. Wiki plants may 
give good results and may not. The advantage 
of cultivated vines is that they are produced 
from runners of a sort known to be fruitful. 
Several different kinds are sold by dealers. 
