1867.] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST 
293 
The Care of Seeds. 
Those who would propagato shrubs or trees, 
cither for the iuterest that attends the produc¬ 
tion of new varieties, or as a matter of profit, a 
raising of stocks, often fail from lack of proper 
care with their seeds. The seeds, or pits, of 
peaches, plums, and cherries, we all know, arc 
enclosed in a very hard and bony envelope, 
and these, though they have a large and vigor¬ 
ous embryo, often fail for want of i)roper care. 
Tlic seeds of tlie strawberry, raspberry, black- 
l>erry, and of many of our ornamental shrubs, 
are enclosed in a case, which, in proportion to 
tlic size of the embryo, is scarcely less formi¬ 
dable than that of the peach. Idost seeds with 
these very hard envelopes, if once thoroughly 
dried, are very difficult to germinate. Nature 
sows them at the time of ripening, but this is 
often very inconvenient, and the best way is, to 
imitate nature and not allow the seeds to dry. 
AVith all hard-shelled seeds, whether as large 
as that of the peach or as small as that of the 
raspberry, the best way is to clean the seeds 
from the pulp, and then put them with sand or 
sandy loam, iu sufficient cpiantity to preclude 
all danger of heating by fcrmenttltion, and keep 
the mixture of sand and seeds in a place so cool 
that there will Ixtno danger, of the seeds starting 
too early iu the season. This process is known 
in the books as “ stratification,” and is often per¬ 
formed by making a mound of alternate layers 
of seeds and sand, and covering the whole with 
earth, sloped to keep off the rain. In a small 
Avay, a flower-pot answers eveiy purpose, or, if 
a larger ipiantity of seeds arc at hand, a rough 
bo.x, in which the seeds and sand arc to be 
placed and kept in a cool cellar, or buried at 
the north side of a fence or building. Many 
failures result from the seeds l)cing kept too 
warm; they start with the first warm day of 
spring, and having no opportunity to grow, the 
germ withers, and the seeds of course fail. 
These remarks apply to the seeds of all of our 
small fruits, and to all of our hardy shrubs, the 
seeds of which have a bony shell. Indeed the 
seeds of many of our trees and shrubs, such as 
the thorns, need to lie stratified in this way 
through one year. Keeping them in a mass, and 
exiwseel to the changes of temperature through 
one whole year, is much better than to sow them, 
and be at the trouble of keeping the grounds 
clear of weeds. Freezing and thawing does 
not, as a general thing, hurt the seeds of our 
hardy trees and shrubs, but helps them. 
About Weeds. 
We have—we know not liow many letters 
asking how to kill this or that W’ced. If those 
who write us these rpieries W’ould only think on 
the subject, they w'ould sec that there can be no 
specific that will kill an undesirable plant—or 
.^veed—ami not injure the desirable plants of 
the crop. Therefore, all applications, be they 
salt, pl.'istcr, ashes, or what not, merely to kill 
weeds, arc simply absurd. Cultivation consists 
solely in giving the plant that we wish to glow 
an advantage over other plants. In an uncul¬ 
tivated field, where everything left to itself, 
it becomes a “struggle for c.xistencc,” and the 
st congest—whieh is usually the most worthless 
gets the best of it. In all our cultivation, the 
aim is to give the crop we w'ish to grow' sole 
l)ossession of the soil, and all our cultivators, 
horse-hoes, hand-hoes of all kinds,ctc.,areused to 
destroy every plant except a particular one that 
we wish should have full possession of the soil. 
Now. w'e know of no help for Aveeds, whether 
in garden or in field, except a mechanical one. 
If one finds a few' Canada Thistles in his lawn, 
cuts the stems and puts some salt on each, and 
thus destroys them, it is no exception to the 
general rule. Had he put an equal amount of 
salt all over his lawn, he would have killed 
everything upon it. We have but little sympa¬ 
thy with a gardener who lets the Aveeds get the 
better of him. Ilis soil should have been kept 
so constantly stirred that Aveeds could have no 
chance. Whoever is not able to keep dow'ii the 
Aveeds by the use of the rake, or the many Aveed- 
ing hoes, has more garden than he can properly 
care for. If Aveeds have got the mastery, use 
some of the various Aveeding hoes, rake them 
at once from the ground, and if there is a sign 
of a floAver or a seed upon them, do not let 
them go the manure heap—it is all nonsense 
to talk of destroying their vitality by fermenta¬ 
tion—but just spread them ay here they will 
diy, and then, Avith the accumulated brush and 
other' combustible garden rubbish, burn them. 
With a little care, ashes, so valuable as a fer¬ 
tilizer, may be made iu considerable quantity 
from properly dried refuse of the garden. 
Neglected Squares in Cities and Towns. 
A “ Subscriber ” in Ncav York sends us the 
following communication upon the smaller 
parks and squares. We give his article place, 
as the fault to Avhich he refers is found in most 
public grounds in large and small toAvns all 
OA'er the country. It is very rarely that these 
places fall under the management of persons of 
either knoAvledge or taste. Those having them 
in charge order trees for them, and the nursery¬ 
man, naturally enough, sends those that he can 
propagate most readily. The consequence is, 
our public squares are planted Avith but a few 
kinds of trees, and these are almost Avithout 
exception rapidly groAving foreigners. 
“Why should they not, the numerous parks 
and squares of Ncav York,be improved and made 
Avorthy of the commercial metropolis? The 
Central Park is a w'ell managed institution, and 
an honor to our city. Why should not a little 
of the Avisdom Avhich has produced so satisfac¬ 
tory results in that locality, be brought to bear 
upon Union, ^Madison, Tompkins, and Wash¬ 
ington squares, Avhich are in the heart of the 
city, and are Avithin ea.sy approach of multitudes 
who rarely find time to visit Central Park ? We 
do not hesitate to say that the management of 
these Squares is a disgrace to the city. Tens of 
thousands of dollars are lavished upon granite 
and iron fences, as if the inclosure Avas of any 
value when there was nothing to inclose. Trees 
have been planted there that are a nuisance 
upon any soil devoted to human use. They are 
unsightly to the eye, and their roots are con¬ 
tinually sending up suckers that mar the beauty 
of the laAvn, Avhen it is established. We Avould 
have these coarse, ugly trees, like the Abelc and 
the Poplar, removed at once, and the others 
judiciously thinned, so that every tree left may 
have ample room to develop its natural beauty. 
As a rule, they are noAV interfering Avith each 
other, and quarreling for a share of the air 
and sunlight, as well as for the soil. 
We Avould havcAvell kept laAvns moAved every 
tAvo Aveeks. A clean, smooth sod is refreshing 
to the eye. At the dale of this w'ritiug, June 
7th, much of the grass in these squares is still 
untouched. There ought to have been, at least, 
tw'o cuttings. Should a city square, kept osten¬ 
sibly for the esthetic culture of a million of peo¬ 
ple, be conducted upon the same principle that a 
stingy merchant manages the laAvn of his coun¬ 
try residence—Avith an ej'c to hay rather than 
beauty ? It Avould probably cost no more to 
have these parks kept as they should be. Men 
enough are employed, and if their labor Avas 
Avisely directed, it would give us Avhat Ave pay 
foi'—clean, attractive squares. But whatever the 
cost, give us clean, smooth lawns. Instead of 
cheap and easily raised foreign trees, Ave Avould 
have specimens of the beautiful natives of our 
OAvn forest, and all properly labelled, so that 
children might learn to know the difference 
betAveen an oak and a butternut. Then, we 
Avould have these places planted with more 
evergreens and floAvering shrubs. We Avant 
something to refresh the eye in the Avinter as 
well as in summer. Our suburban nurseries 
are able to turn out over a hundred varieties of 
pines, spruces, piceas, arbor vitaes, cedars, yeAvs 
and cypresses, perfectly hardy, and many of 
them beautiful. Why should not our citizens be 
permitted to make the acquaintance of the finest 
of them in the squares that they are obliged to 
frequent every day ? Why should Ave not have 
rhododendrons and laurels in masses, and other 
beautiful fioAvers in their season, Avhere aa'o can 
see them with our families, Avithout paying five 
dollars for a carriage, and spending two or three 
hours to accomplish it ? Those avIio live in the 
city are heavily taxed, let them have some¬ 
thing refreshing and beautiful for their money,” 
The Achilleas. 
Every one knoAvs the common YarroAv, Achil¬ 
lea Millefolium. Yet this vulgar plant—rated as 
a pest by cultivators, Avhen it shows its white 
floAvers, is, when its floAvers assume a rose col¬ 
or, pijzed as a border plant, and sold at a good 
price by the florists. Even the common Aveed 
has a delicacy of foliage and floAver that would 
make it prized did it not make itself too abund¬ 
ant, but the rose-colored one is really beautiful. 
We have, in years past, got much satisfaction out 
of the double variety of Achillea Ptarmica, 
even though it does bear the common name of 
“ Sneeze-wort.” It is perfectly hardy, and gives 
a long succession of pure Avhite floAvers. It is 
so valued among the French that they give it 
the name of “ Silver-bud,” {bouton d'argent). 
Nothing is more valuable for summer bouquets 
than the double Achillea Ptarmica. Those Avho 
like yelloAV floAvers Avill be pleased Avith Achil¬ 
lea toinentosa, another hardy species, Avith foli¬ 
age and flowers much like those of the com¬ 
mon YarroAV, except that the leaves are doAvny, 
and the flowers are of a bright yellow. We 
Avish that hardy, herbaceous plants were mofe 
generally cultivated than they noAV are. 
Among the Wild Flowers. 
It is a good thing to leave the garden occa¬ 
sionally Avith its Verbenas, Heliotropes, and all 
the like, and go out and sec a bit of nature’s 
gardening. In this month of July there are 
many fine things in bloom iu the meadows and 
Avoodsides, and a ramble among them is refresh¬ 
ing to one Avho has to Aveed and train the exot¬ 
ics. If there is any thing in our gardens hand¬ 
somer than our Ioav meadows can shoAV hoav, 
Avc Av'ould like to see it. The beautiful Calo- 
poQon noAV spreads its numerous pinkish, pui- 
ple and fragrant flowers in all the Ioav places, 
Avhile its near relative, Arethusa hilbosa, too 
delicate to be very common, is more chary of 
its bloom, and gives us only a single beautifully 
