409 
1867.] 
AMERICAN AGRICUETURIST. 
The Hoop-petticoat Narcissus. 
(XarcisAus Bulbocodium.) 
Among the bulbs enumerated in the books 
and catalogues, there are some that we very sel¬ 
dom see in cultivation; one of these is the little 
Narcisnus Bulbocodium. The reason for its rare 
occurrence may be that the dealers in their cata¬ 
logues usually say “ fine for pot culture,” which 
leads to the inference that it will not do well out 
of doors. It is true, it is an excellent bulb for 
pots, but it will flower if treated like other 
spring bulbs, where the climate is not very se¬ 
vere. Our figure is taken from a plant 
that we found last spring in the collection 
of Mr. I. Buchanan. Mr. B. has a great 
fancy for old things which have, for the 
most part, gone out of fashion, and we 
seldom visit his place without seeing 
something that is novel because it issoold. 
The engraving gives the leaves and 
flowers of the natural size. The flower 
is of a lively yellow, very delicate in 
texture, and of a shape that is well ex¬ 
pressed by its popular name. Those who 
limit their list of spring bulbs to Hya¬ 
cinths, Tulips, and Crocuses, are not 
aware how much it may be extended. 
Grape Cuttings in the Open Air. 
;Mr. Will. Patrick, of Terre Ilaule, 
Ind., furnished us for the Horticultural 
Annual for 1867, an account of his meth¬ 
od of starting grape cuttings without the 
aid of artificial heat. Several have ex¬ 
perimented with this process, and have 
been much pleased with the results. At 
Mr. .1 M. M’Cullough’s, near Cincinnati, 
we saw good plants of Norton’s Virginia 
—a variety notoriously difficult to start 
even in the propagating house—success¬ 
fully grown by this method. As the 
present month is the one in which the 
cuttings are to be prepared, we reproduce 
liere the substance of 3Ir. P.atrick’s article: 
“Before the ground freezes, I make the 
cuttings, from four to six inches long, 
with one or two eyes on each. I prefer to 
liave two eyes, as such cuttings seem to 
lie better able to withstand the drouth we 
are apt to have the last of May or the 
first of June. The cuttings are tied in 
bundles of about fifty each, and their 
lower ends are puddled by dipping them half 
their length in mud made of loamy soil mixed 
■with water to about the consistency of cream. 
A cold frame has been previously prepared with 
good sandy loam, but not rich. In this I place 
the cuttings, top end down, and sprinkle in fine 
earth, so as to fill all the spaces in and between 
the bundles. The crevices all being filled, suf¬ 
ficient earth is put over the cuttings to cover 
them about four inches deep, and they are left 
in this condition until they have been rained 
upon, and it begins to freeze. I then cover the 
bed with a mulch of leaves or stra-w, and over 
this put a shelter of boards. If I wish to plant 
early in the spring, I remove the boards and 
mulch, and place a sash over the bed, taking 
care to leave an opening for ventilation; water 
is to be given as needed. In about five weeks 
the cvittings will almost all be found to have 
formed roots from one to three inches long, 
while the buds are just ready to burst. 
“ The cuttings are now in a condition in which 
they require careful handling, and they should 
not be allowed to dry. I usually set them, as 
they are taken from the frame, in a bucket con¬ 
taining some water, and in this way carry them 
to the place where they are to be planted. In 
planting, I set the cuttings so that the upper eye 
is just below thesurfiice, and press the soil firmly 
around them. Treated in this manner they will 
nearly all grow and make very strong vines. 
“ If there is no cold frame at hand, another 
plan may be followed. The cuttings, being pre¬ 
pared as above directed, are buried, lo^cer end 
up, and four inches deep, in some place sloping 
towards the south, with the ends inclining to¬ 
wards the south; they are to be covered with a 
THR 
hoop-pf.tticoat XARcrssus.— (iVrtrrh».«M Bulbocodium. 
mulch, in the same manner as described for 
those in cold frames. The mulch is removed in 
the spring and the earth exposed to the sun. 
Cuttings treated in this w'ay will not be quite so 
early as those in frames, but I think they are 
about as good. There is some danger that those 
in frames may get too much advanced before 
the ground is ready to receive them. 
“ By either of the above plans, Delawares 
can be grown, and make fine plants. 
“Sometimes, when roots have not started on 
the cuttings, I remove, with a sharp knife, a 
small strip of bark, one or two inches long, 
from opposite sides of the cutting at its lower 
end. This is done just as they are planted, as 
they should not be exposed to the air. Cuttings 
so treated will usually throw out a mass of roots 
along the edge of the cut, if the surface of the 
wood is not injured, and make strong plants.” 
Mr. Knox is very successful with the Con¬ 
cord and such freely rooting kinds, by simply 
setting out the cuttings in rows and heavily 
mulching during winter to prevent the frost 
from throwing them out. The cuttings are of 
two eyes each, and set with the upper bud just 
at tlie surface of the ground. We should judge 
from the appearance of the bed that the failures 
were less than ten per cent. 
What Trees to Plant on the Roadside. 
No better rule can be given than to choose the 
best varieties that flourish in the neighboring 
forests. The White Elm, (Ulmxis Americana,) 
and the Sugar IMaple, {Acer saccharinum,) are 
more commonly planted in New England than 
others, because they are very fine trees, and 
bear removal well. They can be taken 
from the forest without previous prepara¬ 
tion, and with careful handling are quite 
sure to live. But tap-rooted trees are quite 
as sure to die, unless they are taken from 
the nurseries, or have a previous root 
pruning in the forest. Nursery grown 
trees are much more likely to live, and in 
the end are generally cheaper if thej' are 
in the immediate vicinity. They are 
much better furnished ■with fine, fibrous 
roots, and are already accustomed to the 
sun, AYe would add to the list of trees 
for the wayside the AVhite Oak, {Quercus 
alba,) the AVhite-wood, {Liriodendron 
TuUpifera,) the AVhite Beeeh, {Fagux 
Americana,) the Black AYalnut, {Juglnm 
nigra,) the Hickories, etc., and, where it 
is possible to protect them, the Ever¬ 
greens, especially the Spruces. The 
AVhite and Norway Spruces and the 
Hemlock, where they can be kept from 
the depredations of cattle, make a very 
beautiful border to the highway. The 
most of these trees flourish in the AA^'est, 
besides others nearly or quite as desirable. 
Tha Kentucky Coffee-tree, the Catalpa, 
■with its snowy white blossoms, the Sweet 
Gum or Bilsted, the deciduous Alagnolias, 
are adinirable trees for the AYest. The 
South has treasures peculiar to itself, as 
well as many of the magnificent trees 
that flourish in our northern climate. 
What could be a more appropriate 
adornment for the village street, or the 
plantation avenue, than the Magnolia 
grandijlora, or the live oaks, ■which 
flourish in their bottom lands, and are 
every year destroyed by the new clearings 
for cotton, as if they were rubbish ? The 
•') South would be rich in ornamental trees 
if it had nothing more than these, which are 
worth a journey across a continent to see. 
We by no means advise a restriction to the 
trees we have named, but have simply indicated 
them as avail.able for the planter’s purposes. 
Variety is as desirable by the roadside as in the 
park or pleasure ground. It is by no means a 
difficult thing to make an arboretum of decid¬ 
uous trees along the wayside. If a whole 
neighborhood could be waked up to the enter- 
prize, it would be quite desirable to attempt it. 
There are more than a hundred desirable decid¬ 
uous trees upon our nursery catalogues, many 
of them foreign ones, quite as hardy and beau¬ 
tiful as our native trees, and no more expensive. 
And if the nursery is to be the source of supply, 
it is better to have a variety. The Norway and 
Sycamore Maples are quite as fine frees as our 
native maples, and the oaks and elms of Biitish 
soil flourish quite as well here as at home. It 
would do much for the intelligence and good 
taste of a town to undertake an enterprise of 
this kind. It would redeem many a waste by 
the wayside. Tlie wilderness and solitary place 
