MOORE’S RURAL NEW-YORKER: AN AGRICULTURAL AND FAMILY NEWSPAPER. 
l 
CULTURE OP ASPARAGUS. 
Asparagus has long had a place in the veg¬ 
etable garden, still its excellences have not ar¬ 
rived at a full or general appreciation, even by 
those who have every facility for growing it in 
perfection. It is either supposed to be a rari¬ 
ty and of difficult growth—and hence beyond 
their reach—by those who know little of its 
habits and culture, or it is looked upon as of 
little value by those who “have no time to 
waste in gardening.” But it is neither difficult 
to raise or unworthy of pains-taking. “An 
humble sea-shore plant, braving the salt waves, 
the winter’s cold and summer’s heat, it has 
been brought into the garden, acclimated and 
tendered, until it holds the first rank among 
the vegetable luxuries of the table.” It is 
true that it requires both time and care to get 
a bed into full operation, but once properly 
prepared, it endures for years and amply re¬ 
wards all trouble and expense incurred in its 
establishment. 
To grow asparagus from the seed it may be 
sown either in autumn or early in spring, in a 
good loamy soil. The seeds should be from 
select seed, and allowed to get dead ripe be¬ 
fore the stalks are cut. After gathering, the 
berries may be put in water, and when slightly 
fermented they can be easily washed from the 
pulp and dried. One ounce will grow a thou¬ 
sand plants. Sow in drills an inch deep, about 
one foot apart, and cover with fine soil, pressed 
down lightly. Keep the weeds out, stir the 
soil often, and thin the plants to six inches 
apart, giving them every encouragement to 
grow—and, if properly tended, most of them 
will be lit to transplant at one year old. The 
weaker seedlings may stand another year, or 
until autumn, and then be removed. 
The bed intended for growing asparagus 
should be open to the morning sun, but pro¬ 
tected from the north and west, and away from 
the shade or drip of trees or buildings. It 
should be very rich, and on this, more .than 
anything else, depends the value of the product. 
Dig up a loamy, porous soil to the depth of 
two feet, intermixing thoroughly and largely 
with manure, except the upper portions which 
should be of rich loam. The young plants 
may then be removed from the seed bed—dis¬ 
turbing the roots as little as possible—and 
carefully set out in rows two feet apart, one 
foot apart in the row. Then with dark color¬ 
ed soil, made so by mixing charcoal dust or 
well decomposed vegetable matter, cover the 
whole bed two inches deep, and sprinkle on 
salt until the surface is white again. This will 
keep down the weeds and promote the growth 
of the asparagus. 
In autumn remove the dead stalks, and 
cover the bed three inches deep with stable 
manure, to be forked in in the spring, with 
another dressing of salt. For two years let 
die stalks grow to strengthen the roots, which 
in that time, will generally be pretty well es¬ 
tablished. The third year the asparagus will 
be fit to cut, and will—with the treatment 
above described, and, perhaps, a slight addition 
of earth to prevent the roots coming too near 
the surface—continue to yield well for many 
years. It should be remembered that room, a 
rich, warm soil, moist but well drained, and salt 
enough to prevent the growth of weeds, are 
particularly beneficial to the asparagus plant. 
Some writers recommend earthing up so as 
to blanch the stalks, and give directions for 
cutting as soon as the plants appear, several 
inches below the surface. For our eating, we 
much prefer the succulent and juicy green 
stalks, three or four inches high, to the tough 
insipid white part which has been cut beneath 
the surface.— b. 
THE FARMER’S GARDEN. 
Mr. Barry says truly, in the February No. 
of the Horticulturist, that “no one can be 
truly said to live who has not a Garden .”— 
The garden well supplied with its proper edi¬ 
bles, fruits, salads, &c., is indeed a luxury that, 
although easily to be had, is beyond price.— 
It is really strange that so many farmers will 
forego the enjoyment produced by one. That 
they, who have abundance of land and can 
select the best location for it, and have at hand 
the wherewith to make it rich in the elements 
of vegetables, should totally neglect it, is indeed 
a marvel. As a matter of economy, the gar¬ 
den should take the first position on the farm¬ 
er’s books. The choice edibles which it affords 
not only go a good way in lengthening out the 
meat and flower barrels—but what is of more 
importance, they go much farther in contribu¬ 
ting to the enjoyment and health of the family, 
giving a healthy tone to the secretions, aud a 
consequent buoyancy to the spirits, that enable 
one to meet the labors of each day with a will, 
and shed a halo of happiness on all around.— 
This living on pork and potatoes is not the best 
diet in the world, for the human system, though 
it may do well in its proper proportion. 
And how much better it is to have the fruit 
of one’s own planting, tending and picking— 
set fresh and crisp on the table. The zest of 
its enjoyment is greatly heightened, while its 
real value is far more than of that selected at 
the market, or begged of a neighbor. It does 
not require a large space of ground for a good 
garden, but it should be rich, well drained, the 
soil made deep, and kept in perfect cultivation. 
Not a weed should mar its face. In such a 
spot, whatever you may plant—the reward will 
be great in the abundance and good quality of 
the fruit. Your lettuce, asparagus, cress, peas, 
beans, onions, salsify, tomatoes, beets, carrots, 
parsnips, &c., &c., will come to their full per¬ 
fection, and be relished above all that you can 
conceive from the same things raised in a half 
starved, half tended soil. And then the bord¬ 
ers will yield you such a treat of the small 
fruits, that you will ever after vote your gar¬ 
den not only a luxury, but an indispensable 
necessary. 
Another idea about it is, if you take the 
proper care of your garden, you will be pretty 
sure to have order and neatness introduced into 
all the affairs of your farm, and so find that 
your profits are marvelously increased. Or¬ 
der, which is only promptness and persever¬ 
ance in their best form, is the key that opens 
the door to success. t. e. w. 
GERMAN TEN WEEK STOCK. 
The derm an Ten Week Stock (Matliiola 
Annua,) is well known. It is found in greater 
or less perfection in every flower garden.— 
There is an immense number of varieties, vary¬ 
ing from the purest white to the darkest aud 
richest purple. It originated in the south of 
Europe, from whence it was disseminated in 
1831. It has been assiduously cultivated in 
Germany, France and England. From good 
seed, the flowers on most of the plants will be 
perfectly double, almost approaching the rose. 
“The plant,” says the Horticulturist, “grows 
from one to two feet high, with an erect, 
branching stem, hoary leaves, and long spikes 
of flowers; the size and richness of these flowers 
vary greatly in the different varieties, and some 
of them are very splendid. The species is a 
native of the south of Europe by the sea-shore, 
whence it was introduced in 1831; but the 
principal varieties have been originated in En¬ 
gland and Germany. The German varieties 
are particularly beautiful. 
For very early flowers, a few plants may be 
raised in a hot-bed, or in a pot in the house, to 
be transplanted into the open ground as soon 
as the weather is sufficiently warm. For sow¬ 
ing in the open ground, the soil should be dug 
deep, and very finely pulverized with the rake. 
The seed may then be sown in drills, and slight¬ 
ly covered with fine earth. As soon as the 
plants show the third pair of leaves, if too thick 
in the bed, they may be carefully transplanted, 
leaving the plants in the bed about ten inches 
apart Transplanting should be done on a 
damp day. If the plants are large, they should 
be removed without disturbing the roots. If 
much exposed to the wind, it may be necessa¬ 
ry to tie them to a stake.” 
-».<»--<-- 
Cherry Grafting. —1 have observed many 
failures in grafting cherries, and in looking 
for the cause, I have almost invariably found 
that the strong bark of the stub had curled 
out and let the water into the cleft. To pre¬ 
vent this wind, a piece of cloth around the stub 
after the grafts are set into it, in the ordinary 
manner, the wax holding it to its place. 1 take 
particular pains in setting the scion, so as to 
unite the inner barks of the scion and stub.— 
S. G., Weedsport, JY. Y. 
PRUNING DWARF PEARS. 
The Mark Lane Express, in its calendar of 
operations for March, says: 
Apple and pear trees, as dwarf standards, are 
now frequently grown, and well deserve atten¬ 
tion. They should now be carefully looked 
over and pruned, observing always to keep the 
middle of the tree open, and all the branches 
at equal distances. In pruning these, take 
care to provide young shoots to succeed the 
bearing w T ood. These should spring from the 
bottom of such as it is intended to remove, and 
should not be shortened till they have made 
one year’s growth above the bearing shoots, 
which may be as high as the operator can well 
reach without the aid of steps. The last year’s 
growth may be then taken off. If they are 
shortened annually, the buds which ought to 
form fruit spurs will be forced into growth, and 
a profusion of wood will be the consequence, 
instead of fruitful shoots. Mauy trees are 
spoiled by shortening the young wood, which 
should never be done, if it is in a healthy state, 
except with a view to produce fresh shoots in 
a naked part of the tree. Great care is neces¬ 
sary on the part of the operator, to prevent his 
clothes breaking off the fruit spurs. When all 
is completed, let all moss be carefully scraped 
or brushed off, and if any of the trees are in¬ 
fested with the wooly aphis lanigera, wash the 
infected parls with vinegar. Also burn all the 
primings of such ttees, as they spread with 
great rapidity. Nothing can be more beauti¬ 
ful than such trees well managed, either in 
bloom or fruit, and no fruit more deserving the 
attention bestowed on them. 
RENOVATING OLD GRAPE-VINES. 
The best mode of renovating an old grape¬ 
vine, is to make bare its roots for several feet 
around the stem—remove the ground entirely, 
and then apply two or three bushels of bones, 
which should always be preserved about a 
place for this purpose partially broken up; and 
ou the top of these add from one to two bush¬ 
els of wood ashes, according to the size of the 
hole to be filled, mixed with some hog manure 
and rich soil. In one year, should this plan be 
pursued, a marked change for the better would 
be produced. 
In pruning an old grape-vine which has been 
allowed for years to take its own course, it 
should not be topped too short the first year. 
About 12 or 15 feet, according to size, should 
be left to remain; the lateral branches should 
be thinned out to one or two feet apart, and 
at that distance tied to the trellis firmly. The 
fruit-bearing twigs found upon these, should 
be pruned down so as to allow about three 
buds to each. And the work is "done. 
The best time to prune is at any period be¬ 
fore the sap begins to circulate—say in Janua¬ 
ry, February and first half of March. 
No external application to the branches will 
help their productiveness. Soap-suds applied 
to the roots plentifully, on washing-days, are of 
great advantage.— Germantown Peligraph. 
-» . <t> . ♦- 
VEGETABLE GARDEN. 
The operations of the garden for this month 
must depend on the weather, and the condition 
of the ground. Seeds not easily injured by 
frosts should be sown, such as peas, beets, pars¬ 
nips, lettuce, radish seed, onion seed and sets, 
early carrots, asparagus seeds for new beds; 
and plant out two year old roots, cabbage seed, 
etc. Uncover spinach, parsley, lettuce, &c.— 
Trench ground for horse-radish, and set out 
pieces of old roots in rich soil. Dress up rhu¬ 
barb, and manure thoroughly if not already 
done. Give close attention to frames, &e., and 
cover on cold nights. Give air on fine days.— 
Tomato, pepper and egg plants, which have 
grown thickly, should be pricked out into other 
frames. Start Lima beans in sods inverted, 
within doors, so as to be ready for planting out 
for early crops, so soon as the weather is set- • 
tied. Set out beds of sage, sweet marjoram, 
winter savory, pennyroyal and other perennial 
herbs, by dividing the roots of old plants.— 
Plant sweet potatoes in hot beds-for sprouting, 
and cucumbers in frames for forcing. As a 
general rule in gardening, make deep soil, ma¬ 
nure heavily, and use plenty of seed. Better 
to thin out than have to re-sow .—Farm Jour. 
The Strawberry Question.— The sexual 
character of the strawberry has been a prolific 
theme of discussion for several years. A com¬ 
mittee of the Cincinnati Horticultural Society 
have come to the following conclusions: 
1st. That all strawberries, in their natural 
state, have some blossoms, perfect in what are 
termed male and female organs, while some are 
decidedly pistillate, and others staminate. 
2d. That when they are in some degree per¬ 
fect in both organs, the fruit will be small and 
indifferent, except, perhaps, in the case of 
“ Longworth’s Prolific.” 
3d. That if the staminate plants prevail, 
there will be but little fruit realized. 
4th. That if they be all pistillate, there will 
be a like result, and that of an inferior quality. 
5th. That to insure a full crop, whatever be 
the theory, it is absolutely necessary that 
the pistillate plants predominate; indeed, that 
the staminate plants be very sparsely distrib¬ 
uted. 
Distance apart to Plant Trees. — The 
Agriculturist says:—“After a long course of 
observation and experience on this subject, we 
have fully made up our minds to the conclusion 
that in any part of the United States aud the 
Canadas, the following distances are the least 
at which trees should be required to stand : 
Apples, 33 feet, or two rods—tO feet is none 
too far. 
Pears, on their own stocks, 24 to 30 feet 
Pears, on quince stock, 10 to 12 feet. 
Quinces, peaches, nectarines, apricots and 
plums, 16 to 20 feet 
English cherries, 20 to 24 feet 
Kentish, or common red, or pie cherry, 16 
to 20 feet.” 
ante 
UST OF PATENT CLAIMS 
Issued from the United States Patent Office, 
For the week ending March 7, 1854. 
fra. Burnett, of Boston, Mass., for improved 
arrangement of fusible plugs or disks for steam 
boilers. 
Isaac Hussey, of Harveysburgh, Ohio, for im¬ 
provement in machines for plastering. 
Caleb Cook, of Nashville, N. H., for improved 
arrangement of valve motion for locomotive en¬ 
gines. 
Warren Gale, of Louisville, Ky., for improve¬ 
ment in the gauge of straw cutters. 
ffm. G. Phillips, of Newport, Del., for im¬ 
proved method of opening and closing gates. 
Joel P. Heacock, of Marlborough, Ohio, for 
apparatus for rounding and beveling barrel 
heads. 
Geo. W. Cooper, of Palmyra, Ga., for improve¬ 
ment in cotton seed planters. 
Henry B. Kimble, of Rochester, N. Y., for im¬ 
provement in sash fasteners. 
ffm. H. Johnson, of Granville, Mass., for im¬ 
provement in sewing machines. 
Geo. C. Hinman, of New Haven, Conn., for 
improvement in sash sustainers. 
Geo. Levan, of West Earl township. Pa., for 
improvement in reeling machines. 
Samuel Loveland, of Astoria, N. Y., for im¬ 
provement in sectional dry docks. 
Levi B. Tyng, of Lowell, Mass., for improve¬ 
ment in tail-stocks for turning-lathes. 
11. J. ft. Stone, of Ghio, for improvement in 
machines for boring and mortising carriage hubs. 
Jos. Sollenberger, of Higginsport, Ohio, for 
improvement in carriage brakes. 
James W. Steakes, of Milan, Ohio, for im¬ 
provement in apparatus for paving the seams of 
vessels. 
Chauncey D. Woodruff, of Toledo, Ohio, for 
improvement in suspending eave-troughs. 
Luther B. Fisher, of Coldwater, Michigan, for 
improvement in seed planters. 
Jer’h. C. Gaston of Heading, Ohio, for im¬ 
provement in seed planters. 
Chas. Miller, of St, Louis, Mo., for improve¬ 
ment in sewing machines. 
Clark Policy, of May’s Landing, N. J„ for 
improved method of operating hydraulic rams. 
David B. Marks, of New Y’ork, for improve¬ 
ment in artificial legs. 
Seaman C. Ripley, of New York, for improve¬ 
ment in brick machines. 
Jos. Sawyer, of South Royalton, Mass., for 
improvement in machines for splitting rattans. 
Addison M. Sawyer, of Templeton, Mass., for 
improvement in machine for splitting rattans. 
Wm. Wickersham, of Boston, Mass., for im¬ 
provement in sewing machines. 
Robert W. Andrews, of Staffordville, Conn., 
for improvement in Britannia tea and coffee pots. 
Jesse Young, of Franklin Furnace, Ohio, for 
improvement in connecting the joints of air¬ 
heating pipes. 
Wm. O. Wright, of Boston, Mass., for improve¬ 
ment in machines for drilling stone. 
Ashley Hotchkin, of Schenevus, N. Y., for 
improvement in hanging gates. 
Daniel Ryan and Jno. Flanagan, of N. York, 
for improvement in water closets. 
Jos. Wilson, of Hartford, Conn., for improve¬ 
ment in self-acting railroad switches. 
Christopher Hodgkins, of Boston, Mass., as¬ 
signor to Nehemiah Hunt, of same place, for im¬ 
provement in sewing machines. 
Thos. Clegg, of North Andover, Mass., assign¬ 
or to Thos. Clegg and Nathaniel Stevens, of An¬ 
dover, Mass., for improvement in wire heddie 
eyes for looms. 
RE-ISSUE. 
Enoch R. Morrison, of Troy, Pa., for improved 
shingle machine. Patented Nov. 22, 1853. 
ADDITIONAL IMPROVEMENT. 
Samuel G. Dugdaie, of Richmond, Ind., for 
apparatus for opening and closing gates. Pa¬ 
tented Oct. 11, 1853. 
AMERICAN RIFLE FOR RUSSIAN EMPEROR. 
We were shown this morning a most de¬ 
structive, though simply constructed weapon 
of war, called Sharp’s patent breech-loading 
and self-priming rifle. It was made for the 
Emperor Nicholas, and the polished walnut 
stock is mounted with gold. The barrel and 
moving parts arc of cast-steel, and finished in 
a style of excellence. To load the rifle which 
admits of but one charge at a time, the breech 
is opened by moving a lever or guard forward, 
the cartridge is then pressed forward with the 
thumb, which fixes the ball in its place; the 
lever is removed to its position, which closes 
the breech, and cuts off the rear end of the cart¬ 
ridge, exposing the powder to the fire which 
communicates from the percussion cap when 
discharged. 
The rifle can be loaded and discharged with 
astonishing rapidity, and the inventor claims 
that, with the quantity of powder used by 
United States muskets, it will propel a ball 
with greater precision and a distance one half 
further than that arm or any other rifle yet in¬ 
vented. 
Similar rifles have been made for the French 
Commissioner, Earl of Ellesmere, and Col. 
Stration, of the British army in India. An or¬ 
der has also been received from the French 
Minister at Washington, to construct a rifle 
for Louis Napoleon.—JY. F. Evening Post. 
MILK TREE. 
In a narrative of travels on the Amazon and 
Bio Negro, just published, Mr. Wallace de¬ 
scribes an extraordinary tree, called the milk 
tree, which was one of the first wonders he saw 
near Para. The fruit is eatable, and full of 
a very juicy pulp; but strangest of all is the 
vegetable milk, which exudes in abundance 
when the bark is cut. It was about the con¬ 
sistence of thick cream, and but for a very 
slight peculiar taste, could hardly be distin¬ 
guished from the genuine product of the cow. 
Mr. Leavens ordered a man to tap some logs 
that had laid nearly a month in the yard. He 
cut several notches in the bark with an axe, 
and in a minute the rich sap was running out 
in great quantities. It was collected in a ba¬ 
sin, diluted with water, strained, and brought 
up at tea time and at breakfast next morning. 
The peculiar flavor of the milk seemed rather 
to improve the quality of the tea, and gave it 
as good a color as rich cream: in coffee it is 
equally good. The milk is also used for glue, 
and it is said to be as durable as that made 
use of by carpenters. 
Wood, it is said, may be petrified by the 
following process:—Take equal quantities of 
gem salt, rock alum, white vinegar, calx and 
pebble powder. Mix all these ingredients to¬ 
gether and there will be an ebullition. When 
this subsides, throw in the wood, or any other 
porous matter, and let it soak for four or five 
days, at the end of which time the petrifaction 
will be complete. 
Substitute for the Common Brick. —Mar¬ 
tin Keenan, of Milford, Mass., says:—“I think 
a substitute for brick, as good and cheap, can 
be manufactured as follows:—Take a metal 
mould, first filled with heated gravel, and then 
pour melted glass into it, and leave it to cool 
gradually. 1 think each mould would not re¬ 
quire more glass than is contained in a com¬ 
mon black bottle. These are sold for a cent 
each, the blowing of which must cost half that 
sum.” There appeal's to be something in this. 
Vegetable Mechanics. —There is a remark¬ 
able tree ou the farm of the late Hon. Olney 
Ballou, of Cumberland, R. I., which is an em¬ 
blem of himself in his struggles against the 
obstacles of life. An old elm standing near a 
mass of rocks, died. A young elm theu ap¬ 
peared in a fissure of this rock, casting down 
its slender roots, and in twenty or thirty years, 
it has become a foot and a half in diameter.— 
Its roots have penetrated into and under the 
rock, and have lifted and thrown off about 
seven tons of it, and have loosened aud partly 
lifted ten tons more, which in a few years will 
be separated from the mass. The roots to bear 
the immense pressure upon them, have become 
changed from the ordinary appearance, and 
have a tough casing which may be compared 
to the skin of an alligator. The provisions 
thus made by nature for the growth of the tree 
under such difficult circumstances, furnish a 
striking specimen of what may be called vege¬ 
table mechanics. The greatest wonder is that 
the roots could grow and expand under such a 
heavy pressure of hard substance .—Providence 
Post. 
Window Curtains and Furnaces. —The 
Scalpel throws a brick at curtains and furnaces, 
on account of the former excluding the little 
light which outside blinds and inside shutters 
permit to enter our dwellings, and which is so 
essential to health; and the latter producing air 
that destroys health like an engine of death.— 
Where furnaces and curtains are in vogue, the 
editor says the physician may always count on 
admirable returns in a glorious crop of catarrhs, 
bronchitis, prolapsus, congestions of the liver 
and bowels, dyspepsia, and weak eyes. 
Floors in Paris. —A correspondent of the 
New Orleans Crescent, in Florence, writes:— 
“ There is not one room in one hundred in Pa¬ 
ris that has a carpet on it. The floor is made 
of brick, laid down generally in large squares, 
and it is cleaned by pouring on it a quantity 
of brick-dust, and then throwing over it a 
quantity of water, and then scrubbing it till it 
acquires a polish, fairly painful to look upon. 
Smithfield Market in Manchester — an 
area of two acres and three quarters—is to be 
covered with a roof, open on three sides. The 
cost of this and other improvements, and of 
the enlargement of the market to some extent, 
will be §30,000. 
§! urnes tit (Btoitaiui). 
ECONOMICAL WHEATEN BREAD. 
A Calais correspondent sent Lord Palmers¬ 
ton the following receipt for making cheap 
bread, which his Lordship transmitted to the 
Council of the Royal Agricultural Society of 
England: 
For the purpose of making this bread, only 
the coarsest of the bran is to be taken from the 
wheat; and the second coat, or what is called 
pollard, ground with the meal, as is usual for 
wheaten bread. Five pounds of this bran are 
to be boiled in somewhat more than four gal¬ 
lons of water, in order that when perfectly 
smooth, three gallons and three quarts of clear 
bran water may be poured into and kneaded 
up with 46 lbs. of the brown flour: adding salt 
as well as yeast, in the same way as for the 
other bread. When the dough is ready to 
bake, the loaves are to be made up and baked 
two hours and a half in a pretty brisk heat— 
As flour when thus made up will imbibe three 
quarts more of this bran liquor than of com¬ 
mon water, it evidently not only produces a 
more nutritious and substantial food, but aug¬ 
ments it to one-fifth part of the usual quantity 
of bread: consequently it is a saving of at least 
one day’s consumption in every week. If this 
bread were in general use, it could be proved 
to be a saving to the nation of near ten mil¬ 
lions per annum. This bread, too has the fol¬ 
lowing peculiar property: if put into the oven 
and baked for twenty minutes, after it is teu 
days old, it will appear again like new bread. 
Beet Root Wine. —It appears, according to 
Galignani, that a very good champagne wine 
is made from beet-root. When the juice has 
been purified by the ordinary process, aud a 
pure solution of sugar and water has been ob¬ 
tained, it is evaporated to a suitable density, 
after which it is fermented by adding cream of 
tartar, and the required bouquet is given by 
means of aromatic plants. 
A Yankee Loaf. —Take one quart of sweet 
milk, one pint of sour, three pints of Indian 
meal, one pint of flour, one teacupful of molas¬ 
ses, salt, saleratus, well stirred, bake six hours. 
— Ohio. Cultivatin'. 
