Phloxes delight in a light loamy soil, especially 
if with a slight sprinkling of good decomposed 
leaf mould intermixed. I would observe, more 
especially, one marked feature in their success¬ 
ful treatment, attention to which increases 
materially not only their large heads of flower, 
but also the well-being of the plants generally. 
They should at all times be in a place shaded 
from the midsummer sun between the hours of 
10 and 3, as from the very delicate textere of 
of the florets these become very readily scorched. 
in such a partially-shaded border I would 
plant out a few of the more showy and better 
varieties, having the shortest, some of which 
barely reach 12 inches high, in front. What a 
beautiful Little plant as an edging, or for the 
front row, would be the Phlox frondosa. 
Before planting it, it would be advisable to 
form (slightly covered with the soil, and slightly 
mound-shaped.) a ridge with moderate sized 
stones, say four or five thick, upon which to 
plant them firmly. This little frondosa I seldom 
meet with grown successfully; its neat little 
branches are 3 or 4 inches high, and cover, 
Heath-like, with pointed leaves; and it bears 
for its size, a large and lively flower, in color 
somewhat of a dark rose.— Cot. Gardener. 
CLEANING AND COLORING KID GLOVES, 
ORNAMENTAL TREES-No. III. 
Ethel, II., of Kewanee, His., recommends 
rubbing the white kid gloves with cream of tar¬ 
tar to clean them. She also furnishes the fol¬ 
lowing for 
Coloring a Royal Purple .—Two ounces of log¬ 
wood; two ounces rock alum; pint and a half 
soft water. Boil, skim and cool. Then brush 
the gloves over with it. When dry, repeat the 
process until it is the right shade. Beat the 
white of an egg light and rub it over the leather. 
The same lady writes:—- £ I have a few other 
recipes which may be useful to some Rural 
reader. 
Rose Color .—Balm blossoms, steeped in water, 
color rose color. Set it with slum. 
Straw Color .— Saffron, steeped in earthen 
and strained, colors a fine straw color. It makes 
a delicate or deep shade according to the strength 
of the tea. 
Bird of Paradise Color.— The dry, outside 
skin of onions (?) color a yellow very much like 
‘Bird of Paradise’ color. 
ri Light Fellow .—Peach leaves, or the bark 
scraped from a barberry bush, colors a common 
light yellow. A little alum may help to fix the 
color of all of these. 
A Purple Slate Color.— The purple paper 
which comes on loaf sugar, boiled in cider or 
vinegar, makes a fine purple slate color. To be 
done in iron, with a small piece of alum. 
A Light Brown Slate Color .—White maple 
bark makes a good light brown slate color. 
Should be boiled in water aud set with alum. It 
is best boiled in brass instead of iron. 
To Color Nankeen ,—A pailful of lye with a 
piece of copperas half as large as a hen’s egg, 
boiled in it, will color a nankeen that will never 
wash out. A very beautiful nankeen color may 
be obtained from birch bark set with alum. 
The bark should be covered with water, and 
boiled thoroughly in brass or tin. If cojjperas 
is used instead of alum, a slate color will be 
produced.’’ 
A Farmer's daughter, J. E. G., of Perry, 
AMONG the many new weeping or drooping 
trees which have been introduced during the 
last ten or fifteen years, the most graceful and 
beautiful, beyond a doubt, is the Cut-leaved 
Weeping Birch. 
With a tall, erect, elegantly proportioned 
trunk covered with smooth, silvery bark and 
clothed with branches bending gracefully out¬ 
ward and downward like the spray of falling 
water from a jet-d'-eau, with finger-leaves of the 
most delicate green quivering in the slightest 
breath of air, no wonder it elicits the admira¬ 
tion of all who see it.* Then it is one of the 
most hardy of trees, flourishing, we may 
say, everywhere. A celebrated English plan¬ 
ter called the Birch “an amphibious plant, 
as it grows on rich or poor, wet or dry, sandy or 
rocky situations, nor refuses any soil or climate 
whatever.” It is easily transplanted and grows 
rapidly and requires no pruning or care what- 
but to be let alone. 
ever 
We believe we were the first to disseminate it 
in the country. Our attention was called to it 
by a mere accident. 
In the summer of 1848, H. W. Sargent, 
Esq., of Fishkill, was traveling in Europe, and 
wrote some letters to Mr. Downing, who was 
then editor of the Horticulturist. Extracts 
from some of these letters were published, and 
in one, describing Booth’s nursery in Holstein, 
he said: 
“Among trees and shrubs rare to me, I no¬ 
ticed ft Weeping Birch peculiar to Germany. 
It had descending shoots 32 feet long. The 
branches hang as perpendicularly downward as 
those of either the Sophora pendula, or the 
common Weeping Willow, and are quite as deli¬ 
cate and pensile as the latter.” 
Knowing that Mr. Sargent was well in¬ 
formed in regard to trees, on reading his letter 
in the Horticulturist, we came at once to the 
conclusion that he had found a new tree. 
We then took steps to procure it from the 
European nurseries, and, in 184b, we received 
two small plants, and was offered in our cata¬ 
logue of 1850 ami 1851 at $2 per plant. 
Propagated by budding or grafting on the 
common birch. 
It is a little singular that we obtained the 
Kilmarnock Weeping Willow in about the same 
accidental manner. 
We think it was in a letter of some Eng¬ 
lish traveler which appeared in the Gardeners' 
Chronicle , that a new and very beautiful Weep¬ 
ing Willow was spoken of as being in some 
Scotch nursery or garden. 
We then wrote directly to the Scotch nurse¬ 
ryman, and, in 1854, we Imported our first six 
plants at a guinea. One of them now stands on 
the lawn here a very much admired specimen. 
We intend to speak of the new willows in a 
future notice.—u. 
* The accompanying wood cut is intended to be a 
portrait of a tree in the gronnds of Ellwanuek & 
Barry, one of the first imported, now between 30 and 
40 feet high. The cut is far from doing justice to 
the tree. 
The Hudson Strawberry — A friend sent me this 
spring some of this variety. What sex is it? 13 it 
valuable?—A cer, Toledo, 0. 
It is pietiLlate, and highly regarded as a market fruit 
about Cincinnati. 
The Best GRArE Soil.—W hat, in your opinion, is 
the best soil for the grape?—A Young Cultivator. 
This is a direct question, brief and personal. We 
answer as directly and concisely. A light, dry, deep, 
rich soil is best. 
Mulching Apple Trees. — (A Young Farmer ) 
Would we mulch young apple trees, planted this 
spring? We certainly would do so, especially if plant¬ 
ed on stiff soil, liable to bake. Mulching may be sub¬ 
stituted for culture where help is scarce, and there is a 
great deal to do. And mulching is equivalent to a life 
assurance of the tree. 
Is the variety 
The Early Richmond Cherry. 
known as Early Richmond the best cherry for the west ? 
—Hawret Cedar Co., Iowa. 
It lias three peculiarities which particularly adapt it 
to the west. It is hardy, productive, and bears early. 
But that it is the best cherry for extensive planting may 
be an open question. For there are many of the liner 
sorts that patient people hare fouud to repay them for 
care and waiting lor the tree3 to mature wood. The 
greatest obstacle to cherry culture in the west has been 
impatience. We have not got before ns the experiences 
of growers in your State, so that we cannot specify 
varieties. 
4 /V-tifA 
THE CUT-LEAVED WEEPING BIRCH, 
3. Trees under glass are not exposed to ex¬ 
tremes of dry air, or low temperature, as are 
trees in the open air. 
The effect of low temperature on succulent, 
or what is the same thing, unripe wood, is 
well known. Most roses grew very late in the 
fall. Some are to a considerable extent hardy, 
but the upper portions of their stems get in¬ 
jured. If we watch such stems in the spring, 
the upper buds, being quite killed, do not of 
course push,—the uext dozen or more push, but 
are pale—have the yellows;— the lower push 
more freely, pretty much as if the plant had 
been pruned low down. This is the invariable 
effect of frost on over-luxuriance. 
In reference to the peach, its great luxuriance 
is its fault. It can not expect to escape the 
general law of Injury from cold or sappy wood. 
All our efforts should be directed to checking 
that luxuriance, uutil age should do it for itself. 
New Jersey, Delaware, Virginia and North 
Carolina are famous for their peaches,—not on 
account of their climates, but for the poorness 
of their soils. \S'e have seen finer peaches in 
mere quarry refuse in Pennsylvania, than in 
any State in the Union. 
Natural trees, or peaches from the stone, 
without being inoculated or budded, are usually 
esteemed less liable to disease than the named 
nursery varieties,—not because they arc seed¬ 
lings. for budded trees are little less, but because 
they are not as vigorous the second year. A 
nurseryman buds his peach, and the next spring 
cuts it back to the bud, which of course pushes 
up with the vigor of a cropped willow; and 
even the first hard frost will scarcely detach the 
leaves from it. Should it escape injury till this 
extra vigor is past, the tree is safe. If not, it is 
a failure. What conclusion can be more clear? 
We would lay down the following rules for 
the incipient peach-grower: 
1. Choose an exhausted soil in preference to 
a new or rich one. 
2. If possible, choose a northern or western 
aspect in preference to a sunny one, as the 
action of sun on frozen sappiness is one of the 
causes of injury to ill-ripened wood. 
3. Choose trees for planting that are not over 
vigorous. 
4. Do not crop or cultivate your peach orchard 
with any thing which, by forcing you to add 
manures to the soil to obtain them, will make 
your trees grow luxuriantly. When their 
vigor has become exhausted, and the trees by 
age safe from disease, top-dressings can be re¬ 
sorted to. to maintain fertility. 
the country may be one of the richest on earth, 
but it may also be one of the poorest. If the 
great book of Nature be opened to the eye of 
him who resides there, and illumined with the 
light of heaven, from his little knoll he can see 
and enjoy all the glory of the world; but If he 
sees In Nature only the potato field which gives 
him food, then is this golden vein closed for 
him, and he himself stands, like the potato 
plant, fast rooted in the earth.” But 1 fear that 
In pursuing the evsthelical branch of my sub¬ 
ject, I am wandering too far from the practical. 
It is absolutely essential to a full enjoyment of 
your flowers, that all the labor necessary to 
keep them in order should be performed by 
yourself. I will not insist upon the first dig¬ 
ging of the ground in cases where the sod is to 
be removed, as that frequently requires an out¬ 
lay of st rength which many females do not pos¬ 
sess, especially If unaccustomed to out-door 
labor; but after the first breaking up, there is 
nothing to which any woman in tolerable health 
will not find herself fully equal aud much the 
better for. I would, however, add my caution 
to that of your correspondent, who, in her 
“ Hints for Ladies,” warns all who desire to be 
thought ‘‘delicate,’’or "interesting,” to avoid 
floriculture. There is no mistake, It will make 
you most “distressingly healthy,” and take all 
nonsense of that kind out of you. So count 
well the cost before you make a beginning, and 
if you find yourself incapaple of “enjoying 
good health,’’ do not undertake the care of 
flowers. E. A. Eaton. 
Eaionville, N. Y, IStH. 
Protection or River Banks.— Wiii some one who 
has had experience and observation of successful pro¬ 
tection of river and lake banks from the undermining 
wash of water, give me the benefit of such experience? 
Protection by tree planting is what is especially de¬ 
sired, as the land to he protected is not valuable enough 
for more expensive means. What arc the best trees or 
plants for this purpose—and how should they be plant¬ 
ed?^—F. J. S., Toledo, Ohio. 
The Golden Osier, (Satie vile! tin a.) is very much 
used for this purpose; but we do not think it any better 
than the Basket Osier (SaiL viminalu.) which, while 
it will afford the desired protection, will at the same 
time yield a crop of great value to the willow-ware 
manufacturers, anil profitable to the grower. Get the 
cuttings, stick them in the ground where you want 
them to grow, and if there is moisture there will be no 
difficulty. If our readers can name any thing any bet¬ 
ter than the Osiers for this purpose, let them do so. 
PHILOSOPHY OF FLORICULTURE, 
There is a peculiar charm about the first 
flower bed, with all its absurdities of arrange¬ 
ment and tangled confusion, which is never 
quite equaled by any succeeding possessions of 
the kind, although they may be ordered in 
strict conformity to orthodox gardening rules 
aud proprieties. Of course I do not mean that 
one season’s experience in the cultivation of 
flowers is sufficient to exhaust the delights, or 
blunt the keenness of enjoyment, resulting 
therefrom. It furnishes an inexhaustible fund 
of enjoyment, ami every lady who tries it will 
find herself " possessed in a furrow or two of 
garden ground, of a truly infinite dominion.” 
It is this feeling of having discovered a new 
world of happiness, which invests the first 
flower-bed with its peculiar charm. From the 
time when the first tiny stein lifts Its green 
banner to the sunshine, until the frosts of No¬ 
vember have laid low each floral beauty, there 
is a constant sitcces>lon of wonders, new every 
morning, and fresh every evening. 
It is very true that other eyes may fail to 
discover the marvelous beauty so evident to 
your own in your little patch of wildness, and 
quite likely your neighbors, especially if they 
chance to live near enough to keep a watch 
over all your movements, will wonder what 
you find to look at so much in that “posy bed,” 
and make themselves quite merry over your 
devotion to a lew “morning glories” and 
gortUultuval 3ot 
TELL US HOW TO COOK A DINNER, 
Circular or the American Pomological Society. 
—In conformity with a resolution adopted at the last 
meeting of this National Association, the undersigned 
give notice that Its Tenth Session will commence in 
Corinthian Hall, In the city of Rochester, N. Y . on 
Tuesday, September 13th, 1-04, at 12 o'clock, noon, and 
will continue several days. All Horticultural, Pomo- 
logie.il, Agricultural and other kindred institutions in 
the United States and the British Provinces, are invited 
to send delegations, as large as they may deem expedi¬ 
ent ; and all other persons interested In the cultivation 
of fruits tire invited to be present and to take scats in 
the Convention. The great Annual Fair of the N, Y. 
Stute Agricultural Society will be held at Rochester on 
the following week, so that delegates who desire to do 
so can attend both meetings, and those who contribute 
collections of fruits to the Pomological Society can 
afterwards fxhiblt them at the State Fair. Throughout 
a large portion of the country the prospects of the fruit 
crop arc very encouraging, and as the Fruit Growers’ 
Society of Western New York will place its entire col¬ 
lection at the disposal of the American Pomological 
Society, a display of extraordinary interest may rea¬ 
sonably be expected. 
Among the prominent subjects which wiLl come be¬ 
fore the Society at this session will be that of the 
revision of the Society’s Catalogue of Fruits. The 
Special Committee appointed for this purpose are now, 
with the varioms State and local committees, actively 
engaged in collecting such information as will aid in 
determiuiug what varieties are best adapted to the dif¬ 
ferent sections of our country, and this information, in 
the form of reports, will be submitted to the action of 
the Convention. 
All the States and Territories are urgently invited to 
be present, by •Delegation, at this meeting, that the 
amicable and social relations which have heretofore 
existed between the members of the Society may be. 
fostered and perpetuated, and the result of its delibera¬ 
tions, so beneficial to the country at large, be generally 
and widely diffused. Members and Delegates are re 
quested to contribute specimens of -he fruits of their 
respective districts, and to communicate In regard to 
them whatever may aid In promoting the objects of the 
Society and the science of American Pomology. Each 
contributor is i cones ted to come prepared with a com¬ 
plete list of hi* collection, and to present the same with 
his fruits, that a report of all !he varieties entered may 
be submitted to the meeting as soon as practicable- 
All persons desirous of becoming members can remit 
the admission fee to Thomas P. James, Esq., Treas¬ 
urer, Philadelphia ; or to the President at Boston, who 
will furnish them with Truusations of the Society. 
Life membership, Ten Dollars; Biennial, Two Dollars. 
Packages of Fruits may be addressed as follows: 
“ American Pomological Society, care of James Vick, 
Rochester, N. Y ” Marshal P. Wilder, 
J a m ss Vick, Secretary. President. 
Newspapers and Periodicals that take an interest in 
Pomology, are respectfully requested to publish above. 
Tiierb is no department of the Rural more 
useful than this. And one can always learn 
many valuable things from it. Still, it seems to 
me there is a great deal more pains taken to 
teach us how to make cake and some of the 
nicer dishes with which to " tempt the palate,” 
than to tell us how to cook meats and some of 
the heartier food that is necessary to satisfy 
hunger. It is no great knack to get up a nice 
tea, but it is something more of a study to cook 
a nice dinner, to broil a steak, or cook a roast, 
"to a turn,” to roast a turkey, to cook wild 
meats, to make soups of different kinds, to cook 
fish ami fowls, and all kinds of animals. 
Why do not some of the good housekeepers, 
who cook dinners from one year's end to another, 
tell us more about it. This department of the 
Rural should be one that would tit a young 
housekeeper to fulfill all the duties of her calling 
without the aid of any other cook book. It is a 
mistaken idea that these thiugs are so common 
that every one knows without telling, how to cook 
them. There is not one woman in ten that 
knows how to boil a potato nicely, to say nothing 
of other vegetables. Why not tell us all you 
know, then, every body ? x. 
PEACH CULTURE. 
The editor of the Gardener’s Monthly pub¬ 
lishes an interesting editorial on “ Peach Grow¬ 
ing,” from which we extract what follows: 
In l’each culture, there is ouo fact which we 
think can not be contradicted,—that if the tree 
remain healthy for the first three or four years, 
it will live in good condition, and without auy 
complaint that seriously affects the crop, for 
many years—as long in fact as an apple-tree. 
If this be true, aud we think it will not be 
denied, we have a startiug point of immense 
value. It removes at once all fear of contagion ; 
Tor there is no reason why disease should not 
be as contagious to an old tree as te a young 
one. 
There is another fact, fully as important as 
the above. Peach trees under glass, young or 
old, seldom have the diseases peaches in the 
opeu air do. Some few instances, wo believe, 
have been adduced to show that peaches do at 
times have the yellows under glass. We have 
never seen It, nor have at least ninety per oeut. 
of under glass fruit-growers; but as we have 
heart! others say they have seen it, uot to en¬ 
danger the force of the argument, it is as well 
to concede that it does in rare cases exist in 
glass houses. 
But the general rule remains, that peaches 
over four years old. to any much greater age, 
are free from dangerous diseases,—and that it is 
Recipe for Coloring Black.— There was 
an inquiry in the tith No. of the Rural for a 
recipe to color black that will not fade. Here is 
one that will stand. For five pounds of woolen 
goods, take one-fourth pound of extract of log¬ 
wood, one-hall" pound of blue vitriol. Dissolve 
the vitriol in water enough to cover the goods, 
and keep them in it over the fire at a simmer, 
but not to boil, two hours; then dissolve the 
extract of logwood in the vitriol liquid and put 
the goods in again; keep them in two hours 
longer, but do not let them boil. — m. 
CULTURE OF PERENNIAL PHLOXES 
There are few herbaceous plants superior to 
the tnanv beautiful varieties of Phlox decus- 
sata, combining as they do fragrance, beauty 
and size of flower, with rich variety of color. 
They are well known also as being late autumn- 
flowering plants, gifted with a hardihood that 
enables the most delicate of the newer varieties, 
with very slight assistance, to withstand the 
assaults of frost with impunity. They are 
almost without an exception, readily propagated 
by the young growths of spring, which growths 
are already discernible above ground. These 
should be taken off’ when with two or three 
joints, and struck like Calceolarias. Plants are 
also readily multiplied by division of the old 
stool of a year or more old, though I have a pre¬ 
ference for properly-treated cuttings, which 
make very handsome plants the second season. 
JeixieCake.—F our cups flour, three cups 
sugar, one cup butter, one cup cream, five eggs, 
one teaspoon soda; rub the flour and sugar to¬ 
gether and then add the other.—M rs. S. Knapp. 
[special notice.] 
Dahk without—Uheerpul w iTittu. —What matters 
it though the storm rages without, and clouds obscure 
the sun, if alt is cheerful in the household. It cannot 
but be pleasant within If the good housewife has nice 
light blscnica for supper, as she will surely have by 
using Do Laud's Chemical Sal crams, an article sohl at 
all the best family groceries in the United States. 
