price it appears that our farmers must have had 
distributed among them not less than half a mil¬ 
lion of dollars for their apples. A great impedi¬ 
ment to the trade in apples has been a deficiency in 
barrels. The scarcity of labor has been especially 
apparent in the cooper trade, and in many localities 
the crop of apples have, to a large extent, gone to 
waste for want of barrels in which to pack ihem for 
market. The frost, late as it has held oil', found 
many farmers unprepared to meet it, and their 
apples, being generally considered among the infe¬ 
rior products of their farms, have been suffered 
mostly to go to waste lingathered. 
“ The Warsaw New- Yorker is informed by a gen¬ 
tleman who has traveled into Wyoming and two or 
three adjoining counties, that, apples enough hang 
frozen in the orchards to have kept the army of the 
Potomac in apple sauce all winter. Many trees 
have not been gathered from at all, so great was t.he 
abundance, and so scarce the help. 
“The time is at, hand, we believe, when the farm¬ 
ers of Western New York, becoming more enlight¬ 
ened to their true interests, will set a higher valueon 
their orchards, and they will be prepared to avail 
themselves more fully ol the immense advantages 
granted them by nature as growers of fruit.” 
carriages. The two semi-circles at each end of the 
ground plan for house, will, in all probability, have 
to be somewhat modified, ns the plan forlhedwelling 
isoot yet complete. In all other respects, the design 
will be fully carried out, according to the plan. 
The road marked P, on the plan, is Intended to be 
used exclusively s a means of transit to and from 
the stables and offices, for carrying hay, wood, coal, 
or any heavy loads, which by their weight would 
cut up the roods, or cause lit,ter. 1 think the neces¬ 
sity of such a side road, both on the score of conven¬ 
ience and cleanliness, must appear obvious to 
every person of taste. 
ural flow of intercourse between village and village has kept 
tlie track bare ever since. An American farmer would plow 
across any such path, and obliterate it with his hill* of potatoes 
and Indian corn; but hero it is protected by law, and s ill 
mo r e by the snored ness that inevitably springs up, in this soil, 
along the well defined footprints of centuries.— R. W. Emer¬ 
son, in Atlantic Monthly. 
Site luMistwr to fftr gutitir 
RURAL” letters prom 
Si.vck issuing our Prospectus for 1803, we have received 
host of the most encouraging letters from readers of the R 
RA!„ testifying as to its value and usefulness. These testim 
ninls Come from all parts of the Loyal States, Canada & 0 a, 
ore very encouraging ttt the present juncture. We , iv e e , 
tracts from a few of recent date: 
Kaon Vermont -Our first club of over 10 for 1S63, com. 
from Rutland Co., Vt. An excellent letter, (with draft « 
New York, payable to our order,) and dosing thus:-*' I f 
pect to send you several names more before the volume cm 
tneuccs ." 
I kom New Jkrsrt.—I inclose one dollar, almost mv lr 
penny. Would get up a club if able, hut am confined to n 
room with the consumption. I took the Rural for some yea 
A correspondent wishes some hints for the 
arrangement of a Green House. or Conservatory, 
for a private establishment, and this we propose to 
give as briefly as possible, and in doing fo will 
point out what we consider a grave, yet almost gen¬ 
eral, error in this country. Most of our private 
greenhouses are modeled after those belonging to 
nurserymen, and are therefore entirely unfit (or the 
purposes for which they were erected. The com¬ 
mercial house is arranged for the growth and dis¬ 
play of a great variety of plants, so that, the tastes 
and notions of all purchasers may be suitpd. The 
house, like the. catalogue, must contain all that will 
be called for in the trade. The amateur erects his 
house for bis own pleasure, and for the delight of 
his family and friends. He is not afraid that some 
one will call fur a plant that, ho cannot, supply, K 
the plants are well grown and tastefully arranged, 
the general effect such as to give delight to all, the 
object is accomplished. These facte, it seems to us, 
indicate very plainly what should be the character 
of the private conservatory. 
Within a week we have visited two private estab 
lishments, one owned by a gentleman of wealth, 
who keeps an excellent gardener, and but for our 
knowledge of the facts, we would have thought, on 
entering the house, that we were taking a view of 
some place where plants were kept fur sale, and 
might have found ourselves asking for a catalogue. 
The plants were arranged on stagings, with one 
narrow walk the whole length of the house, scarcely 
three feet in width, affording very little opportunity 
for two to pass, and no seat in the place where a 
visitor could rest. The plants were doing pretty 
well, just suitable for sale, but not what should be 
found in a gentleman's conservatory. 
If a person should treat his parlors in the same 
way, and crowd them full of furniture, after the 
style of a cabinet shop, ho would be considered 
insane. The private conservatory should be ar¬ 
ranged with taste, and with a view to the eondort of 
the owner and his guests, somewhat after the style 
of a well-kept, garden, and it should be, in fact, a 
winter garden, arranged with graceful walks, beds 
or groups of fine plants, with seats for half-a-dozen 
or more, according to the size of the house, Ac. 
Attached to such a house, it may be necessary to 
have a small place lor the propagation and growth 
of plants, and for storing them after they have 
served their-purpose in the winter garden or con¬ 
servatory. 
The other place to which we refer is very humble 
in its pretensions, being only a kind of a wooden 
window garden, very ingeniously attached to the 
dining room window', somewhat, after tho style of a 
bay-window. The owner boasted that he had in 
this over sixty plants, and yet we saw scarcely one 
worthy of the place, nall'a-do/.en good specimens 
would have been far more beautiful, and have re¬ 
quired infinitely less care. We need a great reform 
in this respect, and we need it in our gardens as 
well as in our conservatories. We take our style of 
gardening from the nurseries, forgetting that the 
objects sought in the two cases are entirely differ¬ 
ent We see, too, the same evil in the arrangements 
for floral exhibitions—the “Floral Halls” at our 
State Fairs, &o. We have often given our views on 
this point, and at the last exhibition in this State we 
endeavored to give a practical illustration of our 
opinions. 
IsAT/IXG I. ABHAGKtJ DURING WiVTKIt. — Tfc often hftf»pOj)8 
that many cabbages ham not forme.) heads in autumn on the 
approach of winter, and these are usually rejected nod thrown 
arido. The mode we have adopted to produce heads from 
these has been long known to some of our readers, but we dis 
eover that it is rarely practiced A brief description may 
therefore be rueful:—Take up all these plants, and set them as 
closely as they will stand, in a double row, in their natural po¬ 
sition. in a wide and shallow trench Form an earth roof over 
them, in tlm following manner: - Set in a piece of upright 
plank at each end to support the ridge pole. Place a rail or 
stiff pole on these for the ridge, pole, and on this the ends of 
. J .. mitt aim otner States, but ecu only 
make brief extracts. A Schuyler Co. Ageut PVIcnd remits 
130 for a new dub of '10, and Miy*:—‘ You may expect addi¬ 
tions to the above club in due time. Tho Rural must line..” 
- In sending a dub of 34 for 1803, a Niagara Co. recruiting 
officer says:—“ You will doubtless be glad to know that all of 
your friends are not working for Unde 8am. I conclude It 
will he quite as rate lighting under Col. Moouk. and therefore 
tall in line and take uo risks. These subscribers am all sound 
to the core. Shall remit for many more before Jan. 1st. Send 
there to accommodate you with an early list,’’ [Right, friend | 
If others will send advance guard*, (parts of tl.eir lists I it 
w.ll enable us to put them in type early, and thus facilitate 
matters J 
— A young lady in Orleans Co., remits for 18 subscribers 
and closes her 1. tier in this wise;-'- Hoping you will receive 
* tllree hnndred thousand more,’ I remain Youjs for tire War.” 
From PknnSYi.vanta. —From a subscriber In Erie Co.. Pa. 
we have this encouraging note:—”As the year draws to a close’ 
I find I cannot afford to do without, your paper, and as no one 
ebe semis to have time to attend to procuring suhfct ibers for 
the ensuing year, I think l will. I am very anxious to place a 
copy in every Farm House in the town, believing that in nn 
WINTER CARE OF TREES, 
A little care of trees at the present time may 
prevent a great deal of injury and loss. All trees 
exposed to high winds should be well staked to 
prevent swaying by the wind, and care must be had 
that the stakes do not injure the bark. In some 
cases a little surface drainage will be found of great 
advantage, by preventing water laying around the 
rools. Mice every winter do a great deal of mis¬ 
chief by gnawing tho bark of Ihe tree near the sur¬ 
face of the ground. The best way lo prevent this 
is as far as possible to remove the cause. Allow no 
harbor for mice in the fields, iu (he shape of weeds 
and grass. And when the snow is deep, slamp it 
solid around the trees. Some prefer to place a 
wooden box around the trunks, or a couple of 
horse shoe tile. This is safe, and much better than 
any preparation of tar, Ac-, to the bark, which often 
does great injury. A correspondent says:—“To 
prevent mice or other vermin from eating the bark 
Of trees, take, in the fall, soil from the privy vault, 
and thin it with water. Then tike a broom and 
give your trees a good washing, which will not only 
keep the mice from eating the bark, but will do con¬ 
siderable benefit to the trees by taking off all the 
moss and rust, and leaving the bark clear and clean 
when washed off by rain in the spring. If the 
gases be too strong for the nostrils, do not lose the 
benefit on that account. Take wood charcoal tor a 
deodorizer. If certainly is a true saying, that pre¬ 
vention is better than cure; and there is another 
Baying equally true, that the cure is sometimes 
worse than the disease. Tarring trees will prevent 
mice from eating the. bark, but it stops up the pores 
of the bark, which stunts tho trees in growth, and 
lays the foundation of premature decay. This has 
always been the result of my experience.” 
A Good Rxampms —a French paper says that at Thourette, 
in the department of the Ain, the Giro. who is nearly eighty 
years of ago. has always insisted, for the last thirty years, that 
the parents of every ehilil he baptized should plant a fruit 
tree nf some kind or other The result is that this commune, 
which was formerly very unproductive, now presents the ap 
pearancc of an immense Orchard. 
Tub gardener nf Cheveley Rectory, England, in order to 
frighten small birds from a lied of seeds, had erected the effigy 
of a man, with extended arms; but, on going to remove it, he 
was surprised to find that it robin had ventured under the hut, 
and snugly built its nest upon the head of the scarecrow. 
A, Present Dwelling ; B Proposed Dwelling; (/, Stables ; D, 
Kitchen Garden ; &. Dwarf Pvur Orchard ; I\ Orchard for 
Standard Fnfts; (?, Pasture for Cows, IC, K, Carriage 
Entrance ; /, Main Walk to Dwelling ; J, Douse Yard ; II, 
Yard ; Lawn ; M, Laundry Ground ; iV, Pump; 0, 
Hedges ; P, Road to Stables and Offices. 
It. will be seen by reference to (be plan, that the 
kitchen garden, ami fi wai f pear orchard is entirely 
surrounded by a hedge, iu addition to which there 
is a belt of evergreens and shrubbery ten feet wide 
the whole length of the west line to shelter tho 
grounds. This i9 an important matter which I am 
happy to perceive is attracting general attention 
among intelligent fruit growers. 
The laundry ground is entirely secured from all 
parts of the ground by a good evergreen hedge and 
numerous trees, so that the bleaching and drying of 
clothes can be carried on at all times out of sight of 
the other portions of the ground. The advantages of 
this plan, in most cases, Reern to be entirely over¬ 
looked. 
The second plan we arranged lor a gentleman 
who had about forty acres of land that he wished to 
use almost entirely for orchard and nursery pur¬ 
poses. He forwarded us a plan, which we thought 
inconvenient and recommended the following: 
Eds. Rural New-Yorker:— Having received 
much useful information from the numerous recipes 
contained in your valuable paper, 1 thought I would 
send a few which I know to be good, hoping to ben¬ 
efit others: 
Carolina Cake.— Two coffee cups sugar, two do. 
of flour, 1 do. of cream, 1 large tablespoonful bit ter. 
the whites of five eggs, one-half a teaspoonful 
cream tartar, one-quarter teaspoon soda. Flavor 
with lemon extract. Excellent. 
Rolled Jelly Cake. —One cup sugar, 1 cup 
flour, 3 eggs, 2 teaspoons cream tartar, 1 do. of soda. 
Bake in two parts. Spread with jelly and roll very 
soon after it is baked. 
Loaf Jelly Cake. —One cup sugar, 1 do. sour 
cream, three-fourths cup of butter, 2 eggs, 1 tea¬ 
spoonful saleratus dissolved in hot water; spice to 
taste. Bake in three parts. Spread with jelly, and 
put together in the form of a loaf. 
Bird's-Nest Pudding. — Pare and quarter sour 
apples, place them as loosely as possible In a deep 
baking dish, adding a little water. Pour over them 
a batter made in the follow manner:—One Cup sour 
cream, 2 cups butter-milk, 2 eggs, 1 teaspoonful sal- 
eratus. Eat with butter aud sugar or sauce. 
Will some one inform me through the columns of 
the Rural how to make good vinegar? I would 
also be much obliged for a recipe for making 
crackers, and perhaps others as well as myself 
may be benefited. Mrs. Wit. E. Smith. 
West Point, Col. Co., Wis., 1862. 
Eds. Rural New-Yorker:—I have this day 
shipped to you one barrel of Schuyler County Ap¬ 
ples, containing nineteen varieties. I frequently 
notice inquiries in the Rural if orchards should be 
cultivated. I will give you my treatment. My 
orchard contains 90 trees, has been set about 35 
years, and all the trees have been grafted since. It 
has been in my possession over IG years. Before 
that it was tilled part of the time, and part of the 
time it was seeded and kept for meadow; and, in¬ 
variably, while in grass the apples were inferior, 
gnarly and wormy. Since I have had it I have 
plowed it every year except one,—have manured 
with bam yard manure every other year,—have 
plowed it myself, being careful not to injure the 
roots with the plow, or to rake the bodies of the trees 
with whiffletrees or with the harrow. I plow very 
shallow under the trees, just enough to keep the top 
of the ground raw. The trees are nearly till healthy 
and thrifty; and during the 16 years I have not 
failed except one year (and atthattime they were cut 
by frost, but I had GO bushels then,) to have a good 
crop of apples, and good quality. This fall I have 
picked 450 bushels; I think there was SOO bushels or 
over of ail kinds in the orchard this year. I alwuys 
pick my winter apples, handle them with the great¬ 
est care, and keep out all bruised ones. 
1 have not written this with the expectation that 
it would be worth publishing. Still, if there is any 
part of it that you think would benefit any one by 
publishing it, you are at liberty to do so. 
I forgot to mention in the proper place, that I 
have had no hoed crops on the orchard. They have 
been barley, oats and spring wheat. One year I had 
buckwheat on it. That is not a good crop for an 
orchard, for the reason that it does not come off 
early enough. D. C. Hillerman. 
Reading, Schuyler Co., N. Y., 1862, 
With the above we received a barrel of splendid 
apples, consisting of about twenty varieties, every 
one of which Vas well grown, free from imperfec¬ 
tion, and fit for any exhibition in the world. 
Among the list of varieties we found some of our 
best sorts, such as Northern Spy, Tompkins County 
King, R. I. Greening, Baldwin, Roxbury Russet, 
Fall Pippin, Twenty Ounce, &c. 
APPLE CROP IN WESTERN NEW YORK, 
AEOOT COOKING POTATOES 
in water. Most boiled things are spoiled by having 
too little water, but potatoes are ofteu spoiled by 
having too much; they must merely lie covered, and 
a little allowed forwaste in boiling, so that they may 
be just covered at tho finish. 
Set them on a moderate fire till they boil; then 
take them off, and put them by (he side of Ihe fire 
to simmer slowly till they are soft enough to admit 
a fork, (place uo dependence on the usual test of 
of their skins cracking, which, if they are boiled 
fast, will happen to some potatoes when they are 
not halt done, and the inside quite bard.) Then 
pour the water off, (if you let the potatoes remain 
in the water a moment after they are done enough, 
they will become waxy and watery), uncover the 
sauce pan, nnd set it ut such a distance from the tire 
as will secure it from burning; their superfluous 
moisture will evaporate, and the potatoes will be 
perfectly dry and mealy. 
You may afterwards place a napkin, folded up to 
the size of the sauce-pan’s diameter, over the pota¬ 
toes, to keep them hot and mealy till wanted. 
This method of managing potatoes is in every re¬ 
spect equal lo steaming them; and they are dressed 
in half the time. 
There is such an infinite variety of sorts and sizes 
of potatoes, that it is impossible to say how long 
they will take doing; the best way is to try with a 
fork. Moderate-sized potatoes will generally be 
done enough in fifteen or twenty minutes. 
Cold Potatoes Fried,—P ut a bit of clean drip¬ 
ping into a frying pan; when it is melted slice in 
your potatoes, with a little pepper and salt; put 
them ou the fire; keep stirring them; when they are 
quite hot they are ready. 
Potatoes M a sued. — When your potatoes are 
thoroughly boiled, drain them quite dry, pick out 
every speck, &e„ and while hot, mb them through 
a colander into a clean stew pan. To a pound of 
potatoes put half an ounce of butter and a table- 
spoontul of milk; do not make them too moist; mix 
them well together. 
Potatoes Mashed with Onions. —Prepare some 
boiled onions by putting them through a sieve, and 
mix them with potatoes. In proportioning the onions 
to the potatoes, you will be guided by your wish fur 
more or less ol their flavor .—Germantown Telegraph. 
Fkmm Canada "West —We have frequent encouraging let¬ 
ters ftom Age nrs anil Subscribers in Canada. One just received 
form Welland Co,, says:—“ I wish you to send me, by return 
mail fall instructions and equipments for a Rural Brigadier 
iti Canada You Will recollect that I sent you a list of 24 trial 
recruits the 1st of Oct., the most of whom 1 expect to enlist 
for next year.” [The equipments have been furnished—yet 
any of our readers, in Canada or elsewhere, who wish to re¬ 
cruit for tho Rural Bkioaok, can ‘ pitch right in,” without 
waiting for any other equipment than a number of the Ho sal 
lo show as a specimen J 
Fnost tuk Army.—A n officer in the 4th Indiana Cavalry, 
stationed at Camp Guthrie, Ky., writes:—“Our men are about 
to be paid off, and as they are nearly all fanners I know 1 can 
get. quite a number Of subscribers for jour truly invaluable 
paper, The Rural, and thus render the men a real tennice, 
and, beside, aid in increasing your circulation. If you will si nd 
a few copies as specimens, l will go to work xt once.” 
— Tho Chaplain of the U. 8. Gen Hospital at Annapolis, 
Md., writes us as follows:—" I take this occasion in behalf of 
the soldiers in this hospital, to thank you for the liberality and 
generosity displayed by you in furnishing us, gratuitously, for 
so long a period, your valuable paper. It has been perused by 
hundreds of soldiers from all the Loyal States, and 1ms un¬ 
doubtedly soothed many a weary heart While expressing our 
thauks for your benevolence so freely manifested toward us, 
we. at tile same time, hope that, (not withstanding the largely 
increased expenses which yon must necessarily incur, conse¬ 
quent upon tho long continuance of the war, )you will be gov¬ 
erned in the future, as in the past, by tiiat comprehensiveness 
of mind which Includes other's interests with its own, and 
tfi at we shall continue to find your journal upon our tables.” 
— Writing ua from Aequia Creek, Va , a Soldier says— 
“Thinking of home, ami things as they used lo be, I could not 
forget the llt’KAl. New- Yorker; and it is to request you to 
forward me a copy weekly that I address jou this letter. Be¬ 
fore entering the army I was an admiring aud constant reader 
of your j-mrnaJ. and from its interesting arid instructive pages 
have learned many a les-on which has given me strength and 
moral courage when surrounded hy the dungeis of camp life. 
I am firm to the belief that your paper, placed in the hands of 
the soldiers, from week to week, would have a more tearing 
aud .devoting influence than all other papers with which the 
soldiers are supplied.” 
It is divided into eight plots, containing about 
four acres each, and the front plot, in which is tho 
house, barn, lawn, Ac., contains about eight acres. 
Through the center is a road connected with each 
square, and a road is made around each. Opportu¬ 
nity for turning may be had at the crossings of the 
roads, but a st.Ul better chance is given at the back 
of the lot. A border of standard fruit trees is 
planted around the whole form, both tor fruit and 
shelter. These plots, of course, might be divided 
to suit convenience, or crops. A, A, apple or¬ 
chards. B. standard pears, cherries and plums. C, 
peaches aud apricots. D, vineyard. E, raspber¬ 
ries, gooseberries and currants. F, strawberries. 
G, vegetables, n, dwarf pears and quinces. I, 
nursery stock. Of course, if a person desired to do 
much in the nursery business, a larger quantity of 
land them the plan gives, would be needed. 
GARDENS AND FRUIT GROUNDS, 
We continue onr plans for Gardens and Fruit 
Grounds, as promised, and in a future number will 
give some plans for smaller village lots. The first 
is a plan arranged for a gentleman in Le Roy. B, 
in the plan, is an old dwelling to be removed. The 
number of deciduous ornamental and evergreen 
trees planted is 387—and these are to servo the 
double purpose of shelter and ornament. Tbe plaD 
also provides for a large number of tbe different 
varieties of shrubs suitable to a placeof thisdescrip- 
tion. The trees embrace a large portion of tho dif¬ 
ferent varieties of our native forest trees, go blended 
as to produce at the different seasons of the year the 
most pleasing effect. 
The dwarf pear orchard contains 280 trees of the 
leading varieties, which can hardly fail in a few 
years to prove a considerable source of pleasure if 
not profit. The orchard for standard trees, such as 
apples, cherries, plums, tfeo, contains'15 trees, and 
the kitchen garden, either side of the main walk, is 
to be planted with gooseberries, currants, &o. The 
two squares at tho south end of the kitchen garden 
are to be devoted to other kinds of small Iruit*. 
such as raspberries, blackberries and strawberries. 
It will be observed, by referenoe to tbe plan, that 
the graveled space between the semi-circle and 
house is sufficiently largo to admit of the turning of 
Rural Wai.ks in England. —The chief enjoyment of my 
several visits to Leamington lay in rural walks about the 
neighborhood, and in jaunts to places of note and interest, 
which are particularly abundant in that region- The high 
roads are made plea-ant to the traveler by a border of trees, 
and often afford him the hospitality of a wayside hunch be¬ 
neath a comfortable shade. But a fresher delight is to be 
found iu the footpath* wbleh go wandering away from stile to 
stile, along hedges, and across broad field*, and through wood¬ 
ed park*, leading you to little hamlet* of thatched cottages, 
ancient, solitary farm-house*, picturesque old nulls, streamlets, 
pools, and all those quiet, secret, unexpected, yet strangely 
familiar features of English scenery that Tennyson shows us 
In his idyls and eclogues. These various by-paths admit the 
wayfarer Into the very heart of rural life, and yet do not bur¬ 
den him with a sense of intrnsiveness. lie has a right to go 
whithortoever they lead him; for, w ith all their shaded privacy 
they are as much the property of the public as the dusty high¬ 
road itself, and even by an older tenure. Their antiquity 
probably exceeds that of tire Roman ways; the footsteps of 
the aboriginal Britons first wore away the grass, and ttre nat- 
Ahout otm Cum Rates — Briefly —Two or three persons 
have written us, objecting to our increase of club rates, and 
others offering ns #1 25 per copy for at to SO copies. To such 
and all similar objections and proposal*, we have only to say 
we are now losing motley tm every enjiy furnished at said rate, 
(and we ace -uppLing between ifi.tKK) and fti.ion copie* at the 
losing price;) Uonce have no desire to male further investments 
of that chaiaeier. If we can supply tin- Rural to clubs ol 1.1,.10 
per copy, without In-ing money, we .hall he agreeably nlsap- 
poin'ed It is usclo.-s to write us about lower rales - a waste of 
time sud stationery. Better send us <3 per copy for next year 
to aid us in making up losses on papers furnished. 
Procrastination in cooking is tbe thief of all 
goodness in tbe potato. Cook quickly. 
