Fig. 2 is from a good medium sized wood 
and bud, having the lower cut made at the 
coarse wood file, cross-wise over the surface, 
and breaking up the continuity of outline, 
tearing and destroying the outer cuticle, or 
bark, and rendering the wood more accessi¬ 
ble to tire action of moisture and heat. 
Some growers, I believe, shave all the 
bark off from the lower end of the cutting. 
I have some doubts of the practical value 
of this method, having been unable to per¬ 
ceive that the cuttings so shaved, or rasped, 
made any more certain or vigorous growth. 
In my Delawares and Nortons I fail to grow, 
say ten per cent. Why, when they all ap¬ 
parently are equally good cuttings, have the 
same handling, &c., &c., is this so? 
But now to my plants grown from two- 
eyed cuttings. Fig. 4 is a plant of Concord. 
and not from extra samples intended to make 
show: 
D»te. From whom Purchiisod. Variety. Wulg 
Oct. 7, South Shore Wine 
1S6S. Co. Hartford Prol. 73' 
South Shore WIno 
Co., ConGord, 72' 
Oct 9. Churchill,Randall, ’ 
Southard, Beut- 
_ ty. Butts, Delaware, 951 
Oct. 20. South Shore Wine 
Co.. 
Dover Ray Wine 
CO., 
Oct. 27. South Shore Wine 
Co., 
Chas. II. Mott,tor, 
Veriailyea,Ensign, 
Pierce A Urenta, Catawba, 84* 
Whitohlll, Catawba, 78* 
French, Catawba, 83* 
South Shore Wine 
Co., Diana, 92S 
H, S. Southard & 
C\ Mottler, Iona, 941 
William Griffith, Iona, 93‘i 
Nov. 10. Dover Buy Wine 
C'o., Clinton, 95* 
C- H. Mottler, Ivea’ Seedling 75a 
Ftenoh, Clinton, 90* 
South Shore Wine 
Co., Clinton, 83* 
South Shore Wine 
„ Co., Toitalou, 74* 
South Shore Wine 
Co., Norton’s Vir., 84* 
* Summer pruned. + Not pruned. *Notsumme 
pruned 5 Pruned. IMOtller’s summer pruned 
T. Not known, a Fermenting before being weighed.- 
Ohio Funner. 
xncintrb 
tscussiotts 
MAKING GRAPE CUTTINGS, 
NEW YORK FARMERS’ CLUB, 
Isabella, 76* 
Ivea’ Seedling, 90* 
Catawba, 84* 
Catawba, 86* 
* ca \ ,n ^heep.— a. D. Simmy ant, Grundy Co., 
■ to., u ho is too tar away from civilization to get 
a work on the diseases of sheep readily, usks the 
< /tub to in fbrm him how to treat i he Bcab Prof 
Peters tolls him to dip the animals l„ a doooc- 
t ion of tobacco. Mr. Lyman says Prof. G amour 
told him the English farmers found dipping the 
animal with tho floeoo on did not prove success¬ 
ful—that they found it necessary, whero the 
wool was thick and oily, to warm the water und 
pour it into the flcoco through a watering 
pol, or otherwise opening the wool with the 
hands and rubbing t he tobacco water in. 
A Young Kuiimiim Former. Vincent Collyer, 
the Curator ol’ Cooper Institute, writes the 
Club from Kansas City, Mo., that that is the 
place for young men out of work or seeking to 
build up homes. Good farms can be got for 
f rom $1 to $25 per acre. Mechanics of all kinds 
lire needed. He laid been talking with a young 
farmer Who was loading corn which he bad sold. 
The farmer had one hundred acres of land, 
eight y acres of which was cleared and the bfll- 
amie l imber land, for which ho had puid $1,800. 
He had been on It three years, and It had ad¬ 
vanced in value seventy-live per cent. Ho 
would not lake $8,500 for It now. Tho past year 
be had produced on It 1,200 bushels of corn, 
which he sold at fifty cents per bushel of ears or 
$1)00; 1'ottr hundred buslmly of potatoes, at fifty 
cents per bushel, or $200; * 
llfty-slx bushels of oats, $820 
Fiocre 3. 
base ol the bud. The large roots are more 
numerous than in Fig. 1, but they are not as 
long. Fig. 3 is from one of the weak buds, 
with an inch or more of wood below the 
Propagating the Grape. — I). \V. Scott of Ga¬ 
lena, 111., propagates the grape through the sum¬ 
mer as follows He takes six-inch flower pots, 
beds them in the earth close to tho vine which 
he wishes to multiply, twists line wtro around 
the vino Just below a bud, so as to check the re¬ 
turn How of tho sap, cutting near or quite 
through the bark, then places this point of the 
vine about two Inches from tho bottom of tho 
pot, tilling the pol full of sharp sand. In tho 
fall separates each plant from parent vine, and 
puts away from frost in cellar till spring, vines 
can ho layered In this way throughout the entire 
season, from either old or new wood, and pro¬ 
duce very strong plants. 
a point, by the by, on which I may write a 
word or two hereafter. But now for my 
one-eye plants; — The cuttings were made 
to embrace one. eye; some of them had 
two Indies of wood above and below the 
bud; some had two inches above and one 
below; and sonic had the cut made just at 
^ base of the bud 
two * nclies 
Mil I £ »l|t t i of wood above, 
Ni J vj I and the sloping 
y | | I r cuts, made as here 
x Wj given. These cut¬ 
tings were first 
laid away in shallow boxes, four inches deep, 
mingling sharp white sand among them, ancl 
not permitting one cutting to touch another. 
In April, my ground, being sandy, gravelly 
loam, was warm and dry, fit for working. I 
had it deeply dug, and raked smooth. Then 
I got out my box of cuttings, and I found 
them nearly all, with a slight callous, or 
little white lip of delicate tissue, just around 
the outer edge of the lower cut. I saw no 
difference between those out, long or short, 
or even the squared ones, I got ready a 
board one foot wide, straight edged, and 
about ten feet long, laid it down on my bed 
of earth, and with a dibbling stick, made 
from an old broken handle of a spade, I set 
each cutting in line, at the edge of my board, 
standing myself on the board in doing the 
work. I set the bud of each cutting, as near 
as I could estimate by the eye, one inch below 
the level of the soil and one foot distant 
from each other. When one row was set, I 
turned my board over backward and proceed¬ 
ed with my second line- My plants or cut- 
tings, as you see, were thus one foot apart 
each way — a little too near I think; eight¬ 
een inches would have been better; but I had 
only a certain amount of room, and tried to 
grow too many. In fact, I am now satisfied 
that good, vigorous plants cannot be grown 
so thickly as has been commonly practised 
during the past ten years. 
When I had finished setting my cuttings I 
cast over them carefully and evenly two 
inches deep of old tau-barlc. They sprouted 
finely, and when they had made three leaves 
I took my iron ralce and drew out from 
among them nearly all of the tan-bark or 
mulch, leaving it at the end of the rows until 
early in July, when I again raked it in utnong 
them. And now for the plants and tho roots 
as I have dug them. I should have added 
above that in setting my cuttings I put the 
strongest wood and buds by themselves, and 
then the next, and then the next, making 
three classes. All had the same soil and 
subsequent care. 
four hundred und 
-.twenty-five bush- 
ei.s white beaus at $5 per bushel, $ 125 . Total 
$1,851 from crops alone. lie paid wages, $10, 
leaving $1,811 to show for his own labor and in¬ 
vestment from lii.-j crops. Ho bud purchusod 
throe head of uuttlo and raised live. Had also u 
good team. Mr. (OLLYER thinks other young 
men willing to work will llnd abundant oppor¬ 
tunities to do as well. Ite (Mr. C.) has no In¬ 
terest. in any lands or railroad west of tho Hud¬ 
son ami gives his impressions based upon facts 
obtained and observations made. Ho writes tho 
thousands of young men who crowd the Eust. 
whining because they cun llnd nothing remuner¬ 
ative to do, to strike out for the West. The Pres¬ 
ident indorsed Mr. Collykh's reliability and 
sagacity. 
Horace Grreijsy raid this was a very pleas¬ 
ant and doubt less a true picture und statement 
of what is doing and may bu done in the West. 
Hut ho desired to caution young men against 
expecting too much in the outset. They need 
not. expect to reap such results Hie first year. 
There would he Improvements to make at. the 
outset that would require, time to realize from ; 
but in three or four years an industrious go-u- 
hcad man might win his foothold there and lay 
tho foundations for an independent and happy 
life. I fc hud uo doubt, buta million young moil 
might do as well in throe or four years as this 
young man bad done. 
Mr. Peters asked if a young man could not 
do us well on a ten-acre New Jersey farm, culti¬ 
vating vegetables and small fruits for market. 
Mr. Gu keeey replied that garden culture is a 
finer act than the agriculture of tho Western 
prairies, and involves in its success more skill 
and knowledge; and where one might succeed 
well on tho small farm, twenty would fail who 
might succeed in tho Weat. growing corn on tho 
prairies. Tho capital required In tho outset, 
would be much the same In cither case. Tho 
experiments at Vineland and elsewhere had 
shown that ten acres was not area enough for 
men of small capital unless skilled in garden 
culture. 
Mr. Peters usked, “ What makes tho valuo of 
land?” 
Mr, Greeley replied its productive capacity, 
other things bcipgequal; hut that involves con¬ 
ditions in this country which require space. 
The West affords space, and those who soek to 
live in independence simply, making for them 
selves homes, rather than get rich at once, win 
do better there than here—will more easily win 
what they seek. 
Mi - , Peters said that the value of lands, agri¬ 
culturally speaking, depended upon the reinu 
uemtiou they gave to labor applied to them 
which also depended upou their nearness to 
good markets. 
Mr. Gkkeery replied that that was true; bu> 
Insisted that no one could tell by the raurketa ot 
to-day what I hey would be to-morrow. The ex¬ 
treme pioneer fanners will doubtless be as near 
ornearer remunerative markets ten or twenty- 
II vo years hence tW Hie farmers of Ohio are to¬ 
day. The develop men. of tho mineral resources 
of the West, are sure to cause great con¬ 
sumption of food which must and may profita¬ 
bly be produced on the Western prairies. There 
will be markets there; und the constantly en- 
hanclng value of lands will make investments of 
capital and labor there increasingly profitable. 
Making Cider. — A gentleman from New Jer¬ 
sey, who raid people might call him an old fogy 
Or a fool, but be dal not want to be uccused ol 
not knowing how to make cider, asserted that 
few people outside of that enlightened State 
know how to make this apple beverage. Ho 
could tell how. Ho would tell how. He did tell 
how in this wise: — Grind the apples fine. Use 
clean straw in making the cheese and express 
the juice ; put it In clean barrels and store it In 
a cool cellar, letting tho barrels lie on skids, with 
tho bungs open. After It has fermented, draw 
it off carefully, empty and cleanse the barrels 
thorough fy, und return the older to them. It 
will undergo a socoml fermentation, after which 
draw off again and treat as before; after the 
third fermentation It should be drawn off and 
barreled, or bottled, and kept from theuir. 
Deep vs. Mhnllow Plowing.—Tliis subject was 
again brought up, letters read on tho subject, 
discussions had, and tho whole matter finally 
disposed of. Nothing now was eiiciled by the 
discussion. 
Setting Chestnut Pests. — A correspondent 
writes tho Club that for thirty years be has ex¬ 
perimented with chestnut posts, and asserts that 
no sensible rnan will set them In any other way 
than tho top (of tho tree) end down. 
Whitening Beeswax — A correspondent asks 
how to whiten pure beeswax. Several gentle¬ 
men reply bleach it in tho sun under gloss. 
Figure 5. 
The roots at the base of the upper bud, from 
which the shoot also pushed, are as good as, or 
better than, those of Fig. 3 in the one-eyed 
plants, while the lower bud is fully supplied 
with large, long und strong roots and numer¬ 
ous small fibers. 
Fig. 5. is a plant of the Delaware, from 
the base of which only a few small mots 
were emitted, but the lower roots are numer¬ 
ous, strong and good. The piece of wood 
left below the bud on the cutting, is in both 
these last quite rotten, and breaks away 
usually as the plant comes from the earth, 
showing plainly that it 1ms served no pur¬ 
pose there, and might therefore be cut away, 
as is generally advised, square across at base 
of the butt. But I do not find that my cut¬ 
tings, where I made my cut square, have 
thrown their roots from the base any more 
than those with the two inches of wood left 
below. The question comes to me what has 
become of the callous, which was seen before 
the cutting was planted? Did ihe short ex¬ 
posure to the air destroy it, or did the rever¬ 
sion of the position of the cutting check the 
attraction, then had by heat and light, and 
thus destroy it? 
My plants, from three or four-eyed cut¬ 
tings, I find have roots at each bud or eye, 
ns shown in the two-eyed plants; but while 
the number of roots is greater, there are 
none of them as strong; and, except it be 
where the joints are short, so that tbe cut¬ 
ting cannot be made one foot long without 
embracing three or more buds, I see no gain 
in using more than two. 
But there is one more style of cutting 
which, although it is old, I yet believe em¬ 
braces one character not in the preceding. 
It Is that formerly known, anti almost uni¬ 
versally used, when tbe best plants were ex¬ 
pected to be grown, viz.: the mallet cutting. 
It differs only in the fact that it is made 
with an inch or less of the old, or two-year- 
old, wood attached to the base of the cut¬ 
ting; and in that attachment, or base, or 
crown, are supposed to be stored gx 
up a greater amount of vital, life- VmU 
giving power than can be con- 
eentrated in any one distinct bud 
—that junction or connection be- u|| 
iug in fact filled with buds, dor- k, 
mant so long as the main bud 
exists, but ready to do service as tw || 
soon as that Is destroyed. m "tjl 
Fig. 0 shows a representation l!*f| 
of this cutting; and I am strong- J ji 
ly disposed to believe that when II' 
the most sound, healthy plants, 
vigorous in every essential of vse* 
vital life, are wanted, they must Flo. 0. 
be procured from cuttings made to embrace 
this junction of old and new wood; where¬ 
in, as in tbe crown of the seedling tree, the 
most of life giving power exists. I do not 
doubt but that under care and culture tbe 
plants grown from single eyes, or two-eyed 
cuttings of last year's wood, may in time 
become full and perfect; but their growth is 
constantly enfeebled, and more and more, as 
the buds from which they are grown are 
destitute of full and perfect life. 
Frank Amon. 
Grape Tying Strings. The leaves of the Yuc¬ 
ca flhimentosa, taken andBattened in water, may 
he torn Into strips, and being' tougli and strong, 
they serve admirably for the purpose of tying 
wnipo vines to the trellis. They are also good 
for tying bunches of asparagus, hoots, etc. The 
plants aro easily grown, requiring t*oIl and c ul¬ 
ture similar to the common pie plant. They are 
propagated In the same manner,—by eye ofl- 
setts. Tho plant being an ornamental evergreen, 
and producing spikes of beautiful (lowers in 
June, may be planted in Hie strawberry, flower- 
garden, rockwork, etc., and thus become valua¬ 
ble in two ways. 
Figure 3. 
bud. Its roots are small, and so the top and 
the plant will require another year ere it be 
as well fitted to move into the vineyard as 
No. 1 is at thi3 time. 
ASPARAGUS 
From the 20th of March up to the first of 
April the asparagus beds should have the 
course part of the manure with which they 
have been covered during winter taken off, 
find, as soon as dry enough, the rest carefully 
forked in, ull clods removed, and the top-soil 
nicely pulverized with a rake. A dressing of 
coarse salt—fish sail will answer—should 
be applied the first week in April. The 
ground should lie well covered with the salt, 
but care must be taken that it does not come 
in contact with box-edging, plants and small 
trees, as it is fatal to them. 
In setting out new asparagus beds, if roots 
one or two years old are planted, let them he 
about one foot apart each way, tho crowns 
of the roots being from three to four inches 
below the surface. Tho soil should be at 
least eighteen inches in depth and made as 
rich as it cun be. Apply no salt until after 
tbe plants produce a crop, which will be the 
third year. 
Beds can be made as early in March as 
the season will admit of, but care mu$t be 
taken to perform the work in the best manner. 
There is no reason in the world why every 
farmer and family having a garden should 
not have an asparagus bed. There is no 
vegetable superior to it, and it comes before 
we can get anything else, except spinach 
and cauliflower, the latter, however, Is both 
troublesome and costly. When an aspara¬ 
gus bed is once established, and regularly 
covered in the winter with a good coating 
of rich manure, and salted in the spring, it 
will last, without other trouble or expense, 
from twenty-flve to thirty years .—Qer Tel. 
- ■ ■ 
To Grow Tomato Plant*. Permit me to tell 
your renders of u nice way to grow tomato 
plants. Tho seed should bo started as early as 
the middle or March. I started mine last spring 
Figure 4. 
Next come my two-eyed cutting plants, 
which are of Iona, Catawba, Ives, Concord, 
&c.; for believing more in cuttings of at least 
two eyes, or of a height of about one foot 
each, I made use of most of my wood last 
year in that form. In preparing them, I 
cut some of them close to the base of the 
lower bud ancl square across; and others I 
cut bap-hazard, just as came handiest. After 
making them, I tied them in bundles of 
about one hundred each, and, evening them 
at the butts or lower ends, I buried them in 
sharp sandy soil, butts upward, covering 
about eight inches deep. I had a couple of 
boards nailed together, roof-like, which 1 
tried to have kept over them whenever it 
rained; but I did not always succeed in so 
doing. However, as the sun. began to warm 
the earth in spring, —say middle of March 
or first ol April, — I began, to draw 
away, from time to time, the depth ||N 
of covering, until early in May I rJMj 
found them with only two inches of 
earth, and most of the stems or cut- Ml 
tings with the callous ring as noted |||,' 
in the single-eyed cuttings. ■§ 
I planted them with a dibble in the fp 
same way as described for the single- p? 
eyed, only I set them with tho upper sj A 
bud, each time, as near as I collides- 
timate, with so much covering that 
when the fresh-dug earth settled it l|| 
would be just level with the surface. IM 
I added my mulch of tan-bark, of two 
inches deep, also in between and among them. 
Some of my Delaware and Virginia Seed¬ 
ling cuttings I rasped below, just above and 
around the lower bud, drawing my rasp, or 
Lima Beans. — James U., Potsdam, N. Y. — On 
page C0, current volume of Rural, will be found 
an art icle on the culture of this bean, in your 
latitude it should not bo planted before tho 
26th of Mayor first ol' Juno. Soed can be ob¬ 
tained of any seedsman advertising in the 
Rural. 
Report on Grape Must.—Last fall the South 
Shore Wine Company, at North East, Pa., under 
the superintendence of the veteran John E. 
Mother, tested the must of a large quantity of 
If rapes of their own raising, and of what they 
purchased from other parties, the results ot 
which have been reported to us by Mr. Mother, 
as will be seen by tho following table. The 
grapes here reported on were all raised in tho 
neighborhood of North East, except those pur¬ 
chased at Dover Bay. 
N. B. This is for must as It run from the mill, 
Figure 1. 
Fig. 1 is from one of the strongest woods 
and buds, having an inch of wood below 
the bud. Its roots and top are strong; the 
number of large roots not as many as in 
Fig. 2; but they are longer and stronger. 
Tun in Garden *ufl». -Old spent tan bark, 
spread upon clay soils a depth of two Inches, 
und then plowed in, will assist more rapidly than 
almost any other application toward rendering 
such ground fit for gardening purposes. Spread 
early iu tbe spring und plow, and when ready to 
plant cross plow. 
VVe desire tho experiences of readers upon 
topics discussed In this column. We shall be 
glad to print ’em. 
mm 
1 
m 
i 
