? 482 
Q©B£ ! S BUBAL NEW-YORKER 
giarn of i\ pluralist. 
DAILY RURAL LIFE. 
FROM THE DIARY OF A OINTIEMAN NEAR NEW YORK CITY. 
Unprotected Plants. — Feb. 26.— We 
have had but very little snow this winter, 
consequently all small plants have suffered 
more or leas. Strawberries that were not 
protected last fall arc considerably injured, 
and many of the most extensive cultivators 
of this fruit say that the prospects for a 
crop next summer are very poor indeed. The 
weather has been very dry and cold, and 
to-day the dust is almost as abundant as 
during a drouth in August. Whether this 
unusually severe winter upon strawberry 
and other plants will teach fruit growers a 
good and useful lesson, is at least doubtful, 
although it should; but they have been so 
accustomed to trust, everything of the kind 
to chance that it will require more than the 
loss of oue crop to teach them to do other¬ 
wise. If we have a. short crop of small 
fruits next summer, cultivators will play 
constantly on that “harp of a thousand 
strings, ” “bad luck,” which is only another 
name for neglect. During my eighteen 
years experience in cultivating strawberries 
near New York city, I have never known a 
winter so mild that protection was not ac¬ 
tually beneficial, even if not posit ively neces¬ 
sary, 1 have known the plant s to be well 
protected with snow for two or three 
month: in winter, but two or three weeks 
of freezing and thawing weather in spring 
would injure them and lessen the yield at 
least one-half. I have always found it best 
to be on the safe side, when it could be done 
without, too great an expense. 
Sowing Grass Seed.— Feb. 27.—I have 
sown the seed of twenty species of grasses 
in my green house to-day, all different from 
the fifty which I cultivated last year. Per¬ 
haps some of the readers of the Run at. Nkw- 
Yorker may wish to know what 1 want t o 
do with ho many different grasses, while it 
is quite evident that not one in ten in worth 
cultivating for any practical use. My ob¬ 
ject is simply to obtain specimens of each 
for an herbarium; and 1 have found this 
the be3t method of studying the habits of 
each particular species, of which seed can 
bo procured. When the plants have arrived 
at the proper stage (which is usually when 
in bloom, or a few days later), they are 
cither cut or pulled up, and the requisite 
number of specimens carefully pressed and 
dried, then labeled and put away in my I 
herbarium. Now. this is a very olieup and 
simple way of acquiring a knowledge of 
grasses or other plants. 1 will also venture 
to say that any farmer or farmer’s son, who 
can name fifty species of tl^c most common 
grasses, is considered quite an oracle in bo¬ 
tanical loro; and yet, any boy of twelve 
years can. if lie will, acquire tbis amount of 
knowledge in one season. 1 will suggest a 
plan by which farmers can learn the true 
names of a large number of the different 
species of useful and ornamental grasses. 
Suppose there are five or ton men or boys 
iu a school district who desire to obtain a 
knowledge of the plants which are essen¬ 
tially the foundation of all our agricultural < 
wealth. Let them club together and send 
five or ten dollars to some well-known i 
seedsman for fifty or one hundred species 
of grass. A small paper of seed, costing « 
not more than five or ten cents each, will ] 
be sufficient, of any oue species. Let these 1 
be distributed among tlio members of the i 
Club, or allow any one who is known to be I 
skilled in such matt era, to cultivate them, t 
being careful to preserve both the common < 
and scientific names. At the proper lime 1 
save as many specimens as there are incrn- l 
bers of the Club, or even a greater number i 
will be found useful. Press, Carefully label, i 
and preserve for future study and ref cr¬ 
on oo. At au expense not exceeding one ] 
dollar, each member of a Club could obtain t 
from fifty to one hundred species of grasses c 
with their proper names attached. Any I 
young man who will start with this num- t 
her will not be very likely to cense his of- 1 
forts until hundreds are added to the col- y 
lection. Other plants besides grasses will t 
be very likely to receive attention, and the f 
boy who might otherwise grow up in igno- j 
ranqe of the simplest weed under his l'oet, t 
will eventually become a man of more than t 
ordinary intelligence, if not of great scion- a 
tific attainments. Whenever our agricult u- f 
rists learn liow simple a tiling it is to ob- i 
tain a knowledge of their own immediate 1 
surroundings, we shall see a much higher i 
order of questions asked b 3 ’ them through t 
the agricultural press. u 
Boys; begin your grass herbarium this c 
spring, and teacli your fathers the difference t 
between Red-top and Blue grass; also show t 
them that while Wheat, Rye, Oats and Corn 
are true grasses, Red and White Clover are 
not. And while you should be ever ready 
to listen to the aged and learn wisdom of 
them, if they possess any, be sure and have 
something to give in return. If you want 
any further information on tbis subject, 
write to the Editors of the Rural New- 
Yorker, and they will no doubt answer 
your questions. 
Pruning Young Pear Trees.— Feb. 28. 
—Last spring 1 planted fifty two-year-old 
standard pear trees, upon very light, sandy 
soil. Knowing that pear and apple trees 
succeed best on rather a heavy soil, I did 
not expect that my trees would make much 
growth the first season, if ever. Of course 
I attended to (he planting myself, and gave 
number of boxes made, you are ready to sit 
down in the house and plant your hot-bed 
in a warm room, instead of encountering 
the rough, spring winds. But first have 
ready, also, your little, thin, pine label, 
sharpened at one end, to stick down, prop¬ 
erly marked, into the boxes, as fast as they 
arc planted. 
Now get your pan of nice soil and your 
box of fiower seeds, a little block of wood 
with a square end to settle the dirt in the 
boxes, and a dozen or so of shingles, and we 
will go to work. Now fill your paper box 
nearly full of dirt, settle it, and smooth it 
with your little block, then plant it thinly 
with seed on top of the soil, sprinkle a thin 
layer of dirt to cover, pat it down, and, 
after putting the name on your label, insert 
Atoiri) llushmlrjj. 
IMPROVED CHURN TOP 
There are many “patent churns,” but 
few of them are worth anything. The 
“old-fashioned ” dash-chum is preferred 
by many housekeepers; and, after all, we 
believe it the best. Milk can be churned in 
it in as short a time as in any other, 
provided it is in proper condition. If not 
in proper condition, no churn on earth can 
“ make the butter come ” as it should. 
"Nearly all the churns that are made have 
tops which are sawed out of a piece of solid 
each tree two good wheelbarrows full of old, >t > n tbe side of the box and put it on a 
well-decomposed manure, mixed with the 
soil for a space of three or four feet, near 
the tree. The results have exceeded my 
expectations, for the trees made a most 
vigorous growth; some of the new shoots 
are at least four feet in length. 1 should 
add t hat. 1 pruned the trees severely when 
they were planted, the branches being 
shortened to about, one foot, which I firmly 
believe had os much to do with their vigor¬ 
ous growth last summer as the manure, 
careful planting and after culture. I am 
now pruning those trees again, not so se¬ 
verely as last year; still every young shoot, 
is shortened; those that are four feet long 
are out back to two feet,, and all others in 
about the same ratio, occasionally removing 
a branch entire, to keep the head of the tree 
open. If these trees were not pruned at all, 
(as some would-be authorities on fruit cul¬ 
ture advise,) they would soon become the 
most ungainly, ill-appearing things imagina¬ 
ble. Instead pf the fruit being produced on 
the strong, lower branches, which are able 
to sustain the weight,, it would be on t lie tail, 
slender twigs, and it would sway about until 
blown off before half mature. By judicious 
pruning, we can build up a tree into almost 
any desirable form, and make it, produce its 
fruit, just where it, will be the most con¬ 
venient for gathering, and be certain it will 
not bo blown off before mat urity. The nat¬ 
ural tendency of most, varieties of pear trees 
is upward; but a wide-spreading, open head 
is the most desirable form for producing a 
large crop of fine fruit; therefore we must 
prune to correct natural defects. 
(dflflrqultiqitl. 
HOW TO START FLOWER SEEDS IN A 
HOT - BED. 
Every person who makes any pretensions 
whatever to floriculture, should have a hot¬ 
bed ; and as they are simple iu their con¬ 
struction, and easy in preparation and 
management, the wonder is that there are 
so few who avail themselves of their ad¬ 
vantages. Almost any of the “ Catalogues 
and Floral Guides,” issued by seedsmen, 
will furnish explicit directions for their 
construction, preparation and care- And 
you who have never had one let me entreat 
you not to let the present season pass with¬ 
out making the experiment,. 
Well, then, presupposing that you have 
announced to Mr. Caudle that you intend 
In have a hot-bed this season, and that the. 
dutiful man has provided you one, properly 
placed on the sunny, sheltered side of some 
house or fence, and that the proper season 
is approaching for planting it, while we 
leave if awhile to heat, we will prepare for 
the campaign iu such a maimer that wo 
shingle; and so Continue until you have 
planted all you wish, remembering to put 
such tine seed plants as will not bear much 
sun without scorching, on the same shingle, 
so that they call he placed along the sides 
of the frame and be protected from the sun. 
Tlic benefits arising from these boxes are 
that you may raise a single plant in each, if 
you choose, and that you are enabled to 
transplant tender plants from the liot-bed 
to the ground, box and all, without disturb¬ 
ing the roots; here the box soon decays. 
As the boxes frequently become tender 
j from being watered, t hey would be difficult 
to handle uiiIcsb placed on shingles. If, 
after placing your shingles of boxes in the 
hot-bed, you would cover each with strips 
of flannel, to hold the moisture, your seeds 
will more certainly and more rapidly vege¬ 
tate. Where you raise a number of plants 
in a box you will find it much easier to tear 
away the paper and separate the plants for 
transplanting than by the usual method. 
The above hints may seem too simple to 
commend themselves to the better sense of 
the floriculturist; but if they will secure a 
trial for a single season, the process, simple 
as it is, will be fully appreciated. Last 
year, by planting a single seed to a box, l 
was successful in growing three flue plants 
of the exquisite and rare green-house plant, 
Clianthus dampieri , which bloomed; and 
with that most exquisite vine, Cobett xettn- 
<len.x, I have always been successful by the 
same process. Mrs. L. G. Bedell. 
Crown Point, Iml., Feb., 1873. 
- ♦“*•4 - 
GLADIOLUS SEEDLINGS. 
How do you raise Gladiolus from seeds 
Horace Schwerin. 
Seed gathered last fall should be sown 
next spring in frames or in the open ground, 
covering them not more than a half inch 
deep. If the seed are soaked for a few hours 
in warm water before solving, they will 
germinate in less time than if this operation 
is omitted. To obtain a good strong growth 
the first season, requires considerable care 
and attention. The soil in which the seed 
are sown should be light and friable, be¬ 
cause, if it is a clay, there is danger of its 
becoming so hard that, the young seedlings 
will fail to break through. The surface of 
the bed should also be kept constantly 
moist, iu order to assist germination, be¬ 
sides keeping up a continued growth in the 
young seedlings. The two principal rea¬ 
sons why so many persons fail iu growing 
such plants from seed are:—They either 
cover the seed too deeply or, if shallow, 
they allow the soil above them to become so 
dry that the seed or plants cuuuot grow. 
As a rule, cover the seeds very lightly, then 
give plenty of water. If these conditions 1 
wore always secured, we should have less I 
complaining about poor seed and failures. I 
t he campaign in such a manner t hat we | u requires two to throe years under ordi- 
e:m take care of our vegetable offspring nary circumstances to produce blooming 
v.iih case, and also bo able to transplant bulbs of .Gladioli from seed; and although 
with case, and also bo able to transplant 
them when old enough, without placing 
nine-tenths of them in jeopardy by the 
operation. 
To begin with, hunt up some firm, strong 
paper; if your husband has the misfortune 
to be an Editor, go to his office and get some 
of those exchanges, in which he has always 
been puzzled to discover any utility, because 
they are too stiff for wrapping paper, and 
too Clumsy even for kindling the fire. Or 
you might do a good thing by giving some of 
the “Musical Reviews” the exquisite satis¬ 
faction of having accomplished some good 
in the world, by using them. Take of your 
stout paper, a piece six inches wide and 
thirteen indies long; fold it in half, length¬ 
wise; then fold it up in three-inch squares, 
four times; by opening it partly and letting 
it form a cube, you will discover that you 
have the four sides of a box, with an extra 
inch to lap over to sew it together; then 
take a double piece, three incites square, 
and sew iu for a bottom. After the first 
one is made, you will find it so simple thul 
the manufacture of fifty or a hundred of 
these boxes is a small task. A sufficient 
J it is a tedious process, much pleasure may 
be derived from their culture. New varie¬ 
ties are certain to be produced; but whether 
they will be improvements upon old and 
well known sorts, is a matter of chance. 
-■-- 
FLORICULTURAL NOTES. 
Standard "Works on Botany.—Which 
is the best standard work on Bot any for the 
practical use of nurserymen and florists, 
and where can it be obtained, and at what 
cost.—J. B. K. 
Wood’s and Gray’s are standard works 
on American Hants; but, if you wish to 
study up nurserymen's and florists' plants, 
quite a number of books will be necessary. 
\Ve have several hundred botanical works, 
but occasionally come across plants not de¬ 
scribed iu liny of them. New plants are 
constantly being introduced, and these are 
described iu Botanical Magazines, which 
one needs to study in order to keep up wit h 
the times in botanical knowledge. Gray's 
[School and Field Botany is a late work, and 
valuable to those who do not desire a very 
extensive knowledge of exotic plants. 
Fig. 1. 
Fig. 3. 
wood, with a circular disk in the center to 
prevent the milk from running over the 
top from the dash hole. Besides this, these 
tops almost invariably warp, so that a crack 
is left around the edge of it, from which the 
milk splusbcs and is wasted. T never mo 
the same top 1 get with a new churn, on 
that account, but go to a carpenter’s shop 
and dress off a dry poplar or pine board 
which is an inch thick; saw it off about, 
twelve or fourteen inches square, ns in A, 
Fig. 1; then I take a similar board and saw 
it round, as at H, Fig. 1, to fit the top of the 
churn; these two pieces are screwed or 
nailed firmly together; a 11^ inch hole is 
bored in the center (a little larger than the 
dash stiff), see Fig. J. Such a top cannot 
warp. 1 then take my new top to the tiuticr 
and have a tin funnel made and fitted per¬ 
manently in the hole, as at C, Fig. 2, the 
letter D representing the edgo of the top 
spoken of above. The taper cud of the fun¬ 
nel fits the hole nicely all the wuy through, 
and is bent around under the bottom of the 
hole, which-effcctually prevents milk splash¬ 
ing out of the hole; while the funnel itself 
prevents the tuilk from slopping out over 
the edge, even in the hands of a careless be¬ 
ginner. This funnel is only made four 
inches high and about five Inches wide at 
the top. If you will have such a contrivance 
made, .you can churn yourniilk on a tapestry 
carpet, without fear of its being soiled. 
Simpler and fur more useless things than 
this are often “patented.” 
Stanford, Ky. Woodman. 
-♦♦♦- 
DAIRY NOTES. 
Cows Bag Caking.—A correspondent 
of the New England Farmer says: “ When 
cows’ bags “cake” after calving, let the 
calf bunt it down, after milking away so 
much that the calf has not quite enough for 
his supper. As prevention is better than 
cure, I have learned the best way is not to 
let their bags get “caked.” In the morning, 
w hen I let out my cows, if there is one I 
think will calve during the day, I put her 
back in the stable and keep her there, and 
do not let her drink until her bag is milked 
down, and then only part as much as she de¬ 
sires, and if the chill is taken off the water, 
all the better. Avoid a rioh slop, as you do 
not want to start the flow of milk too sud¬ 
denly. Remember the cow is weakened by 
her labor, and should bo treated accordingly. 
It is natural for a cow as soon as she drops 
her calf, to go and drink heartily of cold 
water on account of her fever; the conso- 
quence is she gets a cold and it settles in her 
bag, and causes the caking difficulty. 
Cure for Rancid Butter.—A corre¬ 
spondent asks for a remedy for rancid but¬ 
ter. Heretofore a correspondent has said, 
in t he Rural New-Yorker, that sweet or 
sour milk will sweeten frowy butter much 
better than salt or saltpetre. There is 
nothing which absorbs whatever is offen¬ 
sive to the smell or taste, so quick as milk, 
cream or butter, and no agent can be em¬ 
ployed that will so quickly or surely extract 
the ivoodou flavor from new dairy utensils. 
