surface for a seed toed. Mr. Carpenter would 
uot plow in manure auy way. His experience 
tons proved to his satisfaction that it. Is bettor t.o 
apply it to tlio surface, after plowtnif, ami har¬ 
rowing In. The Connecticut gentleman had 
tried that, and found It unprofitable, compared 
with the plowing in practice. The Champion of 
Shallow Plowing from Now Jersey, with great 
emotion, asked the indulgence of the Club while 
ho publicly expressed his gratitude to the Down 
Easter for the crumb of comfort he had given 
him. 
Peerless Potato.—Samples of this potato were 
distributed. Dr. Hkxamek said lie had grown 
It uml had found it very promising; but one 
year’s test was not sufficient to establish its char¬ 
acter. Mr. Quinn thinks it a better table potato 
than the Early Rose, oaten at Iho same time. In 
answer to an Inquiry, ho said the Comparative 
test was made late in tb© season. This, It was 
asserted, was not a fair test; for earlier in the 
season the Early Rose would bo likely to prove 
better because more nearly In a perfect condi¬ 
tion. Ono gentleman thought the Peerless a 
little earlier than Uresoe’s Prolific. 
Kegenerntlon or Peach Tree*.— A Long Island¬ 
er exhibited specimens of different peach trees, 
one of which, lie said, was infested with borers 
and affected by the yellows, and the other wus 
EDtsntsstotts 
lormtllurf 
AMERICAN INST. FARMERS’ CLUB. 
of the sayings and 
THE NEW AND OLD COLEUS. 
With the introduction of Coleus venchaf- 
feltii came increased taste and desire for 
masses or beds of plants in the summer sea¬ 
son, so distinct in their foliage as to attract 
attention; and at the same time came il de¬ 
sire to increase the richness of design or 
form of lied or mass by tone in color. I he 
dark rich, crimson of Verxchaffeltii, and the 
dark purple margined with light, soft green 
of Vd/rhii, when planted together, created 
an effect that for the time was satisfactory; 
but. so easily arc the Coleus grown and so 
rapidly have llorists abroad, and in our own 
country, raised new and rare varieties that 
even Coleus Bcrkeleyi, with its surface of 
large velvety leaves of rich chocolate purple, 
which has been the great attraction ihc past 
year, will, the coming season, doubtless be 
thrown entirely in the shade by the class 
now termed Golden Coleus, in which the 
markings and shades are more distinct and 
clearly defined, the tints perliapi richer and 
with a peculiar lustrous glow. 
A writer in the Floral World says“ The 
coloring of the best varieties is so gorgeous 
as to make it a matter oV sheer impossibility 
to exaggerate the splendor of their leafage.” 
To this, after an examination of the plants 
in the grccn-houso of .John Saul, Washing¬ 
ton, D. C., from one of which our figure 
here presented of “ Her Majesty” was made, 
we say, Amen 1 That this is the best one 
of the new collection, we are not prepared 
to say; for, so many were beautiful that, 
when we decided upon one the other pre¬ 
sented a claim, over which we could not rule. 
The claim of” Her Majesty” is its free lmhit, 
apparent robust constitution, and very broad 
leaves of deep brouzy crimson red in center, 
belonging to VerschaJ'cltu, with a distinct 
We continue our notes 
doings of this distinguished body of scicutillc 
agriculturists. 
What Water to Drink. —JOHN L. MOOIUS, Quin¬ 
sy, Ill.,writes that ho notices that, tho Clubs 
chemist recommends drinking well or spring in 
preference to rain water. He asks what kind of 
well or spring water. His family lias used ruin 
water u ruunbci'Of years Without ill effects. 1 ho 
Professor of Chemistry stated that it was diffi¬ 
cult to give a rule that would apply in all cases. 
Some spring water contained minerals deleteri¬ 
ous to tho system; some wells only contained 
surface water filtered through soils filled with 
malaria; and tho rain water was olteu, at cer¬ 
tain seasons of the year especially, laden with 
poisonous gases affecting Hie health. [The Ru¬ 
ral suggests that it is not often tlio case that 
tho mineral matter of springs is poisonous; but 
that well water in malarious localities, and rain 
water should always be filtered.! 
be likely to Ho still during winter; and then If 
he has been painstaking in his culture, he may 
have an abundance of that which will gladden 
tho eyes of his stock and fill to overflowing tho 
milk pail. 
Smutty Oats.—A correspondent says ho sowed 
a quantity of New Brunswick oats lust, year and 
about one head In twenty of the product boro 
nothing but smut. Ho asks If he sows these oats 
—those that are good, -will the smut lie propa¬ 
gated? Ho is answered yes, and told to soak 
them in strong briuo over night before sowing. 
A New Cottle < nr was explained by the inven¬ 
tor John W. Street, Marshalltown, Iowa. Tho 
car is divided in to compartments for each animal 
by moveable partitions which arc fastened at 
each end so that they may be taken down at will. 
Along the side of tho car arc water troughs 
which are to bo supplied with water from the 
station tank at will, by a pipo connecting each 
and terminating on top of lb© cur in a funnel. 
There tiro also mangers for each compartment 
to be supplied with feed from a chamber In the 
top of the car which can be entered by the drover 
from thotopHbd who cun thus take care of bis 
stock cn route, wit hout trouble or delay. Those 
cars are to be six feet longer than the ordinary 
boxcar, having a door in the center on each side. 
They will cost forty per cent, more than the 
common cattle cur in use. There will bo less 
delay in transportation, the cattle will lose less 
weight and arrive in martlet in a healthy condi¬ 
tion. He estimates that drovers cauiafford to pay 
extra for bringing cutUo from Chicago hither 
and enough to render tho invest merit a profitable 
ono to a company which shall undertake to sup- 
I ii tlilB ho is endorsed by Mr. 
arbener 
CABBAGE EXPERIENCE 
tersea Cabbage. The seed was all sown in 
adjoining' plots in the need bed early in 
April, and the plants were ready for setting 
early in June; the ground selected for set¬ 
ting was sandy gravel; had been cultivated in 
potatoes the year previous; was mellow but 
rather Inclining to be weedy, had a good coat 
of fresh barn-yard manure plowed In. The 
cabbage were set about, two feet, apart each 
way for the Winningstadt; the others two 
and a-half feet apart; were cultivated twice 
and hoed three times—once after they were 
too large to admit, of cultivating. 
The Winningstadt, nearly or quite all, 
formed good heads, not large, as the season 
was quite dry in this vicinity; in 1808 the 
Premium Flat Dutch and the Stone Mason, 
about two-thirds of them, were fit. for mar¬ 
ket., although many heads were not. large; 
but very few of the Savoys were of market¬ 
able size ; tho heads soft, as a rule, but fine 
for cooking ; the Battersea formed but a few 
heads fit for use; in fact, they and the Sa¬ 
voys were a failure for marketing purposes, 
but produced quite well for feeding stock. 
From that experiment I discarded the 
Battersea as unworthy of cultivation, and 
the Savoy as not being profitable; yet a 
neighbor who had a few plants of the Savoy, 
thinks they were the best cabbage ho ever 
raised; they grew and formed nice large 
heads in his garden, on stony soil. 
The past season I got the Early Winning¬ 
stadt, Flat Dutch, Stone Mason, Marblehead 
Mammoth 
ply these cars. 
Alexander tho largest shipper in the West.. His 
object la to organize a company to build these 
cars and run them, paying tlio railroad compan¬ 
ies a stipulated sum per mil© for passing them 
over their respective lines. Ilo estimates and 
drovers endorse him, that animals so delivered 
in market will bo worth live percent, more than 
those delivered here by the present mode. 
A Olril tloimnlMlon.— Mr. FULLER called tho 
attention of the Club to the fact that, there is a 
great difference id opinion ns to tho value to 
agriculturists of certain birds?. He thought it. 
proper for the Club to Investigate the claims of 
the feathered tribe to protection, and offered the 
following preamble and resolution, which was 
adopted : 
tFJierr«s, Tlio opinion el the agricultural com¬ 
munity I* divided u» to the value of hints iinu their 
friendliness to t,hu farmer; and 
Hitman The wanton and cruet destruction of 
those littlo animals, prohibited In some countries 
by law, i* «u the increase iu this community ; thuro- 
That ttilH Club Inquire into the (sots re¬ 
lating to binis, and elicit replies ir.mi different. parts 
r>f the country, and give tho public a carefully di- 
gested nummary nf wlmt farmers mid ornithologists 
know respecting tho habits ol' tie! crow, tie- robin. 
The woodpecker, tho bluejuy. and other varieties 
that are generally persecuted us enemies or shot 
wantonly. 
An Unfruitful Apple Orchnrd.— John C. Les- 
tkh has ati apple orchard fifteen years old, the 
treosof which wore planted thirty feet apart, 
and are In a One, healthy condition. The ground 
has been cultivated well annually, but ho gets 
no fruit. Ho wants to know wlmt ho had better 
do to render them fruitful. His neighbors ad- 
vlso him to seed down with grass. Mr. Carpen- 
I ter said he almost envied Mr. Lester that orcli- 
COt.KIIS—“ IIER MAJESTY 
that they may callous. Mr. Carpenter said it 
was not his practice. He did not know but It 
might bo an advantage. I). l’. also naked If ho 
should cut off the fibrous roots, and was an¬ 
swered, No. Also, if he should notch the roots 
with a knife in order that they might throw out 
fibers, and was again answered, No. Mr. Car¬ 
penter said the trees should not bo planted out 
in spring until tho ground got in good condi¬ 
tion. The roots should, In pruning, be cut from 
tho under side, so that the cut part, will bo in 
contact with the ground. The surface of the 
ground abovo the roots should bo thoroughly 
mulched the first year. Tho second year an inch 
Or two of ashes, leached or UJiloaehed, spread 
over the ground about the tree would uot 
barua It. 
Mineral Potash.—Mr. FOULER asked ir any 
one had used mineral potash aa a fertilizer, and 
whether Its effect upon vegetation was the same 
ns that of vegetable potash. 1 le said tills wusan 
important question. No ono answered It. 
Pears to Plant.—J. M. Hei.MAN, Greenwich, 
N. Y., wants to plant u, hundred pear trues this 
spring, and usks wluit. varieties to plant. Ho 
Mr. Carpenter 
cold; tho trees freeze to death. Mr. Fuller 
asked if it was freezing, how Mr. Crane account¬ 
ed for the yellows on the peach trees in Georgia. 
Mr. Crane did not answer, but said that bo bad 
found the muck from a bog meadow into which 
flowed iron springs, a most excellent fertilizer 
for the peach. Mr. Brukn hud cultivated 
peaches twenty years. Ho had used Iron in 
every shape and in unlimited quantities, uud if 
trees urc given good culture, the borers kept out 
Of them; he had not found iron to benefit. The 
specimens before tbo Club show no signs of yel¬ 
lows. If tho yellows once gels possession of it 
peach tree, it. Is absolutely incurable. 
The U*e of Lucerne.—Mr. Curtis read a paper 
upon the value of this plant for soiling. Hosays 
0 f jt,it will grow in tho same climate and 
soil with red clover, but needs stronger land, 
and, being a native of Southern Europe, re¬ 
quires, to perfect Itself, more sunBhino and 
warmth. This peculiarity can be remedied to a | 
considerable extent by a rich soil, a warm expo¬ 
sure and stimulating manures. When furnished 
with these advantages, its rapid growth, and tbo 
amount of lucorno which can bo takon off from 
a small piece of ground Is most astonishing. 
From four to six crops can be cut in one season 
from the same land. For (lush-forming and nu¬ 
tritive elements, it is superior to red clover, con¬ 
taining 50.7 parts to 41.3 in clover. Like clover, 
it covers tho ground with a dense shade, thus en¬ 
riching tho soil while tho roots strike down into 
tho subsoil to the depth of several feet, defying 
drouth, and leaving the land in admirable condi¬ 
tion for subsequent cultivation. Lucorno re¬ 
sembles clover in appearance, with a smaller 
leaf, and if loft to ripen, has a more woody stem. 
I would not recommend it to take tho place of 
clover for general purposes, but I do most em¬ 
phatically endorse it for a soiling plant to meet 
the great want, of the dairyman and stock¬ 
breeder. For horses it has spcciul merits; not 
being soft and washy, they aro not liable to 
scour on it. It is perennial. Once get it rooted, 
and with a clean soil it will thrive for yours, 
gelding its successive burdens of richness. The 
seed is larger than clover seed, and when rlpo 
and fresh, glossy and yellow—as the sample 
shows. They can be obtained of any first-class 
dealer at fifty cents per pound. The crop may 
tie sowed with grain, rye being tlio best; but it 
is preferable to sow alone—from eight to ten 
pounds of seed to the uore. 
Mr. Robert Gibbon, at Now York Mills, has 
had an extensive experience with the cultiva¬ 
tion and feeding of lucerne. The large Htock at 
New York Mills Is fed in summer on this grass, 
and their condition Is proverbially excellent. 
Mr. Gibson says, “the great point Is to got tho 
crop started.” To do this successfully it is best 
to plough tlio ground deeply in the fall, after 
, some hood crop, and then again In the spring, so 
i as to thoroughly pulverize it and fit it lor tho 
reception of small seeds. Tho seed should bo 
mil Fotler’s Brunswick, which 
last two sorts cost five times as much per 
ounce for sceil as the Fiat Dutch; and, for 
all purposes, so far as a single experiment 
proves, are not worth as much as the Flat 
Dutch. The seed was sown as in 1808 in 
April, and Lhe plants set in June and July, 
mostly in June; but this year the plot se¬ 
lected was green sward, which had been in 
meadow for the past four or five years, was 
well manured with fresh ham-yard manure, 
then plowed six inches deep about the 1st 
of May; after corn planting drew hog ma¬ 
nure, and spread on the surface of one-half 
the piece, and the scrapings of the born-yard 
on the other half; then harrowed thorough¬ 
ly and set the plants as in 1808—the Wiu- 
ningstadt the closest, as they are not as 
spreading as tlio other sorts in their growth. 
Their after culture was two hoeings by band. 
The ground was free of weeds, and it did 
uot cost, half as much for tillage for the half 
acre as in 1868. Tho crop fully twice as 
FLORICULTURAL NOTES, 
wants such as will bear fruit, 
said he would recommend him, in planting one 
lhousaml trees, to plant two hundred and fifty 
Bourre -d'AnJou, ono hundred Beurro Clatrgcau 
and fifty Lawrence, and then such other varie¬ 
ties as would best fill tho season. Mr. Fuller 
si rid tho Lawrence is the only pear named by 
Mr. Carpenter that will stand the climate of 
Washington county. Mr. Carpenter disagrees 
with Mr. If., uml the Club's correspondent, is in 
no sense wiser for his question. 
Norway Out*.— GltO. WOOD, Belfast, Mo., asks 
IT tho Norway Gut, is straw-colored, brown or 
mixed, (. e., aomo black oats and some white. He 
has scon Rammokll'S oats for sale that were both 
black and white. Mr. Williams says tho true 
Norway is nearly all black-gray. .Dr. Trimble 
thinks it tlmo to stop advertising those oata 
through the Club’s agency. Dr. Lawton does 
not agroo wjtli l)r. Trimble. Ho believes iu 
the investigation of everything brought to tbo 
notice of tlio Club affecting the Industrial inter¬ 
ests of the country, and saying good things for 
that which is good, albeit somebody may be 
personally benefited thereby, and condemning 
what may be bad, although some persons may 
be injured. 
Changing the Heed of Oat*.—Mr. IT ART of Litch¬ 
field Co., Conn., had found by repeated experi¬ 
ments, that changing his oat seed annually, 
bringing it from further North, increased bia 
crop from twenty-live to thirty per cent, over 
crops on tho same ground, and having similar 
plant apple and cherry trees seven years old by 
leaving a big ball of frozen earth about tho roots. 
The trees all died and he is resolved not to repeat 
the folly. 
To Prevent a Gate Hogging.—HENRY STEWART, 
Stroudsburg, Pa., prevents his gates sagging, 
and the posts heaving out in winter, In this way: 
“ I frame the posts in a sill of stout timber, and 
three foot above tho sill frame a second sill into 
tho posts, and pin the tenons with stout, pins. I 
dig a trench sufficiently deep to sink the upper 
sill a few inches beneath the ground, and hang 
my gates. Such posts will uot tnovo while tim¬ 
ber lasts.” 
How to Plant Hickory Nul*. E. D. WIL¬ 
LIAMS, Harpers villa, N. Y., writes:— u Having 
two acres of hill-side too steep for profitable 
culture, and not producing much pasture, 1 pro¬ 
pose to plant it to hickories, and I would know 
now to proceed." Mr. Feeler pays plow tho 
ground and plant tho hickory nuts In rows five 
feet apart. Sow the nuts thickly at first and 
thin them out us they become crowded. Plant 
in autumn, and fresh nuts, for those too well 
dried will not grow. Cultivate the t rocs for two 
or throe yours, or until they begin to shade tho 
ground. Here, as elsewhere, careful culture 
will pay much better than slovenly culture. 
