ft ’ 
| <72 
MOORE’S RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
SEPT. II 
cjlorinultuiptl 
FLOWER GARDEN TOPICS. 
Weeding BEDS. — For the post summer < 
instead of accumulating the grass and weeds « 
pulled upfront the flower-bode in heaps, to 1 
bo thrown Dually upon the rubbish pile, wo t 
have rolled them up in balls, as snort as a : 
handful lias been col lee ted, anil placed them i 
under the foliage or clone to the stem of i 
the nearest plant. By the time the bed has i 
required a second weeding, these balls have i 
become ho well decomposed that they were < 
ready to crumble to pieces and incorporate 
with the soil. Thus w«ed# and grass, instead 
of Impoverishing the soil, are made to enrich 
it. Of course if the bed lias been long neg¬ 
lected and is obokod with weeds that have 
gone to seed, this proceeding is nut advisable. 
Walking over the beautiful grounds of a 
floral establishment in our vicinity, we were 
particularly attracted by the rich ellcctol a 
heart-shaped bed made up of an /I bullion. 
Tkutntujnll for the center, a perimeter bor¬ 
der of Cineraria murUirna, the intervening 
Hpnoo Oiled in with large, shining, blackish- 
purple leaves that, at a little distance, we 
supposed to be those of some novelty of rare 
beauty. Anxious as we were while thus 
impressed to procure specimens, an unac¬ 
countable indifference followed upon ascer¬ 
taining that they were Beet-tops. Dell’# 
black licet and other varieties have been 
used in this way in place of Ferttlax and 
I retinex ever since ribbon-border* have been 
in vogue. Tit at we should have prized this 
lino oil'aot less, after ascertaining its social 
standing, is an instance of the tribute that 
many of us arc willing to pay to that which 
wo believe to be dear and rare with little, if 
any, regard to real merit. 
A 1Iai*py Thought.— In 188$) Peter Grieve 
refers to the endeavors being made to take 
advantage of the disposition occasionally 
observed in variegated 1 ‘ctargnuiuiaH to re¬ 
verse the markings of the leaf, so that the 
light color should exist in the disp and the 
green in the margin. Ho slates :—“ This 
apparent predisposition on the part of sumo 
seedlings has, as may bo supposed, raised 
flic hopes of many enthusiastic experiment¬ 
alists, so that every expedient is being re¬ 
sorted, to in order to take oil vantage of this 
tendency; and should these endeavors be 
crowned with success, they may possibly 
lead to the development of forms and com¬ 
binations of ornamental foliage which at 
present arc scarcely contemplated,” 
These hopes have been realized to the 
fullest in the production of tlm Pelargonium 
—“A Happy Thought”—a novelty of last 
year, first ottered in America, we believe, by 
Mr. Chitty. The leaf is large and [ruffled - 
with a deep green margin, and a distinct 
white or creamy-white disc. Though some 
what long and loose in habit, the plant stands 
the sun well, retains its distinctive markings 
perfectly, and we should think that the 
variegated Pelargonium family would be 
happy to welcome “ A Happy Thought” as 
a permanent and distinguished member. 
A BUT i LON Houle, ile Nfeige we recommend 
as being, with the exception of A. UurwlnU 
perhaps, the freest bloomer of the species. 
Its Jflowers arc nearly white, and rather 
larger than those of the popular A. Thump 
ho nil. The young Btems are almost black, 
the loaves long, heart-shaped, acute, crenatc 
and not lulled, The habit iH dwarf, having 
grown with us but three feet during the past 
summer. Ii, has bloomed without an in¬ 
terval. 
Abutilons, if cut down to within a foot of 
the roots in the fall, and not favored during 
the winter, make a rapid and luxurious 
spring growth that renders them conspicu¬ 
ously beautiful in foliuueous or tropical beds 
during the rest of the season. limmvrdian 
treated in this way bloom incessantly through 
the summer until frosts. It is merely a 
matter of choice wlielher they bloom in the 
house or out of doors; whether they adorn 
our windows or conservatories during winter 
or our flower plots during summer. 
Grafting I'klahoonjumh. — The time is 
now favorable for grafting Geraniums, which 
when successfully performed (an easy pro¬ 
cess), with the exercise of a little ingenuity, 
produces results as gratifying as any flori- 
cultural manipulations with which we are 
familiar. Select fur the stock any thrifty 
Geranium which we do not highly prize 
(double flowering stocks we should choose) 
having, let ns say, three straight stems grow¬ 
ing from the root a foot or more high, and 
diverging towards the tops so as, if con¬ 
nected, un equilateral triangle would be de¬ 
scribed. in one of these insert a cion of 
Mad. Pollock, or any otliur vigorous golden- 
variegated variety. In the second, a cion of 
a distinct bronze, like Caulderdale. In the 
third, a cion of Any of the silver-edged sorts. 
As in the cleft-grafting of trees, slit the stock 
with a sharp knife through the middle down¬ 
wards half an inch or more. Cut the cion 
off half an inch beneath a node or leaf-stalk, 
and sharpen the end cleanly wedge shaped. 
Pry open the slit gently and Insert the cion, 
and bind it securely with n woolen or carpet 
yam. It is not necessary to place the cion 
and stock bark to bark, and the use of graft¬ 
ing-wax is injurious. Platte the grafted plant 
in a still, shady spot, and in a few days we 
Hhall know if the dona have united, 'ilm 
distinctly tliree-foliagcd plant* thus produced 
upon tail, shapely stems, after they have 
made a sufficient growth, are exceedingly 
attractive and interesting. 
Lobelia aardUnalin. — Among the wild 
plants that are blooming now there is not 
one more showy than the Cardinal flower of 
the meadows and river bunks. The flowers 
uni of so deep and superb a scarlet that 
others we prized for their Intensity of color 
look quite dimmed when placed by its side. 
About twenty are boro© in a one-sided 
(aecUttd), rather nodding raceme. It is a 
hardy perennial, which, though seeming to 
choose low lands for its abode, thrives as well 
in any other situation. 
Gkhaudia purpurea, which wo may now 
flue] in low fields and roadsides, is a pretty 
flower of the Figwort family, of a delicate, 
rosy-purple color, with two stripes of light 
yellow upon the lower part of the tube, 
speckled with red. They arc about an inch 
long, of a curved bell-shape, and covered in¬ 
side with a soft, cottony down. But for the 
linear, rusty, little leaves which give the axil 
I ary flowers the look of blooming upon dying 
stems, this Uerardia might be recognized 
among that select, fastidious, unreasoning, 
autocratic fraternity called Cultivated Plant*. 
Belonging to the same order we may now 
Ibid (if wo desire) the Turtle or Bnakehoad, 
CiiELONE glabra, a near relative of the 
Iienrdtongue, or Pemltnvmon. its flowers 
are generally white, sometimes rose, borne 
in dense terminal spikes, and the plant varies 
from two to four feet high. Their rescui 
bianco to a snake’s head hi the compressed 
tube and gaping lips is by no mcaus us fanci¬ 
ful (is are many other Imputed Uowa w* 
sembla nces. Pressed on either side below the 
lips, and, like the Snapdragon, Lhe mouth 
opens,revealing a swollen tongue In the form 
of the wooly anthers. 
Let no lover of flowers relinquish an inten¬ 
tion of adding Chelont glabra to Ids collec¬ 
tion because it conjure* up snake head*, it 
is likewise thought to resemble a uhetl, and 
is thence culled Bhollflower, so that we have 
a choice of associations. 
Th© meadows nr# yet alive with the gor¬ 
geous swamp ltosc Mallow (IHblscua Moh- 
cheutOH), and seeds from the earlier blooms 
may now be procured. The flowers are 
sometimes seven inches ill diameter, varying 
in color from deep rose to nearly white. 
K, B. Cabman, 
utver Edge, Borgori (!o., N. J. 
<£cottomtr. 
RESULTS OF GOOD FARMING. 
1! DOUBLE IVY-LEAVED PELARGONIUM. 
The pretty little sketch which we copy 
below from the London Garden is that of 
a double Ivy-leaved Pelargonium, named 
” Konlg Albert.” It, is introduced by Mr. 
Oannki.l, and described as perfectly double, 
pink in color, with deep carmine streaks or 
veins down the center of the upper petals. 
JtliMrv 
Vv) 
■rajv\- 
£-'V 
Ivy Geraniums, as we familiarly call them, 
are almost unsurpassed for boskets, vases, or 
rock- works, and “ Konlg Albert” wiU prove 
a first-rate acquisition, if the sketch and de¬ 
scription do not flatter it too highly. 
Toads to Protect Plants.— English gar¬ 
deners now gladly pay four shillings each 
for toads. They And them the best and 
cheapest destroyers of insects which infest 
their plants. 
There is no more important or effective 
incentive to good farming than the expert- ( 
cnee and success of good farmers. What ^ 
has been done once may be done again, and ^ 
the following letter from a New Hampshire ^ 
farmer in the Mirror ami Farmer of that , 
State does not, exceed the practical results ^ 
which we have known in many other in- ( 
stance# t t 
1 am what might bo termed an enthusias- { 
tic farmer. I believe that farming, when , 
conducted with the skill, economy and en¬ 
terprise that characterize# most other field# 
of industry, affords ample remuneration ; i 
that it is conducive to a better physical de¬ 
velopment ; that its lessons and sunound- 
ings promote a higher moral and spiritual 
development than any of the numerous 
avocations of mankind; and therefore it 
j pays. Nine years ago last fall I purchased 
the farm upon which 1 now reside, paying 
therefor 12,400—running in debt 1800 on the 
purchase. For about three years previous 
Pi my purchase the farm had been rented, 
and about 17 years previous to that the own¬ 
er made a yearly practice of selling about 
four tons, or one-half of the English hay, re¬ 
turning no equivalent therefor. He usuully 
kept three cows, a horse and a pair of oxen 
most of the time. He cut as I am informed, 
about eight tons of English hay, and about 
the same of meadow and stock hay. 
During the nine years of my ownership, 1 
have paid for farm help, $1,074. I have pur¬ 
chased 1,127 bushels of corn, lit ft cost, of $1, 
000.70 ; tons of shorts, costing $378 ; 
have paid out $350 for hay ; purchased 1140 
worth of manure, ashes, etc,, amounting in 
all to $0,021,70. My improvement# during 
this period consisted of erecting a new barn, 
38x80, with all the modern improvements, 
digging a well some 70 rods away, and sup¬ 
plying both house and barn with i mining 
water, putting in about 100 rods of under- 
drain, removing hundreds of tons of rocks 
from the fields, and bringing the land to such 
a state of cultivation as to cut last year 20 
Pins of bay, where eight was cut before, 
wintering more than double the stock tho 
place was able to carry when 1 purchased it. 
Bucli an outlay would cause many doubts 
and fears in the minds of timid farmers as to 
the financial result. Now for the receipts : 
During these nine years 1 have sold from the 
dairy, besides what was consumed by the 
family, (and that not a small one) 8,518 
pounds of butter for $3,(148.50 ; calves and 
veal sold, $888.43 ; have fattened and slaugh¬ 
tered 11,812 pound# of pork, worth at tho 
time of slaughtering $1,215; pigB sold, $182 ; 
poultry and egg# $713.22 ; for apples, $395, 
potatoes, $147.50 ; for beef and mutton, $450, 
making a total of $7,080,70. 
But this showing does not embrace the ex¬ 
penses required in maintaining a family, and 
all other expenses incident to living I find, by 
looting the yearly receipts ami expenditures 
from all sources, that the account stunds ns 
follow*: Total receipts, $12,815 55; expen¬ 
diture*, $11,275.63 ; balance of receipts over 
expenses, $1,030.87, But this 1# not all. An 
| inventory of the stock on the farm ov< r 
what it was nine years ago amount# to about 
$425. But to tell the whole story in as few 
words as possible, the debt of $800 has been 
[ wiped out, $225 worth of land added to the 
farm, all improvement# above enumerated, 
and u little left for a rainy day. All this, Jot 
me assure you, has been made from the le¬ 
gitimate operations on the farm, excepting 
about $150 made, one season packing pork, 
and about $100 in purchasing cider apples to 
senu down to Massachusetts, is not such a 
result sufficient to satisfy any reasonable 
ambition » Can one out of ninety-nine in nil 
other callings show a better record in the 
same length of time ? 
The thousands of deserted homestead* 
throughout New Hamphshire, the gradual 
diminution of our rural population, and the 
growth and increase of population iu our 
cities and villages point unmistakably to a 
belief that farming is not remunerative. 
This I unhesitatingly deny. If it has proven 
unremunorative to such, iti# only because of 
• bad management, indifference, and a want 
r of proper skill and enterprise. This robbing 
e the soil is what lias robbed you. This fear 
>' of buying a bushel of grain, of feeding your 
beasts with a liberal hand, of tilling your 
soil and draining it with a true appreciation 
*- of its wants is what lias wrought ruin iu our 
h midst. 
THE MANURE QUESTION. 
When the Apostle Paul was writing to 
one of the churches he said 1 “ Bejoice, and 
again I say unto you, rejoice.” In u mess¬ 
age so short that he had only room for two 
injunctions he inculcated rejoicing in both as 
the most important Christian exercise. In 
the same- spirit, if an intelligent farmer were 
asked the first and second and third requisites 
of success in farming, he would answer, 
a Manure,” with increased emphasis in each 
successive reply. More manures are needed. 
Greater fertility of tho soil is the first essen¬ 
tial for securing larger crops, and better 
crops will enable farmers to make all needed 
improvement# they wish. 
Where shall the#e additional fertilizers bo 
got? We have frequent advices to make 
more on the farm, and this is good advice. 
But there is a limit to the amount of inamuo 
it is possible to accumulate and save on the 
farm. If the soil be poor, it must increase in 
fertility slowly by natural process. In the 
meantime tho farmer is growing older ; he is 
spending his best yeurs cultivating soil that 
will only bring one-half, possibly not more 
than one-third, of the crop it should, while 
ho is working harder than he need to bring 
his farm into proper condition. We have no 
hesitation in all such cases to recommend 
tho purchase of manure from some source 
outside tin*, farm. Buy stable manure if you 
cau get it reasonably free from weeds. 1 
not buy something else—guano, superphos¬ 
phate, fish manure, poudrette, German pot¬ 
ash, salts, ashes, gypsum, one or all of those 
as you find by careful experiment that they 
arc needed by the crop* and will pay a fair 
Just here some of our practical farraei 
friends will ask if we believe any of these 
commercial fertilizers superior to barn yard 
manure, and we may frankly reply that wo 
do not, provided the stable manure Is of good 
quality, mode from food rich In fertilizing 
elements and free from weed seeds. But all 
this suppose# a wholly miHUpposable case. 
The great majority of farmers do not manure 
one-lialf nor even one-third the ground they 
sow and plant, and their crop# arc, therefor#, 
so much depreciated. If they refrain from 
buying commercial fertilize s the alternative • 
is to leave their land with half or one-third a 
crop, or barren altogether. It Is a question 
of commercial fertilizers vs. no manure, and 
wo feel safe in saying that honestly made 
superphosphate, or guano with fuir percent¬ 
age of ammonia and phosphate, will do more 
good both to land and crops than all the talk 
about stable manure had since Adam culti¬ 
vated the Garden of Eden, It amounts to 
just tills :—Shall the great majority of farm¬ 
ers buy some fertilizers every year, or shall 
’ they talk about the superiority of stable ma- 
1 nure and let the land gel what it can from 
' that I We never yet know a crop benefited 
’ by more talk, even on so odoriferous a sub¬ 
ject as manures. We do not advise hasty or 
expensive experiments. Begin cautiously, 
trying some of each kind <d fertilizers m 
quantities large enough to give a fair trial. 
* Wherever the result pays, continue the use 
* 0 f the fertilizer, throwing aside gradually 
those Which pay least and continue those 
r which pay best. In thl* way you ought to 
' have, one, two, or three fertilizers applied to 
all sown or planted crops each year, which 
will give a yearly profit of one hundred to 
' live hundred per cent, on the cost, besides 
' the satisfaction which every good farmer 
: must feel in having his land constantly m 
’ creasing in value. Bud, an operation ro- 
1 quires no expense, as ah the c0St iH re P ,l *d in 
the first crop and a balance left for further 
5 operation, and we know that by selecting 
' fertilizers adapted to the soil three hundred 
' nor cent, profit is more probable than less. 
1 Jn the meantime, while a farmer Is buying 
‘j commercial manures he should lose no chance 
to improve hi* farm by growing clover large 
8 lv and by making and snvlngull the fertilizers 
lie can on the farm. Neglect of this may 
H render tho more expensive purohase of ma 
' sure* of comparatively little effect. 
It i# good economy to kill all thistles, 
weeds, etc., at this season of the year. 
High Farming .—On Mr. Mechi’s farm of 
150 acres of arable land there are six acre* 
of permanent posture, but there are 4V j 
acres of green l'oddcr crops and 10 (04 
ot grain crops. On his farm he sustains 22 fat- 
cattle, S7 breeding ewes, and six farm horses. 
As an example of the success of his hign 
farming it might be Instanced that from > 
87 ewes he raised last year 130 lam >a, 11111 
made 200 pounds of l'at meat for every 
of his Whole farm of 175 acres, incluffiog 
roads, ditches, fences, yards and budding , 
$15 per acre of purchased food is given to WJ 
stock ; $2 50 per acre is spent for guano, an 
$13 25 per acre is spent in human labor. 
