them over on the right hand row ; then pass¬ 
ing between the next two rows, gathering 
the beans, and laying them over towards 
those already gathered. Before the dew 
falls the beans should be stacked. To do 
this, a pole six feet long should be stuck 
firmly into the ground. Then short pieces of 
rails should be laid on each side of the pole. 
The beans should be laid on these rails, the 
roots all one way. One moderately sized 
bunch should he laid on each side of the stake 
or polo. Then other bunelics should be laid 
across the first ones, and the roots kept 
always on the same side of the stake. This 
is to prevent the earth from falling amongst 
the beans and discoloring them. In this 
way the stack is carefully' built up, and on 
reaching the top of the stake a cap of straw 
is fastened around it, and spread so as to 
shed rain and keep the beans dry. The 
stuck is so open and narrow that tile wind 
passes freely' through it, aud curing goes on 
rapidly. When they are sufficiently cured 
they niay.be hauled to the barn and threshed, 
either with the flail or the machine with the 
concave raised, and winnowed and bagged 
for market. 
CAUSE OF SMUT IN WHEAT 
PRIMULA JAPONICA 
This Primrose, in England at least, has 
proven perfectly hardy', to which circum¬ 
stance, as well as to its habit of bearing its 
bright, magenta-colored flowers in several 
planes or whorls, it owes the great favor 
with which it has been there received. 
The floricultural world is indebted to Mr. 
Fortune for this, as for so many other flow- 
year. As u east in the same mold, the 
leaves, steins and mode of growth of differ¬ 
ent plants art? so closely similar that, having 
examined them once, we care little ever to 
examine them again. Their great green ex¬ 
panse of plain surfaces that monopolizes year 
after year the most telling plots of the bor¬ 
der or lawn, striking as it may be to the gen¬ 
eral glance of a passer-by, is i lmost devoid 
of interest to him who is seeking the fascin¬ 
ating parts of flowers— their diversity of leaf, 
stem, habit, bud, bloom, fragrance and color. 
One glance suflices and we are ready to pass 
trom this purvum-iti-mulln exhibition to the 
less pretentious plants that bloom in more 
retired parts of the garden. 
The more discriminating and creditable 
study and pursuit of flowers is lost sight of 
in these emasculated combinations that at¬ 
tract the eye but stir not the affection, and 
they are, for the most part-, better evidences 
of an obtrusive wealth than of a refined and 
cultivated taste. 
Of a kindred spirit is the introduction of 
f statuary among the trees, shrubs and plots 
of our gardens. Fit companions of the weep¬ 
ing willow, they arc utterly antagonistic to 
those sentiments of vivid, yet quiet, delight 
—of never-ceasing interest that the com¬ 
panionship of flowers and their concomi¬ 
tants are calculated to inspire. They are in 
keeping with the spirit of cemeteries and 
churchyards, where It is well that every sur¬ 
rounding should hush to thoughts of bereave¬ 
ment and death. 
If the first aim in the construction and 
planting of our grounds is to advertise our 
wealth—then we know of no more effective 
material than formidable and well kept mas¬ 
ses of gigantic leaves, and we may add rib¬ 
bon-borders and carpet-bods, as they are 
commonly and Very suitably termed, of 
Iresines , Alternanlheras, PeriUatt, diner- 
THE CLAWSON AND DIEHL WHEATS 
COMPARED. 
“A. H. B.,” n correspondent of the Owosso 
Mich. Press, publisher the followingcompnri- 
son of the Clawson and Diehl wheats made 
by him : 
“1 have been requested to make out and 
hand to you for publication the following 
statement of the comparative merits of two 
varieties of winter wheats, the Diehl andthe 
Clawson. The amount tested, though small, 
is sufficiently large to form a basis for more 
extensive computation. The samples were 
taken from a field on the farm of Mr. 
J. V. D. Wyekoff, of Woodhull, and consist¬ 
ed of 26 heads of each variety, grown upon 
soil as nearly identical as could be found. 
“The Diehl yielded 817 kernels weighing 
exactly one ounce. Of the total number 00 
were shrunken and worthless. 
“ The yield of the ( 'lawson was 8f>7 kernels, 
the exact weight of wliicli was one ounce 
and two and a half drams. The kernels of 
the Clawson were all plump except nine. 
“ The comparative yield by weight is thus 
shown to be exactly 21% per cent, in favor 
of the latter variety'. The result by measure¬ 
ment in a glass graduate was about the 
same. The heads were not selected, but 
were plucked by Mr. Wyekoff with a view 
to representing the average yield of each 
sort as nearly as possible. 
“The seed of the Clawson variety was pre¬ 
sented to Mr. Wyekoff by Carso Crane, of 
Phelps, N. Y. The amount sown was about 
8 bushels. It is a white wheat of a shade 
similar to the Diehl. The straw is said to be 
about six inches longer than that of the Diehl 
at maturity,but is not quite su firm. It is also 
free from rust, while the Diehl, immediately 
adjoining, is not.” 
PRIMULA JAPONICA. 
ers prized among the most desirable in cul¬ 
tivation—and to Mr. W, Bull, the dis¬ 
tinguished London florist, as being the first 
to introduce it into Europe. 
Ils leaves are coarse, oblong, irregularly 
toothed, and the scapes, a foot and a half 
high, bear sometimes as many as five whorls 
of flowers, each flower an inch in diameter. 
It is readily increased by divisions of the 
root. The seeds, according to the Loudon 
Agricultural O an die, from which we copy 
the accompanying little cut, are “ sometimes 
a long time in germinating, and they have 
been known to remain in the soil twelve 
months and then to germinate. It is, there¬ 
fore, advisable not to be too hasty in empty¬ 
ing the seed pan.” 
Mr. E. G. Henderson speaks of it as “one 
of the most attractive of new, hardy, herba¬ 
ceous plants, ami by far the most vigorous 
and robust kind in its family yet introduced 
to our gardens. Seed should be sown im¬ 
mediately it is gathered, otherwise it is most 
likely to lay a twelve-month and then come 
Up like mustard seed, though a few may ap¬ 
pear the first year.” 
CESAREAN ASPECT OP CALADIUMS AND 
CANNAS. 
RAISNG CLOVER SEED 
Tropical effects ” 
is a winning phrase 
and suggests a clustered exuberance of foli¬ 
age that more than any other combination 
imparts a stalely character to our gardens. 
But in practice the phrase seems to be limited 
to those masses of Caludium and Ganna 
that, as if all other plants had dwindled into 
insignificance, go whithersoever we will, fill 
up for the most part the favored and prom¬ 
inent plots of the garden. The rich glaucous 
or metallic leaves of the various Cunnas— 
their strong, elastic growth, aud compara¬ 
tively easy culture, entitle them perhaps, 
of afl tender plants, to our first choice as a 
constituent in musses of leaf-beauty. 
With intrinsic merits far less, the Calft- 
dium is so associated with the Ganna that 
we at once miss either if both are not repre¬ 
sented. Yet there, is no other bedding plant 
that exacts a greater amount of unremitting 
care ; no other that is more ready to sicken 
and cry out for help if the nightly pail of 
water is forgotten. Nor is this all; let our 
attention be ever so timely and profuse it is 
so dependent upon conditions best known to 
itself, that we have seen it droop qnd wither 
without being able to conjecture the cause. 
But at its best the Caladium makes a slow' 
growth until summer is well advanced, and 
its clnef attraction—the size of its leaves— 
is not conspicuous until close upon the sea¬ 
son when frosts are possible; so that we have 
merely to look forward to a scant maturity 
that is to end its life as our reward for three 
months of care. We shall be answered that 
those who are unwilling to give to plants 
Having had some experience, says a cor¬ 
respondent of the Country Gentleman, in 
clover raising, 1 will say for the benefit of 
any who may bo interested in the subject, 
that I believe it produces more uiilk than 
either timothy or corn fodder,aud at the same 
time 1 find that land improves by frequently 
being seeded to clover. As to whether piaster 
is indispensable, 1 have always used it, and 
with varied results. The present season 1 
had twenty acres of clover, which 1 had in¬ 
tended for seed, and to which I applied, 
about May 20th, 10U pounds of plaster per 
uere. On examining the heads this fall, 1 
found that very few of them had seed—in 
fact, I do not think the twenty acres would 
have produced five bushels, and I abandoned 
the idea of cutting it for seed, and put a 
part in for feeding, and pastured the remain¬ 
der. On an adjoining farm I saw some 
clover well filled with seed where no plaster 
was used. 
POTATO ROT 
HARVESTING BEANS, 
Mr. Francis Gerrv Fairfield writes in 
Scientific American, that “ a bland solution 
of carbolic acid in common whale oil or 
kerosene is the scientific remedy for the rot. 
The best way to use it would, 1 think, be to 
dip the potato, just before planting, in the 
solution, which is very inexpensive and very 
easily obtained. 1 may add that my experi¬ 
ments convince me that carbolic acid in 
this biand solution in no way impairs the 
germinal activity of the tuber ; but, by way 
of certainty, let me] recommend to your 
Beans are very easily damaged and re¬ 
duced in value in harvesting. From the 
time they are gathered until they are 
threshed and marketed they should be kept 
dry and protected from mildew'. Exposure 
to damp causes them to be spotted or dis¬ 
colored, in which case they are either un¬ 
salable or can be disposed of only at a much 
reduced price. As soon as the beans are 
ripe they should be pulled. This may be 
conveniently done by passing down between 
two rows, commencing so that the fence is 
at tile left hand and the field at the right, 
and pulling the plants in both rows, laying 
