MAY 44 
tirely free from worms. They must not be 
planted in the open ground until the weather 
is settled and warm, as rapid growth is abso¬ 
lutely necessary in order o have flrBt-class 
radishes. I usually mark tie rows off about 
eight inches apart, cover the seed by drawing 
the back of a rake crosswise of the rows, and 
then pat the bed down with a shovel or Bpade, 
after which I dust the bed with wood ashes or 
soot, as this will protect the bed from the rav¬ 
ages of the Turnip Fly, which will sometimes 
penetrate the soil and destroy the seed as soon 
as sprouted. I have tried a good many va¬ 
rieties but still prefer the Long Scarlet. 
OneidaCo.,N. Y. Adelbkrt Wakefield. 
LOSSES AND PLEASURES OF HORTICUL¬ 
TURAL EXPERIMENTS. 
In my hortieultuial pursuits I look to every 
possible source for light, and, taking the last 
year for an example, I have found the lessons 
from the Rural New-Yorker more profitable 
on the culture and varieties of small fruits 
than those of any book or paper which is de¬ 
voted to this special subject. I think every 
investigating amateur must lose in experi¬ 
ments, while his neighbors who go plodding 
in the beaten track do a safer and more profit¬ 
able business. But 1 am sure 1 find more 
enjoyment, even iu my failures, than I could 
possioly find in their dull routine. 1 lost $50 
in planting Sbarplcss Strawberries before I 
found, from my own experiments, and from 
the later teachings of the Rural New-Yorker, 
that this variety is of as little value for field 
culture ou light soils as Great American or 
Jucunda. From the advice of the R. N-Y for 
1879, I thought it was the coming berry, but 1 
have gained enough knowledge of the adapta¬ 
tion of soil and varieties to more than compen¬ 
sate for the loss by the Sharpless. It cost me 
$800 to learn how to ship and handle ever¬ 
greens, and even a small bed of lilies (five bv 
twelve feet) has cost me over $30, and but one 
variety (Lanci(olium) is left. I have tried near¬ 
ly every tree and shrub in the market, which is 
considered ha>dy for this latitude, and have 
retained not over one half. So, in the green¬ 
house I have discarded nearly one-half of my 
purchases as worthless. But iu all these ex¬ 
periments I have no regrets for my failures, 
and should feel disappointed if there were no 
new trials to be made. 
The Special No. of the Rural on shrubs 
and trees was excellent, but in some respects 
it wa 6 incomplete, particularly in mentioning 
the hardiness ol varieties. For instance, the 
Rose of Sharon will not stand our Winters at 
all, and the Tecoma radicans, the Deutzia, the 
Japan Quince and even Prairie Roses must be 
protected in severe Winters or there will be 
no blossoms. One would infer from the read¬ 
ing that Akebia quinata, Aristolocbia Sipho, 
Magnolia glauca, Mahonia and Daphne Cneo- 
rum were hardy in this climate, where we 
have peaches (seedlings) nearly every year- 
100 miles directly west lrom Chicago. All the 
Japan Evergreens I have tried do well, but 1 
think Reiinispora plumosa (not aurea) is the 
finest of all. Irish and Swedish Junipers are 
eventually winter-killed, but the Pyramidal 
Arbor-viUe is a good substitute. I have had 
no trouble in planting the tulip-tree, persim¬ 
mon or chestnut. G. W. 
Rock Falls, 111. 
Remarks.— At the Rural Farm the Rose of 
Sharon (Hibiscus Syriaeue) is wintei-killed. 
The soil i 6 gravelly and dry. At the Rural 
Grounds It has stood unharmed 20° below 
zero. Soil, clayey and moist. The Trumpet 
Flower (Tecoma radicans), Deutzias and Japan 
Quinces are never seriously harmed. We 
should certainly suppose Akebia quinata, 
Aristolocbia Sipho (Pipe Vine) and Magnolia 
glauca would prove hardy iu Illinois—even in 
the Northern boundary. 
Jflorintltural. 
A LILIPUTIAN FLOWER GARDEN. 
A few years ago my husband leased some 
property near his place of business. As it was 
to be our home a few years, I determined to 
have a flower garden. About 14x23 feet was 
my limit, and 1 was told it was too small for 
anything, especially as it faced the north, and 
a twe-story building shut out the eastern sun 
and threw on it a blinding beat in the after¬ 
noon. Late in May even it was damp and cold. 
But 1 began, marked out my plan, gathered 
cobble-stones to underlie the walks, and car¬ 
ried, in a tin pall, sand to cover them and pre¬ 
vent weeds from growing. As I had no rose 
bush, 1 decided to obtain a small, dead peach 
tree and trim it to suit, and then transplant it 
Into the center plot, A. At the foot I planted 
Madeira and Cypress Viaes, which soon clothed 
the dead branches, und many a one Inquired, 
“ What is that beautiful tree ?” A wreath of 
pansies, B, and a border of turf taken from 
the watercourse along the sidewalk, finished 
the center. Every bed was bordered with turf, 
cut with a table-knife iu narrow widths, and 
kept trimmed with a pair of common shears. 
But tbe crowning feature was the motto; one 
year it was “ Love at Homeanother year, 
‘‘Home, sweet Home," and last, “Welcome 
Home." This was also made of the same sort 
of cut turf, trimmed with shears, and maDy a 
blister my borders cost my hands. 
One Spring I was contemplating omitting it 
and having a bed of flowers instead. A little 
boy was looking over the fence. 
“ Wbat motto are you going to have this 
year, Mrs. C. ?" 
“ I don’t know about the motto,” 1 replied; 
“ it makes more work than the flowers." 
“ Well," said he, “ it’s the prettiest part of 
the garden, and I’d rather help you thau not to 
Bee it.” So I took fresh courage. After the let¬ 
ters were all made, the fine sand sifted and 
spread between, little “ Pansy Puller ” said, 
“ When brother comes home, he'll think that 
it’s meant especially for him." Some months 
afterwards, as I was trimming off the fadiug 
pansies, some one said, “ You’re fond of flow¬ 
ers ?” I looked up, and a sun-browned man 
was looking over the fence. Disinclined at 
first to answer the stranger, upon second 
thought I replied, as I picked a handful, “Yes, 
would you like a few ?” und looking up in his 
face 1 met the laughing eyes of that long ab¬ 
sent boy. “ Was that motto put there for me ?” 
So the little girl was right. 
The vines, climbing on strings against the 
brick wall, N, prevented the glaring heat and 
refreshed the eye. The mignonette, II, under 
the fence, did riot tempt little hands in passing, 
as brighter (lowers wonld have done, aud was 
just as sweet. Half a block east of us was a 
large hotel, on the same side-walk, and the 
hacks and omnibuses always showed their oc¬ 
cupants looking our way. 
an arch, thus forming a pretty entrance to the 
door-yard from the path. mrs. a. j. 0. 
Salt lake City, Utah. 
A, Bed six feet in diameter, with dead peach 
tree in center for Cypress aud Madeira Vines 
to climb on. B. Wreath of pansies. C, Jessa¬ 
mines and violets—mixed colors. D, Ver¬ 
benas—mixed. E, Candy-tuft. F, Portulacas 
mixed. G. Larkspurs, pinks, bachelor's-but¬ 
tons, marigolds and forget-mt-nots. H, Mig¬ 
nonette bed. I. Canterbury Bells. J. China 
Asters—mixed. K, Madeira Vine. L, Ivy. 
M, Honeysuckle. N, Trellis of Sweet Peas 
trained against two-ttory brick building. O, 
Morning-glory trellis. P, Walk, two feet wide. 
The shaded portion represents a turf border 
six inches wide. 
-♦-*-*■- 
Plant Freezing. 
As a jar of sirup or other dense liquid will 
resist frost longer thau one of thin aud simple 
I water, so it has been found that the contents 
of tbe cells in plants do not congeal until after 
all the watery liquid in the spaces between the 
cells is frozen, and much of the watery part of 
the contents of the cells has exuded through 
the walls and become ice. If the frost contin¬ 
ues beyond a certain limit the thick protoplasm 
within the cell succumbs, the cells themselves 
are ruptured and the injury is beyond remedy. 
Decay setB in. This explains why a degree of 
frost which throws the stems and leaves of a 
plant out of their normal form, as we see in 
celery on a cold morning in October, does not 
necessarily destroy tbe tissue, but allows tbe 
plant to recover on thawing, the cells reab¬ 
sorbing enough of the water to mix with the 
condensed but unfrozen protoplasm. It also 
shows how much more danger of mortal rup¬ 
ture there is when the whole tissue is yet 
WINDOW. 
F.RQNT FENCE - North- 
PLAN FOR FLOWF.R BEDS.—FIG. 247. 
A morning-glory trellis, O, walled in our 
garden on the west side, and then came 
the path from the front gate to the house 
and back-yard- This also was defined by a 
morniDg-giory trellis 56 feet long—our western 
boundary. Beautiful iu the morniDg, shading 
onr yard all dsy and inviting the humming¬ 
birds all Summer, it was a continual delight. 
This joined a Summer bower, 12 feet square, 
of morning glories and scarlet runner beans, 
where the little oneB kept house. An old 
Scotch gardener told me 1 had a wonderful 
amount of beauty in that small space, aud the 
flowers were all common ones too. Where the 
two honeysuckles, M, M, are designated is the 
east side, and on tbe weBt Bide opposite, six 
feet distant, were two more which grew over 
gorged with watery sap than if it is compara¬ 
tively dry and at re6t. w. G. w., SR. 
®jl£ ilntrpri). 
THE SECRETARY GRAPE. 
Having several times seen disparaging re¬ 
marks about the Secretary Grape iu the Rural 
New-Yorker and in other papers. I beg space 
in the columns of the Rural to correct some 
misstatements about it. I desire to see the 
Secretary and every other grape pass for just 
what each is, and nothing more. Some time 
ago I noticed in the Rural a paragraph an¬ 
nouncing that the Secretary was a failure at 
the Rural Grounds, and that it was intended 
to pull it out. This was not strange to me, for 
being so close to the sea, it could not reason¬ 
ably be expected that anything in the grape 
line would succeed there except the iron-clads, 
and varieties that are perfect failures there 
in most caseB succeed inland on soil and in sit¬ 
uations favorable to the grape culture, and 
though this grape is a failure, it does not fol¬ 
low that, it is so in other localities. (The Rural 
Grounds are 11 miles from the sea.— Eds.] Toa 
certain extent this adaptability of a variety to 
special soils and situations holds good wiih all 
other grapes. The Catawba with me ripens to 
perfection niue times out of ten ; while with my 
neighbor, less than a third of a mile from me, 
it fails to ripen three times out of five, and so 
it is, in my opinion, with most varieties. A 
variety that Is successful In one locality often 
fails in another. Practice has long 6 ince 
proved this, and the only way to learn how a 
variety will succeed i 3 to try it. 
I also notice in the Rural of April 16th a 
paragraph saying that W. C. Barry pronouuces 
the Secretary a great failure, the fruit being 
small, the quality not so good as that of the 
Clinton, while the vine is styled a miserable 
grower, tbe foliage poor, etc. Mr. Barry does 
not say where it is a failure. Now I wish to 
say, in reply to Mr. Barry, that with only or¬ 
dinary care and culture the fruit of the Secre¬ 
tary will compare favorably with that of the 
Catawba for size, aud its quality is certainly 
better, and Is so considered by Mr. Downing, 
who pronounced it one of Ricketts’s best in 
quality, and it was so pronounced four or five 
years ago by others of the highest authority. 
Its habit of growth is somewhat slender, and 
the wood is shori-jointed, and, as for hardi¬ 
ness, it stood 18° below zero the past Winter 
without protection. The foliage is somewhat 
inclined to mildew in bad seasons, but not 
more so than that of the Delaware and some 
of Rogers’s. As for its quality, Mr. Barry is 
certainly mistaken. J. G. Burrow. 
Fishkill, N. Y. 
t\)t Sljnanait. 
HOW TO HANDLE BEES. 
Some persons who would like to keep bees 
are dissuaded by the fear of stings, but 
they would not hesitate had they seen some 
experienced bee keeper handle his bees. The 
worker bees are all armed with a dreadful 
sting—a weapon feared by everybody, and 
which was designed by nature to protect their 
race against extinction. Yet this weapon is 
but au instrument of defense. A bee, far from 
its hive, will never sting unless hurt. It is 
only near its habitation that a bee volunteers 
an attack, aud only when it fears that its abode 
will be disturbed. Quick motion near the 
hives, such as running or walking fast, or fast 
movements of the arms arg often considered 
menaces by the bees ; hence it is always safer 
to locate the apiary in a secluded spot, far 
from frequented thoroughfares. 
An experienced bee-keeper is rarely stung if 
he takes the trouble to use the usual means of 
quietiug the bees before disturbing the interior 
of the hive. The best, I would say the only, 
medium to be used in the dealings with bees is 
Binoke. There are now several good kinds of 
smoke, invented by Yankee geniuses, espe¬ 
cially contrived to quiet bees. A few pulls of 
smoke at the eutrauce of the hive and a few 
more on the frames as soon as they are par¬ 
tially uncovered, are generally sufficient to 
pacify beeB to such an extent that they 
allow the entire removal of their combs 
without the menace of a single sting. I say 
generally, for there are exceptions. Home col¬ 
onies are more irascible than some others. 
Hybrid bees are noted for their auger. 13y 
hybrids I mean a cross between the peaceful 
Italians and the common bees. At times the 
most gentle tiecB cannot be easily controlled. 
Smoke is very offensive to bees; as soon as 
they smell it" their instinct seems to inform 
them that they can be compelled to abuudon 
their hive. Then they fill their sacs with 
honey, so as to have a provision of food to 
last till they find a new lodging; and as a bee 
well satiated, like a man after a good meal, 
is always of good temper, you can demolish 
the hive without 9 single sting. 
But sometimes there is no honey in the hive, 
or there is so little of it that it is impossible 
for all the bees to reach it immediately. At 
Bueh times the operations with bees are more 
difficult, aud it is only with caution that you 
can open the hive. It is then necessary to give 
the bees some sirup and to wait until they have 
filled their empiv stomachs. We can therefore 
say that when bees me harvesting honey they 
can be handled with the greatest facility, even, 
most of tbe time, without using any smoke ; 
while during the time of scarcity they are more 
irascible. The quality of the houey harvested 
seems also to have some influence ou the tem¬ 
per of bees. During the Sprffig crop, in April, 
May and June, they are veiy peaceable, whiie 
when they harvest the darker grades of honey, 
in Summer, they arc more easily irritated. 
There arc some points that every bee-keeper 
should always keep In mind:—He should avoid 
carefully to stay in front of the hive, 1 mean in 
the line of flight of the bees. Every motion 
around the apiary, or while opening the hives, 
ought always to be slow, ana every .operation 
