5M53CH 3 
436 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
COLD-FRAMES AND HQT-BEDS. 
It has been usual at this season of the year to 
give our readers full instructions as to construct¬ 
ing hot-beds and oold-frames. As, however, 
from year to year, florists’ catalogues containing 
every needful detail are more and more widely 
disseminated, it seems almost a waste of space to 
repeat the thrice-told tale. Lid um briefly say: 
For tbo climate of New York, the first week in 
March will be early enough to start them and 
not unfrequently the second or eveu third week 
is hotter still. During the third week of last 
March, for instance, the weather was as cold for 
several days as it had been during any part of 
the winter and the tender seedlings, scarcely out 
of the flrst leaf in many hot-hods, were in conso- 
quenoe destroyed. 
The manorial to he used to generate heat— 
whether horse manure, refuse hops, loaves or 
bark—should be collected together and turned 
twice or tbrico until the “rank heat” has 
passed off. Then spread it in the bottom of the 
framo so that after treading or pounding it 
down firmly it shall be of a depth of two feet or 
thereabouts. Then cover with light earth (de¬ 
cayed Bods, sand and old manure well-mixed and 
sifted) to the depth of about «ix inches. Press 
this firmly and evenly and sow the seeds—care¬ 
fully labeling each kind. Thereafter, extreme 
care us to ventilation is of the flrst importance. 
Give air always during bright sunshine, since 
otherwise the simultaneous heat of the manure 
and of tire nun will scorch the plants in a fow 
minutes. At night cover the framo according to 
the pr obable degree of cold. 
Many so circumstanced that they cannot 
afford hot-beds, may yet find cold-frames of 
much service. They are essentially the same 
except that the latter receive only the heat of 
the sun. Indeed a simple frame without a sash 
sunk into the earth six inches or so will be fouud 
very useful in promoting the germination of 
seeds. In this case, flrst cover the bottom for 
an inch or so with the siftings of coat ashes to 
prevent worms from making their way through 
and then fill up to tiro level of the outside earth 
with suitable soil. Whenever the sun does not 
shine directly upon it, cover at. once with boards 
and straw or refuse so as to retain the heat im¬ 
parted to the earth by the sun. Any old boxes 
high behind and descending sharply to the front 
may be used. Even soap boxes usod in this 
way will be found proferablo to sowing seeds in 
seed-beds which arc exposed to rains and a low 
night temperature. Cold-frames for this climato 
may bo set as early as the middle of April. 
We have used flower-pots as cold-frames with 
decided advantage. Hink them in the earth and 
cover all but a little opening tor the admission 
of air with a pane of glaHB during sunshine and 
at night with a hoard or any material at hand. 
■ ■ ♦ 
THE WEEPING NORWAY SPRUCE. 
Ed. Rural: —Your remarks on page 70 of the 
issue of Fob. 3d, reflecting Homewliat on a certain 
specimen of the Weeping Norway Spruce, seem 
to call for a few words in defense of an old and 
valued friend, or, at least, in explanation of the 
cause of a change of form that, if viewed as per¬ 
manent, would in a measure justify your re¬ 
flection. 
The Weeping Spruce belongs to a peculiar 
type of weeping trees, to be fomyl more or less 
in many species. Instead of falling decorously 
and gracefully in regularly appointed curves, 
these trees have a way of assuming irregular, 
grotesque forms, developed in unexpected direc¬ 
tions that reverse the natural position 'of both 
buds and curves. This is apt to occur more fre¬ 
quently during tender age, before the lines have 
settled iuto the deeper grooves of later life. If 
the Editor of the Rural will wai* two or three 
years, we doubt not that similar results will ap¬ 
pear in the specimen mentioned. Wo should 
advise, however, that a little assistance bo 
afforded the plant, by tying down with matting 
or string the heaviest and longest side-shoots, 
and staking up the leader, if there bo one, for a 
few years, until the proper tendency lias become 
fixed and satisfactory. If the loader should he 
lost by accident, no apprehension need be enter¬ 
tained, for Nature, as if aware of the loss, will 
soon appoint one of the side-shoots as its worthy 
and elfioiont successor. lint while the fear will 
undoubtedly prevail that perchance no now load¬ 
er will appear to take the place of the old, the 
real danger exists far more in the tendency 
evinced by aspiring loaders to extend t.o a dispro¬ 
portionate higlit., destructive alike of all sym¬ 
metry and width of base proper to the plant. 
This meager and irregular appearance may be 
avoided by nipping off the extra leaders in their 
growing state with thumb und finger, or knife. 
The young side branches now developed will 
probably in the beginning show themselves more 
horizontally perverse than ever, the vigorous sap 
seeking the straightest line to its destination— 
the end of the branches. But as the weight, of 
successive seasons’ growth retards circulation, 
and is felt upon the outer portions of the plant, 
the strong, weeping nature will prevail, and 
cause the heretofore stiff branches to stream 
down the aides, hugging the stem in solid masses. 
Even now the irregular propensity will evince 
itself from time to time, by the sudden curling 
up of strangely erratic branches, a habit which 
always remains vastly conducive to the highly 
picturesque nature of the variety. 
There is still another variety of Norway Spruce 
which may meet more definitely and completely 
the requirements necessarily embodied in the 
name “weeping.” A chance seedling, discov¬ 
ered by Mr. Walks, of Boston, it lias been, con¬ 
sequently, termed in nurseries “The Wales 
Weeping Rpruce." Its two distinctive qualities 
lie in decidedly regular curves and slower, more 
reflued growth. Probably no weeping tree is 
entirely devoid of certain erratic inclinations 
during some portion of its life ; but this variety 
certainly presents in the main the moat sober 
and reliable appearance. The uncertain habit, 
however, of the inverts form, with its varied, 
picturesque, and marked character, possesses for 
us a peculiar charm. We might add that the 
assistance advised in the way of pruning and 
tying applies equally well, with slight modifica¬ 
tions, to ail weeping evergreen trooH. We sus¬ 
pect, Mr. Editor, that your Weeping Hpruco is of 
the inverta variety; hence the strange freaks it 
perpetrates. If it was originally a true Weeping 
Spruce, you will probably see the plant re¬ 
assert itself in the course of another year. We 
have soon many thousands of auch Weeping 
Spruces, and have never failed to observe tho 
compact weeping nature evinced in the regular 
process of time. Samuel Pakbonb. 
[We arc glad to receive Mr. Parsons’ assur¬ 
ance that our Weeping Norway Spruce, which 
“wept” so abundautJy wheu first planted, and 
has never wept siuee. will in the future, “ two or 
three years ” dlstaut, weep as copiously as at flrst. 
At present, it must be said, there is no more 
“ iveep ” about it, than about the species. But 
we are pleased to believe that after a season of 
“ grotesque irregularity ” it null have sown its 
wild oats and become reconciled to the sorrowful 
figure it was born to assume. 
We are familiar with the two forms, pendula 
aud inverta, as there is a specimen of each in the 
Rural Grounds. The difference is quite marked. 
That to which we refer is or was ptgxduUi; and 
wo hope that it will not become corrupted by Its 
period of youthful irregularities so far aR not to 
fulfill Mr. Parsons’ promise, or to reflect dis¬ 
credit upon the stability of tho other members 
of the Pendula family.] 
-♦ ♦ » ■ - 
A WOMAN’S ACRE. 
Ir is only wheu I look over the leaves of my 
gardening note-book that I can realize the fact 
that it is seven years since I had my first severe 
attack of gardening “ fever.” From a child 1 
had ever possessed a love for botany, and no 
matter where my lot was cast, could always man¬ 
age a hit of ground where seeds were sown and 
flowers budded and bloomed. But during the 
winter of 1870 a uow book was published, that 
by its facts and figures held out more allure¬ 
ments to the practical gardener than cau be im¬ 
agined by one who never studied its pages, and 
as I look back I can understand why Hender¬ 
son’s “ Gardening for Profit” had such a charm 
for mo. 
Our farm of 200 acres cultivated at the expense 
of my “ guidmon's" health and strength, yielded 
enough to keep us in comparative comfort; but 
when hired help was paid and fed, when imple¬ 
ments were bought and improvements made, we 
often found that, our supply of ready money fell 
far short of our needs, and 1 could not spare any 
dollars of my husband’s toil-Btained money for 
household luxuries or improvements. But hero 
was a man who told how $500 might he made 
from a single acre if properly cultivated, ami I 
saw visions of a oomfortablc income to bo de¬ 
rived from a small plot of ground, if the truth 
had been told by that entrancing book. “ Did 1 
realize my dreams ?” you ask. Well, if you listen 
patiently, you will discover how far such has 
been the oase. and if I did not ? Ah ! reader 
mine, to how many of us do all tho wishes and 
dreams of our lifetime become realities ? But one 
thing I have gained that is beyond all price, in 
the wealth of perfect enjoyment, and the blessing 
of health that has been mine, which no drought 
or storm or iusect depredation has destroyed. 
But I hail no thought of failure when the 
March snow began to molt on the southern hill¬ 
side, aud one evening broached the subject to 
the “ guidmon” in my own rather abrupt man¬ 
ner. “ Will you rent me an acre of the orchard 
on the south-western slope, and how much will 
you charge?” “Apples, too?" wuh the laconic 
reply of my Scotch husband, who invariably an¬ 
swered my question by asking another. Of 
course I said “Yes,” and selected a piece of 
ground where the trees were young and which 
contained within the'moasuremcnt, a rich hollow 
of black loam suitable, I thought, for celery or 
tomatoes. So after Borne bantering the bargain 
was made, I promising to pay an annual rent of 
f 60 for my acre, which was to he manured and 
plowed every season and if possible in the fall, 
but to find my own seed, pay all hired help, and 
give the family a generous supply of vegetables, 
all profits, whether of fruit or other products of 
the soil, to belong to me. 
Lost the reader he inclined to take on a tone 
of saroaHin, as did some of the neighbors, and 
ask if my landlord ever sued for his rent., I will 
state at once that my pride and my will both 
combined to koep me from getting behindhand 
in that respect, and that notwithstanding many 
failures, thq close of the sixth year found the 
land in better condit ion than when flrst worked 
as a garden, and landlord and tenant actually 
satisfied; while the success of my acre even in 
the second year so pleased tho “gnidinou,” that 
ho prepared more ground surrounding the bouse 
in order to extend the cultivation of such fruits 
and vegetables as seemed best likely to be in de¬ 
mand in our city markets, with what success I 
shall tell hereafter. Annie L. Jack. 
--»»♦-- 
SPRING TRANSPLANTING-EVERGREENS. 
/ * 
It is claimed by those who prefer to plant de¬ 
ciduous trees in the fall that the roots become 
thoroughly settled in the ground, and that new 
roots are formed before severe weather, which 
induce an early aud more vigorous growth in the 
spring. The first may ho granted. It is also 
true that work done in the fall loaves so much 
the less to do in the spring, when work of all 
kinds is pressing and multifarious. But tho 
second seems to us an unsound doctrine. The 
roots cease to grow when, in tho fall, the leaves 
have performed their offices and become inac¬ 
tive. They are at rest, as well as the buds and 
stems. Is there any reason why transplanting 
should force a second growth of the roots, or 
that, if it could, the second growth would have 
any other effect than that of weakening the 
plant? Does not transplanting rather sup¬ 
press any disposition to form roots after the 
aerial parts have ceased growth? Everybody 
knows the adverse effect of late growths of tho 
stem. Tho wood so formed has no time to ripen, 
aud the buds, instead of remaining intact for 
the next s].ring’s growth, lira killed by tho vicis¬ 
situdes of winter. It,is the same with lute roots. 
If formed after transplanting, their delicate 
tissues and fibrils are killed by Intense cold or 
extremes of temperature, and tho plant is de¬ 
prived of just so much vitality us was required 
to produce them. 
It is often said that trees, etc., transplanted 
in the spring are liable to be killed by subse¬ 
quent drought—as if those transplanted in the 
fall were exempt from this liability. We have 
not found it so in our own experience, and our 
best advice is to transplant in spring, and to 
transplant early for the climate of Now York and 
north of it. 
As regards Evergreens, many are of the opin¬ 
ion that it is not best to transplant early in the 
spring. Different causes may operate in differ¬ 
ent localities to give value to this opinion. We 
have, however, tried early and late spring 
summer and fall, with results that make ns em¬ 
phatically prefer tho first to any of the others. 
On several oocasiouB tho ground was so frozen 
that the lowermost roots had to be out oil in the 
grORQd. Tho bottoms of (lie holes (made in the 
fall) to which they were removed wore still cov¬ 
ered with water, aud tfio earth thrown in was as 
muddy as possible-so that tho trees could not 
bo mode to stand without being firmly tied to 
Btakos driven in the grass outside of the holes. 
We cannot say that wo have never lost, a tree 
transplanted under auch conditions; but wo cau 
say that wo have never attributed a loss to early 
transplanting, and that we have been taught to 
believe that for our situation and climato it is 
best to transplant evergreens as soon in the 
spring as a spade can be put into tho ground. 
When it is known or considered that, the Aus¬ 
trian Fine, Norway and Hemlock Spruce and 
Arbor Vita* will thrive with their roots in water, 
it need not be feared that a little water or pud¬ 
tiling in the spring will work any material harm. 
--- 
MISCELLANEA. 
The Rural's Hardy Shrub and Tree Elec¬ 
tion. —The results of the election will he given 
in next week’s issue. 
Extracts from Correbvondentb’ Letters.— 
“ I read the article “Rural Grounds,” and must 
say you havo not been idle. * * Four yenrH ago 
my garden (El Dorado, Cal.) was also a patch of 
weeds, but care haM changed it. We have one 
great disadvantage to work under here which 
you have not, for we have to water our grounds 
artificially. I have to water my grounds by 
means of a force-pump and hose, which occupies 
a half of every day from May 15 to Dec. 1, and 
were this work neglected, I should have a sad 
garden. If it wore not for tliis, we would havo 
finer gardens than any in the East; but people 
here are afraid to undertake gardening on an 
extensive scale, not knowing when the water 
supply may give out and ruin all. However, by 
dint of iierseverance, I have succeeded beyond 
my hopes and surprised, not only my friends, 
but myself."—w. c. l. d. 
“Thanks for the flower seeds. I had such a 
battle with the drought last summer that my 
success as a flower-grower was by no means 
satisfactary. I toiled like a Turk, but to small 
purpose. I am planning for an immense success 
tho coming season. 
“ I have a good supply of Antirrhinums, 
Sweet Alyssum, Portulnca, (Enothera. Amaran- 
thns, Nasturtiums (royal flowers to my liking), 
ScabioHa, Mignonette, and white, maroon, mauve, 
aud Countess of Ellsmere Petunias. I have bad 
no luck with Petunias in my window gardening 
this year. I potted young, thrifty plants from 
my flower border in the fall, hoping for a mass 
of bloom in the winter. But not a flojvor, and 
only sickly-looking plants. Most of my other 
plants have thriven well. Perhaps Petunias are 
‘ peculiar ’ as window flowers and are out of 
their sphere.- M. W. F., liryn Maicr. Pa." 
[If M. W, E. will consider that Potunias will 
stand any amount of heat and drought when 
bedded out in the summer and that they almost 
cease to bloom ns soon as the cold nights of fall 
occur, it will appear that they are not well suited 
to rooms which do not receive much sunlight aud 
in which tho temperature is generally quite vari¬ 
able.—E d.] 
-♦ - 
EXCHANGE AND AN ANNOUNCEMENT. 
| Our friend Mr. J. W. Maple of Oregon, Mo., 
Mends tho following “ Exchange ” list aud also an 
offer to alJ Rural subscribers who havo no seeds 
to exchange, to forward them any of the seeds 
mentioned ljpon the receipt of a stamped and 
addressed envelope. 
None but a true, zealous floriculturist would 
make such an offer, knowing', aH Mr. Maple 
does, the time and trouble that, such an offer to 
the subscribers of a widely-circulated journal 
entails. Wo need only add that our knowledge 
of Mr. Maple is such that it inspires the belief 
that ho will fulfill his part of the contract in tho 
best of faith:] 
Dear Editor Rural— Thanks to you for your 
kindness in giving Rural readers tho facilities 
of exchanging seeds, plants, anil bulbs. Below 
is a list of the kinds of seeds that 1 have and 
will exchange with Rural subscribers only 
during the coming spring:— THanthus (three 
kinds); Candytuft, mixed; Balsam (several 
kinds) ; Larkspurs, mixed ; Ipomopsi* (Gtlia) 
elegans; Sweet Fern ( Comptonia asplmifolia) ; 
Iporrum covcinea ; Ipunwxt guamoctit ((Jmimo- 
clit vulgaris ) ; Cypress Vino i Momordica bal- 
samina (Balsam Apple) ; Sweet Williams; La- 
thyras latifolius (Everlasting Pea) ; also many 
other kinds’ 
I would like to have seeds of the following 
kinds: — Carnations Pelargoniums— Paiseley or 
Florists’ Piuks—Picetee Pinks—Verbenas—Pan¬ 
sies Portulaca 11. pi.—Perennial Phlox—Double 
Aquilegias. 
To a ll who have no seed to exchange and who 
want, any that 1 have, if they will write me the 
names aud inclose a stamped and directed en¬ 
velope, it will give me pleasure to forward the 
nood. J- W. Maple. 
Oregon, Mo. 
-- 
EXCHANGE. 
I have a quantity of seed that I raised last 
year of a very lino Paeony-flowered Poppy. 'The 
flowers are very double, being perfectly globular. 
J will exchange with Rural readers for any good 
kinds of flower or vegetable seeds, roots, or 
bulbs that they may havo to spare. Bueli as I 
don’t want I cau give to my neighbors. I have 
seed enough for all.- Letta A. Bell, Howard 
springs, Cumberland Co., Term. 
-— -♦-*-*-- 
NOTES. 
Tiie Prize Ring and Prize Flowers. —A love 
of prize-fighting and a love of flowers aud flori¬ 
culture, it is difficult to suppose, could exist in 
tho Bame person -that is if much weight is 
attached to the refilling influence which flowers 
are deemed to exert. Tom Kino is au exception. 
Tom Kino, tho victor of Heknan, the champion 
prize-fighter of England. “ vanquished all com¬ 
ers” says the Journal of Horticulture “in the 
principal class for cut blooms of Chrysanthe¬ 
mums at the late Brixtbn Show.’’ 
“ When the prize cards were placed on that 
oooasion anil, * Mr. Leo, gardener to T. King, 
Esq.,’ bad the foremost position, the JudgeB 
not only delivered a just but a popular verdict. 
Mr. Kino’s blooms were not only decidedly 
superior, but their owner was esteemed as a 
good neighbor aud supporter of the society. 
‘ Do you know who Mr. Kino is ? ’ inquired an 
