AfBIL 28 
Dortirultural, 
A WOMAN’S ACRE. 
BY MBS. ANNIE L. JACK. 
No. 8. 
OF FLOWERS. 
“ Anu life's white everlasting." 
Among the departments of gardening that 
attracted my attention, none was bo fascinating 
as the cultivation of flowers; but I soon found 
that living so far from the city I had no chance 
of pecuniary success. My plan, when any orders 
came for cut flowers, was to go into the garden 
after sunset and cut what I required when the 
dew had fallen. They wore then left in the 
opon baskets, in loose clusters, and placed in the 
cellar until morning, when, as early as possible, 
wo bunched them in whatever form was required, 
in time for the seven o’clock boat. But. although 
a beautiful and pleasant labor, it had not proved 
profitable, and I turned my attention to the 
growth of Everlasting flowers, which hi various 
forms wore displayed iu the windows of city 
stores during the holidays. In answer to my 
inquiries 1 found that these pyramids of wonder¬ 
ful color and construction were grown mostly in 
Germany and imported direct, only one family 
in the vicinity being known to cultivate them for 
sale. 
Determined to learn all the details before 
venturing any competition, I wrote to one of the 
ladies engaged in this business, stating that my 
object was to give my little daughters an oppor¬ 
tunity to earn, in a pleasant way, a little pocket 
money. My inclosed stamp brought this dis¬ 
couraging reply: "Dear Madam—In answer 
to your inquiry, I beg to state that the growth of 
Everlasting flowers, and arrangement of the 
same, is not likely to prove of profit to your 
little girls. Better give them the fruit of an 
apple tree, or a piece of ground to plant in pota¬ 
toes, than encourage them in such a precarious 
undertaking." In spite of this effort to dampen 
my ardor, 1 purchased seed of all the varieties 
with a few of the glasses most in use, and had no 
trouble in 'starting or cultivating them into a 
rank, luxuriant growth, while the girls enjoyed 
the pretty work of cutting and tying in small 
bunches these strange, stiff spikelets, so un¬ 
like the rest of their floral relatives. The 
branches, when tied, wore hung over poles 
suspended by hooks from the ceiling, in a daik 
room, care being taken to place them so that air 
could circulate through them sufficiently to keep 
them from molding. 
The pretty Acrohniurn is a daisv-like flow¬ 
er, a native of Swan River. Its pink and white 
beauty is very attractive, while it lias more pow¬ 
er to resist drought than the fragile lilwdanthe, 
which it resembles. The Hdichrysurn, in vari¬ 
ous colors of white, red, and bright orange, 
is hardy and showy, while the flowers, if 
gathered before they are fairly open, retain 
their color for years. For purple we have JEe?-- 
antheniuni, useful in crosses and wreaths ; while 
the globe Amaranth shows to advantage in any 
arrangement. No white flower has proved so 
useful as the Ammobmm, a native of New 
Holland, which thrives iu any soil or situation, 
and which, wheu cut iu the bud, is of great 
valuo, either in its original color or when dyed. 
The Waitzia, Helipterum, and finer sorts of 
Celosia are very well for variety, but of minor 
importance; while we have found the blue 
Statics give a pleasiug brightness to the dullest 
bouquet. The delicate Hr da and Ayroxtis are 
the principal grasses. Iu the early part of 
December of the fir st year of our experiment, I 
made up, with the children’s help, 800 bouquets, 
which I disposed of without any trouble to a 
smooth-tongued dealer in toys, who bargained 
for the lot at ten cents each—part to he paid at 
the time, and the rest after the holidays. 
But alas for great expectations! When, dim¬ 
ing the winter, I sought the store for payment 
of my small debt, I found the dealer had turned 
bankrupt, and 1 bal dly liked to become a creditor 
for my small amount w hen it was announced that 
he could pay twenty-live cents on the dollar 1 . 
Although he re-commeueed business in the same 
establishment, I have uever brought myself to 
his notice ; nor do I ever pass the store without 
a mental reflection upon the little girls’ loss and 
disappointment.. 
Many of our field grasses, if gathered when in 
flower and mixed with the cultivated sorts, are 
very beautiful, all the care required being in the 
drying. E ich bunch of flowers or grasses should 
be of small size, and placed head dow nwards hi 
a dark room. This is easily managed by tying 
two bunches together and throwing them over a 
cord or pole, placed like a clothes-line. The 
pole is preferable, as the weight of flowers does 
not cause It to sag in the center. While search¬ 
ing the fields for anything to aid us in this 
work, we endeavored to gather a few bunches of 
the wild, white Life-everlasting, which is abun- j 
daut in old pastures, and found a pleasing and I 
useful variety. Although selling yearly a few 
bouquets, w reaths, or crosses, at fair prices, the 
two latter styles often bringing 25 to 80 cents 
each, we find it more profitable to work up our 
flowers into the garlands and sprays that are 
so much sought for as Christmas decorations. 
These are of the various Lycopodiums that 
grow in our woodB, are gathered just before 
snow-fall and thrown into a dark, moist cellar 
until needed. Into the various arrangements 
required we mingle onr flowers, and thus double 
the worth of the evergreen, while the work is 
easier and more quickly done than the simple 
monotony of bouquet-making. 
As each of the little girls owns a choice apple- 
tree in full hearing, and is yearly allowed to sell 
the fruit, I have had an opportunity of observing 
the profits, and must own that I have never felt 
inclined to abide by the advice I evoked, as the 
small plot of Everlastings when properly used, 
is worth more money than half-a-dozen trees of 
average yield, and as a pleasant and profitable 
employment for young girls who wish to earn a 
few dollars, I can recommend nothing more 
charming, where a market can he found for 
them, than the culture of Everlastings. 
-- 
REVERTING IN TOMATOES. 
In No. 14 of the present volume of the Rural, 
under Answers to Correspondents, 1 see a state¬ 
ment, made by Mi'. N. A. Wheeler, about his 
tomatoes turning to ground cherries. Then fol¬ 
lows the question, whether it is known or proba¬ 
ble that a change of this kind would ever take 
place. I think that what Mr. Wheeler refers 
to as ground cherry is not the Phyxalix, but 
simply the common Cherry tomato of Seed Cata¬ 
logues. From this, I am inclined to believe, all 
the improved varieties originally sprang, liis 
case is by no means an isolated one. Indeed, it 
seems to lie a well-known fact about hero that 
these volunteer vincH, produced from self-sown 
seed of improved varieties, will, in a great meas¬ 
ure, turn to these small, clustered tomatoes, 
gaining in hardiness, robust habits, and in the 
numbers of fruits and seeds, but losing in firm¬ 
ness and size of fruit. Two years ago I had a 
patch of Trophies, a great many of which were 
stung, oaten and caused to rot by an insect. The 
next spring a vast multitude of vigorous seed¬ 
lings came up. As the Trophy was the only va¬ 
riety I had at the time, I thought, those seedlings 
genuine and planted them out; when, to my sur¬ 
prise, most of them produced only the common 
Cherry or wild tomatoeH. Strange, that by dry¬ 
ing and preserving the seed, the identity of the 
variety should be preserved, and that if this be 
neglected, it should rim out iu so short a time! 
Yet such seems to be the fact. 
Iu the same column, J. D. (Brooklyn) wants 
to learn the botanical name of Yard-bean. It is 
probably Dolu-hos seaquipedalix, the well-known 
Yanl-hean of the Southern States—the specific 
name referring to the pods, which attain the 
length of from one to two feet. G. Marti. 
Houston, Texas. 
-»-♦>- 
HINTS ABOUT GRAFTING. 
— 
Many persons who understand the main prin¬ 
ciples of grafting, fail or have “ bad luck,’’ from 
not heeding certain minutiae, learned only by ex¬ 
perience. If the method to which I ascribe my 
unvarying success in grafting can be of use 
to the readers of the Rural, I will cheerfully 
state it. 
I always cut all cions required in March, cut¬ 
ting shoots of the previous season’s growth, 
tying in bundles properly labeled, and placing 
them in a pit. This pit is dug close to the north 
side of a building, in the coolest spot possible. 
It is made about two feet deep, and the bundles 
of cions are laid in it, butt end down, upon a lit¬ 
tle straw. The whole is covered with boards, 
and over these is thrown old carpeting. When 
taken out for use, the shoots are cut up into 
proper lengths and inserted, an iudi of the lower 
end being rejected. Kept in this way, I have set 
grafts with unvarying success throughout April, 
and, wheu necessary, during a week in May. 
Grafting later than this is rather injurious to 
the stock, though cions set in the top of a large 
tree on the first of J uno, as an experiment, grew 
finely. 
I always use wrappers of muslin, dipped in 
hot grafting wax and allowed to cool. The 
strips are dipped in the wax and rolled tightly 
upon a stick, so that as little wax as possible 
may adhere. Long strips of this waxed cloth, 
wound very tightly about the graft, so as to hold 
the parts closely together, iusure a perfect union 
and rapid growth. Even large cleft grafts, iu 
which at first the stock closes firmly upon the 
cion, succeed better when wrapped. The con¬ 
sistence of the wax for making wrappers must 
be varied to suit the temperature, using a larger 
proportion or tallow or linseed oil and beeswax 
in cool weather, and of rosin in warmer. Wrap¬ 
pers should be made from time to time, as need¬ 
ed, for they deteriorate by age. 
After being wrapped, the grafts must be care¬ 
fully coated, wherever the freshly-cut surface is 
exposed to the air, with wax heated on a port- 
| able furnace and applied with a brnah. This is 
! more convenient and economical than molding 
j by hand, if a large number of cions are set. 
In cleft-grafting, I always cut Ihe stock off 
with a decided slant, much like the mouth-piece 
of a boy’s willow whistle, and insert tho cion ou 
the upper side, so that the wound may quickly 
heal. Never set two cions in one cleft, lor the 
square stump then made is slow of healing ; and 
moreover, kick aside, there is no need of ever 
losing over five per cent, of grafts sot, unless by 
carelessness, or, as sometimes happens, when 
the tender shoot is used as lookout station by an 
adipose sentinel crow. It may escape the notice 
of some, that in cleft-grafting the wedge of the 
cion should be a trifle thicker on the side next 
the bark of the Htock, and that in thick bark the 
union takes place, not at the actual surface, but 
at the liber or inner coat, next the wood. 
Iu grafting apples and pears, practicing the 
above details gives uniform success. Stone 
fruits, however, are proverbially difficult of 
working, and if tho cions do not grow, the stocks 
do not. readily recover from the mutilation of 
grafting. It is sometimes well, in case of valu¬ 
able stocks of stone fruits, especially cborries, 
which we wish to work in the top, to set “ sum¬ 
mer grafts.” Buds set in the branches usually 
winter-kill or will not take under the thick bark. 
But if, ei.rly in the budding season, in duly, well- 
ripened terminal shoots, three or four inches in 
length, are divested of leaves, cut with a slant, 
and inserted and tied, like buds, with bass bark 
or twine, they will usually adhere, and the fol¬ 
lowing spring, after cutting off tlxe branch above, 
they will make a most satisfactory growth. 
Poughkeepsie, N. Y. W. H. Hart. 
NATIVE CABBAGE CATERPILLARS. 
In continuing onr remarks of last week upon 
cabbage peats, we next come to what are called 
native cabbage butterflies, which are sometimes 
quite numerous, while their larva?, or caterpil¬ 
lars, also do more or less injury. 
The species known as the Potherb Butterfly 
(Pteris oleracea), and its caterpillar infest va- 
Eio. 1. 
lious plants belonging to the Cabbage family. 
It is an inhabitant, of cool climates, seldom being 
found as far south as the latitude of Philadel¬ 
phia ; but it is not uncommon in Nova Scotia, as 
well as westward to Minnesota, and can probably 
be found wherever plants closely allied to the 
cabbage are found growing wild or under culti¬ 
vation. The butterflies have a black body; the 
front wings are white, with a black margin at 
their base and along the front edge; the hind 
wings are white above and a pale yellow be¬ 
neath, but without markings an in the Pierix 
rapes, or in the next species which we shall 
name. The caterpillars and chrysalides also re¬ 
semble those of the P. rapes, although the lat¬ 
ter show none of the yellowish-brown usually 
seen in the former. 
The natural enemies of this Bpecies appear to 
have kept it sufficiently in check to prevent it 
from doing any considerable damage to the aab- 
bage crops grown in colder latitudes. 
SOUTHERN CABBAGE BUTTERFLY. 
This species, although closely allied to the 
Pierix rapee, does not thrive iu a cool climate, 
being seldom found so far north as the latitude 
of New York City; but it abounds in the South- 
Fig. 2. 
ern States, often destroying the cabbage crop 
over extended regions of country, causing losses 
of thousands of dollars invested in the culture 
of this vegetable. 
The scientific name of this species is Pierix 
Protodive. The female (Fig. 1) is white, with 
large and conspicuous markings of black upon 
the wings, as shown, differing greatly from the 
male, as seen in Fig. 2. 
The caterpillars average a little over an inch 
in length, as shown in Fig. 3 (A). The color 
green, verging slightly to a blue, and in some 
specimens a purplish-blue. There are also nu¬ 
merous small, stiff, black hairs rising from the 
wrinkles or segments of the body. The chrysa- 
Fia. 3. 
tides, Fig. 3 (7i), are also, like tho caterpillars, 
variable in color, but usually they are of a bluish- 
gray, witli ridges edged with buff or flesh-color. 
This Southern cabbage butterfly appears to 
confine its ravages mure closely to the cabbage 
than either of the previous-named species, as 
only very rarely has it ever been found feeding 
upon other plants. 
Tho caterpillars may he destroyed in the same 
manner as recommended for other species, but 
in all cases the cultivator must be persistent, and 
not rely upon one, or even two applications of 
any of the many insecticides recommended. One 
application may do for the caterpillars which are 
upon the plants at the time, but the butterflies 
are often hovering about for several weeks or 
months, depositing their eggs whenever an op¬ 
portunity presents itself j hence new breeds of 
caterpillars will appear from time to time, and 
must bo attended to accordingly, and in doing 
this it is well to experiment with various sub¬ 
stances because it is just possible that some one 
may stumble upon a more efficacious remedy 
than any yet known. 
■ -»■»» . 
THE GRASSHOPPER COMMISSION. 
The entomologists appointed to investigate 
the Grasshopper are organized under the title of 
“ The U. S. Entomological Commission.” Prof. 
C. Y. Riley is chief, Dr. A. S Packard, secretary, 
and Prof. Cyrus Thomas, disbursiug-agent. The 
headquarters of the Commission will be at St. 
Louis, Mo., while there will be a nominal office, 
with clerk to attend to certain routine busiuess, 
at the rooms of the Geological and Geographical 
Survey of tho Territories, Washington, D. C., 
Dr. F. V. Hayden in charge. 
The locust area assigned to each Commissioner 
during tho present year, to facilitate labor, is as 
follows: 
1. Prof. Riley takes for his field, moro particu¬ 
larly, the region east of the mountains and south 
of the 40th parallel, the west half of Iowa, and, 
conjunctly with Dr. Packard, British America 
west of the 04th meridian, where the principal 
source of the devastating swarms will probably 
be found. 
2. Dr. Packard will take for his field, West 
Wyoming, Montana, Utab, Idaho, and tho Pacific 
Coast. 
3. Prof. Thomas has assigned to him all the 
region east of the mountains not enumerated, 
including Nebraska, Minnesota, etc. 
The publications will consist of circulars, bul¬ 
letins. memoirs, and the annual report of doings 
and results of the work of the Commission. 
To Prof. Riley are assigned more particularly 
the following divisions of the subject: Biology 
or natural history, insect enemies and parasites, 
remedies and devices for destiuction. 
To Dr Packard: Anatomy and embryology. 
To Dr. Packard and Prof. Thomas conjointly : 
Meteorological bearings and migration. 
To Prof. Thomas: Geographical distribution, 
enemies not entomological, agricultural bearings 
of the subjoot. 
The Commission expects to secure co-operation 
with the U. S, Weather Signal Bureau in afford¬ 
ing meteorological data in connection with a 
study of tho migrations of the locusts. Also to 
secure the aid of the Canadian Government in 
co-operating with it in investigations in British 
America. 
Prof. Riley should be addressed at St. Louis, 
Mo.; Prof. Thomas at Carbondale, Ill.; and Dr. 
Packard at Salem, Mass. 
Apiarian. 
REPLY TO ME. A. J. KING. 
Sir : Your communication in the Rural of 
April 14, lacked one quality to make it interesting 
— trut?i. But calling me "an old man in my 
dotage, an object of pity rather than of cen¬ 
sure,” was & capital idea of yours to pull the 
wool over the eyes of your readers; but you 
