days, then filled very compactly into the pit 
of the hot-bed. A lot of tree leaves mixed 
up with the manure tempers the heat and 
prolongs it, and thus it is that farmers and 
market gardeners gather and store up a large 
quantity of tree leaves in the Fall. At a large 
cemetery near Boston the neighboring farmers 
are invited to come in, in the Fall, rake up arid 
take away the early fallen leaves, as those of 
the maples; they even get lor the hauling all 
of those leaves the cemetery workmen gather 
in cleaning up; but the later fallen leaves, as 
those of the oak, the farmers are not allowed 
to take, the cemetei'y people keep them for 
themselves for leaf mold and hot-beds. In 
making the hot-beds whatever part of the 
manure or leaves is dry should be well wotted, 
for dry material is good for nothing. Now 
that the hot-bed is made, put on the sashes 
and keep them on for some days when strong 
fermentation will take place, then tilt up 
your sashes at the back a very little, ami a3 
the violent heat begins to subside, put in a 
six-inch layer of some prepared compost, if 
for seeds ; or sand, ashes or other material 
about three inches deep, if for plants in pots 
or boxes. The sweat or steam that arises in a 
hot-bed must find escape else the contents are 
sure to scald or rot off, therefore it may be 
necessary to tilt up the sashes a very little 
during the night time as well as by day. In 
cold weather some mats or straw spread over 
the sashes at night will help to keep all snug 
and comfortable. 
-•-*-*- 
REMARKS UPON “NOTES ON GRAFT¬ 
ING.” 
In the Rural of March 4, page 139, the 
word “ whip-grafting,” used in second line 
under “ methods,” is an obvious erratum, 
“cleft-grafting” being under consideration 
there. Fig. 70 illustrates whip-grafting, only 
that the usual (but not essential) “ tonguing ” 
of stock and cion is not represented. The 
tonguing is convenient as a means of holding 
the cion fixedly iu place, and is of some ser¬ 
vice in aid of the requisite close contact of the 
lines of the cambium of each face, This line 
is shown in the cut Fig. 70, being the zone of 
new growth between the bark and the wood 
On the healthy condition of this vital deposit, 
and on the close contact of smoothly cut por¬ 
tions of it, in some part if not all of its line, 
and on entire protection from drying air uu- 
til new growth ba9 fairly formed, does tae suc¬ 
cess of the operation of grafting depend. 
Whip-grafting is the neatest, simplest, easiest, 
quickest, and, if close contact is secured, the 
surest mode of grafting, and is also surest 
against breakage by wind or birds, it may 
be used on branches of any size by inserting 
the cions on their brauchleta that may be of 
about the size of the cions, pruning oth rs 
away. This course has the great advantages 
of avoiding the making of large wounds and 
of multiplying the chances of success. Suc¬ 
cess, however, does not depend upon chance, 
but upon sound cions, proper season, a sharp 
knife expertly used, contact of cambium lines, 
and protection fiom drying. The fancy 
methods represented in Figs. 68, 69 and 71, in 
which awkward shouldering must be careful¬ 
ly pared and skillfully fitted, have no merit 
but that of making the simple art seem diffi¬ 
cult. Mr. Marvin’s directions for grafting 
grape-vines are in the surest line for success 
with them. The cions should be sealed up in 
a can early in March, or sooner, with some 
roasted sawdust or moss made just damp 
enough to prevent any shriveling, and no 
more, and placed in an ice-house or well till 
about June 10, when the leaves on the vine 
will have evaporated the redundant sap, and 
a brunch of it can then be grafted with the 
retarded and still dormant cions with very 
assured success. If the branch is laid down 
several grafts may be inserted by slitting it at 
different places and inserting cions at right 
angles; in which case there will be four points 
of intersection of the cambium lines, and cleft- 
grafting has the one merit of securing the ne¬ 
cessary close contact by natural pressure. 
With us Mr. Fuller’s method of Fall grafting 
and protection has not succeeded any better 
than early Spring grafting (neither sufficient¬ 
ly well), while it is quite a troublesome pro¬ 
cess where there is much to do. w. 
“MAXIXE.” 
We raised the “crittur” shown in our engrav¬ 
ing, Fig. 105, at the Rural Farm a year ago 
last Summer. The sketch was laid aside for 
more pressing work, and so we present it not 
until now. The Maxixe, pronounced Macheesa, 
as we are told, resembles the Gherkin in most 
respects, and in no respect that we have dis¬ 
covered is it the Gherkin’s superior. The flesh 
is mucilaginous and seedy, with an intensi¬ 
fied cucumber taste that we should suppose 
would render it insufferable to most people. 
It comes from Brazil, where we learn it is 
considerably used both cooked and raw. It is 
also cooked and served with meat. This nov¬ 
elty, a variety of Cueuinis angaria, probably, 
brought me $200, at 90 cents per bushel. The 
tops remained green until killed by frost on 
October 4, long after most other varieties were 
dead. I had six acres of potatoes and nine vari¬ 
eties, but the Burbank was the most profita¬ 
ble and about the same in quality as the 
Beauty of Hebron, Rose and Snowflake. I 
planted five pounds of the White Elephant 
and harvested nearly four bushels. They were 
on richer ground than the Burbanks and the 
quality is not as good. In an adjoining town 
Chester Shura way planted acres of Bur¬ 
banks, and from the piece he has sold $450 
worth. They were sold at 90 cents for the 
New York market, and may have been the 
fine Burbanks that the Rural saw there some 
two months ago. 
I know of but one other piece of Burbanks 
of any size in this vjcinitj r , and I was told by 
the owner that his crop was 200 bushels per 
acre. The Peerless has been the best to yield 
in my neighborhood for several years, but the 
Burbank hss given 20 per cent, more meas¬ 
ured bushels this year. Last year the yield of 
these varieties was about equal. o. L. R. 
Lowville, N. Y. 
is a pen that can be used for a boar pen, or 
by hoisting a slide door, G, small pigs can be 
fed away from the sow in it. C. C. are two 
pens I use for fattening hogs. Each of these 
has a cast-iron trough, E. E., with a wide 
hanging door above, to shut the hogs back 
when the feed is being put in. The floors are 
all laid with the usual slant, and are tight 
except in the fattening pens. These are tight 
about half way back; the balance of the way 
the planks are about 1 % inch apart, which 
makes it nearly a self-cleaning pen. D. D. D. 
are planks 12 or 14 inches wide raised three 
inches, under which short planks project three 
inches; here also the manure is pushed to fall 
in the cellar below. H. is a door through 
which Iload live hogs. I. is the entrance door 
for the hogs. J. is an alley to feed the hogs iu 
pen B. K. is the entrance to feeding floor. 
L. shows the stairs to loft. M. is a box hold- 
is now offered in several catalogues. If it has 
any merit which commends it to general trial, 
we should like to know what it is. 
Pruning in Winter. —I have practiced 
pruning trees during warm days in Winter for 
ten years, and find no bad results. It is a great 
saving of time; but don’t cut any iimb when 
frozen, and if obliged to cut a large one, smear 
the wound with grafting wax. 
W oreester Co., Mass. J. L. Peters. 
Like Mr. Peaslee, whose hog-pen was de¬ 
scribed in a late Rural, I have come to the 
A NEW CLOVER SEPARATOR. 
THE Birdsall M’f’g Co., of South Bend, 
Ind., have just perfected a new machine that 
will be known as the “New” Monitor Jr. It 
has a number of improvements that will com¬ 
mend it highly to clover tlirashermen. It cleans 
the seed ready for market as it is thrashed. 
This is accomplished by means of a recleaning 
attachment when the clean seed is delivered in 
one bag while the light or foul seed falls into 
a second bag to pa s through the machine 
again. This does away with the use of a fan¬ 
ning mill. Another improvement is that 
the tailiDgs are carried up at the rear instead 
of at the front of the machine, and by means 
of a shaking floor are discharged directly in¬ 
to the hulling cylinder instead of into the 
straw. The oid-fashioned upward feed cyl¬ 
inder is also changed to a downward feed, 
such as is used in wheat thrashers. It com¬ 
bines all the best known principles and de¬ 
vices for thrashing, hulling, separating and 
cleauing clover seed. Mr. Birdsall is the pioneer 
in this business and this machine is the result 
of over 20 years’ experience in manufactur¬ 
ing clover hullers : from a small beginning the 
business has grown to great proportions. Clover 
is now grown all over the country and the seed 
carefully gathered : a few years ago there 
was no sale for these machines west of New 
York, now the sales extend all over the coun¬ 
try and thi company alone, with a good 
season, will sell over 5o0 machines this year. 
W. H. K. 
R. N-Y.— 
Plan op Hog Pen.—Fig. 103. 
in the usual way we are losing ing 25 bushels of feed. N. water-closet. O. O. 
of one of our most valuable are doors both swinging into the center pen, 
irdingly to avoid this loss I which makes it very convenient to separate or 
d a hog-pen, a plan of which I divide the hogs. P. is a slide door through 
:al, as it may be suggestive to which I take my fat hogs to the butcher, 
It is 18 x 24 feet with feet without interfering with my store hogs. In 
it over a cellar of the same conclusion, permit me to say that for conven- 
t deep. After digging a trench ience and for the supply of all that can be 
id ditch, the cellar wall was required in a hog pen. for the ordinary farmer, 
;h with cement or water-lime this pen far exceeds anything that I know of. 
bottom is also of cement. The Schoharie Co., N. Y, S. Lehman. 
{^XlBCilidUtOUS 
THE BURBANK POTATO, 
In the Spring of 1880 I planted 1% bushel of 
this variety and harvested 34 bushels—at the 
rate of 300 bushels per acre—of smooth, fine- 
looking tubers, nuiform in size and ofexcel- 
Mild Winter and Grasshoppers. 
Prof. Riley sends us the following letter re¬ 
ceived from Surgeon J W. Freeman, of Fort 
Meade, D. T.. and written Feb. 12. He deems 
it a favorable indication since in proportion 
as the pests prematurely hatch out during 
mild winter weather, they are liable to sub¬ 
sequently perish. The species in question 
is the Rocky Mountain pest, Caloptenus spre- 
tus. 
4 * I have the honor to inform you that ou 
Feb. 5. 1882, while rambling over the eastern 
border of the Black Hill Mountains I was sur¬ 
prised by finding thousands of grasshoppers 
hopping about in the gross and sand. As I have 
never seen the celebrated crop destroyers of 
Kansosand Nebraska and cannot findoutfrom 
any person here, I send you a few specimens 
for your opinion. I would say the Winter 
has been comparatively open, especially the 
latter half of January and first half of Febru¬ 
ary, thermometer ranging from 25° to 5° 
Grafting the Grape. 
The article on grafting in Rural of 4th 
inst. reminds me that J. H. McMillan, of Dal¬ 
ton, Mich., claims to have succeeded in 27 
cases out of 30 in grafting grape-vines by a 
process new to me, and by which in case of 
failure the stock is not injured in its bearing. 
His process is: Remove the earth from the base 
of the stock down to the roots, then by a cut 
curved at the top, slit or par© down oue-fourth 
(more or less) 01 the stock one to two inches; 
pare the cion so as to make it flexible; insert 
it in the slit in the proper position as to the 
inner bark on one side; bind the whole firmly 
together with strips of cloth or bark und re¬ 
place the earth. He prefers to do this very 
early in the Spring before the sap moves. In 
a warm spell of February, of 1880, 1 employed 
a professional grafter to set 14 grape grafts 
by Fuller’s plan, one only of which was suc¬ 
cessful; and this is the only suocosful grape 
grafting I have ever seen. I have no doubt, 
however, that the thing can be done, and 
shall try McMillan’s plan as soon as the weath¬ 
er is favorable. S. B. Peck. 
Bermuda Grass, Leaves and Flower Stem.—Fig. 104. 
lent quality. They were planted on land of 
ordinary fertility and given the usual field 
culture. With this “seed” I planted three 
acres last Spring, and, notwithstanding the 
severe drought and general failure of the po¬ 
tato crop, I harvested 200 bushels per acre. 
One acre had 15 loads of manure applied and 
space; the rest I use for a store-room. I only 
keep about 12 hens in here. I have a five-foot 
square window in the south end of the lofc, 
which makes it very warm for the hens when 
it is cold outside. 
A. is a pen where I feed my store hogs, a 
sow with pigs, or any others I let runout. B. 
