THE 
NEW-YORKER. 
OCT.23 
ni6hed greenhouses or conservatories, yet of 
its unquestionable value as a window plant 
we hear little said. All over Europe, we find 
this peculiar value of the Chinese Azalea 
abundantly recognized. Uncounted thousands 
are used there every year in the humblest 
homes, but in America the same culture seems 
to make its way slowly. Let us consider a few 
brief directions for successful azalea culture 
in the dwelling-room, 
Buy the azaleas you propose to cultivate in 
the room, some time in October, when they 
have fully matured their leaves and buds. It 
would not be advisable to bring them in as 
soon as October, if it were not for the danger 
of sharp frost during that month. In any 
case, they must be set out in the open air as 
much as possible during days that are not 
positively frosty to harden both leaves and 
buds and fully prepare them for the trying 
changes of a dwelliug-room in Winter. When 
Winter has fairly set in, the azaleas should be 
placed permanently in the room it is intended 
they should occupy, aud iu the lightest and 
sunniest of its windows. If at all convenient, 
windows with southern and eastern exposures 
6bould be selected, for the light from these 
quarters produces earlier aDd better flowers 
than that, from the north aud .west. Thus, 
while in late February or early March we can 
have flowers on azaleas exposed to the east 
and south, at least a month more inu6t elapse 
before the plants looking elsewhere for light, 
can bloom. Water moderately aud only now 
and then while the azaleas have not as yet 
begun to grow. During full growth, however, 
be quite liberal in this respect. The tendency 
which azaleas often Bhow iu the dwelling- 
room to suffer from thrip. greeu fly or red 
spider, may be overcome by dipping their 
heads once or twice a week iu tobacco water. 
This treatment must be followed up with in 
creasing care until Spriug advances sufliciently 
for the plants to be safely plunged in the open 
ground, 
About the middle of May usually, Chinese 
Azaleas may be safely set out or plunged pot 
and all. If the top of the pot be set an inch or 
two below the surface of the grouud and im¬ 
mediately well watered, the plant will continue 
to put forth aud ripen new sets of leaves with 
ao other moisture thau dew and rains. Once 
in awhile, during dry, hot weather, artificial 
watering may be done with great benefit. At 
least once in two j T ears, if not every year, a 
fresh potting should be given window-grown 
Chinese Azaleas. I am assuming that young 
plants of moderate size are employed, Old, 
large plants may remain in the same pot sev¬ 
eral years without becomiug pot-bound or 
stunted. Whether a larger pot be used or not, 
will depend on the growth the roots have made 
during the last one or two years. Fresh soil 
should be used in either case, composed of 
rich, sandy loam mixed with a liberal quantity 
of old. well rotted manure Before potting, 
remove about an inch of the soil from the ball 
of roots, and compact, instead, the fresh earth 
firmly round about the plant iu the pot. 
Chinese Azaleas like this treatment. Water 
should be now given in small quantities aud at 
short intervals in order to soak the potting 
earth thoroughly. But we must not forget 
the pruning! It is important. First, cut hack 
hard in early Spring the stems and twigs that 
have just bloomed in order to start out a vig¬ 
orous young growth, aud then pinch the 
strongest young shoots at their extremities 
from time to time to develop strength and 
symmetry. Do not strive too much for abso¬ 
lute regularity. All azaleas naturally arrange 
themselves in layer-liko masses with strata of 
flowers piled one upon the other. This being 
their natural habit, it seems a pity to clip the 
plant into absolute formality. 
in conclusion, I subjoin a list of a number 
of the varieties best adapted to wiudow cul¬ 
ture, for many kinds have buds that are so 
constituted as to drop or become injured by 
the peculiar conditions of a dwelliug-room. 
Some kinds, again, are in every way hardier 
than others. Of those that are suited to win¬ 
dow gardening it may be said that no better 
or more easily managed plants exist for that 
purpose. A list of varieties well adapted for 
window culture may be made as follows :— 
Amuena, Fielder’s White, Iudica alba, Belle 
Gantoise, Brilliant, Burliugtonii. Distinction, 
Criterion, Delicate, Eulalie Van Geert, Flower 
of the Day. Jveryana, Murrayaua, Perfection, 
Frederick the Great, Georgiana, Leana, Mad. 
Amoroise Ver6chMff.'.H. Marie Vervaine, Alex¬ 
ander II., Miltonii, Queen Victoria, Racetnosa, 
Senator Kessler, Standard of Perfection, Ade¬ 
laide of Nassau, Obtusa, etc. The engraving- 
annexed represents the variety Mrs. Carmichel. 
It. forms an excellent example of the best 
modern improved hybrids of the Chinese 
Azalea. 8 . Parsons, Jr. 
should be entirely destitute of a few choice 
house plants. In Winter, when no flowers are 
seen out-of-doors it is very pleasant to have a 
few flowering plants in the house. They are a 
source of enjoyment uot only to the owner in¬ 
doors. but they cheer and enliven the spirits 
of the passers-by. I know of a bay window in 
this town that iu winter is always beautiful, 
and is dally admired by many people who pass 
it, and they ofUm stop to take a closer look. 
It is a fact, I think, that the cultivation of 
wiudow plants is yearly becoming more pop¬ 
ular. and I am glad to see it so. All who wish 
to make homes beautiful, should cultivate 
flowers iu the house in winter, as well as out- 
of-doors iu Summer. f. h. d. 
Coming, N. Y. 
cut when three or four feet high with the 
mower and left to grow up again, which it 
will do very quickly thickening up very much 
in its second growth. Three cuttings may be 
easily made and the last growth may be pas¬ 
tured down at the end of the season. This 
method would produce soft, fine, succulent 
fodder which would be consumed without any 
waste whatever. Henry Stewart. 
Ifieli) Crop. 
RURAL BRANCHING SORGHUM. 
Home Plant*. 
The season for out-door plants for this year 
is about over, and arrangements must imme¬ 
diately be made for the in-door plants, if one 
wishes to enjoy their beauty and fragrance the 
coming Winter; and I certainly wish that no 
family who read the Rural New-Yorker 
There is need for more fodder crops. The 
feeding of cattle for the production of milk 
and butter promises to be one of our most 
profitable branches of agriculture, and a pro¬ 
lific fodder plant that will permit of cutting 
freely and will quickly recuperate after the 
euttiug, will be of great value. The Rural 
Branching Sorghum is such a plant. A careful 
test of this plant this season has proved its 
qualities, and a history of this season’s expe¬ 
rience with it may he interesting. 
On account of the unusually dry weather 
iD the Spring, the planting was delayed until 
May Slat. Tbis was fully a month later than 
the first planting of sweet corn. The soil is a 
sandy loam, aud was manured with well rotted 
cow manure at the rate of about 1<> tons per 
acre, and a light dressing of lime The soil 
was in fair order and by no means rich ; equal 
only to fairly good corn land that would make 
50 bushels of corn per acre. The seed was plaut- 
ed in drills opened with a plow aud covered 
withahoe, about three iuches deep. Itappeared 
above ground in four days after planting, not¬ 
withstanding the soil was very dry and no rain 
fell. On account ol the dry w T eathcr it grew 
slowly, but after rain fell it shot up with re¬ 
markable vigor, branching or tillering very 
freely. The seed was dropped three inches 
apart, but the tillering brought the stalks to 
within an inch of each other ub they stood in 
the rows. On July 0, the plants in one row 
were cut aud feci and all were eaten up clean 
by the cows, the stalks being wholly consumed. 
On August 21st, the other row6 were eight feet 
seven inches high, and until the dry weather 
came were growing three inches a day. On 
that day twelve stalks, cut from one foot of 
row weighed nine ponnda, which would be 
equal to 65 tons per acre. The row which was 
cut on 9Lh of July, is now (Sept. 30) over 
six feet high and has blossomed. Part of the 
low, of second growth was cut the second 
time, and on Sept. 30, was two feet high and 
had thickened up considerably. On account of 
the close planting the stalks are line, none 
beiug more than three-quarters of au inch and 
the majority less than half an inch thick. The 
stalks are now over 11 feet tall and have 
passed the blossoming stage and promise to 
mature seed. Some stalks were cut to-day 
(Oct. 4) and given whole to cows and a horse. 
The cows ate all but a few pieces of stalk, but 
were not hnngry, having been all day on good 
pasture. The horse ingeniously managed to 
take his stalks by the blossom end and chewed 
up the whole by degrees without letting go. 
This animal evidently chose the best manner 
of disposing of them. 
On cutting some sections of the staikB for 
examination under the microscope, they were 
found full of starch grains, and in one stalk, 
which had been touched by the frost, a few 
crystals of sugar were found. On chewing a 
piece of tbis stalk, it was found to be nearly as 
sweet as the Amber Sugar-cane. The starch 
grains were so plentiful that they adhered to 
the fingers when the sap dried upon the hands 
after cutting the stalks, and on scraping these 
dry granules off and examining them under 
the microscope, they appeared a6 small as the 
grains of rice starch and very much smaller 
than those of corn, wheat or potato 6tarch. 
The large quantity of Btarch contained in the 
stalks goes to Ehow that they must be unusual¬ 
ly nutritious. The season ha6 been remarka¬ 
bly unfavorable. Long-continued dry weather 
has seriously stunted the corn crop and has 
curtailed the growing season at least one 
month. But for this, the sorghum would have 
ripened seed at least two weekB ago. The frost 
of the first of October which killed tomatoes, 
ha6 very slightly touched the sorghum, dis¬ 
coloring a leaf here and there, and only seri¬ 
ously touching a few of the stalks at the end 
of the rows. It is at least as hardy as corn. 
This new fodder plant evidently promises 
to be a valuable addition to our list of feeding 
crops. From its habit of growth and ability 
to stand repeated cuttings, it would probably 
produce the most fodder by being drilled in 
rows 12 to 18 inches apart, and cultivated with 
an implement arranged for the purpose; then 
RURAL SEEDS, ETC. 
The Cow-pea grows astonishingly aud is 
relished by sheep. It ripens easily in this 
climate—In a line, with Utica. It is very 
prolific, and is evidently of real value. Blount’s 
Corn ripens with me and bears from two to three 
ears to a stalk. My hired tnan has difficulty 
in carrying a dozen stalks in his arms. For 
fodder and for seed it is only inferior to Moore’s 
Concord Sweet Corn which is, in my judgment, 
the unrivaled com up to date. Mold’s Ennobled 
Oats are a marvel of productiveness, rather 
late; about two weeks after the common oats. 
Straw short, and seed about double the weight of 
other kinds, The Siberian Fir seeds germin¬ 
ated ; but the magnolias have not done so yet. 
i shall look for them for five years yet- The 
pentstemons are a failure. From your flower 
seeds in general I have secured not much of 
special value. 
Among my notes for the year I tiud that corn 
fodder cut during the Summer and fed to cows, 
as compared with cut grass, gives milk 
as five to six : or lessens the supply about one- 
sixth. It ought to be fed not oftener thau 
one meal out of three. The yield of potatoes 
in this section is less by one-third than last 
year; that of corn equal to last year’s. Your 
crop reports are of great value; and your 
special numbers on berries, cereals etc., are 
inestimable. You have my sincere thanks 
for the real value of your work to myself. You 
have taken the lead by making your paper im¬ 
mensely useful. 
Among the small fruits I find the New Roeheile 
Raspberry to be of great value; but with us 
Turner is practically worthless. [Are you 
postivc that it is Turner ? Eds ] It is sweet, 
soft, hardy and useless, Cuthbert and Gregg 
deserve all the praise they get. I am still 
much attached to Davison’s Thornless Black 
Cap. E. P. Powell. 
Oneida Co., N. Y. 
-- 
“SHALL POTATOES BE DUG TO PREVENT 
ROTTING V’ 
The above question is put by friend Brown¬ 
ell in a recent number of the Rural, in which 
he gives his experience in that line, and solic¬ 
its the experience of others. In the first place, 
the answer depends upon certain circum¬ 
stances, and one important one is, the place 
and conditions under which the tubers are to 
be stored; but, first, I would not permit the 
potatoes to begin to rot, il it could he prevent¬ 
ed. Thi9 condition, however, is very likely to 
follow, if potatoes are left in the ground during 
a Beason of alternate showers and hot weather 
that frequently occurs in the early Autumu; 
and, such being the case, it is very reasonable 
to suppose that early digging would remove 
the potatoes from these unfavorable con¬ 
ditions ; but at the same time if the potatoes 
are to be Btored in a hot cellar, there are 
chances that they will then rot. On the other 
hand, if the cellar is cool and, withal, a little 
moist, and the potatoes are sound, I believe 
there will be no trouble with rotting. I can 
fully corroborate friend Brownell’s experience 
in this line, and am fully persuaded that it is 
better for us to dig our potatoes t,o save them 
from rot, although I am aware of the general 
idea that if they are to rot, it is better for it to 
occur in the ground—which is all right, pro¬ 
vided they are to rot; but this I do not believe 
is necessary. 
My cellar is cool and what would be consid¬ 
ered pretty moist in fact, in the wet season 
more or less water runs in the drains under 
the flagging. The potato biu is on one side of 
the cellar aud dii ectly over a drain, with open 
joints iu the flagging. When I dig my pota¬ 
toes they are put into the bin without even 
straw upon the bottom and with the sideB 
against the wall, aud yet they will keep, 
save as they disappear to satisfy culiuary de¬ 
mands. I have had experience directly 
in the line of Mr. Brownell's, but the most 
marked and distinct occurred last season— 
the Fall of ’79. Haying decided to spend some 
time in Western New York, I dug a part of my 
potatoes in August, or as soon as the tops were 
partially dried, and put them in the cellar as 
described above, while the remainder were left 
in the ground until late in the Fall. The re¬ 
sult was that, so far as I know, not a single po¬ 
tato of the first lot rotted after they were dug, 
while of those that were left in the grouud at 
least half rotted during their stay there, but 
none of them did so after having been placed iu 
the cellar. From the little experience 1 have had 
in that line, I am convinced that, other things 
being equal, it is far better to dig potatoes 
early, or as soon as they are matured, storing 
them in a cool cellar, and then I should have 
no fears of their rotting. Wm. H. Yeomans. 
Tolland Co., Conn. 
♦♦♦ — - 
Planting Potatoes in the Fall. 
In your experiment in planting potatoes in 
the Fall you hardly made the conditions favor¬ 
able. The tubers when planted so deep—six 
inches—have not sufficient space, the pressure 
of the compacted soil checking the yield, caus¬ 
ing the tubers to be badly shaped. 1 f they had 
been planted at an ordinary depth, then hilled 
up, and the surplus earth leveled in the Spring, 
a better crop would have been harvested, and 
the tubers should be planted whole, so that 
their vitality would not be impaired. My ex¬ 
periments have always been confined to early 
varieties for early use, the soil yielding to the 
growing tubers better in the fore, than the 
after part of the season, when more compact¬ 
ed by drought aud time. D. S. Marvin. 
loriiratoral, 
RURALISMS. 
There have lately been many inquiries in 
the Rural about the fig. There are peihaps 
few who know that this fine fruit can he suc¬ 
cessfully grown in the vicinity of New York 
city and somewhat north of it, without lifting 
the plants in the Fall. The fig is not entirely 
hardy here, but it needs no great amount of 
protection during the Winter, without any 
disturbance of the roots; and this protection 
is easily given when tlicolants are grown in the 
right way. Mr. L. H. Meyer, of Staten Island, 
has had a plantation of figs for many years, 
and has never lost a crop, if I remember 
rightly. He never disturbs the roots of the 
plants. Mr. Downing used to grow it success¬ 
fully at Newburgh. His plan was to loosen 
the roots, bend the plant down, cover or bury 
it for the Winter and reset it in the Spring. 
There are two otbur ways in which I have 
grown a few plauts successfully ; but by far 
the least troublesome, aud as good as any, is 
the plan adopted by Mr. Meyer. The ripe fruit 
of the fig is healthy and refreshing, and should 
be grown by every one who has a place for it, 
if only a siugle plant. It is necessary to be¬ 
gin with small plants. 
I am sorry to say I have discovered another 
source of anxiety for the strawberry grower. 
Noticing on a rainy day that the youug leaves 
of some plants here and there were drooping 
or lying detached, I made a close examination 
aud discovered that the mischief had been 
doue by slugs. The point of attack is the 
crown, where the leaves are tender, and where 
much harm can be done. The owner of the 
plants will be on the watch for further de¬ 
velopments. Looking at the right time, I dis¬ 
covered four cases iu my own beds, with the 
slugs at work. Those who understand the 
nature and habits of the slug will look with 
apprehension to its spread to the strawberry 
field. It has been multiplying very fast among 
us for several years, and gives us a good deal 
of trouble in the greenhouse during the 
Winter. The slug works while men sleep. 
Not long since I saw, at Mr. S. P. Carpeu- 
ter’s, the original tree of the Geo. Peabody 
Arbor-vitie (Thuja). It was nearly twenty 
feet high, and handsomely furnished from top 
to bottom. It is quite hardy and exceedingly 
ornamental, retaining its beautiful golden hue 
during the hottest of Summers. It is a line 
tree for the lawn. At Mr. Hance’s, and also 
at Mr. Lovett’s, I saw medium-sized but very 
fine specimens of Biota, oar. olegantissiiua, 
auother fine aibor-vitic of recent introduction, 
aud resembling Geo. Peabody in general ap¬ 
pearance. Tbis also retains iis beautiful gold¬ 
en hue during the Summer, and is a flue sub¬ 
ject for the lawn. In Western New York I urn 
told it is not hardy; hut it seems to be quite 
so in the sandy soils of New Jersey, Long Is¬ 
land, and some other places. A tree of doubt¬ 
ful hardiness should never be planted in a rich 
soil. For small lawns, where tall aud spread¬ 
ing evergreens are inadmissible, there is noth¬ 
ing more appropriate than the arbor-vities and 
retinosporas. 
The talk now iB for an agricultural college, 
to be located in New York city. There is no 
place for an agricultural college in New York 
that I know of. An agricultural college with¬ 
out a farm attached is an agricultural absurd¬ 
ity. Cornell would seem to answer for the 
present; but. if we are to have another, or one 
purely agricultural, New York city is not the 
place for it. Long Island or West Chester 
County would do; but let us first have the 
“ Experiment Stations ” uuder way. Iu at- 
temptiug too much we may lose all. 
A very pretty climber for the garden is 
Passiflora Pfordtii, a comparatively recent 
introduction. It produces its large and hand¬ 
some flowers very freely during the Summer, 
