18 
JAN 42 
THI RURAL I41W-Y0RRIR. 
E. Y, Teas, of Duureith, Indiana, I have 
taken cions from the top of the champion tree 
referred to above, which are to be root-graft¬ 
ed for future planting. Some roots of it will 
be searched for, to make root-cuttings. This 
tree grew on a high, dry, open hill, yet it ex¬ 
celled in growth others in rich deep soil. It 
has shown no tendency to sprout from the 
roots as yet, but neither have the others that 
had been raised from seed, nor do the roots 
seem to run superficially or dry out the soil 
much iu Summer. The stumps, cut even with 
the surface, are to have the loose chips and 
spalls chisseled off and then be coated, over 
the cut surface, with tar: and of the sprouts 
that will issue not more than three will be al¬ 
lowed to make growth from one stump. 
Sprouts are to be expected from the roots, 
but they will be kept down unless there is 
room for a little grove of them in some un¬ 
cultivated corner. 
We cut the trees in December, because of 
having spare help and spare time then. It is 
the best time for favoring stroug growth of 
sprouts, but not for the highest quality and 
endurance of the wood. If the felling had 
been anticipated last Summer we would have 
cut through the bark of some of the trees at 
the ground about Midsummer and stripped it 
loose as high up the stem as possible, with a 
view of testing wbat effect that would have 
on weakening the roots—lessening the ten¬ 
dency to sprout, and increasing the quality 
of the wood. £)ur choice would be to cut the 
trees down in early Midsummer, and let them 
lie two or three weeks untrimmed for the 
leaves to exhaust the sap. At that season 
very little fresh prepared sap would have 
been supplied yet by them, and that ferment¬ 
able material, prone to rapid decay and a 
choice food for insect larvae, would be at its 
minimum. w. g. w. 
Tyrone, Pa. 
CELERY. 
WILLIAM FALCONER. 
Dec. 30. Some nine inches depth of snow on 
the ground, and seven deg. of frost at noon. A 
few days ago we had 27 deg. of frost at mid¬ 
night. “ Boss, d'ye know that that big celery 
is spoiling bad?” said Pat, tlio vegetable 
gatherer, to me this morning. This led me 
to examine every ridge and bed of celery. 
The Giant White that remained undisturbed 
beyond being banked up where it was grown, 
has rotted badly. There is not a sound head 
in the lot; the Giant Red under the same cir¬ 
cumstances, is also spoiling, but not so badly 
as the Wbite. Both of these sorts that were 
lifted and “ bedded” for Winter weresounder 
than those that were earthed up where they 
giew. But all the kinds of dwarf celery, red 
and white, which were “put up” for Winter 
in the different ways, were stout, clean, and 
perfectly sound. We have been using Boston 
Market every day at the rate of 50 to 80 
heads a week since the middle of September, 
and we like it very much because of its hardi¬ 
hood in Summer, and excellent quality, and 
because it keeps through the Winter first-rate. 
Many consider its many sprouts to a head an 
advantage; but I do not. Certainly, these 
sprouts are available for soups, stews and 
the like, and the main head for the celery 
dish, but I’d prefer more neat, single heads 
and fewer sprouts. 
The Golden Heart is white and clean, and 
“pretty as a picture.” It seems to have 
blanched better than the Boston Market. But 
take away those Giaut chaps. Tall, rank, 
rough, their leaves are as hollow as those of a 
cardoon, their flavor is miserable, compared 
with that of the dwarfer kinds; you cannot 
grow nearly as many giants as dwarfs on a 
given space, and even iu the ease of rows six 
to seven feet apart, you have to dig down 
to the subsoil before you can get earth enough 
to bauk them up. And then they don’t keep 
as well as the dwarfs. 
In the Summer time it is immaterial to me 
whether the celery is in rows four feet or two 
feet apart, providing the plants get abundance 
to eat and drink. They grow most rankly 
in September. If in rows four feet apart, I 
can earth them up where they stand; if iu 
two feet rows, I can lift every second row and 
transplant it elsewhere, and leave the others 
to earth up where they are. Flat cultivation 
in the case of moist, rich land, I should recom¬ 
mend; but when the land is light or dry I 
should advise to plant in a slight trench or 
furrow for convenience in watering. 
For my earliest celery I earth up a little 
towards the end of August; on account of the 
warm weather it soon blanches. Then, again, 
a few more plants about once a fortnight, 
till the middle or end of October, when I be¬ 
gin to think of the main crops. That earthed 
up about the end of September takes much 
longer to whiten than that earthed up two or 
three weeks earlier, and in proportion so do 
those earthed up later. The celery I am to 
use before the New Year (Indeed, this year I 
expect it will keep me going till February) I 
earthed up iu the rows where it grew, first 
“handling” and afterwards earthing up, in 
two or three workings, till the earth reaches 
to the tops of the plants and is solidly packed 
.around every head, so that no water can 
lodge. On the approach of frost, I lay a little 
salt hay on the tops of the ridges, and as se 
verer weather sets in apply a coating of salt 
thatch, leaves, littery manure, or other bandy 
material to the sides of the ridges to exclude 
frost, and in the case of the later rows lay a 
board along on the top of them to prevent 
rain or melted snow from soaking down to and 
rotting the crowns. 
For my late celer} 7 , which I intend to come 
in after New Year’s, I use the latest plantings 
and least rank rows of plants. These which 
except “handling” have not previously been 
earthed up, I lift late iu October or early in No¬ 
vember, and transplant into beds having four 
rows in each. When filled and finished these 
beds are four feet wide, six inches higher in 
the middle thau at the outside, and the rows 
run lengthwise and one foot apart. 
The plants in the rows are buried to their full 
depth, and firmly packed in and around with 
soil. When all is finished, the soil is so firm 
and the bed so rounded that rain is far more 
apt to ran off than soak through. As Winter 
advances I put some leaves and litter over the 
bed. 
STEWED CELERY. 
Allow me to mention this, to me, one of the 
most palatable dishes that can be set upon my 
table. Take some nice celery, stew it in milk 
for a little over an hour. Then remove the 
celery from the saucepan to a dish, add a lit¬ 
tle flour thickening, a pinch of salt and a little 
butter to the milk, cook a minute or two and 
then pour it over the celery. I hope I have 
got this recipe right; I have written it to my 
wife’s dictation, for I am not much of a cook 
myself. But I can vouch for the excellence 
of stewed celery. I have it nearly every day. 
SMALL FRUIT NOTES. 
Mr. Lovett, in the January number of an 
agricultural contemporary, mentions a rather 
new observation—that the fruit of one and 
the same variety of pistillate strawberries 
may assume a totally different character as 
to size, shape, color, firmness, etc., according 
to the variety which impregnates the blos¬ 
soms by its pollen. Some time since, being 
in tidewater Virginia, where straw berries 
are grown quite extensvely for Northern 
markets, I had occasion to talk with some 
of the most successful cultivators, and very 
observing Northern men, too. op this very- 
subject. From their statements it appears 
that in that section the very best results iu 
the cultivation of the strawberry ax - e obtained 
from the Crescent, fertilized by the Wilson. 
I found these men to be well acquainted with 
that fundamental principle of reproduction, 
which assigns as much influence upon the pro¬ 
geny to the male as to the female parent ; and 
they had used this knowledge iu the selection 
of the male parent best suited to their pur¬ 
pose. They needed productiveness, and 
above all, firmness and keeping quality, and 
the Wilson imparts these characteristics. 
These men at the same time lay much 
stress on the necessity of providing for an 
abundance of pollen, and therefore alternate 
the two varieties; that is, plunt one row of 
Crescent and one of Wilsou. The results ob¬ 
tained with this combination are highly sat¬ 
isfactory, and have not been outdone in ex¬ 
periments with the Manchester, James Vick 
and other new sorts. The majority of straw¬ 
berry growers deny their beds of pistil lutes 
the chances of perfect fructification. 1 have 
often made the same mistakes iu the supposi¬ 
tion that to have a pollen variety some- 
where in the vicinity would be quite near 
enough. Let us provide plenty of pollen and 
thus secure a full crop. Trials made near 
Richmond, Va., with the James Vick, have 
shown this berry to be of medium size, hand¬ 
some iu shape, deep red iu color, and of 
good flavor. It is remarkable as a keeper. 
A basket of this variety, ufter standing four 
days, was to all appearances as good as when 
freshly picked. 
On a farm in that same section I found a 
plantation of a new variety of Black-cap 
raspberries which there proves far ahead of 
Doolittle, Mammoth Cluster, Gregg, Sou Me¬ 
gan and all the older or newer varieties. 
The plants are very hardy, standing the 
warm climate and drought to a remarkable 
degree. The fruit is very large, very dark, 
medium juicy, good for market or drying, 
and of aromatic flavor; but the poor thing had 
not even a name, so, as it came from a wild 
plant found in Chesterfield County, I suggest¬ 
ed the name “ Chesterfield Seedling” which 
was gratefully accepted. There are no plants 
for sale. Nobody has an axe to grind. But 
it will be tried in the Northern sections next 
year, and if it proves to be as valuable there 
as iu Virginia. 1 predict for it a great future. 
Q. 
£l)f poultry JDatiX 
SCALE OF POINTS OF LIGHT BRAHMA. 
IF. C. B., Swanzy, N. H. —What are the 
points of Light Brahma fowls? 
Ans. —The following is the scale of points 
of the Light Brahma: 
DISQUALIFY ATION 8. 
Birds not matching in the show-pen; combs 
falling over to either side; twisted feathers 
in the wings; shanks not feathered down the 
outer sides and to the extremities of the outer 
toes, or of any other color than yellow 7 ; vul¬ 
ture hocks; undercolor any other thau white, 
bluish-white or slate-color; in under-color of 
back black running into the web of the 
feather; crooked backs; wry tails; cocks not 
weighing niue pounds; hens not weighing 
seven-and-a-half pounds; cockerels not weigh¬ 
ing seveu-and-a-half pounds; pullets not 
weighing six pounds. 
THE COCK. 
Head. —Broad, of medium length, slightly 
projecting over the eyes; color of plumage, 
white; eyes, large and bright; beak, short, 
stout, and, in color, yellow, with a dark stripe 
down the upper mandible. 
Comb. —Pea, small, lower in front and rear 
than in the center; firm on the head and dis¬ 
tinctly divided, having the appearance of 
three small combs pressed together, the larg¬ 
est and highest in the middle, and each part 
slightly and evenly serrated; color, rich, 
bright red. 
Wattles and Ear-lobes.—O f equal 
length, the wattles being well-rounded; color, 
rich, bright red. 
Neck. —Rather long and well arched, the 
hackle flowing well over the shoulders; plu¬ 
mage of the upper part white, the lower two- 
thirds being distinctly striped with black, the 
stripe tapering to a point at the extremity of 
the feather. 
Back —Broad, flat between the shoulders, 
and as long as is consistent with the size and 
symmetrical proportions of the bird; saddle- 
feathers well developed, surface-color, white; 
under-color, either white or bluish-white. 
Breast and Body.— Breast, full, broad and 
round, and carried well forward. Body round 
at the sides and deep; color of both, wiute. 
Wings.—S mall, the bows covered by the 
breast-feathers; color of bows, white; the 
primaries closely folded under the secondaries; 
color of primaries, black, or nearly so; color 
of secondaries, white on the outer web and 
black on the inner web. 
Tail.—F ull, well spread, carried tolerably 
upright, and well filled underneath with rich, 
curling feathers; color of tail, black; sickle- 
feathers short and spreading laterally, und in 
color black: coverts, glossy, greenish-black; 
lesser coverts, black, w ith white edge. 
Fluff.— Abundant and soft, giving the bird 
a broad appearance behind: color, white. 
Legs and Toes. —Thighs,strong and well 
covered with 90 ft, white feathers; shanks, 
strong, standing well apart, of medium length, 
and well feathered on the outside; color of 
scales, yellow 7 ; inside of the legs, yellow or red¬ 
dish yellow 7 ; shank-feathers white or white 
mottled with black. Toes straight and 
strong, the outer toes being well feathered to 
the ends thereof; the feathering of middle 
toes optional with breeders. 
Carriage. —Bold and attractive. 
the hen. 
Head. —Broad, of medium length, and 
slightly projecting over the eyes; plumage 
white. Beak, short aud stout; color, yellow, 
with or without dark stripe down the upper 
mandible. Eyes, large and bright 
Comb. —Pea, small aud low 7 , with delicate 
but distinctly defined serrations, firm and 
even upon the head, and, iu color, bright red. 
Wattles and Ear-lobics.— Wattles, ex¬ 
ceedingly small; ear-lobes, well developed; 
color, rich red. 
Neck. —Of medium length und well arched; 
hackle-feathers, white, with a broad, black 
stripe down the center, the edge of the black 
running nearly parallel with the edge of the 
feather, and reaching well over the shoulders. 
Back.—B road, flat between the shoulders, 
and as long as is consistent with the size and 
symmetrical beauty of the bird; feathers 
broad anti soft, and rising to the tail; surface- 
color. white; utder-color either white or 
bluish-white. 
Breast and Body. —Breast full, broad and 
round, and carried well forward. Bod} 7 , 
round at the sides, aud deep; color of both, 
white. 
Wings.—S mall, the bows covered by the 
breast feathers; the primaries smoothly folded 
under the secondaries; color of primaries, 
black or nearly so; color of secondaries, white 
on the outer web, and black on the inner w eb. 
Tail.—R ather small and spreading; color, 
black; the two highest, or main tail feathers, 
edged with white; tail-coverts, black, edged 
with white. 
Fluff. —Abundant, and soft, giving the bird 
a broad appearance behind; color, white. 
Legs and Toes.—T highs, strong, aud 
abundantly covered with soft, white feathers. 
Shanks strong, standing well apart, and w 7 ell 
feathered on the outside with white feathers, 
or white mottled with black. Toes, straight 
aud strong, the outer toes being well feath¬ 
ered to t he ends, the feathering of middle toes 
optional with breeders. 
Carriage.—L ow in comparison with that 
of the cock. 
POINTS IN LIGHT BRAHMAS. 
symmetry.*. 10 
Size nod weight. IS 
Condition.,,. S 
Head .. 
Comb. 8 
Wattles and Ear lobes.. r> 
N>e-k. io 
Hack. 7 
Breast atid Body. 7 
Wings. 8 
Tail. 7 
Fluff.... 5 
Legs and Toes.’..,j 7 
100 
STANDARD WEIGHTS. 
Cock.12 lb 
Cockerel.10 tb 
Hen.10 lb 
Pullet. 8 tt 
Allowing one point per pound for any ex¬ 
cess, and deducting two points per pound for 
any deficit from above weights. 
experiment in feeding hens. 
Here are the results of an experiment in 
feeding hens: 
November 20, commenced feeding to 10 hens 
and one rooster the following quantity of 
food: 
Cost. 
10 nounds whole coni. 
(Its. 
.18 
5 “ 
cracked corn. 
r* 
5 “ 
10 " 
corn-meal. 
oats. 
.15 
5 “ 
5 “ 
3 “ 
fine teed. 
whole wheat. 
beef scraps. 
.10 
The above lasted just 10 days. 
04 
The 10 hens 
laid in that time 89 eggs which sold at 88 cents 
per dozen—$2.82. i/net profit in It) days of 
#2.18. HENRY L. EATON. 
Slurp ijiisbontinj 
DOGS AND SHEEP. 
Dr. Hoskins’s “Note" on my recent dog and 
sheep article, page 77U, merits u word of com¬ 
ment. Dog killing by shepherds might have 
the discouraging effect on “dog husbandry” 
alluded to. if it were practicable. There can¬ 
not be any question but that if the shepherds 
of the country were to combine and act in 
concert,, they might procure t he repeal of all 
laws taxing or in any manlier recognizing 
dogs as property; in other words, they could 
procure legislation declaring them outlaws, 
aud then they might wage a war of extermi¬ 
nation upon them as upou wolves. But shep¬ 
herds, as a mile, are law-abiding, order loving 
citizens, aud they will continue to suffer 
wrong rather thau to resort to such extreme 
measures. Besides, many of them own dogs 
which are of much value to them. Five or six 
different flocks of sheep have been injured by- 
dogs within about one mile of my houseduriug 
the past year, and this is not much of a sheep 
or dog county either. In one ease the dogs 
were caught in the act, aud their owners 
promptly, and with apparent cheerfulness, 
paid the damage, and the dogs still live. Iu 
another case the dogs were seen but not iden¬ 
tified, but several curs were killed by their 
ow ners for fear that the Selectmen might be 
able to bold them responsible for the damage 
and penalty. In a third ease a man quietly 
refrained from bringing his loss to the atten¬ 
tion of the authorities because lie had a sus¬ 
pected dog, which he afterward slew 7 , though 
but for that circumstance lie could hardly 
have been persuaded to part with tt. Exter¬ 
mination will never remedy the dog evil. 
What it requires is regulation. Someday, 
owners of dogs will be compelled to restrain 
them from running at large. We have a 
good dog law in Vermont. It may be objected 
to it that the damages for which t he town is 
responsible are limited to the fund collected 
from licenses of dogs. This limitation should 
undoubtedly be removed, although it is 
claimed that it. helps execute the law. Theu 
if the honest shepherds will have the backbone 
to elect honest officers to fearlessly execute 
the law, the dog nuisance, or rather the cur 
