POTATO AND TREE PLANTER. 
The two-horse potato and tree planter, as 
showu at Pig. 166, is a very useful and practi¬ 
cal implement. Fig. lis a top view; Fig 2, a 
side view, and they plainly show the way in 
which it is made. Tho front part is simply a 
ight sled with platform cover. Tho ruuuers 
have hard-wood shoes, five inches wide, to 
prevent sinking in soft ground. The rear, or 
working part, is attached to tho front by two 
long, extra-heavy strap hinges, and when 
passing from one field to another uiay be 
turned over on the sled part. A, marker, or 
furrower, to excavate the furrow for tho po¬ 
tatoes, or trees. B, B, scrapers to return the 
soil and cover the sets, or trees. D, drag- 
weight to pulverize and level the top of row. 
8, seat for driver. 
In planting potatoes, a boy sits astride of 
marker, A, with his back toward the driver, 
having a bucket, or box, of potatoes on either 
side of him; ami using both hands, he drops 
them the proper distance apart, close behind 
the marker A. The scrapers B,B, return the 
the soil, covering the potatoes, and D levels 
the surface smoothly; with this implement a 
man aud boy oau plant three to five acres a 
day easily, and do the job bettor fhau by any 
other moans. The depth may be gauged 
largely by the position of the dropper. 
To plant trees, remove the cross-bar and the 
leveler. Set two boys on the machine, one on 
each side of marker, A, and place tho plants 
on the platform. One boy sets a plant in the 
are noticed, and, if 
necessary, pinch back oc¬ 
casionally so as to keep the plants in shape. 
Water if necessary, and about the first of Sep¬ 
tember take up and re-pot in five or six-inch 
pots, according to the size of the plant, being 
careful to place at least an inch of broken 
pots in the bottom nf each pot Ju order to in¬ 
sure perfect drainage. On the approach of 
cool weather, remove inside, giving them a 
light, airy situation, and on average tempera¬ 
ture of 58 degrees. Do not crowd the plants, 
mid turn them occasionally so as to keep them 
in shape, and you will have nu abundance of 
bloom all Winter and Spring, 
If larger specimens are wanted, take up 
those that were planted outside early in Sep¬ 
tember cut them into shape, and remove the 
largest leaves; place the plants in suitable¬ 
sized pots, and treat, them as advised for young 
plants. In growing large specimens, the plants 
should be re-potted from time to time, or as 
often as the pots become filled with roots 
until the desired size is attained, when they 
should be watered three times a week with 
gmino water, in the proportion of one ounce 
to three gallons of water. In growing speci¬ 
men plants, due care must be taken" o pre¬ 
serve a proper shape, pinching hack all strong¬ 
growing shoots, training others, etc., so as to 
attain the desired end. 
Tho most essential requisites for the 
ful cultivation of the gen 
air, during the summer s 
thoroughly-enriched soil, 
during seasons of drought, 
of varieties, aud care to set out strong and 
healthy plants. It should be borne in mind 
that some of the finest varieties do not do well 
in the open air, or when they are exposed to a 
fierce sun; but wlieu cultivated in the green¬ 
house or window-garden, they are tnily su¬ 
perb. From the numerous varieties in culti¬ 
vation I have selected $1 of the most desirable, 
those marked with a star being suitable for 
house culture only: 
Double; Heroine, Jas. Y. Murkland, Mrs. 
E. G. Hill, Mary Geering, l’ocahontas, Dr. 
Phinney, James Vick, J. H. Klippart, J. P. 
Kirtlaud, Richard Brett, Bishop Wood, Asa 
Gray. Single: Clement Boutard, * Jealousy, 
♦Progress, Master Christine, Jean Sisley, *W. 
C. Bryant, Mary H. Foote, ♦New Life, ♦Even¬ 
ing Star, ♦Mrs. Windsor, Pliny, Cardinal and, 
for bedding or massing purposes, Gen. Grant. 
Queens, N. V. char. e. parnell. 
eight inches wide, which turns easily between 
the planks. The hay is raked into windrows 
aud bunched with a sulky rake. Then a horse 
is hitched to each rope. The cross-lines should 
be lengthened by spread-straps two or three 
feet long. The driver stands on the short 
board which drags behind. To take up a 
bunch, hold the fork with the tines over the 
plank in front, being careful not to stick them 
into the ground. They act as teeth to a rake. 
Before coming to the next bunch, draw the 
fork out and reach over the first bunch to take 
up tho next, and so ou till the load reaches to 
the end of the ropes, or till it is as large as de¬ 
sirable. I heu drive to where the rick is to 
stand; unhook one single-tree, turn at right 
angles to the rick, aud draw the plank out. 
Draw two more loads close against the first. 
Then lay three planks, about ten inches wide 
aud sixteen feet long, over the last load, with 
one end on the ground and the other over the 
second load, one near each side ar.d one iu the 
center of the rick. The planks form an in¬ 
clined plane on which the next load can slide. 
Drive to the foot of the planks, un-nap the 
head making the same selection, following this 
course for a term of years, he could improve 
the productiveness of wheat. Ho carried out 
his experiments faithfully, and tho results 
prove the correctness of his hypothesis. In a 
few years he succeeded in doubling, and even 
tripling the number of kernels in the head, as 
well as considerably increasing the number of 
heads to the plant It is said that tho yield of 
Major Hallet’s wheats produced in this man¬ 
ner, when grown under farm conditions, 
was from two to three times that from orn 
common varieties. 
My suggestion is that the farmer, instead of 
paying a dollar or two a pound for some new 
variety of grain, hoping there- 
by to improve the yield of his / 
crop, should adopt the system / 
of “stock seeds” so commonly 
practiced by seed growers. A R^ 
Just before cutting your w heat ^ ——* 
next J uly, spend a few hours 
some day in carefully walking D \ 
through your wheat field, aud -S{ 
select 500 or 600 of the most L. .1 l a X-. 
prod uctive plants you eau find, 
aud pick out tho best head from \ 
each of these plants. Put the \— 
little bundle thus obtained, 
away iu a dry place where 
the mice canuot find it, and 
when sowing time comes 
Fall, thrash out these 'heads, 
and plant the seed thinly in Two-IioRf 
some littlo plot of good 
ground where the crop will not be in the 
way. The next season choose your “stock" 
heads from this little plot, and use the remain¬ 
der for seed. Conti one this system for a term 
of years, and if the experience of seed grow¬ 
ers and experimenters is any guide, the pro¬ 
ductiveness of your wheat crop will rapidly 
increase. The same method js applicable to 
every grain crop the farmer produces. 
success- 
he open 
leasou, are, a deep 
Copious waterings 
a proper selection 
ciuea-imas, aim mad the horses, one on each 
side of the stack, so as to draw the load on top 
of the first one. Draw outns before; slide the 
planks back a little, aud draw another load, 
close to the last. Then draw tho planks upon 
this and draw another load to tho end. Draw 
ELM, 
A TEMPTING SUGGESTION, 
Peaciiem in Connecticut, Etc.— Mr. P. 
M. Augur said, at the meeting of the farmers 
of Connecticut last Winter at Waterbury, 
that Connecticut was bound to grow her own 
peaches once more; but in order to do so, she 
must plant, the trees ou the highest ground. 
The object of selecting such a site is to avoid 
the early and late frosts and to secure a more 
even temperature in Winter. He said there is 
plenty of good poach land, that can be pur¬ 
chased at from $10 to $40 per acre, that can 
easily be made to pay several hundred dollars 
per acre aunuully. There is much truth in the 
statement made by R. Vanduscn, that poor 
land is best for peaches, for such land can be 
manured so as produce just such a tree growth 
as we wish, but if wo have rich land wo cannot 
control the growth, and so tho trees grow late 
nnd are likely to be winter-killed. From an 
orchard of one-uud-one-fourth acre, in seven 
years ho sold over $1,200 worth of fruit, be¬ 
sides supplying his family. By thinning the 
fruit properly, he had them so large that 140 
marie a bushel, which sold for $8. Good peach- 
os pay even in Connecticut, 
Mr. J. H. Hale had found dusting the bush¬ 
es with fine lime prevented rod rust, or leaf 
blight, so destructive to strawberries, Mr. 
Chamberlain says commercial fertilizers 
have come into general use iu Connecticut, 
often to the waste of those made ori the farm, 
and the mistake is, not in using them, but in 
neglecting to make all that can be profitably 
produced on the farm. It is false economy to 
expend large sums in purchasing such fertil¬ 
izers, even if money is made by their use, 
when an equally valuable article is being 
wasted Ott the farm. It is poor policy to de¬ 
pend upon buying anything that can be as 
cheaply produced at home. 
TnE Mullein Plant.— A good deal has 
been written lutely about the Mullein Plant 
and its efficiency os a cure for consumption, 
remarks tho .Scientific American. Extract* 
and decoctions of this plant (Verbascum 
Thapsus) were recently exhibited at the Cork 
Exhibition, but the judges would not pass any 
verdict, as the chemical and physiological 
properties have not yet been investigated. 
It is, under the synonym of Cow’s Lungwort, 
Our respected friend, J. B. Olcott, referring 
to our and to his tests of new varieties of 
wheat, writes to us as follows: 
“Iu these wheat trials I’ll toll you what I 
would like. Possibly you will be able to real¬ 
ize it. After we have Hung out the dead aml- 
alive sorts and have found out the kinds that 
can be made to grow well in some place, or iu 
our own places, then let US huve a little mill 
—I scarcely know of what fashion, but one 
that cun stand in a small assembly room along¬ 
side of a good gns stove, and rub a quart or 
a pint of wheat into meal nicely and quickly, 
so that it can be baked iu thin cukes on soap¬ 
stone griddles at once, ou the spot, for a curi¬ 
ous and eager company of tasters. The mill 
should be one (hat could be cleaned readily of 
all remnants of each little grist. There should 
be fresh milk, cream, batter, sugar, sirup and 
salt at hand. What else could be desired for 
wheat ‘science’ but hunger aud good humor? 
Fruit, switched or something, to moisten the 
cake? 
“This scheme would make wheat bloom in 
somebody’s face, the best wheat cake being 
in the mouth of a keep taster—any duy in the 
year wo might please to name. Prof. 8. W. 
Johnson would allow, l think, that chemistry 
would have to hold a very respectful and sub¬ 
ordinate caudle to such a trial as that. The 
only chance Of failure that I cau see is that wo 
might need, to make everything lovely,a little 
bit of a machine to scour the wheat before 
grinding. 
Hartford Co., Conn. 
ZONAL GERANIUMS. 
The most suitable compost for geraniums is 
composed of two-thirds well rotted sods from 
an old pasture, and one-third well decayed 
manure, with a fair sprinkling of hone dust, 
well mixed and pulverized as fine as possible 
before being used. In potting, choose porous 
pots by all means, and let them be proportion¬ 
ate to the size of the plants, and see to it that 
the pots are well drained. It Is useless to ex¬ 
pect that the plants which have flowered all 
Summer in the open air will, if taken up ami 
potted, flower during the winter season also. 
If the plants are wanted for winter flowering, 
they should be grown specially for that pur¬ 
pose during the Summer, aud now is the pro¬ 
per time to commence with cuttings, which 
will root quickly at this season. The cuttings, 
when rooted, should be potted off into three- 
inch pots, and placed in a warm, but partially 
shaded situation. Gradually expose, aud when 
all danger of frost is over, plunge them in a 
partially shaded situation. During the Bum¬ 
mer remove ail flower buds the instant they 
A Prairie Hay Stacker. Fig 167. 
take hold from the same direction as the rake. 
After a little practice, one cau take the hay 
quite clean. If there is enough scattering hay 
to make it pay, it can be brought to the stack 
with the rake. Some do not use a fork at all 
in loading, but I thiuk usiag it is the better 
way if it is not too dry. The cost of puttingup 
hay with this rig is about 50 cents per ton. In 
this section, one can get any amount of good 
hay for the cutting. As we have no hay- 
barns, the hay must all be stacked, and there 
is no more waste in stacking in the field than 
at home. In loading, we are careful to take 
each buueh iu the center of the plank, for if 
the bunches are on the ends, the load is apt to 
split, and fall off the sides of the stack 
Pocahontas Co., Iowa. r. e. greene. 
3ropkmmte, 
A PRAIRIE HAY STACKER, 
In this part of the country, help 
. is so scarce 
and dear that fanners who put up much hay, 
stack most of it in the field w'here it is cut, and 
do not draw it home till Winter, when there 
is not so much to do. For several years we 
have used a machine, shown in Fig. 167 
which we like well, as it saves nearly all the 
pitching. It consists of two two-inch planks 
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i. 11! 
,p-' 
s 
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