Girdling grapes and bagging grapes, are 
two things we want Rural readers to try an¬ 
other season. It is well known that wiring 
or girdling grape-vines, while it injures the 
vines, causes the grapes to grow larger, ripen 
sooner, and Become poorer in quality, pays C. 
A. Green. Some experiments were made at 
the Massachusetts Agricultural College in 
girdling surplus branches, which were to be 
afterw-ards cut away. A revolving knife cut 
rapidly a ring of the bark a fourth of an inch 
wide, just below the bunch of fruit, about 
midsummer. This treatment was performed 
on 12 rows of grapes. The enlarged and early 
fruit sold for $36 more than the same amount 
of the common or main crop, the labor being 
less than half this 6um. No injury has been 
apparent to the vines so treated, the girdled 
canes being cut away when done with. 
Stable Suggestions. —Whip and Spur 
advises that the stable to be well drained and 
sufficiently lighted. The vapors from a damp, 
putrid floor, and the sudden change frcni 
darkness to light, will almost to a certainty 
cause blindness. The floor of the stalls should 
be quite flat and level. Standing on a sloping 
place is very painful, and causes lameness by 
straining the ligaments and membranes. It 
also produces greese and sore heels. Every 
stall should be at least six feet wide and nine 
feet long. This will enable the horse to turn | 
round without bruisiDg himself, and to he 
down and stretch himself with comfort. The 
stalls should be separated by partitions, not 
bars. They prevent the horses from fighting 
and kic king each other. Hot, close, or foul 
stables will bring on glanders or inflamma¬ 
tion, while a very cold or damp one may 
cause an incurable cough, or disease of the 
lungs. Do not keep the hay over the manger. 
The steam and breath of the animal make it 
both unpleasant and unwholesome. Have no 
opening into the manger from the hay-loft. 
Dust is very often thrown into the horse’s 
eyes when ied in this way, and thus blindness 
is beguu. 
Making Cuttings. —Cuttings of various 
kinds of trees and shrubs, which are always 
readily propagated, should be made before 
they have been many times frozen. Early in 
Winter is the best season, and the longer it is 
delayed the more danger of the wood being 
injured by freezing. Currant, gooseberry, 
grape, quince, and similar hardy shrubs and 
vines may be rooted very readily from cut¬ 
tings taken off earlj in Wintei, and packed 
away in damp sand or moss uutil Spring 
The cuttings should be made from six to ten 
inches long, and principally from the one- 
year-old shoots, but wood of two or three 
years of the quince will grow as readily as 
that of one year. The agricultural editor of 
the Sun reminds its readers that cions of fruit 
trees should also be cut before very cold 
weather, or at least before the severest cold 
of Winter has passed, because frequent freez¬ 
ing and thawing are very likely to weaken the 
vitality of the buds. The shoots taken for 
cions should be of the past season’s growth, 
and may be left their full length as taken from 
the tree, or cut up into sections of a foot or 
more. The twigs to be used for grafting in 
Spring may be preserved in moss, sawdust, 
or sand. 
Heads and Hands.— Green’s Rochester 
Fruit Grower thinks that men need heads. 
The market for men with heads is exceed¬ 
ingly firm, with prospects for an advance. 
The supply is not equal to the demand, and 
agents are sent out through the country look¬ 
ing up fresh supplies. Men Deed heads in hoe¬ 
ing, trimming, packing, digging, planting ; 
they need heads every hour, and we implore 
them not to be so forgetful of this important 
fact. Some nurserymen need heads. The 
man who sells poor trees and plants needs a 
head. The man who doesn’t advertise, the 
man who falls behind the times, the man who 
always has a lawsuit on hand, the man who 
is stingy of fertilizers, and plows shallow 
when deeper pays better; tbe man who don’t 
hire enough labor, the man who permits biB 
buildings to run down, the man whose fam¬ 
ily has little fruit to eat, the man who at¬ 
tempts to attract a cat towards him by poll¬ 
ing her tail, the man who lies and doesn’t keep 
his credit good, the mac who neglects the ed¬ 
ucation of his children—all these men need 
heads. We once knew a man who was ever 
jumping from one enterprise to another, al 
ways getting out and in at the wrong time ; 
we knew a man who wouldn’t take a paper 
for fear it might mislead him into some new¬ 
fangled disaster ; we know men who skip 
their fruit hundreds of miles when they might 
have sold it all near home; we know men 
who spand more money for fences than for 
fertilizers—no heads. We know men always 
behind with their work—not a sign of a head. 
-<t«- 
Mr. Darker Earle, the Western Strawberry 
King of Illinois, telle Green’s Fruit Grower 
JAN 27 
that, it is not absolutely necessary to mulch 
plants for Winter; but he thinks it is essential 
to the crop in the gathering season. Un¬ 
mulched berries will be more or less dirty, 
and cleanness of berries is important. A good 
mulch also helps in a drought. His plan of 
mulching is not to cover the plants, but the 
paths and all other vacant ground. It will 
lap on to the rows somewhat. This plan pre¬ 
vents frequent freezing, thawing and conse¬ 
quent lifting of the plants, and there is no 
uncovering to be done in the Spring. * * * 
He is utterly averse to cultivating in the 
Spring. In bis climate the roots are growing 
nearly all Winter. Why mutilate and disturb 
them in the Spring? Tbe final act of culture 
is the putting on of the mulch in Autumn, ex¬ 
cept to cut out trespassing weeds with knives 
in Spring. * * He uses wood ashes so far as 
obtainable, and has found castor bean pomace 
useful on warm clay lands. A thousand 
pounds per acre is a good dressing of the 
latter. * * He thinks that there is no rem¬ 
edy for white grubs when they are in tbe 
ground. Salt to often recommended, has not 
the slightest effect unless it may increase 
their appetite. 
♦ ♦ ♦ - 
PITHS AND REMINDERS. 
The New England Homestead hears of 
many complaints this Winter of thin cream 
where cotton-seed meal has been fed. 
A whiter in tbe North British Agricul¬ 
turist objects to the word ensilage being pitch- 
forked into tbe English language. He thinks 
it a corruption of tbe German '‘enisalzen,” 
to pickle, or the Spanish word “ensalada,” 
salted, from which the English word “salad” 
is derived. He suggests “salad pit” for the 
receptacle (silo) aud ‘ pickling” for the pro¬ 
cess and “cow r falad” for the fodder. 
The Kansas City Indicator says that three- 
year-old Short horns are, under the best man¬ 
agement, made to weigh 2,000 pounds, and 
sell at $7.50 per hundred, or $160 per head. 
Four-year-old scrubs sell for $50 per head. 
Grass and Short-horns make farmers rich.... 
Uncle Waldo tells the Ohio Farmer that 
he believes that the best way to manage an 
asparagus bed is to make plank edges and 
raise the bed a few inches each year till it is a 
foot higher than the level of tbe garden. The 
best yielding bed he ever saw was managed 
in this way. It is surprising through what a 
mass of manure aud earth asparagus will 
force its way.... 
The Hog.—A t the late convention of the 
American Agricultural Association the editor 
of the Live Stock Indicator, read an amusing 
paper upon this interesting quadruped of 
which he said in bis earlier days he is strik 
ingly playful, frisky, cunning, and graceful 
—at n uch more interesting than a human in¬ 
fant of the same age as the latter is more inter¬ 
esting than so much putty. In adult pighood 
he is omniverous and self-reliant, bold, and ex¬ 
peditionary; and he breeds faster, grows faster 
and keeps cheaper than any other domestic 
animal. America is pre-eminently the home 
of the hog— he is a logical deduction from 
Indian corn. He eats what is placed before 
him and never complains of the cooking, nor 
grumbles if his sleeping-room is not dusted. 
He never gossips, nor uses tobacco in any 
form. He puts up with the worst accommoda¬ 
tions, and behaves best when well corned. 
His habits are natural, though he never runs 
in debt to the tailor, and though he knows 
nothing of mathematics he has no superior in 
square root. He belongs to a liter-ary family, 
and though he never writes, is the acknowl¬ 
edged knight of the pen. 
Mr, Parker Earle, the small fruit king, 
says the Crescent Strawberry does finely with 
him in a wet season. He says Sbarpless is tbe 
most vigorous plant he has. It withstands 
heat and cold, is hardy aud a fair cropper. It 
is free from rust. 
Mr. Miller, the originator of the James 
Vick Strawberry (so named by Mr. C. A. 
Green) tells the Fruit Recorder that it will 
bear more good-sized, handsome berries than 
aDy other berry he ever saw. 
In England no attempt is made to grow 
grapes in the open air. Currants are grown 
in tree form. Gooseberries are there in their 
chosen land and grow to a fabulous size, 
though the quality is not very good. The 
strawberry does well as regards bountiful 
crops and size of berry. But Prof. Budd 
tells the Iowa Homestead that the quality is 
far below our Charles Downing. 
Mr. J. H. Bale tells tbe Garden that he 
has good reason to believe that for July and 
August planting, and especially in a dry 
time, old strawberry plants are preferable to 
young ones and that even for Spring planting 
they are of more value than is generally 
supposed. 
Mr. Bradshaw says in the Husbandman 
that if he wanted to b^y a farm, he would 
look for one that had not been plowed deep. 
Then he would plow deep and get fertility 
that had never been reached. But. that would 
depend upon the depth of the soil. It is 
strange that farmers overlook this fact while 
talking of the irrepressible question. 
“No,” my boy, “you cannot raise chickens 
from egg plants,'’. 
Mr. Greiner, in the Farm and Garden, 
recommends digging potatoes as soon as the 
vines die and then dragging the field and 
sowing it to rye, the rye to be used for early 
pasture or for soiling, or to be plowed under 
if one does not prefer to raise tbe grain. 
“Talk to your cow* as you would to a lady,’ 
There is a world of common sense in it. There 
is more—there is good sound religion in it. 
What else is it but the language cf the Bible 
applied to animals: “A soft answer tnrneth 
away wrath.” A pleasaut word to a horse, 
says a writer in the Breeders’ Gazette, in time 
of trouble has prevented many a disaster 
where the horse has learned that pleasant 
words mean a guaranty that danger from 
punishment is not imminent. 
The Ohio Farmer hopes that the time will 
come when a Farmers’ Institute will bring 
out more farmers than a circus..... 
Dr. Hoskins, of the Vermont Watchman, 
says ihat every gardener in America knew 
and esteemed James Vick; thousands, indeed, 
loved him like a personal friend; end hardly 
the murdered Garfield was more heartily 
mourned in the homes of the people than was 
this noble and generous horticulturist. 
Our lively contemporary, the Live Stock 
Indicator, says that if the American Agricul¬ 
tural Association is honestly laboring for the 
advancement of those engaged in agricul¬ 
tural pur-uits it wishes the organization the 
largest measure of success; if it is manipula¬ 
ted in the interests of grasping, tyranical 
monopolies, its funeral cannot take place too 
soon, Until satisfied by reasonable testi¬ 
mony that it is being so manipulated tbe In¬ 
dicator does not propose to waste time making 
faces at it. 
RURAL SPECIAL REPORTS. 
Canada. 
Listowell, Ont., Dec. Jan. 4. —Everything 
is once more under the snow, which was of 
unusual depth until a partial thaw reduced it. 
It followed a very warm, dry Fall, which 
closed in suddenly and left the wells so low 
that the farmers had to drive their cattle in 
some cases miles to water; still the cold has 
not been great. Crops of all kinds have been 
good except fruit, which baa been very scarce. 
All farm crops are selling well but wheat, 
which has been 'JO cents per bushel; oats, 35 
cents; barley, 40 to 50 cents; peas, 00 to 70 
cents. Cows paid well as they milked well, 
and prices were good. Hogs are selling now 
at $7 to $7.50 per 100 pounds, dressed a. J.c 
Vermont. 
Brandon, Rutland Co., Jan. 9 —A cool,wet 
and generally backward Bpring, followed by 
a dry bummer and eurly frosts, materially 
lessened the general crop in this section, but, 
good prices for most faini pioducts have 
brought tbe credit in cur balance sheets up to 
about an average. Except among the chronic 
grumblers one hears few complaints. Hay ia 
bringing $10 per ton; oats, 50 cents, and pota¬ 
toes 60 cents per bushel; butter, 28 cents per 
pound. There is an active demand for good 
horses and fat beeves bring exceptionally 
high prices, aud the porkers go off’ like “ hot 
cakes. ” Wool is a little dull, but it is easy to 
keep as it neither eats nor decays. Fruits 
plentiful, but of inferior quality. It would 
appear from reports of the “ oldest inhabit¬ 
ant” that this was formerly one of the beat 
wheat-producing sections of New England, 
but for several years the cultivation of this 
cereal has bem nearly abandoned on account 
of insect enemies and the apparently exhaust¬ 
ed condition of the soil. Our farmers, how¬ 
ever, are again turning their attention to its 
cultivation with encouragmg results. If, by 
any means, these exhausted grain fields can 
be restored to something of their original fer. 
tility it will be a gieat blessing to coming 
generations, if not to this. The system of 
vandal farming—taking all and returning 
nothing-—will scon place these once fertile 
valleys among the waste places of the earth. 
The scarcity of wuter in the Champlain Val¬ 
ley is without a precedent. Many farmers 
drive their stock and bring water for house 
hold purposes from two to two-and-a-half 
miles, btreums, springs and wells are dry, 
which were never before known to fail. b. 
-- 
RURAL SEED REPORTS. 
Canada. 
Listowell, Ont., Jan. 4.— Planted Rural 
Flint. Corn two kernels to tbe hill, four feet 
apart, and nearly every ^ue grew eight to ten 
feet high ami soou shaded the ground, sucker- 
ing well. There was a large uumber of flue 
ears though a larger number of black ones 
than is usually seen. The season here is too 
short to ripen it, though the past season was 
very favorable. Gem Squash about all grew 
and had any amount of top, but not many 
squashes for the amount of vines. It was very 
late in the season before they were ready; but 
they are very nice to eat. Celery did well 
but was sown too late to get a fair trial. Hol¬ 
lyhocks did well—quite a number grew and 
made fine plants. a, j. c. 
Kansas. 
Burton, Harvey Co., Jan. 6 . —None of the 
celery came up. The hollyhocks grew finely 
but did not flower. The bugs took tbesquash- 
es just when they had begun to blossom. Tbe 
Rural Flint Corn did very well considering 
the dry weather. I got about a bushel of nice 
eais. Wheat sown last Fall is doing well. j.r. 
-Michigan. 
Big Rapids, Necosta Co., Jan. 3.—Rural 
Corn planted late on account of late Spring. 
No manure and only one cultivation, the sea¬ 
son being very wet and the soil ft heavy clay. 
The coin, however,made bd enormous growth 
many stalks measuring 7# inches around and 
12 feet high. Frost came too soon for it to 
mature, but 1 have several ears for seed. 
From 88 pounds of White Elephants from the 
oue sent me. I dug last Fall 21% bushels; 
the largest single potato weighed 3% pounds. 
In quality this ia the best variety grown by 
me. The squash did splendidly—over 100 on 
the vines and fbcut 40 ripened; 50 celery 
plants—the best I have even seen; 32 Chater 
Hollyhocks. j. w. c. 
<II)e Chwrist. 
ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS. 
[Every query must he accompanied by the name 
and addresa of the writer to Insure attention.] 
GBOWING EARLY FRUITS AND VEGETABLES 
IN THE SOUTH, ETC. 
H, B, W., Kingsville, O. —1. What South¬ 
ern State is best adapted for raising fruits 
and vegetables to be shipped to Northern 
markets? 2. A pamphlet exalting Florida to 
the skies has been sent to me from the Depart¬ 
ment of Agriculture; are its representations 
correct? 3. Is orange culture in Florida likely 
to be successful? 4. Would a Northern man 
with a strong constitution lie likely to be 
healthy in Florida? 
Ans —1. The Eastern shore of Maryland: 
ahout Aiken, South Carolina, and the north¬ 
ern part of the Atlantic coast of Florida all 
do a large and growing business in shipping 
fruits aud vegetables to the Northern markets, 
chiefly to those on the Atlantic seaboard. Many 
inland places are supplied with these South¬ 
ern products, however, from Baltimore, Phil¬ 
adelphia, New York and Boston. The inhabi¬ 
tants of each of the above districts claim that 
their location cannot be excelled. The far¬ 
ther south the situation the earlier, of 
course, do its products come into market; but 
it is a question whether the extra charges for 
transportation over longer distances do not 
counterbalance the higher prices obtained for 
extra-early fruits aud vegetables. As far as 
productiveness is concerned ail the places are 
about equally fortunate with regard to some 
crops, while others thrive best either in the 
temperate climate of Maryland or Virginia, 
or in the warmer regions of South Carolina 
and Florida, so that a person’s choice should, 
to some extent, be determined by the kind of 
products he intends to raise. The business 
of raising early fruits and vegetables for the 
Western markets—Louisville, St. Louis and 
Chicago—is rapidly growing along the Mobile 
and Ohio Railroad in Alabama and there cer¬ 
tainly seems a good opening there for the 
right kind of man. In many parts of Arkan¬ 
sas, too, along the railrosd lines running 
north, the culture of fruits and vegetables 
for the Northern markets is a growing and 
profitable industry. Success or failure in 
all places will depend as n uch on the char¬ 
acter of the man as on that of the soil and 
climate; but in all cases there must lie good 
and bandy facilities for transportation to 
distant markets as home markets are 
easily glutted. 2. We have had time only 
to glance over the pamphlet referred to, but 
we are always disposed to expect and forgive 
a good deal of exaggeration in publications 
whose special object is to puff arty particular 
section. 8, A good deal of money has been 
made and is likely to be made in orange cul¬ 
ture; and a great deul has been lost and is 
likely to lie lost. It Is foolish for anybody to 
go into the business without a good practical 
knowledge of it, to be acquired by study and 
observation on the spot. 4. Yes, almost any¬ 
where in Winter, and on land away from 
the rivers an 1 swamps lu Summer. AloDg 
the rivers and arouud the swauips of Flor¬ 
ida, however, and two miles back from them 
the only creatures that oeape chills and fewer 
in Bummer are the bullfrogs ami alligator^. 
