THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
55S 
fancy, renders it a strong competitor against 
the pistillate-flowered Manchester for the 
meed of popular preference. The two have 
stood together upon my grounds with an even 
chance, except that the Manchester was plant¬ 
ed in the Spring; and the Vick six months 
later, in September. 
Tjtb Daniel Booxk Strawberry, which 
is soon to be offered for sale, comes from that 
successful producer of new varieties, A. D. 
Webb, of Kentucky. It has fruited with me 
this season, aud proves to be a large, roundish 
or oval l>erry of bright color and high, rich, 
Sprightly flavor. The plant is very vigorous 
and healthy, and gives indications of great 
productiveness. Should it; prove productive 
enough for market culture, 1 trust it w ill be¬ 
come the means of educat ing the taste of con¬ 
sumers to a more proper appreciation of qual¬ 
ity as an element-of value in fruits. T. t. lyon. 
tWruTtliiiml. 
HARDY GARDEN FLOWERS. 
william FALCONER. 
There is uo reason why farmers, suburban 
lot owners aud rural folks generally cannot 
have as pretty gardens and as beautiful flowers 
as our wealthiest caucus have, and that too, 
svithout the aid of a greenhouse or a profes¬ 
sional gardener. J ust as uny good farmer can 
grow us good potatoes, beans aud corn as the 
most experienced gardener in the land, so can 
the farmer’s wife with the help of a man to do 
the digging, grow us handsome Larkspurs, 
Lilies and Hollyhocks as any gardener can. 
And from the time the snow leaves us in Spring 
till it returns to us again iu Winter our gar¬ 
dens can bo bright and gay with many flowers 
and pretty plants. And of the plants, as Car¬ 
nations,Tea Hoses, Abutilons anil the like, that 
have done duty out-of-doors in Summer, wo 
can secure some in time to blossom for 
us in pots iu Winter. To begin with, wo may 
have Crocuses, Snowdrops, Siberian Squills, 
Dog’s Tooth Violets, Daffodils and Fuel's Nar¬ 
cissus, Crown Imperials, Hyacinths aud Tulips 
in early Spring. Wo can buy a few bulbs of 
them at the seed-store iu the Fall aud plant 
them. They are hardy, live "forever,'’ multi¬ 
ply considerably and bloom year after year. 
Then there are Periwinkle, Lily-of-the-Valley, 
Moss Pinks aud other dwarf Phloxes, Siberian 
Saxifrages, Hepatieas, dwarf Anemones. 
Si>ring Adonis. Wbite Rock Cress, Purple 
Fumitory, Spring Irises, Bloodroot, Trilliums, 
Twin-leaf. Spring Urobus, Bollworts, Pansies, 
anu many kiuiis of Violets that, too, blossom 
iu early spring. Some of these we cun get iu 
our woods un< 1 introduce to our gardens -.others, 
as Rock Cress, Orobus and Pansies are readily 
procured from seed , and of the rest we may 
get slips from our neighbors. Aud onco se¬ 
cured, we may never after bo without them. 
And as the Spring advances we may have 
Globe Flowers, Siixirian 'Fumitory, Evergreen 
Candytuft, Bleeding Heart, Yeliow Alyssum, 
Crested, Florentine aud some other Irises, 
Gentian-leaved Speedwell, Canada Columbine, 
Sylvesters, Apeumne and some other Aue- 
monos, Yello w Cypripediunts, Creeping Bugle, 
Creeping Foluuionium, FinO-leaved Pmouy, 
Thermopsis, Virginian and Siberian Lung¬ 
wort-, Double Ragged Robin and many others. 
All of these are good, showy flowers, hardy, 
and once set out. well enough able to rough it. 
-And passing from May into June we have a 
host of garden Columbines, Forget-me-nots, 
Shooting Stars, perennial (p rate its is) Salvias, 
Pennsylvania 1’inks, unci Anemones, creeping 
and common Periwinkles, blue and wiute.Stur 
of Bethlehem, red and white Potentuias, Lily- 
of-t he-Yulley, Solomon’s Seal, Yellow Ther¬ 
mopsis. double Pyrethrums, i’avunis, Rock¬ 
ets, Siberian aud other Irises, Spiderworte, 
Silforiau, Thunborg’s uud early Lilies, Fend- 
ler’s aud other airy Thalietruius, perennial 
Gaillardias (uristata), fox-glove flowered, 
ovate-leaved aud other Peutstemous, Oriental 
Poppies, pink uud white (spectabile) c ypriped- 
uiuLs, uud many others. And this too at a time 
when Sweet Williams and Canterbury Bells 
arc so plentiful, and when trees and shrubs are 
at their gayest. 
Passing further into Juuo, wo come upon the 
panieled Gy}»ophila, airy Galiums, a host of 
perennial Bellflowers, Fraxinella, Lilac Erig- 
erons, feru-leavod Spiruus, perennial Lark 
spurs,bushy Evening Friuiroses (( )e. frutiuosa), 
piuk Spirieus, blue and white Jacob’s Kidder, 
herbacious Clematises, Carolina Thertnopsis, 
Everlasting Peas, Canada, lliunltoldt's, Han¬ 
son’s, white aud other Lilies, large-llowered 
Betonica, Bee-Balm, large-flowered Skullcap, 
tall-growing Speedwells, anil spreading Cal- 
lirlioe. 
Now we cuter July when we may expect the 
heat and drought of Summer; still there is uo 
let-up to the urrny of hardy flowers our gar¬ 
dens may contain. There are the California 
red Columbine and the Rocky Mountain yel¬ 
low one, Canada and California Scarlet Mar- 
tagou, Washington, Nankeon and Trumpet 
Lilies, Loosestrife, large Astrantia, scarle 
Lychnises (Chalcodoniea, senno, grandifiora, 
fulgens), perennial Jasione, Tartarian Statice, 
Japanese Dracoccphalum, Bellflowers (mac- 
rautlm, celtidifolia, carpathica, etc,), Musk 
Mallows, Lysimaehia clethroides, SeibolcTs and 
ovate-leaved Funkias, Chinese Pinks, tall Bug- 
baue, Monkshood. Carolina Phlox, double and 
single Gctmi.s, double Calystegia, aud-Kcarnp- 
fer's Irises. 
And as July ail vauccs aud the effects of heat 
and drought arc visible in our gardens, and 
most trees and shrubs have done blooming, 
there is a current opinion that hardy peren¬ 
nials must now give place to annuals and bed¬ 
ding j ilants. But no. the legion still advances. 
There are showy Yuccas, Swamp Lilies (L. 
superbum),jx'renniaJ Scabiosas,white,blue and 
variegated Aconites, Fimkias lovata, albo- 
marginata, uudulata), double Sneezewort, 
Torrcy’s Scarlet Pentstemou, White Seduin, 
tall (datum) Loosestrife. Butterfly Weed 
(Asclepias), Rocky Mountain Erigerons, Sum¬ 
mer form of Piatycudou, scabious-leaved Cen- 
taurea, David’s Clematis (very fine), Western 
Spiderwort (T. pilosa), dwarf Globe Thistle 
(E. Ritro), Euphorbia corollata, the bold Boc- 
conia, and several others. 
August comes upon us and our Geranium 
aud Cullens garden is at its brightest, but for 
most of flowers for our bouquets we must look 
in the borders and beds where the hardy 
plants are growing. There are Wild Senna, 
variegated Monkshood, tall Phloxes, Meadow 
Beauty, blue and cardinal Lobelias, Swamp, 
Tiger and speeiosum Li lies, late-blooming form 
of Platycodou, chimney (pyramidalisi Cam¬ 
panula, broad-leaved Statice, Lyon's Shell- 
flower (Cbelorie), white anil purple Prairie 
Clover, Mountain Min t, Japanese Skullcap and 
a host of miscellaneous plants. 
September is introduced in all the golden 
array of the Sunflower or Composite family. 
Besides, many of the plants that were iu blos¬ 
som in August keep ou later, many suminer- 
bloomiug plauts flower a little iu the Fall, and 
we can have a second crop of Musk Mallows, 
Larkspurs, scarlet Lychnises, perennial Sal¬ 
vias aud oidlers, if, as soon as the\ have done 
blooming in Summer, we shorten them back. 
Sedums, spectabile andtelephioiiles, are now iu 
perfection; so too are the tall Japanese Ane¬ 
mones, Dittany, Closed Gentian, Mist Flower, 
White Day Lilies, Lance-leaved Funkias, Pv- 
nethrum uliginosum, the different hanly Hi¬ 
biscuses or Rose Mallows, Wild Aconite (imcin- 
aturn). White Snakeroot, Colchicnm speeio- 
sum and autuumale. Hall’s Amaryllis, Station 
sereptaua, Boltonia latisquama (pink, lovely) 
and others. 
We must expect frosts iu October and the 
end of '* bedding plants,’’and trees and shrubs 
assume their brilliant hues. Still we have a 
host of garden flowers. The Japanese Eulalias 
aud other hardy, strong-growing grasses are in 
their prim©; Tritomas display their fiery 
heads, Japanese Anemones, Mist Flowers, Wild 
Aconites; Gaillardias Ipinnatilida), Larpent's 
Plumbago, and Autumn Crocuses are still in 
good condition. Ophiopogous, pale and deep 
blue, Polygonum atnploxieaule var. oxyphylla, 
Curtis’s and Tartarian -Asters, Gentiana, Sapo- 
naria and Coreoposis vcrticillata are in full 
bloom. 
In addition to the aliove are a host- of com¬ 
mon plants that blossom more or less the whole 
Summer long, annuals that hegin with Nemo- 
phi las and Collinsias and continue, in the 
way ff Marigolds. Asters. Mignonettes, Sweet 
Alyssums, Nasturtiums and Zinnias, till frost 
stops their career. To these we may add Rah¬ 
ims, Gladioluses, Tigridias, and other plants 
whose roots we may winter in our cellars aud 
plaut out in Summer. And besides the above, 
uro the multitude of trees and shrubs begin¬ 
ning with the White and Red Maples and Meze- 
reon, and ending with Qxydeiidrmis, C’lethras. 
Witch Hazel and Hydrangeas, thatairv availa¬ 
ble for garden decorations also handsomely 
berried shrubs as Ekvaguus, Bush Honey¬ 
suckles, Buming Bush, Winter Berry and 
Pyracantha; the Clematises, Honeysuckles and 
Wistarias, as vines; and our lovely Roses. 
With these and hundreds more of similar na¬ 
ture, hardy, easy to grow and obtain, why 
should our garden plots be bare and desolate! 
£ljc 
THE OUTLOOK IN APICULTURE. 
PROFESSOR A. J. COOK. 
In the way of growth and real progress, bee¬ 
keeping compares well with other manual 
labor pursuits. It is capable of proof that iu 
the past ton years the number of bee-keepers, 
the product in honey, mid the cash value of 
the proceeds of the apiaries iu the country 
have more than doubled. Tho apiarian ap¬ 
paratus and the methods of manipulation havo 
also in many respects bean entirely revolu¬ 
tionized. The last decade knew nothing of 
extracting, as practiced to-day; nothing of 
our exquisite sections for comb honey, nothing 
of the valuable comb foundation. The asso¬ 
ciations devoted to a piculture number more 
iu single States to-day than they did in the 
entire country 10 years ago. We have-nine 
periodicals ably conducted, c«e of which is a 
weekly. There are four or five excellent 
books which are selliug by thousands. And 
our agricultural associations, instead of offer¬ 
ing a few ceuts or perhaps a dollar as a pre¬ 
mium for honey, aud sandwiching the honey 
ip between sirup and sugar, now give most 
liberal premiums, and iu some cases furnish a 
separate building for the exhibition of honey 
bees and the varied apparatus belonging to 
the apiary. 
This growth is not the result of over-praise 
as some assert. True, as with all pursuits, 
success finds a ready tongue, while failure 
hides its head. Still it is true that as many 
who enter this field thoroughly prepared by 
study and practice, reach the goal of their 
aims as in any other business or profession. 
From one to two thousand dollars are enough 
capital to invest in the business. This capital, 
rightly managed, is sure to give a return of 
from 100 to 150 per cent. One person can care 
for one hundred colonies of bees, and not work 
hard for more tlian three months of the year; 
while with a competent assistant for three 
months in the year he can care for double the 
number. I think few apiarists of skill and 
experience would agree to sell the average 
product of each colony for $15. We see 
then, that in the small amoimt of capital in¬ 
vested and the proceeds from the well managed 
apiary, apiculture takes high rank. 
It is true that with a large apiary, the labor 
for May. Juno and July, aud possibly for 
August and September, is really arduous; but 
when it is remembered that there are many 
ladies that successfully manage aud care for 
quite large apiaries, we cannot doubt but that 
with wise management the labor may be re¬ 
duced, so as not to be a grievous burden. 
Some of the ablest apiarists in our country 
are quite delicate women, who undertook api¬ 
culture to brace up declining health. In it | 
they found healti, money and pleasure, surely 
a worthy trio. 
Many declaim against apiculture as an 
avocation. Only the specialist, say they, 
should keep bees. This would take from our 
ranks Dzierzon, Langstrotk and many others 
of our first apiarists. One of our graduates, 
who by profession is a preacher, wrote me a 
year ago that the proceeds of his bees exceeded 
his salary. Last year his honey brought even 
more; and this Spring he sold $1,150 worth of 
bees and had so colonies remaining. Another 
graduate has a farm and also keeps bees. I 
asked him a few days since why he did not 
sell his bees, as he was speaking of too much 
work. ”1 had better sell my farm” he said, 
“as my bees pay the best.” 
Apropos of the above, it is said, that if one 
wishes to learn bee-keeping, he had better go to 
some large apiarist and let the college alone. 
Reason and statistics argue otherwise. Cul¬ 
ture, or a well trained mind, wins iu every 
race. Bee-keeping demands good judgment and 
trained observation. The college course teuds 
to develop both. Many of our graduates are now 
keeping bees, and all with marked success. 
Four of these have a national reputation, and 
two are known in all bee-keeping countries. 
t'ifli) Crops. 
FERMENTATION (>F N EW-MA I )E H.VY. | 
PROFESSOR F. H. STORER. 
There ore several facts, long fainilar to 
practical men, which show clearly that the 
process of hay-making is something more than 
a mere drying-out of moisture from the grass, 
whether by transpiration from the plant-cells 
or through mere evaporation by tho action of 
the sun and air. 
To say nothing of the “heating” of damp 
hay, where under favorable conditions, the 
evolution of heat may even come to the point 
of inflammation, it is well-known that new 
hay will “sweat” somewhat in the mow' or 
stack, after it has been stored, no matter how* 
dry it seemed to be at the moment of storing ( 
and it is a tenet of faith among horse-keepers 
that hay is not lit food for horses until after 
this sweating fermentation has thoroughly run 
its course. Many farmers believe, indeed, that 
this fermentation is advantageous, ami not a 
few of them hold that it is not w ell to dry hay 
too thoroughly before storing it lest the neces¬ 
sary ripeniug iu the mow should be hindered. 
A couple of English chemists. Percy Frank- 
and aud Jordan, have recently experimented 
upon this matter with the view of ascertaining 
what kinds of gases are evolved during the 
fermentation. They find, as was to have beeu 
expected, that even at the ordinary tempera¬ 
ture of tho air a good deal of carbonic acid is 
given off and that this gas is accompanied by 
mere traces of hydrogen and hydrocarbons. 
In the beginning, when the comparatively 
dry grass was in contact with air, and was, 
so to say. saturated with air, tho oxygen of the 
air was rapidly absorbed aud changed to car¬ 
bonic acid. But even after tho oxygen hau. 
been completely removed in this way from tho 
confined volume of air employed in the experi¬ 
ment there was still evolution of carbonic acid 
from the hay, the oxygen for which must of 
course have come from some constituent of 
the grass. 
Ou account of the presence of nitrogen in 
air, it was difficult to conclude from tho ex¬ 
periments made iu the air as to what happened 
with regard to the nitrogen in the grass dur¬ 
ing the fermentation. Hence, experiments 
were made upon other portions of the incom¬ 
pletely dried grass confined, in some cases, in 
an*atmosphere of carbonic acid, and in other 
instances in atmospheres of oxygen and hydro¬ 
gen, It appeared, however, that tho atmos¬ 
phere with which the grass was surrounded 
had but little iufluenee either upon the volume 
or the composition of the gases produced. The 
evolution of carbonic acid took place about as 
rapidly iu the artificial atmospheres as it did 
in air, but it was noticed that iu the atmos- 
jihere of oxygen there was a considerable evo¬ 
lution of nitrogen, as well as of carbonic acid; 
whence the inference that nitrogen is 
really evolved when hay ferments in the 
air. The oxygen was so rapidly absorbed by 
the grass that, even in the experiments with 
pure oxygen, it was completely used up in the 
course of a week; after which time the evo¬ 
lution of nitrogen from the grass practically 
ceased. Ou adding now quantities of oxygen, 
however, nitrogen was again liberated from 
the hay, though somewhat less rapidly than at 
first; the amount given off was still very con¬ 
siderable, however, even after the lapse of 
several months. The fundamental fact that, 
even in the absence of any oxygen in the free 
state, considerable quantities of carbonic acid, 
were produced at the expense of combined 
oxygen originally contained in the grass, was 
conspicuously enforced bv these experiments 
in artificial atmospheres. Naturally enough 
the evolution of carbonic acid was more rapid 
at a temperature of 97 degrees than at 60 
degrees. 
YVhen grass was allowed to decompose under 
water much larger quantities of gas were 
evolved than were obtained in the foregoing 
experiments and the gas, though mainly car¬ 
bonic acid, as before, was characterized by 
the presence of a notable percentage of hy¬ 
drogen. But in control experiments where 
the water was made poisonous by adding to it 
small quantities of carbolic acid or corrosive 
sublimate, no gases at all were evolved, and a 
similar negative result was obtained when a 
tube containing grass and water was exposed 
to steam-heat for several hours and then left 
to itself; whence the conclusion that the fer¬ 
mentation aud the evolution of gas must be de 
pendeut upon tho presence in the hay or grass 
of low forms of organic life. In confirmation 
of this view, the microscope always revealed 
numerous bacteria in the water taken from 
tulies in which the grass had fermented. This 
water was found to contain also acetic, lactic, 
and, probably, propionic acids. 
The fact enforced by those experiments that 
the fermentation of hay iu mows will go for¬ 
ward iu the absence of air, aud that tbe prae 
tieal result (not to say the cause) of the fer¬ 
mentation is tbe destruction of certain chemi¬ 
cal constituents of the hay, is calculated to 
throw considerable light uot only ou the sig¬ 
nificance of the sweating of hay in mows, as 
uforesuid, but upon tin question of baling hay 
also. It is commonly held to be quite improper 
to bale new-made hay, no matter how dry the 
hav may be, aud that, indeed, the operation of 
baling eaunot be performed with safety to the 
hay until after it has been allowed to lie some¬ 
time iu the barn. Undoubtedly, beside the 
gases that are evolved, various now chemical 
compounds are formed during the fermenta¬ 
tion by tho breaking up of matters originally 
contained in the hay, and some of these new 
products may be more useful, or less hurtful, 
than those in the unfermeuted fodder. In view 
of the fact that a certain degree of fermenta¬ 
tion of green hay can hardly be avoided, any¬ 
way, even if it were desirable to avoid it, 
it may well be true that the doctrine 
taught by some skillful farmers that it is al¬ 
ways best iu curing hay to let it sweat some¬ 
what iu bunches, windrows, or cocks before 
carrying it to tho barn, is a correct doctrine. 
It consists curiously with objections which have 
been made, at one time and another in Eng¬ 
land, to processes of drying grass artificially 
ui currents of air, as iutroauced there by se 
eral inventors. 
The waste of nitrogen f'oui hay by lone 
continued keeping has repeatedly been noti ed 
before by agricultural chemists. It follows 
that although the popular belief that the no.v 
I hav is bail for animals may be true enough, 
old hay is not necessarily good hay. 
