'fff/r 'lie 
ly to the top with good soil. When the plants 
have rough leaves, prick out for more room, 
winter in a cold-frame, or under a covering of 
evergreen boughs. In the Spring, when you 
plant for your crop, plant a row of the seed¬ 
lings throughout the center. You will get 
enough fruit to pay for all the work done, and 
the chances are good that there will be some 
very choice sorts. You have the advantage 
of an experiment with 100 or more varieties 
at once, that have cost you uothing and will 
be more likely to give satisfaction than kinds 
grown on soil entirely different from yours, 
and stimulated to the fullest capacity of an 
ambitious culturist or nurseryman. 
Creedmoor, N. Y. 
<T1)C XHimjarTh 
HOME-MADE BAGS FOR GRAPES. 
Mr. James Dougai. (Ontario, Can.) favors 
us with a plan (see Figs. 256-357) of making 
bags for covering grapes, which, with little 
explanation, will be understood by the sketch¬ 
es. No. 1 shows the way to cut and fold the 
Figs. 256 and 257. 
paper; No. 2, the finished bag. The lid or top 
of the bag must be cut through, so as to make 
a place for the stem of the bunch, and this 
should be done with a sharp knife or pair of 
scissors after the bunch is in the bag. The 
lid ma_v then bo carried over the branch and 
securely pinned to the bag itself. It is well to 
cut off the tip end of the bottom of the bag so 
that any rain that bea ts into the bag may es¬ 
cape at once. We have never used this form 
of bag, and cannot, therefore, say from exper¬ 
ience, whether it is more or less convenient 
than the form generally used. 
form d' cowmij. 
A BARREL LIFTER. 
Mr. Renj. Macomber sends us the sketch 
shown at Fig. 259. The implement is designed 
for carrying open barrels of apples or vege¬ 
tables from place to place. It can also be 
Fig. 259. 
made to take the place of a hand-barrow. 
The four handles, a a and b b , are four feet 
two inches in length. The cross-piece, e, is 
firmly bolted to the handles, b b ) also two cross- 
pieces, d, are bolted to the same handles, one 
above and the other below, leaving ample 
space between for the handles, a a, to be easily 
moved. The handles, a a, are bolted to 
the cross-piece, «?, at c c, so loosely that they 
can be moved as on a hinge. The handles, a a, 
have spikes in them, as shown. To carry a 
barrel, the handles, a a, are spread, and the 
barrels placed between them. The spikes pa* 
JUNE It 
just below the bilge, and the handles are then 
pressed together, and two men can carry the 
load with ease. 
HAT-RACK SEAT. 
Mr. T. H. Rood, of Wyoming County, N. 
Y., sends the design shown at Fig. 258. All 
farmers know how hard it is to find a comfort¬ 
able seat on a hay rack. One must sit at the 
side and be well shaken, or stand in the center. 
It frequently happens that farmers have to 
haul hay or grain half a mile. In such trips a 
good seat would be a great convenience. In 
the figure shown the standard is turned back. 
The supports are bolted to the wagon bed so 
that they will turn. As will be seen, the seat 
is a narrow board nailed to the standard posts. 
When the field is reached the standard is raised 
in front. The supports turn on the bolts and 
form a brace against the standard. The hay 
holds the standard in place, and when the load 
has been removed the seat can again be form¬ 
ed. 
ficl't' Cnrps. 
MAKING AND PRESERVING PERMAN¬ 
ENT MEADOWS. 
HENRY STEWART. 
Immemorial meadows in this country; grass 
an exacting crop; preparation of the land; 
seeding; mixture of varieties; when to sou y 
seeding with grain; practical directions. 
Very little is known on this continent about 
peimauent meadows; but there is a widely 
prevalent opinion that the American climate 
is unsuitable and even adverse to the success¬ 
ful permanent growth of grass. That this 
opinion is wholly unfounded, is proved by the 
fact that there are millions of acres of grass 
lands in the Western States and Territories, 
which have been productive for ages, and will 
continue to be: that countless thousands of 
buffaloes and antelopes have pastured and 
bred upon these great plains no one knows 
how long, and now that the ruthless hunter 
has exterminated these herds, millions of cattle 
have taken their place, and there is room for 
millions more. In Uhio, Indiana, Kentucky, 
Arkansas, Louisiana, Texas, Florida and other 
Southern States, there are meadows which 
have never yet been plowed, and yet bear 
annual crops of grass. The Rlue Grass pastures 
of Kentucky, Uhio, and Indiana afford in¬ 
stances of permanent grass fields, which are 
not surpassed by any of those historical 
pastures of England, in regard to one of which 
Sir J. B. Lawes recently wrote that it had 
been in grass for centuries undisturbed. Some 
of these American and English meadows are 
able to fatten one ox per acre. 
But there is other evidence than these an¬ 
alogous instances to prove that American 
farmers can have permanent meadows and 
pastures if they will take the pains to prepare 
the land in the right manner and feed the soil 
adequately, anjl get rid of the old idea that 
the only use of grass is to cut two or 
three crops of hay, to pasture it, a year or so, 
and then, when it “nine out” and becomes full 
of moss and weeds from extreme starvation, 
to plow it under and, after further exhuusting 
the soil by crops of corn, oats, wheat or rye, 
to seed down again with the belief that the 
grass and clover “rest the land.” This idea is 
to be wholly obliterated Horn the mind of a 
farmer who desires to grow grass as it may 
be grown, and the fact be strongly impressed 
upon him that grass is an exacting crop upon 
the soil and must be prepares! for and fed and 
nursed as much as any other crop grown. 
And to prove that under these circumstances 
permanently productive meadows may be 
made, there are abundant instances. Orcburd 
Grass sown 25 or more years ago, is still as 
productive as ever and yields hay and pasture, 
both, yearly, with a liberal top-dressing and 
reseeding occasionally. 
The whole secret is in the preparation of the 
soil, and the selection of the proper kind of 
grass. When an English farmer prepares to 
seed permanent grass, he grows a crop of 
roots, manures the ground abundantly and 
cultivates it thoroughly, destroying every 
weed that appears above the surface. Then 
the lan 1 is summer-fallowed and worked over 
several times, and again every weed is killed. 
A liberal application of artificial fertilizers is 
given, a ton of ground bones, 1,000 pounds of 
superphosphate, or of Peruvian guano per acre 
being frequently used, and there is no stint of 
seed, three or four times as much as w r e nig¬ 
gardly use, being sown. The seed is sown with 
great care, and is harrowed in patiently with 
a special kind of harrow, and the surface is 
rolled and brought to a perfect condition of 
smoothness, as well as of fertility; $25 to $35 
per acre are often thus expended by an En¬ 
glish farmer in putting in grass, and it well 
repays him in a continuous yield of three or 
four tons of hay per acre for many years. 
Grass is, in fact, the most valuable crop. I 
have cut Orchard Grass over five feet high 
early in June, which had been sown eight 
years, and it made four tons of hay per acre, 
worth $25 per ton, and every year the gross 
was pastured from September uut.il the snow 
covered it. Then the English farmer feeds his 
grass. When visiting au extensive farmer in 
England more than 30 years ago, when Peru¬ 
vian guano was comparatively new, and very 
dear, I passed over one of his meadows and 
noticed the pungent odor of the guano. The 
small lumps of it. were thickly scattered over 
the grass—the ground was invisible, being 
densely covered with the luxuriant herbage 
in early Spriug—and there must have been at 
least half a ton used to the acre. On inquiry, 
I was told the grass had been top-dressed the 
Fall before, after the second mowing, with a 
ton of bone dust per acre. Besides this, oc¬ 
casional top-dressings of rich compost were giv¬ 
en. In this meadow there were Sweet-scent¬ 
ed Vernal; Meadow Fescues; Meadow Foxtail; 
Timothy; Orchard Grass; Kentucky Blue 
Grass; Italian Rye Grass; Perennial Rye 
Grass; Oat Grass; Red Top; Rough-stalked 
Meadow Grass and some others which I can 
not now recall, besides Red and White Clover 
and Rib Grass, (Narrow-leafed Plantain) con¬ 
sidered then valuable for pasture for sheep, 
a large flock of which were kept on this farm. 
If the same pains were taken here as there, 
the same results might be reached. I have 
for years past adopted fall sowing as in every 
way preferable to spring sowing, and the seed 
is sown alone and without any foster crop to 
rob it of food, light and air in return for the 
very questionable shelter afforded. Shelter is 
required only when the seed is scattered on 
the surface and not covered with soil, and the 
weak rootlets are sprawling on the ground in 
the effort to find a place to enter, and the ten¬ 
der seed leaves are waiting for the roots to 
get into the soil to feed them. Then one day’s 
hot sunshine npon the unprotected rootlets 
kills them, or a few dry days cause them to 
perish, and the disappointed farmer finds “the 
seed has failed to catch.” On the other hand, 
when the seed is properly covered in the fine, 
rich, mellow soil, the roots find their way to 
their food at once, and being well supplied 
with moisture, dry weather and hot sun don’t 
hurt them. 
An oat or rye stubble may be prepared for 
grass sowing as follows: It is first well dressed 
with manure, prepared for it, made fine and 
partly decomposed. This is plowed in, by lup 
furrows, set at an angle of 45 degrees and not 
turned over flat. The plowing should be eight 
inches deep, if the soil is well enriched to that 
depth: and if it is not, it is better not to try 
to put down the land to permanent grass at 
present., until it is adequately fertile. As soon 
as the land is plowed and while it is moist and 
pulverulent it is thoroughly harrowed, first 
along the furrows and then diagonally across 
them, until the field nas been covered. 
This method secures a thorough mixing of the 
soil and the manures, and gives three separate 
workings, which bring the land to a fine mel¬ 
low and yet compact texture well adapted to 
the reception of the very tine seeds of the vari¬ 
ous grasses. 
The ground is made ready by the first of 
August when the seed is sowu alone; or if it is 
thought better to give some shade aud protec¬ 
tion, a pound per acre of turnip seed is sowu 
with it. The seed is covered in with a light 
haiTow having short teeth not over three 
inches long, sloping baek at an angle of 00 de¬ 
grees. A harrow so made passes over the sur¬ 
face smoothly, tearing up nothing from uuder 
it; aud as the teeth sink in the soil the frame 
of the harrow is dragged over the surface, 
smoothing it aud covering the seed perfectly 
to a sullieieut depth and no more. From a 
great many experiments with grass seed, I 
have concluded that one inch is the best depth 
to have it covered At this depth the roots 
are well developed before the spire appears, 
like a hair, almost invisible on the surface, 
aud dry weather has no injurious effect upon 
them. This is the great advantage of this 
method of seeding. The manner of sowing, 
amount of seed aud the kinds most desirable 
will be referred to in another article. 
SOME POTATOES. 
In the Rural of May 29th, page 300, a cor¬ 
respondent has a good word to say for the 
Snowflake Potato. So far as size, quality and 
appearance are concerned, it deserves all that 
can be said in its praise. It is also au excel¬ 
lent keeping sort, but it has one fault that 
will prevent it from being extensively grown 
—it is not productive enough to render the 
crop profitable [That is our experience.— Eds.]. 
After testing many varieties I have come to 
the conclusion that there is none better for 
the late or general crop than the White Star, 
and for early use one cannot do better than to 
select the Early Ohio. I prefer the White 
Star to any other sort. Its white flesh and fine, 
floury texture, combined with its enormous 
productiveness and the uniform size of its 
tubers, are qualities to be desired.—[The 
Early Ohio is a small yielder in many places. 
We agree with our correspondent as to the 
White Star.— Eds.]. c. e. p. 
(1 l)f 
BEE-KEEPING FOR FARMERS. 
W. HUTCHINSON. 
I approve of the division of labor. I be¬ 
lieve that specialties in rural pursuits are more 
profitable in the long run. I think that there 
are many thiugs that the ordinary farmer can 
buy to better advantage than he can produce 
them. Among other things, I believe that the 
farmer can raise his honey more cheaply in 
his potato, corn or wheat fields. The busy 
time with bees—swarming—comes during the 
haying and harvesting. It does not pay to 
allow the mower, reaper or sclf-bitaler to stand 
idle in the back lot, while one-half or three, 
fourths of au hour is spent in coming to the 
house to hive a swarm of bees. 
But we must take thiugs as we find them, 
not as wo wish them to be, aud comfort our¬ 
selves with the thought that many little child¬ 
ren now eat honey, who would seldom taste it 
did not their farmer father keep bees. There 
are many farmers who yet keep bees, and 
probably will continue to keep them—so fas¬ 
cinating to some is the pursuit—even though 
they could buy their honey more cheaply than 
they produce it. It is to assist this class that 
I now' write. 
The advantage of producing comb or ex¬ 
tracted honey depends upon circumstances— 
the amount of time that can be given, and the 
season at which it can be given, etc. It some 
member of the family, as, for instance, an old 
man, or some one of t he older children, takes an 
interest in the bees, it is quite au important 
factor, but lot us suppose that the farmer him¬ 
self must care for the bees. If he has as many 
as 20 colonies to care for, it will pay him, aud 
pay him well, to hire au extra baud duriug 
June and July, as the crop of honey that 
would lie lost by a few days’ neglect, might be 
worth more than the few acres of hay or 
wheat saved by neglecting the bees 
As usually managed, more extracted than 
comb honey can be secured, while by the use 
of the extractor the disposition to sw r anu is 
greatly lessened, but, in order to keep down 
the “swarming fever,” the extracting must be 
done often; while it is much less labor, or 
rather there is loss work to be done during 
the busy season, if “tiering up” is practiced. 
By “tiering up” is meant tiering up the hives 
several stories high. To practice this, there 
must be plenty of hives and an abundance of 
empty combs or of comb fouudat ion. "V\ hen 
the lower story, or brood department, is 
filled with bees, brood and honey, and 
honey is being brought • in quito 
freely, then au upper story filled with empty 
combs is placed upon the brood department. 
WTien these combs are filled with honey, and 
the bees begin sealing it, the usual course is to 
extract the honey, returning the combs to be 
re-filled. Such honey as this is not thoroughly 
ripened, anil must be stored in open vessels to 
allow further evaporation. The vessels should 
be covered with muslin to exclude dust and 
insects. If the apiarist has plenty of empty 
combs and hives he cun, instead of extracting 
the honey, simply raise the story of filled 
combs aud place between it and the lower 
story another story filled with empty combs. 
When the last added combs are filled another 
story can be added next the brood nest. At 
the close of the honey harvest the combs of 
surplus cau be removed aud extracted. By 
this method there will be but little work to do 
during the busy season; and many bee-keepers 
think that honey thus thoroughly ripened by 
the liees has a more smooth, fine, rieli, aroma 
tic flavor than honey that is extracted while 
“green,” aud ripened artificially. Although 
frames of auy depth can be “liered up,” shal¬ 
low ones ore much better adapted to the ■ 
method. As the honey is not. extracted until 
the harvest is over, robbers will be very trou¬ 
blesome, unless the proper precautions aro 
taken. By a plentiful use of smoke uoarly all 
the bees cau be driven from the combs of the 
upper story, when it can be removed to a room 
with wire cloth over the windows. The wire 
cloth should extend several inches above the 
window on the outside, aud should uot touch 
the casing at this point, a space being allowed 
