THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
tude it is not safe tc leave beets and mangels 
out after October 15. Any frost severe 
enough to freeze the skin causes them to peel 
easily and to rot more or less in bins or pits 
when stored—carrots, turnips, etc., can be 
safely left till later. 
If the beets or mangels do happen to get 
frosted, unless so much frozen as to be killed, 
or unless severer frosts are feared, it is best to 
leave them standing for a few days until 
growth is resumed, as in that case the damage 
is in a great measure remedied by the healing up 
of the frozen surfaces, and they will keep much 
better when stored. J. s. woodward. 
Niagara Co.. N. Y. 
fl0r.iniit.Ur.al, 
BULBS IN THE HOUSE. 
E. L. TAPLIN. 
Treatment of hyacinths so as to secure 
flowers for the holidays; water culture pre¬ 
ferred; single varieties belter than double; 
avoid cheap , mixed sorts; moss culture; 
the best kinds of tulips * window boxes; 
snowdrops , Lily of the Valley, Easter Lilies, 
anemones , ixias, freesias, etc. 
Many amateur growers who admire the 
beauty of hyacinths aud others of this class 
are not aware how readily they may be grown 
indoors, so as to secure abundant flowers 
about the holidays with a very small expendi¬ 
ture of trouble. I should always recommend 
growing hyacinths in water, since the system 
has the dual advantage of ease and cleanliness. 
There is no danger of mud or uncleanly drip¬ 
pings, and the glasses are much more sightly 
thuu ordinary flower pots. For this plan you 
must obtain regular bjacinth glasses, which 
hold the bulb nicely in place. Always use 
raiu water, aud put a few lumps of charcoal 
in the bottom to keep the water sweet. Start 
the plants about the first of October. Do not 
fill with water above the bottom of the bulb. 
Put iu a dark place until the roots reach the 
bottom of the glass; this will probably be in 
about three weeks. As the water evaporates 
fill the vessel up, but only until it barely 
touches the bulb. When they begin to grow 
they require plenty of light, but it is not well 
to stand them in a window where they get the 
hottest noonday sun, as this often heats the 
water uutil the bulbs ait; almost cooked. It 
is also a mistake to set them directly on' the 
wiudow sill, as the draft at their base is soon 
felt. 
We must warn flower lovers that the hya 
cinth only blooms once in perfection. It may 
bloom year after year, but the flowers grow 
poorer and more dege erate every season. In 
the Dutch bulb farms they are not allowed to 
flower, save in specimen beds, from the time 
the sets are planted until they are ready for 
market, iu about the fourth year. The flower 
stem is cut off as soon as it grows, so that all 
the strength goes to the bulb. Outside they 
are uot so much exhausted by blooming as 
inside. Forcing seems to entirely destroj' the 
poor bulb’s constitution. 
For indoor culture, single varieties aro 
preferable; the double are apt to form flowers 
unevenly, and open irregularly. The best 
single white is that familiarly known as the 
Roman hyacint h, much grown for florists’ use. 
The flowers are pearly white, aud very fra¬ 
grant; the spikes are small, but each bulb pro¬ 
duces more than one. Purchasers of bulbs for 
w r indow flowering must be cautioned against 
buying cheap, '‘mixed” sorts.as they are simply 
“culls.” Chose the colors required, aud buy 
named bulbs from a reliable seedsman. An¬ 
other good plan for growing them in glasses, is 
to put the bulbs into clean sand until the roots 
are about six inches long; then take them out 
and put them into the water. The great at¬ 
traction about growing them in water is the 
oddity; it is very interesting, especially to 
children, to watch the structure and daily 
growth of the roots. 
Any flowering bulb will grow nicely in 
damp moss: if packed in the Dmnesuil fertil¬ 
izing moss the result is surprisingly fine. 
Again, a dish or vase may be half fllled 
with clean sand, the buffs placed on this, and 
the vessel filled up with fresh green moss. 
Nothing is handsomer or more showy than 
large pots or boxes containing mixed bulbs, 
hyacinths, tulips aud crocuses. To flower suc¬ 
cessfully, they should be potted early in Sep- 
eruber, in soil containing equal parts of good 
loam, leaf mold, and well-rotted manure, 
which should afterwards be mixed with 
about one-fifth of pure sand. After planting, 
the pots should be plunged into a jut 01 ’ open 
border, and covered with lour inches of soil, 
there to remain until about the first of De¬ 
cember. Then t hey may be brought in as 
wanted, aud forced into flower It is always 
highly important that the roots should be well 
grown, before the leaves stai’t to any great 
extent. Of tulips, the scarlet, crimson and 
white Due van Thol will be found most satis¬ 
factory. They are single flowers; Toumesol 
is a very showy double red and yellow. Cot¬ 
tage Maid is a very fine pink ; large and 
showy, yet delicate iu appearance. The cro¬ 
cus is always charming, whether yellow, pur¬ 
ple or white. 
A window-box, filled with different varie¬ 
ties of bulbs, is extremely pretty, aud has a 
spring-time suggestiveness all its own in the 
depths of Winter. It is impossible to obtain a 
similar effect with any other class of plants, 
For delicate beauty among bulbs we must 
always give the palm to Suow-drops aud 
Lily-of-the-Valley. The Snowdrop is not as 
well known iu this country as it deserves to 
be; in England it pushes its delicate head 
above tbe cold earth about the time we see the 
first Trailing Arbutus. Kuowdrops will do 
well under the same treatment as Hyacinths. 
After forcing, they may be planted outside, 
about the first, of September; in two seasons 
they will recover their former vigor. These 
bulbs will not keep out of the ground for any 
length of time, without being troubled with 
dry rot. Lily-of-the-Valley is very easy to 
grow indoors,—if you know how. It may be 
kept in bloom iu succession from the holidays 
until the end of April. Buy the pips as they 
are imported, or take up clumps from the bor¬ 
der; pot them in the soil before recommended, 
and sink tbe pots in a pit or frame, where 
they will freeze. Tbeu bring them iuto a 
warm room, keep them well supplied with 
moisture, and they will soon come into bloom. 
They may bo brought inside at intervals, so as 
to have a succession of Howtos. This freezing 
e 
process, similar to the treatment given Jack 
roses, deludes the poor plant into the idea, 
when brought indoors, that the Winter is 
over, and it blossoms in consequence of this 
deception. 
The Easter Lilies—(L. eandidum aud L. 
longiflorum) may be flowered indoors by 
potting early in November, aud supplying 
them with plenty of warmth aud water. Tu¬ 
berose, too, will do well under similar circum¬ 
stances, but it cannot be recommended, as the 
odor is extremely offensive to many. Ranun¬ 
culi, anemones, aud the various Cape bulbs, 
Ixia, Bparaxis, Freesia, etc., mav be grown 
us house plants, and these bulbs offer a wel¬ 
come change from t he almost invuiiable ger¬ 
anium, callus, and so on, that are usually 
grown. They have the advantages of cleanly 
habits, easy culture, beauty and fragrance, 
aud we hope to see them gaining in popularity 
from year to year. 
WHAT TO DO AND* HOW TO DO IT. 
WILLIAM FALCONER. 
TnE Greenhouse.— ‘Get it into thorough 
repair as soon as you can. Mend the glass. 
Use double-thick, clean glass; bed in putty, 
but don’t use putty on top, aud tack into place 
with one-half Inch triangular points. Give 
the greenhouse a coat of paint. Pal ut is cheap 
enough, aud you cau do the painting yourself. 
Use the best white lead (I uso Jewett’s) and 
liuseed oil. My experience with patent paints 
on greenhouses is that they peel off. I prefer 
white paint, because it is always at baud, 
whereas iu colored paints we may not always 
have at hand the same shade of color. Paint 
preserves the wood against early dec? ly, ren¬ 
ders the glazing more water-tight, and gives 
the whole house a neat and dean appearunco. 
Fix aud oil the ventilating gear, repair the 
staging aud stop up every crack in the wood¬ 
work with putty. Inside tho house wash the 
woodwork, glass, staging aud walls with 
crude or kerosene oil, or iu the case of the 
walls, whitewash them with hot lime-wash. 
This destroys insect vermin and their eggs. 
Clean the chimney vent, clear out the soot 
boxes and around tbe boiler, and give tbe in¬ 
side of tbe furnace aud corrugations of the 
boiler a thorough cleaning out. If the fur¬ 
nace grating is broken, unduly warped, or 
won’t turn over, have it seen to at once, for 
after j 7 ou begin firing is no time to stop and 
attend to these matters. 
Cold-Frames and Hot-Beds.— Now is the 
time for cold-frames, the Spring for hot-beds, 
but the same frame-pits and sashes are available 
for both. Get tbe frames ready. If they are 
permanent pits, have them cleaned out, the 
posts and planks or boards secure iu place, and 
all fitting exactly aud so that the sashes may 
cover them snugly and without leaving any 
aperture through which a cold current of air 
may creep in. Have the suslies iu good order. 
Mend the glass and take out and reset every 
loose light. In glazing sashes putty is gener¬ 
ally used uuder aud over tbe edge of the glass; 
now, while it is well to bed iu putty, I should 
disadvise using putty on top. Instead, secure 
tbe lights with one-half inch points, pinch off 
nicely and give a thick coat of paint. It 
makes a better, more lusting and water-tight 
job. Scrape off all the loose putty. 
Window's.—W e don’t often build windows 
for plants, but rather get plants to suit our 
windows. If practicable, have your windows 
to opeu at the top as well as bottom Get the 
brackets screwed into their places. Have the 
plant-stuuds in good repair, nicely painted and 
all ready. Have a bit of oil-cloth for the floor 
under the plant-stands or along side the win¬ 
dows where your plants are, as now and again 
you can’t help spilling some water, and it is 
easier to wipe up the water off the oil-cloth 
than off the carpet. 
Don’t bring your plants inside into your 
windows as long as you can safely have them 
out-of-doors. We generally have some beau¬ 
tiful bright weather in October, cool at night, 
but warm in the ilay-time. Let the plants 
have the benefit of the warm weather, but 
cover them up or bring them in upon the 
piazza iu the event of cold or wet weather. 
Toward the end of the month, it may be well 
to house most of your tender plants. 
The Piazza.—T he piazza is a capital place 
for pot plants iu October. All plants that 
are established iu their pots cau enjoy the 
south side, and those newly potted the shady 
side. If the plants are standing outside ou the 
walks, in the event of frost, or a windy or 
wet storm, iu a few minutes we cau lift them 
on to the piazza where they will be safe, or if 
need be, by tbe aid of some old newspapers or 
a sheet or two we cau make them doubly 
secure. 
Pots.—I don’t care what they are—glazed 
or unglazed earthenware, tin cans or wooden 
boxes—providing they have a large-sized hole 
in the bottom for drainage. But there is 
nothing better than the common flower pot. I 
prefer the common shapes or sizes because in 
repotting plants I cau shift from one sized pot 
to another without intefering with the ball of 
the roots, whereas were the pots of uncommon 
shapes, Pd have to suit the ball of roots to the 
pots into which 1 was alient to plant them. 
And I prefer pretty hard pots to the trashy 
things that crumble to pieces if they get the 
least rough handling when they are wet. 
Soil.— There is, l thiuk, a good deal of 
twaddle written about differuut kinds of soils 
for different plants, I use sod loam aud well 
rotted manure for almost everything. For enl- 
las 1 use the roughest part; for azaleas have 
less manure and some leaf soil: for common 
ferns not much manure but a good deal of 
leaf soil and chopped swamp moss; for roses 
the strongest clay loam I cau get; for cactuses 
rather gritty loam; aud so on. Gross feeders 
get the richest soil. In the soil for stevias, 
marguerites, nasturtiums and other heavy¬ 
rooting plants I add a good sprinkling of 
finely broken bones—such as we feed to chick¬ 
ens,—and for carnations, a good dusting of 
lime. Never use soil when it is wet, or manure 
that is pasty. Break up fine the clay lumps, 
but not so the bits of fibrous sod. Pick out 
and throw away all the grubs and worms you 
find in the soil. 
Potting Plants.— Don’t use dirty pots; 
have them clean in tho inside anyway, else in 
repotting, rather than turn out in a clean ball 
the outside roots will tear off and stick to the 
sides of the pot And never use wet pots. 
Never use a big pot for a little plant, but 
rather use the smallest pots into which you 
can conveuieutly get the roots, no matter how 
big the plants may be. Always drain your 
pots well, Put. a biggish piece of crock over 
the hole, then a lot of smaller ones over that, 
and some half-rotted leaves, dry chaffy ma¬ 
nure, or bits of sod with the earth pretty well 
sbakeuoutof them over the drainage to keep it 
clean and prevent its beiug clogged up with the 
soil. In draining pots 1 use broken pots, broken 
brickbats, broken mortar or cement, from old 
buildings, coal ashes from which the finest part 
has been sifted; in fact,almost anything. Use 
moderately dry soil, introduce nicely among 
the roots, pack firmly, and fill up to within 
oue-half or one inch of the brim of the pot. 
Lifting Plants.— I would sooner lift them 
in dry weather and when the ground is dry 
than iu moist weather or when the ground is 
damp. When lifted with large balls we can¬ 
not put the whole ball into a pot, aud if the 
ground is moist, in reducing the ball the root¬ 
lets are brittle and apt to drop off with the 
earth; wheu tho ground is dry the rootlets aro 
less brittle and the earth can be shaken away 
from the roots with less likelihood of injuring 
them. Get all the roots j'ou can, 110 matter if 
you don’t secure much earth with them. In 
the case of heavy claj’ ground we had better 
moisten it the day before we lift they Lints, 
else it will be so lumpy that; we cannot reduce 
the lumps without breaking off many of the 
roots. 
What Plants to Lift.—A ll that are 
planted out aud wliich we wish ler winter 
flowering, also all tender plants we wish to 
keep over Winter for next year’s gardeu. 
And the sooner we life them the better so that 
they may get fairly well rooted in their pots 
before the dull, cold weather of Winter sets in. 
Pot them as you lift them, water them through 
a water-pot rose when you pot them, and 
stand them in a sheltered, shady place for a 
few days till they recover the check. Sprinkle 
them overhead two or three times a daj', if 
need be, for a few days to prevent them from 
wilting. 
FENCING STREAMS. 
Mr. J. H. Woodbl'RN sends us the design 
illustrated ut Fig. 382. But little explanation 
will be needed. The idea is to take Sxfixlfi 
pine stuff, bore holes onc-lialf inch in diame¬ 
ter. six inches from each end; also four feet 
from the end bore other holes two inches in 
diameter and drive in post two feet high, aud 
fasten firmly. Prepare as many of these as 
will cross the water; wire them together end 
to end through the small holes, allowing some 
play, posts upright; then attach two strands 
of barbed wire to the short posts iu the usual 
way; float this across on line of fence; attach 
to the fences on either side, drawing tho wires 
tight. This will rise and fall with the water. 
Nothing will cross it, and wheu cold weather 
comes, loosen one eud, draw out on the bank 
along the other fence, out of the way. 
Porno logical. 
ABOUT DISTANT FRUIT MARKETS. 
PRES. PARKER EARLE. 
Increase of fruit growing for distant mar¬ 
kets; magnitude of the trade; three great 
ini prove inents; losses from bad parking and 
packages; instances; faulty transporta¬ 
tion; refrigerator cars needed; losses from 
lack of them; better distribution needed. 
One who travels over this country, or in any 
way becomes acquainted with the operations 
of our fruitgrowers in all these dist ricts where 
fruit growing for market has become a princi¬ 
pal busluess, will very soou see that in all the 
distinctively fruit-growing regions, these 
crops are grown for distant markets. This is 
a business that has largely grown up within 
the last 25 or 30 years. Before this period the 
means of transportation were limited. Mar¬ 
kets were limited, aud in fact the whole sys- 
