1883.] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST, 
69 
Winter Cheer. 
The conditions of country life are so dif¬ 
ferent from those of the city, that farmers 
are fortunately spared the spectacle of mis¬ 
ery and want so familiar to those who dwell 
in populous centres. Yet the biblical remark 
that “ the poor always ye have with you,” is 
as true of every portion of the United States 
as it was of Palestine. The inevitable law 
cannot be escaped, nor can its penalties be 
avoided. It would be a sad world, indeed, if 
there was no one to be helped, and none 
who stood ready with their kindly 
ministrations to make good the claim 
of a common kinship of humanity. 
Charity is the great winter work of 
thousands in our large cities, and there 
is need enough of all that can be ac¬ 
complished in the way of searching out 
cases of suffering, and rendering the de¬ 
sired assistance. It is not always crime 
or vice that has plunged these unfor¬ 
tunates into penury. They may have 
been overmastered by sickness; employ¬ 
ment may have given out, and careful 
search and inquiry may have resulted 
only in perpetual disappointment and 
discouragement. There are many causes 
that may bring about these unhappy 
conditions, and it is to the credit of 
human nature that so many people 
stand ready to assist when these pitiful 
emergencies arise. Indeed there are 
those who act upon the words of Charles 
Lamb, and “ when a poor creature, out¬ 
wardly and visibly such, comes before 
them,” do not inquire too rigorously 
into the veritable existence of the sep¬ 
arate distresses that are catalogued with 
such bated breath and whispering 
humbleness. “ Do not rake into the 
bowels of unwelcome truth to save a 
half-penny,” but give freely. You 
“pay money to see a comedian feign 
these things, which, concerning these poor 
people, you can not certainly tell whether 
they are feigned or not.” From the first 
frosts or snowfall of autumn, until spring 
releases flood and field from the chains of 
winter, the claims of the poor are ever pres¬ 
ent and ever pressing. The charity of the city 
takes on something of pretension and osten¬ 
tation. It finds expression in balls and fairs ; 
in monster undertakings, where pleasure goes 
hand in hand with the beneficence which has 
often no better excuse for its existence, than 
the fact that it has these complex and start¬ 
ling surroundings. But there are not lacking 
the house to house visitations, which prove 
more effective, and by which the individual 
wants of silent sufferers are alleviated. This 
last method is that which fits in with the 
habit and experience of country life. It is 
the sort of vigil which prosperity keeps over 
the poverty of the neighborhood. It suffers 
not the fire to go out upon the hearthstone. 
It sees that the cupboard is not empty, and, 
above all, it offers employment, and thus 
spares the debasement that the honest poor 
must feel when they are classed as mere 
“beggars,” and can make no return for the 
kindness shown them, and the material aid 
rendered. First, warm and feed the poor man, 
then give him a chance to earn his bread. 
He is thereby encouraged, and the giver 
has the double satisfaction of helping the 
needy, and of bringing him into healthy re¬ 
lations with the general system of industry. 
If the man is a public benefactor who makes 
two blades of grass grow where there was 
but one before, what shall he be called who 
puts an end to the waste and stagnation of 
idleness, and gives the impulse of fresh 
hands to the labor by which men thrive and 
communities are made prosperous? None 
understand this better than the hard-working 
rural population, and none are more willing 
to encourage the struggling, or to assist the 
suffering. The winter months are not with¬ 
out their never-ceasing summons to labor. 
Fig. 2. — everlasting floweer ( Acroclinium roscuni). 
They afford many opportunities for recrea¬ 
tion, for amusement, and for instruction. 
They form a pleasing part of rural experi¬ 
ence, and the brightness and crispness of the 
winter evening are recalled in the hours of 
summer toil. The winter enjoyments will be 
all the more pleasureable, if words of cheer 
and deeds of charity are scattered along the 
cold pathway of the season. 
Unproductive Tines and Trees.— 
“J. T. G,” Dearborn, Mich., having several 
unsightly and unproductive grape vines, cut 
them all off just above the surface of 
the ground. Over a dozen shoots started 
from the root of each, three of which were 
allowed to grow. The next year the canes 
from them were cut back to three buds 
each, and the shoots from these buds formed 
healthy canes, and the second year after the 
vines were cut down, gave an abundance 
of fruit. A large standard pear tree, eight 
years old, never having fruited, a circular 
trench was cut around it, four feet from 
the trunk; this, which was the width of a 
spade and ten inches deep, was filled with 
richly manured soil. As a result the tree 
bore last fall as fine fruit as ever grew. In 
both cases, the treatment was eminently 
proper and sensible for unproductive vines and 
trees. The pear tree was root-pruned, a gen¬ 
erally effective remedy for unfruitful trees, 
which might be applied oftener than it is. 
Everlasting Flowers.—A Novelty. 
Under the general term “ Everlasting 
Flowers ” are grouped a number of different 
plants, which agree in one particular: The 
parts of these flowers are of a stiff, papery 
nature, and, if gathered when first opened, 
they retain their form and color when dry. 
On this account they are much used in mak¬ 
ing winter bouquets and floral decorations, 
large quantities being annually imported for 
this purpose. There are but few of these that 
cannot be cultivated in any ordinary 
garden, and those who wish, can pro¬ 
vide an abundant supply for winter use 
at a small outlay for seeds. Perhaps 
the most beautiful of the Everlastings is 
that given in the catalogues as Acro- 
clinium roseum. It has not acquired a 
common name, and though botanists 
have placed it in Helepterum,* it will 
probably long retain the above name in 
the gardens. It is an annual, a foot or 
more high, and has numerous daisy¬ 
like heads, like that shown hi fig. 1. 
The central portion, or disk, is of a 
bright yellow, while the rays, or outer 
circle of petals, are of a clear, lively 
rose-color, which is kept in great per¬ 
fection in the dry flowers. A few yeara 
ago, one of the seed-growers at that 
great center of seed-growing, Erfurt, 
Prussia, found in a field of 10 or 12 
acres devoted to this flower alone, a 
few flowers which showed a tendency 
to become double; i. e., the disk or cen¬ 
tral portion bore some ray flowers. 
Seeds of these were carefully saved and 
sown, and in a few years, by selecting 
the most double of these each year, a 
double variety, with flowers like those 
in fig. 2, was established. This should 
serve as a hint to our cultivators, 
whether of vegetables or of flowers. 
Whenever they observe a departure 
from the usual form, if only a slight one, pro¬ 
vided it is in a desirable direction, let them 
follow it up, by sowing the seeds of the im¬ 
proved plants, and thus establish a new vari¬ 
ety. The “ Trophy,” which, when it appeared, 
marked a wonderful advance in tomatoes, 
was the result of many years of careful sow¬ 
ing of seeds of the best fruits, until the de¬ 
sirable qualities became established. This 
holds good with vegetables as well as the 
choicest flowers, and should always be kept 
in view by the cultivator. Indian corn will 
Fig. 1. —AN EVERLASTING FLOWER. 
quickly show the result of careful selection 
of the seed for planting, and one may soon 
establish a “pedigree corn” which will ma¬ 
terially increase the yield of each acre planted. 
