86 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[February, 
i&uincc and Grape Cuttings.— “W.W.”—The 
cuttingB should have been made last autumn, and kept 
in earth until spring. If this was not done then, it will 
answer, though not so well, to make them at once, in 
the first mild weather, and bury them in soil or sand. 
Cuttings of the quince should be of last season’s growth, 
and sis or eight inches long. In early spring open a 
trench with one straight side ; place the cuttings against 
this side, about fix inches apart, and with two buds 
above the surface. In filling in the trench, press the 
soil firmly against the bottom part of the cuttings. Grape 
cuttings are made with two or more buds, according to 
their distance apart. They are set out in the same man¬ 
ner, save that only one bud is left at the surface. While 
the cuttings of some varieties of grape will root readily 
if treated in this manner, others will not. The simplest 
method with those which are difficult to raise from cut¬ 
tings, is to layer them. 
“ Sub-Irrigation,” is the name given in Cali¬ 
fornia to a method of watering, for which great advan¬ 
tages are claimed. A syst ja of concrete pipes is laid 
far enough below the surface to be beyond the reach of 
the plow. Water is let into the pipes under slight pres¬ 
sure (two to five feet), and there is an arrangement by 
which it is allowed to flow into the soil at desired 
points, and come in contact with the roots of the trees, 
vines, and other plants, without wetting the surface. It 
is claimed that this method produces all the good re¬ 
sults of surface irrigation, with the use of only one- 
fourth or one-tenth of the water required in ordinary 
irrigation, while the surface of the soil does not bake. 
The plan is no doubt an excellent one for some places, 
but it is not new. In one form or another it was de¬ 
scribed in the American Agriculturist several years ago. 
Those who are selling “rights,” must have patented 
some of the details, as the method of applying water in 
pipes, below the surface, has long been known and used. 
Frozen Onions. —“ II J. B.,” N. J.—It does not 
hurt onions to freeze them, provided they can thaw very 
gradually. It will be well to cover the barrels with hay 
or straw, and keep them frozen as long as may be. Bo 
not move them about while frozen. Usually, onions suf¬ 
fer more from being kept too warm than from the cold. 
Replanting an Orchard.- "M.Z.,” Bay ton, O., 
lost the apple trees in his orchard by frost. He pro¬ 
poses to set out trees again on the same laud. The or¬ 
chard is now in grass, and he asks if it should be plowed 
up, and if it will be better to set the new trees in the 
intervals of the old ones, or plant them in the same 
places.—If the grass has been mowed for several years, 
it is likely that the soil needs enriching. Turning over 
the sod, especially if a good dressing of manure can be 
applied upon the grass, will greatly improve the soil. 
We should prefer to avoid the old holes, and give the 
trees new places, as, aside from the fact that the former 
trees exhausted the soil where they stood, there are 
probably old and decaying roots left in the ground, 
which may injure the roots of the new trees. 
Preserving Fence Posts.— “J. M. H.,” Mos¬ 
cow, N. Y. The use of coal-tar as a preservative does 
not appear to be so successful as was anticipated. While 
a post coated with this is protected from the effects of 
the moisture in the ground, it does not prevent decay 
from taking place in the interior. Various solutions 
that will penetrate the wood have been proposed. One 
of the simplest of these is to soak the post in a saturated 
solution of sulphate of copper (blue vitriol), and when 
the liquid has penetrated the wood, let it dry, and then 
soak it fora few days in lime water. Prom what we have 
seen of this method, having used it for small garden 
stakes and labels, we should be disposed to try it upon 
posts if a preservative were required. It has the merit 
of being much cheaper than most of the other mixtures 
that are proposed. 
Grafting Potatoes. —“W. B. J. II.,” Plumas Co., 
Cal., asks: “ Bid you ever hear of grafting potatoes to 
produce a new potato, or one combining the qualities of 
both varieties used ’’’—Several years ago, many attempts 
were made iu England to produce graft hybrids. One 
variety had all its eyes removed, and an eye of another 
variety was inserted in it. In this manner, potatoes 
showing a cross between the two were produced. Noth¬ 
ing practical resulted from these experiments, though 
they excited much interest at the time. 
“ Great Guns ! What are we coming to ? The 
monster Krupp cannon, which many of our readers saw 
at the Centennial Exposition, will be only a pocket-piece 
compared with the gun of the early future. Italy has 
beaten the world in the size of her war steamship, pro¬ 
tected on its sides with steel-faced iron plates, well on to 
two feet thick. And now England must have guns that 
will smash ““xiugh such walls. Already a breech-load¬ 
ing Armstrong gun has been made, weighing 200,000 
pounds; length 39 feet (nearly 2| rods); breech diameter, 
about 5£ feet; muzzle, 2f feet; bore, 17 inches diameter; 
carries a ball or bolt of chilled iron, weighing over a ton 
(2,005 pounds). More than half of its barrel on the in¬ 
side is steel, and this is covered with compact iron 
rings, welded into a solid mass. It is calculated to 
stand an interior firing pressure of over 60,000 pounds 
on each square inch! It was recently fired 18 times, 
the powder charges in some cases being over a third 
of a ton (or 771 pounds). Initial velocity, 1,838 feet 
in a second. Think of a ball of hardened iron, a ton in 
weight, flying through the air 21 miles a minute I This 
speed would carry it from the Atlantic to the Pacific, or 
from New York to London, in about 2}- hours, and start¬ 
ing round the world at 5 o'clock in the morning, it 
would be home before midnight. The carriage is made 
so compact that two such guns occupy less space than 
one old one, and the hydraulic loading machinery is so 
simplified that a lady’s hand can move the levers which 
open the breech and close it, put in the 700 pounds of 
powder, and the ton-weight projectile. And they say 
it will now be quite easy to make and work guns of 
300,000 to 400,000 pounds weight! 
Support for a Gate.— Mr. J. S. Ulrey, Wabash 
Co., Ind., sends us a drawing of his plan for keeping a 
gate from sagging. It is simply an extra post connected 
by scantling with the post to which the gate is attached, 
as shown in the engraving. 
Is it “ Gypsum ” or “ Plaster ? ” asks a 
young reader of the American Agriculturist , and older 
heads might ask the same question. Farmers usually 
talk of putting “plaster” on their land—but it would 
be better always to call it gypsum. This substance is 
composed of sulphuric acid and lime, combined with 
considerable water, all together forming a solid rock. 
It is simply ground fine for application to land, and is 
still “gypsum.” When the water is driven off by heat, 
and it is made into a fine powder, it is called “ plaster 
of Paris,” because used for a hard, white finishing coat 
in plastering walls. On restoring the water driven off 
by heat, that is, stirring the dry powder with the proper 
quantity of water, it quickly sets hard, to form moulds, 
plaster casts, images, cornices, center pieces, etc. 
Improvement In Cabbages.— Two varieties 
of cabbage have been so much improved by cultivation 
in this country, from seeds grown here, that the same 
varieties from imported seeds are so much inferior as to 
seem like different varieties, The Wakefield, a leading 
early variety, is one of these. To distinguish the im¬ 
proved home-grown strain, it is called Jersey Wakefield. 
The Brunswick, a German early variety, was greatly im¬ 
proved by a gardener named Fottler, and is now much 
larger and finer, though not quite so early as when raised 
from imported seed, and known as Fottler’s Brumhead. 
Bermuda-Grass. —“A. E. C.,” Hockley, Tex. The 
specimen you send is the true Bermuda-grass, but it does 
not di sprove our statement that “ this grass is not known 
to produce seed in this country.” We do not assert 
that it cannot, or that it never will produce seeds, only 
that no seed-bearing specimen—and botanists have been 
watching it for many years—has yet been seen. A great 
many specimens have been sent us to show that the 
plant bore seeds. A large share of these were not Ber¬ 
muda-grass, but Crab-grass, which somewhat resembles 
it. Others, like the one sent by you, have the remains 
of flowers, but on careful examination with the micro¬ 
scope, not even a rudiment of a seed was found. We 
should really like to see the seeds, as they must be pro¬ 
duced in some countries. 
Lice on Apple Trees. —“T.T.B.”—Weanswered 
your inquiry by mail, but our letter in time came back 
marked “not found.” We wrote in substance as follows; 
The lice you mention as attacking your apple trees are 
the Woolly Aphis, known in England as the “American 
Blight," although it is a well established fact that this 
insect was brought from the Old World to this country. 
It differs from other plaut-lice in covering itself with 
fine, white, cottony threads, which give the appearance 
of “ mould” that you mention. They are very easily man¬ 
aged on the trunk and branches. Any stiff brush will 
kill them. But most persons like to apply something 
with the brush. For this, stir into a quart of soft soap 
a tablespoonful of kerosene, and, when well mixed, pour 
on sufficient warm water to make it so thin that it may 
be readily applied, and use it with the brush. For those 
lice which live just below the surface, lime-water is a 
remedy. Slake a peck of lime in a barrel, as for making 
whitewash. When slaked, fill up the barrel with water. 
By the next day the water will be perfectly clear. Use 
this, thoroughly, around the trees. 
Plum Suckers .— 11 W.jW.,” Benzonia, Mich., has 
numerous suckers of plum trees, and asks how he can 
use them for stocks. As a general thing, seedling stocks 
are preferred to suckers, as trees grown from these will 
continue to throw up suckers. The shoots should be 
removed from the trees with as many roots as possible, 
and planted in nursery rows and allowed to grow one 
season. They may be budded the next year, or, if graft¬ 
ed, it should be done very early, before the buds swell. 
As the graft often outgrows, the stock, it is safer to in¬ 
sert the cions below the surface of the ground. 
Many People Killed by Animals.— Per¬ 
petual war has always existed between man and most 
other animals; the dog and the horse are usually on our 
side. Omitting accidents, the destruction of human life 
by animals is very small in this country—perhaps not 
200 a year, and these largely from the bites of rattle¬ 
snakes and cobras. Even these might be termed acci¬ 
dental, since these serpents only bite in self-defense 
when come upon unawares. But it is quite different in 
some countries. Take British India, for example; the 
recent official report gives the total loss of life during a 
year thus: Killed by tigers, 889; by wolves, 256; by 
leopards, 239; by bears, 75; by wild elephants, 58; by 
hyenas, 8; by other animals, alligators, rhinoceroses, 
wild boars, etc., 1,232; and by serpents, 18,670! Tigers, 
leopards, and allied animals killed nearly 44,000 cattle, 
to say nothing of sheep and goats. Buring the year the 
Government paid for killing 4,558 wolves, 3,303 leopards 
and tigers, 1,014 hyenas. 991 bears, and 254,963 poisonous 
serpents.—A recent writer estimates that since the Chris¬ 
tian era, 200,000.000 people have been killed by animals. 
Tlie Massachusetts Horticultural Soci¬ 
ety is not so venerable that it cannot adopt new meth¬ 
ods. Following the example of the much younger New 
York Horticultural Society, it now issues a Bulletin, re¬ 
porting its monthly meetings within a few days after 
the session. This allows absent members and others to 
read the papers and discussions while they are yet fresh, 
instead of waiting, as before, until the end of the year. 
The Essex Hybrid Squash.— This was ob¬ 
tained by a gentleman in Essex, Mass., by crossing the 
“Hubbard ” and the “ Turban,” a very late and an early 
variety, each standing first in its class. The Essex Hy¬ 
brid is valued by gardeners near Boston on account of 
its rapid growth and maturity, which allows it to be 
planted after the worst insect enemies are out of the way, 
and still ripen a crop. In planting early potatoes, every 
fourth hill is left vacant, to be afterwards planted with 
squashes. This may be done as late as July 4th, and 
the squashes will mature before frost. 
Trouble with Evergreens.—“M.E.B.,” Green¬ 
wich, Conn., finds that the stems of his Norway Spruces, 
that portion which grew last year, fall off in great quan¬ 
tities. If M. E. B. will cut open the twigs, he will prob¬ 
ably find a caterpillar—a “ worm ” of some kind, which, 
after it made its growth, cut away the stem, in order 
that the wind might break it off and thus allow the in¬ 
sect to reach the ground. If this is found to be so, then 
all the fallen twigs should be gathered and burned, to 
prevent an increase of the insect. 
Speculative Sales.— The sales of breadstuff's, 
grain, hog products, and cotton, constantly reported in 
Chicago and New York, give one no idea of the amount 
of those articles in the markets. The speculative sales 
of wheat and corn may amount to many million dollars 
in a day when there is not actually on hand a single 
million bushels. The New York dealers in cotton, for 
example, claim that none is sold that is not really here. 
Yet the recorded sales of the last cotton year at this one 
point amount to nearly thirty-three million bales, while 
the average crop of the entire country is only about six 
million bales. The Bales of wheat and corn during a 
year, in New York and Chicago alone, amount to many 
times the entire crop grown. 
Collards or Coleworts ?—A subscriber asks 
what are the Collards, so generally cultivated in South¬ 
ern gardens. Collards, as they are generally called at 
the South, and in England known as Coleworts and 
Collets, are partly grown cabbages, which are used be¬ 
fore they commence to head. Any cabbage may be cul¬ 
tivated as a Collard, but there are some varieties which 
are grown only for this use. in which the habit of form¬ 
ing a head is more or less broken up. 
