1883 .] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
Chickweed, especially in damp soils, grows the 
more rampantly the cooler the weather, and goes 
into winter quarters a stout plant, ready to bloom 
at any time in winter when the snow melts away, 
and will scatter its seeds in early spring. It is a 
mistake to stop the hoe and cultivator when the 
conspicuous summer weeds are subdued. The 
seedling weeds, in their state of rest, are not con¬ 
spicuous, but they should be destroyed. They 
will appear in full force next spring, when there 
will be less time for disposing of them than now. 
Tender Roses in Winter. 
All of the perpetual blooming roses, the Teas, 
the Bengals, and others planted out for summer 
blooming, are tender. They must either be taken 
up for the winter, or protected, if they are to re¬ 
main in the open ground. They are only half- 
hardy, but will survive if given a slight protection. 
If the stems are bent over and fastened by hooked 
pegs, and then covered with sods, they will usually 
come out next spring all right, and ready to bloom 
for another season. 
- ^ - 
l*laiiti»ig Dutch Rulbs. 
When such bulbs as Hyacinths, Narcissuses, 
Tulips, and the like are planted, they at once form 
roots, and prepare for an early blooming in spring. 
Those who have to purchase such bulbs should 
procure them as early as they are offered by the 
dealers. Those who have a stock on hand from 
former years, should not delay the planting too 
long. The old rule, to cover the bulb with soil 
equal in depth to its own thickness, is a good one, 
When bulbs are planted early, they bloom all the 
stronger the next spring. 
Planting Strawberries in Sep« 
tenaber. 
We have shown how strawberry runners may be 
struck in pots. Plants thus propagated may be set 
out at any time after they are well established. It 
would have been better to have planted them last 
month, but plants that have become well rooted in 
pots, and set out the present month, may be ex¬ 
pected to give a fair return next spring. Plants 
which are taken up from the beds, may be planted 
in autumn, as the work is more conveniently and 
pleasantly done than in spring, but nothing will be 
gained in time. 
The Carnation as a Window Plant. 
A plant will not bloom continuously. If a Car¬ 
nation which has been planted in the open border 
has flowered freely all summer, it is unfair to ex¬ 
pect it to bloom through the winter. It should be 
prepared for winter blooming by depriving it of its 
buds during summer. If this has not been done, 
it will be well to cut off all the buds now visible 
upon the plants needed for winter blooming, and 
take them up before cool nights check their 
growth. Give the plants, after they have been 
taken up and potted, shade for several days; and 
when cool nights come, place them on a piazza, 
or where they will not be chilled. 
Planting: Onions in Autumn. 
It is much better to plant onion sets in the fall 
than to wait until spring. Aside from the gain of 
time by doing it in autumn, the risk of keeping 
them in good condition is avoided. They should 
not be planted until next month, or until so late 
that the tops will not start into growth. At this 
season the soil is warm and mellow, and the work 
can be done with much more comfort than in 
spring. The sets will commence their growth very 
early, and be much in advance of those planted in 
spring. Those who wish to raise their own onion 
seed, should select the bulbs and plant them out 
in autumn, taking care to cover them with at least 
three inches of soil. 
395 
The Seeds o4‘ Hardy Perennials. 
As a rule, the seeds of these, such as the Phlox¬ 
es, the Pentstemons, and a long list of others, 
should be sown as soon as they are ripe. Usually, 
if kept until spring, they are slow to germinate, or 
fail altogether. Sown at once, the young plants 
soon appear, and if protected during the winter by 
laying a few evergreen boughs over them, they 
will be ready to set in place next spring, and will 
usually bloom the next summer. If it is not de¬ 
sired to save seed from any shrub or herbaceous 
plant; the sooner the flower cluster is cut away, 
after its beauty is past, the better. Seed-forining 
is exhaustive, and unless seeds are wanted, it is 
vastly better for a plant to cut away all flower clus¬ 
ters as soon as they have passed their prime. 
Eieeping Plaints iii "Winter. 
One of -our friends, whose grounds in summer 
are decorated with Agaves and many other tender 
plants, has a cave dug in a bank, in which he stores 
these plants for the winter. Every one can not 
have such a cave, but most persons can have the 
use of a cellar, in which tender plants can be 
stored during the winter months. Agaves, India- 
rubber Trees, Dracaenas, and the like, as well as 
Oleanders and other plants, ornameutal in sum¬ 
mer, can be put away for the winter in the cellar. 
They need to be kept perfectly dormant, but should 
not get too dry. If the soil is fairly moist when 
they are stored away for the winter, they may not 
need any care until towards spring, when they 
should be examined, and water given, if needed. 
Raspberries anil Itlackberries. 
It should be kept in mind that a stem of rasp¬ 
berry or blackberry, that has once borne a crop of 
fruit, has served its purpose, and will die. These 
stems will be replaced by a new growth, which will 
perfect itself this autumn, and be ready to produce 
a crop of fruit next summer. Therefore it is bet¬ 
ter to get the old stems out of the way, as soon as 
the fruit is off. More new shoots, or suckers, than 
are needed will grow. Two, or at most three, are 
all that are required to a stool ; all beyond these 
should be cut away as if they were weeds. Those 
which are allowed to grow, should be tied up to 
stakes or a trellis, as soon as large enough. Their 
upward growth should be stopped, by pinching the 
growing point, at five feet for blackberries and 
three for raspberries. 
IPlants for Next Spring. 
Those who are uot versed in the ways of market- 
gardeners, are not aware that the seeds for the 
early crop of cabbages, cauliflowers, and lettuce, 
are sown in autumn. The plants, protected through 
the winter in cold frames, are set out very early the 
following spring. It is useless for one to expect 
to have these vegetables early in the market, un¬ 
less he adopts the method that years of experience 
has shown to be the safe one. The seeds are sowm 
in autumn in the open ground ; the young plants, 
grown to the proper fize, are planted out in cold 
frames, where they are kept dormant, and at the 
same time protected from severe changes of tem¬ 
perature. They are set out very eaVly the follow¬ 
ing spring. The time for sowing the seeds to pro¬ 
duce plants which are to be wintered, is of great 
importance. If sown too soon, the plants will be 
too large, and if too late, they will not be strong 
enough. After a long experience in the climate of 
New York, Mr. Peter Henderson has found it safest 
to sow twice. Once on the twelfth and again ou 
the sixteenth of September, and would prefer to 
sow later than the last named date, rather than 
earlier. Of course, the time of sowing must vary 
with each locality, the object being to have strong 
plants, ready for the cold frames, in four or five 
weeks after the seeds are sown. Farmers and 
others, who wish to have the earliest cabbages for 
market, should adopt this method. Sow the seeds 
this month ; prick out the young plants next month 
into cold frames, and keep them dormant through 
the winter, until they can be set out next spring. 
In the Cotton Field. 
The cotton crop is liable to so many injuries that 
it is, especially in its early stages, a source of 
anxiety to the planter. Late frosts and cold driv¬ 
ing rains often prevent his getting a good stand, 
and if obliged to replant, the crop may be so late, 
that it is caught at the other end of the season by 
the early frosts of autumn. After the plants are 
fairly established, they may become the prey of 
various insects. The cotton worm will come irt 
hordes upon the foliage, completely riddling, or as. 
the planters say, “ ragging it,” and poison must be- 
used, or the crop, if not lost, will be greatly dimin¬ 
ished. Scarcely less destructive is the Boll-worm,, 
which hatches from an egg laid in the blossom, and’ 
enters the very young boll ; when it finds that the 
boll is about to fall, on account of the injury it 
inflicts, its instinct warns it to leave, and enter 
another and more advanced boll, and so it goes on, 
destroying one after another as it works its unseen 
mischief. If the plants have escaped serious damage, 
from insects and other causes, the cotton field, atr 
the time ripeningcommenees, presents a most pleas¬ 
ing sight. The mature bolls break open, and the soft 
fibre of snowy whiteness, relieved from the confine¬ 
ment in which it had been held, by its own elastic¬ 
ity enlarges to many times its former bulk, each' 
boll seeming to overflow with its abundance of the 
precious staple, which gleams in the sunlight in: 
marked contrast with the dark green of the foliage.. 
That cotton picking should be a season of jollity,, 
when the crop was produced by slave labor, is not 
surprising, as it marked the end of months of toil, 
and was an assurance that the reward had come at 
last. All hands, women and children, as well as 
men, brought the aid of their nimble fingers to. 
gather the treasure yielded by the opening bolls. 
The pictures of “ Cotton Picking,” formerly show¬ 
ed the field alive with the dusky forms of the 
pickers. Our artist’s picture is very ditferent, 
showing but two children and these of a different 
race, attracted by the beauty and novelty of the 
cotton field. Was the sketch intended to typify 
the change that is coming over cotton culture, 
and to indicate that white labor would, in time, 
seek the cotton fields to help in picking? To 
be prophetic, the artist should have shown the 
children watching the operation of that cotton¬ 
picking machine, yet in the brain of some inventor, 
which is now earnestly hoped for, and while its ad¬ 
vent will deprive the cotton field of its picturesque 
features, will bring to the harvest the mechanical 
aid so successfully applied in harvesting other im¬ 
portant crops. This picker is sure to come, and it 
is not too much to hope that children like these 
may live to see the same revolution in the cotton 
harvest that our skillful mechanics have wrought 
in the harvest of our immense grain crop. 
Kemedy for Hen Lice. 
One of the most pestilential visitations in the? 
hen house is lice ; abundant at any time from May 
until frost comes. They do not confine their pres¬ 
ence to their own quarters. If in the vicinity, they 
invade the pig sty, the carriage house, the horse 
and cow stable. The horse and his rider are both 
likely to be covered with this minute pest. They 
do not trouble the farmer’s hen roost always, for 
the hens as a rule have the freedom of the premi¬ 
ses, roost in the apple trees by night, and wallow 
in unlimited dust by day, which effectually rasps 
off the vermin. But many must confine their liens 
in narrow quarters during the growing season, if 
they keep them at all, and these creatures come 
upon them by stealth. Do you suggest fumigation 
by tobacco, or by 6ul phur ? What if your hennery is 
complete in its ventilation, and without a door? 
It will not hold smoke. Do you advise whitewash 
and thorough cleansing? That is a big job. Kero¬ 
sene is now in almost every man’s house, and this 
cheap agent will make you master of the situation.. 
Saturate every box, perch, and beam in the estab¬ 
lishment, and the job is done. Use the lamp fillers 
carefully, and much trouble will, be avoided. 
