528 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[November, 
A Useful Vine—The Dutchman’s Pipe. 
As a vine for making a dense shade to a veranda, 
or to train upon a trellis as a screen to hide un¬ 
pleasant objects, we know of none equal to the 
Dutchman’s Pipe (Aristolochia Sipho). Unfortu¬ 
nately, there is no evergreen climber sufficiently 
hardy to endure the winters in the Northern States, 
tite Dutchman’s pipe (Aristolochia Sipho). 
and we must be content, until one is discovered, 
with the best deciduous kinds. Among these the 
Dutchman’s Pipe, for most uses, stands at the 
head. It will grow as tall as will be needed ; its 
leaves appear early in spring, and when full grown 
are often a foot across, over¬ 
lapping one another shingle- 
wise, and forming a complete 
curtain of verdure. The flow¬ 
ers, of a quaint shape that 
readily suggests its common 
name, are always objects of 
curiosity. They arc so con¬ 
structed that they can only be 
fertilized by insects, and proba¬ 
bly owing to the absence of 
the proper insects, it rarely 
bears fruit at the North. The 
vine is a native from Penn¬ 
sylvania, and in rich woods on 
the mountains to far southward. 
The engravings show a leaf, 
flower, and seed-pod, all much 
reduced. The vine is less com¬ 
mon than it would be were it 
readily propagated, like most 
others, by cuttings. It is 
multiplied by layers and from seeds, which in some 
southern localities are produced in abundance. 
FRUIT. 
Preserving Seeds of Forest Trees. 
So much disappointment has attended the at¬ 
tempts to raise forest trees from seeds, we have, 
of late years, advised our friends who wished 
to plant a moderate number of trees to purchase 
them. There are now several who make a busi¬ 
ness of supplying young forest-tree seedlings at a 
very low price. Still, if one wishes to plant largely, 
and can give his seed-beds the required care, it will 
be cheaper to raise his own trees. Success in a 
great measure depends upon the proper keeping of 
the seeds through the winter. Those who intend 
to raise their own trees, should begin with the 
seeds, as soon as they are ripe. Some seeds, if 
allowed to become dry, will remain in the ground 
one or more years before they germinate, and some 
fail altogether. The seeds of the Silver and Red 
Maples, the Elm, etc., ripen in early summer ; these 
must be sown at once, and will soon come up and 
make a strong seedling tree before the winter. If 
the seeds of these are kept until spring, they will 
fail. The Sugar Maple and others, ripen their 
seeds in autumn ; these must be kept over winter. 
The majority of tree seeds may be preserved in 
good condition if mixed with their own bulk of 
gand and kept in a cool place, The sand for this 
purpose should be damp, but not wet. It is usually 
in proper condition as it is dug out of the bank ; 
when pressed in the hand, it will cohere and keep 
the shape given to it, but no water will be squeezed 
from it. All the smaller seeds, and the thin- 
shelled larger ones, such as Chestnuts, Acorns, 
Beech, etc., are best preserved in sand, as are the 
seeds of the stone-fruits : Plum, Cherry, and the 
Peach, if these last are in small quantity. There is 
more danger from keeping the seeds too warm 
than from too great cold. An occasional 
freezing will do no harm. Care should be 
taken that the sand does not become dry 
during the winter, though this will rarely 
happen in a properly cooled place. The seeds 
of the Magnolias are apt to become rancid; 
they should be mixed with an abundance of 
sand in order that they may be separated 
from one another. Walnuts, Hickory-nuts, 
and others with bony shells, are best kept in 
heaps of a few bushels, which are covered 
with 6ods, over which is placed sufficient 
earth to keep out the rains. In the absence I 
of sods, a covering of straw will answer. 
The seeds of Osage-Orange are best kept 
in the fruit or balls, which may be placed in a 
heap or in barrels, and exposed to the weather 
all winter. The seeds of most Pines and other 
conifers are best kept in the cones until spring; 
most of them will open and liberate the seeds 
by keeping them in a warm place for a few days. 
The fruit of the Red Cedar, and others with a 
berry-like cone, should be mixed with earth, 
buried for a year, and sown the following spring; 
even then, a share of the seeds may not germinate 
until the next year. Those who sow forest seeds 
should recollect that the mosthardyare tender when 
young, and need protection from the sun. Cotton¬ 
woods and willows are easily raised from cuttings. 
The Purging 1 Cassia. 
A friend, who has seen some curious long pods 
in a druggist’s shop, being told that they were cas¬ 
sia pods, wishes to know about them. As the 
common cinnamon of commerce is often called 
cassia, he is puzzled, and inquires whether these 
pods have anything to do with cinnamon. The 
borne by a tree called Cassia fistula, a native of In¬ 
dia, but now cultivated in all the warmer parts of 
the world. The tree is a hand¬ 
some one, often forty feet high, 
and with divided leaves, somewhat 
like, those of the locust. The 
golden-yellow flowers are in large 
panicles at the ends of the twigs ; 
their appearance is given in the 
engraving, fig. 1, which also shows 
the leaves and pods, all much re¬ 
duced. The pods, which are in 
large clusters, when beaten against 
one another, by the wind, make a 
noise that may be heard at a long 
distance. When one of the pods 
is split open, lengthwise, as in fig. 
2, it is found to be divided by 
thin crosswise partitions, each 
cavity containing a single seed. 
The seeds are imbedded in a black, 
very stiff pulp. To obtain this 
pulp, the pods are bruised and 
boiled in water, which dissolves it; 
the liquid being strained is evap¬ 
orated to form a sort of jam, 
known as cassia pulp. This pulp 
is not unpleasaut to the taste, and 
has a decided laxative effect; it 
forms an important ingredient in 
the “confection of senna,’’ or the 
“ lenitive electuary,” of the shops. 
An eminent botanist once told us, 
that when a boy, he and other boys 
spent some of their Saturday holi¬ 
days about the docks. A lot of 
Cassia pods were once found 
thrown in a pile upon the wharf, 
and they somehow got a taste of 
the pulp, and, finding it pleasantly 
sweet, helped themselves freely to 
the broken pods. He said that each boy soon 
found that he was wanted at home, and a sicker 
lot of boys, including himself, was rarely seen. 
Fig. 2.—pod 
OPENED. 
Fig. 1 . — the purging cassia (Cassia fistula). 
pods in question are blackish-brown, a foot or I 
more long, and nearly an inch through. They are I 
Earth, as Winter Protection. 
A covering of earth may often be usefully em¬ 
ployed to protect plants from severe changes of 
temperature during the winter. Newly 
planted fruit trees should have a conical 
mound of earth at the base, which may be 
a foot or a foot-and-a-half high, and so 
narrow that it will shed water readily. 
This answers several purposes. It is well 
known that the portion of the tree where 
the roots join the stem is especially sensi¬ 
tive, and a covering of earth protects this. 
Besides, it answers better than a stake to 
prevent disturbance of the tree by heavy 
winds. Another benefit is the protection 
it affords against mice, often so injurious 
to young trees. Half hardy and doubt¬ 
fully hardy plants of all kinds are better 
protected by a slight covering of earth 
than by the old method of “strawing,” 
or surrounding them with a thick covering 
of straw, which often smothers them. 
Grape-vines in severe localities, and par¬ 
tially tender kinds everywhere, should be 
trained with a view to removing them from 
the trellis, and laying them flat upon the 
ground. When they are pegged down as 
flat as may be, the canes are covered with 
an inch or two of soil. This method is the 
best for figs, and allows this fruit to be 
raised much farther North than was former¬ 
ly thought possible. The trees are pre¬ 
pared by growing them with roots upon 
one side only, to allow them to be laid flat, 
and the branches are well covered with 
earth. The tender kinds of raspberries are 
protected in this manner on the large 
plantations along the Hudson River, N. Y., 
where many acres are annually covered. 
The same answers for tender roses which are suc¬ 
cessfully protected by laying them down, cover- 
