182 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
pear very much at home. It is curious that such inte¬ 
resting ornaments of the border, should have been so 
totally neglected in this country.” 
Budding Peach Trees. 
Eds. Cultivator —In reference to the destruction of 
the inoculated Peach buds, by the cold weather during 
winter, complained of by C. J. S., I will give the re¬ 
sult of my observations and experience. I have devo¬ 
ted considerable time and attention to the propagation 
of choice varieties of fruit for some years past, and 
have endeavored to trace causes to effects as far as my 
limited knowledge would permit. I have budded annu¬ 
ally for seven or eight years past, many of all the dif¬ 
ferent varieties of fruit from the apple to the orange. 
I have sustained some losses from the cultivation of the 
peach, as complained of by your correspondent. I have 
found if they are not budded till September, they are 
liable to perish in winter; as the adhesion of the bud 
and tender wood of the stock where the bud is inserted, 
is not sufficiently matured to withstand the severity of 
the weather. I commence budding the peach as soon 
as the buds are sufficiently formed and matured, so that 
the leaf buds can be discerned from the fruit buds, 
which is in the fore part of the month of August. I 
think if C. S. will adhere to the above rule, he will 
not have to resort to the labor-losing experiment of 
grafting the peach. R. H. Drake. Bloomingsburgh, 
Sullivan Co., N. Y., April , 1849. 
Rose Bugs. 
This insect, so troublesome in many parts of the 
country, can only be avoided by direct destruction. An 
excellent practice is to shake the trees at night over 
sheets of muslin spread beneath, which enables the ope¬ 
rator to kill them with facility. Killing by hand-pick¬ 
ing has been successfully practiced, but requires time. 
Hybrid Perpetual Roses. 
One of the most valuable characteristics of this class 
of roses, is its blooming out of the usual rose season, 
when the brilliant profusion of flowers on the Hybrid 
China and other early summer kinds has disappeared. 
Now, to have the Perpetuals to perfection in late sum¬ 
mer and autnmn, pinch out, as soon as visible, every 
blossom-bud that appears at the first crop, or during 
the first few weeks of their appearance. This reserves 
the strength of the plant for a later period, and as a 
consequence, thick and rich clusters are obtained, not 
to be had in any other way. 
Lima Beans. 
Eds. Cultivator —Those who are fond of this ve¬ 
getable luxury, may be sure of raising them with¬ 
out risk of failure by adopting the following plan. 
Procure a board two feet square, and nail strips 
around the edge, three inches wide about the mid¬ 
dle of May, cut some sods from the roadside where 
the grass is short, divide them into squares of four inch¬ 
es each, soften or mellow the soil in each square, with¬ 
out destroying the texture of the sward, place four beans 
on each, and cover with another sod of the same size; 
moisten sufficiently, and place the board in the warmest 
situation that can be found, either beneath the surface 
of a heap of manure that is heating, or in the top of 
a room where a w r arm fire is kept during the day. 
Keep them in this warm situation until the beans them¬ 
selves begin to rise; then remove the upper sods, and 
cover with leaf mould one inch deep. As soon as the 
beans show themselves through this, they should be re¬ 
moved to the hills where they are to grow, which is 
done by carefully lifting the sods from the board, and 
June, 
placing them in the ground. I prepare the hills by spa¬ 
ding in, and mixing thoroughly with the soil, about half 
a wheelbarrow load of well-rotted manure; if it is two 
years old the better. I also add a few quarts of leach¬ 
ed ashes to each hill with the manure. At the time 
the beans are placed in the hills, the poles should also 
be set for the support of the vines—-two strong ones to 
each hill. By adopting this plan, the beans will be 
fit for the table at least two weeks earlier than they 
usually are when raised in the ordinary way. It will 
be seen that each board will hold twenty-four hills, and 
twice that number will be enough for the use of any 
ordinary family. Isaac Hildreth. Big Stream 
Point , April, 1849. 
Fruit-Buds killed by Frost. 
Eds. Cultivator —Why are not fruit buds killed on 
the montain, as well as on the flat ? 
In answer to the above query of your correspondent, 
R. H. Drake, in your April number, I conceive you 
have not given the true cause. 
My opinion is, that fruit buds are not killed by cold 
w r eather, unless there has previously been warm wea¬ 
ther sufficient to cause them to swell, which w r ould 
much sooner occur in the valley or on the plain, than 
on the mountain, where the colder air will keep them 
back; and after the buds have commenced growing or 
expanding, a degree of cold less severe, than that ex¬ 
perienced either on mountain or plain, will destroy 
them. 
The same fatal results have occurred much farther 
south than the location named, and where the cold has 
not been as intense as on the mountains there. 
The warm weather during the month of December 
last caused the fruit buds, in warm situations, to germi¬ 
nate, hence their destruction by the succeeding cold. 
P. S. Burlington Co., N. J., April, 1849. 
Spanish Radishes as Food for Cows. 
Eds. Cultivator —Mr. Aaron Belangee, a res¬ 
pectable farmer of Bordentown, N. J., whose farm is in 
a high state of cultivation, raised on one-fourth of an 
acre of land, one hundred and nine bushels of the white 
Spanish Radish. He states that they were sown in 
drills, in the same manner and at the same time that 
Rut a Bagas are—that some of them grew five inches 
in diameter. He prefers the white variety to the black 
on account of their growing to a larger size. He says 
that the person from whom he obtained the seed, in¬ 
formed him, that after feeding his cows for some time 
with Sugar Beets, he commenced giving them the 
Radishes, and in about a week his wife inquired what 
he had fed the cows with, as their milk had, for about 
a week, produced one-third more cream than it had 
before. 
Mr. B. experienced a like result in feeding with 
Radishes. B. Burlington Co., N. J April, 1849. 
Large Produce of Honey. —Mr. James Culver, 
of Royalton, N. Y., informs us that his father had two 
swarms of bees come out on the 15th of June, 1848, 
both of which were put into one of Colton’s hives; and 
they made during the season, one hundred pounds of 
“ box honey,” besides filling the body of the hive with 
honey and comb. The hive was one of sixty which 
were kept together. 
Drilling Wheat. —The Michigan Farmer states 
that Col. Curtenius, of Grand Prairie, has satisfied 
himself from experiments which have been made in his 
neighborhood, that wheat sown with a drill, will yield 
on the average, five bushels more to the acre than that 
sown broadcast. It is more secure against being win¬ 
ter-killed, and the seed is more sure to vegetate. 
