PICTORIAL CULTIVATOR ALMANAC. 
23 
HADE TREES. 
Prof. Wilson, in Blackwood’s Magazine, asks: “In 
what one imaginable attribute, that it ought to possess, 
is a tree, pray, deficient ? Light, shade, shelter, cool¬ 
ness, freshness, music—all the colors of the rainbow, 
dew and dreams dropping through their umbrageous 
twilight at eve or morn—the grove, the coppice, the 
wood, the forest—dearly, 
and after a different fash¬ 
ion, do we love you all! 
And love you all we shall, 
while our dim eyes can 
catch the glimmer, our 
dull ears the murmur of 
the leaves—or our imagi¬ 
nation hear at midnight, 
the far-off swaying of old 
branches groaning in the 
tempest.” 
And yet with what ani- 
imosity is every fragment 
of our wild, rich, natural 
plantations assailed by the 
new settler; till nothing is 
left to shelter the newly 
erected dwelling from the 
burning, bleaching sun— 
and how many of the older 
homes, which ought to be 
now richly embellished 
with these most perfect of 
all rural adornments, are 
repulsive from their bleak¬ 
ness ; exposed to torrid re¬ 
flection in dog days, and to 
drifting snows and whis¬ 
tling winds at midwinter. 
And yet all the endless in¬ 
termixture of intricacy, 
and beauty, and richness, 
and gracefulness, to say 
nothing of real, substantial 
comfort, may be had with 
scarcely more than the 
trouble of planting the 
trees, even under the most unfavorable circumstances. 
Why should not every settler and land-clearer be 
willing to leave a few of the best selected maples and 
lindens, ashes and sycamores, elms and birches, among 
the forest myriads which fall before his axe, to make 
an attractive home for his children, even if he should 
forget that a handsomely adorned dwelling would give 
him a higher price for his land ? And why will not 
every land owner in the older districts be willing to 
plant at least ten trees per 
year for the same pur¬ 
pose ? Half the time now 
consumed with reading the 
interminable debates of 
Congress, would be enough 
to change the whole ap¬ 
pearance of the country in 
ten years, in half the States 
of the Union, to say no¬ 
thing of the improvement 
on the manners and morals 
of the people, 
A less wild, and more 
cultivated and finished ap¬ 
pearance, is given to 
grounds composed chiefly 
of native trees, by inter¬ 
mixing a few of the finest 
exotics, or rarer natives. 
The Magnolias are much 
admired for this purpose. 
The accompanying figure 
is an exact portrait of a 
tree of the Chinese White 
Magnolia, fourteen years 
old, and twenty feet high, 
standing on the grounds of 
A. J. Downing, at New r - 
burgh, N. Y. There were 
over three thousand blos¬ 
soms open upon it at once ; 
and for the last ten years 
it has never failed in a single 
season, to produce a fine 
display of blossoms. 
Grapes. —Every farmer, 
and indeed every person 
who has a yard, and the., side of a building on which it 
may be trained, should have an Isabella grapevine. In 
a few years it will furnish a plentiful supply of grapes. 
COOKING FOR THE SICK. 
Chicken, Beef, or Yeal Broth. —Cut up the chick¬ 
en, or an equal quantity of lean veal or beef, and boil 
with two spoonsfull of washed rice, until tender. Then 
keep it covered in a bowl or pitcher, for use. When 
wanted, add crumbs of crackers or cold bread, with a 
little salt. It is very palatable for a sick person. 
Water Gruel. —Boil a pint and a half of perfectly 
clean water, in a perfectly clean vessel ; add it gradually 
to a mixture of two spoonfuls of Indian meal in three 
spoonfuls of water, in a bowl. Then pour the whole 
back into the vessel and boil it nearly half an hour, 
stirring it. Skim it and season it with salt. When ad¬ 
missible, one quarter of milk added and boiled up once, 
makes it more palatable to some. 
Arrowroot. —Add a teaspoonful of the powder to a 
tablespoonful of cold water, rubbing it smooth. Add 
a spoonful of warm water, and again stir it till per¬ 
fectly smooth. Then pour on half a pint of boiling wa¬ 
ter, and stir it till transparent. It may be seasoned 
with salt, or lemon juice and sugar, or sugar and nut¬ 
meg, with a little milk. 
Panada. —Split a Boston cracker, place it in cold 
water in a pint basin on the fire, with a dozen raisins, 
j The moment it boils, remove it from the fire, and add 
j two or three lumps of loaf sugar, and nutmeg, if de¬ 
sired by the patient. This is much better than to crush 
i the cracker, and is one of the most agreeable and nou¬ 
rishing kinds of food for the sick. The raisins are only 
to impart flavor, and must never be eaten. 
Toast Water.™ Very few know how to make toast 
water right. Toast the bread carefully to a full brown, 
but not in the least burnt. If not enough toasted, it 
will taste raw; if too much, it will be bitter. Put it 
while hot into cold water, and it will be almost imme¬ 
diately ready for use. Boiling water renders it insipid. 
Beef Tea. —This is given to patients when very low, 
and has remained on the stomach when nothing else 
could, and succeeded when other means have failed. 
Cut thin a pound of lea,n fresh beef, place it in a jar 
or bottle, add a little salt, and place it for one hour in a 
kettle of boiling water. Then, by straining it, a gill of 
pure, nourishing liquid will be obtained. Begin with a 
teaspoonful, and increase it as the stomach will bear. 
Destroying Canada Thistles. —A great number of 
persons, the writer included, have completely destroyed 
large and thickly matted patches of Canada thistles, in 
one season, at a trifling cost, thus: Plow deeply and 
thoroughly once a month, beginning by the first of sum¬ 
mer. The plants are thus kept smothered; they cannot 
breathe; and the whole bed of roots dies. At the last 
plowing, the soil will be clean, mellow and loose, and 
in the best condition for sowing wheat. Warranted not 
to fail, if well done —the patch will be killed forever. 
Never feed a hog unground or uncooked food. 
