168 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[May, 
Q,,. n __p u t the seed iuto tlie ground as soon as it 
is safe. Eacli neighborhood. lias its favorite eaily 
sort. Early Dwarf Sugar is one of the best, but the 
ears are small. Darling’s is early, but of indifferent 
quality. Stowell’s is as yet the best late variety. 
Cucumbers.—At the North generally this month 
is early enough to start the seeds on sods, under 
glass. When ready to set out, put them in well 
manured hills. Sow seed in similar hills when 
the weather gets warm. Use a surplus of seed. 
Egg Plants in the hot-bed or frame are to be potted 
as soon as large enough, or transplanted to another 
bed, and kept under glass until cold nights are over. 
Herbs .—Sow in seed-bed Sage, Thyme, Summer 
Savory, Sweet Marjoram, etc. The plants will be 
ready to follow cabbages, peas, or other early crop. 
Leeks .—Sow in rich soil, as directed last month. 
Lettuce .—Sow and transplant when large enough. 
Martynia , the immature pods of which are valued 
for making sweet pickles, need warm weather. 
Melo7is are treated in the same way as cucumbers. 
Onions .—Sow and plant sets as heretofore di¬ 
rected. Weed the beds clean from the start. 
Parsley.—Sovf early in beds in the open ground. 
Peas.—In hoeing, draw the earth toward the stem. 
Give brush to the tall sorts before they fall down. 
Peppers are warm weather plants, and need the 
same nursing during their early growth as eggplants. 
Potatoes .—Hoe ©r otherwise stir the ground as 
soon as the tops can be seen. A dressing of 
plaster applied at hoeing time is a great help. 
Padishes may be had in abundance by making suc¬ 
cessive sowings. They may be put among slower 
growing crops, or used to fill spare corners. 
Rhubarb .—Allow recently set plants to retain all 
their leaves until they become well established. Re¬ 
move flower stalks when they first appear. Never 
cut the leaf stalks, but pull them; a quick sidewise 
pull will separate them very quickly and neatly. 
Spinach. —Sow, if not already done, and thin that 
already up. The New Zealand Spinach, a quite 
different plant, is valuable for summer use. 
Sweet Potatoes .—Make well-manured ridges, about 
30 inches apart at the top; and when cold rains 
are over, set the plants 15 inches apart. Set them 
down to the first leaf, and in very dry weather 
water the holes before putting in the plants. 
Squashes need warm weather; treat as cucumbers. 
Tomatoes .—Transplant in settled weather. See 
Basket item for a way to make a cheap trellis. 
Winter Cherry .—Sow and treat as tomatoes. 
Flower Garden and Lawn. 
Lawns as to their preparation were sufficiently 
treated in an article last month. A friend asks us 
to say something about the renovation of old lawns. 
If the lawn has failed from selecting an unfit kind 
of grass, the best way is to re-seed it. If through 
the abundance of weeds, dig out or pull the large 
ones, apply seed thickly, in order that there may be 
enough grass to crowd out the small ones, and en¬ 
deavor to get a close turf at once by top-dressing 
and rolling. When there are inequalities of sur¬ 
face, remove the turf carefully, and fill up the hol¬ 
low, or reduce the elevation, as the case may be, 
and replace the turf, if good. If not, get suitable 
sods from the pasture or road-side, and use instead. 
Turfing .—It is often convenient to cover small 
areas with turf, and some use it for edgings. Many 
who lay turfing for the first time, make hard work of 
it. Prepare and level the ground, and then select 
the finest sod that the pasture or road-side will 
afford. Have a board 8 or 10 feet long and a foot 
wide, to cut by, and a sharp spade or edging knife to 
cut with. Lay the board down, stand on it, and with 
the spade or knife cut along the edges of the board 
and through the turf, so as to have a strip of the 
size of the board. Carefully lift up one end of this 
strip with the spade, and commence to roll it up 
like a piece of carpet. One person should roll, while 
another with the spade aids the separation of the 
turf from the soil below. These rolls are readily 
transported to the place where they are to be laid, 
and by unrolling them, the operation of laying is 
done very rapidly. Use a large knife or edging tool 
in cutting, to make the edges of the turves fit, and 
beat down rather firmly by the use of the spade, 
or by laying down a board, and striking with 
a heavy pounder. When turves are laid on a 
steep bank, they can be held in place until the 
grass has taken hold, by the use of wooden 
pegs, driven through the sod into the soil. 
Evergreens .-Two articles on selection and planting 
will be found on pages 187 and 188. Have a plenty, 
but do not crowd them, if intended for ornament. 
Bulbs of Gladiolus, Japan, and Jacobean Lilies, 
Tigridias, and other spring kinds, are to be planted. 
Tuberoses are so slow, that it is more satisfactory, 
when practicable, to get bulbs that have been started. 
Transplant those things which have been started 
in hot-beds, when the weather will suit, always 
previously hardening the plants by free exposure. 
Dahlias .—Put the roots in a speut liot-bed or even 
in a warm exposure, where they can be covered 
with a mat or board at nights. When the buds 
start, divide the roots so as to have a bud to each. 
Roses will be attacked by insects and will need 
care. Use whale oil or cresylic soap, and fre¬ 
quent hand picking must not be neglected. 
Bedding Plants are raised under glass, and if set 
out too soon, fare badly during cold nights. Most 
disappointment with these results from putting 
them out before cold rains and chilly nights are over. 
Other Matters appropriate now in many cases we 
discussed last month, and in the present paper 
will be found several articles on floriculture. 
Green and Hot-Houses. 
In bringing out plants, some discrimination must 
be made between the half hardy aud the tender. 
The plants should be prepared for the change by a 
low temperature in the house, and abundant venti¬ 
lation. Those pots not plunged in the borders, 
should be set on a layer of coal ashes, to prevent 
the worms from getting into them. Camellias are 
to be shaded from the hot sun, and all the plants 
placed where they will not be blown over. Many 
liard-wooded plants do better if allowed to re¬ 
main in the house all summer. The glass must 
be shaded to protect the plants from the burning 
sun, and the press of out-door work must not allow 
watering, keeping off insects, etc., to be neglected. 
Cuttings .—Most hard-wooded shrubs grow readily 
from green wood, which should be taken just as 
it is hardening, but not in too ripe condition. 
Cactuses may be planted in the border, or kept 
upon the veranda; they are very ornamental. 
Lantanas .—Those who have conveniences for 
wintering the plants should train some of these in 
a tree form. They make most charming ornaments. 
Cold drapery. 
If the vines have not yet been put up, it should 
be done as noted last month. As the growth be¬ 
gins, the temperature may reach 85° during the day. 
The fruiting shoots should be the strongest and 
most promising ones. When these are selected, 
rub off the rest. Preserve the air in a properly 
moist condition by a free use of the syringe. 
- - —1 ® - • —- 
A Sample of Hundreds. —The follow¬ 
ing letter, datGd “Haviland Hollow, Dutchess Co., N. 
Y.,” is very similar in character to many hundreds, if not 
thousands, of letters received at the Agriculturist office 
during the present year, and the same maybe said of pre¬ 
vious years: “Messrs. Orange Jrm> & Co.—I wish 
to inform you that the ‘ Premium Watch ’ came all right. 
It is, indeed, a beauty. We have now three of your valu¬ 
able premiums—the cyclopedia, one dozen table spoons, 
and the gold watch, which wife pronounces perfect in its 
kind—and all at a mere trifling cost of time or trouble. 
I think the three premiums have not taken me from my 
regular work over a week at most. I guess we will have 
to get the Steinway or Colibri piano next year.—Yours 
respectfully, G. Hearn.”— —There is plenty of time for 
hundreds of others to secure these fine premiums during 
the present season. See premium list on following page. 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
Orange Judd & Co., Publishers, 245 Broadway, N. Y. City, 
Annual Subscription Terms (always in advance): $1.50 
each for less than four copies: Four to nine copies, $1.35 
each: Ten to nineteen copies, $1.20 each: Twenty copies 
aud upwards, $1 each. Papers are addressed to each name. 
A fSeamlifiBl Hook, 
Valuable f« Everybody; 
Sold for oaaly Half a Dollaf, 
(and sent Post-paid;) 
Well Worth a Whole Dollar. 
It Is also 
Presented and sent Post-paid, 
For only a few Minutes’ Work I 
1§0,000 Readers will Please X. B. 
The Offer is to Each one of You I 
Our Agricultural Annual No. Z, forlSCS, and 
our Horticultural Annual No. 2, for 1868, are 
among the most valuable and beautiful volumes issued in 
this country during the present year, They are packed 
full of good information, ahd each volume contains a 
large number of beautiful engravings. They are Worthy 
a place in every family, in city, village, and country. 
They are universally admitted to he the cheapest volumes 
issued. They are original, the matter and engravings be¬ 
ing all prepared exclusively for these volumes by a large 
number of first class practical writers. As these books 
are a permanent Annual Institution, and as we have 
made the volumes for 180S decidedly superior to those 
for 1867, (though those were good as a first attempt,) 
we want everybody to have a copy, for all who get 
them this year will he sure to want the numbers for 1S69' 
and thereafter. We therefore invite everybody who has 
not done so already, to send only 50 cents, and secure a, 
post-paid copy of either the Agricultural Annual No. 2, 
or the Horticultural Annual No. 2, or send SI and- 
get both of these volumes. They are entirely different.- 
But we will do even better, when desired, viz.: TO 
S3?" any person sending during the month of May 
a subscriber to the American Agriculturist for 
S3?” 1868 at the regular price ($1.50), we will 
DSP*" present a copy of either of the above-named = |g3 
S3?" Annuals that may he desired, and we will == gH 
S3?” send it post-paid to any point in the United 
S®" States or Territories, (except to those places 
S3P“ reached only by the Overland Mail, as that 
S3?” mail will not carry books unless prepaid .^fgj 
S3?" letter postage.)_A few minutes’ work or 
S3 5 " talking will enable any person to secure a 
S3?” subscriber to the Agriculturist (as valuable 
fW as We are now making the paper), and „,gg5 
IS" then the Annual will be obtained free. .jgj 
N. B.— One Annual is offered for each subscriber sent 
at $1.50. The sender can choose any one of the four 
Annuals already issued, viz.: Agricultural No. 2 for 1S6S, 
or No. 1 for 1S67; or Horticultural No. 2 for 1868, or No, 
1 for 1S67. One, two, three, four, or more subscribers 
will secure an equal number of Annuals, of any issue de¬ 
sired_N. B.—These premium Annuals are special, 
and are not included in the general premiums which 
are separate, but are contimied, as noted elsewhere. 
