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In the whole United States it will not average much more than
fifteen. A comparison of the two countries will show a corresponding
inferiority on our part in the application of science to agriculture.
Scotland, formerly, hardly raised wheat. Since the formation of the
Highland Agricultural Society in Scotland, wheat has averaged fifty-
one bushels to the acre!—Ellsworth’s Report for 1844, p. 16.
Lord Hardwicke stated, in a speech before the Royal Agricultural
Society of England, that fine Suffolk wheat had produced seventy-six
bushels per acre; and another and improved variety had yielded
eighty-two bushels per acre! This was the result of “book farming” in
a country where anti-book farmers raise twenty-six bushels to the
acre.
Those very operations which farmers call practical, and upon which
they rely in decrying “book farming” were first made known by
science, and through the writings of scientific men.
These views have an immediate and practical bearing on the
cultivation of wheat in the Western States.
Hitherto the want of enough cleared land has led farmers to put in
wheat among the corn, and half put it in at that. Others have
plowed their fallows, or their grass lands, so early in the season, that
rains and settling have made it hard again by seed-time. Then,
without stirring it, the grain has been thrown (away) upon it, and
half harrowed in and left to its fate. Equally bad has been the
system of late single plowing. Others have given their grain no soil
to bed their roots in; a scratched surface receives the grain; its
roots, like the steward, cannot dig, and so get no hold; and are
either winter killed, or subsist upon the scanty food of the three or
four inches of top soil. With some single exceptions, wheat cannot
be said to have been cultivated yet. The two great operations in
rendering soil productive of wheat, are either the development of
the materials already in the soil; or, the addition to the soil of
properties which are wanting.
Much land yielding only twelve or fifteen bushels, by a better
preparation would, just as easily, yield thirty. Let us suppose that a
common plowing of four or five inches, precedes sowing. Out of this
superficial soil the wheat is to draw its food. Constant cropping has,
perhaps, already diminished its abundance. Then wheat is rank in
stem, short in the head, and light in the kernel. But below there is a
bed of materials untouched. The subsoil, if brought up, exposed to
the ameliorating influence of the elements, will furnish in great
abundance the elements required. The simple operation of deep and
thorough plowing will, often, be enough to increase the crop one-
half. Deep plowing gives a place for the roots, which will not be apt
to heave out in winter; it saves the wheat from drought, it gives the
nourishment of twice the quantity of soil to the crop.
Five acres may become ten by enlarging the soil downward. These
remarks are desultory; and, while we intend to continue writing on
the subject, we say to such as may be getting ready for the wheat-
sowing, plow deeply and thoroughly; unlike corn, wheat can only be
plowed once, and that at the beginning. It should be thoroughly
done, then, once for all.
Wheat lands ought to be so farmed as to grow better from year to
year; certainly, they ought to hold their own. Lands may be kept in
heart by the adoption of a rotation suited to each particular soil; or,
if frequent wheat crops are raised, by fallows or manuring. It is a
fact that in this neighborhood farms in the hands of careful men are
yielding better crops of wheat every year; while multitudes of
farmers think themselves fortunate in twelve or fifteen bushels to
the acre, there is another class who expect twenty-five or thirty
bushels, and in good seasons get it. This is encouraging. As our
lands get older we may look for yet better things. Some farmers put
in from 100 to 800, and even 1,000 acres of wheat. The native
qualities of the soil are relied upon for the crop. To manure or clover
such a body of land is impossible with any capital at the command of
its owners. But with us, each owner of a quarter section puts in from
ten to twenty acres, and it lies within his means to dress this
quantity of land to a high degree.
Soils fit for Wheat.—A vegetable mold cannot yield wheat, because it
does not contain, and therefore cannot afford to the crop, silicate of
potash, or phosphate of magnesia; the first of which gives strength
to the stem, and the second of which is necessary to the grain. On
such soil wheat may grow as a grass, but not as a grain.
A mere sand will not yield wheat; because wheat requires, and such
soils do not contain, soda, magnesia, and especially silicate of
potash.
All clays contain potash, which is indispensable to wheat, but they
may be deficient in soda, in magnesia, and in other alkalies.
A calcareous clay-loam may be regarded as the best soil for wheat.
And when it does not exist in a natural state, all the additions in the
form of manure should be with reference to the formation of such a
soil. If the land be light and sandy, clay, and marl, and wood ashes
should be added, together with barnyard manure; if the soil is a
tenacious clay, it should be warmed and mellowed by sand and
manure; if it is deficient in lime, lime in substance, or in marl must
be given; vegetable molds, if heavily dressed with wood-ashes and
lime, may be brought to produce wheat.
To prepare the Ground.—This operation depends upon the condition of
the soil. But, in all cases, the deepest plowing is the best. The roots
of wheat, if unchecked, will extend more than five feet. Stiff, tough,
soils, unbroken for years, and especially if much trampled by cattle,
will require strong teams. Oxen are better than horses to break up
with. It has been said, that a yoke of cattle draw a plow deeper,
naturally, than a span of horses. They are certainly better fitted for
dull, dead, heavy pulling. And if oxen have been well trained they
will do as much plowing in a season as horses, and come out of the
work in better condition.
Fallow lands should be broken up early in summer, as soon as corn
planting is over; about midsummer plow again; and the last time
early in September to prepare for seed.
A grass or clover lay[4] may be plowed under deeply at midsummer,
and not disturbed till sowing-time; and the fall plowing should not
disturb the inverted sod.
When wheat is to be sown on wheat again, as large a part of the
straw should be left in the harvest-field as possible. This is to be
plowed under; but, if it can be done without endangering the fences,
it would be better to burn it over; the ashes will contain all the
valuable salts. On this point we extract the following note appended
by the editor of Liebig’s Agricultural Chemistry.
“In some parts of the grand-duchy of Hesse, where wood is
scarce and dear, it is customary for the common people to
club together and build baking-ovens, which are heated with
straw instead of wood. The ashes of this straw are carefully
collected and sold every year at very high prices. The farmers
there have found by experience that the ashes of straw form
the very best manure for wheat; although it exerts no
influence on the growth of fallow-crops (potatoes or the
leguminosæ, for example). The stem of wheat grown in this
way possesses an uncommon strength. The cause of the
favorable action of these ashes will be apparent, when it is
considered that all corn-plants require silicate of potash; and
that the ashes of straw consist almost entirely of this
compound.”
But this procedure does not depend upon theoretical reasonings; it
has been abundantly substantiated by the practice of English
cultivators. We find on page 333 of the “British Husbandry,” an
admirable work published under the superintendence of the Society
for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge, the following statement:
“The ashes of burnt straw have also been found beneficial by
many intelligent practical farmers, from some of whose
experiments we select the following instances. Advantage was
taken of a fine day to fire the stubble of an oat-field soon
after harvest, the precaution having been previously taken of
sweeping round the boundary to prevent injury to the
hedges. The operation was easily performed, by simply
applying a light to windward, and it completely destroyed
every weed that grew, leaving the surface completely covered
with ashes; and the following crop, which was wheat,
produced full five quarters per acre. This excited further
experiment, the result of which was, that in the following
season, the stubble having been partly plowed in according to
the common practice, and partly burned, and the land sown
with wheat, the crop produced eight bushels per acre more
on that portion which had been burned, than on that which
had been plowed in. The same experiment was repeated, on
different occasions, with similar results; and a following crop
of oats having been laid down with seeds, the clover was
found perfectly healthy, while that portion on which the
burning of the stubble had been omitted, was choked with
weeds. It must, however, be recollected, that if intended to
have a decided effect, the stubble must be left of a
considerable length, which will occasion a material deficiency
of farmyard manure; though the advantages will be gained of
saving the cost of moving the stubs, the seeds of weeds and
insects will be considerably destroyed, and the land will be
left unimpeded for the operation of the plow.
“On the wolds of Lincolnshire, the practice of not only burning
the stubble, but even the straw of threshed grain, has been
carried, in many cases, to the extent of four to six loads per
acre; and, as it is described in the report of the county, has
been attended, in all those instances, with very decidedly
good effect. It is even said to have been found superior, in
 some comparative trials, to yard-dung, in the respective rate
of five tons of straw to ten of manure!”
We frequently ride past immense piles of wheat straw, encumbering
the yard or field where it was threshed; and never without thinking
upon the unthriftiness of a farmer who ignorantly takes everything
off his wheat land, returns nothing to it, and is content with annually
diminishing crops.
Selection of Seeds.—The varieties of wheat, already very numerous,
are constantly increasing. No farmer should be satisfied with
anything short of the best kind of wheat. Suppose an expense of
many dollars to have been incurred in procuring a new kind, if it
yield only two bushels more to the acre than an old sort, it will more
than pay for itself in the first harvest field. It should be observed
that different soils require different varieties; and every farmer
should select, after trial, the kind which agrees best with his land.
A standard wheat should be hardy, strong in the straw; not easy to
shell and waste, prolific, thin in the bran, white in flour, and the flour
rich in starch and gluten. The earliness or lateness of a variety
affects its liability to disease.
Much may be done by every farmer to secure a variety suited to his
soil from his own fields. Let a watchful eye observe every remarkable
head of wheat—a very early one, a very long head, any which have
an unusual sized grain, or is distinguished for any excellent property.
By gathering, planting separately, and then culling again, each
farmer may improve his own wheat ten fold. Indeed it has been in
this way that several improved varieties have been procured.
Of spring wheat, the most valuable kinds are, Italian Spring Wheat;
bearded, red berry, white chaff, head long, bran thick, flour of fair
quality. Tea or Siberian Bald; bright straw, not long; berry white,
bald; flour good; extensively cultivated in New England and northern
part of New York. Valuable variety.
Black Sea Wheat.—White chaff, bearded, berry red, long and heavy,
bran thick, flour inferior. Ripens very early, and seldom rusts or
mildews.
The following are also the spring varieties. Egyptian Wild Goose or
California.—Large and branching head, bearded, berry small, bran
thick, flour coarse and yellow, ripens late, and subject to rust.
Although branching, it is not productive. There is a winter variety
also. Rock Wheat, from Spain.—Chaff white, bearded, berry red and
long, bran thick, flour of fair quality, hardy, shows small, well
adapted for new lands and late sowing. Black Bearded.—Long
cultivated in New York—stem large, heavy head, berry large and red,
beard very long and stiff, produces flour well. Red Bearded, English.
—Chaff red, bearded, beards standing out, berry white, weighs from
sixty to sixty-two pounds. Scotch Wheat.—A large white wheat,
berry and straw large.
Spring wheat does well on soils which heave and throw out winter
wheat. It is deemed a good policy to sow some spring wheat every
year, that, if the winter wheat fails, a crop may still be on hand.
An account of the best varieties of winter wheat, we extract from the
Western Farmer and Gardener:
“White Flint.—A winter wheat, very white chaff, withstood
Hessian fly well, has yielded fifty-four bushels to the acre,
weighing from sixty-three to sixty-seven pounds per bushel.
Improved White Flint.—This from early selection from the
first. White Provence, from France.—A white wheat—shows
small heads, well filled and large. Old Red Chaff.—White
wheat, old—subject to fly. Kentucky, White Bearded.— White
wheat, sometimes called Canadian Flint—early, good for clay
soils. Indiana Wheat.—White wheat—berry white and large,
ripens early, not so flinty as the White Flint, good flour,
valuable for clayey soils. Velvet Beard, or Crate Wheat.—
White wheat—English variety, chaff reddish, berry large and
red, straw large and long, heads long and well filled, beard
 very stiff, flour yellowish. Soule’s Wheat.—A mixed variety,
heads large, berry white, not very hardy. Beaver Dam.—Old
variety, berry red, flour yellowish, ripens late. Eclipse.—
English, not hardy. Virginia White May, from Virginia.—Winter,
good flour, chaff white. Wheatland Wheat, from Virginia.—
Chaff red, heads well filled, berry red, hardy. Tuscan Bald,
from Italy in 1837.—Berry large and white, not hardy, flour
good. Tuscan Bearded.—Head large, still less hardy.
Yorkshire, from England, ten years ago.—Mixed variety of
white and red chaff, bald, berry white, good flour, liable to
injury from insects, subject to ergot. Bellevere Tallavera.—
White variety from England, head large, tillers well, not hardy,
insects like it much. Pegglesham, English.—Head large, berry
white, and medium sized, tender for our winters—(all this is
calculated for New York State.) Golden Drop, English.—Berry
red, flour not first rate. Skinner Wheat.—Produced from
crosses, berry red, chaff white, hardy, yield good, sixty-four
pounds to the bushel. Mediterranean.—Chaff light, red
bearded, berry red and long, very flinty, flour inferior. Hume’s
White Wheat from crosses.—A beautiful white wheat, berry
large, bran thin, hardy and a valuable variety. Blue Stem.—
Cultivated for thirty-three years, berry white, sixty-four
pounds to the bushel, flour superior, bran thin, and very
productive. Valparaiso Wheat, from South America.—Chaff
white, bald, berry white, bran thin, a good variety.”
Preparing seed for sowing.—Seed wheat should be subjected to a
process which shall separate all chess, cockle, etc., from it, together
with the shrunken kernels of the wheat itself. This may be, in part,
done by screening; but the light grain will float and may thus be
detected in the process of brining. Two tubs, or half barrels, may be
conveniently used. A strong brine of salt and water is preferred, and
the wheat, in convenient parcels, is poured in, the light wheat
skimmed from the top, the brine poured off into the second tub, and
the heavy wheat at the bottom put into some suitable receptacle to
drain for an hour. When in successive parcels the whole quantity to
be used has been brined, let it be emptied upon a smooth floor, and
limed at the rate of about a bushel of lime to ten of wheat. By this
process the chaffy grain is rejected, the smut, to which wheat is so
liable, is entirely prevented; and the grain caused to germinate more
rapidly and strongly. The lime should be what is termed quicklime, or
that just slaked. The reason may be explained. No seed can
germinate until it has rid itself of a large part of that carbon, which,
being essential to its preservation, must be withdrawn in order that
it may grow. The addition of oxygen from air and water converts the
carbon to carbonic acid, which is emitted from the pores, and
escapes. Newly slaked lime has a powerful affinity for carbonic acid;
and by withdrawing it from the seed, puts it in a condition favorable
to immediate germination. Lime that has been air-slaked or lain
exposed to the air after being slaked by water, combines with the
carbonic acid in the atmosphere, and when applied to wheat, being
already a carbonate, it does not liberate the carbonic acid contained
in the seed.

Pleasures of Horticulture.—There is no writing so detestable as so-

called fine writing. It is painted emptiness. We especially detest fine
writing about rural affairs—all the senseless gabble about dew, and
zephyrs, and stars, and sunrises—about flowers, and green trees,
golden grain and lowing herds, etc. We always suspect a design
upon our admiration, and take care not to admire. In short,
geoponical cant, and pastoral cant, and rural cant in their length and
breadth, are like the whole long catalogue of cants (not excepting
the German Kant), intolerable. Now and then, however, somebody
writes as though he knew something; and then a free and bold
strain of commendation upon rural affairs is relishful.

[4]The word lay, or ley, is only a different way of spelling lea, the old
English word for field, not used except in poetry or by farmers; and it is
one, among many instances, of old Saxon English words being preserved
among the agricultural population long after they have ceased to be
generally used.
 PRACTICAL USE OF LEAVES.

There are two facts in the functions of the leaf, which are worth
consideration on account of their practical bearings. The food of
plants is, for the most part, taken in solution, through its roots.
Various minerals—silex, lime, alumen, magnesia, potassa—are
passed into the tree in a dissolved state. The sap passes to the leaf,
the superfluous water is given off, but not the substances which it
held in solution. These, in part, are distributed through the plant,
and, in part, remain as a deposit in the cells of the leaf. Gradually
the leaf chokes up, its functions are impeded, and finally entirely
stopped. When the leaf drops, it contains a large per cent. of
mineral matter. An autumnal or old leaf yields, upon analysis, a very
much larger proportion of earthy matter than a vernal leaf, which,
being yet young, has not received within its cells any considerable
deposit. It will be found also, that the leaves contain a very much
higher per cent. of mineral matter, than the wood of the trunk. The
dried leaves of the elm contain more than eleven per cent. of ashes
(earthy matter), while the wood contains less than two per cent.;
those of the willow, more than eight per cent., while the wood has
only 0.45; those of beech 6.69, the wood only 0.36; those of the
(European) oak 4.05, the wood only 0.21; those of the pitch-pine
3.15, the wood only 0.25 per cent.[5]
It is very plain, from these facts, that, in forests, the mineral
ingredients of the soil perform a sort of circulation; entering the
root, they are deposited in the leaf; then, with it, fall to the earth,
and by its decay, they are restored to the soil, again to travel their
circuit. Forest soils, therefore, instead of being impoverished by the
growth of trees, receive back annually the greatest proportion of
those mineral elements necessary to the tree, and besides, much
organized matter received into the plant from the atmosphere; soils
therefore are gaining instead of losing. If owners of parks or groves,
for neatness’ sake, or to obtain leaves for other purposes, gather the
annual harvest of leaves, they will, in time, take away great
quantities of mineral matter, by which the soil, ultimately, will be
impoverished, unless it is restored by manures.
Leaf-manure has always been held in high esteem by gardeners. But
many regard it as a purely vegetable substance; whereas, it is the
best mineral manure that can be applied to the soil. What are called
vegetable loams (not peat soils, made up principally of decomposed
roots), contain large quantities of earthy matter, being mineral-
vegetable, rather than vegetable soils.
Every gardener should know, that the best manure for any plant is
the decomposed leaves and substance of its own species. This fact
will suggest the proper course with reference to the leaves, tops,
vines, haulm, and other vegetable refuse of the garden.
The other fact connected with the leaf, is its function of Exhalation.
The greatest proportion of crude sap which ascends the trunk, upon
reaching the leaf, is given forth again to the atmosphere, by means
of a particularly beautiful economy. The quantity of moisture
produced by a plant is hardly dreamed of by those who have not
specially informed themselves. The experiments of Hales have been
often quoted. A sun-flower, three and a half feet high, presenting a
surface of 5.616 square inches exposed to the sun, was found to
perspire at the rate of twenty to thirty ounces avoirdupois every
twelve hours, or seventeen times more than a man. A vine with
twelve square feet exhaled at the rate of five or six ounces a day. A
seedling apple-tree, with twelve square feet of foliage, lost nine
ounces a day.[6]
These are experiments upon very small plants. The vast amount of
surface presented by a large tree must give off immense quantities
of moisture. The practical bearings of this fact of vegetable
exhalation are not a few. Wet forest-lands, by being cleared of
timber, become dry; and streams, fed from such sources, become
almost extinct as civilization encroaches on wild woods. The
excessive dampness of crowded gardens is not singular, and still less
is it strange that dwellings covered with vines, whose windows are
choked with shrubs, and whose roof is overhung with branches of
trees, should be intolerably damp; and when the good housewife is
scrubbing, scouring and brushing, and nevertheless, marvelling that
her house is so infested with mold, she hardly suspects that her
troubles would be more easily removed by the axe or saw, than by
all her cloths and brushes. A house should never be closely
surrounded with shrubs. A free circulation of air should be
maintained all about it, and shade-trees so disposed as to leave
large openings for the light and sun to enter. Unusual rains in any
season produce so great a dampness in our residences that no one
can fail to notice its effect, both on the health of the occupants, and
upon the beauty and good condition of their household substance.

The following method to destroy weeds is pursued at the mint in

Paris, with good effect: 10 gallons water, 20 lbs. quicklime And 2 lbs.
flowers of sulphur are to be boiled in an iron vessel; after settling,
the clear part is thrown off and used when needed. Care must be
taken, for if it will destroy weeds it will just as certainly destroy
edgings and border flowers if sprinkled on them. Weeds, thus
treated, will disappear for several years.

[5]See Dr. Grey’s Botanic Text Book, an admirable work, which every
horticulturist should own and study.
[6] Lindley’s Horticulture, p. 42-44. Grey’s Botany, p. 131.
 SPRING WORK FOR PUBLIC-SPIRITED
MEN.

Shade-trees.—One of the first things that will require your action is,
the planting of shade-trees. Get your neighbors to join with you.
Agree to do four times as much as your share, and you will,
perhaps, then obtain some help. Try to get some more to do the
same in each street of your village or town.
Locusts, of course you will set for immediate shade. They will in
three years afford you a delightful verdant umbrella as long as the
street. But maples form a charming row, and the autumnal tints of
their leaves and the spring flowers add to their beauty. They grow
quite rapidly, and in six years, if the soil is good and the trees
properly set, they will begin to cast a decided shadow. Elms are, by
far, the noblest tree that can be set, but they will have their own
time to grow. It is best then to set them in a row of other trees, at
about fifty or a hundred feet apart, the intervening space to be
occupied with quicker-growing varieties.
The beech, buckeye, horse-chesnut, sycamore, chestnut, and many
others may be employed with advantage. Now, do not let your court-
house square look any longer so barren.
Avenues may be lined with rows of trees, but squares and open
spaces should have them grouped or scattered in small knots and
parcels in a more natural manner.
May-weed.—There was never a better time to exterminate this
villainous, stinking weed than summer-time will be. Just as soon as
the first blossoms show, “up and at it.” Club together in your streets
and agree to spend one day a-mowing. Keep it down thoroughly for
one season and it will no longer bedrabble your wife’s and
daughter’s dresses, nor fill the air with its pungent stench, or weary
the eye with its everlasting white and yellow.
Side-walks. What if your neighbors are lazy; what if they do not care?
Some one ought to see that there are good gravel walks in each
village. You can have them in this way: Take your horse and cart and
make them before your own grounds, and then go on no matter who
owns, and when your neighbors see that you have public spirit, they
will, by and by, be ready to help you. But the grand way to do
nothing, is, not to lift a finger yourself, and then to rail at your
fellow-citizens as selfish and devoid of all public spirit.
Protect Public Property.—What if it does concern everybody else as
much as it does you? Some one ought to see that the fences about
every square are kept in repair. Some one ought to save the trees
from cattle; some one ought to have things in such trim as that the
inhabitants can be proud of their own town. Pride is not decent
when there is nothing to be proud of; but when things are worthy of
it, no man can be decent who is devoid of a proper pride. The
church, the schoolhouse, fences, trees, bridges, roads, public
squares, sidewalks, these are things which tell tales about people. A
stranger, seeking a location, can hardly think well of a place, in
which the distinction between the house and stye are not obvious; in
which every one is lazy when greediness does not excite him, and
where general indolence leaves no time to think of the public good.
When politicians are on the point of dissolving in the very fervent
heat of their love for the public, it would recall the fainting soul
quicker than hartshorn or vinegar to ask them—Did you ever set out
a shade-tree in the street? Did you ever take an hour’s pains about
your own village? Have you secured it a lyceum? Have you watched
over its schools? Have you aided in any arrangements for the relief
of the poor? Have you shown any practical zeal for good roads, good
bridges, good sidewalks, good schoolhouses, good churches? Have
the young men in your place a public library?
If the question were put to many distinguished village patriots, What
have you done for the public good?—the answer would be: “Why,
I’ve talked till I’m hoarse, and an ungrateful public refuse me any
office by which I may show my love of public affairs in a more
practical manner.”
 FARMERS AND FARMING SCENES IN THE
WEST.

If any one goes to Holland they are all Dutch farmers there; if he
goes to England he finds British husbandry; in New England it’s all
Yankee farming. A man must go to the West to see a little of every
sort of farming that ever existed, and some sorts we will affirm,
never had an existence before anywhere else—the purely indigenous
farming of the great valley. Within an hour’s ride of each other is the
Swiss with his vineyard, the Dutchman with his spade, the
“Pennsylvany Dutch” and his barn, the Yankee and his notions, the
Kentuckian and his stock, the Irishman and his shillelah, the
Welchman and his cheese, besides the supple French and smooth
Italian, with here and there a Swede and a very good sprinkling of
Indians.
Away yonder to the right is a little patch of thirty acres owned by a
Yankee. He keeps good cows, one horse only (fat enough for half a
dozen); every hour of the year, save only nights and Sabbath-days
he is at work, and neat fences, clean door-yard, a nice barn, good
crops, and a profitable dairy, and money at interest, show the
results. What if he has but thirty acres, they are worth any two
hundred around him, if what a man makes is a criterion of the value
of his farm. But a little farther out is a jolly old Kentucky farmer, the
owner of about five hundred acres of the best land in the county,
which he tills when he has nothing else to do. He is a great hunter
and must go out for three or four days every season after deer. He
loves office quite well, and is always willing to “serve the public” for
a consid-er-a-tion, as Trapbois would say. As to farming, he hires
more than he works; but, now and then, as at planting or
harvesting, he will lay hold for a week or a month with perfect
farming fury, and that’s the last of it. As to working every day and
every hour, it would be intolerable! He is a great horse-raiser, is fond
of stock, and if a free and easy fellow ready to laugh, not careful of
his purse, nor particular about his time, will ride over his grounds,
admire his cattle, his bluegrass pasture, his Pattons and his
Durhams; and above all, that blooded filly, or that colt of Sir Archie’s
—our Kentucky farmer will declare him the finest fellow alive, and his
house will be open to him from year’s end to year’s end again.
Right along side of him is a “Pennsylvany Dutch,” good-natured,
laborious, frugal and prosperous. He minds his own business.
Seldom wrangles for office. Is not very public spirited, although he
likes very well to see things prosper. He farms carefully on the old
approved plan of his father, plants by the signs in the moon, seldom
changes his habits, and on the whole constitutes a very substantial,
clean, industrious, but unenterprising farmer.
Then there is a New York Yankee; he has got a grand piece of land,
has paid for it, and got money to boot; he knows a little about
everything; he “lays off” the timber for a fine large house—bossed
the job himself. When it was up he stuck on a kitchen, then a pantry
on to that, then a pump-room on that, then a wood-house on that,
and then a smoke-house for the fag end; a fine garden, a snug little
nursery well tended, good orchards; by and by a second farm, pretty
soon a boy on it, all married and fixed off; by and by again another
snug little farm, and then another boy on it, with a little wife to help
him; and then a spruce young fellow is seen about the premises,
and after a while a daughter disappears and may be found some
miles off on a good farm, making butter and raising children, and
has good luck at both. The old man is getting fat, has money lent
out, loves to see his friends, house neat as a pin, glorious place to
visit, etc., etc. But who can tell how many sorts more there are in
the great heterogeneous West, and how amusing the mixture often
is, and what strange customs grow out of the mingling of so many
diverse materials. It is like a kaleidoscope, every turn gives a new
sight. We will take our leisure, and give some sketches of men, and
manners and scenery, as we have seen them in the West.
About eight years ago a raw Dutchman, whose only English was a
good-natured yes to every possible question, got employment here
as a stable-man. His wages were six dollars and board; that was $36
in six months, for not one cent did he spend. He washed his own
shirt and stockings, mended and patched his own breeches, paid for
his tobacco by some odd jobs, and laid by his wages. The next six
months, being now able to talk “goot Inglish,” he obtained eight
dollars a month, and at the end of six months more had $48, making
in all for the year $84. The second year, by varying his employment
—sawing wood in winter, working for the corporation in summer,
making garden in spring, he laid by $100, and the third year $125,
making in three years $309.
With this he bought 80 acres of land. It was as wild as when the
deer fled over it, and the Indian pursued him. How should he get a
living while clearing it? Thus he did it. He hires a man to clear and
fence ten acres. He himself remains in town to earn the money to
pay for the clearing. Behold him! already risen a degree, he is an
employer! In two years’ time he has twenty acres well cleared, a log-
house and stable, and money enough to buy stock and tools. He
now rises another step in the world, for he gets married, and with
his amply-built, broad-faced, good-natured wife, he gives up the
town and is a regular farmer.
In Germany he owned nothing and never could; his wages were
nominal, his diet chiefly vegetable, and his prospect was, that he
would be obliged to labor as a menial for life, barely earning a
subsistence and not leaving enough to bury him. In five years, he
has become the owner in fee simple of a good farm, with
comfortable fixtures, a prospect of rural wealth, an independent life,
and, by the blessing of heaven and his wife, of an endless posterity.
Two words tell the whole story—Industry and Economy. These two
words will make any man rich at the West.
We know of another case. While Gesenius, the world-wide famous
Hebrew scholar, was as school, he had a bench-fellow named
Eitlegeorge. I know nothing of his former life. But ten years ago I
knew him in Cincinnati as a baker, and a first-rate one too; and while
Gesenius issued books and got fame, Eitlegeorge issued bread and
got money. At length he disappeared from the city. Travelling from
Cincinnati to Indianapolis, a year or two since, I came upon a farm
of such fine land that it attracted my attention, and induced me to
ask for the owner. It belonged to our friend of the oven! There was a
whole township belonging to him, and a good use he appeared to
make of it. Courage then, ye bakers! In a short time you may raise
wheat instead of molding dough.

A Hole in the Pocket.—If it were not for these holes in the pocket, we
should all be rich. A pocket is like a cistern, a small leak at the
bottom is worse than a large pump at the top. God sends rain
enough every year, but it is not every man that will take pains to
catch it; and it is not every man that catches it who knows how to
keep it.
 ORNAMENTAL SHRUBS.

A description of a few of the desirable flowering and ornamental

shrubs for yards and lawns may enable our readers to select with
judgment.
Privet.—This is quite beautiful as a single plant; but is universally
employed for hedges, verdant screens, etc. There is an evergreen
variety, originally from Italy, by far the best. The roots of this plant
are fibrous, don’t spread much; the limbs endure the shears very
patiently; it grows very rapidly, two full seasons being sufficient to
form a hedge; and it will flourish under the shade and drip of trees.
Rose Acacia (Robinia hispida).—This is a species of the locust, of a
dwarf habit, seldom growing six feet in height, and covered with fine
spines which give its branches a mossy appearance. Its blossoms
resemble the locust, but are of a pink color. It is often grafted upon
the locust to give it a higher head and better growth. It should be in
every shrubbery.
Venetian Sumach, or smoke tree (Rhus cotinus).—The peculiarity of
this shrub is in the large bunches of russet-colored seed-vessels,
looking, at a little distance, like a puff of smoke. The French and
Germans call it periwig-tree, from the resemblance of these russet
masses to a powdered wig. It grows freely, and is highly ornamental.
There are two other species of sumach worthy of cultivation; the
Rhus typhina, or Stag’s Horn sumach, of a fine flower, and whose
leaves turn in autumn to a beautiful purplish red; and the R. glabra,
or Scarlet sumach, having red flowers and fruit of a velvety scarlet
appearance, changing as it ripens to crimson.
Syringa, or Mock Orange (Philadelphus coronarius), is a beautiful
shrub, having, in the spring, flowers of a pure white, and of an odor
only less exquisite than that of the orange; whence one of its
popular names. The leaves have the smell of the cucumber, and are
sometimes used in spring to flavor salads. It grows freely, even
under the shade of trees, which, in all low shrubs, is a valuable
quality. There is also a large flowered inodorous variety. The popular
name, Syringa, is the botanical name of the lilac; but these plants
are not in the remotest degree related to each other.
Lilac.—This well-known and favorite little tree requires only to be
mentioned. There is a white variety, and delicately-leaved variety
called the Persian.
Snowball (Viburnum opulus), everywhere known, and everywhere a
favorite; and scarcely less so is the
Waxberry, or Snowberry, (Symphora racemosa), introduced by Lewis
and Clark to the public attention, and first raised from seed by
McMahan, a gardener of some note. When its fruit is grown, it has a
beautiful appearance.
Tamarisk (Tamarix gallica), a sub-evergreen of very beautiful feathery
foliage, of rapid growth, and highly ornamental in a shrubbery. It will
grow in very poor soil.
Shepardia, or Buffalo Berry, from the Rocky Mountains, a low tree,
with small silvery leaves, a currant-like fruit, which is edible. This is
worthy of cultivation. It is diœcious, and the male and female trees
must therefore be planted in proximity.
Dwarf Almond (Amygdalus nana), but now called by botanists
Cerasus or Prunus japonica. This favorite shrub is found in all
gardens and yards. The profusion of its blossoms and the delicacy of
their color make it, during the short time of its inflorescence,
deservedly a favorite. As it flowers before its leaves put forth, it
requires a green background to produce its full effect. It should
therefore be planted against evergreens.
Wood Honeysuckle (Azalea).—This is a native of North America, and is
perfectly hardy. It flourishes best in a half shade, and flowers freely.
There have been a vast number of varieties originated from crossing
the species; and the nurseries will supply almost every shade of
color from white to brilliant flame color.
The A. pontica is also hardy; but the Chinese species require a
greenhouse. This is one of the most magnificent shrubs that can be
cultivated, and deserves the special attention of those who wish to
form even a moderately good shrubbery.
The Berberry (Berberis vulgaris) is quite beautiful when in fruit. It is
easily propagated, grows in any soil, requires little pruning, and is
very good fur hedges.
Globe Flower (Corchorus japonica).—A very pretty shrub with double
yellow flowers, which are in abundance early in the summer, and
also, but sparingly, shown throughout the season.
“By some mistake Kerria japonica was at first supposed to
belong to Corchorus, a genus of Tiliaceæ, and of course
nearly allied to the lime-tree; to which it bears no
resemblance, though it is still called Corchorus japonica in the
nurseries. It is also singular, that though the double-flowered
variety was introduced into England in 1700, the species was
not introduced till 1835. It is a delicate little shrub, too
slender to support itself in the open air; but when trained
against a wall, flowering in great profusion. It should be
grown in a light, rich soil, and it is propagated by cuttings.”—
Companion to the Flower Garden.
Laburnum (Cytisus laburnum).—This beautiful plant forms a small tree,
which, in May, is covered with pendant yellow blossoms. Blooming at
the same time with the lilac, the two planted together have an
extremely beautiful effect. It is hardy, grows in any soil, and is
propagated easily by seed.
The Scotch Laburnum (C. alpinus), is much more beautiful than the
common kind, “the flowers and leaves being larger and the flower
more frequently fragrant. They are also produced much later in the
season, not coming into flower till the others are quite over.”
Althea, or Rose of Sharon (Hibiscus Syriacus).—One of the most
desirable shrubs for yards and gardens. The form of the shrub is
compact and sightly; flowers double, and may be had of every color;
it is hardy, growing well in all soils, and blooms continually from the
last of July till frost. It is beautiful in avenues, and, being patient of
the shears, it will form a fine floral hedge, a good specimen of which
may be seen on Mr. Hoffner’s beautiful grounds near Cincinnati. The
single altheas are not so desirable. We regard this shrub as worthy
of much more extensive cultivation than it has received. Its flowers
are coarse on a close inspection, but at a little distance, and among
other plants its effect is excellent. It is very easily propagated by
cuttings, or from the seed.
Sweet-scented Shrub (Calycanthus Floridus).—Chiefly desirable from
the pine-apple fragrance of its brownish-purple flowers. They are
used to scent drawers, to carry in the pocket, etc. It grows freely in
any dry, rich soil, and is propagated by layers and suckers.
Red-bud (Cercis Canadensis).—This small tree is familiar to every one,
being the first spring flowering tree of our woods. It flourishes in
gardens and makes a finer appearance there than in its native
localities.

Gooseberries.—Let those who are accustomed to lose their fruit by

mildew, drench their bushes with an alkaline wash. Lime-water, or
diluted lye are the most convenient. With a watering-pot, copiously
water the whole bush, on the upper and under side of the branches;
which can be easily done, if one will lift the branches while another
bestows the shower-bath. After they have done bearing, prune out
the head, and the lower branches, so as to give a free circulation of
air under and through the bush. Spade in about them a liberal
dressing of leached ashes, and fine charcoal if procurable.
 GARDEN WORK FOR AUGUST.

Dahlias will require special attention to secure them from splitting

down, and breaking; let every part be well supported by ties. The
cool nights and warm days of approaching fall will give them their
most vigorous growth.
Saving Seed.—Beet, spinage, peas, celery, salsify, lettuce seeds will
now be ripe and should be gathered. Even if not quite ripe, they
may be plucked, as experiments seem to show that seeds are more
injured by over-ripeness than under-ripening. Seal up your peas in
bottles and put wax about the cork, according to Dr. Plummer’s
directions, and the larvæ of the pea-bug will die for want of air.
Seeds are ripened best in their own pods or receptacles; and where
they ripen nearly at the same time, and do not easily shake out, we
hang the whole plant in an airy shed, barn, etc., until winter; and
then, for convenience, thresh out and pack up.
As fast as your perennial plants have shed their flowers, let the seed
plants be destroyed, unless you wish to save seed, as the ripening of
seed exhausts the root.
Young peach-trees should have the side shoots cleared away and
one strong centre stem secured for budding in the fall.
Onions may now be gathered. Let them lie a day or two on the bed
or in the alley, and then be transferred to a cool and airy place. The
sets for top onions may be tied in bundles and hung up till spring.
Where peas and bush beans have been cleared away, turnips may
be sowed for a fall and winter crop.
Spinage seed should be got ready to be sown in September, if you
wish a good supply of this choicest of all spring greens.
Celery plants will begin to grow strongly in the trenches; water with
liquid manure; if troubled with insects, dust with quick lime and
water with salt water. Above all things be careful in drawing in the
earth to keep it out from the heart of the plant, and let it be done in
dry weather.
 PULLING OFF POTATO BLOSSOMS.

The Boston Cultivator, speaking of this process, says: “As the

qualities of the potato-ball or apple differ considerably from the root
or tuber, it may be that the juices destined to nourish the balls will
not, on removing the blossoms, go to increase the roots. This view is
not unreasonable.”
We do not suppose the theory to be, that the sap tending to the
bloom and ball returns to the root. But, simply, that there will be so
much less food to be prepared, and therefore so much less
exhaustion to the vegetable economy. It is well known that the filling
out and ripening of seeds is eminently exhausting to the plant. It has
long been the custom of florists who wish show-flowers, to refuse
their bulbous plants leave to bloom for one season, plucking off the
bud, that they might be so much the stronger for the next year’s
blooming.
But we suppose the truth to be this. The sap is prepared in the leaf
and enters the distributing vessels of the plant. It is conveyed to
every organ; each part, receiving its portion, modifies it by a farther
chemical action peculiar to itself. Thus in the case of an apple-tree.
The elaborated sap which goes to the leaf, the alburnum, the liber,
the blossom, the fruit is the same in all; but the fruit gives it a still
further elaboration, by which it imparts the peculiar properties
belonging to it, in distinction from the tissues; so of the bark, the
blossom, etc. If, then, the seed-vessels are removed, so much less
elaborated sap is consumed as they would have required; and this,
or at least, portions of it, are given to the other parts of the
vegetable economy.
 BLADING AND TOPPING CORN.

No one performs these operations for the benefit of the ear, but to
obtain fodder, and it is then justified on the ground that the corn is
not harmed by it. The sap drawn from the root does not flow
straight up into the ear and kernel, but into the leaves or blades.
The carbonic acid of the crude sap is decomposed, oxygen is given
off and carbon remains in the form of starch, sugar, gum, etc., etc.,
according to the nature of the plant. When sap has by exposure to
light undergone this change it is said to be elaborated.
It is only now that the sap, passing from the upper side of the leaf
to a set of vessels in the under side, is reconveyed to the stem,
begins to descend, and is distributed to various parts of the plant,
affording nourishment to all. But when the fruit of every plant is
maturing, it draws to itself a large part of the prepared sap, which,
when it has entered the kernel, is still farther elaborated, and made
to produce the peculiar qualities of the fruit, whether corn or wheat,
apple or pear. It is plain from this explanation that a plant stripped
of its leaves is like a chemist robbed of his laboratory, or like a man
without lungs.
If corn is needed for fodder, let it be cut close to the ground when
the corn has glazed. The grain will go on ripening and be as heavy
and as good as if left to stand, and the stalk will afford excellent
food for cattle. Sheep are fond of corn thus cured, and will winter
very well upon it. In husking out the corn, the husk should be left on
the stalk for fodder.
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