fodder and bran. They do very well if kept in the sheep pens.

COWS.

Cows giving milk require, of course, something more than dry provender. Bran and meal mixed, and a half bushel a day of sugar beet, or ruta baga, is the best extra food for them.

SHEEP.

Sheep do better in all ordinary winter weather if allowed to range at will in a dry pasture, but shelter should be provided for bad weather, and troughs for feeding oats and bran.

HOGS.

Pen hogs should be now fat enough to kill. Keep breeding sows, and other store hogs in good condition through the winter. Good shelter and dry beds will economize food.

MANURE.

whenever the weather permits, being careful to keep them free from weeds and decaying leaves.

CELERY.-Where the frost has not been severe enough to injure, it should have another earthing up, exercising great care in the operation that the earth do not get into the heart of the plants, which will cause it to rot. When grown for family use only, we would let it remain where it has been grown, and previous to hard frosts cover the soil with leaves sufficient to keep out the frost, so that it may be taken up without difficulty when wanted.

POTATOES stored in cellars should be looked over occasionally, and all mouldy and diseased tubers picked out.

ONIONS.-Pay good attention to those that are stored, by turning them over and seeing that they are all sound; remove those beginning to decay; those that are beginning to sprout should

The great mass of manure which may be made be selected for present use.

from the waste of the farm would be now a matter of special interest. Whatever material you can command should be now gathered and put through the process of preparation for use. Let it be used as an absorbent for the yards as far as may be required, or made into compost, or hauled direct to the land as a top-dressing. Beyond the needs of the stock for bedding, and as absorbents of the moisture of the yards, there is no need to accumulate straw and coarse material in the yards. Much labor may be saved by hauling directly to the field, all that may not be so needed, and time gained by spreading at once on the ground.

The Vegetable Garden.

Prepared for The American Farmer, by DANIEL BARKER
Maryland Agricultural College.

DECEMBER.

All the associations of this month are with something bare, chill, and dreary; and so it will be found that the garden does not tend to dispel any of those gloomy associations; should the weather remain sufficiently open, spading, hauling on manure upon any vacant ground intended for early crops next spring, will form the chief out-door occupations when weather permits. And we must not forget that great attention should be paid in protecting all tender crops that are likely to suffer, either from frost or cold cutting winds.

CABBAGES AND CAULIFLOWER PLANTS in frames or under glassses will require all the air possible,

RHUBARB may now be planted in boxes and placed in any warm cellar, where there are not other conveniences for forcing it.

SPINACH. In gathering the leaves of winter spinach, great care should be taken not to bruise or otherwise injure those that remain, as, at this season, a bruise will invariably lead to decay. Every leaf should be picked singly. Soon as the ground becomes frozen and not much work offers, do not forget to make preparation for prospective work when it arrives.

The Fruit Garden.

CURRANTS AND GOOSEBERRIES to be propagated by cuttings of ripe, good, stout shoots of last summer. All the buds should be removed from the bottom of the cutting to within four inches of the top, so as to form a clear stem, and which will prevent the plant throwing up any suckers. Lay on a good layer of rotten dung between currant and gooseberry bushes to be forked in next spring. Raspberries should have a good, heavy mulching, which should not be forked in ; as any disturbance of their roots is a great injury.

PRUNING OF STANDARD FRUIT TREES.-See di

rections for, in the October and November number of Farmer, to which may be added, that it consists chiefly of opening out the heads and regulating the growth without severe measures of any kind. If there are any large branches requiring removal, it is a proof of neglect of some kind in times gone by; and if the branches are found dead and in an unhealthy state, you may depend upon it the tree is in a bad state at the

roots. In many gardens old fruit trees are not
unfrequently killed by raising the soil about
them, thereby year by year removing their roots
farther and farther from the atmosphere. Much
has been said by those who should know as to
the best season for the winter pruning of the
grape vine.
We think that north of Philadel-

phia it should not be performed in the fall, un-
less the vines are protected, for we have found
from experience that the hard frosts are apt to
destroy the buds, and sometimes the whole
branch. Neither do we think it should be done
too late in the spring; the latter end of February
or March seems to be about the best time; but as
the seasons differ so much in different years,
much must be left to the obeservation and judg-
ment of the cultivator.

The Flower Garden,

"When the flower of thy life is unfolded, oh! cherish
The fragrance that virtue around it will shed,
That will give it a sweetness which never can perish,
Adern it when living, embalm it when dead!"

litter from amongst the plants. Should woodlice be troublesome, lay a small plank of half rotten wood at the bottom of the frame, which will attract all the wood-lice that are harboring in it, and by removing it in the day time they may be discovered and destroyed.

For the "American Farmer."

Managing Old Peach Trees, There are many farmers and others who have old "peach trees" which we think should not be cut down as "cumberers of the ground." Rather let them remain for a time and "dig about them and dung them, and if they bear fruit well, if not, then after that cut them down." Age in trees, as in man, is characterized by decrease of vigor each must fill their allotted time." In many old trees there is vitality sufficient to produce fruit, to an extent that threatens their very existence. With a little attention, these good old trees would continue for years to produce good crops of fruit. The difficulty with many old trees which we have witnessed seems to be to induce them to grow rather than to produce fruit, and with the exception of the dying of an old branch, and very small annual growths, they present no sign of their approaching end.

found no manures so beneficial as those of a coolIn our experience with old peach trees we have ing nature, such as cow-dung composted with muck, or other rich compost. Hog, stable, and hen manure, we have found to be too stimulating for old trees; and strong liquid manure will de

CARNATIONS, PINKS AND PICOTEES.-Such as are potted or planted in frames, should have abundant ventilation and very careful watering. Should there be any appearance of green fly, fumigate with tobacco. Get into a shed or some outbuilding, good, turfy loam for putting in next season; lay it upon a heap till the grass is all dead, then chop it and turn it over frequently. HYACINTHS, TULIPS, AND OTHER BULBS remain-stroy, rather than renovate them. Strong kinds ing out of the ground may, when the weather permits, still be planted, and they will bloom very soon after those planted a month ago. Plant the large bulbs six inches deep, and the small ones three to four inches deep; if the position is damp, sharp sand under and all around each bulb.

ROSES should be protected where they are exposed; this is especially necessary in the care of tea roses, which, in hard weather, are often killed back to the roots. If it is not thought advisable to take them up, place some branches of hemlock, or red cedar, in and among the shoots, so as to protect all the branches, leaving the tops unpruned. The ends of the shoots may be killed back some inches, but the ripe and stout wood will escape through being protected, and at the spring pruning all the dead parts can be cut away.

PLANTS IN FRAMES.-Whenever mildew appears cut away the part affected at once; dust the cut part with sulphur, and admit a current of air, if possible, to hasten the drying of the wound. Remove all dead leaves and decaying

of food, as we all know, are only suited for strong constitutions, consequently it deranges old trees, and any not naturally strong, as the roots cannot absorb or the foliage digest it, the trees as a consequence have to perish. The business of the root, as we understand it, is to collect the food in a diluted state and to transmit it to the leaves, where a great proportion is given off again; all therefore that is necessary for the constitution of new parts is retained and becomes part and parcel of the trees;-young trees require food of a much more stimulating nature, but of them more anon.

To improve old peach trees, our method is, first for the crown of the roots to undergo a most searching scrutiny for the borers, which are so destructive to the peach trees-when satisfied that all the worms are extracted, we apply common tar from the crown of the roots to about 10 inches up the bole of the tree, which, by being looked over occasionally, and a little applied when it becomes too hardened upon the tree, we have found to be a good preventive, which is better than a cure. In pruning old trees, we endeavor

to keep in view the supplying the tree with young wood, and the removal of all old and useless parts, more than looking to the forming of a handsome head, which is nearly impossible to do in many old trees. The small weak shoots from the smaller main stems we remove entirely, bringing a young strong shoot, if such can be selected, up in their places; the main branches, if too crowded, we thin out so that there may be a clear distance of from 16 to 20 inches apart; a proper number of last year's shoots we are very careful to retain about 10 or 12 inches apart, along the main branches, to produce fruit. We never leave any of these fruit producing shoots, but on the upper side of the branch, as when they are left upon the lower side, the tree becomes crowded with wood to the exclusion of light and air to the tree. If the shoots are not more than 6 inches in length we do not shorten them, or if there be nothing but fruit buds on them, but where the shoots have some two or more fruit buds, and a wood bud between them, they should if more than 10 inches, be pruned to a wood bud, being careful to leave sufficient fruit buds below the pruning to produce a crop. In the pruning of the young shoots it is necessary to leave a wood bud at the extremity, in order to draw the sap into the fruits which are situated below it. This pruning is done early in the spring after the tree commences to swell its buds, as the uninitiated will then be better able to distinguish | wood from fruit buds. All pruning of the young shoots should be to a wood bud. As a top dressing for old peach trees, we give the preference to composted cow-dung, which after having cleaned the surface of all weeds, &c., around the tree, we apply from one to two inches thick over the surface for a distance of from six to eight feet, in a circle from the stem of the tree, and then point it in with a fork, being careful not to go so deep as to injure the roots-as a neat finish we cover the whole surface an inch or more in thickness with fresh, clean loam-this surface dressing we consider best given in the fall. We have found that if applied about the time the blossoms are expanding that too much nourishment is thrown into the flowers, and they fall without setting. Manure applied in the fall will by spring have passed into the soil above and below, and when the early rains have fallen upon it in spring it will be in a form calculated to afford direct food to the trees, and consequently to invigorate them. Old trees thus treated are not long ere they show great improvement in their foliage and annular growth, and in the production and quality of the fruit.

Fruit Growing in North Carolina. MESSRS. EDITORS: The labor system of our State has, by the "arbitrament of the sword,” undergone a very material change, and the farmers of this section are casting about as to the best means to recuperate, as far as possible, what has been so suddenly snatched from them. Bank stock, negroes, and "late-issued State stock," have gone by the board. The work of years has been almost completely rendered of no effect. Our land is again struggling in its infancy. Self-interest, as it always has done, rules the hour; but now, on account of the great change come over us, almost without the experience of by-gone years. Men who heretofore supported themselves by their farms, are now, after the trial crop of this season, debating this and that means of a future livelihood, and but few, I believe, are going to trust entirely to the old channel to bear them and their families in the future. Some are setting up stores, here and there, through the country, others are leaving their homes, renting out their farms, and engaging in entirely new pursuits. But the majority with whom I have conversed, are debating the question of fruit culture and wine making, and most of that majority have already concluded to give it a trial. For many years I have been engaged in fruit culture, and I think a few hints, or facts, would be of material assistance to them. Wishing my country all success in its efforts to regain its former prosperity, and having the welfare of my brother farmers nearest to my heart, I propose to give them a little of my experience in fruit raising, to show how lucrative it can be made by judicious management. One instance to show this is alone necessary.

In the spring of 1863, I planted out two orchards of apple trees, bought from the nurseries of Thomas Carter, near this place, and those of Westbrook & Co., of Greensboro'. The trees were of the usual size sold by nursery men. I laid off my ground twenty-five feet each way, and planted a tree at each crossing. Before planting, I dug out the holes where I intended to set the trees, four feet across and sixteen or eighteen inches deep. Into this I put rich scrapings-such as is generally found in the jams of fences of any standing-putting one horse-cart load to every two holes. I planted out every tree with my own hands-for I was vain enough to think that I could do it better than any one else-spreading out the roots carefully and stuffing every crevice with the rich, loose dirt. I then filled each hole with the soil from the adjacent ground, drove a nice stake from the woods DANIEL BARKER, Md. Ag. College. down by the side of each tree, tieing the tree to

it carefully, and told each one to do his best. When the spring was fully opened I hauled a cart load of the pine straw, with which our woods abound, and spread it out carefully for three feet around each little tree-say eight inches deep.

orchard; oblong, fruit deep red, calyx deeply indented, stem short, shoots red, and an upright grower. Smell one of the apples once and you will never forget it-no more than you can how the nice red apple of your fellow in school-boy days looked, when he handed it to you with the injunction, "don't bite it."

Those liking early fruit, I would recommend our widely known "Red June;" to this add "Foster's White Wakefield," which can only be procured from the well-known amateur, A. J. Foster, Wakefield, N C. It deserves extensive cultivation, and is the praise of every one who sees it, for its smooth, white skin, fine flavor, great productiveness, and the quality, which the "Red June" has not, of being uninjured by transportation on account of its firmuess. To grape growers I would say plant your first vineyard with the "Concord" entirely, your second with the same, your third likewise, and if you ever plant any other variety after that, I will be

Southern vineyards. Healthy, free from mildew or disease of any kind, good bearer, fine flavor, and requiring but little manure in its cultivation, it stands without an equal in our catalogue of grapes. To those liking a variety, the "Catawba" and "Weller's Halifax," recommend themselves the latter the most productive vine I have ever seen, bearing even to the very tips of its branches. It originated with the celebrated Mr. Weller, of Halifax, and was, I believe, one of his pets of the vineyard.

Now for the result. The first year-the year of planting-my trees averaged from twenty to forty inches of growth; the second the majority bore a few fruit; the fourth year, 1866, it would have done any genuine lover of the orchard good to have seen them bending under their load of large, smooth, plump apples. The trees are now three-and-a-half inches in diameter; bark, smooth and sleek, and free from all roughness; the limbs spreading, or reaching upwards, as if grasping the bright air of heaven with delight, or waving their laden boughs as a reward for the labor given them. Those trees next year, if a good fruit year, will bear me three pecks, or a bushel of good apples each. In our market they will readily command-good winter apples-greatly mistaken. It is certainly the grape for two dollars per bushel. They haven't cost me twenty-five cents a piece. One dollar and seventyfive cents on the credit side! Isn't that easy money? Eight hundred per cent. in five years! This year has more than paid me for my trouble. It will be naturally asked by every one first entering the business, what sorts are preferable for planting? For this section I would prefer the standard winter kinds, as I think they are, by far, the most profitable. Every one, of course, will plant a few summer and fall for home consumption. Beyond this, let all your trees be of Let me add, in conclusion, a few words for good keepers, say, Romanite, Wine sap, Winter our much loved fruit-the pear. But few in our Horse, Hall's Seedling, Pryor's red, Limbertwig, section know its value and all fear to plant it Green Cheese, Matannis Best, Smith's Cider, (but "because it is so long coming into bearing and little known with us, but a most excellent kind,) so often dies with the blight." My friend you English Crab, Clarke's Pearmain, Foust, Vanare very much mistaken. I have fifty-one variederveer, Golden Russett, Roxbury Russett, and ties, and many of them have already fruitedothers of like nature. I would strongly recom- four years old-and I have only lost three out of mend a good sprinkling of the "Red Olive," a my whole lot, and those three I fear through nenative of this county, and known but to few-aglect. You can't raise your baby without care most excellent variety, full bearer, fine flavor, and perfectly healthy. I know of no one from whom this desirable fruit can be obtained except "Westbrook & Co.," of Greensboro', to whom I lately recommended it, and who informed me that they had already a number just propagated. Whoever loves a good winter apple should, by all means, have this in their collection, and it is so peculiar in its growth and appearance that no one can be deceived in it. The whole tree is a mass of forked limbs, the distinct line of division often extending for two or three inches below the bifurcation; leaves, very light in color, so much so that they can be distinguished all over the

and attention, and you can't raise corn without
labor, your pear trees, as well as your other
trees, asking nothing more at your hands; and
if you will give it to them, they will change the
one into many a pleasing dish on your table, and
delight you by the pleasure and gratification
they give the other by your winter fireside.
PHIL. WOODLEY.

Raleigh, N. C., Nov. 2, 1866.

Rats are swarming in the Northwest of Ohio, destroying corn, potatoes, tomatoes, and even climbing fruit trees and destroying the fruit.

An Essay on Blackberries. LAWTON, WILSON'S EARLY AND KITTATINNY. Nearly every day of this fast generation offers a contradiction to the assertion of Solomon, "There is nothing new under the sun." Above the sun we grant there may be a certain monotony of events, but assuredly the earth beneath us is teeming with novelties.

Think of the first apple, undoubtedly the most bitter of bitter "crabs," and then turn to the

Newtown Pippin, Greening and Northern Spy of to-day; of the pears that puckered the throats of our great grandfathers, and then count if you can the endless sorts of luscious varieties now growing within arm's reach of baby America. We see constant change and progress in vegetable life, where its susceptibility to improvement is met by man's necessities, and his Godgiven gifts of intelligence and spirit of enterprise, and nowhere do we see it more than in the small fruits once deemed quite outside the pale of gardening.

For the past twelve years the culture of the blackberry has attracted a great deal of attention: Previous to that time the consumers drew their supply from the wild bushes in neighboring woods. There were few persons who considered the fruit of sufficient importance to devote any portion of their tillable lands to its culture. A change soon came-a Mr. William Lawton, of New Rochelle, found growing on his farm a blackberry of very large size, productive, and of excellent quality. The facts were made known to the public, in due time, and with the high prices the berries brought in market, created such a demand for the plants, that Mr. L. soon retired with a handsome for

tune.

selves to consider the "Lawton" "perfectly delicious" in spite of its one serious drawback, had waited for something better, all this thriving trade, to say nothing of the consequent gastric enjoyment, would have been as nought. The one "drawback" is no mystery, all America knows, for has not all America suffered? The "Lawton," beautiful, treacherous berry that it is, and occasionally offering a flavor which would have made new wine for the gods, has,

nevertheless, a phase of sourness, to which no

thing but the word demoniae can be applied. Everybody knows that when an ordinary blackberry is green it is red, and in this they find their safeguard; but the "Lawton" sets every rule of color and propriety at defiance by being very green, to all intents and purposes, even after it is unequivocally black.

It is now no longer a folly to be wise on this subject. The great question-"Have we a blackberry among us?" can at last be answered in the affirmative, without mental reservation.

New Jersey can now claim the honor of producing on her soil, two varieties of high bush blackberries, that are all that can be desired, being most valuable acquisitions to the list of choice fruits. The first is "Wilson's Early," found growing in the sand, near Morristown, a few years ago, and is at present being propagated by several fruit growers in this State. It is an excellent berry, and even more productive than the Lawton. The second is the Kittatinny, named after the mountain at the base of which it was found growing, about fourteen years ago. The Rev. Clarkson Dunn procured some plants, and set them in his garden at the Rectory at Newton. Here attention was first called to them; the size of the berry, quality and productiveness, soon attracted public notice. Four years ago the whole stock of plants were placed in charge of Mr. E. Williams, for propagation, and introduction to the public. From here plants were put on the grounds of Mr. Corson, to test them

There are now hundreds of acres planted with this fruit, for market purposes, in New Jersey alone. One grower at New Brunswick sends to New York daily sixty bushels. Mr. Wm. Parry, at Cinnaminson, has twenty-five acres in blackberries, and many of his neigh-in field culture for market purposes. bors have an equal number. At Hammonton, 150 acres are planted, producing on an average eighty bushels to the acre. The culture of the "Lawton" is extensively pursued at Vineland and other places in the State, and instead of the market being overstocked, the prices average higher than in former years. The demand stil] exceeds the supply. All this, however, has been regulated very much by the well-worn adage"Where ignorance is bliss, 'tis folly to be wise." If all the men, women and children, who, being ignorant of blackberry possibilities, forced them

On August 1st a party of gentlemen visited Newton, and examined the original plants in full bearing. The party numbered thirty persons, among whom were some of our most distinguished horticulturists. Having had the good fortune to join them in their excursion, I am tempted to report somewhat of our experience, believing that the tidings of the arrival of a new blackberry, answering all the established requirements of size, productiveness and beauty, and in flavor going beyond the fondest hopes of those who have suffered in the sourness of