We have seen hundreds of young vines ruined by an abundance of raw manures and excessive early cropping, much more so than by bad soil. No Grape vine will flourish for any lengthened period in stagnant moisture, or with their roots deep; vines which are celebrated for their fertility we have invariably found their roots to be within a few inches of the surface. In addition to the mulching, &c., which we have before alluded to, we would advise a sprinkling of bone dust over the vine borders, to be washed in by the rains, as from what we have seen and heard, the crops of Grapes are usually left too heavy. The vine under such circumstances will be much benefitted by an application of bones, soap suds, and a good dose of manure water-none of which will be so liable to injure as guano and other highly concentrated manures.

New Strawberries.

I am always delighted with a strawberry gossip, one of which I had the other day with Mr. Wm. Saunders, of Washington. I fully agree

with him that it takes time to find out what are

really good and improved varieties, especially when we speak of endurance and well doing under adverse circumstances, bearing in mind that all our foreign kinds are sent from Europe upon sufferance, and our experience teaches us they are very volatile things. It takes several seasons to

find out strawberries that are good under adverse

circumstances. We have a few which must be conceded are good, such as Jucunda, Triomphe de Gand, Victoria and others, to which we think may be admitted "Sir Joseph Paxton," imported by Mr. John Saul, of Washington, during the spring of 1866, and fruited (so far as we are aware) for the first time in this country upon the grounds of the Maryland Agricultural College. "Sir Joseph Paxton" promised early to be a good cropper and very handsome fruit; size from medium to large, and we think excellent flavor.*

The Flower Garden.

The principal work here for the present month will be mowing, rolling, hoeing and raking.Chrysanthemums in pots and the open border will now require plenty of manure water. The tops should never be allowed to wilt, for whenever that takes place, it is at the expense of the lower foliage, a portion of which droop and die.

Where dwarf plants are desired to flower in pots, now is a good time to layer the young shoots into small pots. If the top of the shoot is twisted before laying, it will soon strike root, and will make nice dwarf plants for filling vases, &c.

Roses-all suckers should be removed and the bottoms kept clean of all wild shoots. Remove all decayed flowers and seeds, and give the fall flowering kinds plenty of manure water, in order to keep them in vigorous growth, which we have found to be the only means whereby to secure an abundance of fall bloom. Budding may be done towards the end of the month. Plants

infested with green fly should have a liberal mildew sometimes becomes troublesome. We washing with tobacco water. About this season sulphur when the foliage is wet. The climbing have managed to keep it in check by applying Roses should be looked to for the purpose of removing decayed wood, blooms, &c. Any weakly wood should be cut out, and the strong young

shoots of the present year be laid in, which will produce an abundance of bloom next season.

Carnations and Pinks should now be layered. These are exceedingly useful and beautiful flowers, so much prized for cutting, and are becoming very fashionable.

Hyacinths, Tulips, Crocus, with many other spring flowering bulbs, should all be out of the

ground as directed last month-being in the ground, they may emit fresh fibres, and if taken up at that time, they are likely to be worthless. Pansies, to flower in the fall, should now be

through a hot summer and severe winter.

*We saw and tasted the "Sir Joseph Paxton," and quite agree with Mr. Barker as to its good promise. Its handsome, regular outline, very fine colour, and remarkable fragrance impressed us. A little over-ripeness of the specimens we tasted did not allow a just estimate of the flavour.-ED.

In Brittany, the milk of the previous evening is mixed with the morning's milk, and, after standing a few hours, the whole is churned, and is said to produce a large amount of butter, of a better quality, and will keep longer than that treated in the usual manner.

old stems are quite unfit for the purpose. Keep the cuttings shaded and sprinkle frequently.

Dahlias keep well tied up to the stalks, and give a good mulching after the surface has been well stirred. Mulching is said to harbor vermin, which this season in particular we have found to be the case, but practically its few disadvantages are much more than balanced by the superior health of the plants and the beauty of the flowers, and moreover, the labor of watering is got rid of.

Plants growing in baskets and vases are generally elevated above the surrounding surface, and

therefore much exposed to the sun's rays. Put on these a layer of moss, to prevent excessive evaporations, which will save labor in watering and be of much benefit to the plants.

Specimen Fuchsias in pots should be attended to daily, as inattention to watering will cause the foliage to drop and render the plants very unsightly.

Many choice plants will soon be perfecting their seed, and whatever is required for future use must be secured in time. It is safest to collect the seed before it is dead ripe, as in many cases the seed vessel opens and the seed is lost. Cut off the heads with a portion of the stem attached, and spread them on paper, under cover, for a day or two to dry, and then expose them in the full sun to harden. To prevent mistakes, label all seeds when gathered, and of all hardy herbaceous plants sow a portion at once.

Geraniums-We have now many varieties of this useful and beautiful bedding plant which should now be propagated for next year, using cuttings of only two or three joints in length, planted in a partially shaded border. By being planted and rooted early, there is time for the plants to make good ripe wood before winter, which will flower beautifully in May instead of having to wait until July for flowers. Go over all the flower beds frequently and keep all the plants nicely regulated and pegged down until the surface is fairly covered; after which, more freedom of growth may be permitted.

The Cattle Plague in Holland. The Dutch Minister of Internal Affairs has

presented his second report on the cattle plague to the King. It appears from it that since June, 1865, when the plague first appeared in Holland, 90,469 head of cattle have been attacked by it. Of these 39,595 died, 17,460 were killed, 32,080 recovered, 1,403 remaining under treatment on December 3d, the date of the report. The total of the losses accordingly amounts to 55 1-5 per cent of those seized. Nearly twothirds of the whole perished in the province of South Holland, nearly one-third in Utrecht, and the small remainder in North Holland.

No small aggravation of the calamity is attributed to the deplorable state of the veterinary profession in Holland, where anybody can set up in this line on paying five florins for a patent.

In Bregenz, one Herliman, a dealer, who, by his carelessness in importing infected cattle, caused the murrain to spread from Tyrol to Vorarlsberg and Switzerland, has just been sentenced to six months imprisonment, and a fine of eight hundred florins.

For the American" Farmer."

Employers and Employed.

We have said in the June number of the Farmer that the labor question was an engrossing one, and that much depended upon a systematic arrangement of help, &c. We would now suggest rules for the efficient management of such gardens as require much manual labor-the first of which is, let the help provided for the garden be kept to that work. We do not mean to be understood that such help should not be taken from that department in cases of emergency, such as at haying and harvest time; we mean that the help should not be taken from the garden for everything which may be wanting about the estate, when it frequently happens that a boy at $6 per month can accomplish as much, within a given time, as a man at $20; and whatever outside work there is to do, the overseer should have a clear understanding of it, so as to enable him to regulate his work accordingly. Without such an understanding, he can never depend upon his help, and it becomes absolutely impossible that there can be mutual satisfaction between employers and employed. We can fancy a man with some ten or more hands, when in the early spring and summer months he finds that he has rarely more than three and frequently not more than one, himself willing to get forward, will toil from early to late for a time; but will he continue to do so? Can it be expected he should? If worth anything he will not In the second place we would suggest that employers interfere as little as possible with the assistants of the overseer, such as taking them from the work he has appointed for them to do. We have always found that such divided command upon an estate will soon destroy alike discipline and responsibility. We would not have it understood that we question the right of the employer to employ question the propriety for his own interest, unless as he pleases the help on his property; but we he is his own manager. To the great advantage of many in this country, there are many ladies and gentlemen who manifest a great and growing interest upon matters pertaining to horticulture, floriculture, &c., and enter upon it with the work themselves, or having it done by a regreat zest, taking great pleasure either in doing

liable man of their own choice. This is as it but we maintain if the machinery of management should be, and deserves great commendation; is to go right, there should be an efficient man appointed as the head, next to the proprietor, to whom it should be understood that every other man upon the estate should be subject; and when

ever any help is required the overseer should be applied to for it, instead of others exercising the right of taking help indiscriminately from the work assigned them. In what we have said upon this subject, we have been studying the employers' interest, and we make bold to say from practical experience, if these rules are clearly acted upon and carried out, that there will be much more satisfaction between employer and employed and much fewer short servitudes-one great bane to improvement in horticulture in this country. DANIEL BARKER.

For the "American Farmer." Large Farms and Associated Capital. MESSRS. EDITORS: In the May number of the Farmer just at hand, I have read, with much interest, Mr. L. A. Hansen's article under the above heading. My February number of the Farmer having miscarried, I did not see the suggestions of H. H. Mr. Hansen concluded his article thus, "My hearty wish is that the experiment may be tried. If it should succeed, it certainly would become a blessing to our country." I here endorse Mr. Hansen's views fully; and I can assure him that the "principal obstacles can be easily and satisfactorily overcome, that is, "to find able and honest superintendents." There are many of our able, honest, intelligent, practical and scientific planters, here at the South, who have had the experience of twenty to thirty years of successful management of thousands of acres, with many hundreds of laborers. These gentlemen may be employed as superintendents. There are overseers too who are every way capable, and are accustomed to manage under the direction of these gentlemen superintendents. We have every requisite at the South for trying the "experiment," except the capital.

The advantage of a large over a small rice plantation is very decided. A plantation of two thousand acres would require no more than one first class steam thrasher, costing about fifteen thousand dollars. Each of ten plantations of two hundred acres, must have a steam thrasher, at a cost of eight or ten thousand dollars. One steam dredging machine for cleaning canals and ditches, may be used to great advantage on the large plantation. The small plantation cannot afford to own and work one of these machines. The same with regard to many labor-saving machines which must be used to make free labor pay in the cultivation of rice as well as cotton. The negro, too, prefers working in large gangs. He knows and feels the advantage. "The experiment" of free labor has not been satisfactorily

tested. I think it will require more than one year. The negro is dissatisfied now. He cannot understand why he is poor, and much less comfortable than he was eight years ago. Two years of freedom has not made him rich and comfortable, (as was his calculation,) so he is dissatisfied, and is for shifting his quarters as often as possible.

Large, well organized establishments, will control the labor, (if anything can.) An establishment well managed, with a church, school, store, and other things necessary for the comfort and convenience of the negro, "would become a blessing to our country." There is not capital enough at the South to "try the experiment," as the Southern people know would be most likely to succeed. DISTRICT NO. 2.

N. B. Our prospect for cropping is not satisfactorily. The freedmen are disposed to put down the shovel and the hoe, and take up politics.

For the "American Farmer."

Serradella (Ornithopus sativus.) MESSRS. EDITORS: For the last six or seven years this plant has been extensively cultivated in Europe. The Serradella is a native of North Africa, Spain and Portugal. These countries being most surrounded by water, shows that it thrives best in a moist atmosphere. The peculiar merits of this plant are, that it grows most luxuriantly on poor and light sandy soil. Stiff clay and wet soil is objectionable. It combines the merits of clover, esparzetti, luzerne, and, in fact, of all good grasses we cultivate. Its hay is preferred by all kind of stock to clover, and chemically analyzed, shows to contain a greater amount of nutritious matters. For turning under as manure, it also exceeds the clover, leaving more roots in the ground, and growing more luxuriantly above ground. The proper time to sow it is in wheat or rye. As the seeds require a considerable amount of moisture to germinate, it must be sown on the fresh furrow. If it is desirable to sow it by itself, it must be done as early as possible in the spring. Deep ploughing is neccssary. As much moisture is required for the seeds to germinate many seeds do not sprout, and consequently it must be sown thick, say 24 to 30 pounds per acre. In the course of eight or ten days, if the season is not too dry, the young plants will appear. For a long time they remain nearly stationery, but, after the first blossoms appear, their growth is most astonishing. During this period the plant draws a vast amount of moisture from the atmosphere, even on hot days the dewdrops may be seen on the leaves at mid day.