soon become a good lawn hand. A sharp scythe is the chief element of success.-Gardener's Chronicle. The Ever-Blooming Rose. Zinnia Flore Pleno. Among the numerous varieties of flower seeds which we have sent out the present season, some will be found labeled Zinnia. The double Zinnia, from which the seeds referred to were selected by those of whom we ordered, very much resemble the Dahlia. It produces flowers of various colors, and for the past year or two has been exceedingly popular. The cut, perhaps, scarcely does justice to the sub-er-blooming rose. It will thrive as well in the ject, but, nevertheless, seems to give a very good idea of that beautiful flower. If there is a plant in whose culture we excel the people of all other nations, it is the ever-blooming rose; if there is one plant that gives more gratification and pleasure than others, for the care bestowed upon it and the price of its cost, it is the ever-blooming rose; if any body grows but one plant, it should be an ev common flower pot in the window of the poor, as in the richest vase of the conservatory of the wealthy; and with the same care it flourishes as well at the side of the humble cot as MOWING LAWNS.-It is of the first import-at the ingenious verandah of the palace. ance that the first mowing should be done as When there were none but the yearly flowearly as possible in the season. If left to grow ering rose, it was praised, worshipped, and long before the first cutting, the leaves get yel- adored; orators lectured upon its virtues; low at the base, and at every cutting after the scribes wrote of it, and poets sung of it; it yellowness appears, totally destroying the fine was strewed on the paths of the great and mergreen color which gives the lawn its chief at- itorious as an emblem of adoration; it was traction. Where a first rate mowing is desired wrought into wreaths and garlands to ornament it is best to roll the grass the day before cut-the temples and thrones, and persons of kings; ting. The grass is then pressed all one way, and cut evenly, and any dirt or stones pressed beneath the surface that would otherwise take the edge off the scythe. A good lawn-mower keeps his scythe very sharp. Some grind a little before each regular set-to at mowing. Those who are not accustomed to mowing lawns should take but a few inches in width at a time, so as not to "score." With a little thought and judgment, any field mower can it garnished the bride and holy altar where the ceremony of marriage was performed; it decked the festal boards on great occasions, and embalmed the remains of the dead; it was planted on the remains of the worthy to record the virtues of the departed. When so much adulation and honor were bestowed upon the rose that flowered but one month in a year, what language is sufficient to chant the praise of the one that now far surpasses it in beauty and fragrance, and gives us a continual feast of its gorgeous bloom and sweet perfume. So various are the habits, colors, and sizes of the ever-blooming rose, that it can make a diversified garden of itself, an ornamental hedge for an enclosure, garnish and beautify the walls of unsightly buildings, grow as dwarf bedding plants, and as stately shrubs; clothe trellis work for ornament, and arbors where we may rest and repose under its grateful shade and shelter, and feast upon its matchless fragrance. The Pear Blight. FRIEND HOYT:-At your suggestion in the April No. of the FARMER, on page 147, I will give you a more minute description of the Pear Blight that is infesting the trees in this locality. I have noticed accounts of it elsewhere, so I suppose it is not a local infection. My trees, that were so much affected last year with the blight, were planted on a high, dry prairie soil, with a southern slope. The plat is occupied as a garden, not highly manured, but well cared for as to cultivation. It is usually spaded up in the spring and hoed several times during the summer. The trees, from the time they were planted out, have made a rapid and healthy growth; but the growth has not been so great but that they have matured their wood in the fall, so that they passed the ordeal of our severe winters without killing. They have grown so finely and looked so healthy, till last summer, that we looked upon them as the belles of the garden. The blight was not confined to any particular time; we could see new traces of it from May till late in the fall. Some commenced blighting early in the spring; others did not commence till midsummer, and as late as the middle of September. Some leaved out in the spring and blossomed full, set for fruit, and the fruit was half grown when they commenced blighting. Some two or three Bartletts made a growth of ten or twelve inches, and then blossomed on the end of that growth, which set for fruit, that grew to the size of a butternut, and then blighted. These trees were budded on the seedling pear, and had been planted out eight or nine years. They were one year from the bud when they were planted out. I have some seedlings that are of one year's growth; they, too, were affected in the same way. In spading around them, we necessarily cut some of the roots; these have sprouted up.Are these sprouts good for grafting or budding? If they are, then we can replenish by propagating from these. Now, in setting again, would it be advisable to set upon the same land, or would it be better to select a new location? Would it be the most judicious way to set the pears on a plat by themselves, or intermix them with other fruit? Several of my trees that one year ago last summer bore one and two bushels of pears apiece are now dead. It is an old saying that a "bad beginning makes a good ending," but I think that mine must be in inverse proportion, viz: a good beginning makes a bad ending. If you, or any of the numerous readers of the FARMER, can give us the true cause, and then give us an antidote, it will be gratefully received by many who now look upon the future prospects of pear culture as being doubtful and uncertain. I opine that the true cause of the disease is a virus in the atmosphere, and that the only one that is able to apply an effectual remedy is "He who doeth all things well." H. W. WOLCOTT. ROSENDALE, April 13, 1863. Nails in Fruit Trees. The only cause A singular fact, worthy of being recorded, was mentioned to us a few days since by Mr. Alexander Duke, of Albemarle. He stated that while on a visit to a neighbor, his attention was called to a large peach orchard, every tree of which was totally destroyed by the ravages of the worm, with the exception of three, and these were the most thrifty and flourishing peach trees that he ever saw. of their superiority known to his host was an experiment made in consequence of observing that those parts of worm-eaten timber into which nails had been driven were generally sound. When his trees were about a year old, he drove a ten-penny nail through the body as near the ground as possible. Whilst the balance of his orchard had gradually failed, and finally yielded to the ravages of the worms, three of these trees, selected at random, treated precisely in the same manner, with the exception of nailing, had always been healthy, furnishing him at the very period with the greatest profusion of the most luscious fruit. It is supposed the salt of iron afforded by the MECHANICAL & COMMERCIAL. nails is offensive to the worm, while it is harmless, perhaps even beneficial to the tree. chemical writer on the subject says: A "The oxydation or rusting of the iron by the sap evolves ammonia, which, as the sap rises, will of course impregnate every particle of the foliage, and prove too severe a dose for the delicate palate of intruding insects." The writer recommends driving half a dozen nails into the trunk. Several experiments of the kind resulted successfully. MANAGEMENT OF FRUIT TREES.-Dr. Kennicott, in a late essay on this subject, makes the following remarks: He says, "a crop of rye, barley, oats or wheat, in a young orchard, is worse than fire-blight or caterpillars "-that fruit trees need as much cultivation as corn and potatoes, not for one year or five, but forever, or as long as they bear fruit. Cultiva A' Good Opening for Eastern and Transatlantic Capital. Circumstances of geographical location, of physical configuration, of soil, of mineral deposits, of immense supplies of timber, of inexhaustible natural mechanical powers, and the westward tendency of the star of empire, all conspire to enforce the conviction that the Great Northwest, already the granary of the world, is destined to become a leading section in the department of manufactures. If this hope is not to be rcalized, what mean these millions of fertile acres, productive of all staples of food, and yet adapted, as is altion should not be continued late in summer, for half-hardy trees, such as peaches, but the most no other portion of our vast country, to wood allowed to harden and ripen. He says the growth of the wool and flax essential to that, as commonly practiced, orchard trees the manufacture of cloths and other textile need pruning about as much as cows' horns; fabrics? What mean our exhaustless mines and that most of the shaping should be done in the nursery, or during the first three or four of lead, iron, and copper,-our well-distribuyears. In the rich West he would apply noted quarries of stone-our mighty forests of manure to orchards till the trees had been years in bearing. He would spread it broadcast in autumn, not at the foot of the trunk, as is sometimes done, and where the roots cannot get it. Plow it under slightly in spring. REMEDY FOR BARREN FRUIT TREES.-Some fruit trees will never produce any good fruit, and some will not bear even poor fruit. I had several such trees, and every effort failed to make them bear fruit, but this one. We erected a portable fence around each one, and kept a pig or two in the enclosure. Four panels, about sixteen feet long, of light board fence were placed around the tree, and simply nailed together at the corners. After the pigs had been in that pen about a month, they were removed to another tree. If this remedy fails to produce good fruit, after they have been well manured and regrafted, then let the trees be cut down. Make a high board fence around plum trees, for young chickens, and keep them there until they are old enough to run at large, and see if they will not destroy or frighten away the curculio, and thus save a crop of plums. The experiment is worthy of trial, as it promises good results. BARK-WOUNDS.-To protect bark-wounds against the decaying influences of the air, cover them with a thin coat of gum shellac, composed of one ounce of shellac dissolved in one quart of alcohol of 95 per cext. strength. The alcohol will soon evaporate and leave the shellac coating dry and hard-but it should be thin or it may crack and peel off. pine, and cedar, of oak, and ash, and hickory, and the other woods so extensively used in the building of houses and ships, and in every branch of the mechanic arts?-our numerous and measureless water-powers, sufficient for a world of mills and factories-our unexampled facilities for easy water-communication with every people on the globe? Are not all these a sure prophecy on our behalf? Or are we to continue henceforth and forever to produce merely? selling the fruits of our mining, our lumbering, and our agricultural enterprise to the East and to the Old World? The answer will not long be doubtful. Woolen cloths and linens, paints and oils, iron and copper ware, castings of every description, agricultural implements, &c., will not always be manufactured for us by Eastern mechanics with the added cost of transportation both ways, still further increased by half a dozen intermediate profits. Factories are sure to be established as a necessity ere long, and it is our opinion that capitalists, either American or foreign, could not do better with their money than to invest in certain branches of manufacturing even "In the past ten years the West has, as we have shown, exceeded all other sections in prosperity. Population and capital have flow ed in upon her, developing productions which have found a ready sale at good profits, while by means of the railroads the whole Western country has participated in the general prosperity. Now the population has grown somewhat in excess of the number which can readily be supported from agriculture, even if possessed of a large foreign market, and, as formerly in the East so at present in the West, manufactures are growing up and are succeeding, even in spite of the advantages of capital and long experience of the East. The census gives us the following figures in relation to the progress of the West in that direction: Population. No. factories. Eastern States...... 10,580,840 71,878 Western States..... 8,567,249 34,301 Value Capital. $721,679,200 196,889,475 Value raw material. No. Hands. produced. Eastern States.... $635,787,343 1,025,067 $1,298,208,058 Western States... 224,257,494 222,325 390,411,942 "Thus it appears that the value per head of manufactures at the West is $46, and at the East $122, and that the West produces nearly one-third as much as the Eastern and Middle States. But the productions are of a coarser description, as is evident from the fact that at the West the raw materials are 60 per cent of the value produced, while at the East they are but 50 per cent. These manufactures at the West, it must be remembered, have grown up without any protection from the vast competition of New England Capital, although that competition has been far more direct and effective than was that of foreign goods against New England at the close of the war in 1812. The principal kinds of manufactures produced East and West, have been as follows, according to the same authority: Lumber..... 2,519,289 783,000 3,021,221 46,200 178,785 3,971,910 42,673,992 96,038,794 1,783,127 1,836,802 5,707.187 Soap and candles...... "Thus the golden period for the West has arrived; the East no longer having the advantage over her, and the usual employment for capital being cut off to a great extent, we shall soon find her expanding in this new direction and furnishing not only food but clothing for the world. Her fertile soil, aided by machinery, can, with the same amount of manual labor, furnish a larger surplus of food than any other region; while her raw materials, her minerals, her water-courses, and her railroads all combine with cheap food to make the West the region for the cheapest possible production of manufactures. The fruits of her rich soil will then find a market, not only directly but also in the shape of goods. land now imports food and material from the West, and, combining them with English labor, furnishes goods for the supply of the world. Boots and shoes...... $20,019,039 $46,723,572 $77,355,368 The Eastern States have also in the same way 31,513,258 40,232,769 02,609,568 But now the West is 89,446,544 gained great wealth. 58,566,922 106,573,646 51,618,292 about to do that business for herself-combin5,416,560 ing her own labor, material and food, and 3,170,101 thereby becoming the centre of manufactures." It is said that if bricks are dipped in 32,648,645 38,524,900 water before being laid in the wall, the mor 74,753,665 90,261,856 7,940,632 10,458,542 tar will adhere better. A New Design of a Spring or Dairy House. BY J. WILKINSON, LANDSCAPE GARDENER AND found equal if not superior to one of bricks or stones. The ventilation should be effected in the manner I shall describe, whatever may be the ventilation which I use is an original idea, and I constructed a spring-house during the sum-material used in construction. The mode of mer of 1841, which has been very much admired, and believing it to be very perfect in principle, I will describe it for the benefit of your readers. This house is for a small dairy; it will accommodate but twenty pans or crocks, that are fifteen inches in diameter each, though its capacity may be doubled without increasing the size of the house, by placing another sink for water twelve inches above the one I shall describe, supporting it in the same manner, and allowing the water to flow into the uppermost one first, thence to the lower one. The building is circular, ten feet in diameter on the inside, and has a ten feet ceiling. The wall may be of brick or stone. If of brick, it need be but nine inches thick; if of stone, eighteen inches thick. The floor to be cemented on the earth. The building to be located below the spring, so that the water will flow through a pipe to the height of two feet nine inches above the floor of the dairy room. The water is received into one end and discharged at the other end of the sink in which the pans of milk are set. The sink is the shape of a horse-shoe, the opening at the heel being placed in front of the door. I provide the lower escapes for air, by inserting in a building of the size described, eight two-inch glazed draining tiles, equally spaced around the building. The tiles should not project within or without the walls, and should be set just below the sink. There should be a space of one inch between the inner wall and the sink, that the air may have free passage over and behind the sink, to the openings in the wall, and to prevent the heat from being conducted from the wall to the sink. The eaves of the roof should project two feet six inches, and the boards with which the projection is ceiled on the under side, should be laid with a space of three-eighths of an inch between them, as these are the ingress It is of iron, eighteen inches wide at the top, openings for air. By this arrangement the and thirteen inches at the bottom, and twenty-air is taken into the space between the roof six feet long. It is supported on iron brackets, set in the wall of the building, two feet six inches from the floor, and being circular in form, and surrounding the interior of the building, is most conveniently located. In the absence of both bricks and stones, it may be a double frame building, with an air space between the two frames. In the use of a frame building, it should be constructed by laying two foundation walls, with a four-inch air space between them, which should extend at least two feet below the surface of the ground, as it is at that point that the heat is conducted into the building more than at any other. The outer foundation wall should be laid at least eight inches above the surface of the ground. The floor should be built the same as in the brick or stone structure. The exterior of the building may be lathed and plastered, or sided with boards. In either case, the side of the outer studs should be lathed and plastered before the inner ones are erected, and the interior should be neatly plastered and lime-washed. and the ceiling of the room, where all dust that may be floating in it will be deposited before it descends into the dairy through the opening in the centre of the ceiling, where the air is admitted through an ornamental iron lattice, two feet in diameter. In the downward passage of the air towards the egress openings, it is required to pass over all the milk in the sink, equally, which is of great importance. A circular marble table is set in the middle of the room on a single iron column, set in the cement floor. On this table the milk is skimmed and the butter worked. If arranged thus, this building will be egraph. |