A Treatise on Domestic Economy Part 27

_White._ *White Petunia, _tr._, White Clarkia, Double White Jacobaea, Love in a Mist.

_Red._ *Lavatera trimestris, Red Zinnia, Malva miniata.

_Lilac and Purple._ Globe Amaranthus, Purple Sweet Sultan, Sweet Scabious, Purple Zinnia, Prince's Feather, Large Blue Lupine, *Catchfly.

TWO FEET AND UPWARDS.

_White._ Winged Ammobium, *White Lavatera, White Sweet Sultan, *New White Eternal Flower, White Helicrysum, *White Larkspur.

_Yellow._ Golden Bartonia, *Golden Coreopsis, Yellow Sweet Sultan, African Marigold, Yellow Argemone, French Marigold, Yellow c.o.xcomb, Yellow Hibiscus.

The Malope grandiflora and the Cleome are fine tall annuals.

_Climbing Plants._

The following are the most beautiful _annual climbers_: Crimson, and White, Cypress Vine; White, and Buff, Thunbergia; Scarlet Flowering Bean; Hyacinth Bean Loasa; Morning Glory; Crimson, and Spotted, Nasturtium; Balloon Vine; Sweet Pea; Tangier Pea; Lord Anson's Pea; Climbing Cobaea; Pink, and White, Maurandia.

The following are the most valuable _perennial climbers_: Sweet-scented Monthly Honeysuckle; Yellow, White, and Coral, Honeysuckles; Purple Glycine; Clematis; Bitter Sweet; Trumpet Creeper.

The Everlasting Pea is a beautiful perennial climber. The Climbing Cobaea, and Pa.s.sion Flower, are also beautiful perennials, but must be protected in Winter.

_Perennials._

Those who cannot afford every year to devote the time necessary to the raising of annuals, will do well to supply their borders with perennials. The following is a list of some of those generally preferred.

Adonis, yellow; Columbine, all colors; Alyssum, yellow; Asclepias, orange and purple; Bee Larkspur, blue; Perennial Larkspur, all colors; Cardinal Flower, scarlet; Chinese Pink, various colors; Clove Pink; Foxglove, purple and white; Gentian, purple and yellow; Hollyhock, various colors; *Lily of the Valley; American Phlox, various colors; Scarlet Lychnis; Monkshood, white and blue; *Spirea, white, and pink; *Ragged Robin, pink; Rudbeckia, yellow, and purple; Sweet William, in variety. Those marked with a star cannot be obtained from seed, but must be propagated by roots, layers, &c.

_Herbaceous Roots._

These are such as die to the root, in the Fall, and come up again in the Spring, such as Paeonies, crimson, white, sweet-scented, and straw-colored; Artemisia, of many colors; White and Purple Fleur-de-lis; White, Tiger, Fire, and other Lilies; Little Blue Iris; Chrysanthemums, &c. These are propagated by dividing the roots.

_Shrubs._

The following are the finest _Shrubs for yards_: Lilacs, (which, by budding, can have white and purple on the same tree,) Double Syringas, Double Althaeas, Corchorus j.a.ponicus, Snow-berry, Double-flowering Almond, Pyrus j.a.ponica, Common Barberry, Burning Bush, Rose Acacia, Yellow Laburnum. The following are the finest Roses: Moss Rose, White, and Red; Double and Single Yellow Rose, (the last needs a gravelly soil and northern exposure;) Yellow Multiflora; La Belle Africana; Small Eglantine, for borders; Champney's Blush Rose; Noisette; Greville, (very fine;) Damask; Blush, White, and Cabbage Roses. Moss Roses, when budded on other rose bushes, last only three years.

_Shade Trees._ The following are among the finest: Mountain Ash; Ailanthus, or Tree of Heaven, (grows very fast;) Tulip Tree; Linden; Elm; Locust; Maple; Dog Wood; Horse Chestnut; Catalpa; Hemlock; Silver Fir; and Cedar. These should be grouped, in such a manner that trees of different shades of green, and of different heights, should stand in the same group.

The Autumn is the best time for transplanting trees. Take as much of the root, as possible, especially the little fibres, which should never become dry. If kept long, before they are set out, put wet moss around them, and water them. Dig holes, larger than the extent of the roots; let one person hold the tree in its former position, and another place the roots, carefully, as they were before, cutting off any broken or wounded root. _Be careful not to let the tree be more than an inch deeper than it was before._ Let the soil be soft, and well manured; shake the tree, as the soil is shaken in, that it may mix well among the small fibres. Do not tread the earth down, while filling the hole; but, when it is full, raise a slight mound, of, say, four inches, and then tread it down. Make a little basin, two inches deep, around the stem, to hold water, and fill it. Never cut off leaves nor branches, unless some of the roots are lost. Tie the trees to a stake, and they will be more likely to live. Water them often.

_On the Care of House-Plants._

The soil of house-plants should be renewed every year, as previously directed. In Winter, they should be kept as dry as they can be without wilting. Many house-plants are injured by giving them too much water, when they have little light and fresh air. This makes them grow spindling. The more fresh air, warmth, and light, they have, the more water is needed. They ought not to be kept very warm in Winter, nor exposed to great changes of atmosphere. Forty degrees is a proper temperature for plants in Winter, when they have little sun and air.

When plants have become spindling, cut off their heads, entirely, and cover the pot in the earth, where it has the morning sun, only. A new and flouris.h.i.+ng head will spring out. Few house-plants can bear the sun at noon. When insects infest plants, set them in a closet, or under a barrel, and burn tobacco. The smoke kills any insect enveloped in it.

When plants are frozen, cold water, and a gradual restoration of warmth, are the best remedies. Never use very cold water for plants, at any season.

FOOTNOTE:

[T] His 'Farmers' Companion' was written expressly for the larger series of 'THE SCHOOL LIBRARY,' issued by the publishers of this volume.

CHAPTER x.x.xV.

ON THE PROPAGATION OF PLANTS.

Bulbous roots are propagated by offsets; some growing on the top, others around the sides. Many plants are propagated by cutting off twigs, and setting them in earth, so that two or three eyes are covered. To do this, select a side shoot, ten inches long, two inches of it, being of the preceding year's growth, and the rest, the growth of the season when it is set out. Do this, when the sap is running, and put a piece of crockery at the bottom of the shoot, when it is buried. One eye, at least, must be under the soil. Water it, and shade it in hot weather.

Plants are also propagated by layers. To do this, take a shoot, which comes up near the root, bend it down, so as to bring several eyes under the soil, leaving the top above ground. If the shoot be cut half through, in a slanting direction, at one of these eyes, before burying it, the result is more certain. Roses, honeysuckles, and many other shrubs, are readily propagated thus. They will generally take root, by being simply buried; but cutting them, as here directed, is the best method. Layers are more certain than cuttings. For all woody plants, budding and grafting are favorite methods of propagation. In all such plants, there is an outer and inner bark; the latter containing the sap vessels, in which the nourishment of the tree ascends.

The success of grafting, or inoculating, consists in so placing the bud or graft, that the sap vessels of the inner bark shall exactly join those of the plant into which they are grafted, so that the sap may pa.s.s from one into the other.

The following are directions for _budding_, which may be performed at any time from July to September.

Select a smooth place, on the stock into which you are to insert the bud. Make a horizontal cut, across the rind, through to the firm wood; and from the middle of this, make a slit downward, perpendicularly, an inch or more long, through to the wood. Raise the bark of the stock, on each side of the perpendicular cut, for the admission of the bud, as is shown in the annexed engraving, (Fig. 40.) Then take a shoot of this year's growth, and slice from it a bud, taking an inch below and an inch above it, and some portion of the wood under it. Then carefully slip off the woody part, under the bud. Examine whether the eye or gem of the bud be perfect. If a little hole appears in that part, the bud has lost its root, and another must be selected. Insert the bud, so that _a_, of the bud, shall pa.s.s to a, of the stock; then _b_, of the bud, must be cut off, to match the cut, b, in the stock, and fitted exactly to it, as it is this alone which insures success. Bind the parts, with fresh ba.s.s, or woollen yarn, beginning a little below the bottom of the perpendicular slit, and winding it closely round every part, except just over the eye of the bud, until you arrive above the horizontal cut. Do not bind it too tightly, but just sufficient to exclude air, sun, and wet. This is to be removed, after the bud is firmly fixed, and begins to grow.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 40.]

Seed-fruit can be budded into any other seed-fruit, and stone-fruit into any other stone-fruit; but stone and seed-fruits, cannot be thus mingled.

Rose bushes can have a variety of kinds budded into the same stock.

Hardy roots are the best stocks. The branch above the bud, must be cut off, the next March or April after the bud is put in. Apples and pears, are more easily propagated by ingrafting, than by budding.

Ingrafting is a similar process to budding, with this advantage; that it can be performed on large trees, whereas budding can be applied only on small ones. The two common kinds of ingrafting, are whip-grafting, and split-grafting. The first kind is for young trees, and the other for large ones.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 41.]

The time for ingrafting, is from May to October. The cuttings must be taken from horizontal shoots, between Christmas and March, and kept in a damp cellar. In performing the operation, cut off, in a sloping direction, (as seen in Fig. 41,) the tree or limb to be grafted. Then cut off, in a corresponding slant, the slip to be grafted on. Then put them together, so that the inner bark of each shall match, exactly, on one side, and tie them firmly together, with woollen yarn. It is not essential that both be of equal size; if the bark of each meet together exactly on _one_ side, it answers the purpose. But the two must not differ much, in size. The slope should be an inch and a half, or more, in length. After they are tied together, the place should be covered with a salve or composition of beeswax and rosin. A mixture of clay and cowdung will answer the same purpose. This last must be tied on with a cloth. Grafting is more convenient than budding, as grafts can be sent from a great distance; whereas buds must be taken in July or August, from a shoot of the present year's growth, and cannot be sent to any great distance.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 42.]

This engraving, (Fig. 42,) exhibits the mode called stock-grafting; _a_, being the limb of a large tree which is sawed off and split, and is to be held open by a small wedge, till the grafts are put in. A graft, inserted in the limb, is shown at _b_, and at _c_, is one not inserted, but designed to be put in at _d_, as two grafts can be put into a large stock. In inserting the graft, be careful to make the edge of the inner bark of the graft meet exactly the edge of the inner bark of the stock; for on this, success depends. After the grafts are put in, the wedge must be withdrawn, and the whole of the stock be covered with the thick salve or composition before mentioned, reaching from where the grafts are inserted, to the bottom of the slit. Be careful not to knock or move the grafts, after they are put in.

_Pruning._

The following rules for pruning, are from a distinguished horticulturist. Prune off all dead wood, and all the little twigs on the main limbs. Retrench branches, so as to give light and ventilation to the interior of the tree. Select the straight and perpendicular shoots, which give little or no fruit, while those which are most nearly horizontal, and somewhat curving, give fruit abundantly, and of good quality. Superfluous and ill-placed buds may be rubbed off, at any time; and no buds, pus.h.i.+ng out after Midsummer, should be spared. In choosing between shoots to be retained, preserve the lowest placed; and, on lateral shoots, those which are nearest the origin. When branches cross each other, so as to rub, remove one or the other. Remove all suckers from the roots of trees or shrubs. Prune after the sap is in full circulation, (except in the case of grapes,) as the wounds then heal best. Some think it best to prune before the sap begins to run.

Pruning-shears, and a pruning-pole, with a chisel at the end, can be procured of those who deal in agricultural utensils.

_Thinning._