HORTICULTURE. 337 



agency, it is sufficient to report the fact, that out of fifty varieties of American peaches 

 grown in the gardens at Chiswick, England, only two were adapted to the climate. 



In relation to appropriate fertilizers for fruit-trees, a diversity of opinion prevails. All 

 agree that certain substances exist in plants and trees, and that these must be contained 

 in the soil to produce growth, elaboration, and perfection. To supply these, some advocate 

 the use of what are termed special manures ; others ridicule the idea. We submit whether 

 this is not a difference in language rather than in principle ; for by special fertilizers, the 

 first mean simply those which correspond with the constituents of the crop. But are not 

 the second careful to select and apply manures which contain those elements ? And do they 

 not, in practice, affix the seal of their approbation to the theory which they oppose ? Ex- 

 plode this doctrine, and do you not destroy the principle of manuring and the necessity of a 

 rotation of crops ? Trees exhaust the soil of certain ingredients, and, like animals, must 

 have their appropriate food. All know how difficult it is to make a fruit-tree flourish on the 

 6pot from which an old tree of the same species has been removed. 



The great practical question now agitating the community is, How shall we ascertain 

 what fertilizing elements are appropriate to a particular species of vegetation ? To this, 

 two replies are rendered : some say, analyze the crop ; others, the soil. Each, we think, 

 maintains a truth, and, both together, nearly the whole truth. We need the analysis of the 

 crop to teach us its ingredients, and that of the soil to ascertain whether it contains these 

 ingredients, and, if it does not, what fertilizers must be applied to supply them. Thus, by 

 analysis, we learn that nearly one-quarter part of the constituents of the pear, the grape, 

 and the strawberry consists of potash. This abounds in new soils, and peculiarly adapts 

 them to the production of these fruits ; but having been extracted from soils long under 

 cultivation, it is supplied by wood-ashes or potash, the value of which has of late greatly 

 increased in the estimation of cultivators. — Annual Address before the Pomological Conven- 

 tion, by Marshall P. Wilder. 



Improvements in Raising Fruit-Trees. 



A Bohemian arboriculturist has successfully introduced a new mode of planting. Instead 

 of using the process of grafting, he takes an offshoot of any fruit-tree — an apple-tree, for in- 

 stance — and plants it in a potato, both being carefully placed in the soil, so that five or six 

 inches of the shoot shall be above the ground. This latter takes root, grows with rapidity, 

 and produces the finest of fruit. — Maine Farmer. 



On the Gathering and Preservation of Fruits. 



Next in importance to the ability to grow any given crop successfully, is a knowledge of 

 the means and appliances that are best adapted to preserve it in its best condition for future 

 use and sale. It is not the mark of a prudent farmer to suffer his grain to be damaged for 

 want of storage ; neither is it wise for any one who has fruit to gather and assort for market, 

 to permit ill-judged haste to bruise the tender cells or mar the external appearance and 

 form. Much has been said on the imperative necessity of not allowing apples, or any fruits de- 

 signed for long keeping, to receive even the slightest bruise or indentation. Why this necessity 

 for preserving the delicate cellular tissue intact, will be evident if we consider for a moment 

 the reasons therefor. The juices of all fruits are contained in cells ; and it is by the growth 

 and aggregation of these cells, protected by their external covering, that fruit attains its 

 ultimate size. When fruits have attained their full growth and development — or become 

 ripe, as we say — the laws of vitality are suspended, except as relates to the preservation of 

 the seed ; and the ever-active agencies of chemical decomposition are ready to commence their 

 work, and thus continue the ceaseless round of productipn and decay. 



So long as the temperature is kept below the germinating point, or below the degree at 

 which decomposition commences, and the natural moisture inherent in itself is not permitted 

 to escape, many fruits may be kept in all their freshness for a long time ; but in how many 

 instances are all these conditions a perfect blank ! Go into our orchards, and observe care- 



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