1877 



AND EOBTIGULTURIST. 



79 



first the lower limbs. Do not puzzle or torment 

 your wits by gazing up into that maze of smoth- 

 ering, cross-riding, gnarled and tangled growths, 

 but climb up through the centre of the tree to 

 its top, stopping to cut out only those inward 

 tending branches that block your way. As you 

 go up, look studiously out on the work to follow. 

 When you have reached the top, overlook its 

 very scalp locks. Begin and cut away around 

 the circuit of the head every limb that chafes and 

 smothers its better neighbor beside or below. 

 To give pathway to the sun and air, take out any 

 under limb that crow^ding upward or starting 

 from the same foothold, worries its fellow with 

 the clutter of dense shade or rubbing in the 

 wind. As you thus, step by step, make the cir- 

 cuit of its crowai, a keener and larger sense will 

 come to you of just what is to be done on your 

 tree to leaf and bough, to insure you healthy and 

 useful growth, and perfect fruit. 



Next, go down to the second plot of limbs from 

 top — not that they grow like pines in regular 

 tiers, but for the purpose of your work you may 

 so regard them. Thus you will finish as you go 

 downward the whole circuit of each grade. In 

 each you will perhaps find limbs which your 

 work above has opened to the sunshine and the 

 breeze, or which you found so placed and des- 

 tined to remain. Don't worry over such, more 

 than to rid them of anything molesting their inde- 

 pendent growth ; but every wheje cut away tan- 

 gles, cross-riders, and all such limbs as disturb 

 the vigorous outward stretch of others, or shut 

 out light, or smother with heavy shade. Strive 

 to leave each branch chosen to stay, in some 

 sense, like a miniature tree, bending toward the 

 open space by itself, and independently. Thus 

 treated, your fruit trees will become a pride and 

 pleasure, and most richly repay a work ofttimes 

 seemingly harsh and puzzling. But if we began 

 right pruning in the youth of our trees, and fol- 

 lowed it up year by year, striving for a clean 

 limbed, open head, we should never need to face 

 the job which a long neglected tree presents. 

 Pruning is needed, because a fruit tree is not 

 grown for fuel or timber, but simply for the 

 healthful luscious product of its fruit. 



THE TOMATO SEASON PROLONGED. 



BY H. W. RAVENEL, AIKEN, S. C. 



T see an article in your January number from 

 Gen. \V. H. Noble, of Bridgeport, Conn., giving 

 his method of keeping tomatoes after frost. I 



have been practicing the same method almost 

 identically for twelve or fifteen years past, and 

 always successfully, keeping them sometimes aa- 

 late as February. Our tomatoes begin to ripen 

 here about the beginning of July ; so we have a 

 six months season, by laying in a good supply 

 in November. 



In order to insure a good Fall crop, I always 

 sow a second crop of seed about the end of June. 

 These will come into bearing (ripening) about 

 the end of September or early in October. By 

 frost (say first of November) the vines are full 

 of fruit in all stages of growth. When a killing 

 frost is expected, I pick in all the fruit, even 

 those that are half grown, spread them out care- 

 fully in some dry place, where they can be used 

 as they ripen. In our latitude almost any room 

 in the house will answ'er the purpose. It is only 

 necessary that the fruit should not freeze. I 

 kept them many years on the floor of a base- 

 ment room, where the temperature was always 

 above the freezing point. Last year I had them 

 in a cold pit covered with glass, but found that 

 was too warm, as the fruit ripened too rapidly, 

 and w-as all done before Christmas. 



The full grown fruit will ripen perfectly, of 

 fine color and good flavor; those only half- 

 grown will also ripen, but of course are not as 

 well flavored, nor as richly colored. 



Whilst on th.e subject, I will state that the po- 

 tato fungus (Peronospora infestans) almost in- 

 variably attacks the leaves of the second crop 

 of tomatoes, not, however, to injure, materially 

 the production ; but I have never seen any 

 trace of the fungus on the first crop of tomatoes 

 or on the potato leaves in this region. 



EDITORIAL NOTES. 



Fruit of the Black Hills. — A correspondent 

 of the Louisville Courier-Journal, says, The wild 

 Strawberries, Kaspberries, Gooseberries and Cur- 

 rants, are very fine there. The Choke cherry is 

 the only wild cherry, and though the grape-vine 

 grows very large, nothing is said of their excel- 

 lence. 



RossiGNOLD — A Good French Apple. — M. Paul 

 Belleste of Rouen, France, while writing to the 

 publisher in reference to his subscription to the 

 Gardener's Monthly, speaks in high praise of the 

 "Rossignold" apple. He says, "It is magnifi- 



