1880. 



AND HORTICULTURIST. 



109 



into three-inch pots. They will be nice plants 

 by the first week in May. Rotten wood suits 

 cucumbers and the squash tribe exceedingly well 

 as a manure. Tomatoes and egg-plants that are 

 desired very early are best potted, soon after they 

 come up, into small pots. They can then be 

 turned out into the open air without any check 

 to their roots. Of course, they should be gradu- 

 ally inured to the open air — not suddenly trans- 

 ferred from a warm and moist air to a very dry 

 one. 



Early York cabbage for early use should be 

 set out early in this mouth. An excellent plan 

 is to make the holes with a dibble first, where 

 the cabbage is to be set ; then fill the holes with 

 manure-water ; and after the water is soaked 

 away, set in the plants. It is rather more 

 laborious than the old way, but the cabbage 

 grows so fast afterwards that it pays pretty well. 



Celery is an important crop, and should be 

 sown about this period. A rich moist spot 

 shaded from the mid-day sun, should be chosen ; 

 or a box in a frame, if convenient. 



Bean-poles may be planted preparatory to 

 sovving the Lima bean in May. Where bean- 

 poles are scarce, two or three hoop-poles, set 

 into the ground, and tied together at the top, 

 make as good a pole, and perhaps better. 



Dwarf beans should have very warm and 

 deep soil — sow them only two inches apart. 

 The Valentine is yet the best early, take it all 

 in all. 



Peas should be sown every two weeks for a 

 succession — do not make the soil very rich for 

 them. 



COMMUNICA TIONS. 



NON PRODUCTION OF FRUIT TREES. 

 WHAT ARE THE CAUSES? 



Read before Penna. Fruit Growers' Association, Jan. 22d, 1880. 



BY H. M. ENGLE, MAKIETTA, PA. 



I am well aware that this question is easier 

 asked than answered. There are no doubt vari- 

 ous causes of unproductiveness, but I wish to 

 call the attention of fruit growers to a custom 

 that may have such effect. I apprehend noth- 

 ing else than to be pronounced heterodox on 

 pomology,; but as orthodoxy is sometimes forced 

 to change base, it may be counted in as ortho- 

 dox some day. It is also true, that it is easier 

 to controvert a theory than to prove or estab- 

 lish it. Has it ever occurred to nurserymen and 

 fruit growers, that the cutting of scions from 



nursery rows for root grafting for a succession of 

 years tends to strengthen .simply wood growth, 

 and at the same time weakens the tendency to 

 productiveness, or at least retards it? I refer 

 more particularly to apples and pears, as 

 peaches frequently form fruit buds in nursery 

 rows one year old from bud ; the departure 

 therefore can not be so great as in some other 

 fruits. For the sake of counter argument I 

 will admit that the custom of cutting scions 

 from nursery rows has been practiced for many 

 years, but at the same time a large proportion 

 of scions has also been taken from bearing 

 trees, hence the difficulty of proving such a 

 theory if it were correct. To test this question 

 thoroughly would require many years of ex- 

 perimenting. Experience has taught nursery- 

 men that scions cut from young thrift}' trees, 

 whether in nursery or orchard, when grafted 

 will make more vigorous trees than when taken 

 from old bearing trees. 



Fruit growers also know that generally the 

 most vigorous growers are more tardy bearers 

 than those of slow growth. We know very well 

 that some varieties bear earlier than others, but 

 it must be admitted that not unfrequently trees 

 of the same variety purchased from the same 

 nursery, and planted in the same orchard side 

 by side, at the same time, do not make uniform 

 growth nor bear uniform crops. That there 

 should be uniformity in every respect could 

 hardly be expected, but the results are oftimes 

 as opposite as of two varieties ; one will go into 

 fruiting early, while another is tardy ; or one 

 will bear regular crops, while another will bear 

 only alternate years. 



Now, there must be a cause, or causes for all 

 this. Is there any other theory more plausible 

 to account for these differences ? There are 

 numerous instances in both vegetable and ani- 

 mal kingdoms which confirm the theory of 

 variations in nature. Take for instance all the 

 present varieties of maize, wnich doubtless de- 

 scended from one parent, of which there are 

 now possibly more than a hundred, and yet 

 many so unlike each other as they well could be 

 made, and still all retain the original character 

 so far as it can be traced back. It is conceded 

 that the comparison is not quite fair where 

 changes are produced by seed selection. But 

 take the potato, which can, and has been mate- 

 rially changed by selection of tubers. For in- 

 stance by selecting such as ripen earliest for a 

 term of years, we may have the same variety 



