302 



THE GARDENER'S MONTHLY 



[October, 



ditch or furrow to carry away the surface water. 

 On the plan of annual surface dressing which we 

 have outlined, the feeding roots will thus always 

 keep above the level of standing water; and 

 when they can do this it will not hurt the trees 

 even though the tap roots are immersed in water 

 for a half year. 



Now, there are some parts of the country 

 where the soil is cool, other parts where ma- 

 nures for top dressing are scarce, others where 

 vegetables among trees would be very profitable 

 in comparison with a crop of hay, or perhaps 

 occasionally some very good reason why the 

 outlines here sketched out should be departed 

 from. Successful fruit culture does not consist 

 in following any person's plan, but in having 

 judgment enough to make a good rule bend to 

 suit the circumstances about one, or the special 

 object desired. 



Celery as it grows will require earthing up, 

 and Endive successively blanched ; but the 

 main business of the month will be preparations 

 for housing the root crops for the winter. Beets 

 are generally the first thing attended to, they 

 being the most easily injured by frost; carrots 

 salsify and parsnips following. The latter are 

 never really good until they have been well 

 frozen; and many leave them entirely in the 

 ground, taking them up as wanted for use. We 

 prefer taking them all up and packing them in 

 sand or half dried loam, in a shed or cellar, 

 which may be kept just above freezing point; 

 yet the cooler the better. If sufi"ered to be in heaps 

 they heat and soon rot. In the same situation 

 Endive and Cape Brocoli may be preserved to 

 the end of the year ; they are taken up with a 

 small quantity of earth adhering to them, and 

 placed side by-side together. Tomatoes, if dug 

 up also, and suspended, roots upward, in such a 

 situation will keep good a long time ; but this 

 must be done before the least frost has touched 

 them. It is a wise plan to sow a little more 

 Early York Cabbage early in the month, as in 

 fine mild winters the September sowing grows 

 too forward when protected. A very slight pro- 

 tection is better for them than any elaborate 

 aifair, the sun principally injuring them. The 

 same remarks apply to Lettuce intended to be 

 kept over winter for spring use, though the sun 

 is less destructive to them than to the cabbage. 

 But many good growers who have no interest in 

 being extra early, do not sow early cabbage till 

 Spring. 



COMMUNICA TIONS. 



PROTECTION OF TREES FROM THE SUN. 



Read before the Nurserymen's Convention, al Chicago, 

 June 17, 1880. 



Br CHAS. D. ZIMMERMAN, BUFFALO, N. Y. 



Trees suffer more from the effects of the sun, 

 directly and indirectl.y, than the majority of tree- 

 planters will acknowledge or comprehend. Very 

 ; often the unhealthy condition of trees is attrib- 

 • uted to various causes, such as "poor stock" — 

 fault of the nurseryman — soil, insects, etc. ; 

 whereas the first cause of trouble is improper ex- 

 posure to the sun. Young trees are trimmed up 

 by cutting off all the side branches by the nur- 

 seryman in order to give the tree a good appear- 

 ance, which is very well as long as the tree re- 

 mains in the nursery, for there it is protected 

 by its neighbors ; but when set out in orchard 

 rows, the long smooth stem will suffer more or 

 less by the exposure to the sudden changes of 

 temperature caused by the sun, and unless well 

 staked are very apt to lean over from the winds, 

 in which condition the sun's rays strike the tree 

 more directly, causing the bark on the exposed 

 side to decay, and making it attractive to insects. 

 Apple trees in this condition are very sure to be 

 attacked by the flat-headed borer (Chrysobothris 

 femorata, Lee.) The insects and sun together 

 soon ruin a tree. 



In reference to Apple trees especially, I think 

 they would be healthier and longer lived if we 

 would copy after nature more than we do. For 

 example, if we allow an Apple tree to grow up 

 from seed, never turning or crowding it, we will 

 have nothing more than a large bush ; but, you 

 may depend upon it, there will be no sun-burn 

 on that tree, there will be no flat headed borers, 

 no sap-sprouts, it will not lean at an angle of 45° 

 from the wind ; and if on average good soil, will 

 be a perfectly healthy and long-lived tree. 



Now I do not propose that we should grow our 

 trees in this wa^', but I do think that we might 

 come a little nearer having perfect and healthy 

 trees by elevating the art of tree pruning and by 

 copying to a greater extent from nature. Dr. 

 John A. Warder says, in one of his works, speak- 

 ing of nature's pruning : "She prunes and trains 

 magnificently, and gives 'us models for imita- 

 tion." 



As far as I have observed, in nature the 

 healthiest trees are those on which the side 

 branches have been allowed to grow. When a 

 grove of trees grow up by an undisturbed effort 



