A FEW WORDS ON FRXnT CULTURE. 



nothing but deeper cultivation, and a closer attention to the inorganic necessities of 

 vegetable growth, -will enable the orchardists of that state long to hold their ground in 

 the production of good fruit. At the present moment, the peaches of Cincinnati and 

 Rochester are far superior, both in beauty and flavor, to those of New- York market 

 — though in quantity the latter beats the world. The consequence is, that we shall 

 soon find the peaches of Lake Ontario outselling those of Long-Island and New-Jer- 

 sey in the same market, unless the orchardists of the latter state abandon Malagatunes 

 and the yellows, and shallow ploughing. 



The fruit that most completely baffles general cultivation in the United States, is 

 the plum. It is a tree that grows and blossoms well enough in all parts of the coun- 

 try — but almost everywhere it has for its companion the curculio, the most destructive 

 and the least vulnerable of all enemies to fniit. In certain parts of the Hudson, of 

 central New-York, and at the west, where the soil is a stiff fat clay, the curculio finds 

 such poor quarters in the soil, and the tree thrives so well, that the fruit is most deli- 

 cious. But in light, sandy soils its culture is only an aggravation to the gardener. 

 In such sites, here and there only a tree escapes, which stands in some pavement or 

 some walk forever hard by the pressure of constant passing. No method has proved 

 effectual but placing the trees in the midst of the pig and poultry-yard — and notwith- 

 standing the numerous remedies that have been proposed in our pages since the com- 

 mencement of this work, this proves the only one that has not failed more frequently 

 than it has succeeded. 



The multiplication of insects seems more rapid, if possible, than that of gardens 

 and orchards in this country. Everywhere the culture of fruit appears, at first sight, 

 the easiest possible matter, and really would be, were it not for some insect pest that 

 stands ready to devour and destroy. In countries where the labor of women and 

 children is applied, at the rate of a few cents a day, to the extermination of insects, it 

 is comparatively easy to keej) the latter under control. But nobody can afford to catch 

 the curculios and other beetles at the price of a dollar a day for labor. The entomo- 

 logists ought, therefore, to explain to us some natural laws which have been violated 

 to bring upon us such an insect scourge — or at least point out to us some cheap way 

 of calling in nature to our aid, in getting rid of the vagrants. For our own part, we 

 fully believe that it is to the gradual decrease of small birds — ^partly from, the destruc- 

 tion of our forests, but mainly from the absence of laws against that vagabond race of 

 unfledged sportsmen who shoot sparrows when they ought to be planting corn, that 

 this inordinate increase of insects is to be attributed. Nature intended the small birds 

 to be maintained by the destruction of insects, and if the former are wantonly destroy- 

 ed, our crops, both of the field and gardens, must pay the penalty. If the boys must 

 indulge their spirit of liberty by shooting soviething innocent, it would be better for 

 us husbandmen and gardeners to subscribe and get some French masters of the arts 

 of domestic sports, to teach them how to bring their light artillery to bear upon Bull- 

 frogs. It would be a gain to the whole agricultural community — of more national 

 importance than the preservation of the larger birds by the game laws 



