680 REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF AGRICULTURE. © 
As cultivated in these countries, the seeds are sown early in spring, in drills 6 
inches apart, and the plants thinned to 2 inches apart in the rows. It is a slow- 
growing, slender-stemmed plant, requiring frequent hoeing to keep weeds from de- 
stroying it. Much care is required im harvesting, as the seeds fall off easily ; birds 
are fond of it when it isopening. In some countries the seeds are fed to race horses, 
as they are said to strengthen muscle without being fattening. No doubt the pliant 
will grow well in Maryland. Probably there would be but little profit in its pro- 
duction. This can only be ascertained from a practical experiment. 
TREE-PLANTING. 
J. R. E., Farrrax County, VA. 
The question as to the best time to plant shade trees or apple and pear trees has 
been discussed at our club meeting. Some prefer fall planting because the soil be- 
comes well settled about the roots before spring and the trees do much better than 
those planted in the spring; others maintain that fall planting has no advantages, 
but on the contrary they have lost trees which were set out just before winter set 
in, and consider spring planting to be more reliable. Can the Department of Agri- 
culture advise us of the results and conclusions reached on these points ? 
Answer.—Fali planting is preferable to spring planting because the conditions of 
the soil and climate are then most favorable. In propagating plants by cuttings it 
is found that rooting is most successful when the bed in which the cuttings are in- 
serted is 15° or 20° warmer than the atmosphere surrounding them. The heated 
soil encourages the formation of roots, while the cool temperature prevents bud 
growths. When these conditions are reversed the cutting will grow fora time with- 
out forming roots. 
_ it is found that during the month of October in this locality the soil averages 
several degrees warmer than the atmosphere. This gives a kind of natural hot-bed 
into which we place a newly removed tree, the formation of young roots com- 
mences at once, and ina few weeks a good system of roots are established, enabling 
the tree to stand the vicissitudes of winter and make an early and vigorous start 
the following spring. 
if planting is delayed until spring these physical conditions of soil and atmos- 
phere are to a certain degree reversed; the soil is then cold and accumulates heat 
slowly, while the air rapidly increases in warmth. Trees planted at this time will 
have the buds excited to growth, and leaves will be formed in advance of the 
roots; these extract sap from the branches and stem of the tree, which as yet has 
no active roots to supply this demand. If the weather proves to be dry and warm 
the evaporation will either destroy the tree or greatly check its growth and well- 
doing. This is the reason why spring-planted trees occasionally come out into leaf, 
apparently vigorous and healthy, but will suddenly wither and die under the in- 
fluence of dry weather. : 
From the above it will appear evident that fall planting should be performed as 
soon as the Jeaves drop. In fact it is most successful when the leaves are stripped 
from the trees, not later than the middle of October, and planting done at once. If 
delayed beyond the middle of November in this locality success will be less certain 
and none of the advantages of fall planting secured. Many failures occur by thus 
delaying the work, and fall planting is denounced as wrong in practice. 
PEAR BLIGHT. 
J. D., KANSAS. 
What effect has the stock on pear blight? The original Kieffer tree is said to be 
free from blight, and for years it was claimed that all Kieffers were blight-proof, 
yet of late years we have undoubtable evidence that they do blight. Now, why this 
change? Is it from foreign sap introduced into the tree through the budding and 
grafting? First, it was budded on the common pear stock, then cions from that 
were grafted on another, andso the process was continued until the original sap, we 
might say, has all been worked out, and as a consequence we have blight. 
The Le Conte pear was claimed to be exempt from blight, yet we find in late years 
that it has blighted. Those who profess to know say that there has never been a 
case of blight on any tree that can be traced back to the original tree cuttings, but 
the blight is only on trees which have been grafted. 
