270 THE YEAR-BOOK OF AGRICULTURE. 



ner above described, and if it is evidently suffering, or likely to suffer, for want of moisture, 

 how is it to be applied, except through the surface ? The mode is this : Draw away the 

 soil from around the stem of the tree with a spade or hoe until the roots are nearly reached, 

 and in such manner as to form a basin around it ; fill in water to the brim. An hour or so 

 afterwards, when the water has soaked thproughly away, draw back the dry soil forming the 

 brim of the basin to its former position, as lightly and without pressure as possible. It is all 

 the water it will require that season, if properly performed. And now that we have seen our 

 trees well planted, and those that need it afterwards well watered, how shall we proceed to 

 aid the soil in retaining the moisture supplied to it ? Simply by keeping the surface well 

 pulverized, and in the best condition of a non-conductor that we can bring it into ; but it is 

 necessary not to mistake what pulverization means. Stirring or "loosening up" a soil is not 

 pulverizing it, though often supposed to be. It is, however, the first step towards it. In 

 farming, the plow stirs up the soil ; the roller, or harrow, pulverizes. The hoe and the spade 

 are the gardener's plow; his feet form his roller, or clod-crusher. The operations of plow- 

 ing and rolling, and of loosening and pressing, in gardening should always go together ; and, 

 in relation to tree-planting, whenever a soil is getting hard, or in a " cakey" condition, it 

 should not only be hoed or stirred up, but, as soon as the loosened soil has become a little 

 dry, it should be pressed with the feet and crushed to atoms. 



This is the whole secret of the business. Get the soil once well encased round the roots 

 once well watered and all that is necessary afterwards is to keep the surface soil well pul- 

 verized ; that is, its little atoms well divided, in perfect dust, if you will ; and there will sel- 

 dom be a failure, if the tree be healthy otherwise. 



The Tamarind-tree in Virginia. 



WILLIAM M. SINGLETON, Esq., of Winchester, communicates the following to the Commis- 

 sioner of Patents : 



" Of all the ornamental trees propagated among us, either foreign or native, there is none, 

 in my judgment, more desirable than the tamarind. Its growth is rapid, its form symmetri- 

 cal, its foliage beautifully delicate, and it is altogether highly ornamental ; besides, it is per- 

 fectly free from blight, as well as from the depredations of insects. If cultivated on our 

 Western prairies, it would doubtless form a valuable acquisition. 



" From the growth of some tamarind-seeds which I obtained at a confectioner's shop some 

 eight years since, I have a tree standing in my yard eighteen inches in circumference. The 

 past season it perfected its fruit, which in quality was equally as good as that imported. 

 The seed may be sown in drills, about four inches apart, and covered from two to three 

 inches deep with light, rich soil. They may be sown either in the fall or spring. If 

 in the latter, they should be exposed to the weather during the winter previous, in order that 

 they may be acted on by the frost. When grown to a height of three or four feet, the young 

 trees may be transplanted to the sites where they are permanently to remain." 



On the Tapping of the Sugar-Maple, 



IN the spring of 1850, the following experiments were made under the direction of the 

 Agricultural Society of Bratleboro', Vermont: 



A committee, consisting of three persons, was appointed to ascertain by actual experiment 

 the proper size and depth of the bore in tapping the sugar-maple. They accordingly pro- 

 ceeded to test this question in the most thorough manner, using all sizes of bits, from half an 

 inch to an inch and a half in diameter, each making his experiment independently of the 

 others ; and the result of all was that no difference could be perceived, the half-inch giving as 

 much sap as any other. Each one also tapped several trees, setting two buckets to a tree, 

 with a single spile to each, but bored to different depths, from one to three and a half 

 inches ; and the results in this case were, in every instance when the weather was sufficiently 

 warm to thaw the tree through, that the flow of sap was in proportion to the depth of bore ; 



