Vol. IV. 



\ great variety of experiments made in 

 Europe bv Knight, Van Mons, and riiAER, 

 Sn tlis country by B.el, K^-^^k -.d 

 others, have been made on the subject ot 

 tuning trees, though the results d.d not per- 

 fectly acrree on all points, yet they seem to 

 fally iustify the general conclusion that the 

 best time tor pruning trees is that period m 

 midsummer in which there ^PPe^f f/^f^^^" 

 tion of the sap's ascent, and which lasts i:ome 

 ■.hree or four weeks. Those who have paid 

 attention to the growth of trees must have 

 remarked that the period of nicrease is di- 

 vided into two seasons, during- the fi st ot 

 which, or the one most active the shoot, that 

 tbrm li-uit, flower, or seed buds are lormed , 

 and the otlier or later summer's growtli is 

 conSned to tlie shoots that produce wood buds 

 onlv "After the second growth is com-' 

 pieled, the efiects of the descending sap in 

 the formation of new bark is apparent m he 

 healino- up of new wounds, m parfs ot the 

 ctem o" branches, which now proceeds with 

 more activity than during any other season 

 of the year. Branches pruned oh sinoo h at 

 the stem, though the latter be young, liealtliy, 

 and containing a perfect pitch, bciore or 

 shortly after the completion of the mid-sum- 

 mer's o-rowth, do not produce shoots from the 

 ed<re ol- the wounds caused by their removal, 

 vhich always happens more or less, when 

 nruuino- is performed on free growmg trees 

 after the fall of the leaf, and before the full 

 development of the spring shoots and leaves 

 It is to be observod,however that the i-epio 

 duction of branches from the edge of the 

 wound is greatly assisted by leaving a por- 

 tion of the branch or shoot on the parerit 

 branch or stemr -[Treatise on Planting.-] 

 The end desired to be attained by the ope 

 ration of pruning must be kept steadily m 

 vllw, or injury instead of benefit may be he 

 result If the tree is mtended for timbei, the 

 leaves and buds that elaborate the sap, ano 

 increase the trunk by tlie formation ot an 

 annual circle of new wood, should be kept as ^ 

 far from the root as possible, as in this way] 

 only can the greatest quantity o t.mbe be 

 produced. In this case, the trunk should be I 

 kept free from branches, the leading shoot, 

 should carefully be preserved, and tlic toi_ 

 keptinacrowi/like form. Nature must h 

 followed in Uns respect, and the tall beauti 

 ful trunks of our native lorest trees will be 

 the result. For fruit, a low branching top, 

 sorend and exposed to the sun as widely as 

 canbe, is tobe preferred; and hence the lead- 

 ing shoot when the tree is at a proper heigl 

 must be carefully cut out, and the latuai 

 branches cut and pruned with direct rcler- 

 ence to this eftect. Fruit trees must be 



pruned frequently, or their tops becorne 

 woodv, close, and the fruit will necessarily 

 prove inferior.— Genesee Farmer. 



PlautiMg Potatoes. 



A writer in the Farmers' Register, on the 

 subiect of Vegetable Physiology, after de- 

 serting the structure and tunctions of the 

 roots of plants, proceeds as iollows.- Witl 

 these remarks, I will venture to propose what 

 I should consider the best plan tbr cultivating 

 notatoes. Let the ground be prepared m tlie 

 Eary way; lay the potatoes mthe bottom 

 of he burrow, and cover them to the depth 

 of three or four inches, with coarse manure 

 or leaves, and then with two or three mches 

 of earth. After the stalks are six or e ght 

 inches above ground, cover all ^^^^J^'^l 

 ends under in the same manner ; and perhai ■ 

 ?Ins process may be advantageously repeated 

 'bird time; after which they should be su!- 

 fe el to go' to seed. The first coverm. 

 should, unless the land be very nch con- i.t 

 n par of manure, in order to furnish nou • 

 shment to the plant ; the second and Unrd 

 may consist of straw or leaves, as the prm. .- 

 "il'object IS to keep the earth loose, and pro- 

 tect the tubers from the action ot the sun. 



Tlie Mercers not Mercers, UwtGilUies. 



Gilkies ought tobe the name of the favorite 

 nnratoes They are commonly cadcd, in Ite 

 SSadeiphia market, Mercers-frequently 

 also Neshannocks : and sometnnes, by cor- 

 ruption, Shannocks. I perceive also the 

 name Chenangoes (Shenangoes) applied in 

 some of the eastern papers 



All men reorct that Columbus was rolibed 

 of the honor of giving name to the world he 

 bestowed upon civilized man ; and a corres- 

 pondent regret actuates the writer inreler- 

 cnce to one^,f its chief products It >s now 

 too late to do honor due to the illu.tnons Ge- 

 noese navigator ; perhaps the agr.cultura 

 pre.<=s might yet peribrm an act of po^humous 

 nstice to the memory ot John Gdky. ins 

 iceil^the more desirable, because his blood 

 ha'^ ceased and must forever cease to t.ow m 

 the direct line-not a drop of it " hows m hu- 



""Tohn'oilky was educated for the Roman 

 Catholic ministry, but missed his way am 

 became one of the early sett ers ol ^ c i 

 county, Pcnn. He Lved a hermit, thiuK, 

 nearly Ibrty vears, in a cabm on the bauKol 

 Nesshannock creek, about five miles above its 

 imiction with the Shenango, ^J Newca^tK, 

 •riie writer remembers bun in 1806, then ao 

 old man. A few years after that he producedl 

 Soin eedthe justly celebrated Mercer poU- 

 o It spread in the neighborhood and a few 



