1837] 



FA R M E R S' R 1] G I S T K R. 



35* 



From tlis Honicultiiral llegister. 

 BMGHT IN PEAR TKKl'IS. 



iJ/es,<!rs. Editors — Iti yaur last, Roiiister, T ob- 

 served ail article copii^d Iroiii tlio. "Farmers' Re- 

 gister," referring to tlie bliijlu in pear trees. Atiy 

 one that can disi-over a remedy lor liiat trouble- 

 some disease will deserve the thanks ot' the whole 

 horticultural world, and the sijirnestions of any 

 one are entitled to a fair trial. My experien 



Thorn ari'd one other, not l<nown. All hut the 

 Winter Thoin arc in the irarden, that is in the 

 yard; four years since, pan of the tree was jiialt- 

 e,d with the Seiddc and Rartlet, wliich did well 

 without blif^ht, while the rest, of the tree was 

 l)lit;htetl: this jiast season the whole top has been 

 cut otY and fjralted with other fruit, and irralls are, 

 doinir well without bli<rht, about sixty y^rafts have 



one are entitled to a lair trial, iviy experience, ''eon put m. 1 he tree duir round and niunured, a 

 however, leads me to differ from the conclusions 1 '•o'i^>^lt"''if''« quantity of soapsuds poured round 

 drawn bv Mr. Waikins, although I do not doubt i 'N and not a particle ol bli^rht yet to be seen.- 

 the facts he has stated. j I'^or years before the trees was not niiinured or 



(n'the first place, he concludes, from the fact, ' 'liiTired round, and to make the case more sinir,,.. 

 that two trees standin.-- in his yard, which had , lar, (he ground had been trodden during a numher 

 never been cultivated, not havinir been blighted, 1 of summers by a cow. 1 his tree is over thirty 

 and that some youmr trees, having been set out in a ' years old. I have long since made up my muid 

 ciiliivated spot" were blighted, that cultivation by ! ''^''^ f'O"'*^ '^""' o' pears are more liable to bliiiht 

 iiicreasin.rtlie sap, causes i he blii^ht; and in the sec- ' ''!■>" others, hut I am afraid that the true cause of 

 ond |)lace, that pnmino- trees has the same effect. \ hliixht is not fburui out and will not be Ibr years to 



It appears, however, that the yard in which the i <'onie, if ever. Two of the other pears mention- 

 trees siood was trodden bv horses and cattle, and I ^'1 h'^^e been graced, one ol which has never 

 therefore, at least as much, if not more manure, ! -'l^^wn blight except ?/i o/ie ;/??i6, lor the last fbur 

 reached the roots, as would have done so, liad the j .Vears, and that one l;mb was killed in one night 

 ground been plouirhed or dijiged. It is too late in ! 'hi^ ''i*?' *?P''ni-'') * "ii"k by Imhtnmg. 'I he re- 

 the day for any one to oppose cultivation with ef- j maining pear tree is about seven years old, was 

 Ject in this country, neither does Mr. VVatkins. I P'lrchased for a lleathcote, never bore until this 

 (In the latter part of his communication he re- j year, does not prove to be the pear, has only two- 

 commends that poor land should be made bfelter ! "I'-'^'-^rable cracked abortions on it aiUl I do not 

 even at the risk of blight;) but there are many, l l^now what it is, the stocic, hovveVer, is a fine one 



too many persons in this country, who are satis- 

 fied wiili old lashions, and as long as they can 

 raise as much as they want, off of ten acres of 

 land, will never try to get the same quantity from 

 five and fi^el perfectly satisfied with, and itideed. 

 insist that belter cider can be made from the sour 

 natural fruit of the tree, than from the grafted and 

 cultivated. With such men it is no use to argue; 

 but they have children to come afier them, and it 

 is the rising generation who will be enlightened. 

 I insisr, that not one half pruning enough is 

 done in this country, and that thousands of trees 

 are ruined by not being pruned properly when 

 young. In many instances the limbs are left too 

 near the cyround, and when they have become so 

 large as to be in the way, they are then cut off to 

 the great detriment of the tree, the bark not grow- 

 ing over to heal the wound, and leaving a pretty 

 sure chance of rot and decay; when, if trimmed 

 the second year fi-om the iiraft, and so on, year by 

 year, unlil the tree is perfectly formed, a smooth 

 thrifty stock shows itself, to reward the cultivator, 

 instead of a rough, rotten and unthrilty snarl. I 

 passed this last summer, what might have been a 

 beautiful orchard, had proper pains been taken 

 with it in its younger days. The trees appa- 

 rently were about twenty years old, and the own- 

 er had let them <r() until this year without pruning, 

 ana now cut off about a third of each tree, leav- 

 ing the stumps of the branches sticking out from 

 two to four inches, as a mark of his taste and sign 

 of his ignoiance. I, however, am not writing 

 without some experience myself, which is diamet- 

 rically ofiposite to that of Mr. W atkins. I have 

 about thirty pear trees in my garden which have 

 been there from five to forty years, an(] I have no 

 recollection of seeing a blight but in four. The 

 whole have been served alike, manured, digged 

 round and pruned to my heart's content, and a 

 thriftier set of trees cannot be found in the coun- 

 try. The four trees which have blio-hted, were 

 the Brown Beurre, the St. Mitchel's, the Winter 



and will be garfted next year. 



I do not think Mr. Waikins has proved any 

 thing except the fact, that pear trees planted in a' 

 yard trodden by horses ami calves may do well, 

 and as it is not every one tliat has sufficient hor- 

 ses and calves to tread round all his trees, or if he 

 had, would like to have ihem inmates of his gar- 

 den, I trust no one will carry his experiment so far 

 as to leave his grounds in an unseemly condition, 

 or to cease pruning when young, so that he may 

 fbhn trees handsome as well as thriliy. Solo- 

 mon's proverb, I think, will apply to trees as well 

 as children, "train up a tree in the way it should 

 grow, and when it is old it will not depart from it." 



NUMA. 



From ttie Souaicrh Agiiculturistl 

 THL STN-FLOWER. 



Barnwell, July 24, 1537. 



3fr. Editor. — The sun-flower isa plant of much 

 greater value than is generally known. Instead 

 of a few being permitted to grace a parterre, and 

 considered only as a gaudy flower, experience 

 warrants my saying it should be cultivated by 

 every planter and farmer, as part of his provision 

 crop. It can be turned to profitable account on 

 all our plantations; for certain purposes it is more 

 valuable than any oilier grain known to us; in ais 

 much as it can be made to yield more to the acre 

 in exhausted soils, with little labor, and with 

 greater prospect of success. 



It's seed are wholesome and nutritious food for 

 poullry, cattle and hogs, and very much relished 

 by them. 



From the seed, an oil is obtained, with great 

 facility, as delicate, it is believed, as that of"olives. 



They are also pectoral. A tea made of them, 

 is quite as effective as fiax seed, or any other, in 

 catarrhal afi'ection. On one occasion, this tea 

 sweetened with honey, was of so raucli more ser- 



