THE GENESEE PARMER 



US 



duct of those treos in 1855, was twenty Larrols. The 

 highest price obtained was twenty dolhirs por barrel, 

 the lowest eight dollars. Then we can (uill on Mr. 

 Stick:sey, and look at liis ^ dwarf ■ pear trees. We 

 shall see some magnilicent specimens of Urbanistes and 

 Louise bonne de Jerseys. The crop of the latter he 

 sold the last season at ten dollars per bushel. Thou 

 we will go to Mr. Manmxg's, who has some pear trees 

 on the quince of very large biz(% being from thirty to 

 forty roars old, and which ' still live,' and produce 

 annual crops. Then we will pursue our journey and 

 call on Mr. Carot, the President of the Mass. Horti- 

 cultural Society, Messrs Bacon, Downkr, Uiciiardsox, 

 Johnson, and otliers who have splendid collections of 

 ' dwarf pear trees, which have beeu ^planted ten 

 years.' " 



Our space forbids further quotations from Mr. 

 Wilder's interesting letter; but the above is suffi- 

 cient to prove that dwarf pears are no " humbug." 



GARDEN SEEDS SHOULD BE SOWN IN DKHLS 



Wheh a boy, we have spent many long, weary 

 hours in the back-breaking labor of weeding the 

 onion and carrot beds, which, because it°required less 

 time, were sown broadcast. We cannot help think- 

 ing now, that had the man who prepared the beds 

 acd sowed the seed been obliged to do the weeding, 

 he would toon have discovered that the little extra 

 labor required to sow the seed in drills was amply at- 

 toned for by the ease with which, as compared with 

 the thumb and finger process, weeds could be de- 

 stroj'ed by the hoe. Nearly all garden crops, when 

 sown in drills Bufficiently wide to admit the use of the 

 hoe, are not only more easily kept clean, but the con- 

 stant stirring of the soil in hoeing is found to be ex- 

 ceedingly beneficial. On soils that are not too sandy, 

 the constant use of the hoe is a great means of alle- 

 viating the injurious effects of drouth. It also keeps 

 the ground loose, so that the plants can I^bow out 

 abaudance of roots, and at the same time the decom- 

 position of the organic matter and the disintegra- 

 tion of the mineral matter of the soil are accelerated, 

 and it is found that though there are fewer plants on 

 a given space, they are more than enough larger to 

 make up for this deficiency. 



Where a considerable breadth of land is sown with 

 earrots, onions, and similar crops, it is advisable to 

 use a drill, but in ordinary gardens, where only a few 

 beds of these crops are sown, its use is not desirable. 

 Drills made lengthwise of the beds present the best 

 appearance, but it is not so convenient to hoe them 

 as when the drills are made across the beds. The 

 beds, too, may be made wider, say five to six feet, in 

 the latter case, than when the drills run lengthwise 

 of the beds. Various con- 

 trivances have been em- 

 ployed to economise lime 

 in making the drills. The 

 drill-rake, shown in the an- 

 Bexed engraving, is one of 

 the simplest and most effi- 

 cient. It is constructed of 

 a headpiece of wood, into 

 which broad, flat wooden teeth are set, tapering 

 towards the points, and at such distance apart as the 

 drills are to be drawn. Sometimes the head is in 

 two flat pieces, to admit of the teeth being set at dif- 

 ferent distances. The pieces are screwed together 

 at each end ; or if more than three drills are lo be 



DRILL-RAKE. 



drawn at once, a third screw is placed in the middle. 

 The first drill should be made by a line; afterwards 

 the drill-tooth on the right hand side jliould be run 

 in the last drill formed. Tins will keep the drills 

 straight and equi distant. I5e very careful not to 

 make the drills too deep. This is a very common 

 error. For onions, carrots, «fec., from half an inch to 

 an inch is quite deep enough. 



TRANSPLANTING GAEDEN VEGETABLES. 



Nearly all our culinary esculcHts can be trans- 

 plated with impunity. Some plants, such as cabbage, 

 cauliflower?, celery, &c., are amazingly improved by 

 transplanting from the seed-bed once or twice before 

 their final planting out. I> increases the formation 

 of extra roots, and renders "The plant more " stocky." 

 It frequently enables the cultivator to detect the 

 club or " finger and toes," and also affords opportu- 

 nity for throwing out mal-formed plants. Onions ad- 

 mit of it with impunity; leeks with singular advan- 

 tage. The former, however, should not be transplant- 

 ed too deep or they have a tendency to run to top. 

 Lettuce admits of it freely, and the plants, being de- 

 prived of part of then- tap-root, throw out a great 

 number of lateral roots, in consequence of which the 

 production of radical leaves is encouraged, and the 

 tendency to run to flower is retarded; while a more 

 succulent growth is induced, owing to 

 the plants being placed in newly pre- 

 pared soil. 



In transplanting it is desirable to pre- 

 serve aa many of the small roots or 

 spongioles as possible, and the more 

 so when the operation is to be carried 

 out without checking the growth or 

 vigor of the plant, as in transplanting 

 lettuces at any age. In removing any 

 young plants from the seed-bed to the 

 nursery plantation, the ground should 

 be well watered if dry; and instead of 

 pulling up the tender plants as is usu- 

 ally done, the ground should be loosen- 

 ed with a transplanting fork, similar to the one shown 

 in the accompanying cut, (fig. 1.) It is also of gi«at 

 use in facilitating their removal from 

 the nursery bed to their final place 

 of planting. 



In transplanting large plants from 

 the nursery rows, it is very desi- 

 rable to have a bail of earth round 

 their roots, and for this purpose 

 a serai-circle trowel will be found 

 useful, if not indispensable. Where 

 a large number of plant* are to 

 be transplanted, the operation may 

 be faciltiated by the employment of 

 some such an instrument as figured 

 in the annexed engraving, (fig. 2.) — 

 The blades are opened by pressing 

 the lever a towards the handle when 

 they open outwards, and in this state 

 are thrust into the ground, having the 

 plant within them; a counter pres- 

 sure causes them to collapse, and to 

 embrace the ball 'firmly, and in this 

 state, the transplanter being drawn 

 upwards brings with it the plant and ball entire. It 

 is then taken to its new site and set in its place, when 



h 



FlQ. 1. 



Fio. 2. 



