252 



THE GENESEE FARMER. 



he had — and plant them a foot apart in the drill, and 

 give another good v/atering, to settle the earth about 

 their root.?. Water a little every day in hot weather, 

 nntil the plants have become well established. If 

 this is well done, with good plants, and the beds pro- 

 tected in winter, a moderately good crop of fruit may 

 be bad the followicg season. 



Varieties. — Large Early Scarlet, Hooker, Burr's 

 New Pine, Ilovey's Seedling, and Triomphe de Gand, 

 are of the best varieties. The latter is a foreign va- 

 riety, of excellent flavor, and produces the largest 

 fruit we have ever seen. It is said to be very pro- 

 ductive and perfectly hardy — but it requires further 

 trial Some splendid fruit of this variety was ex- 

 hibited by Messrs. Kllwanger & Barry, at the Sum- 

 mer Exhibition of the Genesee Valley Horticultural 

 Society. Josiah Salter. 



m "MY NEW GAEDEN."-iro. 2. 



That this is "a growing time" you may see, Mr. 

 Editor, if you will walk again with me in my new 

 garden. We have had frequent showers — both weeds 

 and garden plants witness to that — but this stony, 

 gravelly soil soon dries off; and yet retains a due share 

 ©f moisture. Look first at those 



Round Parsneps — Of which a square rod was 

 planted May 9lh. These were grown from plants, 

 raised from seed imported from France, and dis- 

 tributed by the Patent Office. My first trial of them 

 resulted favorably, except that they were grown too 

 thick. I now have the rows eighteen inches apart, 

 and shall thin to from four to eight inches in tiie row. 

 i try them now, more for stock-feeding than for my 

 own use; for ahalf^bushel of parsneps would be am- 

 ple allowance in my family for a year. I hope to 

 give you a taste of them next spring. 



Caui'.ages. — -These are but just transplanted — 

 some are yet very small— the large "late Dutch cab- 

 bage " seed, I got from you, started very slowly. 

 Some other kinds are larger, and all are doing " as well 

 as can be expected.'' Cabbages, like corn, '• grow by 

 hoeing and not without."' So every day or two, I stir 

 the soil thoroughly around among them, as also 

 ajnong the 



Cauliflowers. — The '-Early Paris — only good 

 one for this climate" — you sent me, grows finely. 

 Though planted May 9Lh, they have made double the 

 growth of the cabbage plants, and bear transplant- 

 ing, with less check of growth. But here let me tell 

 you about that pest of cabbage, cauliflower, onion 

 4ind polatoe. 



Cut Worms. — I never knew them so thick, as 

 they are this season, I believe they have destroj'ed 

 one-fifth of my cabbage plants, already, though I 

 have car-efully raked and dug the ground several 

 times over and killed a great many of them. A 

 oouple of big toads are helping me, but they find too 

 many worms to be very good hunters, I fancy. It 

 may not generally be known that the insect parentis 

 a moth, and there are several species varying slightly 

 in size and character, but in the caterpillar or grub 

 state, alike destructive to many plants. The wings 

 of the moth lay horlKontal when closed. They ap- 

 pear in July and August, in large numbers and de- 

 posit their eggs in the earth. These generally hatch 

 in the fall, and descecd into the ground, to pass the 

 winter, and are ready in spring to commence their 

 destractive work. Salt, it is Bai<^, will kili them, so 



it will the plants upon which they feed. We hunt 

 them out and crtt^h them; it is a certain preventive 

 froin further ravages. But it is decidedly unpleasant 



NV" 



MOTH OF THE CUT WORM. 



to find your handsomest cauliflowers cut down, or 

 your finest cabbage plant with its heart eat out^ so 

 that you must commence anew again. 



Celeriac — Is not yet large enouuh to transplant 

 I hope to give you a good account of it in the fall. 



Radishes — How long will radish seed retain ita 

 vegetative power ? My first sowing all failed to 

 grow, and a part of my second — the seed was old, 

 however having probably been " imported" a dozen 

 years ago. I think the scarlet turnip radish, one of 

 the best kinds, and find no trouhle in growing fine 

 ones on my new soil — when th( y grow at all. 



Lettuce. — " Blessed he the man who invented " 

 Lettuce, I say, lor I hold it a good thing, especially 

 when other " greens" are not to be had. There is a 

 great difference in varieties — that brown kind wag 

 sown last, but is double the size of the light green 

 kind, sown a week earlier. It likes a rich soil, and to 

 make such, I think one good thing is 



Hen Manure — I mix this with ashe^ and fine, 

 dry chip dust from the wood shed, and reduce it to 

 powder. It is capital for starting ahead cabbages, 

 onions, peas, etc., and potatoes and corn immediately 

 acknowledge its influence. Perhaps it will help 

 them out of the way of their insect enemies, if it does 

 not repel the same. But I must not lead you by too 

 long a route through the New Garden of 



A Country Invaijd. 



Maple Hill, June 2.3, 18.57. 



SHADE TREES. 



Messrs. Editors : — The July number of th« 

 Farmer contains a short article on '• Six good Shade 

 Trees,"' which suggests a few remarks upon the sub- 

 ject of planting ornn mental trees and the care of 

 them, which, I have thought, might be worth record- 

 ing for the benefit of your readers. 



Tour remark that " it is difficult to answei the 

 inquiry with any degree of satisfaction," is emphati- 

 cally true: for v;e find upon going the rounds of our 

 hardy forest trees, that there is not one of them but 

 under some circumstances will fill a niche in the great 

 field of planting, better than anv other individual. 

 The various peculiarities of different trees adapt 

 themselves to the varying situations and surround- 

 ings of the place where it is desirable to locate them; 

 and the very air and manner of one quite unfits H 

 for planting where aiiotlier will answer admirably. 



The graceful and sweeping forms of elms and 

 birches, are beautiful in spacious and elegant lawn?, 

 or ample pastures, whilst confined upon a seven by 

 nine front of a city lot, where nothing larger than a 

 shruhly grower should be tolerated, their lean and 

 leggy appearance soon justifies their removal in dis- 

 gust Soil and exposure, have also a very great in- 



