NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



259 



in Forsyth's time,] ever found in the annals of 

 horticulture. 



Several years since, we used the plaster of Mr. 

 Forsyth's, upon the wounds caused by pruning, 

 and the stumps in two years were found to be 

 rotten, where it had not been thrown off by the 

 action of the frost. Paint, rosin, or gum, as a 

 general thing, is better where it can be applied to 

 cover the wounds upon trees, than alkaline plas- 

 ters, which usually promote decay. We have be- 

 fore, in a previous article, written of the use of 

 red or yellow ochre, made into a thick paint, to 

 cover the wounds of trees. We have used it for 

 several years, and like it much. Gum shellac, 

 dissolved in alcohol, has been recommended by 

 Mr. Downing. We have been informed by those 

 persons who have used it, that they have found 

 it beneficial, but difficult to keep from drying 

 up. And its ingredients are not always easily to 

 be obtained, particularly the alcohol, which we 

 certainly do not regret. Whereas ochre and oil 

 can be found at every paint shop, and usually at 

 most country stores. 



Trees that are old, and in a state of decay, can 

 be rejuvenated by opening the ground around the 

 trunk, and pruning the dead roots, if any are to 

 be found, loosening the earth for the space of sev- 

 eral feet, from the body of the tree, and digging 

 into it some compost manure. Prune the tree 

 carefully, being particular to remove every dead 

 or diseased branch, and apply paint to the wounds, 

 search the trunk, and large limbs for the canker, 

 cutting out the diseased bark, and covering the 

 bare wood with the ochre. If you discover cavi- 

 ties in the limbs or trunk, scoop out the rotten 

 parts to the live wood, and fill up the hollow with 

 cement, or mortar well made from coarse sand. 

 The surface of the mortar, exposed to the weather, 

 should be smoothed down hard, just filling the 

 cavity, so that the growing lip of wood can easily 

 form over it. Scrape all the moss and loose bark 

 from the trunk and limbs, and apply the follow- 

 ing composition or wash, made and used by Capt. 

 J. S. Lovett, of Beverly, and recommended by 

 him in Hovey's Magazine for the year 1850. I 

 think it much better than any thing I have ever 

 seen, as a wash for all kinds of trees. Capt. Lov- 

 ett says : — I use a large vessel, say a tub, made 

 by sawing a molasses hogshead in two, at the 

 bung, which will hold about seventy gallons ; in 

 this tub I put a wheelbarrow load of yellow clay, 

 and an equal quantity of fresh cow-manure, cov- 

 ering it with water. After soaking and mixing a 

 day or two, I add half a bushel wood ashes, one 

 pound of sulphur, six or eight pounds of soft soap, 

 and mix well together ; then slake half a peck of 

 lime, and add to the above, using water sufficient 

 to make the whole about the consistency of thin 

 cream, which will nearly fill the tub ; mix well 

 together for several days. This can be best ap- 

 plied to the trees with a white-wash brush. 

 When it is thought necessary to alter the tops of 

 an old apple tree by grafting, it can be done, pro- 

 viding it is sound, and its branches are healthy. 

 Should this be the case, it is best to begin by 

 grafting about one-third of the top of the tree the 

 first year, and the remaining two-thirds, compos- 

 ing the side branches, may be grafted in the two 

 succeeding years. At the expiration of the third 

 year, or second, if you choose, to impart more 

 health and vigor to the tree, you may scrape the 



trunk and branches, and apply the wash, likewise, 

 open the ground around the tree, and apply some 

 well rotted compost manure or ashes. 



When the branches of an old apple tree are un- 

 fit to graft, they may be headed down in the man- 

 ner described by Forsyth, and buds or grafts put 

 into the new shoots or suckers. It would be well 

 at the same time to impart vigor to the tree, by 

 stimulating manures or ashes, and by scraping the 

 trunk and branches and applying the wash. But 

 as a general rule, we are inclined to the belief, 

 that old and decrepid apple h-ees are hardly worth 

 the time and labor necessary to be spent upon 

 them, to make them fruitful. s. p. F. 



Danvers, March 1, 1852. 



Remarks. — This number closes the series of ad- 

 mirable papers upon the "History of the Apple 

 Tree." Mr. Fowler has written them in a plain, 

 strong style, with a spice of quaintness in his ex- 

 tracts and allusions to the old writers, which, add- 

 ed to their other merits, has rendered them very 

 popular. They have been copied into other jour- 

 nals, and will prove valuable papers of reference. 



We take this opportunity to thank the writer 

 for his contributions, and to express a hope that 

 his pen will not long remain idle. 



BONE MANURE. 



Bones, though of comparatively recent intro- 

 duction as a manure, stand at the head of all mis- 

 cellaneous articles used for this purpose. The im- 

 proved machinery for preparing them has brought 

 them into extensive use in Europe. In England it 

 has been demonstrated that on dry sands, lime- 

 stone, chalk, light loams, and peat, bones are a 

 very valuable manure. That they may be applied 

 to grass with great effect. That on arable lands, 

 they may be laid on fallow for turnips, or used for 

 any of the subsequent crops. That the best meth- 

 od of using them, when broadcast, is previously to 

 mix them up in a compost with earth, dung, or 

 other manures, and let them lie and ferment. That 

 if used alone, they may either be drilled with the 

 seed, or sown broadcast. That bones which have 

 undergone the process of fermentation are decided- 

 ly superior in their immediate effects to those who 

 have not done so. That the quantity should be 

 about 20 bushels of dust, or 40 bushels of large, 

 increasing the quantity if the land be impoverished. 

 — N. Y. Farmer and Mechanic. 



Fried Potatoes. — A secret worth knowing. — I 

 guess no Yankee ever forgot three dishes somewhat 

 peculiar to his native land ; these are codfish and 

 potatoes, baked beans, and fried potatoes ; and I 

 also guess he never has found them, particularly 

 the last, possessing that delicious richness which 

 greeted his boyhood's palate. Natives of other 

 lands don't know how to fry potatoes ; yet 'tis an 

 easy matter. There is but one secret. After you 

 have washed, peeled and sliced them nicely, quite 

 thin, put two quarts of potatoes into two quarts of 

 hot lard — not merely melted, but hot, very hot, 

 just as hot as it can be made without burning. 

 That is the secret. Fresh fish should be cooked in 

 the same way. Ditto doughnuts. It is "a secret 

 worth knowing."— The Ploiv. 



