the first crop. If they are pure woolen rags, 

 " one ton to half an acre" would be much too high 

 a manuring; and if the rags all decompose the 

 first year, would be very injurious. It is a first 

 rate guano that contains 15 per cent of nitrogen, 

 whereas woolen rags contain 17 per cent. ; and 

 400 lbs. of guano per acre is a good dressing for 

 wheat or potatoes. 700 lbs. per acre often proves 

 very injurious to the crop. 



Ordinary barn-yard manure contains about half 

 a per cent, of nitrogen ; so that one ton of woolen 

 rags would, in this respect, be equal to 34 tons of 

 manure. Horn shavings, leather, hair, and dried 

 blood, have the same composition as woolen rags, 

 and are equally valuable. Blood, however, is 

 considered the best by farmers, because it acts 

 quicker ; but the ultimate result must be the same. 



Woolen rags are found very valuable for hops. 

 Plowed in near their roots, their efifect is very 

 lasting and beneficial. Previous to the potato 

 disease, we have seen 600 bushels of potatoes ob- 

 tained from an acre on which a compost of horse 

 manure and pieces of leather that had been decom- 

 posing for six or eight months was used at the 

 rate of 15 tons per acre. 



Were we going to use woolen rags for potatoes, 

 we should soak them, and apply in the hill at the 

 rate of 700 or 800 lbs. per acre. 



Please let us know the result of the application. 



HORTICULTURAL. 



(Ancaster, C. W.) Hedge Plants. — ^The Wliite 

 Thorn is affected with mildew, leaf-blight, wooly 

 aphis, (tc, whilst the Buckthorn is exempt from 

 all. On this account it is preferable for this coun- 

 try. The Honey Locust is a rapid growing plant, 

 with powerful, sharp spines, and with proper at- 

 tention to shearing, to make it dense at the bottom, 

 makes a good hedge. 



(A. G. R, Byron, Mich.) Apple Seeds. — ^They 

 cannot be procured here, now. The other articles 

 sent alone, would not be worth cost of carriage. 



(A. W. P., Columbus, Iowa.) Planting Apple 

 Grafts on Sod Land. — It should be submitted to 

 a summer fallow the season before planting. Set in 

 rows three and a half feet apart, if you intend to 

 cultivate with a horse, and the plants a foot or 

 fifteen inches apart in the rows. 



Giedled Trees. — Mr. Jas. Harris, of Schodack, 

 N. Y., in reply to inquiries in our last number, 

 says that he has saved girdled trees in the follow- 

 ing manner: — 



"Take scions of laat years' growth, cut the 

 right length, flatten both ends, then with a nar- 

 row knife run under the bark above and be- 



low the girdled part, and insert the scions. Three 

 or four may be inserted, or two inches apart, and 

 if near the ground, bank up with earth ; if too 

 high for this, put on some mud and tie straw 

 over it" 



Mr. H. Stanford, of Sugar Grove, Pa., writes as 

 of the same remedy ; but he fits his scions to the 

 tree on the under side the whole length, fastens 

 them in with small tacks, and fills the cavities with 

 wax. 



Mr. Orrin Wicks, of South Waterloo, N. Y., and 

 Mr. Geo. W. Sheppard, of Geneva, Ashtabula Co., 

 Ohio, write us of the same remedy. 



Osage Orange Hedges. — Mr. George W. Shep- 

 pard, Geneva, Ashtabula Co., Ohio, writes us : — 



"I have 150 rods now two years old ; the first I 

 set nine inches apart in the single row, the remain- 

 der one foot apart I think a foot near enough, for 

 if cut off, as they should be, three or four years, 

 within six, eight, ten, or twelve inches of the 

 ground, they will be thick enough to keep out 

 hens or pigs ; and in six or eight years, high and 

 strong enough to keep out men or oxen. I mix 

 the seed with an equal quantity of sand moistened, 

 keep it moist all winter, and let it freeze and thaw, 

 and plant it when I plant cora It is the best 

 plant for hedge in this country, perfectly hardy 

 here, on the south shore of Lake Erie." 



Culture and Manuring of Trees. — " If farmers 

 would hoe their trees as often as their corn, and 

 apply ashes, leached or unleached, around them, 

 they would not be ti'oubled with mice ; and ashes 

 and chip manure will make them grow enouoli 

 faster to pay for the trouble twice over. G. W. 

 Sheppard. 



Be careful not to let the wn-Ieached ashes toudi 

 the bark of the tree. — ^Ed. 



(B. S. B., Greenwood, Steuben Co.) Dwarf 

 Fruit Tpjsb. — We must refer you to the nursery- 

 men's advertisements. 



Dwarf Apples are budded or grafted on the 

 Paradise stock, (a dwarf species of the apple). 

 Set them five or six feet apart 



Dwarf Pears should be budded or grafted on 

 the Angers or French Quince stock, and they may 

 be set eight to twelve feet apart, according to cir- 

 cumstances. 



Plant either in the spring or fall. We hold that, 

 if the soil be dry and the planting properly done, 

 both seasons are equally good for hardy trees. 

 The " Fruit Garden" will furnish you information 

 on these points more in detail than we possibly 

 can now. You can buy stock at the nurseries tliis 

 spring, and either root-graft them before setting 

 out, or plant them and they will be fit for budding 

 in August next We advise the latter. 



(W. H. R., Pultneyville, K Y.) The Angers, 

 or French Quince, are more vigorous than our 

 common variety, and make a better stock for the 



