232 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER, 



May 



THE BLACKBERRY. 



The common blackberiy which is found 

 growing wild in the fields and pastures of 

 New England, is a fruit susceptible of easy 

 and profitable cultivation. In its season, few 

 of our berries are superior to this. It is a 

 universal favorite, and always meets with a 

 ready market, and at a price highly remuner- 

 ative, as it costs less than the strawberry or 

 raspberry. 



In order to succeed in the cultivation of it, 

 care must be taken to secure good and heal- 

 thy bushes for transplanting, and to set them 

 in good soil. By the term "good soil," we 

 desire to be understood as indicating a quality 

 of land similar in its physical character to 

 that from which the bushes were taken. A 

 soil of a sabulous or sandy character is the 

 most congenial to the blackberr}', and should be 

 filled M'ith old, well decomposed compost, into 

 which forest mould and leaves enter as ingredients. 

 Charcoal, finely pulverized, and wood ashes, leached 

 or unleached, make an excellent top-dressing for 

 the beds. If these stimulating substances are ap- 

 plied in sufficient quantity, there will be but little 

 trouble experienced in securing a good and abun- 

 dant crop of fruit. 



But the blackberry plant, Uke many others, at- 

 tempts to do too much. It will blossom profusely, 

 and set three or four times as much fruit as it can 

 perfect. As soon, therefore, as the blossom leaves 

 begin to fall, trim out with the scissors, half or two- 

 thirds of the fruit, or according to the amount 

 which has set. We failed in obtaining a crop, for 

 two or three years before we learned this lesson ; 

 but since we have thinned, have always obtained a 

 crop. 



For the New England Farmer. 



A FEW WORDS ABOUT PEARS- 



In Barry's Fruit Garden, — a work all fruit culti- 

 vators should have — on l^age 81 are the following 

 remarks : 



"Double Working. — When we graft or bud a 

 tree already budded or grafted, we call it 'double- j 

 worked.' Certain very important advantages are 

 gained by it. Some varieties are of such feeble 

 growth, that it is impossible to make good trees of 

 them in the ordinary way of working on common 

 stocks. In such cases we use worked trees of strong 

 growing sorts as stocks for them." j 



* * * * "A great many improvements may | 

 be effected, not only in the form and growth of; 

 trees, but in the quality of the fruit, by double- 

 working. Very few experiments have yet been 

 made on the subject in this country, except from 

 necessity ; but the general interest now felt on all 

 matters pertaining to fruit tree culture, cannot fail 

 tt) direct attention to this and similar matters, that 

 have heretofore, in a great measure, been over-, 

 looked." I 



I have been cultivating, quite extensively, for a 



MAIDEN'S BLUSH APPLE. 



X 



Large medial ; fiattish ; smooth ; 

 lemon yellow, with a most beautiful 

 blush; 'stem short, in a cavity from 

 deep to shallow ; calyx closed, in a 

 shallow basin ; flesh white, tender, 

 pleasant, sub-acid. A good grower 

 and bearer. Though rather acid, 

 and not of high flavor, yet it is one 

 of the best market fruits. Oct. and 

 Nov. Origin, N. J. It is often 

 called Hawthornden, which is sim- 

 ilar, but more green, and inferior ; 

 the best apple Scotland. 



few years past, a pear I think admirably adapted as 

 a stock, for the purpose above mentioned of "dou- 

 ble-working. This pear is quite common in this 

 neighborhood. I have seen it in various parts of the 

 country, grafted on old trees, but (have never seen 

 any young trees of this variety for sale, or growing 

 in any nursery except my own. It may be, for aught 

 I know a well known old variety. It is an abundant 

 bearer, ripe early in August, of medium size, keeps 

 but a short time, and would be considered, by most 

 people, a very good pear. It finds a ready sale at 

 good prices in the market here, under various 

 names, as the "August pear," "Sugar pear," "Jar- 

 gonelle," &c. I have adoj)ted the latter title though 

 at the risk of a little confusion, and advertise and 

 sell it under the name of "Jargonelle." 



I am much interested in the cultivation of the 

 pear, and have been experimenting for a hw years 

 past with nearly one hundred varieties, very few of 

 which I find perfectly hardy here. ^I;»iiy, even 

 those having the highest recommendations, I find 

 exceedingly difficult to raise from the ground. I 

 think the main trouble lies in the injury the young 

 wood receives during winter, which causes a stinted 

 growth the ensuing season. 



The pear referred to above, far surpasses all oth- 

 ers in my collection for its wonderfully strong and 

 vigorous growth, and its freedom from injury dur- 

 ing the winter, and from bhght of all kinds ; nev- 

 er fails when transplanted, to hve and grow Avell in 

 all soils and situations, succeeding perfectly where 

 many esteemed varieties entirely fail. It makes the 

 finest looking tree in the nursery, remarkable for 

 its upright, handsome and symmetrical form, with 

 its hard and stocky wood. I have great confidence 

 it will prove exceedingly valuable for a stock on 

 which to work varieties o^ slow growth and difficult 

 to raise. In fact, I do not think I have a pear in 

 my collection, of which if an orchard was planted, I 

 should not be a g.uner by double-working on the 

 "Jargonelle." Thftt is, for orchard or even garden 

 cultivation, set out the Jargonelle, and let them grow 

 until well established, and graft from time to time, 

 with A arieties deemed most advisable. I have not, 

 as yet, practised this method much, but intend to 

 on an extensive scale, and in regrafting, I should 

 retain all of the stock I could. 1 grafted the Seck- 

 el on a voung tree of the Jargonelle three or four 



