62 



GENESEE FARMER. 



April, 184S 



TRANSPiiANTiNG, — Transplanting should be attend- 

 ed to at the earliest moment practicable. We know 

 well, by experience, that it is quite common to post- 

 pone it until the last m'Mnent. We have frequently 

 seen trees taken l'rcni«the nursery in full leaf, parti- 

 cularly when the spring is unusually early and rapid, 

 like that of 1844 : success cannot be reasonably an- 

 ticipated in such cases. Cherries, particularity, will 

 not bear transplanting in a forward state, and they 

 put forth very early ; so that the moment the ground 

 is thawed, you should procure your trees. Besides, 

 this can be done befoie the hurry of other matters 

 comes upon you. 



Spring is the best season for transplanting such as 

 are somewhat tender, in northern latitudes — viz., the 

 peach, apricot, and nectarine ; and even the cherry 

 will do better by early spi ing planting. In procuring 

 your trees, remember the following suggestions : 



Be careful in selecting your varitties. If you are 

 not acquainted with fruits by their names, get some 

 one in whom you have confidence to assist you. If 

 you leave it to a nurseryman, be satisfied that he is 

 correct in his method of culture — that he has him- 

 self a good knowledge of fruits, and is responsible for 

 the correctness of what he sells. Have your trees 

 carefully labeled and packed before leaving the nur- 

 sery. We have seen persons carry a bundle of trees 

 worth $15 or $-20 a whole day's journey unpacked, 

 rather than pay a few shillings for packing. This is 

 a sort of economy that no intelligent man would 

 practice, if he would but reflect properly on the na- 

 tural consequences. Ignorance of the principles of 

 vegetable physiology allows thousands to be miposed 

 upon, as well as to impose upon themselves. • 



With regard to the age and size of trees for trans- 

 planting, we believe we could hardly persuade a large 

 number of persons, if we were ever so persuasive or 

 if we could demonstrate it as clearly as a mathema- 

 tical problem, but that the larger the better. Our 

 experience, and that of almost every other observing 

 cultivator, have convinced us that this is highly inju- 

 dicious. Apple trees two or at most three years old, 

 from the innoculation or graft, if thrifty and well 

 grown, are the most suitable for transplanting. 

 Pears and plums the same ; cherries one to two 

 years old from the innoculation ; peaches, one ; apri- 

 cots and nectarmes, one, or at most two years old. 

 The remark is often made, by persons wishing large 

 trees, that -'we want tbcm to be up out of the reach 

 of cattle ;'' their system being to plant their trees, 

 seed down the orclvard, and turn the cattle in. This 

 is just the way to ruin the trees. After being plant- 

 ed in a thorough manner, every tree should be care- 

 fully staked, to prevent them from being blown 

 about by the winds, and the orchard, or at least the 

 land about the trees cultivated, and occasionally ma- 

 nured, for at least three or four years. They should 

 be examined every spring, and the pruning-knife ap- 

 plied, to keep the head in proper shape, and to cut 

 off any diseased or dead wood : this system will in- 

 sure an orchard of healthy, handsome trees, and 

 bring them forward rapidly into a productive state. 



To those general and very simple remarks we 

 should, if space permitted us, add a select list of the 

 various fruits adapted to our region ; but for the pre- 

 sent we must content ourselves with referring those 

 who are about planting to the catalogues of nursery- 

 men. — (See the advertisements.) 

 VEGETABLES. 

 We spoke in our last number of the importance 

 of the cultivation of vegetables ; and now, at the 



opening of the season of action, we would urge the 

 subject again. If your vegetable garden was not 

 manured and spaded up last fall, do it at the earliest 

 moment practicable. Lay it out in square plots, of 

 convenient ;-ize, with suitable walks. Select a warm 

 dry border for your early sowing, and arrange it so 

 that you can protect it on frosty nights witli mat- 

 ting, &,c. Plant some of the best kinds of early po- 

 tatoes, peas, beans, lettuce, cabbage, cauliflower, ra~ 

 dish, iS'c. A little attention devoted to these things 

 in due season will be rewarded with an early and am- 

 ple supply of healthful and delicious table vegeta- 

 bles. If you defer it until the season is so far ad~ 

 vanced that you can sow the seeds and have no more 

 trouble with them, you deprive yourself and family 

 of some of the richest bounties the earth offers you. 



Asparagus. — Every man who has a garden should 

 have a bed of asparagus. Two or three hundred 

 roots are sufficient for almost any family. They 

 will occupy but a small space, and require very little 

 care: it is one of the most delicious and generally 

 esteemed esculents we possess. 



This is the proper season for planting. The bed 

 should be prepared by a deep trenching and abun- 

 dance of manure. The plants should be two or three 

 years old ; they may be raised from seed, or pro- 

 cured nt the nurseries. They should be planted in 

 rows 15 or 18 inches apart, and a foot apart in the 

 rows. The bed should be covered with manure in 

 the fall, and that should be fi^rked in early in the 

 spring, as soon as the ground thaws. 



Rrubars.— This is avaluable and generally esteem- 

 ed culinary plant, and should be in every garden. It 

 is wholesome and very agreeable to the taste either 

 for tarts or pies, or vfhen stewed with sugar. It 

 makes excellent jam or jelly, boiled with brown su- 

 gar : and the juice has even been converted into a 

 wine resembling champagne — but being a " staunch 

 teetotaller," we would not recommend the wine- 

 making. One very valuable property is, its earli- 

 ness — it is fit for using before any thing else of the 

 ki 'd. The finer sorts cannot be raised from seeds. 

 The roots must be planted in a deep rich soil ; 2 feet 

 apart each way will answer for the smaller early 

 lands, and twice that distance for the Giant, or Hy- 

 att's, Victoria, &,c. 



THE FLOWER GARDEN k, SHRUBBERY. 



We must not forget this department. If we wish 

 to ha^e pleasant, cheerful homes, wc mast bring 

 around them some of nature's ornaments. A dwell- 

 ing destitute of these, even though it be costly in its 

 material, looks boH and repulsive. The humble cot 

 with its smiling flower-plots, is gladdening and invi- 

 ting — an indication of taste, refinement, and hap- 

 piness. 



To those who have not yet thought of these exter- 

 nal ornaments, we would suggest that they immedi- 

 ately set about it. Plant a few ornamental trees, 

 such as horse-chesnuts, mountain ash, Ailanthus or 

 tree of heaven, weeping willow, Sec. ; some of our 

 native forest trees, such as the white wood, basswood, 

 maples, elms, k,c. — some or all of these, as means, 

 Sic. will admit. Also, some flowering shrubs, such 

 as snowballs, fringe trees, Althea or rose of Sharon, 

 spirspa, silver bell and many others ; Besides climbing 

 roses, honeysuckles, and such things, for training up 

 the house sides, piazzas, or over arbors. Prepare 

 also a little border for annuals-.-they cost little but 

 labor, and furnish a beautiful display of flowers round 

 , the season. The seeds will be fui'nished in pack- 



