198 



NEW EN (^ L A N I) FA R IM E R , 



Jan. 4, lb32. 



STJ2W l2Sr^ILil£r2> QPiUliSHiaaa 



BOSTON, WEDXESDAV EVENING, JAN. 4, 1832. 



FRUITS AND FRUIT TREES. 

 Tlie following valuable remarks are extracted and 

 abridged t'roiii a review of '^ Guitle lo the Or- 

 chard and Kitchen Garden, Sfc ; by George Lind- 

 LEY ;' originally pulilislied in Loudon's Magazine. 



All our garden fruits are but arrielioiatcd varie- 

 ties of sucli as are wild. Tlie amelioration lias 

 resulted from liunian skill, time ami accident; 

 and being so jiroduced can only by art be contin- 

 ued. Hence the two great operations for procur- 

 ing and perpetuating improved varieties of fruits 

 are, amelioration and propagation. 



Amelioration ' consists either in acquiring new 

 or improved varieties of fruit, or in increasing their 

 good qualities when acquired. There is in all be- 

 ings a disposition to deviate from their original 



nature when cultivated, or even in a wild state 



But this disposition is so strong in some as to ren- 

 der them particularly adapted to become subject 

 to domestication : for instance the dog, the pigeon, 

 and the barn-yard fowl are cases in which this 

 tendency is most strongly marked in animals ; 

 and domesticated fruits are a parallel case in the 

 vegetable world. 



' Cultivators increase this disposition chiefly in 

 two ways ; either by constantly selecting the finest 

 existing varieties for seed, or by intermixing the 

 pollen and stigma of two varieties for the purpose 

 of procuring something of an intermediate nature. 

 The power of obtaining cross-bred varieties at 

 pleasure has only existed since the discovery of 

 sexes in plants. In selecting seed from the finest 

 existing varieties, we should, moreover, take care 

 to select it from the handsomest, largest and most 

 l)erlectly ripened specimens of those varieties ; for 

 " a seedling plant will always partake more or less 

 of the chaiacter of its parent, tlie qualities of 

 which are concentrated in the embryo, when it has 

 arrived at full maturity." Now, if the general 

 qualities of a given variety are concentrated in the 

 embryo under any circumslances, it is reasonable 

 to suppose that they will be most especially con- 

 centrated in a seed taken frotn that jiart of a tree 

 in which its peculiar good qualities reside in the 

 highest degree. For instance in the fruit of an 

 apple, growing upon a north wall, there is a 

 smaller formation of sugar than in the same va- 

 riety growing on a south wall ; and it can be easi- 

 ly understood that the seed of that fruit, which is 

 itself least capable of forming saccharine solutions, 

 will acquire from its [larent a less power of the 

 same nature than if it had been formed within a 

 fruit in which the saccharine principle was abun- 

 dant. It should, therefore, be always an object 

 with a gardener, in selecting a variety lo become 

 the parent of a new sort, to stimulate that variety 

 by every means in his power to proiluce the largest 

 and most fully ripened fruit that it is capable of 

 bearing. The importance of doing this is well 

 known in regard to melons and cucumbers, and 

 also in preserving fugitive varieties of flowers; 

 but it is not generally practised in raising fruit 

 trees.' 



Cross-bred J^aridies. — ' The power of procur- 

 ing intermediate varieties by the intermixture of 

 the pollen and stigma of two different iiarents is, 

 however, that which most deserves consideration. 

 We all know that hybrid plants are constantly 

 produced in every garden, and that improvements 



of the most reniarUable kind are yearly occurring 

 in consequence. All cases, however, of cross-fer- 

 tilization are subject to "a practical consequence 

 of great importance," namely, that " the new 

 variety will take chiefly after its polleniferous or 

 male parent; and tliat at the same time it will ac- 

 quire some of the constitutional peculiarities of 

 its mother. The limits within which experiments 

 of this kind must be confined are, however, nar- 

 row. It seeins that cross-fertilization will not 

 take place at all, or very rarely, but between dif- 

 ferent species, unless these species are nearly re- 

 lated to each other, and that the ofispring of the 

 two distinct species is itself sterile, or, if it possesses 

 the power of multiplying itself by seed, its |)ro- 

 geny retm-ns back to the state of one or other of 

 its parents. 



' Hence it seldom or never has happened that 

 domesticated fruits have had such an origin. We 

 have no varieties raised between the apple and 

 the pear, or the quince and the latter, or the plnm 



and cherry, or the gooseberry and currant. 



On the other hand, new varieties, obtained by the 

 intermixture of two pre-existing varieties, are not 

 less jirolific, but on the conttary often more so 

 than either of their parents; witness the numerous 

 sorts of Flemish pears, which have been raised by 

 cross-fertilization from bad bearers within the last 

 twenty years, and which are the most prolific fruit 

 trees with which gardeners are acquainted ; wit- 

 ness also Mr Knight's cherries, raised between the 

 May duke anil the giafiion,and Eve's golden drop 

 plum, raised from the green gage fertilized by the 

 yellow magnum bonuin. It is, therefore, to the 

 intermixture of the most valuable existing varie- 

 ties of fruit that gardeners should trust for the 

 ainelioraiioii of their stock.' 



To cause bad bearers to be prolific, the means 

 are, '1. By ringing the bark. 2. By bendino- 

 branches downwards. 3. By training; and 4. 

 By the use of difierenl kinds of stocks. All these 

 practices are intended to produce exactly the same 

 effects H/ difl^erent ways. Whatever tends to 

 cause a rapid diffusion of the sap and secretions of 

 any plant, causes also the formation of leaf bud.-^ 

 instead of flower buds ; and on the contrarv. 

 whatever tends to cause an accumulation of sap 

 and secretions has the effect of producing flower 

 bud.s in abundance.' Ringing, by tending to pre- 

 vent the return of sap to the part below the ring, 

 also tends to cause the desired accumulation of 

 sap in the jiart above the ring. 



Bending down the branches efl^ects the same 

 accunndation with more certainty. When branches 

 are in their natural or erect liosition, the fluids tic 

 diffused through their vessels or tissue uninter- 

 ruptedly and rapidly ; but liy bending down the 

 branches, the vessels become more or less com- 

 pressed, and contribute to the accumulation of the 

 juices or sap, by preventing its rapid diffusion. — 

 Trainins;, as branches in this process are usually 

 bent, effects the same object in the same manner ; 

 as well as by fixing the branches, and so prevent- 

 ing their being agitated by winds, as this agitation 

 ' is known to facilitate the movement of the fluids.' 

 Nor is the influence of the stock of an essentially 

 different nature. In proportion as the scion and 

 the stock approach each other closely in constitu- 

 tion, the less effect is produced by the latter; and 

 on the contrary, in proportion to the constitutional 

 difference between the stock and the scion is the 

 effect of the former important. Thus when jiears 

 are grafted or budded on the wild species ; apples 



u|)on crabs, plums upon plums, and peaches upon 

 ]jear.hes or almonds, the scion is, in regaril to fer- 

 tility, exactly in the same state as if it had not 

 been gralted at all ; while on tiie other band, a 

 great increase of fertility is the result of grailiug 

 pears upon quinces, peaches iq)on plums, apples 

 upon white thorn, and the like. In the latter 

 cases, the food absorbed from the earth by the 

 root of the stocK is communicated slowly and un- i 

 willingly to the scion ; under no circiMiistances is ( 

 tlie communication between the one ami the other 

 as free and perfect as if their natures had been 

 more nearly the same; the sap is impeded in its 

 ascent, and the proper jidccs are impeded in their 

 descent ; whence arises that accumulation of se- 

 cretion which is sure to be attended with increas- 

 ed fertility. 



To be continued. 



Treasurer of the Commonivcallh. — .\mong the 

 candidates for this office, we notice the name of 

 John Pkikce, Esq., of Roxbury. Although we 

 take no i)art in political matters, we cannot, in this 

 case, refrain from expressing a hope that the 

 dai'iis of Mr Pkince will be favorably considered 



by the agricultural interest in the Legislature 



His superior abilities as an accountant, and his 

 efficient and disinterested services for many years, 

 as Treasurer of the Massachusetts Society for 

 promoting Agricidture, present we think, strong 

 claims in his favor. 



SAUER KRAUT. 



This is sailed cabbage, much used in Germany, 

 is an excellent and wholesome article ol diet, and 

 a cheap and effectual preparation for long keeping. 

 It may not be agreealde lo an tmtaught palate,- 

 but is much liked by all accuslonied to iis use, and 

 the relish is as easily acquired as that for mustard, 

 tomatos, pickles, and a hundred other things that 

 we team to love in order to enlarge the circle of 

 our enjovineiits. Every new taste is a new plea- 

 sure. The folio .ring is the mode of lueparation. 



Shred cabbage fine and lay it in a barrel — first 

 a sprinkle of fine salt, then a layer of a few inches 

 of cabbage, and so on alternately until the barrel 

 is filled, bi-»ting it down soundly with a heavy 

 maul or peslle at every layer. 



Eighty to one hundred cabbages and three pints 

 or two quarts of salt will fill a barrel. Cover it 

 with a head that will just pass down within the 

 barrel, on which lay heavy weights. Some pour 

 on the whole, after filling, a gallon or two of strong 

 brine. After some time softening and fermenting, 

 it will be fit for use. It may be boiled with pork, 

 or fried. Cousin Tabitha. 



N. B. In return for all my good receipts, I re- 

 ipiest some one will give me directions for making 

 and preserving Apple Bctter. 4m. Farmer. 



DOMESTIC SILK. 

 We have been shown by Messrs Pratt, Howe 

 & Co., merchants of this city, a piece of silk 

 levantine, similar to the foreign article for vestings, 

 of the same fabric, which was manufactured in 

 Mansfield, in this State. With the exception of 

 the ' finish,' which has not been brought to a com- 

 plete state of perfection, the quality of the goods 

 shown us will comjiare with the imjiorted product. 

 We understand from the Courant, that the inhabi- 

 tants of Mansfield have for many years been en- 

 gaged in raising silk worms, and that a large quan- 

 tity of sewing silk has been annually manufae- 



