362 



IJritain, a vivacious plant, will stand, has stood this 

 very winter, on the north side of an edifico, while 

 on the south it nnifonnly perishes to the ground. 

 JOHN LOWELL. 

 Boston, March 20, 1832. 



NEW EiN GLAND FARMER, 



May 30, 1832. 



Ftom the Trangaclious of the A 



Philosophical Society. 



DESCRIPTION OF A METHOD 



Of cultivating Peach Trees, with a riew to prevent 

 their premature decay ; confirmed hy the experi- 

 ence of fortyfive years, in Delaware State and the 

 western parts of Pennsylvania. By Thomas 

 Coulter, Esq., of Bedford County, Penn. 

 The death of young peach trees is principally 

 owing to planting, transplanting, and pruning the 

 same stock, which occasions it to be open and ten- 

 der, with a rough bark ; in consequence of which, 

 insects lodge and breed in it and birds search after 

 them, whereby wounds are made, the gum exudes, 

 and in a few years the tree is useless. To prevent 

 this, transplant your trees as young as possible, if 

 in the kernel it well be best, as there will then be 

 no check of grovl'kh. Plant them sixteen feet 

 apart. Plough and harrow between them for two 

 years without regard to wounding them, but avoid 

 tearing them up hy the roots. In the month of March 

 or April, in the third year after transplanting, cut 

 them all off by the ground, plough and harrow 

 among them as before, but with great care to avoid 

 wounding or tearing them. Suffer all the sprouts 

 or scions to grow, even if they should amount to 

 half a dozen or more ; they become bearing trees 

 almost instantaneously, on account of the strength 

 of the 'root. Allow no animals but hogs to enter 

 your orchanl, for fear of their wounding the 

 shoots ; as a substance drains away through the 

 least wound, which is essential to the health of the 

 tree and the good quality of the fruit. 



If the old stock is cut away the third year after 

 transplanting, no more shoots will come to matu- 

 rity than the old stmnp can support and nourish ; 

 the remainder will die before they bear fruit, and 

 may be cut away, taking care not to wound any 

 other stock. The sprouts, when loaded with fruit, 

 will bend and rest on the ground in every direc- 

 tion for many years ; all of them being rooted as 

 if they had been planted, their stocks remaining 

 tough and their bark smooth, for twenty years and 

 upwards. If any of the sprouts from the old 

 stump should happen to split ofi'and^lie, cut them 

 aw.ay, they will be supplied from the ground by 

 others, so that you may have trees from the same 

 for one hundred years, as I believe. I have now 

 trees from one to thirtysix years old, all from the 

 same stump. Young trees, formed in this man- 

 ner, will bear fruit the second year; hut this fruit 

 will not ripen so early as the fruit on the older 

 trees from the same stump. Three years after the 

 trees are cut off, the shoots will be sufficiently 

 large and bushy to shade the ground so as to pre- 

 vent the gi-owth of grass, that might injure the 

 trees ; therefore ploughing will be useless, and 

 may be injurious by wounding them. 



It is also unnecessary to manure peach trees, as 

 the fruit of manured trees is always smaller and 

 inferior to that of trees which are not manured. 

 By manuring, you make the jieach trees larger and 

 apparently moi-e flourishing, but their fruit will be 

 of a bad kind, looking as green as the leaves, even 

 when ripe, and later than that of trees which have 

 not been manured. Peach trees never require a 

 ch soil ; the poorer the soil the better the fruit ; 



a middling soil produces the most bountiful crop. 

 The highest groimd is the best for peach trees, 

 andlhe north side of hills is most desirable, as it 

 retards vegetation, and prevents the destructive 

 effects of late frosts which occur in the month of 

 April„in Pennsylvania. Convinced by long ex- 

 perience, of the h-uth of these observations, the 

 author wishes they may be published for public 

 benefit, and has been informed, that Col. Luther 

 jVIartin and another gentleman, in the lower part 

 of Maryland, have adopted a similar plan with 

 great advantage. 



From the Journal of Health. 



FLOWERS. 



The interest which flowers have excited in the 

 breast of man, from the earliest ages to the present 

 day, has never been confined to any particular 

 class of society or quarter of the globe. Nature 

 seems to have distributed them over the whole 

 world, to serve as a medicine to the mind, to give 

 cheerfulness to the earth, and to furnish agreeable 

 sensations to its inhabitants. The savage of the 

 forest, in the joy of his heart, hinds his brow with 

 the native flowers of the woods, whilst a taste for 

 their cidtivation increases in every country in pro- 

 portion as the blessings of civilization extend. — 

 From the humblest cottage inclosure to the most 

 extensive park and grounds, nothing more con- 

 spicuously bespeaks the good taste of the posses- 

 sor, than a well cultivated flower garden ; and it 

 may very generally bo remarked, that when we 

 behold a humble tenement surrounded with orna- 

 mental plants, the possessor is a man of correct 

 habits and possesses domestic comforts ; whilst, 

 on the contrary, a neglected, weed-grown garden, 

 or its total absence, marks the indolence anil un- 

 happy state of those who have been thus neglect- 

 ful of Flora's f^ivors. 



Of all luxurious indulgences, that of flowers is 

 the most innocent. It is productive not only of 

 rational gratification, but of many advantages of a 

 permanent character. Love for a garden has a 

 powerful influence in attracting men to their 

 homes ; and on this account, every encouragement 

 given to increase a taste for ornamental gardening 

 is an additional security for domestic comfort and 

 happiness. It is likewise a recreation which con- 

 duces materially to health, promotes civilization, 

 and softens the manners and tempers of men. It 

 creates a love for the study of nature, which leads 

 to a contemplation of the mysterious wonders that 

 are displayed in the vegetable world around us, 

 and which cannot be investigated without inclin- 

 ing the mind towards a just estimate of religion, 

 and a knowledge of the narrow limits of our in- 

 telligence, when compared with the incomprehen- 

 sible power of the Creator. 



Flowers arc, of all embellishments, the most 

 beautiful ; and of all created beings, man alone 

 seems capable of deriving enjoyment from them. 

 The love for them commences with infancy, re- 

 mains the delight of youth, increases with our 

 years, and becomes the quiet amusement of our 

 declining days. The infant can no sooner walk 

 than its first emploTOient is to plant a flower in 

 the earth, removing it ten times in a hour to where- 

 ever the sun seems to shine most favorably. The 

 school boy, in the care of his little plat of ground, 

 is relieved of his studies, ajid loses the anxious 

 thoughts of the home he has left. In manhood 

 our attention is generally demanded by more ac- 



tive duties, or by more imperious and perhaps Icsf 

 innocent occupations ; but as age obliges us to re- 

 tire from public life, the love of flowers and the 

 delights of a garden, return to soothe the later pe- 

 riod of our life. 



To most persons, gardening affords delight as 

 an easy and agreeable occupation ; and the flow- 

 ers they so fondly rear, are cherished from the 

 gratification they afford to the organs of sight and 

 of smell ; but to the close observer of nature and 

 the botanist, beauties are unfolded and wonders 

 displayed, that cannot be detected by the careless 

 attention bestowed upon them by the multitude. 

 In their growth, from the first tender shoots which 

 rise from the earth, through all the changes which 

 they undergo to the period of their utmost perfec- 

 tion, he beholds the wonderful works of creative 

 power ; he views the bud as it swells, and looks 

 into the expanded blossom, delights in its rich 

 tints and fragrant smell, but, above all, he feels a 

 charm in contemplating movements and regulations 

 before which all the combined ingenuity of man 

 dwindles into nothingness. 



FOR THE NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



REMOVING FLOWERS. 



Mr IjloiTOR — In your publication for May 2, a 

 plan is given for removing choice flowers from 

 one pot to another with ease ; and you may, per- 

 haps, admit into your paper a plan . for a corres- 

 ponding object. It is contained in a 



51 E M O R A JJ D n M 



As to the px-eference of wicker baskets, as com- 

 pared with pots, (and it may be added, as compar- 

 ed with boxes,) for the conveyance of young plants, 

 in certain cases, from place to place ; employed 

 by the Hon.^ Joseph Robley, president and com- 

 mander in chief on the island of Tobago.* The 

 memorandum is as follows: — August, 1803. 



Mr Robley stated, in favor of wicker baskets, 

 that they are light and easily removed from place 

 to place ; and that when plants are to be set out 

 where they are to remain, the plants need not be 

 shifted from the baskets ; but, if suffered to con- 

 tinue in them, the baskets will soon rot in the 

 ground ; and in the meantime, the roots of the 

 plants will extend themselves into the adjacent 

 soil, without impediment. 



Yours, with respect, A. B. 



FOR THE NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



MASSACHUSETTS HORTICULTURAL 

 SOCIETY. 



The standing committee on the products of 

 the Kitchen Garden, respectfully submit the fol- 

 lowing list of Premiums for the year 1832 : 



Asparagus, two largest and best bunches, $4,00. 



Beets, half a dozen, the best Blood, 3,00. 



Beans, Lima, twp quarts, the earliest and 

 best, 4,00. 



Cucumbers, best pair raised in open ground 

 on or before the 2d Saturday in July, 3,00. 



Carrots, half a dozen the best long orange, 3,00. 



Celery, two roots the earliest and best, 4,00. 



Cauliflower, two best heads, 4,00. 



Corn, sweet, one dozen the earliest and best, 3,00. 



Lettuce, two best heads, 2,00. 



Melons, water, the largest and best, 3,00. 



Melons, musk, the best and finest flavored, 3,00. 



* Mr Robley obtained a gold medal for Jiis plantation 

 of bread-fruit trees. 



