1849. 



THi: CKXKSKE FARMER. 



101 



PLANTING TREES ON CLAYEY GROUND. 

 Bl A. i:i:mm. 



Mr. Editor: — 1 notice in the Horticulturist of 

 February a communication from Mr. .1. Fulton, Jr.. 

 a nurseryman in Chester Co.j Pa., detaikn 

 method of preparing ground for and planting an 

 orchard which seem,- in me to be calculated to mis- 

 lead the inexperience i, who may be induced t<> prac- 

 tice after his exai 



His preliminaries are excellent, except "digging 

 the holes:" the most critical and importont of all. 

 In this 1 think lie is entirely wrong, and that before 

 he becomes the profitable proprietor of an orchard 

 thus planted, he must be his own customer for a sec- 

 ond lot of his tine two-year-olds. The work com- 

 mences by " digging the holes from 4 to 5 feet square 

 ami J deep, throwing the clay subsoil entirely away." 

 Now, allowing there to be eight inches of good sur- 

 face soil, it follows that he must remove sixteen 

 inches of solid clay, forming a basin large enough 

 to hold three barrels of water, and almost as capable 

 of retaining that element as any vessel that a potter 

 could produce. And over this reservoir, after filling 

 in with rich compost, he proposes to place his young 

 trees — which I think is a great mistake. 



How tenacious the clay may be on his place, I do 

 not know, but in ordinary clayey-subsoil I am sure 

 they would realize the presence of u water-cure" at 

 least until midsummer, and if they did not die out 

 the first or second year after planting, but should 

 survive such ultra hydropathic treatment, their stinted 

 groth and annual crop of moss, for the first ten or 

 twelve years of their youth, would evidence to the 

 planter that he was sadly mistaken in 1 the premises, 

 or that his trees were endued with sense enough to 

 rebel against their destiny. 



I have known many trees to be destroyed by pur- 

 suing the above method. The water should never 

 be permitted to lodge under the roots of a tree. 

 Where the subsoil is a heavy clay, the ground should 

 be worked quite two furrows deep, and thrown into 

 ridges by frequent plowings to the center, until the 

 depth of two feet of good soil is obtained, when the 

 trees should be set at the desired distance, on the 

 middle or highest part of the ridge. 



Staking and mulching are indispensable in this 

 case, as the evaporation is greater and the tree more 

 likely to be rocked by the winds from its position, 

 than when the subsoil is soft and presents no obstruc- 

 tion to the downward direction of the roots. Frequent 

 wetting of the stem and branches during the first 

 summer after planting, especially if the season be 

 dry, will be found far more beneficial than watering 

 at the roots, a practice I am satisfied that kills more 

 trees than it saves. It is proper to observe that 

 wetting should always be performed toward evening, 

 and never at any other time. Erie County JYurscry, 

 Buffalo, JY. Y., February, 1849. 



With Mr. BRyANT we deprecate the practice of 

 digging deep holes for trees in a damp, clayey soil. 

 Far better keep the roots near the surface, within 

 the reach of heat and air, and good wholesome food. 

 —Ed. 



The Beet Root was first brought from the shores 

 of the Tagus, and was cultivated in gardens, on ac- 

 count of its elegant leaves and the rich red color of 

 its roots, two hundred years before it found a place 

 on our tables as an esculent luxury. 



ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS. 



DWARI LPPLB TKKKs. 



M- '■ Burraia, Lockport. Attendant apple tree requires 

 to be planted :u least thirty feet apart . dwarf bushes on Para- 

 dise slinks, about li\ e or si\ — so that you may have a very 



interesting colli i tion in the plai e of one I these 



dwarf trees when seven ot eight years <>l,!. will bear, if 

 properly managed, from half* bushel to two bushels of fruit 

 according to the nature of the variety— they bear very early, 

 say the second or third year from tin- bud or graft, but, of 

 course, the quantity is small at first. The French urow 

 very nice pyramidal trees on the doucam stock, a species 

 that holds an intermediate rank between the Paradise and 

 tlir crab or common stock. These pyramids would perhaps 

 suit your purpose best, if you could get them; they mi 

 planted ten feet apart. 



But the production of large quantities of apples should not 

 lie aimed at in a garden, because it is nn impossibility. We 

 do not hesitate to say that much more pleasure and profit 

 will result from the bushes or pyramids than from the stand- 

 ards. In the grounds of .M r. Rivers, of Sawbridgeworth, we 

 saw a little plantation of 36X) dwarf apple trees on paradise. 

 on about ten square rods of ground. For your benefit and 

 others, we give, in another place, a table (if distances. 



CERASUS MAHALEB. 



A. Thompson", Otisco. This is what is called the pi r- 

 fumed cherry on account of the leaves, wood and blossoms 

 having a strong perfume. It is a native of the south of Eu- 

 rope. It is a branching tree with smooth, glossy, light green 

 foliage, and attains the heightof 20 or 125 feet. It bears small, 

 roundish, black, bitter fruit, and is remarkable for flourishing 

 on the poorest soil. It is cultivated in British gardens as an 

 ornamental tree, but extensively used by the French for 

 dwarfing the cherry tree. The first year or two the free 

 growing sorts make as strong growth in it as on free stoek. 

 but afterwards they shoot less vigorously and become very 

 prolific. It is raised principally from seeds as the mazzard, 

 and may be worked the second year. The price of stock fit 

 for working is about $5 per 100 in the nurseries here, being 

 mostly imported. The price of Paradise stock is. we beli. \ e, 

 about the same. 



The Cottage Garden of America, containing practical 

 directions for the Cultivation of Flowers, Fruits and Veg- 

 etables: by Walter Elder. Philadelphia, Moss & 

 Brother. 



The above is a neat work of about 250 pages, 

 with which we have been favored by the publishers. 

 The author claims that he has taken untrodden 

 ground ; that other works on the subject of garden- 

 ing have been designed for the rich, while his book 

 is " addressed entirely to the cottagers of America.*' 

 Mr. Elder is an experienced gardener, making 

 no pretension to literary acquirements, being more 

 accustomed, in his own language, "to the spade than 

 the pen; and better at laying out gardens than 

 making books." This work, however, is the fruit 

 of long practice and close observation : and although 

 the best gardeners differ somewhat in their practice, 

 the author declares that " every article in the book 

 will stand the scrutiny of practice."' It contains a 

 large amount of matter in a small compass, and will 

 be a valuable book for the " cottagers of America." 



Premiums for Seedling Grapes. — Mr. Long- 

 worth, of Cincinnati, has lately offered premiums of 

 $50 each for a seedling Catawba, Ohio, Herbemont 

 or Missouri grape, equal to the original, and of a 

 white, blue or black color. It is not considered a 

 difficult matter to obtain seedlings of the proposed 

 colors. White seedling Catawbas have been already 

 grown in the vicinity of Cincinnati. 



Cuttings and grafts, when sent to a long distance, 

 should be enveloped in pieces of oil cloth. This 

 preserves them from the action of the air. 



