120 



THE GENESEE FARMER. 



May 



HORTICULTURAL DEPARTMENT, 



EDITED BY P. BARRY. 



There is no other branch of horticultural practice 

 more discussed, and withal, less understood, than 

 the simple matter of tree planting. To plant a 

 tree properly means more than to dig a hole and put 

 the roots into it, and cover them with earth : 

 than half, we might say three-fourths, of those who 

 do plant, consider this the only necessary process, 

 and wonder when they have done it that their trees 

 do not grow well. Every planter should 

 that few trees are in the proper state to plant as they 

 are taken from the nursery. The nurserymen lesire 

 to have their trees well clothed with branches; end 

 if replanted with all these branches left entire, a tree 

 will either die the first season or make a very feeble 

 effort at living. Grow it cannot, for the roots that 

 would have fed and sustained all these brai 

 have been mutilated and disabled from performing 

 their usual functions until they have emitted new 

 roots. 



Now some trees form roots much quicker than 

 others— and some soils and seasons are much 

 favorable for the development of roots than others — 

 so that certain kinds of trees, and in certain soils, a 

 transplanted tree will bear a large head and numerous 

 side branches, and yet live and grow, while other 

 trees in other soils will remain a year before any 

 considerable number of new roots have been formed. 

 Among fruit trees, the apple, the quince and the 

 peach emit roots much mure freely than the pear, 

 plum and cherry — and in light, sandy, friable soils 

 form much more easily than in stiff, moist, adhi 

 soils These are familiar facts to all cultivators, and 

 they serve as a guide in planting. 



But under all circumstances it is unsafe to plant a 

 tree without reducing its branches in such a manner 

 as to compensate for the loss of root, and general 

 derangement inseparable from removal. Let us take, 

 for instance, an apple tree, six feet high, with a fine 

 head and numerous side branchess. This tree was 

 growing vigorously in the nursery, with its roots 

 spread out and well at home in the soil; but the tree 

 is dug and pulled up, part of its large roots are cut 

 off, many of the smaller ones are dragged off, and 

 before it is planted a great many more are dried 

 or rotted and killed off. Thus the tree is left minus 

 a great portion of its feeding roots, on which the top 

 must depend for support. Its nice balance, which 

 nature and art gave it in the nursery rows, is de- 

 stroyed, and without some compensation it can- 

 not live — at least it cannot grow for a long time 

 to come. The opening buds seek for nourishment, 

 but after the little stock laid up previously is ex- 

 hausted, they can find none, and perish they must. 



How often have we heard people say, " my trees 

 leaved out nicely, but died away immediately after;" 

 and this was owing to a defect in the roots — they 

 could not. meet the demands of the mass of buds 

 struggling to grow. The cause might be in a large 

 head, small or poor roots, an unfavorable soil, or in 

 all combined. Now how are planters to guard 

 against these difficulties? Simply by the exercise 

 of a little judgment in the matter. If a tree has 

 attained considerable size, and has a branching head, 

 these branches should be cut back according to cir- 



cumstances. A tree with large and healthy roots, 

 and abundance of fibres, will sustain a much greater 

 amount of head than a tree with short, poor or badly 

 mutilated roots, and few fibres. Apples, Quinces or 

 Peaches will bear more head than pears or plums, 

 and so on. Trees taken fresh from the soil and 

 ■ted do not require the same degree of cutting 

 a-; those that have been transported to a great dis- 

 tance. Trees that are planted in a light^ mellow, 

 warm soil, favorable to the formation of roots, will 

 require less cutting than those planted in a colder, 

 stiffer soil, where roots will be emitted slowly. Trees 

 taken up with the earth around the roots, and ever- 

 greens, are the only exceptions. These are a few 

 of the circumstances to be well considered by every- 

 one who plants a tree. 



Pruning and cutting back, must not only be done, 

 but done well. It is next to manslaughter to cut 

 and slash the branches of a tree with an old rusty 

 saw-edged jack-knife. It is nothing else than tree- 

 slaughter, and there are thousands that ought to be 

 convicted of it this moment, and sentenced to seven 

 years pilgrimage on a treeless prairie, for their cnu Ity 

 and carelessness. It would fare ill with them were 

 they brought before a court and we were judge. A 

 pruning knife should be as sharp and smooth on the 

 edge as a razor. When a branch is to be wholly 

 removed it should be done smoothly, close to the 

 trunk or limb on which it grows. If a limb is merely 

 to be shortened, it should be cut close to a good 

 plump and healthy looking bud, that promises to 

 make a vigorous shoot. If the future shoot is desired 

 row erect, the bud should of course be on the 

 • side of the branch cut: and if desired to take 

 a spreading or horizontal direction the bud should 

 be on the under side. The object in cutting close 

 bud, (not so close as to injure it,) is to avoid 

 the piece of dead wood that must remain, if cut 

 between two buds. Then the balance of the tree 

 must be thought of. If the branches are left longer 

 on one side than on the other, the tree will inev- 

 itably grow one-sided; the shoots on one side will 

 be more vigorous than en the other, and this will 

 be another disaster. This is as plain as we can 

 at present make the matter in a few words. To sum 

 it up, in short, we would say — 



1st — Place the roots of your trees in a soil favor- 

 able to the formation of roots. 



2d — Reduce the heads in a manner to correspond 

 with the character of the tree, the condition it is in, 

 and the season and situation in which it is planted. 



3d — In every operation exercise reason and care, 

 for it is astonishing what, even the unpracticed hand 

 can do, if he will but think. 



These remarks would perhaps have been more 

 valuable last month, but even now they are not too 

 late for many to profit by them. A great many 

 spring and even last autumn planted trees, may be 

 saved and benefitted by a careful shortening and 

 thinning of their branches. Had it not been for the 

 absence of our engraver, we should have illustrated 

 these suggestions with cuts that would have rendered 

 them more servicable. 



Sow Peas. — "Bishop's Early Dwarf," "Early 

 Prince Albert," and "Landreth's Extra Early," are 

 all good kinds for early sowing. The "Blue Impe- 

 rial," and the large "White Marrowfat" are good 

 kinds, but later. 



