NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



205 



no search for " undiscovered laws " to account for 

 the white phimago thrown by their descendants. 

 The fowls, when bought by Capt. Palmer, were of 

 mixed blood, and were selected, not for breeders, but 

 for being eaten during the voyage. 



" Stonington " cannot, it seems from the tenor of 

 his communication, believe there can exist at Shang- 

 hac a breed of white fowls, because "it is not known 

 to Capt. Palmer," and ventures " a prediction that 

 the White Shanghaes mentioned in the communica- 

 tion, if they are pure blood, will turn out some fine 

 red chicks in the course of the summer." If " Ston- 

 ington " has no better ground on which to found his 

 prediction than the want of knowledge of Capt. 

 Palmer, I place no reliance on his opinion, and no 

 faith in his prediction. 



"Who " Stonington " is, what facilities he may pos- 

 sess for obtaining information, and how well he may 

 be " versed in feathered genealogy," I do not know ; 

 but it is hoped that he will, when he next attempts 

 to correct " several errors in point of fact, which are 

 likely to mislead," &c., favor the readers of your 

 paper with his real name and place of residence. I 

 dislike to reply to a person who does not give his 

 name to the public. 



For tlie account of Capt. Palmer's examination of 

 the different kinds of fowls at Shanghac, and of the 

 loss of the "White Shanghaes by Mr. Dixon, I am 

 indebted to John Giles, of Providence, K. I. ; and 

 what reason he could have to give false information, 

 I leave the reader to judge. Yours, &c., 



S. BRADFOllD MORSE, Jr. 



For the Xeto England Farmer. 



EARLY BEARING-QUINCE STOCKS FOR 



THE NORTH. 



Mr. Cole : "Will you, or some of your able corre- 

 spondents, give information, through your valuable 

 publication, on the following subjects ? 



When large fruit trees are grafted, will the scions 

 bear fruit sooner when taken from bearing trees than 

 ■when taken from young trees ? 



Will pears flourish when grafted on quince stocks, 

 as far north as New Hampshire? (lat. 43° 15'.) If 

 so, or in trying the experiment, what variety of the 

 quince is preferable ? INVESTIGATOR. 



North Ciiarlestowx, N. II., March 6, 1850. 



Remarks. — There arc different opinions as to 

 Bcions from bearing trees bearing fruit earlier than 

 those from young trees. We think that there is 

 generally but little difference. If the scion is old, 

 the stock must also have age and vigor, before the 

 scion will bear. W^e have cut scions from bearing 

 trees, which scions (as is evident from others that re- 

 mained) would have borne fruit the next season, set 

 them on young stocks, and managed well the trees, 

 and they have not borne for seven or eight years. 

 At the same time, such scions set on bearing trees 

 have borne plentifully the third year. We have had 

 scions that retained so much of their original dispo- 

 sition to bear, that they bore the first season, but 

 afterwards became so modified by the young stock, 

 that they did not bear again for six or eight years. 



A few days ago, a fi-uit cultivator showed us a 

 seedling set on a standard tree to forward its bearing. 

 It had not borne, though set as long a time as is 

 necessary for seedlings to bear on their original stock. 

 So there is a doubt whether the bearing of seedlings 



can be much hastened by grafting on bearing ti-eos, 

 though it may be done by working them on dwarfs, 

 and pursuing other modes of causing early maturity. 

 We do not consider these questions settled, but we 

 do think that it is of but little importance whether 

 scions arc cut from bearing trees, or young trees, fcr 

 the purpose of grafting young trees. Will some of 

 our correspondents give us their experience in reganl 

 to the time of bearing of scions cut from old and 

 young trees, and set on bearing trees ? 



Peai'S will doubtless flourish as well on quince 

 stocks in New Hampshire, as in a more southern 

 clime, if such pears are selected as are adapted to 

 that region. We think that there is but Uttle differ- 

 ence in the value of the different varieties of quince 

 for the pear ; but further experiments may give us a 

 different view of the subject. The most vigorous 

 stocks are best, but we do not, in this respect, per- 

 ceive much difference in the apple, pear, and Portu- 

 gal quince. Yet these arc unsettled questions, and 

 we need more light on them. — Ed. 



For the Ncio England Farmer. 

 MILDEW ON GOOSEBERRIES. 



Mr. Cole : The prevalence of the mildew on many 

 of the choice varieties of gooseberries, has become so 

 common, that many have, in utter despair, abandoned 

 the cultivation of them. We had well nigh con- 

 cluded that any further attempts in their behalf were 

 useless ; and had it not been for a kind of farming 

 denominated " book farming," found in our agricul- 

 tural journals, Ave should long ago, probably, have 

 consigned our bushes to the rubbish heap, and con- 

 cluded that there was an end of the whole matter. 

 From the experience of some one in this matter, 

 we learned that salt meadow hay placed around the 

 bushes had a good effect- Such hay does not grow 

 on the mountains of Berkshire ; so we applied a sub- 

 stitute, without knowing whether, in our case, wc 

 should kill or cure. If we had done the former, 

 there would have been no loss, for the bushes were 

 worthless as they were. 



In the first place, we dug in a plenty of fine ma- 

 nure among tlie roots of the bushes. Rotten chip 

 manure is excellent for the purpose ; so are composts. 

 Early in the season wc gave as much as half a i)int 

 of rock salt to each bush, laying it so far from the 

 stalk as not to interfere with it. This salt is in a 

 state of decomposition until it is gone, and its efi'cct 

 is to keep the ground cool and damp — two essentials 

 to the perfection of this kind of fruit. After salting, 

 litter with any waste hay or leaves ; these also tend 

 to keep a uniform moisture and temperature around 

 the roots. 15 y managing in this way, we have re- 

 stored our old buslies, so that last year we had as fine 

 a crop from them as thej' ever gave in their most 

 pabny days. When the mildew first appears, sprinkle 

 tlic bushes over with brine, and it will check its 

 progress. 



Other remedies have been recommended, which 

 we have tried Avith less success. One, fur instance, 

 says, if they are alloAvcd to groAV in grass-land, the 

 mildcAV Avill not touch them. This avc have tried, 

 but with us it Avas no go ; our berries were as fatally 

 shielded over as Avhen the ground Avas cultivated. 



The prevalence of the disease undoubtedly depends 

 much on soil and locality. In most cases they prob- 

 ably succeed best in moist, cool loc;ditics. It is in 

 such AVC find them in a state of nature. At the 



