NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



213 



The recommendation to grow the limbs low upon 

 the bodies of the trees, is one which I think I ad- 

 vanced in a communication to the Praii-ie Farmer 

 some two years since, and therefore I of course 

 coincide with Prof. Turner in that point ; but beyond 

 that, I would, to produce permailfeit healthy cherry- 

 trees, have them worked (if low down) upon small 

 seedling stocks, planted in ground that will not cause 

 a growth the first year from the bud, of over four 

 feet ; or rather, I should jircfcr the bud or graft in- 

 serted just below the point at which the head is 

 intended to be formed, as iu that case a less amount 

 of the tree is removed when cutting back to the bud, 

 a less injury is caused to the stock, and less growth 

 of that season the result. Trees so grown during the 

 first two years from the bud, I think, may then be 

 transplanted to ainj soil, and be no more liable to 

 "bark bursting " than the pear or peach. 



"With those trees already planted that are subject 

 to being affected with " bursting bark," I find no 

 difficulty in healing diseased points, by simply cut- 

 ting away all dead matter, washing the Avound with 

 strong soap-suds, and wrapping it up in fresh cow 

 droppings. Very respectfully, F. R. E. 



Cleveland, Ohio, Aug. 1849. 



As nothing is easier than the culture of all the 

 finest cherries on the Hudson, and throughout most 

 of the Middle States, we know but little from our 

 own observation of the difficulties Avhich are largely 

 experienced in Western States, and therefore wel- 

 come these intelligent discussions to our pages. The 

 excessive luxuriance of growth caused by the fer- 

 tility of many western soils, is undoubtedly the 

 cause of many obstacles in the way of the fruit- 

 grower, which must be met by a resort to various 

 counteracting expedients on his part. But even here, 

 bark-bound trees are occasionally seen. Our own 

 remedy here is scraping the trunks, and washing 

 them repeatedly with soap-suds ; but we have also 

 seen bark-boiind trees restored to a sound normal 

 state by the old and long-practised expedient of 

 slitting the bark. — Ed. — Downing' s Ilorticulfun'nt, 



Remarks. — Some varieties of cherries, generally 

 those that are foreign, are rather tender for our cli- 

 mate. They are liable to be injured by the extreme 

 heat of summer, and cold of winter. The Black 

 Tartarean is among the most tender kinds cultivated 

 in this section. In extremely hot days, young 

 standard cherry-trees, that have only short limbs, 

 and those up high, are liable to have their trunks 

 destroyed by the hot summer. 



We have noticed that some of our cultivated kinds 

 v.eTe killed last summer, while Mazard-trees near 

 them, with trunks equally exposed, were uninjured. 

 Therefore, a good method of forming a large, durable 

 tree, is to raise up a hardy Mazard, and then graft 

 or bud into the limbs. But as wc are now adding to 

 our lists of valuable cherries several fine natives, we 

 shall soon have twice as many as we need to culti- 

 vate, and we can exclude those that are tender in 

 tree, also those that are so liable to decay in fruit, in 

 case of wet weather when it is ripening. 



Besides several hardy and excellent native cher- 

 ries already introduced, many others, from our best 

 native seedlings, are on trial, and we shall soon be 

 able to make a choice list, sufficiently extensive for 

 all seasons of the cherry, for all purposes, and to suit 

 all tastes, after excluding every kind to which there 

 is any serious objection, even if the excluded kinds 

 fihould be more numerous than those retained. 



The cherry is generally a very rapid grower, and 

 a great error in cultivation is, setting on rich land, 

 or manuring too highly. When the tree groAvs rap- 

 idly, the wood is soft and tender, and more liable to 

 injury from the hot sun, or severe cold, or from the 

 sudden changes from heat to cold, and the reverse. 

 The limbs of the cherry should be trained so as to 

 protect the trunk and main branches from the sun, 

 particularly from the almost vertical noonday sum- 

 mer sun. 



If we could raise some of the best varieties of 

 cherries from seed, without budding or grafting, as 

 we do many kinds of peaches, we should accomplish 

 an important object, both in getting more hiirdy trees, 

 and saving the labor and risk of budding and graft- 

 ing, which processes are more liable to fail in the 

 cherry than in other varieties of fruit, jDarticularly 

 that of budding. — Ed. N. E. Farmek. 



CURIOUS FACTS IN NATURAL HISTORY. 



It is but little more than forty years since the first 

 crow crossed the Genesee River westwardly. They, 

 with the fox, the hen-hawk, swallow, and many 

 other birds and insects, seem to follow civilization. 



The locust borer is not of more than thirty years' 

 introduction into the United States, and has not yet 

 reached the native groves of the locust-tree at the 

 south and west. It commenced its ravages on the 

 east side of the Genesee River in 1830, and it was 

 seven years before it crossed to the west side. 



The grain worm, or weevil, began its course of 

 do^tructiou in Vermont, about the year 1828, and it 

 progresses in the course it takes from ten to fifteen 

 miles a year. It has not yet reached Western New 

 York to any extent ; but the destroyer is on its 

 march, and desolation will follow its track in this 

 great wheat-growing region. 



Rose-bugs have been so common in some of the 

 Eastern States, that on the sea-shore they have 

 floated in winrows on the sands, having been driven 

 into the sea by winds, and drowned. They have 

 only made their appearance in this region, in any 

 quantities, within two or three years. 



The cedar or cherry bird was first noticed west 

 of the Genesee River in 1828, and now it is so great 

 a pest as to induce many to give up the cultivation 

 of cherries, especially if near woodland. 



The plum-weevil, or curculio, which is indigenous 

 to America, being unknown in Europe, was first dis- 

 covered by Mr. Goodsell, the first editor of the Gen- 

 esee Farmer, since which time it has disseminated 

 itself over the whole continent. 



The gopher, a species of ground squirrel, with 

 pouches on the outside of its checks to carry the dirt 

 from its hole, is very plenty on the west side of Mis- 

 sissippi, in Missouri and Iowa, but has never yet 

 crossed the river into Illinois or Wisconsin. It only 

 works in the night, burrowing in holes and run-ways 

 under ground — subsisting on the roots of trees, 

 grasses, and vegetables. There are persons who have 

 suffered by their depredations for twenty years, who 

 have never been able to catch, or even see one, of 

 these nocturnal depredators. 



The cut-worm is of recent origin. The first it was 

 noticed as doing much damage, was during 18 IG and 

 1817, noted as the cold years, when the whole north- 

 ern country approached the very brink of famine. 

 They are now universal. 



The Hessian fly was introduced, it is supposed, by 

 the foreign mercenaries in 1777, on Long Island, 

 from their baggage, or in the forage for their horses. 



