136 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Marc h 



you will suw an acre in about half the time with 

 the aid of the boy, and get the seed in at a more 

 uniform depth. Make the row 16, 18 or 20 inch- 

 es apart — in our own practice we think 10 inclics 

 about right. As soon as the plants appear — or 

 even before, if any weeds are seen — pass between 

 the rows with the wheel hoe, and when they are 

 an inch or two high, thin them in the row so that 

 they will stand three or four inches apart. 



The plants now being up and thinned, your 

 success will depend first upt)n the condition in 

 which you placed the land Ijcfore sow'ing, and, 

 secondly, upon the manner in which you tend the 

 crop. If weeds are entirely kept down, and the 

 surface is stirred as often as once in every ten or 

 fifteen days — especiallj'^ if the season is a dry one 

 — you will rarely foil of obtaining at the rate of 

 from six to ticelve hundred bushels per acre. The 

 crop will not depend so much upon the season as 

 upon the plowing, 7nanure and attention you give 

 it yourself. 



The use of the wheel hoe will save half the la- 

 bor of cultivation which the old mode with the 

 common hoe required. 



TEX.\CITT OF TURKEY LIFE. 



When I lived at my father's, some forty years 



AMERICAN POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 



In our last, we gave several paragraphs from 

 the opening Address of the President of the Amer- 

 ican Pomological Society, at its session in Sep- 

 tember, upon the production of ncio varieties 

 of fruit from seed. We continue the subject by 

 presenting some brief extracts from the same 

 source, upon the arts of cultivation, and the 

 preservation and ripening of fruit. 



"The absolute necessity of proper preparation, 

 and deep and thorough cultivation of the soil, 

 especially for certain fruits, is nuw gouerally ad- 

 mitted, though regard must always be had to the 

 natural activity in the sap of the species, and to 

 the degree of fertility of the soil. Surely it 

 would be unwise to apply the same cultivation to 

 the peach and the cherry, as to the apple and the 

 pear, or to treat any of these on new and fertile 

 grounds as in old and exhausted lands. 



The influence of soils is remarkable. But by 

 these we do not mean the identical spot, the ar- 

 tificial bed in which the tree stands ; for, in time, 

 the roots take a wide I'ange in search of food. 

 Some fruits are good in nearly all places ; others, 

 only in their original locality. Some succeed 

 best on light, loamy, or sandy soils ; others, in 

 stiff clayey soils. In the latter, many pears, for 

 instance, the Beurre Bosc and Napoleon, are as- 

 tringent, while in the former they are entirely 

 free from this quality. The Beurre Ranee, in 

 England and in some parts of Franco, is the best 

 ago, they had a turkey blown from her roost on j late pear. So it is, also, in some parts of the 



a tree, in a snow storm in December. She did not 

 thaw out of the drift under which she was cov- 

 ered till March, but came out alive, lived, and 

 raised up a good brood that year ! 



Thomas Goodwin. 

 South Berwicli, January, 1855. 



VITALITY OF GARDEN SEEDS. 



Will you state in your columns what garden 

 seeds will come up when they are more than one 

 year old? ' D. Guilds. 



Remarks. — Most seeds will vegetate when more 

 than a year old, if they were gathered at right 

 seasons, and properly preserved. Parsnip seeds 

 quite often fail, but we have used those two or 

 three years old , when they came up well. Gar- 

 den seeds should be gathered a little previous to 

 full ripeness, and a good w-ay is to cut up the 

 plants — the best parsnip, carrot and onion, for in- 

 stance — and hang them in sheltered places for a 

 week or two, when the seeds will become plump 

 and perfect. Then they should be rubbed out, 

 and placed in boxes or bags, and their names and 

 date of raising legibly marked upon them. If 

 not all used the first year, you will then know 

 their age. Seeds tlius put up should be placed 

 in some dry place, of as equal temperature as is 

 convenient — sucli as a closet in the centre of the 

 house, or in chests in the attic, chamber, or work- 

 shop, wliere'they would be quite likely to remain 

 good for many years. 



soils in Belgium ; while Avith others, and with 

 us, it is generally inferior. 



The flavor of fruit is much influenced not only 

 by soil, but also by climate and meteorological 

 agents. Thus, in a cold,- wet and undrained 

 soil, disease commences in the root ; aud^ as a 

 natural consequence, the juices of the tree are 

 imperfectly elal)orated, and unable to supply tlie 

 exigency of the fruit. Even injurious substances 

 are taken up. A plum tree has been known to 

 a1>sorl) oxide of iron, so as not only to color the 

 foliage, but also to exude and form incrustations 

 on the bark, and finally to kill the tree. As an 

 instance of climatic agency, it is sufficient to 

 report the foct, that out of fifty varieties of 

 American peaches grown in the gardens at Chis- 

 wick, England, only two were adapted to the 

 climate. 



In relation to appropriate fertilizers for fruit 

 trees, a diversity of opinion prevails. All agree 

 that certain substances exist in plants and trees, 

 and that these must be contained in the soil to 

 produce growth, elaboration and perfection. To 

 supply these, some advocate the use of what are 

 termed special manures ; others ridicule the idea. 

 We submit whether this is not a difference in 

 language, rather than in principle ; for by special 

 fertilizers, the first mean simply those which cor- 

 respond with the constituents of tlie crop. But 

 are not the second careful to select and apply 

 manui-es which contain those elements ? And do 

 they nut, in practice, aflix the seal of their appro- 

 bation to the theory which they oppose? El- 

 plode this doctrine, and do you not destroy the 

 principle of manuring and the necessity of a ro- 

 tation of crops '] Trees exhaust the soil of cer- 

 tain ingredients, and, like animals, must have. 



