160 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



April 



market, arc of opinion that barn-yard manure is I jured. In fact, it is better to break or dis- 

 by no means requisite to the speedy growth of|phice a root occasionally, than to permit the soil 

 wood fibre ; and the Avriter of this has grown to become hard, sod-bound, or overrun with 

 apple and pear trees quite as fast as they uught weeds. e. c. p. 



to grow on a hard and gravelly soil, with no Somerville. 

 other manure than compost, placed in the hills 

 of corn and potatoes planted among the trees. 

 The stirring of the earth, in hoeing tlie crops, 

 was much better for the trees than any possible 

 amount of manure would have been, if left lying 

 dormant with the soil, (c.) On no account 

 whatever should stable manure be brought in 

 direct contact with the roots of trees. Its inva- 

 riable tendency is to canker them. If such ma- 

 nure must be used, let it be upon the surface of 

 the grou' d, whence its juices will find their way 

 dowm to the roots quite as fast as is good for 

 them. But a better way is to dispense with 

 stable manure entirely, and mulch the trees, 

 during both sumiuer and winter, with straw, 

 litter from the barn-yard, potato tops, small 

 brush, or even shavings. These substances keep 

 the ground loose, and at the same time impart to 

 it that constant vegetable decay, which is essen- 

 tial to the formation of fibrous wood. Swamp 

 muck and peat muck are also excellent substances 

 to place around i'ruit trees, whether young or 

 old. 



It is also important that judgment should be 

 exercised in the trimming of fruit trees, feome 

 permit them to grow with suckers at the roots 

 and on the liml)s, and others cut and slash away 

 as though all a tree had to do was to grow itself 

 aAvay from the knife. Both these extremes are 

 to be avoided. When the tree is transplanted, 

 about as much should be cut from the limbs as 

 will correspond with the loss of roots ; and the 

 tree should be slightly trimmed from year to 

 year thereafter, as it developes its suckers or 

 superabundant wood ; but on no account should 

 the larger limbs be severed, unless they are in 

 some, way diseased. They may be headed in, 

 if inclined to grow so as to give an awkward ap- 

 TDearance to the tree ; but the severing of large 

 limbs cannot fail to shorten life. In such matters 

 as these, the better way is, never to listen to the 

 suggestions or extravagant opinions of those whos3 

 knowledge is in inverse ratio to their practical ex- 

 perience, but to pursue that judicious course 

 which every man's common sense will suggest, if 

 he will but take the trouble to think upon the or 

 dinary rules which govern vegetable life. (</.) 



In some cases trees are set out, and a few feet of 

 soil around their l)odies kept in a mellow condi- 

 tion, while the grass sward occupies the remain- 

 der of the field. This is wrong. It is the earth at 

 the extremities of the roots which needs to be 

 kept loose, that they may extend themselves in 

 every direction from the tree. In order to ascer- 

 tain tlie difference between these two iikkIcs of 



Remarks. — {a.) If it can be made convenient 



to transplant jicach trees in the spring, we should 

 recommend that season. So far as our observa- 

 tion and practice extend, the spring has been 

 found the most favorable. We regret our ina- 

 bility to give a reason for this, more than the 

 simple fact. 



(h.) The roots of young trees will turn away 

 from grass, though it may be two or three feet 

 distant, if on another side the land be mellow 

 and rich. 



(f.) In our opinion, there is no mistake on the 

 farm so prominent as that of neglecting to stir 

 the soil svjficiently often. It is to this fact that 

 wheat, when sown in drills and hoed, often pro- 

 duces more than double the number of bushels per 

 acre of that sown broadcast, and the soil not 

 touched afterward. "Stir the soil — stir the soil" — 

 ought to be inscribed on the trees and gate posts 

 wherever the farmer goes. Why should the 

 memory of Watt and Fulton be cherished more 

 than that of Jeturo Tull ? If the farmers of the 

 world would but avail themselves of his teachings 

 and faithfully stir the soil, benefits as great would 

 flow from it as have ever been conferred by steam. 



(d.) We regret that our correspondent did not 

 state what season he considers the most proper 

 for pruning. 



For the New England Farmer. 



ON PRUNING. 



Mr. Editor : — The excellent remarks of Wil- 

 liam D. Brown, in your January number, are 

 more to the point than I have ever seen. I have 

 tried all seasons for pruning, and have come to 

 the conclusion that the best time to prune is im- 

 mediately after gathering the fruit. 



I would trim or prune cherry trees in July ; 

 plum trees in September ; peach trees in the fall ; 

 (juince trees in October ; apple and pear trees 

 when the fruit is gathered. Those that ripen 

 early I would prune early, and those that ripen 

 late should be pruned in October, By so doing 

 we escape any injury to the bark, and there is no 

 fear of the sap oo/ing out, and the wounds grow 

 nearly over the first season. We also avoid crack- 

 ing, wliich often occurs* in the winter pruning, 

 cultivation, tlH. writer of this, last spring, pu.-iS«ckers canbe removed at any time but the f\ill 



- * Ililfi "^ *'^*^ '^'^^^ '•"^'^ *^ remove them. Ail trees should 



chased at auction a dozen small peach trees 

 were set in ground planted with potatoes, and the 

 other moiety in grass land, where the soil and 

 sod t\-ere only disturbed sufficiently to give place 

 to the trees. The former more than dou))led 

 their size, wiiilc the latter scarcely grew at all. 

 It may l)e safely set down as a rule, tiiat land 

 devoted to fruit is iu no danger of being too 

 often or too thor(Uighly cultivated, provided the 

 roots of the trees are not broken or otherwise in- 



be so trimmed and trained as to allow teams to 

 pass under them, and also to prevent cattle from 

 browsing the liml)s. 



Yours truly, S. A. Shurtleff. 



Cure for Burns. — The American Agricul- 

 turist saj'S,' "Of all applications for a burn, we 

 believe there arc none equal to a simple covering 

 of common 7rhcat flour. This is always at hand, 



