196 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



April 



Brown said he would like to hear something in 

 regard to pruning forest trees. He had always 

 understood that it would not answer to trim for- 

 est trees, particularly evergreens. The ai-gument 

 was that when the tree was done with the lower 

 limbs, they would die and fall off. But he knew 

 of a forest of white pines in New Hampshire 

 which the owner had entered and trimmed, and 

 he believed that it grew faster than any other 

 within his knowledge. 



Mr. Fay, of Lynn, said there was much differ- 

 ence of opinion about pruning forest trees. If 

 oaks are stunted they should be cut off down to 

 the ground, but after they are twenty feet high, 

 the pruning should be done in a regular series, 

 taking off the lower branches each year. The 

 best time is in the summer, when the sap has as- 

 cended, as healing takes place when the sap de- 

 scends, so that if cut in July the wounds almost 

 immediately heal over. A great mistake is made 

 in going into a forest with an axe. The trimming 

 should be done very gradually after trees get 

 twenty or thirty feet high, or their growth will 

 be checked. 



Mr. Cutter, of New Hampshire, said that he 

 had noticed that where large limbs had been cut 

 off it injured the timber. If white pin6s are 

 trimmed when small, the wound heals over and 

 they make good timber. An axe should not be ap- 

 plied in trimming a tree, as it invariably injures 

 it. The great error in pruning is in doing too 

 much at a time. If green limbs are to be trimmed 

 it should be done in December, when the tree 

 is frozen ; April is the worst time in the year to 

 trim. The dead limbs should be taken off in Ju- 

 ly and August. 



Rev. Mr. Trask, of Fitchburg, followed in 

 some appropriate remarks upon the assthetic 

 branch of the subject of cultivating trees. 



Messrs. Brigham, of Worcester, and Buckmin- 

 ffVER 0^ the Plouffhman, made some excellent re- 

 marks upon the general subject. 



Mr. Sheldon, of Wilmington, spoke practi- 

 cally on the matter, particularly in regard to 

 fruit trees, and would have any one who designed 

 to raise an orchard, take twelve trees, and trim 

 one of them each month in the year — and thus 

 decide practically the proper time for pruning 

 trees. 



On motion of Mr. Flint, the subject of Fruit 

 Trees was continued to the next meeting. Ad- 

 journed. 



Fire-jlies. — In tropical climes, various lumi- 

 nous insects are attached to female head-dresses. 

 They are also used as lamps. I have read fine 

 print in a dark room by the light of two small 

 Long Island fire-flies in a tumbler. But man 

 was not the first to rob these living gems of their 

 liberty and radiance. There are birds that seize 



and suspend them as chandeliers for their dwel- 

 lings. The bottle-nested sparrow, or baya, is one 

 of the kidnappers. Its nest is closely woven like 

 cloth in the figure of a large inverted bottle, with 

 the entrance at the orifice of the neck. The in- 

 terior is divided by partitions into two or three 

 chambers, one over the other. These are pro- 

 foundly dark until lit up with fire-flies caught 

 alive, and mercilessly fixed to the walls or ceiling 

 with pieces of wet clay or cow-dung for sconces. 

 — From ^' The World a Workshop.''' 



LET US TRY TO BE HAPPY. 



Let us try to be happy ! we may if we will 



Find some pleasures in life to o'erbalance the ill ; 

 There was never an evil, if well understood, 



But what, rightly managed, would turn to a good. 

 If we were but as ready to look to the light 



As we are to set moping because it is Right, 

 We should own it a truth, both in word and in deed. 



That who tries to be happy is sure to succeed. 



Let us try to be happy ! some shades of regret 



Are sure to hang round, which we cannot forget ; 

 There are times when the lightest of spirits must boTT 



And the sunniest face wear a cloud on its brow -, 

 We must never bid feelings, the purest and best, 



To lie blunted and cold in our bosoms at rest ; 

 But the deeper our own griefs, the greater our need 



To try to be happy, lest oth' r hearts bleed. 



Oh ! try to be happy ! it is not for long 



We shall cheer on each other by counsel or song ; 

 If we make the best use of our time that we may, 



There is much we can do to enliven the way. 

 Let us only in earnestness each do our best — 



Before God and our conscience, and trust for the rest ; 

 Still taking this truth, both in word and in deed, 



That who tries to be happy is sure to succeed. 



GEAFTED CHESTNUT TREES. 



The Cincinnati Gazette publishes an interesting 

 letter from Mr. Sheldon I. Kellogg, to the Wine 

 growers' Association, dated Bordeaux, France, 

 on the cultivation of the chestnut. He says : 



"I have been much surprised in seeing the 

 great dependence the poorer classes make upon 

 the large chestnut for their daily food. It is cul- 

 tivated in this neighborhood in great abundance 

 for this purpose. All classes use them more or 

 less ; the rich having them daily brought upon 

 their tables as dessert, either boiled or roasted. 

 It is often made into a soup, which is highly 

 esteemed. They are cooked in a multitude of 

 ways, and I know of nothing of a farinaceous 

 nature which is so very delicate and nourishing. 



"The marron, or large chestnut, is the produce 

 of the wild chestnut after being engrafted. The 

 wild tree, at three or four years of age, is cut 

 square off, say four or five feet from the ground. 

 The stump is then split twice. These splits inter- 

 sect at right angles at the centre of the stump. 

 There is then inserted one good-sized branch of 

 the same tree in every section of the ttplits, 

 making four branches in each stump. Care is 

 always taken to make the bark of the branches 

 and the bark of the stump join each other as 

 closely as possible. The graft is then surrounded 

 with clay and moss, to prevent the overflow of 

 the sap, and it scarcely ever fails of success. The 

 period selected in this climate for this operation 

 is the month of February. The produce of this 



