262 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



June 



old codger, we admit, but to deny that we have 

 made cous-'derable improvement upon her ways 

 in several things, would entitle a man to the oc- 

 cupation of one of those pleasant little rooms in 

 our asylums, where men and women of very ar- 

 dent imaginations are found to congregate. 



Why do we meddle with the young seedling at 

 all? why not plant it in the orchard, as nature 

 presents it? why bud, or graft, or prune, and 

 thus prevent the ways of nature ? Man has be- 

 come altogether too presumptuous ! lie ought to 

 be contented to cat crab apples and clioke pears, 

 and be thankful for them, instead of "seeking 

 out many inventions" to turn the course of na- 

 ture to his will. We have been taught, that to 

 prune the roots of a tree is sometimes as benefi- 

 cial as to prune the top : it is not so often done, 

 because it is more inconvenient. 



Our orchards are all artificial; the young seed- 

 ling is lifted from its seed-bed, a portion of the 

 tap root taken off, and then set in favorable posi- 

 tions where numerous lateral roots find free range 

 and rich feeding grounds, and a rapid growth is 

 induced. Under this treatment the tree may be 

 easily — and safely — taken up and re-set, and such 

 trees liave not been more liable to suffer from 

 drought, or to be blown over, than the ornamen- 

 tal or forest trees in their neighborhood. And 

 so the peach, the plum, apricot, cherry, and 

 nearly all other fruits, are improved by some sort 

 of cultivation. ^Madame Nature is a comely and 

 generous dame, but those good qualities do not 

 entitle her to run altogether riot in her own 

 ways ; in a groat many things she must be held 

 in leading strings ; sometimes we must touch a 

 tap root, at others a topmost branch, make an 

 original stock send up sap to be elaborated by 

 leaves of our own choice, or perfect fruit of a 

 different species from itself. We thank our Con- 

 necticut friend for his text, and hope the infer- 

 ences drawn from it will be agreeable to him. 



For the New England Farmer. 



PLOWS. 



Mr. Editor : — Your correspondent, "A Tiller 

 of Hard and Stony Soil," asks a question in 

 regard to '■'■plows,'''' which practice can only 

 demonstrate. I can inform your correspondent 

 that I have seen the "Michigan" plow work in 

 sward stony land. It kept its place as well as 

 any otlier plow. Have never seen it in okl 

 ground. I consider it the only plow for sward 

 land. Pulrcrization is all that is vanied or ex- 

 pected of the plow. It is the most important im- 

 plement in husbandry. Farming bcf/ins and ends 

 with it. A poor old plow, poor plowing, and 

 hence poor crops. Too much of this kind of 

 forming. 



A handsome slice furrow, by the common plow, 

 will do for agricultural shows and premiums as 

 exhibitions of skill ; but the "double eagle plow" 



prepares the sward ground for immediate culti- 

 vation, and so breaks the furrow as to make it 

 difficult to trace it. No grass here can grow be- 

 tween the furrows, .and as pulverization is the 

 only object, why will it not work well on old 

 ground? Old plows, like tho "diseased furni- 

 ture" in the play of the Poodles, are abundant 

 on every good farm. Good farmers keep up with 

 the improvements ; hence, the old plows accu- 

 mulate, and have a certain value for firewood and 

 old iron. I would say to your friend, there is 

 nothing better than "eagle" and "double eagle." 

 Yours truly, u. p. 



Brooklyn, L. I., April 6, 1855. 



For the New England Farmer. 



THE FLOWER GARDEN. 



The following article I send to you, thinking 

 it may induce others to do as I have done, and in 

 so doing they will receive their reward. We 

 have long taken the Neiv England Farmer and it 

 has always been a most welcome guest in our 

 house. 



In the autumn of 18 — I met with a very se- 

 vere domestic affliction. A long, dreary winter 

 passed, spring came, and knowing as I well did 

 that occupation affords relief to one in afiliction, 

 I resolved to spend my leisure moments in at- 

 tempting to cultivate a few flowers. I applied to 

 my husband, who offered me a nice, rich and 

 highly cultivated little spot in our excellent vege- 

 table garden. 1 took a few bottles of maple sy- 

 rup and an old farm -horse, and drove to the house 

 of an elderly couple about two miles distant, 

 who, I had previously observed, cultivated flow- 

 ers. I told the gentleman I Avas desirous of get- 

 ting some plants to place in my own garden ; the 

 old man was evidently pleased to see me manifest- 

 ing a taste for flowers, and gave me as he could 

 spare. I think he only had a few varieties of 

 pinks, some of the common roses, and a flowering 

 almond, which was his treasure ; he succeeded in 

 getting a little root for me. Leaving the syrup 

 with him, as he refused money, I returned home 

 delighted Avith my prizes. Everything I placed 

 in my little bed grew and throve finely. The cul- 

 tivation of that little spot was to me a source of 

 real comfort. In the autumn following, a lady 

 sent me four tulip bulbs. I felt rich. I will just 

 say my garden operations commenced between 

 twelve and fifteen years ago. I h.ad over two 

 thousand tulips in blossom last summer, and with 

 safety can say I have given away over a bushel of 

 tulip bulbs. I have now twenty-seven varieties, 

 besides all the bulbous roots that can be cultivat- 

 ed in our Northern clime. I have over twenty 

 varieties of roses, comprising many choice ones, 

 and an almost endless variety of the flowers, both 

 perennials and annuals, cultivated in our gar- 

 dens. 



The pleasure I have derived from the tending 

 of my garden has amply repaid me for all the la- 

 bor bestowed upon it. Indeed the labor has been 

 but a pleasure. My husband sometimes tells me 

 about encroaching upon his grounds, but I find 

 no difiiculty in that respect. 



I know many oliject to a flower-garden, or even 

 to a border of flowers, on the ground of too much 

 labor and expense. I will now state as nearly as 



