J12 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



May 



*•!. 



the sight, taste and smell; they are imj)ortant aux- 

 iliaries as promoters of health. Many objections 

 are made to setting out trees. Most are not will- 

 ing to wait for the growth of trees ; such persons 

 should set out more small fruits. He had made 

 some experiments with currants, blackberries, of 

 which he had three kinds, raspberries, thimbleber- 

 ries, and other small fruits. With proper care all 

 these may be profltably cultivated. A new kind of 

 thorn less gooseberries was also spoken of as wor- 

 thy of attention. By setting out slips of these fruits, 

 a return may be obtained in a year, if the ground 

 is stirred around the plants, and they cultivated just 

 like corn. It is not merely for profit or health that 

 these frusts should be cultivated, but the happiness 

 and comfort of homes are greatly promoted by the 

 cultivation of fruit. The advantages of cultivating 

 grapes for wine, and of saving wild grapes for the 

 same purpose, were spoken of, and the care and 

 culture of such fruits. He stated that Mr. Page, of 

 North Market Street, Boston, made 4000 gallons 

 of wine from wild grapes, last year, and found a 

 ready sale for it. He wants to buy them this year, 

 and will pay two cents per pound for them. 



Mr. LoTHROP spoke of the time of transplant- 

 ing of trees. From his experience he had found 

 that the spring was the best time. Some may live 

 if planted in autumn ; but to most, it is certain 

 death to plant them then. He advanced the idea 

 that they die when planted in autumn because of 

 the want of vital heat in winter. He understood 

 that the temperature of trees never fell below 40° 

 in winter, and never rose above 70° in summer. 

 Great care should be taken in applying manures to 

 trees when they are planted. He considered com- 

 mon barn-yard manure, with bone-dust, the best. 

 He spoke of a wash which he thought very use- 

 ful. It was composed of soap-stone dust, with 

 lime and soap-suds; this makes a smooth coating 

 on which lichens will not grow. We want more 

 kinds of apples for eating in the spring. He called 

 attention to the apple called the Northern Spy, and 

 desired to know what the cultivators of fruit trees 

 thought of that apple ; the best he had ever seen 

 were raised by Mr. Tudor, of Nahant. He thought 

 winter pears were an unnatural fruit ; and he did 

 not consider them generally valuable. 



Mr. Wetheuell said the best time for planting 

 was held to be by many cultivators in the autumn, 

 and they had had long experience, but he did not 

 so regard it himself. The first thing to be regarded 

 was the acquisition of good, Ihrifty trees. Those 

 who buy of fruit tree pedlers may be quite sure to 

 get poor trees. He thought soap suds put on with 

 a brush or cloth, the best application as a wash. 

 He was decidedly opposed to putting on any thing 

 like a paint, or 'like the wash recommended by Mr. 

 LoTHROP. Whatever wash is used, no coating 

 should be left on trees. He did not wonder that 



lichens could not grow on such a paint as was de- 

 scribed. As to apples and pears running out by be- 

 ing grafted for many years, he did think that would 

 ever happen when the scions were grafted in thrif- 

 ty young trees. He was satisfied that the North- 

 ern Spy was not, and could not become a profita- 

 ble fruit in Massachusetts, but in Western Nevf 

 York, where it originated, it is a splendid fruit. In 

 reference to setting out trees for fruit, he said that 

 in California, apples and pears were both raised frona 

 the seed in four years. One gentleman in the State 

 of New York set out a young orchard in 1848, and 

 in 1854 he gathered from it 120 bushels; and two 

 of the Baldwin trees produced three bushels each. 

 From statistics respecting grape culture and wine 

 making, it was shown that in 1840, there were 124,- 

 734 gallons of wine made, and in 1850, 221,249 

 gallons ; but in 1853, the product had increased to 

 a value of $2,000,000. Mr. Buchanan, of Cincinna- 

 ti, for fifteen years cultivated different kinds of for- 

 eign grapes to test them, and after spending $120,- 

 000 in that way, he became satisfied that the Isabel- 

 la and Catawba were the best grape for wine, and 

 within the last fifteen years he had made $7,000,000 

 worth of wine. In closing, !Mr. W. related an in- 

 teresting case of a person in Germany, who obtained 

 permission of a town to set out fruit trees on the wsste 

 land by the road-side for twenty years. He was mak- 

 ing it profitable to himself, and showing that great 

 good to the community might result from such a prac- 

 tice everywhere. The trees were not robbed by 

 the boys. 



Mr. Hyde, of Newton, had found by experience, 

 that spring was the best time for planting fruit. 

 All stone fruits are very liable to be winter killed 

 when planted in the fall. Apple and pear trees may 

 be set in dry land in the autumn, but spring is bet- 

 ter. He thought that the profit of fruit growing 

 was an important question. He really doubted 

 whether apple growing, near Boston, where the 

 land is so valuable for raising garden vegetables, 

 was profitable. He could not agree that any paint- 

 like substance for a wash was good for trees. He 

 had used a weak solution of potash and water. Half 

 a pound to a pail full of water is sufficient. As to 

 grapes, he believed we might have good native va- 

 rieties that wDuld ripen. The Rebecca grape that 

 originated on the Hudson river, and is a white grape, 

 is likely to be a good variety. The Diana is really 

 a very line grape. It is not a large berry. Then 

 the Concord is coming into use. He preferred some 

 other grape to eat. The Rebecca, the Delaware and 

 the Union Village and other native grapes are wor- 

 thy of trial. Grapes should be grown more exten- 

 sively. The Isabella grape has been sold for a dol- 

 lar a pound, and the supply was not near enough 

 for the demand. The Northern Spy apple requires 

 from ten to fourteen years to come to bearing from 

 the seed, and when grafted, it requires seven years 



