250 



TTTE GENESEE FAR^rER. 



but it grows so high that poling is essential, and 

 that is a great drawback. Harrison's Glory is an 

 excellent pea, — large, productive, and of good fla- 

 vor, and it does not need poling. Napoleon is also 

 good, but I think not quite as productive." 



"Mr. B, asked me yesterday what was the rea- 

 son of the green mould on the surface of the soil 

 in his garden. It forms quite a scum, and hoeing 

 does not seem to kill it. I have observed the same 

 thing in the hot-bed, and attributed it to the leaf 

 mould that was mixed with the soil. On reflec- 

 tion, Mr. B. remembered that two years ago he 

 had put some muck on that part of his garden. Is 

 not this the reason ? Probably the muck was sour. 

 It should always be well composted, for a year or 

 two, before being used in the garden," 



" Speaking of sour soils, I was amused last night, 

 in reading the Tribune's report of the New York 

 Farmer's Club, by a statement that soap suds, or 

 leached ashes, put upon currant bushes or pieplant, 

 would probably Mil, instead of enriching them. 

 The reason assigned was this : 'The food of the cur- 

 rant, as well as that of the pie plant, is the acid 

 which is in the ground ; the alkali found in soap- 

 suds, and, of course, in the ashes, neutralizes this 

 acid, and the plant starves to death. Common 

 sorrel is fed by the same. The surest way for de- 

 stroying this useless weed is to put on good strong 

 ashes. Any man can make the experiment. In- 

 stances may occur in which the acid is sufficient to 

 overpower the alkali, in which case the application 

 may not be fatal to the plant, but not often.'" 



"Now, this is certainly very absurd. Soap suds 

 certainly do not kill currant bushes. I know this 

 from my own experience." 



" This idea is only a side shoot from the old doc- 

 trine of " special mannres." That theory has been 

 exploded over and over again ; but it is harder to 

 kill than quack grass. Because currant and pie 

 plant contain acid, therefore it is thought that an 

 acid manure or a sour soil is good for them. Tlie 

 reverse is more likely to be true." 



" Some years ago, it was advocated to supply 

 strawberries with tannic acid, because this acid 

 was said to l)e found in the fruit. The thing was 

 a humbug, but it had a great run, and, even yet, 

 occasionally crops out in the discussions at our 

 horticultural meetings." 



"Somebody, ere long, will be recommending 

 cream of tartar as a manure for grapes, because this 

 substance happens to be found in considerable 

 quantities in the leaves and shoots of the vine. As 



well might we recommend oil for flax, and sugar 

 for sorghum, and starch for potatoes and corn, — or 

 attar of roses for the Queen of flowers !" 



PARING AND BUKNING SOD LAND. 



This is an operation quite cojnmon in England, 

 but almost unknown in this country. We have 

 I'ecommended this practice to some of our horti- 

 cultural friends, but they regard the idea as not 

 feasible. They think it would cost too much, and 

 that it would injure the land, instead of benefiting it. 



The cost is comparatively slight, and the benefits 

 to be derived from it are so great and so numerous, 

 that the subject merits the attention of every gar- 

 dener and fruit grower in America. 



The sods are not burnt — they are simply charred. 

 The " ashes " that are left are mixed with tbe 

 charred remains of the grass, roots, and other or- 

 ganic matter in the soil. These ashes constitute 

 one of the best fertilizers that a gardener can use* 

 They are free from insects and fungus, and, when 

 mixed with the soil, make it very mellow and 

 porous. 



Were we going to plant out a pear orchard, and 

 the land was in grass, we would pare and burn 

 the whole before setting out a tree. 



It is not easy to give directions how best to 

 conduct the burning process, A little experience 

 is needed. The dry sods are placed round a little 

 straw and wood, and the fire started. More sods 

 are added as the fire burns. Tlie fire must not be 

 allowed to burn through, and it is this point that 

 tests the skill of the operation. 



We make a few extracts from an article on this 

 subject in Mortoii's Cyclopedia of Agriculture : 



"This ancient operation in husbandry, known 

 to the Romans, and jjracticed for many ages by 

 our ancestors, was probably suggested at first by 

 the clearance of roui;h ground accidcntly fired. 

 Being a ready means of destroying tlie natural 

 overgrowth of lands that were to be broken up, 

 and tlie cninbroua weeds of arable lands that were 

 irnport'ectly tilled, it became an essential feature 

 of early agriculture. 



" The mere convenience of this mode of breaking 

 up sward land, liowever, is not its chief merit; 

 soil ])ared and burned has been found to yield a 

 succession of crops without manuring, under such 

 ctmditions a-i prove tlie fertilizing effect of this 

 treatment Without entering upon a discussion of 

 the particular chemical processes involved in the 

 burning, we may state tbat its influence ap- 

 pears to be partly mechanical, in rendering clays 

 more friable; partly in converting inert vegetable 

 matters into manure; partly in o|)erating as ma- 

 nure, by the decomposed vegetable alkali they 

 contain ; and partly in detaching and exposing the 

 mineral portions of the soil, so as to increa,«e the 

 energy with which they absorb organic matter 



