THE GENESEE FARMER. 



371 



w& think justly, to the sudden changes of temper- 

 ature. The writer says : 



" Referring to my notes, I find that a change of 

 80° in 48 hours invariably produced it, but trees 

 sheltered from the prevailing wind were mostly ex- 

 empt. A notable instance is recorded in my jour- 

 nal of 1849. The thermometer fell 40= in 24 

 hours, with a cold north-east wind. Previous to 

 this, the peach trees in a small orchard planted on 

 tlie east side of a close board fence were in perfect 

 health. In less than one week after wanl the leaves 

 were severely blistered, and the sheltering influence 

 of the fence was peculiarly prominent." 



Mildew on the grape, it is asserted, can be pre- 

 vented, or at least greatly checked, by proper shel- 

 ter. Instances have occurred where vines under 

 the eaves of buildings, or under the shelter of 

 trees, are free from mildew, while branches from 

 the same roots trained on an exposed trellis were 

 severely jiffected. 



In regard to the protection of strawberries, the 

 writer well remarks that while most varieties on 

 well-drained soils will stand the winter without 

 protection, yet it is a fact that those protected 

 will produce earlier and twice as much fruit as 

 those left exposed. 



No better mode of protecting roses, grapes, 

 raspberries, &c., during winter, has ever been 

 practised than that of simply bending down the 

 shoots and covering them with soil. Even when 

 so as to be in close contact with the damp soil, 

 without any covering, the benefit is very decided. 

 They are thus not only placed below the rapid dry- 

 ing currents, but are enabled to absorb moisture by 

 their surfaces to counteract evaporation. 



To provide the necessary shelter, recourse must 

 be had to artificial plantations of hardy trees, and 

 Qf these evergreens will form the most effectual 

 protection, and should mainly be depended upon. 

 Of all evergreens, the Norway fir will prove most 

 serviceable, and a single row of them planted six 

 feet apart will, in a few years, form a sheltering 

 wall of dense foliag ). 



"When large areas or open level plains, as on the 

 western prairies, a single row should not be deemed 

 sufficient. Belts not less than forty feet in breadth 

 should be planted. The most effective points to 

 plant are those from west round by north to east. 

 A variety of trees may be used in these belts. The 

 white pine is a fast-growing tree, and can be kept 

 thick and compact by cutting the points of those 

 shoots that tend to over-luxuriance. The Austrian 

 pine is a tree of dense, robust habit, very hardy, 

 and, like the Scotch pine, will adapt itself to any 

 dry soil of good depth. The balsath fir will thrive 

 better in lowlands than any other evergreen, and 



although it may not be the most ornamental of 

 trees, it is well fitted for massive planting. The 

 hemlock spruce, most beautiful of all evergreens, 

 should not be overlooked. It will thrive well as 

 undergrowth, and form a gracetul boundary fringe 

 to thickets. 



In vineyards and jjear orchards, more particularly 

 the former, great advantage would be derived from 

 secondary hedges running in parallel lines, say 

 two hundred feet apart. These may be formed of 

 the American arbor vitae — our best evergreen 

 hedge plant. In pear and otlier orchards, Norway 

 fir may be used for a like purpose. 



To secure an effectual s'nelter, the plants must be- 

 thickly set ; and even when the plantation is in- 

 tended to be ultimatily evergreen, a liberal mix- 

 ture of rapidly-growing deciduous trees should be 

 introduced. Fast-growing trees, as the silver ma- 

 ple, English alder, various willows, balsam and 

 Cottonwood poplars, the European larch, and 

 others, will be most suitable. The young ever- 

 greens will be greatly benefitted by the shade of 

 the deciduous trees. But the latter should be 

 pruned and gradually thinned as the evergreens in- 

 crease, and removed altogether when the object of 

 their introduction has been accomplished. 



TJPLAND CRANBERRIES. 



The Maine Farmer has the following communi- 

 cation on growing upland cranberries: 



It is the nature of the cranberry, like all other 

 plants, to grow to perfection somewhere, and as it 

 iiappens this somewhere is where the land is so 

 sterile that nothing else can grow excep.t moss. In 

 proof of this we find both the bog and mountain 

 cranberries growing naturally on the mountain, in 

 the lowest bogs, and in all locations, sometimes 

 floating on the pond, always on poor soil, mixed 

 with moss, which is a protection for it both from 

 summer heat and winter cold. 



Cole, in his Fruit Book, says: "Where a grav- 

 elly knoll has been reduced for a road, we saw ex- 

 cellent cranberries of spontaneous production, on 

 dry, hard and poor soil. On another spot, we saw 

 fine fruit by the roadside, on a very poor, dry, hard 

 soil." He also adds: ''With these cases of good 

 crops under every disadvantage, it would be sur- 

 prising if cranberries should not grow well on high 

 lanil, under good culture." Now it would be sur- 

 prising if cranberries would not grow well on high 

 land; but as for the culture, I would ask for 

 nothing more than to remove the soil to the depth 

 of one or two feet with a iilow and scrajjer, and 

 |dant the same with vines and moss from the cran- 

 berry bog. This sliould he done in the fall or 

 si)ring, and the tops mowed off the following sum- 

 mer, which will cause tliera to spread and cover 

 the whole surface. By this experiment I have 

 raised, the present season, at the rate of four hun- 

 dred and fift_Y,-jtliree bushels per acre. — 0. Pitoheii, 

 2d, Belfast. 



:, Me. 



