316 



THE GENESEE FARMER. 



planted in 1850, three hundred and fifty Bartlett 

 pear trees, one year old from the bud. In 1857, he 

 sold from these trees, fifty bushels of pears, at 

 five dollars per bushel, or two hundred and fifty 

 dollars for the crop. 



" Such facts are conclusive, and ought to rectify 

 the M<e theories which have been advanced on 

 this subject. But it may be objected, that these 

 are instances of success developed by accidental 

 adaptations of kinds, of soil or climate; that such 

 results are neither uniform or common ; in a word, 

 that there are counter facts sufficient to sustain the 

 opinion that pears can not be made a reliable and 

 profitable crop. 



" While I distinctly recognize here as in every 

 other branch of terra-culture, what are called occa- 

 sional revulsions of nature, resulting from sudden 

 alternations of temperature and other causes, yet I 

 desire publicly to record as tlie result of long obser- 

 vation and experience, that I have never known an 

 instance of failure, which on examination was not 

 attributable to an improper selection of varieties, 

 or to injudicious cultivation. In harmony Avith this 

 judgment it is believed to be the sentiment of the 

 best pomologists in this country. Therefore I am 

 constrained to regard success as the general law of 

 cultivation in this, as is every other department 

 of tliis science ; as truly with the pear as with the 

 apple. 



What if we have instanced but a few cases, and 

 named but a few varieties? They illustrate our 

 argument. If the Bartlett in Massachusetts, the 

 Buifum in Rliode Island, and sorts equally success- 

 ful in other States, have not failed of an annual 

 crop from twenty-five to fifty years, surely the pro- 

 duct of the pear is not only as reliable as any other 

 crop, but even more so. To these and other 

 approved sorts which we now possess, we are con- 

 stantly making additions by hybridization and 

 other arts. What if at this time there are but a 

 limited number of such varieties, enterprise and 

 experience are rapidly multiplying them, and it is 

 the particular province of this Society to dispense 

 them through our land. 



"What if pomology, as a science, is compara- 

 tively of recent date ; what if our knowledge of veg- 

 etable physiology generally is very limited ? What 

 it the various sorts of fruit trees do require difler- 

 eait systems of pruning and cultivation, facts now 

 generally conceded by experienced men ? The laws 

 which govern such treatment, and which, with the 

 ordinary exceptions, insure a crop, are as certain as 

 any other scientific principles. Our mission is to 

 investigate these laws, to settle the characteristics 

 of each variety; to ascertain what soil is best 

 adapted for supplying its appropriate food; to 

 learn how and wlien it should be pruned, and to 

 discover the best method of cultivation. 



Winter Care of Dahlias. — As soon as the frost 

 has killed the stalks, take up the bulbs, leaving 

 them attached to the crown of the plant, as those 

 that break oif are nearly worthless. Dry them in 

 the sun a few days, protecting them from wet or 

 frost, and theu put them in a cool dry place in the 

 cellar. As extreme cold weather comes on, protect 

 them, as you would potatoes, from freezing. No 

 dauger of .their being destroyed by rats or mice, as 

 neither ever touch them. 



SETTING APPLE TEEES. 



Editors Genesee Palmer: — We practice setting 

 apple trees in the fall. Staking out the ground in 

 two rod squares, we dig holes three feet in diame- 

 ter and six inches deep, and fill up six inches with 

 mould and surface soil. The trees are set on this, 

 and filled in with finely pulverized surface soil, well 

 packed, and banked up four or five inches above 

 the level of the field. Stakes are then driven on 

 the west side, sume four inches from the tree, to 

 which they are fastened by a soft string, to keep 

 them straight. The trees are hoed in the spring, 

 and manured with leached ashes, taking care not 

 to let the ashes touch the tree. We wash them 

 thoroughly with soapsuds in May, July and Sep- 

 tember, cultivating the ground for at least three 

 years with corn and potatoes. We planted an or- 

 chard in this manner ten years since, and the trees 

 are now as large and beautiful as some in the 

 neighborhood which have seventeen years growth. 

 I think apple trees should be planted as near the sur- 

 face as possible, well banked up, and staked, as I 

 dislike the too common practice of planting trees 

 of any kind in hclcs twelve to eighteen inches deep 

 and not more than twelve in diameter. 

 Murray, Indiana, Sept. 1S5S. E. K. S. 



Remarks. — The Fall is a good time to set fruit 

 trees, where soil is dry, gravelly or sandy. The 

 earth has a chance to settle around the tree so that 

 the roots and fibres are "at home" on the first ap- 

 proach of warm weather, ready to welcome the 

 early food and start on an upward career with 

 vigor. Where this can be done, the trees will do 

 as well in two years as they generally do in three 

 from spring planting. Fall planting should be done 

 while the ground is yet dry and somewhat warm, 

 and before the long, cold fall rains. After they 

 have fallen we should prefer to wait for spring. 



The practice of digging holes for trees can not be 

 generally recommended. The whole ground should 

 be well and deeply tilled, and it may be as well to 

 add, manured too. Then there will be no necessity 

 for digging pits, which in half the cases are but 

 grcires for the trees for which your money has been 

 expended. This is doubly true of fall planting. 

 The hole yoii dig, unless the soil is very dry, well 

 tilled and drained, not only serves as a place for the 

 roots of the tree, but is well adapted as a basin in 

 which to catch the fall rains, which, retained around 

 the roots, stagnate and kiU them as soon as the 

 frosts of winter come to its assistance. Few trees 

 can flourish well in water, and fruit trees are not 

 of the number. These holes cost, in the loss of 

 fruit and shade trees, hundreds of thousands of dol- 

 lars annually, and they cannot be too soon dis- 

 pensed with. " What is worth doing at aU is worth 

 doing well," and if you are ready to plant an or- 

 chard and your field requires holes for the trees, 

 adjourn a year at lea^t, plow and thoroughly culti- 



