242 



Seed WJieat. 



Vol. IX. 



apple-trees. The great point is to have a 

 dry soil. If it is not sufficiently rich, make 

 it so; no man should expect to have Jine 

 crops of anything unless his soil is rich. 



Setting out trees. — If by exposure the 

 roots have become dry, immerse them in 

 water for twenty or thirty hours previously 

 to setting them out. Prepare a compost as 

 follows : take three bushels of rich soil, or 

 three bushels of swamp muck would be bet- 

 ter, one bushel night soil, one bushel fine 

 charcoal — if charcoal is plenty three to four 

 bushels is to be preferred — one bushel slaked 

 lime, one bushel of unleached, or two bush- 

 els of leached wood ashes, and one peck of 

 salt. Mix the above well together. 



Dig the holes three feet across and two 

 feet deep, keeping the top soil by itself, fill 

 in a portion of the bottom soil until nearly 

 ready for the tree, then fill in half a bushel 

 of the compost and set in the tree, spreading 

 out the roots to their natural position, and fill 

 in the top soil, gently shaking the tree two 

 or three times to settle the soil around the 

 roots. The tree should be set the same 

 depth in the orchard, that it stood in the 

 nursery. Leave the soil a little hollowing 

 about the tree to catch and retain the rain- 

 water. Put around each tree half a peck 

 of fine charcoal, and half a peck of slaked 

 lime. With these precautions, neither peach 

 nor any other fruit-trees will be infested 

 with worms at the roots, provided they have 

 suitable after-culture. For many of the 

 above suggestions the writer is indebted to 

 R. L. Pell, Esq., of Pelham, Ulster county. 

 New York. 



Culture of Orchards. — The soil around 

 the trees should be kept loose, either by 

 spading, digging with a mattock, or by 

 ploughing. If a crop is put in the orchard, 

 nothing should be planted or sowed within 

 five feet of the trees, as the nourishment 

 taken up by the crop is so much taken from 

 the growth of the trees. Afi;er the lime 

 and charcoal have laid around the trees one 

 year, spread them around the trees in a circle 

 of ten feet in diameter. This should be 

 done in the spring, when the soil is culti- 

 vated, and a fresh supply of lime and char- 

 coal applied. 



When the trees have been set out three 

 or four years, the soil should be enriched 

 with a compost of manure, swamp-muck and 

 ashes. Early every spring the trunks of the 

 trees should be washed with strong ley, 

 strong soap-suds, or thin soft-soap. Apply 

 either of these with a whitewash brush as 

 high as a man can reach. When the trees 

 grow rapidly, their growth will be increased 

 by slitting the outer bark the whole length 

 from the ground up to the limbs. This 



gives the trees room to expand. As soon 

 as the trees blossom, throw over them lime 

 perfectly slaked — this should be done while 

 the dew is on. 



To render old and barren orchards thrifty 

 and productive. — Early in the spring plouo-'h 

 the entire orchard and enrich with a corn- 

 post of manure, swamp-muck, lime, and chip 

 manure. Scrape off all the old bark with 

 a deck scraper, or a hoe, ground sharp. Ap- 

 ply half a bushel slaked lime, and the same 

 of fine charcoal, around each tree. Apply 

 then soft soap or strong soap-suds on the 

 trunks and limbs as high as a man can reach. 

 While the trees are in full bloom, throw 

 over them a good supply of fine slaked lime. 



B. G. BoSWELL. 



Philadelphia. 



Seed Wheat. 



We are told, that, in the island of Jersey, 

 England, where the farmers sell their pro- 

 duce and live upon the refuse, it is custom- 

 ary tor them to tie their wheat in small 

 sheaves, and by striking each twice or thrice 

 across a barrel while lying on its side on the 

 floor, a superfine sample of wheat is obtained 

 for market, after which the sheaves are 

 thrown by, to be clean threshed in the even- 

 ing of winter by lamp light. 



I have just met with the account of a 

 farmer in Vermont, to whom his neighbours 

 resorted for the purpose of securing seed 

 wheat of superior quality; very fine in ap- 

 pearance, remarkably productive, and of 

 early maturity; he readily commanded three 

 dollars per bushel, when the price of wheat 

 was a dollar and a quarter, calling it the red 

 and genuine Barrel wheat. But the secret 

 was at last discovered ; he used, before 

 threshing his wheat, to select the best 

 sheaves, and striking them over the side of 

 the empty barrel as it lay on the floor, three 

 or four times, before laying them down to 

 be clean threshed, he obtained in this very 

 simple way a very superior seed wheat, 

 which the whole county coveted at a double 

 price. Thus the largest and ripest kernels 

 were separated and collected without labour 

 or difiiculty, and a profitable business was 

 carried on, uniil his neighbours discovered 

 how to make " Barrel wheat" for them- 

 selves. — Boston Cultivator. 



" On the banks of the Elbe, in Holland, 

 in the neighbourhood of Arnheim, the mea- 

 dows are depastured during one year, and 

 cut, and their produce made into hay the 

 following year, and so on alternately. The 

 cattle are fed in the house with the hay dur- 

 ing the winter." 



