396 



NEW E N G L A N I) FAR M E R 



Jl'XE 13, 1S43. 



Kroin Cobbi-lt'i Airnrioiin Gorilein^r. 



CULTIVATION. 



Tlie (jroiind being good, nnd tlie snwinfj, or 

 plRntin^, liavinp been properly performed, IIjc next 

 {liin? is ibe nflermuiin^ement, which is usuallj 

 called the cullii'ulion. 



If the subject be fmin seed, the first thing \a to 

 ecu that the plants stand at a proper disl.ince from 

 each other ; becnnse if left ton close, they cannot 

 come to good. Lf-l iheni also be thinned early ; 

 for even while in seed loaf, they injure each other. 

 Carrot.s, pirsnips, lettuces, evqry thing, o;:glil to be 

 thinned in the seed-leaf. 



Hoe or weed iiiiincdiately ; and let mo observe 

 here, once for all, that weeds never ought to be 

 ^uf^cred to otet to any size either in field or ^'arJen, 

 and especially in the latter. In England, where it 

 rains, or drips, Boinetinnes, for a month toijelher, it 

 is impossible to prevent weeds from j,'rowin^'. lint 

 in this fine climate, under tlys blessed sun, who 

 never absents himself for more than about forty- 

 cip^hl hours at a time, and who will scorch a docU- 

 rocit, or a dandelion-root, to deulk in a day, and 

 long'.hpn a walcr-fuclon shoot twcnlyfour inches in 

 as lunny hours; in this climate, Ecandalons indeed 

 it is to sec t[ic r;ardeM or the field infestod with 

 weeds. 



But besides the .ict of killing weeds, cullivaHon 

 means moving Ihe. enrlh between the plants while 

 arrowing. 'J'his assists them in their growth; it 

 leads thi'in, it raises food for their roots to lie upon. 

 A mere flat-hoeing does nothing but liecp down 

 the weeds. The hoeing when the plants urn be- 

 coniR Flout, should be dee[), and in general with a 

 hoe that has spanes instead of a mere flat plato ; 

 in short, a sort of prong, in the po.-iture of a hoe. 

 .And the spanes of this prong-hoe may be h)nger or 

 shorter, nccording to ihe nature of the crop to be 

 hoed. Deep Iweinfi; is enough in some cases ; but 

 in others, Jigi^inf; is necessary to prodiico a fine 

 and full crop, if any body will have a piece of 

 cabbages, and will dig between the rows of one 

 half of Iheiii, twice during their growth, and let 

 the other half of the piece have noihing but a flat- 

 hoeing, that person will find that the half which 

 has been digged between, will, when the crop is 

 ripe, weigh nearly, if not quite, twice as much as 

 the oilier half. But why need this he said in an 

 ludian corn cmuitry, where it is so well known 

 that, iviihoul being plowed between, the corn will 

 produii! ne.ict to nothing? 



It may appear that to dig thus amongst growing 

 plants, is to cut off", or tear oil" their roots, of which 

 the ground is full. This is really the case, and 

 this does great good ; for iho roots thus cut asun- 

 der, shoot again from the plant side, find novf food, 

 and send instantly fresli vigor to the plant. 'I'he 

 eflect of this tillage is quite surprising. \Vc arc 

 hardly aware of its power in producing vegetation ; 

 and we nro still loss aware of the (lislunce to which 

 the roots of plants extend in every direction. 



Tillage amongst (/rowing plants is a great tiling. 

 Not only 13 it of great benefit to the plants — not 

 only does it greatly augmeiit tlm amount of the 

 crop, and make it of the best quality, but it pre- 

 piir«N the ground for another crop. If a summer 

 fallow ho good lor the land, liere is a summer fal- 

 low ; if the plowing between Indian corn prepircs 

 the laud for wheat, the digging between cabbages 

 and other crops will, of course, prepare the land for 

 succeeding crops. 



tfahrinfr Plnnls. — Watering plants, though so 

 strongly recommended in Knglish gardening books, 

 and so much in practice, is a thing of very doubt- 

 ful utility in any case, and in mest cases, of posi- 

 live injury. A country oftrn endures present 

 suflering from long drought ; but even if nil the 

 gardens and all the fields could, in such a case, be 

 watered wish a watering-pot, I much question 

 whether it would be beneficial even to the crops of 

 the dry season itself. It is not, observe, i-iin wa- 

 ter that you can, one time out of a thousand, water 

 with: and to nourish plants, ihe water must he 

 [ire|)ared in clouds and mists and dews. Observe 

 this. Besides, when rain comes, the earth is pre- 

 pared for it by that slate of the air which precedes 

 rain, and which makes all things dump, and slack- 

 ens and loosens the earth, and disposes the roots 

 and leaves for the reception of the rain. To pour 

 writer, therelore, upon plants, or upon the ground 

 where they are growing, or where seeds arc sown, 

 IB never of much use, and is generally mischievous ; 

 for the air is dry, the sun comes immediately and 

 hakes ihe ground, and vegetation is checked rather 

 than advanced by the operation. The best protec- 

 tor against frequent drought is frequent digging, 

 or in the fields, plowing, and always deep. Hence 

 will rise a fermentation and dews. The ground 

 will have moisture in il, in spile of all drought, 

 which the hard, unmoved ground will not. But 

 always dig or plow in dry weather, and the drier 

 the weather tho ilecper you ought to go, and ihe 

 finer you ought to break the earth. When plants 

 are covered by lights, or arc in a house, or are 

 covered with clolhs in the night time, they may 

 need watering, and in such cases must have it giv- 

 en them by hand. 



Cultivation of Seedling Trees. — Slocks mu.xt be 

 of diflerent ages and sizes in different cases ; and 

 even the propagation of the slocks themselves is 

 not to be overlooked. Slocks are formed out of 

 suckers, or raised from the seed, and tho latter is 

 by far the best; for stickers produce suckeie, and 

 do not grow to a handdome stem or trunk, Vrnhs 

 are generally the stocks tor apple grafts, and plums 

 for pears, peaches, nectarines, and apricots. How- 

 ever, wc shall speak of lUe so7-ts of stocks suitable 

 to each sort of fruit tr-'O by and by ; at present we 

 have to speak of the raising of stocks. If the 

 slocks are to he of crabs or apples, the seeds of 

 these should be collected in the fall when the fruit 

 is ripe. They are generally got out by. mashing 

 the crabs or apples. When tho seeds are collect- 

 ed, put lliem immediately into fine earth ; or sow 

 tliom at once. It may not, however, be conve- 

 nient to Kow them at onec ; and, perhaps, the best 

 way is to sow very early in the spring. If the 

 flocks are to be of stone fruit, the stones, us of 

 cherries, plums, peaches and others, must be pot 

 when the fruit is ripe. Tho best way is to put 

 them into fine oartli, and keep them there till 

 spring. The earth may be placed in a cellar, or 

 put into a barrel ; or a little [lit may be made in 

 the ground, and it may be placed there. When 

 the winter breaks up, dig a piece of ground deep, 

 and make it rich; make it very fine; form it into 

 bi/ds, three feet wide, draw drills across it at eight 

 inches distance ; make them from two lo tlirou 

 inches deep ; put in the »oeds pretty thick, (for 

 they cost litile ;) cover lliein completely ; tread the 

 earth down upon them; and then smooth the sur- 

 face. When the plants conio up, thin them to 

 about three incliea apart, and keep tiic ground be- 

 tween them perfectly clean during the gummer. 



tfOL 



Hoe frequently, but not too deep near the planti fl 

 for ne are speaking of <r«ts here, and trees do ni : 

 renew their roots quickly as a cabbage or a lurni 

 does. These young trees should be kept, diirjii 

 the fir^t summer, as moist as possible, without wi» 

 tering ; and the way to keep them as moist is po^ 

 sibic is lo keep the ground perfectly clean, and 

 hoe it frequently. I cannot help observing hi 

 upon an observation of Mr Marshall: " As toisa 

 ing," says he, " though seedling trees must not 

 smothered, yet some small tceeds may be suffered 

 grow ill summer, as they help to shade the plai 

 and to keep the ground cool." Mercy on this g( 

 tleman's readers ! Mr Marshall had not read Td 

 if he had, ho never would have written this vi 

 erroneous sentence. It is tho root of the w 

 that does the mischief. Let there be a rod 

 ground well set with even " small wieds," 

 another rod kept u-eeded. Let them adjoin eaj 

 other. Go, after fifteen or twenly days of 

 weather ; examine the two ; and you will find 

 weedlcss ground moist and fresh, while the ol 

 is dry as dust to a foot deep. The root of 

 weed sucks up every particle of moisture. Wl 

 pretty things they are, then, to keep seedling tri 

 cool I — To proceed : thcao seedlings, if well mi 

 aged, will be eight inches high, and some highi 

 at the end of tho first summer. The ikxI spriiij^ 

 they should be taken up ; or this may be doi 

 in the fall. They should be planted in rows f« 

 feet apart, to give room lo turn about amon| 

 iheni ; and at two feet apart in the rows, if inte; 

 ed to be grafted or budded without being ag 

 removed. If intended to be again removed, 

 fore grafting or budding, they may be put at a foot 

 apail. 



Cultivating the ground about Fruit Trees. — The 

 roots of trees g'o (/cf/) ; but tlie principal part of 

 their nourishment comes from the top soil. The 

 ground should be loose to a good depth, which it 

 the certain cause of constant moisture ; but treei 

 draw downwards as well as upwards, and liran 

 more nnurishiuent in the fiirmcr than in the 1 v.li' 

 direction. Vineyards, as Toll observes, lml^l «i 

 ways be tilled in some way or other, or Ihry ml 

 produce nothing of value. He adds, that Mr r..e 

 lyn says, thai " when the soil, wherein fruit ireti 

 are planted, is constantly kept in tillage, lliej 

 grow up to an orchard in lialf the lime they wnulc 

 do if the soil were not tilled." Therefore, li nft 

 is useful; but it were better that there wcir ul 

 lage without under-crops, for these crops Ink* 

 away a gicat part of the strength thai the manurt 

 and tillage bring. 



It was observed before, that the ground is al- 

 ways to be kept clear of iveeda. From the .-|>r;iif 

 lo the fall, frequently hoe the ground all over, iiu. 

 only to keep away weeds, but to keep the gr uui. 

 moist in hot and dry weothor, taking care niM r I. 

 hoe but when the ground is dry at lop. Tint* li»o- 

 ing should not go deeper than four or five iiu in:' 

 for there is u great diflVreuco between trees >><> 

 herbaceous plants as lo the renewal of their ri>oH 

 respectively. Cut off" llic lateral roots of a tab 

 bage or a turnip, of a wheat or rye or an ImJiai 

 corn plant, and new roots from the parts lliai re- 

 main, come out in twelve hours, and the operatiiio, 

 by multiplying the mouths of the feeders of lb* 

 plant, gives it additional force. But the roots of » 

 tree consist of wood, more or loss hard ; they do 

 not quickly renew themselves : they are of a ()•»- 

 nmnent nature ; and they must not be much muti- 

 lated during the timo lint the ssp is in the flow. 



