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VOLUME I. 



ROCHESTER, JANUARY 23, 1831. 



NUMBER 3. 



THE GENESEE FAUIIBR 



AND GARDENER'S JOURNAL. 



Devoted to Agriculture, Horticulture, DomeBtic Econo 



my, &c. &c. 



Published on Saturdays, at $2 50por annum, 

 payable in six months, or at $2 00, il paid at the 

 lime of subscribing, by Tucker & Stevens, 

 at the office of the Rochester Daily Advertiser. 



U* The proprietors have undertaken the 

 liublication with the determination of making 

 it permanent : they would therefore suggest 

 to all those who would wish to see the Farmer 

 become a durable and useful paper, the propri- 

 ety of not only interesting themselves in its 

 circulation, but also of contributing to its col- 

 umns. 



KF Those gentlemen to whom we have ta 

 kon the liberty to forward this number, if 

 they shall think favorably of the undertaking 

 and of the merits of the work, will oblige ub 

 by forwarding us their names, and those of a 

 ny friends to whom nuch a paper as (his would 

 he desirable. As it is of its kind uniaueia this 

 stale, and intended for general circulation, we 

 expect to look abroad for a great part of our 

 patronage. 



ffi<Di«i« arascr si arE©ws. 



FOR THE GENESES FARMER. 



remarks on Pruning in No. 1. 



The remarks on Pruning in No. 1. of the 

 t lencboeFarmer, appear to be correct, when that 

 operation is managed in the usual manner; hut 

 it has been my practice for several years past, 

 to prune in autumn and in winter, applying a 

 coat of boiled tar and brick dust, or ofcommon 

 paint, immediately to the naked wood; and I 

 have been led to believe that no time is more 

 favorable. 



I was induced to try this experiment, part- 

 ly in consequence of being often from horns 

 at the usual season ; and partly from a desire 

 to test the prevalent opinion that autumnal 

 pruning was very injurious to fruit trees; for 1 

 could not perceive why an artificial covering 

 which protected the wood from the weather, 

 would not be a good substitute for living bark. 

 I began the work, therefore, as soon as the 

 leaves were fallen ; and I never saw trees bear 

 pruning better. A considerable part of my fruit 

 garden was pruned two months ago. 



Permit me to add that it is a maxim in Surgt 

 ry to save skin, and in pruning to save bark. 

 The saw therefore ought to be used in prefer 

 ence to the axe, so as to cut the larger branch- 

 es square off. In some trees (as in the Fall 

 P'rppen) the limbs are tnti«h less, 2 or 3 inches 

 from the trunk ; and if taken off at that dis- 

 tance, would be much sooner covered up by 

 the new wood. It is injudicious, however, 

 to leave the stumps too long, as well as to cut 

 roo close to the trunk. D. T. 



Greatfuld, Cayuga ce. \st mo. 10, 1831. 



knowledge and wisdom of that mighty hand 

 hich formed and fashioned all things 7 Is it 

 not profitable to look through •' nature up to na- 

 ture's God 1" Does not every blade of grass, 

 every leaf, every blossom, the humble moss, 

 that the unpractised eye passes by unheeding 

 and without nctioe — yea, do not " the very 

 stones preach of Ins whereabout? ' lioes no' 

 all organic matter and beings speak to us, trum 

 pei-tongued, that there is a God, and one 

 whose power and wisdom in ihe construction 

 of ihe humblest particle oi reproductive matter, 

 leave the invention of man panting and toiling 

 at an immeasurable distance behind 7 



In the words c f my caption, get understand- 

 ing, not exclusively in the sense that the noisy, 

 prosing fanatic of the conventicle will tell you 

 the construction is — but diligently study nature 

 and her works, and there learn that it is impos- 

 sible for man to lathom many ofthe hidden and 

 wonderful secrets which he can see but not 

 comprehend ; and others which, with the phi- 

 losophical mind and microscopic eye, he can 

 comprehend but not imitate ; and while silent 

 with admiration at the wondrous machine, is 

 irresistibly drawn to admire, worship and a- 

 dore the greatness and wisdom of Him who 

 contrived and created it. 



To cultivate such a feeling and propensity, 

 and to bring the subject familiarly before 6ome 

 ofyourreadcrs, in a plain and unvarnished man- 

 ner, I propose to send you. as leisure shall per- 

 mit, short his'.oiies of such plants, vines and 

 irees as have particularly fallen under my no- 

 tice, together with observations on their dis- 

 eases and cultivation, and occasionally accom- 

 panied with remarks relative to vegetable phy- 

 tology, not only to inculcate a taste fur the de- 

 lightful and healthful avocations of floral and 

 horticultural employment, but as a sort of im- 

 perfect manual for those who have not the ex 

 perience and reading, that fifty vernal springs 

 and mellow autumns have given tome. 



D10ECIA. 



FOR THE GENESEE FARMER. 



" With all thy geltings get understanding." 

 I was strongly impressed with an idea advan 

 ced by a celebrated lecturer in this village not 

 long since — " TeacUfacts, and let every one dram 

 their own infer ences and conclusions ;" and it i: 

 palpiple to my mind that if done on the plain, 

 open and broad basis of eternal truth, and in i 

 manner adapted to the capacities of all, the re- 

 sult must be uniform and irresistible. Thh 

 brings me to the point I would bo at. Al- 

 though I hold it ont of our duties, together with 

 a diligentstudy of the holy scriptures, to attend 

 the studious and pious readings of ihe occult 

 wi<dom, merey and omniscience of our benefi- 

 cent Creator, as is weekly and daily expounded 

 by a learned, eloquent and pious clergy; yet I 

 would ask, are these the only sources irom 

 which we can derive a just, exalted and over- 

 powering sense of the wonderful invention, 



is 



FOR THE GENESEE FARMER. 



Messrs. Editors — Although nearly a stran- 

 ger in this new world, allow me to introduce 

 myself to yon, by ordering your paper, and to 

 your readers by a few remarks, which, as I of- 

 fer them gratuitously, and am not dogmatical 

 enough to pass them by tale, but by weight, you 

 will oblige me by inserting them. 



Jan. 1831. B. MAULY. 



TRANSPLANTING. 



Two very opposite opinions are taken and 

 maintained, by nursery-men aDd gardeners, irs 

 lo the proper time of transplanting trees, one 

 recommending ihe autumn, and the other the 

 spring, at, or before, the swelling of the bud. 

 But us there probably is a best time, and as an 

 old chum of mine used to say, " the best way it. 

 as good as any," let us look at tne facts and 

 circumstances of Ihe case, and try to draw a 

 rationale in favor of one or the other system 



The sap, or tho water that forms the 6ap, is 

 taken up by a set of fine tufted, hair-like roots 

 or capillary vessels, which aru always at, or a- 

 bout the extremeties of the main roots, and 

 which are principally lest in taking up, both by 

 cutting them off, as well as by the loose earth 

 being shaken off from those roots which are 

 taken up wilb the tree ; this happens alike to 

 both theories Now when, or at what period, 

 are these important agents, on which the fu- 

 ture vcgetability depends, the most likely to be 

 reproduced, for it appears by a set of accurate 

 experiments made in England, that they are 

 renewed with wonderful rapidity, in certain 

 seasons; and it also appears by a set of experi- 

 ments by Do Hamel, instituted for the purpose 

 of determining whether the circulation stop- 

 ped with the fall of the leaf, that it does not, 

 but is continued in a sluggish and dull manner, 

 from the period of deciduetion, or fait of Lhe 

 leaf, till the putting out again in the spring, and 



that a continual elongation of the fibrous roots 

 were plainly percepiible every two weeks that 

 ihe plants subjected were examined, and even 

 lhe same plants blossomed and perfected their 

 seeds, only in winter. These observations 

 weie made where tho thermometer ranges from 

 10 deg. below, to 30 above freezing, during 

 winter months, and would not apply to any of 

 our weather that is below freezing point : now 

 if there is a circulation going on after the fall 

 of the leaf, and an increase cf the mouths tha' 

 feed the system, then, I think, at, or immedi- 

 tely before the fall of the leaf, is the best pe 

 riod, as the full rains, winter snows, and spring 

 thaws, certainly close the ground, and bring 

 the fine particles of the soil in contact with 

 the roots, in a better and more natural manner 

 than any spring operation that they do or can 

 undergo : and especially if the trees have 

 to be transported any distance, and are re- 

 ceived late. On the other hand, it is maintain- 

 ed by those that recommend spring planting, 

 that ihe leaves are the only manipulators and 

 manufacturer-- of the sap thai forms new wood, 

 or can create new roots, and that if there is a 

 circulation, it is only in the anterial system, 

 and is only consequent on expansion and con- 

 traction by heat and cold; and therefore a tree 

 taken frtslifrom its native soil, with all its en- 

 ergies just commencing and bursting into life, 

 with a genial sun, and refreshing showers, is 

 the proper limn to transplant any tree To all 

 this, I offer the following objections : That 

 very warm forward springs bring out the buds 

 prematuroly, and expose them to frosts, to 

 which the autumn sot tree is not as liable, anil 

 a tree may be set in tho fall, and have from 

 two to three months without much freezing 

 weather. The roots are firmer fixed, and more 

 of fhem produced, and ihe danger ofthe bleed- 

 ing of the roots, when cut or broken in the 

 spring, is lessened. To which allow meto 

 add my own experience, as well as lhat of a 

 majority of the best gardeners I have found in 

 the country. Peach, plumb, and aprioots may 

 be an exception to my theory, as in fail plant- 

 ing, the small limbs sometimes winter kill, and 

 I have known thepeaclito do well when set 

 out in the blossom. 



FOR THE GENESBE FARMER. 



INQUIRY. 



A few years since I collected a large quanti- 

 ty of manure for a hot hed ; it was from a horse 

 stable and had been kept under shelter, and 

 had began to heat before I moved it. Think- 

 ing that the first heat would have the effect to 

 keep it cooler afterwards, I had my bed made 

 about twenty feet along, eight feet wide, and 

 four feet high. This was covered with soil and 

 a frame and glass in the common way. As 

 soon as the earth within the frame was 

 warm, seeds were sown which soon came up, 

 but within a few days the young plants droop- 

 ed, and upon examining them, their roots fed 

 perished. I had also put some potatoes into 

 the edges of the bed in order to sprout them ; 

 upon examination I found them as soft as ii' 

 they had been boiled. I then made large holes 

 through the manure with a stake to let off the 

 heat — I stirred lbs ground in Ihe frame and a- 

 gain sowed it with seeds and bat few of them, 



egetated. I sowed il a third time, and was 

 surprized to find not one vegetated, although 

 the bed was in good condition as to warmth — 

 those that had seme up of the'second sowing 

 most of them died. I-had the dirt taken from 

 the frame, and new put in, and again sowed it : 

 the seeds came up.and grew well. I had some 

 ofthe saina seeds planted in the soil wfaicli bad 

 been taken from the frame, not one of which 

 vegetated. I repeated it a second and third 

 time, not one grew. Now, Messrs. Editors, 

 will you or any of your correspondents tell ran 

 the reason why ttiis s,oil weuld not vegetate 



seeJV. A FARMtF.. 



