1847. 



GENESEE FARMER. 



71 



HOETICULTURAL DEPARTMENT. 



CONDUCTED BY P. BARRY. 



Hints for the Month. 



With this month Orchard and (larden labors 

 begin in earnest, and it may not be amiss to sim- 

 ply remind our readers of a few of the more im- 

 portant items that require attention immediately. 



Scions for grafting should all be cut this month; 

 and, where it is intended to procure some fj-om 

 a distance, they should be sent for at once. 



Pruning orcluirds and trees generally, where 

 necessary, may be done now, before the hurry 

 of other work comes along. It is perfectly idle 

 to expect a crop of fine, fair fruit from a tree 

 that is grown into a perfect thicket, impenetra- 

 ble to sun and air. We have lately been a good 

 deal in the country, and have been much sur- 

 prized to find so many fine orchards neglected 

 in this respect. There are some sorts of apple, 

 such as the Spitzemberg, Greening, Holland 

 Pippin, Golden Sweet, &c., of an open, strag- 

 gling habit, that will bear well without pruning 

 for many years ; but there are others, of an up- 

 right, compact, bushy growth, that require regu- 

 lar, careful, thinning out of the weak surplus 

 limbs, to keep the head open. Such are the 

 Sweet Bough, Early Flarvest, Northern Spy, 

 Swaar, Talman Sweeting, and many others. — 

 Some excellent suggestions will be found in the 

 communications of our correspondents to which 

 we refer the reader. 



Transplanting Trees should be commenced as 

 soon as the ground is free from frost. Spring 

 planting should be done as early as circumstan- 

 ces v/ill allow. Last season wc commenced 

 here on the 24th of March, and the season pre- 

 vious on the 10th. As a general thing, we be- 

 gin in March. Those who desire information 

 on this subject will find much in the past volume 

 of this paper, and some good suggestions from 

 our correspondents in this number. Gooseber- 

 ries, currants, and raspberries should be trans- 

 planted first, and all trees and shrubs that vege- 

 tate early. Salt may be applied to plum trees 

 this month. Considerable attention is directed, 

 iiow, to this subject. We have collected a nitim- 



ber of important extracts on this point in another 

 part of this paper. We suggest great caution 

 and care in the application— better use too little 

 than too much. 



Vegetables. — As2)aragus beds should be dress- 

 ed as soon as the ground is thawed, by forking 

 in the manure spread over them last fall. This 

 loosens and enriches the beds, ^\hen this is 

 done they should be carefully raked off. 



Early Peas, Lettuce, ^'c, may be sowed as 

 early as the ground is open, in a warm border. 

 Raise cabbage, cauliflower, celery, tomato, cu- 

 cumber and melon plants in hot beds, as directed 

 last month. 



Ornamental Department. — Prune shrubs, ro- 

 ses, &c., where necessary to keep in proper shape 

 or promote vigorous growth. Hedges and box 

 edgings should be clipped. 



Destroy insects. This is a matter that should 

 not fail to receive prompt and continued atten- 

 tion. The means are now familiar to all who 

 read our paper. Some suggestions will be found 

 in the present number. The work should be 

 commenced now, and vigorously followed up the 

 whole season. 



Questions about the Plum Tree, Curculio, &c. 



A CORRESPONDENT at Morgantown, Va., asks 

 the following questions : 



1st. " What is the course to be pursued to pre- 

 vent the depredations of the curculio ?" 



2d. "What is the method of preventing the 

 disease of the plum tree ?" 



3d. " What is the proper time for grafting the 

 plum, and what the process V 



Our querist is evidently quite a novice in 

 fruit culture, and we fear that we have nei- 

 ther leisure nor space to answer his questions as 

 fully as he may wish or expect. We would ad- 

 vise him to procure at once some such books as 

 Downing's Fruits and Fruit Trees, or Thomas' 

 Fruit Culturist. The former costs but $1,50, 

 the latter only 50 cents. We will refer briefly, 

 however, to his questions. 



QuEs. 1st. The Curculio. — We have yet to 

 hear of a remedy that is completely effectual. — 

 The most efficient we know, is, to begin as soon 

 as the insect makes its appearance, shake them 

 from the trees and kill them. David Thomas, 

 of Aurora, first proposed this method through the 

 Genesee Farmer, in 1832, and has ever since 

 practised it with success. Our friend and nsigh- 

 bor, J. W. BissELL, Esq., has practiced it the 

 last season with great success — whilst he has 

 found syringing with whale oil, soap suds, tobac- 

 co water, &c., wholly ineffectual. In an article 

 from Mr. Bissell, published in the January 

 number of the Horticulturist, he says : 



By making each day last spring a careful examination, I 

 ascertained that the Curculios commenced their depreda- 

 tions upon Plums first, and on the first day of their appear- 

 ance. (May 20,) I killed twenty. For the space of nearly 



