1847. 



GENESEE FARMER. 



75 



this article— they being the result of several 

 years experiance, which is allov/ed to be the best 

 instructor. 



The popular idea has formerly been, and 

 probably still exists in some measure, that ever- 

 greens should be removed in the month of June, 

 after vegetation has considerably advanced. — 

 Some seven or eight years since, wishing to or- 

 nament my grounds with the Balsam Fir, I adopt- 

 ed the above plan, and the result was a total fail- 

 ure. I have transplanted from ten to twenty fir 

 treesannually, almost every yearsince; and have 

 now nearly one hundred about my house grow- 

 ing luxuriantly. I have learned by experience 

 that, although the native soil of the fir is a swamp, 

 they v, ill flourish better on rich, dry, gravelly, 

 or sandy soils, than on low bottom lands where 

 there is much water. My practice is to remove 

 the trees from the swamp or nursery early in the 

 spring, as soon as the frost is out of the ground ; 

 dig them carefully, and not by any means allow 

 the roots to dry, and set them in well prepared 

 soil, and they are as tenacious of life as almost 

 any other forest tree. The holes should be dug 

 large, and a foot or more in depth, and then part- 

 ly filled with cliip-dirt or muck, so as to raise 

 the roots near the surface. In filling the holes, 

 the earth should be mixed with fine chip-dirt, 

 and a pail of water dashed in, so as to bring the 

 earth in close contact with the roots. After the 

 hole is filled, spread a bushel or more of chip- 

 dirt, (a coarse article will answer,) about the tree, 

 to retain the moisture during the drouth of sum- 

 mer. In very dry weather, an occasional water- 

 ing is necessary, the first season after transplant- 

 ing. In soils partly, or wholly composed of clay, 

 without the above preparation, I believe that nine- 

 ty-nine trees in a hundred would die the first 

 year. 



Three or four years since, I prepared a piece 

 of ground for a row of fir trees, in the following 

 manner, and with the following results : A land 

 about six feet wide was plowed three or four 

 times, turning the furrow outward each time, so 

 as to make quite a trench in the centre, which 

 i supplied plentifully with fine manure from the 

 chip^ and barn yards. The land was then back- 

 furrowed so as to bring it to a level, and the ma- 

 nure and soil well mixed with the plow. 



My trees were carelessly p«/ZZerf from the swamp, 

 and as carelessly planted. In a row of twenty- 

 five or thirty trees, although they were six or 

 seven feet in heighth, there was not a single fail- 

 ure ; which I attribute principally to the above 

 preparation of the soil. I have found chip-dirt 

 to be the most valuable kind of manure, applied 

 on the surface of the ground, around fruit trees 

 and shrubs of every kind. The " whys and 

 wherefores" I could explain, but 1 am reminded 

 of the Printers' rule, "Be short." 



E, R. Porter. 

 Prattshurgh, N. Y., Jan. 13, 1847. 



Culture of the Quince. 



Mr. Editor : — Will you or some of your correspondents 

 give some information concerning the cultivalion of the 

 Quince (—whether it may not be grafied with good success 

 on stocks of other varieties of fruit, when grown on unfa- 

 vorable soils? I have seen it grafted upon apple stocks, 

 the past season, with promise of good success. 1 have never 

 found any communication on this subject. Downing mere- 

 ly says, "The better sort,s are frequently budded on com- 

 mon seedling quince stocks, or on the common thorn." I 

 have found its cultivation unsuccessful on a stiti' clay soil, 

 while the apple and some varieties of pear grow luxuriously. 

 If it can be budded or grafted w ith good success, what is 

 the best time ? Very respectfully yours. 



Avon, La: Co., Feb. 1847. N. J. K. 



We have no doubt but the quince will unite 

 upon the apple or pear, but we cannot say how 

 successful the results would be. If any of our 

 readers have experience of this sort, we will be 

 glad to receive it. We know that it does very 

 well on the thorn, and we should say that this 

 would be the best stock to use under the circum- 

 stances above stated. 



Grafting and budding the quince is performed 

 at the usual seasons for these operations on pear 

 and apple trees. 



Woodpeckers. 



Mr. Editor : — There is a small speckled bird called 

 " Woodpecker," (I do not know its classical name,*) which 

 frequently picks apple trees. I have known it sometimes 

 almost to girdle the tree just below the branches, (and some- 

 times also the larger branches,) by picking a regular row or 

 circle of small holes, and sometimes several of them, jusE 

 through the bark. I have not ascertained its object. Will 

 you, sir, or some one of your correspondents, have the good- 

 ness to inform me on the subject ? Are the little transgres- 

 sors in pursuit of the eggs, or larvre, of insects? or do they 

 pick the bark for food .' Is it advisable to kill them, or to 

 let them alone ? Enquirer. 



Let them alone. They are only performing 

 a service to your trees that you should do — that 

 of removing the larvte and eggs of in.sects. It is 

 only old, or neglected trees, where the bark and 

 wood have become a prey to insects, that this 

 bird attacks. It knows too well where its prey 

 is to attack others. It does not feed upon bark 

 or wood ; but it does upon ripe fruit, and gener- 

 ally manages to get the first and finest. They 

 are active, roguish fellows, and do much good as 

 well as evil, in the garden and orchard. 



Neav Pkar. — A Seedling Pear has been orig- 

 inated by Judge R. S. Livingston, of Red Hook, 

 which was tasted by upwards of forty members 

 of the New York Farmers' Club, and pronounced 

 equal, if not superior, to the Virgalieu. The 

 fruit is fair, of good size, prolific, and ripens in 

 October. It was found wild in a hedge, and is 

 now but eight years old, and bears freely. l. 



* The Woodpeckers belong to the genus Pints of Linnae- 

 us : characterized as having the "bill long or medium size, 

 straight, angular, wedge sh:iped at the tip , 7tostrils ba.sal, 

 open, covered by setaceous feathers ; tongue round, veni- 

 form ; legs strong ; toes two before and two behind — rarely 

 one behind ; anterior toes pointed at their base, the posterior 

 divided ; tad of twelve strong feathers, the lateral very 

 short."— Ed. 



