134 



GENESEE FARMER. 



May. 



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HORTICULTURAL DEPARTMENT. 



CONDUCTED BY P. BARRY. 



The past month has been one of wonderful 

 activity on the subject of tree planting, through- 

 out the entire country. The number of trees 

 sold and planted around this neighborhood from 

 the 25th of March, when transplanting be^n, 

 until the 25th of April, when it may be said to 

 have closed, exceeds that of any previous year, 

 and shows how rapidly and deeply a taste for 

 fruit culture and gardening is seizing upon ihe 

 public mind. We rejoice that such a spirit is 

 abroad, and trust that it will suffer no abatement 

 until every homstead in the land shall boast the 

 possession of a good fruit garden, and a due pro- 

 portion of trees and shrubs of ornament. A tree- 

 less house is like a homeless man, a melancholy 

 subject to contemplate. 



To those who have taken pains to procure 

 trees and to plant them, it would seem needless 

 to say, " take good care of them ;" but there are 

 many who think when a tree is placed with its 

 roots in the ground that it can take care of itself. 

 This is a mistake. Trees cannot take care of 

 themselves ; they require careful attention, and 

 particularly during the whole of the jfirst season 

 after planting. The earth should be kept clean 

 and mellow around the roots ; half rotten manure 

 thrown around the roots, two or three inches 

 deep, prevents injury from drouth, and renders 

 watering unnecessary. Trees that appear to suf- 

 fer from being blown around should be neatly 

 tied to a stake, and such as languish from defec- 

 tive roots should be cut back, to reduce the num- 

 ber of leaves. Young shoots that are starting 

 in a direction to spoil the form of a tree should 

 be rubbed off. There are many little matters 

 that require attention, and on which the success- 

 ful management of trees depend. Transplanted 

 trees should be examined at least weekly, one by 

 one, during the season. Many will do it oftener. 



In the kitchen garden little has yet been done 

 by those who have no hotbeds, owing to the pre- 

 vailing coldness of the weather — unless it be 

 with peas, lettuce, and such hardy things. Now, 

 however, there is no time to be lost ; procure 



fresh genuine seed of all the sorts you want, and 

 see that your ground is in perfect order before 

 sowing. An abundance of peas, beans, cabbage, 

 carrots, parsneps, beets, and radishes, should be 

 raised by every farmer ; not one in a hundred 

 raises enough. Good early and winter vegeta- 

 bles are hardly to be seen. A neighbor sells his 

 cabbages at 9 to 12 cents apiece. Onions were 

 scarcely to be fttund in our market during the 

 past winter, and at the present time celery is a 

 luxury for the upper ten — only heard of by thou- 

 sands who might as well as not have it on their 

 tables every day. Not half a dozen persons in 

 this country raise a good melon — such as our 

 friend Donnelan's splendid Minorcas. 



Why is it ? The poor farmer, struggling with 

 little help, and small means, must forego such 

 comforts, for melons, celery, and other things 

 require time to cultivate them ; but we know a 

 vast number of families of young men who have 

 abundance of leisure to raise all the choicest 

 culinary articles ; yet they don't know how. — 

 Growing cabbages, cucumbers, melons, cauli- 

 flower, celery, &c., is out of their line, and they 

 never give it a thought. 



Now these are the very persons who ought to 

 grow such things in the greatest abundance ; and 

 if they do not know how, let them go at once to 

 the bookstore and buy such books as Bridgeman's, 

 Buist's, or McMahon's Kitchen Gardener, and 

 there learn the entire routine. The man whose 

 home is in the country and whose pursuit is till- 

 ing the soil must, to live comfortable, be a gard- 

 ener, to an extent, as well as a farmer. 



A new variety of sweet corn (originated by 

 •Judge Darling, of Conn.,) is highl)- spoken of 

 as being much earlier than any other kind known. 



The Eariy and Late Walcheren Cauliflower 

 are two new varieties of this excellent vegetable, 

 said to be superior and better adapted to our cli- 

 mate than any other. We hope our gardeners 

 will test these things at once.- 



The Flower Garden will now occupy atten- 

 tion. Flardy annuals may be sown, and Monthly 

 Roses, Verle-iias, Pe'unias, Helitropes, Scar- 

 let Geraniums, &c., turned out in masses in the 

 border or in the lawn. Dahlias about the mid- 

 dle or last of the month. 



We would repeat what we have often said in 

 relation to the formation of flower gardens, viz : 

 that it should not be cut and cai-ved into a map 

 of small raised beds, among narrow, deep walks, 

 and edged with box plants set several inches 

 apart. The walks in a flower garden should be 

 kw, and not over 2 or 3 inches deeper than the 

 beds. Edging of box should not be used at all, 

 unless planted properly, and not one person in 

 five hundred knows how to do that, of those even 

 who call themselves gardeners. To take Box 

 plants and set the roots in the ground as a tree, 

 leaving a stem to be seen, is mere folly, and the 

 edging at best a mere burlesque. Box, when 



