254 



GENESEE FARMER 



Oct. 



HORTICULTURAL DEPARTMENT. 



CONDUCTED BY P. BARRY. 



Autumn Planting. 



Even in the same localities there exists the 

 greatest diversity of opinion respecting the pro- 

 priety and impropriety of autumn planting. — 

 Some say that they have never succeeded in the 

 fall — others, that they have never failed. Our 

 own opinion is that, even as far north as this, 

 (43 north latitude,) all hardy trees are trans- 

 planted with the greatest safety in the fall — pro- 

 vided it be done early, say the middle and latter 

 end of October. There may be circumstances, 

 such as damp ground and very exposed situations, 

 that would render spring planting advisable, but 

 these are exceptions. 



Mr. E. C. Frost of Catharine, Chemung Co., 

 an experienced grower, says in the September 

 number of the Cultivator, " My experience has 

 confirmed me in the opinion that, in our latitude, 

 fall planting for the peach is better than spring, 

 if set on dry ground, and they should be placed 

 on no other. On the 5th, 6th, 8th, and 9th of 

 November last, I set in the orchard one thousand 

 five hundred worked or budded peach trees ; 

 and now, on examining them, find that all are 

 alive but ten, and not only alive but making a 

 good growth, so that the rows can be seen half a 

 mile." He adds : — " I have six hundred peach 

 trees which have been in the orchard from three 

 to five years, the most of which have been trans- 

 planted in the fall with success equal to those set 

 la3t autumn." Our own practice is to transplant 

 all we can in the fall, not because we consider 

 it the only safe season, but because we have more 

 leisure then than we ever have in the spring. 

 We hold that there is no necessity for failure 

 either in spring or fall. 



Late last fall, after we had supposed business 

 closed, we set some men, for the sake of em- 

 ploying them, to trench a piece of ground we 

 intended for dwarf pears. The weather kept 

 open till it was completed, and we planted the 

 trees, some 60 or so, quite contrary to our ex- 

 pectations. It was then about the second week 

 in December. The trees were yearling buds, 

 on quince stocks ; they were cut back till within 

 a foot to 18 inches of the stock and planted, and 

 not a failure occurred in the 60, and all have 

 grown from two to four feet this season and are 

 now fine bushy plants. Some that we planted 

 last spring have not grown with half the vigor. 



On the 25th of April last we transplanted some 

 12 or 14 cherry trees, after the leaves were an 

 inch long. Not one died ; but on the contrary 

 we can measure on every one of them 2 to 3 

 feet of growth. They were cut back properly, 

 planted well, and kept as they ought all summer. 

 Here are two extreme cases, and both successful. 



Now fall planting may be commenced at any 

 moment with trees that have quit growing, and 

 show a good, [jlump, perfect terminal bud. If 

 the leaves are not removed by frost, they should 

 be cut off the moment the tree is dug, or before 

 it — as, if left on, they will cau.se the tree to 

 shrivel up ruinously. The best method of sup- 

 porting fall planted trees is to throw up a cone 

 of earth around them 12 or 18 inches high, ac- 

 cording to the size of the tree. This prevents 

 both frosts and winds from acting injuriously on 

 the tree. The earth can be leveled down again 

 as soon as the ground thaws in the spring. 



A certain amount of pruning, or shortening 

 back the top and branches of trees, is indispens- 

 ably necessary in transplanting. In the case of 

 fall planting this pruning may be deferred till 

 spring — particularly with peach trees — ^^but it 

 must not be neglected. We believe that vast 

 numbers of trees are lost for the lack of this 

 shortening of limbs when planted ; and particu- 

 larly peach trees that usually have larger heads 

 than other trees, and therefore require a greater 

 amount of cutting. Every cultivator of any ex- 

 perience knows how much more certainly, quick- 

 ly, and vigorously a tree will start in the spring, 

 that has been shortened or cut back, than the one 

 that has been planted entire. The balance of a 

 tree is destroyed in digging it, for it is impossi- 

 ble to remove trees without depriving them of 

 some portion of their roots — or, if the roots are 

 not cut off, many will perish in the removal. 

 The balance must be restored before the tree 

 can grow vigorously, and this can best be done 

 by removing a part of the top corresponding 

 with the loss of the I'oot. 



The Buffalo Pomological Convention. 



The lively interest felt at the present time in 

 relation to Fruits, will no doubt create a very 

 general desire among cultivators to know what 

 this great Convention has said and done. We 

 cannot here attempt to give but a condensed 

 sketch of the discussions ; they have been pub- 

 lished verbatim, from Mr. Dyer's Phonographic 

 report, and cover nearly as much paper as there 

 is in an entire number of this journal.* All we 

 can do is to state, as briefly as possible, the most 

 important decisions, as regards the merits of va- 

 rieties and changes or adoption of names. 



With regard to the results obtained, we must 

 confess they are much below what we expected ; 

 and yet we have never seen an assemblage of 

 men devote themselves to their business with 

 greater earnestness and harmony from first to 



» In Mr. Dyer's report we find a great many errors and omis- 

 sions. This is no fault of Mr. D.'s. as it frequently happened 

 that several per.ions spoke at the same time ; and Mr. DvrR is 

 morcovor unacqu.iintcd with the names and technicalities of Po- 

 mology. Wc also find the remarks of some of the meiiibers great- 

 ly enlarged and improved, as compared with the original, while 

 others are converted into sheer nonsense. We took full notes 

 during all the sitting, except an hour's absence. 



