254 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



June 



For the New England Farmer. 

 OLD APPLE TREES. 



Reading the advice in the May Calendar to graft 

 old trees, I thought of some trees in the neighbor- 

 hood which had undergone that process, and 

 wished the editor had appended to his advice a rap 

 over the knuckles of such as follow^ it so badly. 



Old trees of quite a decent and respectable figure 

 in their native state, are sometimes converted into 

 a mere collection of bare, crooked limbs, vpith 

 brushes on the ends, perhaps improved in fruit 

 out an eye-sore and a nuisance to all who love to 

 see the fields adorned with fine trees as well as 

 fruit. There is no need of the trees remaining in 

 this awkward fix — the old branches, it is true, must 

 be grafted near the ends, but a multitude of suck- 

 ers always spring out lower down, and in trimming 

 some of these should alwiiys be left in the right 

 places to bring the tree into good shape. In two 

 or three years they will be large enough to graft. 



I once had half a dozen old trees headed down 

 in order to graft entirely on the young sprouts. 

 Two of them were sawed off near the parting of 

 the limbs, leaving but little beside the bare trunk. 

 On the others the limbs were left six to ten feet. 

 The snronts cnme out nbnndantly, and in due time 

 were grafted and trimmed. It is now three years 

 since they were grafted, and I find the trees which 

 were headod down close have done much the best, 

 and make the handsomest trees, the grafts grow- 

 ing most thrifty and less troubled with suckers 

 from the uld wood. Bachelor. 



Mmj 18, 185S. 



RULES FOR THE APPLICATION OF 

 GUANO. 



As guano is now extensively used as a fertilizer, 

 and is constantly coming into the hands of those 

 who have little or no experience in its application, 

 everything calculated to aid the inexperienced will 

 be acceptable. Indeed, inquiries are constant with 

 regard to the quantity proper to be used per acre, 

 and the best modes of application. In addition, 

 therefore, to what we have already said in relation 

 to it, we give below certain rules laid down by A. 

 B. Allen, Esq., of New York, late editor of the 

 American Agriculturist, a g-entleman who is able 

 to speak from actual experience on the application 

 and effects of this important manure. 



We have appended a few notes at the close of 

 his rules, calling particular attention to some 

 points of his circular, and have somewhat changed 

 the order of his arrangement. 



The rules are worthy of attentive considera- 

 tion. 



VALUE. 



Guano is valuable for every kind of soil, except 

 that which is already very rich, and to every kind 

 of field and garden crop, grass, grain, vegetables, 

 fruits and flowers. The reason it is so serviceable 

 to all, arises from the fact of its containing every 

 kind of food necessary for the growth of stem, 

 flower, fruit, and seed. The eminent chemist. Dr. 

 Jackson, of Massachusetts, says : "It comes nearer 

 to a UNIVERSAL COMPOST than any other excremental 

 manure." 



Guano is particularly valuable for conservatories 

 and gardens, inasmuch as it is quickly and easily 

 applied ; its fertilizing matter is in a very condensed 

 form ; and it contains no seeds of weeds to shoot 

 up and check the growth of plants desired to be 

 cultivated. Its fertilizing properties being in a 

 very condensed form, the whole cost of enough for 

 an acre and its application, is frequently less than 

 the cost of mere transportation of city or barnyard 

 manures to the ground v/here they ape to be used. 

 This is a very important consideration to the far- 

 mer, and especially the gardener, 



PREPARATION. 



Before using guano, pass it through a fine sieve, 

 and all lumps remaining break up, and these pas& 

 through the sieve. Now take at least four times 

 its bulk of sand, or dry sandy, or light loamy soil, 

 and pass this through a coarser sieve, if you have 

 one, and mix it in layers with the guano. Let 

 this compost lie a few days — several weeks would 

 be better — (a.) then toss it over and beat it up 

 well together, and it will be fit for use. Some pre- 

 fer mixing the guano with ten or twenty times its 

 bulk of soil for a compost, and do not take the 

 trouble of sifting it, but mix them together in al- 

 ternate layers as well as it can be done with a 

 shovel. Sifting, however, is besE, as it is done so 

 much more evenly. Sawdust is an excellent ma- 

 terial with which to mix guano ; but powdered 

 charcoal is perhaps the best of ail, as it fixes the 

 ammonia, absorbs its unpleasant smell, and is in 

 itself an excellent manure. When convenient to 

 be obtained, plaster of Paris ought to be used in 

 the compost, at the rate of 30 to 50 lbs. for every 

 100 lbs. of guano, as it also acts in the same way 

 as charcoal. Lime and ashes must be avoided in 

 composts, as they rapidly expel the ammonia, the 

 most valuable part of the guano. Muck, if possi- 

 ble, should not be used for the compost, as it is 

 too moist and tenacious to form a proper mixture. 

 (b.) The same objection holds good against clay or 

 any tenacious soil. Nevertheless, if there be no- • 

 other soil at hand, muck or clay may be thorough- 

 ly dried and pulverized, and then used. Guano 

 should not be mixed with barnyard manures, or 

 indeed with any moist substajjce, as these cause it 

 to undergo the very decomposition requisite to 

 promote vegetation. The compost should be made 

 under cover unless the weather be dry. Rain 

 would be quite injurious to it, in hastening the 

 decomposition of the Guano, and expelling its am- 

 monia in the atmosphere. 



QUANTITY REQUIRED PER ACRE. 



This depends upon the kind of soil and its con- 

 dition, and the kind of crop to be grown. From 

 250 to 400 lbs. of guano per acre is the safest 

 quantity to apply. It acts quickest in a light 

 sandy soil or loam, and is excellent to start crops 

 on cold, moist land. It hastens the ripening of 

 crops on all kinds of soil. 



Take Particular Notice. — In speaking below 

 about applying a tablespoonful, or any other quan- 

 tity of guano, we mean that amount, without ad- 

 mixture ; if mixed with four times its quantity of 

 soil, then it would require five tablespoonfuls of 

 this compost to be applied to get the single 07ie of 

 Guano, &c. 



GRASS AND GRASS LANDS. 



Spread broad-cast, from 250 to 400 lbs. per 

 acre, mixed in a compost of earth of about four to 



