420 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Sept. 



Very few trees give any hope of a harvest. Cher- 

 ries are as abundant as we have the sun, and are 

 very glad to see attention paid to this fruit.excellent 

 for all the purposes of dessert and cooking. The 

 kind most abundant are the small black and red 

 English, but the large and choice varieties are be- 

 ginning to be cultivated to a considerable extent. 

 Of pears, plums, peaches and quinces there is a 

 prospect of about aa usual amount, but what will 

 come to maturity no one can tell. 



SHELTER. 



In New England, most persons appreciate the 

 advantages of shelter, for themselves and their 

 animals. The importance of hiding from "the 

 peltings" of the pitiless storm," beneath tight roofs, 

 for his family and his cattle, is better understood 

 by the farmers among us, than by those of the 

 West and the South. We take considerable care 

 so to arrange our barns, as to form sunny nooks, 

 for the comfort of our cattle in winter. Few, per- 

 haps, give due attention to their gardens and fruit 

 orchards, although no observing man has failed 

 to notice the necessity of shelter for plant^ not of 

 hardy growth. The Isabella grape ripens but 

 once in four or five years in exposed positions in 

 most of New England, while against a wall or 

 building, with a southern exposure, and protected 

 from cold winds, it may usually be perfected. 



All running vines, such as squashes, melons, 

 and the like, are liable to be torn in pieces and 

 ruined, by the high winds which prevail in early 

 summer. The leaves even of elms and maples, 

 standing singly, are often so torn by the wind 

 when they are young and tender, as to retain tra- 

 ces of the injury throughout the season. 



The common mode of sheltering gardens among 

 us, is by the erection of high close fences. This 

 is, perhaps, more effectual for small enclosures, 

 than any other mode. It is too expensive, where 

 lumber is scarce, and for large tracts, in many po- 

 sitions, is not practicable. A fence six feet high, 

 maysufBciently protect a garden of a half acre, but 

 for a tract of five acres, in an exposed place, it 

 would be entirely inadequate. Again, there are 

 many situations, where a fence is a great deformi- 

 ty. Indeed, we can hardly mention a particular, 

 in which a want of good taste is more often man- 

 ifested, than in cutting up grounds immediately 

 about our dwellings, into small enclosures. 



By systematic attention to this subject, in the 

 substitution of belts of trees, instead of board fen- 

 ces, especially on grounds newly laid out for gar- 

 den or ornamental culture, much expense of money 

 may be saved, and a fine c'Bect at the same time 

 produced. 



The Horticulturist for August has an excellent 

 article upon this subject, althougli, in some particu- 

 lars, Ave must venture to differ with the editor. He 

 recommends, for the purpose of protection, the Eu- 

 ropean Larch, the Norway Spruce and the Hemlock 



Spruce, or common hemlock. To these we have no 

 objection where they can be procured, and success- 

 fully transplanted. He also names the Lombardy 

 Poplar and snowy Abele, which is known, also, as 

 the Silver-leaf Poplar. 



Against the use of the two latter, we must en- 

 ter our protest. The Lombardy Poplar, in New 

 England, is a thin, tender, unhealthy t-ree. Its 

 introduction, about fifty years ago, was a decided 

 misfortune to the country. It was generally 

 planted because of its quick growth and foreign 

 appearance, and after occupying the place of our- 

 own beautiful forest trees for many years, it has 

 at length been scouted from good society, and 

 given place to the elm and maple. The Silver-leaf 

 Poplar is a fast growing and beautiful tree, but 

 like the Lombardy, constantly throws up suckers 

 from the root. A belt of either of these trees 

 would, in a short time, without great care, appro- 

 priate a whole farm. It is not unusual to see the 

 Abele throw up suckers, at thirty or fi^rty feet 

 from its trunk. A single tree of the variety of- 

 ten proves a serious nuisance, in well kept 

 grounds. 



For New England, generally, for shelter to large 

 tracts, especially of plain land, the White Pine, 

 we think, by far the best tree. Planted in double 

 or triple rows, at five or six feet high as they may 

 be, they form at on'ce a sufficient barrier for the 

 protection of an extent of many rods, and in a few 

 years will modify the temperature for a great dis- 

 tance. The White Pine never throws up a shoot 

 from its root. It is destroyed at once, if you de- 

 sire its extermination, bycuttingoffat the ground. 

 Its roots are easily severed by the plow, and so 

 may be kept within proper bounds, and although 

 beauty is a matter of taste, to our eye no tree ex- 

 ceeds in beauty "the evergreen pine.'* 



The effect of belts of the Pine, as boundaries of 

 neighboring owners, or divisional lines between 

 the useful and ornamental in tastefully cultivated 

 grounds, is like that of beautiful frames upon val- 

 uable pictures, giving a finished appearance which 

 cannot be otherwise produced. All vegetable 

 growth, more or less, exhausts the ground, and 

 this consideration should always be weighed, in 

 determining our choice between living and dead 

 fences. 



We do not advise the indiscriminate use of hedg- 

 es or barriers of trees, instead of stone walls and 

 board fences, but would suggest to our readers, 

 that in many cases a little thought on this subject 

 may at least add much to the beauty of their 

 homes. 



Potato Rot. — There is no doubt but this scourge 

 has appeared again. One of the West Cambridge 

 market gardeners has stated to us that he had 

 seen them dug and lying rotten in large heaps, 

 and that a neighbor had abandoned a field where 

 he expected to gather four to sis hundred bushels. 



