THE GENESEE FARMER 



255 



woundg covered by a composition of gum shellac, 

 dissolved in alcohol to the consistency of paint, and 

 put on with a Ijiash. This, I think, is as cheap and 

 as good a composition as can be had for closing the 

 pores of the wood — also protecting it from the 

 weather. The best grafting wax I have ever used is 

 that made of four parts of rosin, two of beeswax, 

 and one of tallow, melted together, and kept in an 

 iron kettle. In an ordinary sunny day, the kettle, 

 standing in the sun, will gather sufficient heat to keep 

 the wax in good working order. This wax will not 

 melt in the hottest weather; neither will it crack and 

 come ofl' in the coldest weather ; but it will remain 

 on the stock two or thi-ee years, or until it is entirely 

 healed over. Another thing which should be done 

 at the time of pruning is, the trees should be scraped 

 entirely of moss and rough bark, by a " tree-scraper.'' 

 This can be done best directly after a hea\y storm, 

 as the bark and moss then will be in the right con- 

 dition to come off. After this cleaning, a wash, made 

 from wood-ash lye or potash water, should be put on 

 the trunks and large limbs, which will kill all insects 

 and larva?, giving to the bark a smooth appearance. 

 The " scrapers " may be had at any of the implement 

 stores at a cheap rate. 



If I were to advise whether to plant a new or- 

 chard or renovate an old one, I should say, renovate 

 the old one first, by all means, because your labor can 

 be made to pay a great deal quicker on the old or- 

 chard than on the new. In from three to four years' 

 time your newly-grafted trees will begin to bear, and 

 so continue to increase from year to year, while at 

 the same time you have made a handsome improve- 

 ment on the stock of your orchard. Old orchards 

 that are kept permanently in grass should have the 

 soil dug up around the trees every season ; and if 

 done as fai- as the branches extend, it will be aU the 

 better. Manure should be dug into the soil occa- 

 sionally, as the case requires. Where orchards are 

 near the " pigery," it is a good plan to let the swine 

 have the run of the orchard through the warm sea- 

 son, as they will eat and destroy most of the - wind- 

 falls " under the trees, and also keep the soil stirred 

 up in search of worms, &c. ISIuch is being done, at 

 present, by farmers and cultivators, in setting out 

 young orchards. This is a commendable work, and 

 shows that the right spirit is at work among our 

 farmers. But the setting out of a young orchard, and 

 then letting the trees take care of themselves, is a 

 " loose business," which too many cultivators still fol- 

 low to their own loss. 



The soil in an orchard should be kept under culti- 

 vation the whole time, until the trees shade the ground 

 so much that it will not be profitable for hoed crops 

 or grain. As to the distance apart the trees should 

 st^nd, it will depend something on the trees planted. 

 My observation tells me that, as a general thing, apple 

 orchards are set too close on the ground. The trees 

 should be set at such distance apart that the trunks 

 will grow to at least eighteen inches in diameter be- 

 fore the branches approach each other. Some six or 

 seven years ago I set out a young orchard of Bald- 

 wins, at a distance of forty feet one way by thirty 

 the other ; and when the trunks reach the size of a 

 foot and a half, I think that the ground will be nearly 

 covered. An orchard of Rhode Island Greenings 



should be set at least forty feet each way, as this tree 

 opens more like the umbrella in shape; the branches 

 extending out horizontally from the trunk, it covers 

 a large surface. There is nothing to be gained by 

 crowding trees so that the branches will come to- 

 gether when the trees are eight or ten inches in 

 diameter at the trunk ; but much is lost in this way. 

 The trees should have room to extend their branches, 

 should the orchard live and thrive for an age or a 

 century to come. The quality of fruit is much belter, 

 also, when the trees have plenty of room and sunhght 

 to mature it 



One word as to the over-supply of good fruit for 

 market, which some cultivators seem to apprehend 

 from the great attention given to this business. I 

 have no idea that the supply will equal or exceed 

 the demand for good fruit in this country in the next 

 fifty years to come. Of course, prices will vary ac- 

 cording to the amount of fruit grown in a season, 

 and other circumstances connected with the business ; 

 but good fruit of all kinds will always -bring a re- 

 munerating price to the careful and patient culti- 

 vator; and then we look for the cultivation of hardy 

 kinds of apples for the " foreign trade," to become a 

 business hereafter of which we know but little at 

 present. Something has been done in this way al- 

 ready; but that a great deal more will be done in the 

 next half century, and that, too, at a large profit, we 

 have no reason to doubt at present. Farmers and 

 cultivators will continue to make all the improvements 

 they can, both in their apple and other fruit orchards. 

 — L. Durand, in tlie Horticulturist. 



THE RANUNCULUS. 



The Ranunculus is admitted to be the nephis ultra 

 of floral perfection, and yet it is a singular fact that 

 its culture is all but neglected by florists in general. 

 Let us hope, howevei-, that its present limited culti- 

 vation may soon be extended, and that all may become 

 more familiar with its appearance. Few flowers can 

 be grown in so limited a space and with so small an 

 armnal cost; and when in bloom, what surpasses it in 

 beauty ! Among southern growers, Messrs. Tyso, 

 CosT.\R, AiEZEE, Reeves and Hook stand prominent; 

 but these are not enough, and our midland florists 

 seem to be quite as neglectful of its culture as our 

 metropolitan friends. 



I trust that these remarks may be the means of 

 inducing a few new growers to enter the field ; and 

 with a view to accelerate this desideratum, I venture 

 to point out to the uninitiated the best modes_ of cul- 

 tivation, and which are to be found in Tyso's little 

 treatise on this flower. I have carried out the fol- 

 lowing instructions as to soil, fprmation of beds, and 

 planting, fully, and with such excellent success that I 

 feel convinced the drawing attention to them here 

 will be doing a real service : " The foundation of all 

 good culture is the adaptation of the compost to the 

 natural habitats of the plant. Experience teaches 

 .hat the Ranunculus delights in a rich hazelly loam. 

 If, therefore, the natural soil of the garden be unfa- 

 vorable, procure the top spit of a pasture, of rather 

 hea%-y and tenacious but not clayey qualities, with 

 the turf, and lay it on a ridge some months, and turn. 

 it two or three times before use. To give precise- 



