THE GENESEE FARMER. 



55 



NOTES FROM PENNSYLVANIA. 



Eds. Genesee Faemek: — As another winter has 

 set in, I will send you my annual report of crops 

 and prospects, to be placed on record. 



We have had some drawbacks in the shape of 

 wet weather and drouth, but on the whole we have 

 little reason to complain. Hay was well secured — 

 a fair crop ; wheat a light crop but of good quality ; 

 oats very light — not more than one-fourth of a 

 crop; corn good and well matured. The small 

 fruits — such as the currant, raspberry, strawberry, 

 and blackberry — were good, though some of them 

 were injured by the hot sun and did not mature 

 well. Apples, pears, peaches, and plums, were 

 ialmost a failure; there were but few specimens, 

 and most of those were imperfect. Of grapes, the 

 crop was fair — not abundant, on account of the 

 rot. My Black Haraburghs and White Muscat of 

 Alexandria have done very well, and I feel elated 

 with my little cold vinery. I would advise every 

 farmer who has a place of his own, to build one. 

 It may be used to start early vegetables ; and then 

 the luscious grapes which can be raised a-t so slight 

 expense, amply reward the outky. My vinerj, 

 which is sixteen feet long, and covered with four 

 hundred feet of glass, cost me only about thirty- 

 three dollars ; and I intend to enlarge it this win- 

 ifcer, if possible. 



The wheat eow on the ground looks very prom- 

 ising, and is thus far, I believe, free from insects. 



Clieiter {kt.. Pa., Dec, 185S. B. P. B. 



Can not our .correspondent furnish a brief de- 

 scription of his vinery? It is ditficult to under- 

 stand how one can be built at the cost he names, 

 allowing nothing for his own labor. eds. 



LARGE FEAR AND APPLE TREES IN ENGLAin). 



A correspondent of the Gan-dener's Chronicle 

 gives a description of some large Pear trees near 

 Gloucester, an extract from wiiich may be of inter- 

 est to the readers of the Genesee Farmer : 



" In one orchard there are now growing 10 sound 

 perry Pear trees, whose average circumference three 

 years' ago, at between 2 and 3 feet from the ground, 

 and below the graft, was 9 feet 4^ inches, but 

 taking the three largest trees separately, above 11 

 feet; the circumference of the largest tree was 11 

 feet 3 inches, that of the smallest (of the whole 

 number) 7 feet 4 inches, and they are all of them 

 -of the very fullest height and epan, the span of the 

 largest being 60 feet. A few years ago the largest 

 branches of the largest trees, for a sadly fallacious 

 reason, were cut off, before which unjust treatment 

 they produced an averaged crop of a ton of Pears, 

 of the noble kind called Euffcap., the flavor of 

 which though rough and wild Is full of fine aroma ; 

 but one of them, and not the largest tree^ is known 

 to have yielded in one season 2 wagon loads=20 

 s<>«k8-=100 bushels— =2 tons=4 hogshead's of perry. 

 Apple trees are so much smaller than Pear trees 

 that it takes an Apple tree of the largest size to 

 produce a hogshead of cider ; but they will often 

 reach that size, and I was told that a farmer in the 

 w«Bt of England laid a wager that ho would produce 



from 30 of his Apple trees as many hogshead of 

 *' Apple drink." A great deal may be said that b&s 

 not yet been said about perry Pear trees, their 

 enormous size and vast longevity, their freedom 

 from canker, and where the soil is drained, appa- 

 rently from all disease; the tendency of their 

 branches when they have reached a certain height 

 to split at the fork, " from the oppression of their 

 prodigal weight," and the chains and wooden frames 

 with which they are then supported, and which at 

 length become embedded in the living trunks that 

 embrace and close over them, without any fretting 

 or loss of health, or injury to their growth ; the 

 great size at which they are cut down nearly to the 

 ground, and the trunk being stuck around with 

 numerous grafts ; the vigour with which they will 

 grow again and form a second tree of stUl greater 

 dimensions, to the almost complete obliteration of 

 the process that they have undergone, their tenden- 

 cy, where the soil is wet, to run to stem and 

 branches, with no small twigs and a very few 

 leaves." 



A BEAUTLb'UL OAJEE. 



No country is so rich in varieties of the Oak as 

 America ; and yet, while all admit its great beauty, 

 it is rarely met with, even in our best ornamental 

 grounds. Its comparatively slow growth induces 

 ordinary planters to neglect it. Those who buUd 

 on a bare and treeless spot, very naturally plant 

 trees which will rapidly grow up and convert its 

 bleak, harsh aspect, into cozy mellowness and 

 beauty. But while this is desirable and proper, — 

 while it is good to plant for immediate effect, — the 

 future should also be borne in mind. 



Two or three Oaks should have a place in every 

 collection of ornamental trees. They please th«» 

 eye with their charming variety, even when youn^, 

 and will be objects of great beauty when the rapid- 

 growing trees have passed away. Downing well 

 says : " As an ornamental object, we consider the 

 Oak the most varied in expression, the most beau- 

 tiful, grand, majestic, and picturesque, of all decid- 

 uous trees." 



The entire tree or shrub of every species of Oak 

 is highly orrmmental — the least so, perhaps, are 

 the willow-leaved Oaks, and the most so, the lobed 

 and deeply sinuated leaved kinds. The foliage, 

 even of the same species, and more especially cf 

 the deciduous kinds, varies exceedingly ; not only 

 on different individuals, but on the same individual 

 at different seasons of the year. In spring, the 

 leaves of many of the deciduous kinds are small, 

 delicate, and beautifully tinged with yellow and 

 red ; in summer, they are broad and gi-een ; aad in 

 autumn, coriaceous, and of a russet brown, scarlet, 

 or blood-red color. In form and outline, the Oak 

 has greatly the advantage over other trees in point 

 of character and variety. 



