1880.J 



THE LANCASTER FARMER. 



167 



witnessed the growth of the hiinbering busi- 

 ness of tliiit ])laee almost froin its eoninieiicc- 

 flieiit, and whose Imsincss for yi'ars has kept 

 liiui aceiniituly posted as to tlie <iuaiitily and 

 location of the \n\w in the Alpena dislrii t, lie 

 said that, dividing the nnniln-r of millions of 

 feet of pine lindier li-ibutaiy l(i the Alpiiia 

 livei- by the annnal eapaeily of tlu' AliJena 

 mills, it gave lluni tifteeii years' -supply. 

 These ligures agree very closely with those 

 given me a few weeks ago by the president of 

 the largest logging company on the Mississippi 

 river, operatmg in the Wisconsin pineries, a 

 region that has been worked much li-ss exten- 

 sively than the Michigan pineries. 'ihey 

 wonUi last, he said, tjiirty or forty years. 

 The Minnesota pineries are not so large as 

 either of the others, and 'will probably not 

 survive them. In from twenty-live to forty 

 years the last tree will be cut, and the entire 

 country from Maine to the Koiky Mountains 

 must learn to live with meagre (pianlities of 

 pine lumber brought at great expense from 

 distant countries. 



The, pineries cannot i)e replaced. A full- 

 grown tree represents hundreds and hundreds 

 of years of growth. I saw small pines, not 

 larger around than a man's arm, bearing the 

 scars made by the axes of the United .States 

 engineers, thirty-tive years ago. AVhat ages, 

 then, must be required to produce a tree three 

 or four feet in diameter? When these forests 

 reach the condition of the pineries oi Maine 

 and New York, and become extinct, no new 

 ones will take their places. The American of 

 tlie near future must learn to hew and build 

 without pine, and marvel at the thoughtless 

 recklessness of his ancestors.— Ci>r. Ciiirinnati 

 Gazelle. 



THE PRINCIPLES OF PRUNING. 



The art of pruning is one of the simplest as 

 well as one of the most important operations 

 connected wiih horticulture. Yet it is one 

 that is frequently neglected or ill-performed. 

 The principal objects of pruning are to induce 

 a vigorous and symmetrical growth, remove 

 superfluous wood, and promote fruitfulness. 



Whatever be the form of training adopted, 

 there are scnnc general principles underlying 

 all pruning operations which should be ob- 

 served to some extent, though no precise rule 

 can be given for all ca.ses. Brieflly stated, 

 these principles are : When the growth of 

 woo<l is largo and the tree or vine vigorous, 

 more wood should generally lie cut away than 

 when the tendency to the production of wood 

 is small. When "there is a great tendency to 

 the production of both wood and fniit, jirun- 

 ing of the wood and thinning of the fruit, or 

 both, may l)e necessary in order to produce 

 the best specimens. .Shy bearing in trees is 

 sometimes treated with root i)runing. When 

 an upright growth is desired, pruning of the 

 lateral growth is required, and when a 

 rounded, bush growth is wanted, the main or 

 central stem and longest laterals .should be 

 shortened in. 



To prune successfully requires taste and 

 good judgment,' and much beauty and utility 

 can be given to the form of a tree by proper 

 pruning ; but too much or unskillful iiruding 

 may be done with .scarcely less injurious re- 

 sults than those that follow the neglect of the 

 operation. Pruning at the wrong season, the 

 removal of very large branches, and the ne- 

 glect to prune, are responsible causes for the 

 irregular-headed and unsha|iely trees which 

 are found in far too many orchaids. 



In order to have well-shaiied heads on trees, 

 pruning and training sho\ild be connnenced 

 when the trees are quite young. JIany trees 

 are trained with too low heads, which much 

 interfere with the work of cultivating an 

 orchard. In garden culture, or for ornamen- 

 tal specimen trees on the lawn, low-headed, 

 horizontally branched trees are sometimes de- 

 sirable ; but for orchard culture the heads 

 should be high enough to allow a convenient 

 approach in cultivating. Removing large 

 limbs from trees is a practice much to be de- 

 precated ; but w'henever necessary it should 

 be done very carefully, and at the proper 



season, .so that the wound will heal rapidly 

 and the tree suffer the least lo.ss of sap. The 

 removal of laige limbs also causes an unsight- 

 ly trunk, making it rough, harder to clean 

 and a moreseeure harbor for in.'^ects, moss, &c. 

 When superllous roots or branches ari' re- 

 moved in their incipient stages of growth, no 

 such etfects are produced. Sunnu'r pruning, 

 or more proj'erly nipping of the shoots as toi'v 

 grow, can often be employed to advantage", 

 and whenever it can be it is far preferable to 

 pruning when the wood is dormant. This 

 method of |)runing, if begun in season while 

 the tree is young, will cnuse an even and 

 synnnetrical growth, which cannot lie so well 

 attained when all the pruning is done when 

 the wood is dormant. Spring-set trees are 

 generally in nei'd of thinning out of sui)ertlu- 

 ous branches, shoots and liuds of the same 

 season's growth, wliii^h can be done belter 

 early in tlie season than when the wood be- 

 comes dormant. niacklieri-y and raspberry 

 bushes can bi^ rendered much more shapidy, 

 and of more substantial growth, by nipi)ing 

 in the canes when about three feel high, than 

 by allowing them to spindle up; in which con- 

 dition they are not as well titled to carry a 

 crop of frnit, or withstand severe cold or 

 storms. — Ex'iminer and Chranide. 



GRASSES FOR DECORATION. 

 A hou(iuet or vase of jnoperly-dried and 

 tastefully-arranged gra.ssesof the more grace- 

 ful sorts is a very pleasing decoration fiu' the 

 parlor or sitting-room in winter. The beauty 

 of a grass depends largely upon the delicacy 

 of its dower clusters, and their graceful and 

 orderly arrangement in the punU-le or "head." 

 As a ty^e of beauty among the larger grasses, 

 a long feathery plume of the Pampas grass 

 may be chosen, and indeed, it is a very pleasing 

 object when preserved of its original shape 

 and color. We must hen; enter a protest 

 against the violation of nature by dyeing 

 the plumes of grasses any color whatever. 

 They, to our taste, can not be improved upon 

 by being colored a deep crimson, an unnatural 

 green, unp!easi;nt black, or any other color. 

 Grasses for their greatest lieaiity should be 

 gathered Just as they are fully in tlower, and 

 hung up or spread out to dry in a place that 

 is free from dust. If a grass is gathered after 

 it is beginning to mature its seed, the floral 

 parts will become brittle and soon fall to 

 pieces, and fail to be the objects of beauty 

 that they woidd be if gathered when just at 

 the opening of the flowers. There are a num- 

 ber of native grasses that are worthy of a 

 place in such a collection. In general, it may 

 lie said that any grass that is attractive for its 

 delicacy, grace and color while growing in the 

 field, will not be disappointing when it is taste- 

 fully arranged in the house. 



PRUNING DWARF TREES. 

 A lady correspondent asks : ■•Will some 

 one tell nu; how and when to prune dwarf 

 pear trees V If they must be washed at this 

 time of year, and what to put round them to 

 make them grow V" We reply that they can 

 be pruned at any time from now up to 

 the hrst of March. If any of the wood is 

 needed for grafting it can be stuck two or 

 thiee inches in the grcnnul, where it will be 

 found to be in good condition when the graft- 

 ing season comes round. Pruning now and 

 until spring reduces the extent of the tree 

 and foliage and gives it form ; but pruning or 

 shortening-in in .June will p.oduce fruit spurs 

 for the following year. How to prune cannot 

 always be advised. Where the growth of this 

 year has been rampant, cut back to within 

 two or three inches of the old wood, and thin 

 out soiue of the young wood. Your own 

 judgment must direct you as to this, trees 

 being so ditlerent in habit and growtli. As to 

 Washing the trees, it ought to he done at 

 Once, and scrajjed also if they need it. A rich 

 soil is all-suflicient to make your tree grow ; 

 if not rich giye a good top-dressing of mainn-e 

 now, to be carefully worked-iu in the spring. — 

 Oermantown TtUyraph. 



PRESENT GARDEN HINTS. 



At this sea.son of the year no time should 

 he lost in tidying up. The leaves have fallen 

 from the lives and should be raked together 

 and carried to the compost heap or used for 

 coviring tender things. There are some per- 

 ennial plants that are hardy, if covered with 

 a few leaves, that often gel killed with such 

 covering. This is especially the case with 

 the chrysantheiuum and with others when 

 there is no snow. A thick nia.ss of 

 leaves is, however, an injury. It encour- 

 ages dampness. The thinnest .sort of a layer 

 is enough, and on this a little earth should be 

 sprinkled to keeiitlie leaves from flying away. 



Then there are always some few unfortu- 

 nate llovvers left out to die because we have 

 no use for them. We do not pull them up, 

 but let them remain as long as tln^y will till 

 the frost blackens them. Now they may be 

 gathered togi^ther, with the tops of dahlias, 

 gladiolas, tubero.ses, Ac, and taken away. 



Teinler roses, such as Saftrano and other 

 teas, re(piire some protection. It is much 

 better to dig up all lhe.se tender roses, and in 

 some high s]iot, where the water will not lie, 

 set them thickly together as if we were plant- 

 ing them, and then throw earth just enough 

 to cover them over the whole. Those who 

 have tried it speak well of the jilaii. 



Many things that are hardy when large are 

 a little tender when young, and hence people 

 protect them with straw. But the thinnest 

 layer of straw is better than a thick one. A 

 thick mass of straw retains water, and the 

 leaves and branchc.-. rot before spring. The 

 straw is not so much to keep out the frost — it 

 does little of that- but to keep off the wind 

 and Ihe direct rays of the sun, and a thin 

 layer does as well as a whole bundle will do. 

 Cedar branches are often used as well as the 

 boughs of other evergreens, and are very 

 good, not only because they are cpiite as effec- 

 tive, but also because their color is in their 

 favor. In all protective^ matters avoid fresh, 

 strawy litter from the barnyard. It is full of 

 salt, and this is destructive to the leaves and 

 branches of plants. It is esiiecially bad for 

 evergreens. 



A large number of ornamental shrubs are 

 raised from cuttings, and tlie.se are taken off 

 at this season, tied in bunches and buried iu 

 the earth. When sjiring comes they are taken 

 out and planted upright in the ground with 

 their tops above the ground. Why it is that 

 tliey should do better wiien cut off now than 

 if left on the plants and cut off in the spring, 

 we cannot see, but it appears to be the fact. — 

 Germanlvwn Teleyraph. 



FENCING AND FENCES. 



On this subject the Americnn Ayriculturist 

 says half the fencing in the country is need- 

 less and should be abolished, and will be when 

 the best system of farming is adopted, and 

 proper laws in regard to animals as "free 

 coniinoners" are enacted and enforced. That 

 time has not arrived. A large amount of 

 fencing will be necessary wherever domestic 

 animals are kept at all. Almost half of our 

 country is devoid of wooden fencing materi- 

 als, and, in ni.ist of the rest, timber is disap- 

 pearing and increasing in cost. Wood fences 

 — except those of chestnut, locust, red cedar, 

 and a limited number of other woods, none of 

 them abundant — decay rapidly, and need con- 

 stant repairing and renewing. 



Now we have every reason to believe that 

 iron and steel can be utilized iu the construc- 

 tion of fences that will be better, cheaper, 

 and ten times more lasting than ordinary 

 wooden structures. The supply of iron and 

 steel made from iron is inexhaustible, and 

 cheaper modes of production are rapidly de- 

 veloping. The aim of the.se chapters is to not 

 ol»ly gather and disseminate what is already 

 known as to iron and steel fencing, but also 

 to stimulate invention in that line. 



Metal Fences vs. Prairie Fires, 



There is one important point, not previ- 

 ously referred to, in favor of metal fences, 

 posts included, for the new prairie pasture 



