December 



THE POMOLOGIST. 



Have an. Eye on the Orchard. 



Look well to the orchard, especially the 

 young tree?. B'-'ware of rabbils and sheep 

 above all other varmints. Tiiey will do more 

 damage iu an orchard of young trees in a 

 few hours than can be reiKiired in years- 

 Are your orchard treis fenced and secure from 

 stock of all kinds? Unless your trees are 

 set deep — five to seven inches lower than 

 they stood iu the nursjr}-— a practice lliat 

 we follow.and have done for year.^, the gf ijund 

 about them should receive a c rating of some 

 kind of litter. Such a dressing protects the 

 roots from excessive freezing, or sudden 

 transitions of freezing and thawing. Care 

 should be take;i, however, not to have such 

 stuft"com3in contact with llie stem of the 

 tree, to there make a harb ir for mice. It is 

 best to defer such work until the ground has 

 frozen to the depth of a few inches. After 

 that, there is not much danger from mice 

 before the wcatlicr begir.s to ]mderat(! in 

 the latter part of winter. 





The "Wild Biack Cherry. 



Ed. Western Pomologist. — Will the 

 wild black cherrj' answer for a stock on 

 which to graft the Early May cherry ? Or 

 ■would any of the finer varieties of the cher- 

 ry be any more likely to succed on the wild 

 cherrj' stock, than they are on the stocks 

 used by nurserymen ? The wild black cher- 

 ry is quite plenty about me, and I wish to 

 know if the trees can be turned to any bet- 

 ter account than to produce their natural 

 fruit for the birds and boys. By the way, 

 is there any difference between what are 

 called tlie Early Richmand and the Early 

 May cherries ? jAsi'En. 



Kemauks.— The st-^ck of the wild black 

 cherry will not answer for working upon 

 the Early May, or any other of the improved 

 sorts of the cherry. There is about as much 

 difference between what are called the Early 

 Richmond, and the Early May cherrie.<, as 

 there is " twixt tweedle dee and tweedle 

 dura." 



How to Winter Cabbages. 



Every one who has ever tried it, is well 

 aTvare how difficult it is to keep cabbages 

 good and .sound throughout the winter 

 iu a common cellar. A dry atmospher.', 

 a low temperature, and exclusion from light 

 are iadispt usable requisites to success in the 

 preservation of cabbages through the wint< r 

 and spring months. We have seen many 

 plans recommendul and tried, but the mist 

 successful method was leaj'ned, some years 

 ago, from a German gardener near Dubuque, 

 The modus operandi is simply this; 



Fkuit in Sitting Rooms.— Of the sani- 

 tary eSects of ripe fruits i:i the sitting or 

 sick room. Good ITealtk mys: " We should be 

 chary of keeping ripe fruit in our sitting 

 rooms, and cspeciallj' b-ware of laying it 

 about a sick chamber for any length of time. 

 The complaint which somj people make of 

 a faint sensation iu the presence of fruit, is 

 not fanciful ; they may b really aftectcd by 

 it, for two continental chemists have shown 

 that from the' moment of plucking, apples, 

 cherries, currants, and other fruits are sub- 

 ject to incessant transformation. At first 

 they absorb o.xygen, thus robbi.ig tlie sur- 

 rounding air of its vital clement; they then 

 evolve carbonic acid, and this in far greater 

 volume than the purer gas is absorbed, so 

 that we have poison given us in the place of 

 pure air, with compound interest, warmth 

 accelerating it." 



C.vJlBAGE TUENCn. 



Select a dry spot of groui.d in a sheltered 

 situation. Dig one or more trenches two to 

 three feet in width and eight to ten inches 

 in depth— thus maki:ig trench room of suffi- 

 cient capacity to hold the quatitity to bo 

 stored. Pull the cabbages and set them 

 upright in the trench as they stood in the 

 open ground, and pack with soil plump up 

 to the heads. Make a low covering in the 

 formed of a letter ^ inverted, with auythi.ig 

 that may be at hand id the line of boards. 

 Put on a covering of five or six inches of 

 fine, dry straw, well packed, and cover it 

 with about the same depth of earth. Afi^er 

 the covering of earth is fairly frozen, and 

 before extreme cold weather sets in, add 

 more straw, corn stalks, or some such mate- 

 rial, according to the severity of the winter. 

 Also close up the ends of the pit with straw, 

 removing it occasionally, however, in mild 

 weather, to give ventilation, but not so as to 

 raise the temperature inside abrive the freez- 

 ing point. Cabbag, s thus stored are acces- 

 sible at all times during the winter, by 

 removing the straw f )r a few moments from 

 one end of the pit. Our Germ:in neighbor 

 always had goo:', sound cabb.igC! for the 

 market at any time through the winter, and 

 along the spring months into May — at pa)'- 

 ing prices, too. 



"Wintering Beets, Turnips, and Carrots. 



These vegetables, uulikd the potatoe fnd 

 cabbage, w'U part with their natural moist- 

 ure, ai,d wither before rotting, unless kept | 

 from the light and air. To keep them plump ' 

 and fresh, and to prever.t them from becom- 

 ing "corky," remove the tops and pack in j 

 sandy loam, and keep in a cool cellar. In this 

 way, if the right sorts are grown from late 

 plantings, beets, carrots, and turnips will 

 keep all winter in as good condition as when 

 taken from the field at harvest time. 



Girdling fruit trees miy stimulate 

 fruit growth, but shortens the life of the tree. 



The Egyptian Turnip Blood Beet. 



The Egyptian beet, figured above, is a new 

 sort among the turnip rooted, and of recent 

 introduction into this country. It is pro- 

 nounce by those who have been fortunate 

 enough to obtain seed, very fine, and a valu- 

 able acquisition to the beet family. The 

 Early Plat Bassano, and the Early Blood 

 Turnip-rooted beets are earlier, finer fleshed 

 more tender and sweeter than the common 

 long blood beets. But the Egyptian appears 

 to have the preference over all by those who 

 have tried it. We have the promise of some 

 of the seed, and propose to distribute it 

 among our patrons, as stated among our 

 premium. We are told tint its mediums siz j 



of growth is about five inches in diameter. 

 ^>»>» 



Keeping Pears. 



Dr. J. Houghton, in Tilton's Journal of 

 Horticulture, gives the fnUowing method of 

 keeping pi ars ; 



"I think pears intended to be ktpt fir a 

 long pi-rind of time, 'ay six montlis or more, 

 should bd carefully hand-] del' ed, when well 

 matured on the tree, and put imm<'diately 

 into the fruit room, with a timpvrature as 

 nearly down to forty degrees as jiossible. 

 They should be placed in shallow boxes or 

 on shelves, in such a manner thiit the air can 

 reach them, and so they will not be bruised 

 or crushed. The fruit room should be kept 

 constantly at abnut forty degrees; the air 

 .should be ki'pt dr_v and pure, but no fresh air 

 should ever be introduced into th ■ apartment 

 with a view t<i ventilation, as such ventila- 

 tion would introduce new supplis of oxy- 

 gen, the destructive ag.nt of the atmos- 

 phere. 



In such a room, nearly all iierishablc fi uits 

 will keep for an incredilily long period of 

 time. The most delicate pcnrs, .sucli as Bart- 

 lett, nearly tree ripened, will keej) fir four 

 months, if not longer, while the later pears, 

 with tougher skins, will surely keep for six 

 months, and some nf the winter pears, I have 

 no doubt, perfectly sound for a yc ar. In 

 keeping grapes, native or foreign, I believe 

 not so much success has been achieved as in 

 keeping most other fruit, though ij stances 

 of great success are repi rted Singularly 

 enough, peaches, which are gei'.crally very 

 perishable, keep surprisingly well in a cold. 



