58 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



raising excellent Isabellas, in almost every season, 

 but in preserving them in fine condition. They are 

 now fresh and excellent, preser\^ed in jars, with sev- 

 eral thicknesses of paper tied tightly over the toji. 



METHOD OF TRAINING FRUIT TREES IN 

 RUSSIA. 



The severity of the Avintcr at St. Petersburg is so 

 great that few fruit trees will survive it, even with 

 careful matting ; to prevent the loss which is thus usu- 

 ally sustained, I have for more than twenty years pur- 

 sued a mode of training which has been attended with 

 complete success. It consists in leading the branches 

 of the trees on horizontal trellises only ten or twelve 

 inches from the ground. "When the winter sets in, 

 there are heavy falls of snow ; and as the frost in- 

 creases, the snow generally augments, by which the 

 trees are entirely buried, and receive no injury from 

 the most intense frost. The Avinters of 1819 and 

 1820 were very severe, notwithstanding which, last 

 summer, I had a great crop of apples, and all the 

 tender sorts, while none of the gardens in the neigh- 

 borhood produced any; even many of their trees, 

 although doubly matted, were killed. From my 

 Green Gage and Orleans Plums I gathered ripe fruit 

 on the 29th September last ; I had also a very full 

 crop of Morello Cherries. Another very great advan- 

 tage of training trees in the above method consists in 

 the gi'owth of the wood ; it being of equal strength, 

 and the fruit produced being all alilte, the bloom 

 comes out much earlier, and the croj) ripens sooner. 

 The trees are always clean and free from insects ; I 

 have observed this even while some standards near 

 them have had their leaves curled by aphides. The 

 only cherry that does not succeed in this way is our 

 Elackhcart ; this I attribute to the damps which 

 affect the early blossoms ; but in a milder climate this 

 injury would be obviated by placing the trellis higher 

 from the ground. When the trellis decays under 

 the apples, I never renew it, as the trees always 

 keep (from the strength of the branches) their hori- 

 zontal position. There are other advantages of treat- 

 ing fruit trees in this manner : they come sooner 

 into bearing, and their fruit is not affected by high 

 winds. I never gather the apples, but let them drop 

 off', for the distance they fall is not sufficient to 

 bruise them. Probably pears trained in this way 

 would answer well in England. 

 — Selected. JOSEPH BUSCH. 



Remarks by the Editor New Exgland Farmer. 



We have no doubt that by the above plan many 

 tender fruits may be extended farther north; and 

 where the snow is not usually sufficiently deep to 

 cover the branches, this could be done at a small 

 expense by the use of litter, evergreen boughs, &c.. 

 There are many fine fruits that fail in the north from 

 cold winters, not for want of summers sufficiently 

 long and warm to bring the fruit to maturity. 



PEAT. 



Peat abounds in many parts of New England ; and 

 peat bogs arc often adjacent or near sandy soils, 

 which may be greatly improved by this valuable fer- 

 tilizer. Some peat bogs that were considered almost 

 worthless twentj' years ago, are now worth two hun- 

 dred dollars an acre. Many farmers with two cords 

 of peat and one of animal manure make a manure 

 worth as much per cord as that wholly from animals. 



In some sections of this state, peat is used exten- 



sively for fuel, which is an important advantage 

 where wood is becoming scarce and high. It makes 

 a very pleasant fire, and the ashes are good for fuel. 

 We copy the following remarks on this subject from 

 Rogers's Scientific Agriculture, which we noticed 

 not long ago : — 



" Peat usuallj' consists of soluble and insoluble 

 geine, with a mixture of undecomposcd vegetable 

 matter and some earths." It is usually limited to 

 the colder parts of the globe ; it results mostly from 

 the accumulation and decomposition of mosses, but 

 also from any other vegetable matters which become 

 mixed with it. 



The lower stratum of peat beds decays, while the 

 plants on the surface continue to grow, thus adding 

 new matter annually, until they attain the thickness, 

 in some cases, of thirty or forty feet. In tropical 

 climates, the heat produces decomposition so speedily 

 that vegetables are resolved into their elements 

 before peat can be fonned. 



Peat is usually found also in low, boggy or marshy 

 distrists. According to Dr. McCulloch, «' by the 

 long-continued action of water and other agents, the 

 geine of peat is changed into bitumen and carbon, 

 which constitute lignite and bituminous coal : in a 

 few instances the process of bitumenization has been 

 found considerably advanced in beds of peat." 



Peat is remarkable for its power of preserving ani- 

 mal matters from putrefaction. 



The following is an analysis of a specimen of peat 

 from Massachusetts : — 



Soluble geine, 26.00 



Insoluble do 59.60 



Sulphate of lime, 4.48 



Phosphate of do 0.72 



Silicates, 9,20 



100.00 

 When the decay is far advanced, the peat is a 

 dark-colored and sometimes solid mass. When less 

 advanced in decomposition, it is light brown, spongy, 

 and contains j^ieccs of vegetables not yet disorganized. 

 In this state it is used in some countries as fuel. 

 Peat is sometimes sour, from the presence of phos- 

 phoric and acetic acids : it sometimes also contains 

 ammonia : it decomposes slowly in the open air. 

 When mixed with lime or potash and fermenting 

 barn-yard manure, it becomes a valuable fertilizing 

 agent, and may be used on any soil which requires 

 the addition of vegetable matter. 



RURAL ARCHITECTURE. 



The taste for ornamental planting and rural land- 

 scape is rapidly spreading. The iron roads, which 

 arow unite town and country, by almost annihilating 

 time and sjiace, have enabled gentlemen of wealth 

 or leisure to escape from the dust, and heat, and 

 turmoil of the crowded city, and enjoy the pleasures 

 of a country life. No person, who feels an interest 

 in rural improvement, can travel in any part of the 

 country, and not be impressed with the great strides 

 which have been made within a few years. More 

 especially in New England is this taste every where 

 apparent. Intersected in all dii-ections, as the 

 country is, by railroads, in the vicinity of Boston 

 and other cities, the number of suburban residences 

 has not only greatly increased, but they have been 

 laid out and embellished with a degree of taste 

 which reflects much credit upon the proprietors, 

 when we recollect that in but few instances have 

 practical men been consulted. We are aware that 

 many of these suburban grounds would have far 

 greater attractions, had they been laid out in true 

 taste ; yet their general neatness and beauty show 



