226 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER, 



JANUARY 25. 18 7. 



injury, tho poiifi.ling and inexperienced, I beg 

 leave lo offer a fow observations on the subject. 



The antlior of those " Notes," it appears to me, 

 reasons badly, when he draws an argument in 

 fttvor of his new theory, from the fact of the 

 greater success in planting a yonng tree " wjtb its 

 limbs and roots entire," than " the larger one with 

 the system of decapitation practised upon it." lie 

 infers that the difference arises from the amputa- 

 tion of the branches — whereas it proceeds from 

 tlie greater loss of the roots, in diirging up the 

 the larger, than tiie young tree. In removing a 

 young plant, it is quite practicalde to retain a nuich 

 larger proportion of the extrenjilies of the small 

 fibrous rtoots, adapted to the intro nsception of the 

 plant than of a large tree. There can be no doubt 

 that the roots are more essentially the life sustain- 

 ing members of plants than the branches — there- 

 fore, when a tree (small and great) is removed, 

 the chance of its living depends more upon retain- 

 ing a due proportion of its most essential mem- 

 bers. 



The soundness of theories tnny sometimes be 

 tested by pushing the principles on which they 

 rest to their extremes. Let us see whether the 

 theory here controverted can stand this test. Plant 

 a young tree with its brunches and roots entire. It 

 will live — cut cfl' a branch. It will live — cut oft' 

 several, it will still live — nay, cut off the whole, 

 leaving only the stem, and it will not only sur- 

 vive, as a thousand instances have proved, but 

 being sustained by the roots, it will put out new 

 branches and will flourish. 



Plant another tree with ils branches and roots 

 entire — try the same process of amputation on 

 the roots, and ere you reach the last root, the 

 branches will wither, and the tree will decline 

 and die. 



An argument in favor of the new theory is at- 

 tempted to be founded on a supposed analogy 

 between vegetable and animal life. "But," (says 

 the author,) '' would any person in his senses think 

 of cutting off a child's arm because it had the 

 misfortune to lose its foot ?" Certainly the au- 

 thor of the no^es, in this question, loses sight en- 

 tirely of the supposed analogy. The foot of an 

 animal is not constituted an organ to receive 

 through its pores nourishment for the sustenance 

 of the body, as the roots are of u tree. The sto- 

 mach of an animal is this organ. Now let us 

 atippoge the stomach to be wounded or impaired 

 ao as «iot to be able to perform adequately the 

 functious of receiving, preparing and furnishing 

 the body a due proportion of food. Vvhat is the 

 consequence ? Why, by an invariable law of na- 

 ture, the bulk of substance to be supported innst 

 be reduced, the body and limbs fall away and 

 fiwindle, sometimes almost to a skeleton. But 

 when the stomach recovers its tone, and perforins 

 properly its functions, then the body and limbs 

 begin to recover, and finally assume their wonted 

 size and fulness. So when the roots of a tree 

 have been reduced or impaired, to a degree which 

 leaves them incapable of supplying adequate nour- 

 ishment for the whole tree, body and limbs, the 

 same law of nature orda ns, that a portion of the 

 substance to be sup[)orted, must be reduced — 

 tlie limbs wither, dry, and decay : aud who ever 

 yet saw a dry dead, tvyig, restored so as to vege- 

 tate? 



As then, in tho cases supposed, art is incapa- 

 ble of reducing the bulk 6f the animal, but na- 

 ture is competent both to reduce and restore — as 



art is capable of reducing the bulk of the tre-, 

 leaving only as much as can be supported by the 

 appendant root, — and as reduction, of the bulk 

 to be supported, is indicated in both cases when 

 the sustaining organs are imjiaired, it would 

 seem that the analogy is clearly in favor of trim- 

 ming ofi' a portion of the limbs, so as to leave 

 the top of the tree proportioned to the remaining 

 root. 



But further — is not this new t henry entirely 

 at war with the system of pruning? done for the 

 double purpose of preserving the tree, and improv- 

 ing the fruit, a system which has stood the test of 

 ages, and has the sanction of experience, — the 

 best guide to young agricidtuvists. 



But facts are the best arguments in these mat- 

 ters. About 30 years ago, I transplanted a pear 

 tree into my garden. It was 7 inches through 

 dug up in December, in freezing weather. To 

 S!ive it I trimmed off most of the top, so much as 

 to admit of its being carried into a cellar to pre- 

 serve it for the night from the frost. Next day ii 

 was carried a mile and planted. It is yet a good 

 bearing tree. About ten yoars past I transplanted 

 a bearing Junetting apple tree more than half 

 grown, cutting off most of the top. This year it 

 bore the best and largest apples of any Junetting 

 tree in my orchard. 



Some four or five years )iasta neighbor of mine 

 t'-ansplanted from the forest to his yard a very un- 

 common and beautiful tree, bearing berries — de- 

 sirous of saving the top, he trimmed ofi'none, and 

 the tree died. 



Snch facts could be advanced without nund)er. 

 — West. Far. 



Corn Stalk Fodder. — It is observed by a 

 writer in the Vermont Farmer, and correctly, too, 

 we think, that the stalks and shucks of an acre of 

 good corn, well managed, will go as far in keep- 

 ing neat cattle, as the hay cut from the same acie 

 ofgroimd. What we mean liy being well man- 

 aged is, that the crop be cut on the ground and 

 immediately stocked, as soon as the grain is glazed 

 — that the corn be picked off as soon as it is suf- 

 ficiently dried, and the for.-ige bound, and well 

 stocked or housed, — and that when given out, it 

 be cut and fed to the stock in mangers. If, when 

 ted, it can be steamed or wet with a weak pickle, 

 imd sprinkled with a sniall matter or ship stuff or 

 bran, all the better. The defects in managing 

 •his forage crop, are, that either the corn is top- 

 Sed, and the tops left in the field in stacks, or the 

 (entire stalks are left to stand till they are nearly 

 ppoilt by the weather — that they are badly hous- 

 ;d, and fed in the yard without cutting. The 

 consequence is, that much of their nutritious mat- 

 ter is dissipated, that njuch is often destroyed, and 

 that of what remains eatable, the cattle are only 

 able to consume the leaves, tops and shucks, the 

 main stoclj being lost, for want of being cut so 

 I that the cattle can masticate it. Our cows and 

 oxen were kept last winter almost wholly upon 

 cut corn stalks, and they were in as good condi- 

 tion in the spring, as when fed entirely on hay. — 

 Cultivator. 



Silk. — We were presented some days since, 

 by Mr Thomas Whitniarsh of Scituate, Massachu- 

 setts, with a skein of sewing silk, manufactured 

 by him, which for brilliancy of lustre, beauty of 

 color, fineness and evenness of twist, was equal to 

 any imported silk we ever saw. Indeed, we do 

 not think that a more beautiful article could be 

 fabricated iu any country. 



Vvhile on this subject it may be well to ac- 

 knowledge the receipt of a skein of sew ing silk 

 made by a lady of Alabama, and whic'\ though it 

 cannot compare with the beautiful article from 

 Scituate, is as a first experiment a highly flatter- 

 ing testimony of its fair maker's skill, and we sin- 

 cerely hope that her excellent example may find 

 its vyay lo the favor of every homestead and cot- 

 tage in our land. — Bait. Par. 



Hpos — may be kept in a thriving condition 

 through the winter on apples ; it may be well to 

 mix with them a little bran, peas, potatoes, wash, 

 or any thing that is convenient, it is much bet- 

 ter to put the apples in a cold shed, or in some 

 place where they will continue frozen, than to put 

 ihem in the cellar where they will decay. We 

 heard a person who kept his hogs mostly on ap- 

 ples through the winter, observe that apples which 

 had been frozen and then warmed for hogs were 

 preferred to sound apples taken frorn the cellar. 

 So it appears to be much better to save ajiples in 

 a frozen states. It saves trouble in carrying them 

 into the cellar, saves expenses in cooking, as free- 

 zing and thawing will cook them, and it saves' 

 many apples which would rot in the cellar. — . 

 Yankee Far. \ 



>.i Lathrop Corn. — Mr Hiram Clark of South- 

 a.npton, received two ears of Lathrop Corn last 



pring, from a friend, which he planted on the 1st 

 day of June. He harvested from them about five 

 bushels, and found not a soft ear among the whole ; 

 'vhereas iu two pieces i-n the immediate vicinity, 

 and on equally early land of (he common corn, 

 tie found but very little ripe. Th« common corn 



vas planted about three weeks earlier, and he 

 j'ldged that it would have required four weeks 

 n.ore of ordinary Fall weather to have brought it 

 to the soundness of the Lathrop corn. Tlius it 

 ap'jears that the latter will ripen from five to sev- 

 en weeks the earliest. What I have seen lias 12 

 or 14 rows to the ear, and about the size of that 

 c^nnmonly called " Tucket." is it not worthy of 

 t'le attention of the farmers these cold summers ? 

 -— jYorthamptnn Repvh. 



.■\ small quantity of the above mentioned sort 

 cf Corn, may be had at the N. E. Farmer Seed 

 ?toie. No. 52, North Market Street, Boston. 



A New York Yankee has invented an improv- 

 (d bee hive, which is said to have the appearance 

 (f, and to be, in fact a mahogany sideboard, with 

 trawers above, and a closet below, vviili glass 

 loors t* be placed in the chamber of a house and 

 o be connected with the open uir by a tuhepass- 

 ng through the wall. The operations of the bees 

 ;re cleaVly seen through the glass doorg, and the 

 (oney is deposited in the drawer. 



The piece of Railroad between Taunton and 

 lansfield is good — rather superior lo the Boston 

 md Providence track. We whistled over them on 

 Saturday at the rate of tweutyfive miles an hour. 

 X'heve's hut precious little room for improvement 

 m land travel. 



Learning without good sense to regulate it, is 

 like self-righteousness, the more a man has of it 

 the worse it is for hira. 



