190 



NEW ENGLAND FARMEK. 



April 



the seeds in small flower pots, five or six inches 

 in diameter at top. These have an inch or two of 

 coarsely broken charcoal placed in the bottom, 

 and they are then filled with some poi-ous soil ; 

 that taken from an old hot-bed is good, or well 

 decomposed muck and sand, with a little very fine 

 manure, or better still, a mixture of one-half each 

 of leaf mould and good sand, and a few seeds 

 planted in each pot, and the pots placed in the 

 windows close to the glass. When the plants are 

 up strong, I thin them out with a pair of scissors 

 as often as there is the least appearance of crowd- 

 ing, taking care to leave the best plants, until all 

 but one are cut out ; one near the centre of the 

 pot being prefei'red. AVater is supplied in suffi- 

 cient quantity to prevent any withering, but with 

 care not to keep the soil very wet. The time for 

 planting is usually about the first of March, but 

 if planted April first, they viill do much better 

 than out-door plants. A few of these, for very 

 early fruit, are planted in a slight hot-bed, late in 

 April, and when danger from frost is past the glass 

 is removed. The remainder are planted in open 

 ground as soon as it can safely be done. My best 

 and most productive plants last year, were plant- 

 ed out in ground prepared for melons, by plowing 

 into a good, strong loam a liberal dressing of sand 

 and manure, and then preparing hills by mixing 

 three shovelfuls of horse and hog manure with 

 plenty of sand and loam — the hill when finished 

 being raised a few inches. When I wish to re- 

 move the plant from the pot I place one hand over 

 the surface, (with the plant, of course, between 

 the fingers,) and invert it, rapping the pot slight- 

 ly, if the plant does not drop out without, when 

 the whole will be found filled with roots, and if 

 carefully planted but little check will be given. 



A little exposure to the out-door air during the 

 middle of the day, however, for a few days pre- 

 vious to planting out, is beneficial. The first fruit 

 which ripens should always be saved for seed, and 

 if two or more varieties are cultivated they should 

 be planted as far apart as convenient, in order to 

 prevent mixing. If trained on the sunny side of 

 a building, or fence, the fruit will be sweeter as 

 well as earlier. An abundant supply of sand in 

 the soil also produces a similar effect. 



William F. Bassett. 



Aslifield, Feb. 20, 1862. 



Agricultural Transactions. — We have the 

 Transactions of the Hampshire, Franklin and 

 Hampden Agricultural Society for the year 1861. 

 It is now in the 44th year of its existence. In the 

 account of the last Exhibition, the Secretary states 

 "that in no sense have our agricultural interests 

 suffered in consequence of the civil war now rag- 

 ing, the yield of crops being fully up to the aver- 

 age of past years." The Address was by T. G. 

 Huntington, Esq., and an excellent one it is. 

 He touched upon several points which cannot fail 

 to ai'ouse some wholesome thought. 



Among the Reports, there is an extended one 

 on Sheep, by Mr. J. E. Wight, and one on Stock 

 in General, by George M. Atwater, George Tay- 

 lor and T. P. Huntington. There are no others 

 of special value. 



LEGISLATIVE AGKICULTUIIAL SOCIETY. 



Reported fob the Farmer by D. "W. Lotheop. 



The ninth meeting of the series was held on 

 Monday evening last at the State House. The 

 subject for discussion was Fruit Culture, and the 

 Hon. Marsilvll P. Wilder being present, ac- 

 cording to announcement, presided. 



The chairman thanked the committee for the 

 position they had assigned liim, and regretted his 

 inability to be present at the last meeting. He 

 thought success in fruit culture depended, fii-st, 

 upon the selection of a few good hardy varieties ; 

 secondly, upon proper soil and location ; and 

 thirdly, upon the care and treatment of trees. The 

 adaptation of soil and position he regarded as very 

 important, as different soils were congenial to dif- 

 ferent fruits. He alluded to a convention of fruit- 

 growers at Albany — at which he was present — 

 who were desirous of selecting fruit trees adapted 

 to each State ; but soil and external influences 

 Avere so varied they found it difficult, and were 

 obliged to make divisions of some of the States. 

 Why this difference existed was not readily ex- 

 plained. A few varieties had a very wide range. 

 The Bartlett pear maintained its excellence every- 

 where ; it was the great market pear in London, 

 and even in Paris. The western slope of the 

 Rocky Mountains was referred to as an important 

 climate for fruit, superior to the eastern in most 

 respects, as even the foreign grapes would flourish 

 there. 



Mr. W. also spoke of the thorough drainage of 

 orchards as the foundation of successful fruit- 

 growing. Even side hills were benefited by it, 

 and drainage should be the rule, not the excep- 

 tion. Before planting an orchard, the ground 

 should be thoroughly trenched, or worked over, 

 and the manure well intermixed. The soil need 

 not be deep — perhaps about 18 inches — as the cul- 

 tivator should aim to give the roots a lateral rath- 

 er than a more descending growth. With good 

 care, trees seven or eight years old, will have roots 

 ten to twelve feet long. 



As to the manuring of trees, the speaker 

 thought it should be done in the autumn — the 

 manure being placed on the surface and forked in 

 two or three inches deep in the spring. The deep 

 sinking of manure is objectionable, as chemists 

 tell us its chemical action is in a measure de- 

 stroyed or entirely prevented. On or near the 

 surface, the external elements act upon it, it be- 

 comes rotten and fine, and its soluble ingre- 

 dients sink to the roots and are taken up. 



The speaker also alluded to pruning — the object 

 of which is to regulate the sap and curtail the 

 branches. Different varieties of fruit trees re- 

 quire different pruning. The time for this was 

 when the trees or the sap was dormant — in early 

 spring, even now, is the best time. 



