258 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



June 



easily transported separate from the ladder, and 

 which ma}' be applied to any ordinary ladder when 

 requii-ed. 



The Adjustable Hook can be attached to the 

 ladder by clamping it to the two upper rounds, 

 the clamp being made adjustable so that it may 

 be fitted to ladders of different sizes, or in which 

 the rounds are different distances apart. Two of 

 the hooks can be attached to a ladder, but in or- 

 dinary cases I have found, when working on the 

 roof, one hook is best, as the ladder can be more 

 easily moved about, and one hook is sufficiently 

 strong for ordinary purj^oses. Another advantage 

 of this hook is that it can be applied to any part 

 of the ladder. 



Farmers, and all who have buildings, will find 

 this hook very useful. Buildings may be often 

 saved from fire by having one of these hooks at 

 hand, as a ladder can most always be readily 

 found, and the hook can be applied in a moment. 



For the New England Farmer. 

 CEAIfBEBBir CULTUBE. 



Having a great love for the cranberry, thinking 

 it superior to any article that grows, for ordinary 

 sauce for the table, I am always gratified to meet 

 sound, practical instioiction, from sound, practical 

 men. Such I take Mr. Addison Flint, of Read- 

 ing, to be. I know he and Father Sheldon, of 

 Wilmington, sprung from the same meadow, and 

 have conned their lessons agricultui'al in much the 

 same manner. They are both somewhat positive 

 in their opinions, and rather inclined "to stick to 

 what they have said," be it right, or wrong. Now, 

 so far as this sticking is concerned, I am decided- 

 ly in favor of it ; for a man who will not stick to 

 what he says, had better say nothing. I remem- 

 ber hearing the great Jeremiah Mason arguing to 

 the Court some question of law, when the senior., 

 Judge on the Bench made a remark about the 

 matter in hearing, when Mr. Mason turned to the 

 Court, and said, "Will your Honors stick to 

 that ?" with a shrug of his shoulders at the same 

 time, as much as to say, "You do not always stick 

 to what you say." But the question is, how is 

 this to be applied to cranberry culture ? Mr. 

 Flint thinks cranberries will be best grown, where 

 the land can be completely flowed, and all other 

 vegetation driven out by this flowage. Perhaps 

 it is so. The very last season, I received a bushel 

 of cranberries, from a man in Manchester, as 

 handsome as I ever saw, who obtained the first 

 premium of the Essex Society for the growing of 

 cranberries. ItAvas awarded by Mr. N. Page, Jr., 

 a modest young man, who knows quite as much 

 about the growing of cranberries as any other 

 man among us, and has told what he knows, in a 

 sensible essay, published in Mr. Secretary Flint's 

 recent volume of the Agriculture of Massachu- 

 setts. 



Since the experiment of Mr. Elias Needham, in 

 the growing of cranberries on the upland, I have 

 been accustomed to think, that none of so good 

 quality could be otherwise grown. Nevertheless, 

 it is quite certain, that the true j)osition for the 

 cranberry is on low, level ground, where a flow of 

 water can occasionally be introduced. If I do 

 not mistake, the culture of this delicious vegeta- 



ble is destined to a great increase, and that there 

 will be at least ten bushels raised, where there 

 is now but one. p. 



For the New Etii^land Farmer. 

 NOTES PEOM THE MONOMACK. 

 BY SAGGAHEW^. 



RlisGlNG. — Most of the readers of the Farmer 

 are doubtless somewhat familiar v.ith the philoso- 

 phy of "ringing" fruit branches, for the purpose of 

 increasing the size of the fruit. It may be briefly, 

 though imperfectly, explained as folloAvs : 



As the blood, after traversing the arteries of 

 the human body to their minutest extremity, is 

 returned to the heart through the veins, so the 

 sap of trees and plants is returned to the roots, 

 through appropriate vessels, or channels, located 

 beneath the outer bark. If we compress the bark 

 below a pear, or bunch of grapes, the sap, is 

 impeded in its return flow, and, as experimenta 

 have fully proved, it expends itself in enlarging 

 and perfecting the fruit below the strictui-e. The 

 most approved mode of performing this experi- 

 ment is by cutting out a narrow ring of bark just 

 below the fruit to be expei'imented upon — hence 

 the name "ringing." Fruit thus treated is much 

 larger, and every way finer, than that upon the 

 same tree, or vine, wliich has not been subjected 

 to this process. 



While conversing Avith a townsman, some 

 months since, the subject of "ringing" chanced to 

 be mentioned, and as he had never heard of it, I 

 was induced to explain the operation, as Avell as 

 the philosophy of the thing. On concluding, he 

 pointed to a large apple tree standing in his gar- 

 den, and observed, that, although it has regularly 

 blossomed profusely, it for many years never ri- 

 pened a crop of fruit. It seemed to have a con- 

 firmed habit of dropping its fruit, while the latter 

 was quite small, and he had repeatedly almost de- 

 cided to cut it down, as entirely worthless. But 

 a few years since, he happened to read in some 

 newspaper that if a ring of the bark on the princi- 

 pal limbs was vigorously scraped, just after the 

 fruit had set, such trees would cease to drop their 

 fruit before maturity. As the proposed remedy 

 Avas a simple one, he tried it. The result Avas 

 most gratifying. For the first time in its history, 

 the tree matured a large crop of fine fruit. Since 

 that time he has occasionally given the bark of the 

 trunk, and the base of principal limbs, a good 

 scraping, and the tree has borne him regular crops. 



He had never heard of the philosophy of the 

 process, and it Avas only Avhen Ave explained the 

 philosophy of "ringing" that the reason of his 

 success in scraping his old apple tree flashed ujjon 

 his mind. He observed that the simple remedy 

 had saved him many barrels of fine apples and 

 transformed a valueless tree into one of the most 

 productive in his Avhole garden. 



Are there not many such trees still casting their 

 untimely fruit, and is not the hint Avhich resulted 

 so favorably in this instance, Avell Avorth acting 

 upon in all similar cases ? I think so. Will not 

 some of the readers of the Farmer try the experi- 

 ment, and note the result ? I should add that, 

 in obstinate cases, the scraping should be pretty 

 severe, so as to be sure to impede the return floAV 

 of the sap, and thus compel it to expend itself in 

 maturing the fruit. 



