1867. 



NEW ENGLAND FARJklER. 



233 



ter of course) now covering the ground is 

 another blessing. That snow shelters our 

 wheat as under a uni^■ersal hot-house, and a 

 good one, too, keeping the plant alive, but 

 not allowing its growth, which is its best possi- 

 ble condition." 



BLACK KNOT. 

 We have one cherry tree in our garden, 

 which was a very small, unthrifty looking one 

 when we come hither four years ago. It 

 then had a few black knots on it, which I 

 cut oil", but I did no more, thinking it would 

 die. Last winter I concluded to experiment, 

 and in February I had the house slops poured 

 around the roots, and continued till the buds 

 started. When it blossomed it was a perfect 

 mass of petals, and most beautiful to behjld. 

 It was the (irst time it had blossomed full since 

 we owned it. It grew very fast, looked thrif- 

 ty, and I thought I should have a good crop, 

 till one day I thought I saw a large green 

 worm on one of the lower limbs, but on closer 

 examination, found the outside bark had burst, 

 and what I supposed the worm was the bright 

 green in.vide bark. I called for my husband 

 to look at it, and we found several of the limbs 

 burst in the same way, with no sign of bu" or 

 worm, or insect of any kind about the tree. 

 The leaves and Iruit were beginning to fall 

 oif, and we concluded it had been over-stimu- 

 lated. ]\ly husband took his knife and scarred 

 the bark of the body of the tree from the lower 

 limbs to the root^:, and before we left, it had 

 split open an eighth of an inch, and the gash 

 is lully half an inch wide, well barked over. 

 The Ijur.^ts which 1 have just cut off, in the 

 form of black knot, have injured the tree 

 some, but I hope by watching it closely and 

 taking good care of it to have a nice tree of it 

 yet.— Mis. E. C. McCloiighny, Deposit, N. 

 Y., in Tribune. 



IIoiiSKs' Feet Requiue jNIoisture. — Nine- 

 tentlis of the diseases which happen to the 

 hools and ankles of the hor.^e are occasioned 

 by slanding on the dry, plank floors of the 

 stable. JNiany persons t-ecni to think, from the 

 way they keep their horses, that the loot of the 

 horse was ne\er made fur moisture, and that, 

 if pos.-iLle, it would be beneliciul if they had 

 cow-liide boots to put on every time they went 

 out. Kature designed the loot for moist 

 ground — the earth of the woods and valleys ; 

 at the same time that a covering was given to 

 protect it from stones and stumps. — Oliio 

 Farmer. 



— Dr. Smith said at a kite meeting of the New 

 York Farmers' Club, that on the banks of the Nile 

 there are nudtitudcs of towers some ten feet high, 

 on which are placed doves' houses, solely for the 

 manure which is gathered and used for melon 

 growing— the finest in the 'world being raised by 

 this means. 



FAEMEKS' GARDENS — No. HE. 

 Proper Soil. 



hen the best location 

 that circumstances will 

 ^ permit, has been secur- 



'stHa^ ed, the great step will 

 ' ^ n^ be to get such a soil as 

 ^^ will best suit a majority 

 of the plants we wish to 

 cultivate. It is a mis- 

 take to suppose that 

 some special soil is in- 

 dispensable to success. 

 There is probably no 

 farm in the country, that 

 does not afford a spot 

 near its buildings, which, 

 by skilful management, 

 may be made to pro- 

 duce all the varieties of fruits and vegetables 

 that are adapted to the climate. But there is 

 a diversity in them, and if we do not find such 

 as we desire, prepared by nature for our use, we 

 must do it by art. Soils perform at least three 

 grand functions in reference to vegetation. 

 Prof. Johnston says they "serve as a basis in 

 which plants may fix their roots and sustain 

 themselves in their erect position — they supply 

 food to vegetables at every period of their 

 growth — and they are the medium in which many 

 chemical changes take place, that are essential 

 lo a right preparation of the various kinds of 

 food which the soil is destined to yield to the 

 growing plant." 



The character of the soil, by which we mean 

 its capacity to afford a habitation to the plant 

 appropriate to it, and at the same time to fur- 

 nish the required aliment, is a matter, as all 

 gardeners must see, of the first importance. 

 It should be such as to afford sufficient mois- 

 ture to the roots and to admit the air to pene- 

 trate it freely. The soil consists of decayed 

 vegetable matter, sometimes mixed with par- 

 ticles of rock reduced to fine pieces by the ac- 

 tion of the atmosphere and of water, and 

 sometimes by the roots of plants. It is un- 

 necessary to describe the different kinds of 

 soils in regard to adaptation to supplying 

 moisture. 



Second. It should afford a supply of car- 

 bonic acid. This is furnished by the decay of 

 vegetable matter, or by absorption from the 

 atmosphere. This faculty of absorption is as- 

 sisted by mixing with charcoal, muck, or other 



