228 Transactions of the American Institute. 



the nuts in tlie fall, before they are dry ; mix in layers witli dirt, at a 

 dejDth allowing all to freeze, plant in April as soon as the ground is 

 in good condition, cover as deep as the diameter of the nut, either 

 when they are to remain or in nursery rows, to be taken up and 

 buried the next winter, secure from frost. By cutting one-half of 

 the tap roots at one year, lateral roots put forth more abundantly, 

 and the trees are more successfully transplanted in after years than 

 otherwise would be the case. It is to be hoped that this class of 

 trees will receive immediate attention by planters on the prairies, 

 and wherever timber is scarce, as they are indispensable, and require 

 a comparatively long period to mature. As to evergreens, the day 

 is at hand when they are to be planted all over the prairies as shelter 

 belts for buildings, stock yards and gardens. A double or triple-row 

 screen is equal, as a protection from the winds, to a stone wall of the 

 same height. Foreign varieties, until recently, have been imported 

 from Europe. Often a great part were fatally injured, and of four 

 importations made ^by myself, only one was successful. They are 

 now grown in this country. The great secret in handling evergreens 

 is, to kee^ the roots constantly moist. 



Cultivating Peach Okcharbs. 



Mr. Wm. Abernathy, Pontoosuc, 111., writes that some years ago 

 he planted a peach orchard with choice varieties, and gave the very 

 best cultivation, but they made such a rapid growth that in the third 

 winter they were killed to the ground. Cutting oft' the old trunk 

 eight inches above the ground, they sprouted up and made thrifty 

 trees. Hence he thinks cultivation injurious,' and he keeps his 

 orchard in blue grass with the best results. Now it is understood 

 among peach growers that for market purposes there can be no suc- 

 cess by this method, though one may have abundance for family use, 

 and even sell some. The proper way is to give high cultivation from 

 the opening of the season to the first of August, and then stop, that 

 the buds may mature and not be pushed ofi^by the abundance of sap, 

 and particularly that the wood may harden so as to go tlirough the 

 winter, whatever may be the climate. It is probable that our friend's 

 failure arose from fall cultivation, which give a strong growth up to 

 the time of frost ; the trees A\'ere filled with sap, and they had no 

 more chance of living than a hill of green corn. 



Toward the close of the session, Mr. Rufus Nutting, secretary of 

 the Vermont Agricultural Society, was introduced, and he read a 

 long paper on the value of 



