134 



THE ILLmOIS FARMEE. 



May 



Tavict^v lias iis own pnculiur habits of growth, 

 wliich with its condition of liealth nmi tlio desired 

 ri!|'rvc:iirnts sli'Mjld eve"- guide the kuif-'. 



We aro snrry to s?e the Early Richmond and 

 E uly ?ilaj- h. in'j ci^n*''Mnid d toircther. "Rural," 

 ovir a 3'' ar ago, writinii cf our cherrie>, says Mr. 

 '\^■a'■olllan nuist be niistiil-e . in rei-ard to Early 

 Ilcl.'mind; it probab'y is Eafly Miy. Rome 

 othe;H al-o rocommcDil (he May, while Cole, 

 Thomas. Bar^y, Elliott rnd otlurs describe the 

 Early laehtnojid witli unmistakable accuracy and 

 r<C' m:iiend it. wliiie they lio'd the Karly May in 

 low repute. J^l'iott iu his work, says of the for- 

 mer, it is iruiisr. en-able to everj' srartUn. tlie lat 

 t, r i:idi'-ppn able '.nh' to his unworthy li-it. Bar- 

 ry in his Fruit Book ar d Catalogues of Ftuit, al- 

 wnv- reco-> mends the forinfT, but tlie latter he 

 meitiovs nr't, it i? t' o "tiw^rthy. Now. if our 

 Ei!ly Richmond is E rl\' i\Iay. where is tliat 

 ]avg"r and m- re pr (luetive cheiry. the above 

 au'hors aU so earnestly recoiiunend ? Ar:-jin. 

 -why ■! vl tley all put tlie ^lay down a'^ a small 

 .and iiif rior clierry ? Is it pos-it-.le iliev to > are 

 misraken? Tie Early Rchmomi has already 

 t 11 sy;ionyms be-i 'cs the latter. We obj-ct to 

 CilliEig it Early May. We were tlie first whoin- 

 tiodncid it at Cottage Hill, an Hf the Cherry 

 Kiiui d es not object, we propose christening it 

 31<isi':. I I.oph to h'oir from others on this point 

 of noiiiHiiclature. It rofl'^cts confusion on nur 

 sevv-> en. Outsiders will justlj- say, if truit 

 gr.nvivs do nut know their own fruits, wl;o does? 

 or it is li'.iie they did. What two varie'ie.-i of 

 cli< iiie-^ di i we » resent to the Pnt'irie Farmer 

 ofbce, and to the Gar^leners' Society at tli ir ex- 

 biiiitiou over a year ago, for a,ii expression froin 

 tliem '11 this point ? Tw Ive y ars experiince 

 with tlieni and wiili our tiumer'His visitors, and 

 ha!! iiag ami seLiiig ninny hundred bushels of 

 tluia, satisfies us they were iliese varie'.ies. 



TRANSPLANTING. 



W^e prefer, if possible, to dig but one hol-:^ for 

 each row, and that nc do wi'h a plow, trenching 

 the ground so as to lead off Aviiter Experience 

 of yt'rtrs sati--fied ns (ilthongh ni.a y are aga'n-;' 

 us) tliat fruit trees in our ight muckysidl, which 

 inil;ilies arid radiates its heat so easily, are not 

 .vri'y ser^ itive in regird to a little extra depth so 

 long as their abode admits of no siandinsr water. 

 Five years asro we placed over tlieroo's of a yel- 

 low -"Spanish cherry tree, also avi Early Riohra:>nd 

 ar;d two Looibard tlum trees, t ree feet of soli I 

 cl-.y fiom tlie cellar bottom These trees are un- 

 derdrained, and are as healthy a* d productive as 

 any we have. The drouth or winter makes but 

 little impression on thetn. They bloom some la- 

 ter. AVe do not reconimend setting trees this 

 deep. This was an expeumeiit to try their dis 

 position to suffer in surli a capacity. W'e never 

 stake our trees. We choose stocky tree or cut 

 the top until they can ho^d themselves up. We 

 shorten or cut in, in the sprinz on ail young 

 trees and on some o'd ones if o*' thrifty growth 

 y/c bel eve all orohards better for being cultiva- 

 ted, but not so deep as to ii jure tJu' roots, which 

 is too often the case if not surface drained. 



0;;fs, wheat, or a crop cf gras-< are almost 

 equal to a fiie. We believe all orchards should 



be cultivated, so lo g as qualitj^ or quantitj' of 

 fruit are desired. Care should be taken that no 

 tree leans to the northeas-', for they bicome 

 sun stiuck or injured. In setting out; we 

 always lean our trees to >he southwest, as our 

 picvailirg winds come irom that s:iurce. Farmers 

 are too much iu the habit of plowing the etirth 

 from the row, and leaving the roots neaily or 

 quite bare. The earth should always be highest 

 on the row, so that tiie ground may be n oved and 

 st rred on top without injury to the roots, wiiich 

 it broken "will sprout and prove troublesome. 



Tliere is much land good for all summer crop=, 

 l)iit vety unsuitable for orchards on account of 

 wet, except drained. We have undirdrained 

 some of ours, and find it imperfect in the l;il and 

 spring, when ir is nee. ted, 0!i account of fio-t in 

 the groond sliutting out water from the d'ains, 

 and flowing aioond the trees, freezii^g in sucli 

 a nianntr as to injure and spoil many ; some 

 thrown eniire'y out of the ground, othe s ^ilh 

 the bark looseoed p;.rt or all aiound the neck of 

 the tree. Surface draining iu this respect is pre- 

 f.-rable. It sdso gives the trees an extia d [ah of 

 soil, which does them as much gooJ as tc hill 

 corn or potatoes, thereby aff rdi:g them a <'eeper 

 and better extt nsion of lOots, enabling the a to 

 bitter Withstand the drouth, w nd, and extreme 

 frost. A tree thus estabiisl ed in deep ko:1, will 

 seldom have tha; disagreeable suckenng iiabit. 

 Its crop is also much improved. Its gioivih is 

 steady, white trees near the surface are un--ieidy, 

 hy being affected by frost ai.d drouth. In moving 

 some trees of seveia) y^ a s ttandiug on wet ia^d, 

 tliey had very little depth of ro^t. Th. y were 

 eviJetitly beiwetu two evils — drowning or freez- 

 ing to death — thiy cho e the latter. Th,^ oichard 

 of M. (jovel, of Cook county, is on good corn soil, 

 rich sand, beaut, fully protected on a;l si ies by 

 timber, naturally under ira'ised twelve ftet, and 

 not one root graft in it. half top grafts and half 

 natural; beats well, and nobde fruit, but the loss 

 of trees during tjose hard winters of ISGG-T, on 

 two acres, was fa- moi e than our seventy, > ut on 

 the naked prairie, except a little protection on 

 one side The cause of dead and pan dead trees 

 was (he thinness of the soil ; the roots c -uld en- 

 dure com von winters, but not those. S.<r!ace 

 ndging with a plow, probably would have saved 

 every one of them. We would ridge or ^ulface 

 diain all thin soils if ever so ury, r-nd all wetiish 

 ^' lis, even if underdi ained, for orcharding to 

 guard aga nst ice an und the tree. 



Remarks. — By the eUvat'on asg venbyMr. W., 

 it will be seen that the location at Coita;.e Hill, as 

 to the surroundirig country, has advantages wliich 

 sh( uld not be overb;oked in fruit growing. 



L'r. Warder says one of the essentials to suc- 

 cess is that the orchard stand upon an elevation 

 a!;ove the surrounding plain. This is precisely 

 the case at C' ttage llill. A short distance east 

 of .Mr. W^. commences the river flats that stretch 

 away three miles to the Des Plaii.es river, and be- 

 yond him, to the west, the Salt Cieek cuts deep 

 into the open prairie, and whose b.inks are re 

 lieved at ntervals with groves. Thus we have at 

 this point a miniature water shed dividing these 

 two streams and givi;;g to the location certain ad- 

 vantages of elevation. But this is not all, for thi-re 

 is alto a geological difference made by the out- 



