1861. 



THE ILLIlSrOIS FAKMER. 



163 



and thank Mr. Pond for giving the details, and 

 should be pleased to hear further from him. 

 Orchards near the groves are very liable to our 

 native borer, of which many of our forest trees, 

 esnecially in the groves, are much infested. The 

 river belts are not so much infested with them. 

 The price of liberty — that is eternal vigilance — 

 is what it costs to obtain good fruit in all such 

 locations ; but as Mr. Pond has demonstrated, 

 even that is found a good investment. Ed. 



Treatment of Budded Trees, &c. — I have 

 five hundred quinces, budded last summer. When 

 must I cut them off? Are the tops good to plant? 

 What is the right time to bud Mahaleb cherries? 

 I budded last year in the middle of July, and not 

 one grew. I shall be very much pleased to have 

 you, or some of your many readers, tell me in 

 the Rural.— E. L. R., April, 1861. 



iust about the time the leaves begin to start, 

 cut the old wood away from your budded quince 

 stocks to within three or four inches of the bud. 

 The cuttings are of no value. Rubb off with 

 the fingers all buds that are on the stock, either 

 below or above the bud. These buds must be 

 kept rubbed off as fast as they appear. If, after 

 the buds have made some growth, they seem to 

 require support, tie them to the old stock left 

 above the bud. In August, cut the stock down 

 to the bud, with a neat, sloping cut. It is im- 

 possible to set a day for budding any variety of 

 stock, as much depends upon the season. )n 

 this Eubji;ct Mr. Barry gives the following, which 

 will be interesting and valuable, not only to our 

 correspondent, but to others, whose queries on 

 this subject we have before us : 



" The time for budding each species, or class 

 of fruits, depends upon its habits of growth. 

 Such as cease to grow early in the season, must 

 be budded early, because it can only be done 

 while the stocks are in a free, growing state, full 

 of sap. Such as grow until late in the autumn, 

 must be budded late, otherwise the new layers 

 of wood, formed after the insertion of the bud, 

 would grow over and destroy it, or the bud would 

 be forced into a premature growth towards au^ 

 tumn, which, in fruit trees, should always be 

 avoided. The common sorts of plum terminate 

 their growth early in the season, and are there- 

 fore budded early, whether with plums, peaches, 

 or apricots, at Rochester, usually about the last 

 of July, or beginning of August. The native, 

 or Canada Plum, and the Cherry, or Myrobolan, 

 grow freely till late in the fall, and may be bud- 

 ded in the latter end of August, or beginning of 

 September. Pears on pear stocks are usually 

 bndded here in July, in anticipation of the leaf 

 blight, which stops their growth when it attacks 

 them. Where no such thing as this is appre- 

 hended, they should not be budded before the 

 middle of August, as the buds are not generally 

 mature till that time. Apples on free stocks, 

 and on the Paradise and Doucin, may be budded 

 as soon as the buds are mature, which is usually, 

 here, about the first to the middle of August. 

 Cherries on free Mazzard stocks, as soon as buds 



are ripe, here, about the first of August. Pears 

 on quince, and Cherries on Mahaleb, not before 

 the first of September, and from that to the mid- 

 dle of the mo; th, as the quince and Mahaleb 

 grow late, and especially the latter. Peach 

 stocks should always be budded the same season 

 the seeds are planted, and, as they grow mpidly 

 until very late, are not usually budded till about 

 the middle of September, The budding period 

 varies in different seasons. In a dry, warm sea- 

 son, the young wood matures earlier, and stocks 

 cease to grow sooner, and are therefore budded 

 earlier than In a cool, moist season, that prolongs 

 the growth of the stocks, and retards the matu- 

 rity of the buds. Stocks growing feebly require 

 to be budded earlier than those growing freely. 

 It is necessary to keep an eye to all these 

 points." 



The above we take from that very excel- 

 lent paper the Rural New Yorker. It is 

 to the point. Both Peaches and Apples 

 can be budded in this climate early in the 

 season, the stock cut back at the time of 

 budding to within four inches of the bud, 

 which will soon start and make a good 

 healthy growth. We often start our apple 

 buds in this way ; we have now in our or- 

 chard some fine samples of this early bud- 

 ding, done about the first of July. Some 

 of them >iade a growth of over a foot the 

 first season. In doing this, care should be 

 had not to cut away any of the lower 

 branches, or, as it is called, trimming up 

 the tree, as in that case nothing is gained. 



Ed. 



Sprouting Onion Seed. 



*• How is it you raise so large and nice 

 ontons ?" I asked of an Iowa farmer, as I was 

 sitting at the table with him, and observing some 

 on the table. 



" Well," said he, ''we sprout the seed with 

 boiling water, and then plant it early and in 

 good ground." 



"Sprout the seed in boiling water?" I ex- 

 claimed, inquiringly. " What do you mean, sir, 

 by that ? Won't boiling water kill the seed ?" 



"Not at all," he replied, "but it will sprout 

 them in one minute's time." 



"It will? It looks incredible!" I replied, 

 with surprise. 



" Well, you try it," he replied grinningly, 

 "when the time comes to plant, and you'll find it 

 just as I tell you." 



And sure enough, when spring came, and my 

 man was planting his onion seed, and being 

 present, I said': 



" Jewell, last winter there was a man told me 

 in Iowa, that to pour boiling water on black 

 onion seed would sprout them in one minute. 

 Suppose you try it ?" 



" Very well," said he ; and taking the tea 



