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296 



THE ILLINOIS FAEMEK. 



Octobeb 



Dwarf Apples for Suburban Gardens. 



But very few occupyers of small gardens know 

 with wh;it facility apple trees may be cultivated 

 even in the smallest plot of ground. A few in- 

 structions may therefore not be out of place. In 

 nurseries apples are generally grafted on two kinds 

 of stock — on the crab stock to form large staud.ad 

 trees for orchards, and on a dwarf growing variety 

 of apple called the Paradise apple, adipted for 

 gardens ; on this kind of stock apple trees form 

 small trees remarkably prolific. There arc two 

 forms under which they maybe cultivatcil in gar- 

 dens — ns pyramids, or upright trees, like the Lom- 

 bardy Poplar, and as bushes in the form of a goose- 

 berry or currant bush. It is this latter foim tliat 

 we earnestly recommend to town gardeners, and 

 we must urge upon them the necessity of buying 

 trees that can be warranted to be grafted on the 

 English Paradise ?tock. The very dwarf French 

 Paradise stock is too delicate for our climate, fur 

 while they are young, none but an experienced 

 fruit gardener can distinguish any difference in 

 their growth, so that trees bought of persons with- 

 out a reputation to lose m ly prove to be grafted 

 on the ciab stock, and wofully deceive the planter 

 by their vigorous growth and unfruitful habit. 



The rather modern practice of cultivating ap- 

 ples as bushes grafted on the Paradise stock will 

 in time lead to a revolution in the culture of ap' 

 pies, for, instead of waiting from seven to ten years 

 before a good crop can be gathered from a vigor- 

 ous apple tree grafted on the crab stock, trees 

 grafted on the Paradise will, if two or three years 

 old when purchased, bear some fruit the first sea- 

 son after planting, so that a tree planted in De 

 cember, January or Februiry, will gladden the 

 heart of the planter by producing some tine fruit 

 the following summer. Apples grown on dwarf 

 trees are safe from violent winds, and are g.>neral- 

 ly much finer than fruit from the earth. 



These bush apple trees may be planted from 3 to 

 SJ- feet apart, and the only pruning, or nearly so 

 they require is done in summer, after this fashion: 



In the month of June, as soon as the young 

 shoots have grown to the length of 6 inches, 2 

 inches should be pinched or cut off from the end 

 of each, and this must be done all- through the 

 summer till the end of August, or as long as the 

 trees continue to make young shoots. In the 

 course of three or four years they become com- 

 pact, sturdy, fruitful bushes. At the end of that 

 time, if they are too much crowded with shoots, 

 soma of them may be thinned out with a sharp, 

 knife in winter, when the leaves have fallen. If 

 the culture of pyramids is preferred, the same sys- 

 tem may be pursued, but the leading shoot m'lst 

 not be shortened till the end of summer, and then 

 only to the length of 10 or 12 inches; on the 

 whole bush trees are best adapted for suburban 

 gardens. If the soil the trees are planted in be 

 too rich, so as to give over luxuriant growth, they 

 should at the end of two or three jear-s be taken 

 up and replanted ; this will give them a healthy 

 check. 



A[)ple trees in small town gardens are apt to be 

 infested with the American blight, a sort of aphis, 

 which makes its appearance in the shoots, and is 

 covered with a white substance like floss silk ; a 

 certain cure for this is an infusion of 4 ounces of 



soft soap to a quart of warm soft water, applying 

 it with a painter's brush. 



A large quantity of useful apples that may be 

 grown in a very small garden, by pursuing the 

 method above dc-cribed, is surprising. — Engluh 

 Gardener's ^Imantt 



Health of Farmers. 



Farmers ought to be healthy ; if they are not it 

 is their fault. Their occupation is certainly a 

 healthy one. They are not cooped up in shops. 

 They arc not excluded from the sunlight. They do 

 not sit bent over the last, or, plying the needle or 

 the pen, gasping for pure air. Thev have abun- 

 dant exercise ; and, if they are not healthy, it is 

 because their diet is improper, or that they over 

 labor. 



That farmers are careless of their diet as a class, 

 is true. They live too much on salt meats. They 

 do not have variety of diet. They should keep 

 fine flocks of sheep — if for no other purpc^se, to 

 supply their tables. It is but little trouble to kill 

 a sheep every few days, and of all mi'at mutton is 

 most healthful j it is far superior to pork. 



Farmers are also neglectful of their vegetable 

 gardens. They should have an abundance of eve- 

 ry variety of the delicious vegetables. It is sur- 

 prising how much excellent diet can be obtained 

 from a well cultivated garden. The table can be 

 made to groan with abundance. An excellent va- 

 riety is always on hand to supply the most fastidi- 

 ous palate. The vegetable garden is indispensable 

 to the liealth of the farmer and his family. 



But the cultivation of fruit is most neglected by 

 the farmer. It is true, every farm contains its .ap- 

 ple orchard. But is this enough in this warm cli- 

 mate, where bilious diseases are so prevalent? — 

 Why has the Creator given us fruits for early sum- 

 mer and all through the season and the year ? Is 

 it not to keep us healthful ? Has he not supplied 

 us with the most delicious as well as the most 

 healthful food during the hot months of summer ? 

 Have we not I;rge, luscious strawberries that will 

 produce hundreds of bushels to the acre with a 

 little care ? And v.'hen they are not gone, have 

 we not raspberries in profusion, if we will only 

 plant them and care for them ? And then we have 

 currants, and gooseberries , and blackberries, and 

 the luscii'US, glorious grape, all with thi'ir pleas- 

 ant acidity to act upon the liver, and purify the 

 blood and ward oflF disease. Cherries, plums, ap- 

 ricots, nectarines, peaches, pears and apples, also, 

 should supply the farmer's table. Thi-n there 

 would be health and cheerfulness, and home would 

 be pleasant and dear, and farming would be con- 

 sidered, as it is, the most healthful and delightful 

 of professions. 



^^ A tree grows through the roots. The nu- 

 merous buds push forth, and there is the tree. — 

 You have it in your power how this tree shall be 

 formed — by pinching this shoot and favoring that, 

 or removing this. In this way, how beautiful the 

 order and arrangement of tree growing. And yet 

 how we neglect our trees ! Let them run at ran- 

 dom ; and the country at large tells us too much 

 what this random is. Poor, neglected trees ! When 

 they might be such fine, agreeable sights, and just 

 as useful as fine. 



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