THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



79 



Tomatoes. — At this period sow in a hotbed, 

 to forward the plants. When the plants have 

 attained five or six inches height, they should 

 "be pricked up and set out in the bed, to pre- 

 pare them for final transplanting to the open 

 ground. They should be placed about six 

 inches apart, and so soon as the weather be- 

 comes settled the plants should be removed to 

 the position they are to occupy in the garden. 



These suggestions are designed particularly 

 for gardeners about the vicinity of Richmond, 

 but they will be found generally applicable for 

 gardening throughout Virginia and North Ca- 

 rolina. They have been very hastily put to- 

 gether, but they are the results of many years' 

 experience, and, so far as they go, may' be im- 

 plicitly relied upon. In the future numbers 

 of the Planter we may give fuller information 

 to guide the operations of the Virginia gar- 

 dener. 



FLOWER GARDEN. 



Very little can or ought to be done among 

 the flowers during the present month. Next 

 month there will be more occasion for work in 

 this department, and full directions will then 

 be given. No homestead should be without 

 its flower garden, and a very moderate share 

 of attention will add largely to the attractive- 

 ness of Virginia houses. Surely such labor 

 were well bestowed. 



WORK IN THE ORCHARD. 



All kinds of fruit trees should be pruned 

 immediately. In doing this, remove all the 

 inside shoots, as these absorb sap to no profit. 

 The outer branches are the only ones that pro- 

 duce, and they will absorb all the juices which 

 are drawn up from the roots of the tree. 

 Whatever there is consumed by these useless 

 appendages of the trees tend only to impo- 

 verish the fruit bearing branches. Judicious 

 pruning not only improves the fruit, but causes 

 the tree to bear earlier and prolongs its life and 

 the period of fruitfulness. Thus a tree kept 

 well pruned will bear double as long as one 

 that is neglected. In pruning, the branches to 

 "be removed should be cut off close to the body 

 of the tree, and the cut should be made smooth 

 by a very sharp knife. This should never be 

 neglected where the branches are more than 

 one inch thick. Be careful to have the branches, 

 so that one shall not cross another, and all with 

 the extremities pointing upward. It is desira- 

 ble in most cases that the scar made by the 

 pruning knife be covered with a composition, 

 made of equal parts of beeswax and tallow or 

 lard. This causes it to heal more readily. 



Peach Trees are often injured by what is 

 termed the cancer worm. A winged insect de- 



posits its eggs at the base of the tree and just 

 below the surface of the earth. The eggs are 

 deposited in July, become lame in the fall, and 

 the next spring are worms. They not irnfre- 

 quently destroy whole orchards, and nowhere 

 are they more common than in this region. 

 These scurges are easily destroyed by the fol- 

 lowing process : Make a small basin or trench 

 around the tree and fill it with air slaked lime 

 or leached ashes. This not only prevents the 

 deposit of the eggs, but effectually destroys 

 worms or larvae which may already be 

 there. 



Gooseberries. — The method generally pur- 

 sued with gooseberries in Virginia prevents 

 anytnnig like success m cultivating this de- 

 lightful berry. The grand mistake is in the 

 manner of propagation. Let any gardener f^- 

 low the directions here submitted and he will 

 be astonished at the result. Gooseberries should 

 be propagated from cuttings. Select wood of 

 the growth of the last year. Blake cuttings 

 from six to eight inches long. Carefully pinch 

 off all the eyes, or buds, from the bottom to 

 within two inches of the top. Insert the cut- 

 ting thus prepared in the earth, burying it up 

 to the point to which the eyes were removed. 

 Roots will put out wherever there was an eye, 

 and the stock will grow up clean and comely 

 j like a tree. It will not be troubled with suckers , 

 ! and while much more ornamental than goose- 

 berry bushes usually are, will produce much finer 

 fruit. The writer can show berries nearly equal- 

 ing in size a partridge-egg, and produced sim- 

 ply by following the plan herein suggested. If 

 others will do likewise, they will find the pro- 

 duce of their gooseberry nurseries very much 

 improved. It remains to add, that gooseberries 

 should be placed where they will have plenty 

 of sunshine. They do not thrive well in the. 

 shade. 



Curra?iis. — The remarks concerning the 

 propagation and cultivation of gooseberries are 

 equally applicable to currants. They should 

 be treated in precisely the same manner and 

 have the same freedom of access to the rays 

 of the sun. 



Strawberries. — The beds should be well 

 cleaned during this month from all litter and ' 

 weeds, and the earth well loosened with the 

 hoe. After this has been done the plants should 

 be covered over with pine tags or wheat straw ; 

 the former is the better. The object of thus 

 covering the strawberry plant is to keep the 

 fruit from contact with the soil. Some persons 

 erroneously suppose that litter is spread for the 

 purpose of protection. Nothing of the kind 

 is needed and the only good purpose subserved 

 is that we have noted. 



