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[December, 



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SEASONABLE HINTS. 



A not inconsiderable share of next sea- 

 son's returns from berry-plants and fruit- 

 trees depends on the care given them 

 during winter. Standing water in the or- 

 chard or fruit-garden should be carefully 

 drained off, if not through under-drains, by 

 surface-ditches and furrows, which should 

 be examined occasionally during winter and 

 cleared of obstructions. Roots of Straw- 

 berries, Raspberries, etc., that have become 

 exposed by heavy rains or heaving out by 

 frost, should be covered again with soil or 

 protected by some kind of mulch. The 

 beneficial effects of 



Mulching is generally not sufficiently ap- 

 preciated. It not only prevents the washing 

 of the soil and the raising or throwing out 

 of plants by the changes of freezing and 

 thawing, but it acts as a veritable fertilizer. 

 Indeed, nearly all plants are benefited by 

 mulching. For hard-wooded plants, as Rasp- 

 berries, Currants, Grapes, etc., any coarse 

 material will do, but for Strawberries there 

 is nothing better than clean Rye straw, or 

 salt hay, where it can be obtained. 



Forest Leaves make excellent mulching 

 material, provided they do not become 

 packed too closely and firmly, shutting out 

 the air like a board. In the woods, the 

 leaves as they fall, one by one, become 

 mixed with small branches, preventing their 

 packing, and consequently lay upon each 

 other as loosely as snow-flakes. But when 

 we rake them together, press and stamp 

 them in baskets and barrels, and cart them 

 away, their spring and elasticity become so 

 effectually destroyed, that never again can 

 they be spread out as loosely as they lay in 

 the woods ; and when, afterward, they be- 

 come wet and weighed down by snow and 

 ice, they do often form a heavy, solid sheet, 

 to the detriment of the plants under- 

 neath. To prevent this condition, evergreen 

 branches, with - the concave side down, 

 should be placed over the Strawberry rows 

 before scattering the leaves, and some more 

 branches over the leaves to keep them 

 from being blown away by the winds. 

 Forest leaves are almost a complete ma- 

 nure for Strawberries, and if we only could 

 get enough we could dispense with many 

 other fertilizers. 



Cuttings of Grape-vines, Currants, Goose- 

 berries, Quinces, etc., may still be made, 

 at any time during winter, when the wood 

 is not frozen, and preserved for spring 

 planting. This is far better than to defer 

 cutting till the season of planting. Each 

 variety should be firmly tied together into 

 small bundles, having the lower ends all one 

 way, plainly labeled, and may be kept in a 

 cool cellar, in boxes, with damp sand. But, 

 unless one is perfectly certain that he will 

 examine them occasionally, and keep them 

 just moist enough, it is safer to keep them 

 outdoors. For this purpose a narrow pit or 

 ditch is dug on a dry spot. The bottom soil is 

 loosened and leveled, and on this the bundles 

 are placed upright and not closer together 

 than to admit of some loose soil being 

 worked around each bundle. A mound of 

 earth is then heaped over the pit, to turn 

 off water and to keep out frost. 



GRAPE-CUTTINGS. 



The fall of the leaf is the best time in 

 the entire, season to prepare Grape-cuttings. 



But what is the use of making 

 the old-fashioned eighteen- 

 inch cuttings, when two or 

 three buds are amply suf- 

 ficient, and will make vines 

 more symmetrical, and with 

 better roots. 



Even single eyes may be 

 used, and all the advantages 

 of a two-bud cutting retained 

 by dividing the cuttings di- 

 agonally across the nodes, as 

 shown in this engraving. The 

 beginning of the cut being 

 opposite and below the di- 

 rect line of the bud and the. 

 terminus one-eighth of an 

 inch or more above, thus ex- 

 posing a large amount of 

 cambium, from which roots 

 are most naturally and read- 

 ily emitted, and thereby, 

 doubling the number of 

 plants you will make from a 

 given amount of grape-wood. 



You will see, also, that the 

 appearance of a vine raised 

 from a short cutting, as rep- 

 resented in the cut, is much 

 better than the scant, scat- 

 tering roots on vines raised 

 from long cuttings. 



PRESERVING CUTTINGS. 



When prepared, they may 

 be tied with wire or willow, 

 in bunches of fifty or one 

 mode of cut- nimdred) and p ac ]jed away 

 BUDS in moss or sawdust, in the 



cellar, or buried outdoors, 

 thus preserving them in a moderately moist 

 condition until spring. 



PLANTING 



Is sometimes done immediately in the fall, 

 but the beds, when planted, must be heavily 

 mulched, so that the cuttings will not be 

 thrown out by the frost. On account of this 



VINE FROM SINGLE BUD CUTTING. 



difficulty, the planting is usually deferred 

 until spring. Beds are thrown up of a con- 

 venient width, with alleys a foot or more 

 between. 



A board one foot wide, more or less, is 

 placed across the bed, and a shallow trench 

 opened along the edge of the board; this 

 trench is usually slanted forward, so that the 

 cuttings may the more readily lie in their 



place. In this trench the cuttings are 

 placed, an inch or two apart, the dirt drawn 

 forward and pressed firmly against their 

 bases, leaving the top buds just at the sur- 

 face ; then the board is turned forward and 

 a new trench opened and planted, as before. 

 After planting, they may be mulched with 

 tan-bark, rotted sawdust, leaves, or other 

 material. 



In open-field planting a line is usually 

 stretched to make the row straight, a trench 

 opened along the line, the cuttings planted 

 and covered in like manner, or the planter 

 may take a sharp spade, plunge it perpen- 

 dicularly into the ground at right angles 

 from the line and to a depth about equaling 

 the length of the cuttings ; the spade-handle 

 is then thrown back to make a wider open- 

 ing, and withdrawn. Three cuttings are put 

 in this opening, one at each side and one in 

 the center, the top buds being a trifle above 

 ground ; the spade is now plunged in two 

 inches forward of the first cut, and as the 

 handle is thrown back, it firmly presses the 

 soil against the cuttings just planted, while 

 it makes an opening for the next three cut- 

 tings ; and so the operation is repeated to 

 the end of the row. 



This makes a broad row of vines, and as 

 the rows are nearly three feet apart, may be 

 cultivated with the horse-hoe. 



J. Jenkins, Winona, O., 

 Author of " Art of Propagation." 



BENEFACTORS OF MANKIND. 



Who can estimate the importance and 

 value of a new variety of fruit, which shall 

 be adapted to the wide range of our rapidly 

 extending cultivation. He who shall origin- 

 ate a new Apple, Pear, or Grape, which shall 

 be worthy of being handed down to poster- 

 ity, should be held in remembrance as a ben- 

 efactor of mankind, as well as a Franklin, 

 Fulton, Morse, or Field. He who shall dis- 

 cover a remedy for the Pear-blight and other 

 diseases incident to vegetation, which now 

 affect our trees, or an easy method for the 

 destruction of the horde of insects so alarm- 

 ingly injurious to our fruit crops, shall have 

 his name transmitted to future time as sec- 

 ond only to those who discover methods for 

 the alleviation and cure of diseases which 

 affect the human system. What greater 

 temporal comforts can we leave to our heirs 

 than the fruits of the orchard and garden ? 

 What more valuable testimonials of a phil- 

 anthropic life than the trees we plant for 

 future generations? Trees are the best 

 landmarks of a noble civilization. Trees are 

 a rich legacy to our heirs. Trees are living 

 monuments to our memories. Fruits are 

 perpetual mementos to our praise. The 

 man who plants a fruit-tree is a benefactor 

 to his race ; and when we shall have gone to 

 our rest, when the fragrance of vernal bloom 

 shall no longer delight the senses, when the 

 verdure of leafy summer shall no longer in- 

 spire the sold, when the golden harvest of 

 mellow autumn shall no longer gladden the 

 sight, the tree shall live to bless those who 

 shall follow us. And when, in after ages, 

 posterity shall recline under the shade of the 

 trees planted by our hands, and gather from 

 their bending branches the luscious fruit, 

 will not some grateful heart remember the 

 giver, and ask, " Who planted that old apple- 

 tree?" — Hon. Marshall P. Wilder, before the 

 American Pomological Society. 



