1869 .] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
99 
high, and will have many side or lateral shoots 
branching out horizontally from the main stem. 
In addition to the side branches there will also 
he found numerous buds extending from the 
ground hi the top of the tree. Cut away all the 
inaiiches and buds to the bight of twelve or 
tifte.en inches. Next cut away all buds below the 
point at which if is intended the tree shall form 
i[s bead, except six or eight, which are to be 
left at regular intervals and on different sides 
of the stem. These last-mentioned buds will 
push into as many branches as there are buds. 
It will be necessary to keep these side branches 
pinched back to ten or twelve inches during the 
summer, to prevent them from running off with 
the growth, and robbing those buds and branch- 
es selected for the future head of the tree. 
Some time after the fall of the leaves, and be- 
fore growth commences in the spring, reduce the 
side branches to one bud each, and when the 
branches from these buds shall extend to ten or 
twelve inches, pinch them, as directed in the 
first year. The treatment will be the same iu 
the third year as we have directed for the sec- 
ond, except at the end of the season cut away 
all the side branches, except those intended to 
form the head of the tree. The object of the side 
branches, of which mention has been made, was 
to strengthen the stem or trunk of the tree. 
Without them the tree would have become top 
heavy and bent the trunk. Trees that have been 
grown as we have directed will have straight 
and tapering stems, which will be of sufficient 
strength in their fourth year to stand erect. 
Digging Holes for Trees. 
a 
A Connecticut friend, who is full of common 
sense, has his own way of sending us occasion- 
ally a fragment just as it occurs to him, of 
which the following is a specimen. If he would 
take the pains to write out his horticultural and 
agricultural views and experiences, he would 
rank among our most popular writers. — Eds. 
There is a deal of good horticultural sweat 
wasted in digging holes for trees, when we dig 
so deep and wide as the fathers in horticulture 
have taught. There are unfinished portions of 
creation, of course, where, iu planting an apple- 
tree, it may be necessary to remove a load of 
gravel, and bring a load and a half of soil — 
growing trees, as it were, in pots. But would 
it not save transportation to pack one's baggage 
and decamp from such places? In a fair soil, 
if the transplanted tree but have the earth about 
it to itself, and be not robbed by some nimble- 
rooted green-crop, under the guise of "cultiva- 
tion," or by grass, or foul weeds, of just that 
ready nutriment which the dismembered tree so 
sorely needs, fifteen or eighteen inches is deep 
enough for the holes. When the tree-top (I am 
thinking of apples) is twenty, thirty, forty feet 
in diameter, even the deepest holes the most en- 
thusiastic cultivator ever perspired in, are insig- 
nificant. Manure, too — why put in under the 
young tree a Golgotha of bones, old boots, 
stones, tin pots, and what-not ? One shovelful 
of old barn-yard manure will feed a young tree 
for a year, perhaps more. Can't we save some 
of this ardor for the time when the tree needs a 
little pruning — a twig here and there — and in- 
stead of such extreme generosity with the sub- 
soil at the start, show a continuous disposition 
to let the tree have the surface-soil, which it so 
delights in ? Can't we keep up the enthusiasm 
long enough (having secured thrift, which is 
half the battle against insects), to keep vigilant 
watch for the insidious borer ? But that matter 
of insects must be taken hold of in great earn- 
est. The negligence of cultivators in this re- 
spect is costing the nation many millions. 
STARK APPLE. 
Western Apples— The Stark. 
The Stark Apple is a variety now attracting 
attention in the West, and great claims to su- 
periority are made for it. We have already 
given our opinion of the samples as they came 
to us, which was to the effect that, while it ap- 
pears to be a valuable market variety, it cannot 
be classed as first for quality. The Stark is de- 
scribed in the Horticultural Annual for 1869; 
the drawing reaching us too late to appear there, 
we give it here, with Dr. Warder's description. 
" Stark. — Tree, vigorous, health}', and strong, 
with open head; productive. Fruit, globular, 
regular, large; surface, smooth, yellow, covered 
generally, mixed red, splashed crimson ; dots, 
numerous, medium, dark. Basin, regular, rath- 
er wide, sometimes folded ; eye, medium, 
closed. Cavity, deep, regular: stem, medium 
to long. Core, medium, closed, meeting or 
clasping the eye; seeds, few, imperfect ; flesh, 
yellow, breaking, juicy; flavor, subacid, rather 
agreeable ; quality, good ; use, market and 
kitchen ; season, December and all winter. ' As 
good a keeper as the Gilpin and Willow Twig.' 
Bears heavily on alternate years. The size and 
showy appearance of this apple, its firmness in 
transportation, and its color, which hides the ef- 
fects of bruises, all make it a good market fruit, 
while the vigor and productiveness of the tree 
cannot fail to make it profitable iu the orchard. 
Specimens received from H. McMaster, Leon- 
ardsburgh, Ohio, who has cultivated the variety 
with profit, and esteems it very highly. Mr. A. 
H. Gaston, of Henry, Marshall Co., 111., thinks 
it 'the very best apple in America;' with this 
I cannot agree, at least as the variety is pro- 
duced in Ohio, where those who cultivate it 
value it as a good and profitable winter apple." 
Hedge Planting on the Prairies. 
— ♦ — 
G. N. M. gives the following as his experi- 
ence: — Hedge plants set in the "aw (or wild) 
sod, turned over, will do well. We take a 
narrow spade, and grind the corners round and 
sharp. Then get a ball of strong twine, four or 
five rods long, and begin at one end and tie 
knots as far apart as the sets are to be; take 
coarse, red yarn, cut it short, and insert a piece 
of yarn in each knot before it is drawn up 
tight. When this is done, you have a line 
with which the plants can be set. Take a 
spade, set it along the side of the line at the 
knots, drive it in a little slanting, give it a 
shove forward, take a set, and 
put it in while the spade is for- 
ward, then draw back the spade 
to where it was driven in, hold 
on to the top of the set, pull out 
the spade, and you are ready 
to repeat the same operation. 
Two men and a smart boy can 
set a half mile in a day When 
one line is doue, let a man tramp 
along each side, and between 
the sets, being careful to close 
all of the opening that the spade 
makes. I have three quarters of 
a mile set in that way one year 
ago last June, which lias done 
well. I prefer to throw up the 
ground where I wish to grow 
a hedge-row, as it is one-half 
better, or the sets will be one- 
half better, in the same time, 
than on ground that is not 
thrown up. [We have no doubt 
that very rapid work may be done in this 
way. The tramping of the soil, after the plants 
have been set, is an important part of the oper- 
ation. It is essential to the success in setting 
shrubs and trees of any kind, that the soil be 
brought in close contact with the roots. — Ed.] 
Grafting Stone-Fruits.— To be successful, 
the grafting of stone-fruits must be done very 
early. The cherry ueeds to be grafted earlier 
than the plum, and the operation must be per- 
formed on both before the buds commence to 
swell. The peach is said to succeed by root 
grafting, if done early enough in the spring, 
but in this we have had no experience. 
The Management of Hot-beds. 
Those who have requested us to tell them 
how to make a hot-bed will find sufficient direc- 
tions in " Notes upon Work." The making of 
a hot-bed is a very easy matter; when it is 
done, it has to be properly cared for, and here 
is where many fail. The plants in the bed, 
naturally tender from the manner in which 
they have been raised, are in a confined space, 
with a heating medium below them which 
gives the air in which they are enclosed as high 
a temperature as they can well endure. If now 
tliis already heated spaea be made still hotter 
by the direct rays of the sun, the tender and 
succulent plants at. once perish. As soon as the 
plants are up, the bed must have not. only daily 
attention, but at least twice daily — morning and 
afternoon. In the morning, about nine o'clock, 
the upper edge of the sash must be raised by 
means of a wedge-shaped block, the opening 
being more or less, according to the interior 
temperature and the heat of the sun. This 
operation is termed "airing," and by proper at- 
tention to it, injury from overheating may be 
avoided. Iu guarding against danger from 
heat, that from the opposite extreme should not 
be incurred. The sashes are to 1st-' closed in the 
afternoon when the force of the sun lias abated, 
and on cold days opened very slightly, or not at 
all. Watering, when required, is to be done 
from a watering-pot with a very fine rose, so fi3 
to compact the earth as little as, possible. Weeds 
are sometimes troublesome in hot-beds, and 
they should never be allowed to get a start. 
