TO GROW FINE PEARS, ETC. 
145 
Let our farmers use good, uncut, sound seed, 
properly harvested and preserved, (of which more 
hereafter ; ) in wide drills, on land plowed deep and 
used for this purpose as seldom as possible ; and 
make a- proper application of some or all of the 
above-named manures, and especially of fresh lime, 
and we are morally certain of a mitigation of the 
potato rot, and probably, if the plan were univer- 
sally pursued, of its final extinction. We hope 
that careful experiments will be made the coming 
season, by intelligent, observing farmers, and that 
they will hereafter communicate the results to the 
agricultural public. Perhaps some enterprising 
farmers may find it not only for the public interest 
but his own, to devote his fields to the rearing of 
the potato exclusively for seed ; and that those 
who prefer to secure a larger crop by the use of 
fermenting manures, may sell or consume their en- 
tire crop, and thus avoid perpetuating decay, while 
they could secure a comparatively healthy seed for 
re-planting ; from these carefully cultivated fields. 
TO GROW FINE PEARS. 
A correspondent asks ua the following ques- 
tions : — Are iron filings or turnings, such as are 
found at the machine shopa, suitable to be put 
around pear trees when little or no iron exists in 
the soil ? How much should be applied to each 
tree 1 Is the application invariably beneficial ? 
The smaller the particles of iron applied, of 
course the better, as they decompose more rapidly. 
If a tree be about four years old, apply one quart ; 
if full grown, eight to sixteen quarts, according to 
the size. Age and size of intermediate trees, will 
give the proper quantity to be applied between 
these extremes. 
We deem it proper, however, to say to our corres- 
pondent, that many contend that iron applied as 
above does not benefit either tree or fruit. Iron 
slag is frequently put around the bodies of peach 
and other trees to guard them from the borer and 
other insects. But spent tan hark, broken stone, 
brick, or oyster-shell lime, we suppose, would be 
just as beneficial, as the action is merely mechani- 
cal. We wish our readers would make some ex- 
periments with iron filings or turnings, by applying 
them to fruit trees, and give us the result. 
&re lime, charcoal, and ashes necessary 1 And 
if so, how much of each should be applied per 
tree? 
If the ground be newly cleared of forest, it will 
usually contain potash and carbon enough to grow 
trees rapidly, and produce an abundance of fruit for 
a series of years. The same may be said of lime 
in a limestone region. But if these do not abound 
in the soil, they must be added. From four quarts 
to two bushels of each is enough to apply in any 
one year, depending on the age and size of the 
tree, and something, also, on the quality of the soil. 
Rotten and decayed wood will, in part, supply the 
place of charcoal and ashes ; but the objection to it 
is, that it harbors grubs and insects, which are in- 
jurious both to tree and fruit ; whereas, if ashes are 
unleached, they are destructive to most insects. 
The same may be said of lime, particularly in its 
caustic state. 
In addition to the above, we will say to our cor- 
respondent, that it would be best to plow or spade 
the earth around the trees, from the trunk to a lit- 
tle beyond the spread of the roots, before applying 
the above-named substances ; and in doing this, be 
very careful not to injure the roots. The lime, 
ashes, &c, should be applied mainly within the 
circle of the extreme spread of the roots. Some 
portion, however, should be spread over the space 
between this and the trunk of the tree, and a little 
beyond the extension of the roots. He will, as a 
matter of course, understand, that, if his soil is not 
rich, he must dress it abundantly with peat, muck, 
and barnyard manure, or other fertilizing sub- 
stances ; and avoid taking a grain crop from the 
orchard when in bearing, or keeping it in grass 
over three or four years at a -time. 
DOMESTIC FISH PONDS. 
We are surprised our country friends do not pay 
more attention to the subject of fish ponds. Many 
of them have, on some part of their estates, either 
natural ponds, or small streams running through 
narrow valleys, which may be a dammed at a trifling 
expense, and occupy but a comparatively small 
surface of land, and which, in many cases, is en- 
tirely worthless. These ponds should be fed with 
living streams or springs. The former are prefer- 
able, as they bring to the pond supplies of seeds, 
vegetables, roots, mud, &c, on which many of the 
finny tribes subsist. Aquatic plants, insects of va- 
rious kinds, and infusoria? are also soon generated 
in the pond, and supply them with an adequate 
amount of food. Wherever this is deficient for the 
inmates, artificial food may be added, as bread, de- 
cayed grains, vegetables, meat, and the like. They 
may be soon taught to come at call, as by the tink- 
ling of a bell, the blast of a horn, the beat of 
drum, or some musical instruments, and they will 
thus gather round their food as soon as thrown in. 
Many species of fish subsist entirely by suction, as 
the shad, the sucker, &c. ; and it is policy to have 
separate ponds for such of these as may be want- 
ed for use. Others, and by far the larger part, are 
predatory, and subsists almost entirely on other fish, 
as the pike, pickerel, &c, and these require a stock 
of smaller fry to supply them adequately with 
food. 
Some experiments have been made with the shad 
and other salt-water fish in acclimatizing them in 
fresh water, and with entire success. A friend, 
who has several fish ponds on his estate on the 
Hudson,, says they have bred with him the second 
year they were placed there. He occasionally 
supplied them with salt, when they would come 
about the deposite, and seem to enjoy the brackish 
water while the salt remained. When deprived of 
this, some of the original shad died ; but, whether 
owing to this or some other cause, it is not certain. 
The younger ones seem to thrive in water entirely 
fresh. He has also domesticated several kinds of 
fresh-water fish, some of which have been import- 
ed from the European waters, as the carp and 
tench, but most of them are the best varieties from 
our inland lakes. Some of them have become 
such pets, and so familiarly answer to his call, that 
he has a great repugnance in preparing them for 
his table, though his friends to whom he frequently 
sends them, have no such scruples, and pronounce 
them delicious. He tells a good story of harness- 
