SOUTHERN CULTIVATOR. 
^54 
do well on the Quince; 2d. Plant, prune, and cultivate 
properly and thoroughly. The connection of the Pear and 
'Quince should, in planting, be set six inches below the 
surface — the ground must be thoroughly trenched and 
manured — the trees mulched for the first few years, and 
pruned properly, and nature will do the rest. We should 
desire no better investment than forty or fifty acres of 
selected Dwarf Pear trees, within easy reach of the 
Charleston or Savannah steamers. There are fortunes to 
be made in the shipping of Pears, Apples, Peaches, 
drapes, &c., from the South to the North, and if we live, 
we intend to have a still deeper interest in the enterprise 
than vre have at present. — D. R.j 
FRUITS OF THE SEASON — PROPER 3IETHOD 
of Pruning, &c. 
Editors Southern CuLTivATOR—The severe frosts of 
the past spring have left us a few apples only, among all 
the fruits subject to injury by their too frequent visita- 
tions. Fortunately, however, we have Strawberries, 
Raspberries, Blackberries, and above all, Grapes, which 
ask no favors of frosts, but reward the careful cultivator 
with an abundance every year without exception. These, 
then, we ought to cherish and rely upon as fast and en- 
during friends. [See, also, article headed “ Fruits that 
Never Fail I” in another column. — Eds.] 
Pears. — We had two series of frosts last spring, both 
of which were destructive. The first on the 2nd and 3rd 
of March — the second on the 6th, 7th, and 8th of April. 
The first killed nearly all the Pears on some trees, and 
many on others. The trees were then just ready to flow- 
er. On the 13th March we had frost, and ice formed on the 
trees all day, but killed nothing. Afterwards some of the 
pear trees, especially the Bartlett, brought out fine crops 
of fruit as large as green peas, when the second killing 
frost came and swept them clean. 
Plums, Apricots and Nectarines, all are gone. 
Peaches show here and there a mourner. The firs! of 
the two frosts killed almost all of those having small flow- 
ers; while, of these having large flowers, there was still 
left a fair crop. These were swept away by the second 
hard frost. Such, on my grounds, w'as the difference be- 
tween the large flowering and small flowering peaches. 
During my experience of eight years, 1 have noticed that 
the Noblesse, having large flowers, has invariably escaped 
frosts better than any otlier of the improved, or known 
varieties of the peach. None of these, except the Noblesse, 
DOW exhibits a single peach. Among my seedlings there 
are several trees of the large flowering kind that have a few 
peaches on them ; while there is not one on the small 
flowering kind. This fact seems to me to be v/orthy of fur- 
ther notice. It is owing to the opening of the small flow- 
ers earlier than the large ones'! But what makes them 
open earlier'? 
Cherries. — Eight years ago I procured from Mr. Down- 
ing’s nursery on theldudson, twenty varieties of this fruit. 
The trees al! grew vigot'ously, but many of them were 
injured by the sun killing one side of their trunks: and j 
none have been of any service. Now and then. a few in- : 
dividuais ripen by way of provocation to “mental curs- 1 
ing’ — nothing more. Whether to let them live on, incurn- ! 
benng the ground, or to cut tliein down at once and cast! 
them into outer darkness — that is the question. In pre- 1 
:sence of these unwelcome facts, the common Pflorello ■ 
thrives and bears in this vicinity generally, very fan 
crops of very fair fruit, and has done so from the first 
settlement of the country. They have been propagated 
by planting their seeds ; and on pretty dilligent search I 
have found some trees much better than others and weft 
worthy of being disseminated by grafting. None of these 
have more than a few solitary cherries on them this year. 
The last heavy frosts were too much for them. 
But there is still another variety here that ought to be 
brought to more general public notice, which somebody 
has christened “The DeKalb.” On the 1st of the present 
month I saw several of these trees, all bearing very fair 
crops of fine ripe cherries. They are of medium size ; 
roundish; bright red, inclining to dark when quite ripe ; 
flavor pleasant, subacid ; fruit stalk from one to one and 
three-fourth inches, set in a rather deep cordate cavity, 
and clinging to the seed quite firmly ; fruit occasionally 
in pairs. I learned from Mr. Robinson, a professed po- 
mologist and close observer, that this tree flowers some 
ten days later than the common Morello, which accounts 
for its having a fair crop of fruit, while the latter has none. 
These I have since examined at other places about here, 
and the few specimens which I found were still green and 
not more than half grown. So are there now a few 
stinted unripe individuals on my May Duke trees, from 
which I infer that the DeKalb is earlier than the May 
Duke. I am told that the origin of this valuable Cherry 
is unknown, though it has been cultivated about here and 
propagated by seed for nearly thirty years past. Some 
have supposed it to be the Kentish ; but if a tree of that 
variety shown to me by Mr. Robinson be genuine, the De 
Kalb is certainly not that. The DeKalb has large reni- 
form glands, and its new wood is light colored, while the 
Kentish has small globose glands and dark brown nev/ 
wood, and the leaves of the latter are larger than those of 
the former. Farthermore, the one solitary specimen of 
fruit on the Kentish, a young tree, was still green. The 
probability is that the DeKalb is a seedling ot unknown 
origin.* 
Pruning . — In your paper have lately appeared three 
systems of pruning, each, in some measure, distinct from 
the others. The first is that of S. T. Jones, which forces 
the tree to bend out in every direction, like the petals of a 
flower, leaving the center hollow. The second is that of 
Prof Mapcs, giving the top of the tree a round form with- 
out the hollow centre. This is the plan described by 
Downing. Both let the tree send out several branches 
low down, and shorten back the terminal shoots annually, 
The third is by G M. Kern, and consists in forcing the 
tree to preserve a center shaft all the way up, and send 
out laterals from that, which also must have their center 
shafts with laterals — the whole to be shortened in and 
kept low. This appeared in your May number, and. in 
my opinion, is the best of the three. I had adopted, to 
some extent, this plan a year ago, having become dissatis- 
fied with the others. 
I have pruned my own trees with my own hands for 
eight years, following, as nearly as a novice could, the 
directions of Downing; and I shall follow them no longer. 
He does not advocate the center shaft, but cautions against 
too much training, and says that “every fruit tree * 
should be allowed to take its natural form, the whole ef- 
forts of the pruner going no farther than to take out all 
weak and crowded branches.” This ill-defined advice 
led me far into error. 1 let too many limbs grow out from 
near the bottom, trying to keep the top well open by tak- 
*The Cherry known as “DeKalb,” i.s most prol.ah'.y 
the “Glass Morello,” of Europe, or the Flemish, &<: . of 
Downing. (See “Fruits and Fruit Trees,” pp. Uux ' It 
is a good and sure bearer, of tolerable quaUty r.nd dc" 
serves extensive cultivation. — F .ds 
