166 
THE SOUTHERN CULTIVATOR. 
enormous bearer; some limbs exhibited were 
clustered with fruit, more like bunches of grapes 
than apples; Milam, favorite early winter; Ram- 
bo, the same. But the apple most universally 
cultivated is the Vandevere pippin, only a se- 
cond or third rate table apple, but having other 
qualities which quite ravish the hearts of our 
farmers. The tree is remarkably vigorous and 
healthy; it almost never tails in a crop ; when 
all others //rtss, the Vandevere pippin Atfs ; the 
fruit, which is very large and comely, is a late 
winter fruit, yet swells so quickly as to be the 
first and best summer cooking apple. If its 
flesh — which is coarse — were fine, and its (too 
sharp) flavor equalled that of the Golden rus- 
set, it w'ould stand without a rival, or near 
neighbor, at the very head oi the list of winter 
apples. As it is, it is a first-rate tree, bearing 
a. second-rate ap^\e. A hybrid between it and 
the Golden russet, or Newtown Spitzenberg, 
appropriating the virtues of both, would leave 
little more to be hoped for or wished. The 
Baldwin has never come up to its eastern repu- 
tation v/ith us; the Rhode Island Greening is 
eaten for the sake of “ auld lang syne;” the 
Roxbury russet is not yet in bearing — instead 
of it, several false varieties have been present- 
ed at our exhibitions. All the classic apples of 
your orchards are planted here, but are yet on 
probation. 
Nothing can exhibit better the folly of trust- 
ing to seedling orchards f( r fruit fora main sup- 
ply, than our experience in this matter. The 
early seiilers could not bring trees Irom Ken- 
tucky, Virginia or Pennsylvania, and, as the 
next resort, brought and planted seeds of popu- 
lar apples, A later population found no nurse- 
ries to supply the awakening demand for fruit 
trees, and resorted also to planting seed. That 
which at first sprang from necessity has been 
continued from habit, and from an erroneous 
opinion that seedling fruit was better than 
grafted. An immense number of seedling trees 
are found in our State. Since the Indiana 
Horticultural Society began to collect speci 
mens of these, more than one hundred and 
fifty varieties have been sent up for inspection. 
Our rule i.s to reject every apple which— the 
habits of the tree and the qualification of its 
fruit being considered — has a superior or equal 
already in cultivation. Of all the number pre- 
sen ed, not six have vindicated their claims to 
a name or a place, and not more than ikree will 
probably be known ten years hence. While, 
then, we encourage cultivators to raise seed- 
lings experimentally, it is the clearest folly to 
reject the established varieties and trust to in- 
ferior seedling orchards. Prom facts which I 
have collected, there have been collected during 
the past year, in this State, at least one hundred 
thousand apple trees. Every year the demand 
increases. It is supposed that the next year 
will surpass this by at least twenty-five thousand. 
In connection with apple orchards, our farm- 
ers are increasingly zealous in pearcultivation. 
We are fortunate in having secured to our 
nurseries not only the most approved old varie- 
ties, but the choicest new pears of British, Con- 
tinental or American origin. A few years ago 
to each one hundred apple trees, our nurseries 
sold, perhaps, two pear'irees ; now they sell at 
least twenty to a hundred. Very large pear 
orchards are established, and in some instances 
are now beginning to bear. I purchased Wil- 
liam’s Bon Chretien in our market last fall lor 
75 cents the bushel. This pear, with the St. 
Michael’s, Beurre Dial, Beurre d’Aremberg, 
Passe Colmar, Duchesse d’Angouleme, Seckel 
and Marie Louise, are the most widely diflus- 
ed, and’all of them regularly at our e.vhibitions. 
Every year enables us to test other varieties. 
The Passe Colmar and Beurre d’Aremberg 
have done exceedingly well — a branch of tl;e 
latter, about eighteen inches in length, was ex- 
hibited at our Fair, bearing over twenty pears, 
none ot which were smaller than a turkey’s 
egg. The demand lor pear trees this year, has 
been such that our nurseries have not been able 
to answer it, and they are swept almost entirely 
clean. I may as well mention here that, be^ 
sides many more neighborhood nurseries, there 
are in this State eighteen which are large and 
skilfull)" conducted. 
The extraordinary cheaphess ol trees favors 
their general cultivation. 'Apple trees, not un- 
der ten feet high, and finely grown, sell at 10, 
and pears at 20 cents, and in' some nurseries, 
apples may be had at G cents. This price, it 
should be recollected, is in a community where 
corn brings from 12 to 20 eents only, a bushel ; 
wheal sells from 45 to 50; hay at $5 the ton. 
During the season of ’43 and ’44, apples of the 
finest sorts — Jennetin, Green Newtown pippin, 
&c.— sold at my door, as late as April, lor 25 
cents a bushe 1, and dull at that. This winter 
they command 37 cents. Attention i.s increas- 
ingly turned to the cultivation ot apples for ex- 
portation. Our inland orchards will soon find 
an outlet, both to the Ohio river by railroad, 
and the Lakes by -canal. The effects of such a 
deluge of fruit is worthy of some speculation. 
It will diminish the price but increase \.\ie profit 
of fruit. An analogous case is seen in the 
penny-postage system of England. Fruit will 
become more generally and largely an article, 
not of luxury, but of daily and ordinary diet. 
It will find its way dowm to the poorest table, 
and the quanlily- consumfd will make up in 
profit to the dealer v/hat is lost in lessening the 
price. A few years and the apple crop will be 
a matter of reckoning by farmers and specula- 
tors, just as is now tlie i otato c op, the wheat 
crop, the pork, &c. Nor will it create a home 
market alone. By care it may be exported with 
such facility that the world will receive it as a 
part of its diet. It will, in this respect, follow 
the history of grains and edible rool-s, and from 
a local and limited use, the apple and the pear 
will become articles of universal demand. 
The reasons of such an opinion are few and 
simple. It is a fruit always palatable, and as 
such, will be welcome to mankind, whatever 
their tastes, if it can be brought within their 
reach. The Western Stales will, before many 
years, be forested with orchards. The fruit 
bears exportation kindly. Thri.'^ there will be a 
supply; a possibility ot distributing it by com- 
merce, to meet the taste already existing. — 
These views may seem fanciful — may prove 
so; but they are analogical. Nor, if I inherit 
my three-score years and ten, do I expect to die 
until the apple crop of the United States shall 
surpass the potato crjp in value, both for man 
and beast. It has the double quality of palsiia- 
bleness, raw or cooked — it is a pcrma,nent crop, 
not requiring annual planting, and it produces 
more bushels to the acre than corn, wheat, or, 
on an average, than potatoes. The calcula- 
tions may be made, allowing an ;rverage of fif- 
teen bushels to a tree. The same reasoning 
is true of the pear— it and the apple are to hold 
a place yet as universal eaiabWs— a fruit-grain 
not known in their past history. If notanoiher 
tree should be set in this county, (Marion coun- 
ty,) in ten years the annual crop of apples will 
be 200,000 bushels. But Wayne county has 
double our number of trees— suppose, however, 
the 90 counties of Indiana to have only 2.3 
trees to a quarter section of land, i e., to each 
160 acres, the crop of 15 bushels to a tree, 
woLiid be nearly two millions. 
The past year has greatly increased the cul- 
tivation of small fruits in the State. Strawber- 
ries are found in almost every garden, and of 
-select sorts. None among them all is more 
popular, or more deservedly so, than Hovey’s 
Seedling. We have a native white slrawberrv 
removed from our meadows to our gardens, 
which produces Iruit of superior fragrance and 
flavor. The crop is not large, but continues 
gradually ripening for many weeks. The 
blackberiy is introduced to the garden among 
us. The fruit sells at our market for three to 
five cents — profit is not therefore the motive lor 
cultivating- it, but improvement. I havm a 
white variety. Assorted gooseberries and the 
new raspberries, Franconia and Fastolff, are 
finding their way into our gardens. The Ant- 
werps we have long had in abundance. It 
next spring I can produce riiubarb weighing 
two pounds to the stalk, shall I have surpassed 
you? I have a seedling which last year* with- 
out good cultivation, p'roduced petioles weigh- 
ing from eighteen to twenty ounces. My wrist 
is not very delicate, and yet it is much smaller 
in girth than they were. 
In no department is there more decided ad- 
vance among our citizens than in floriculture. 
In all our rising towns, yards and gardens are 
to be found choicely stocked. All hardy bulbs 
are now sought after. Ornamental shrubs are 
taken Irom our forests or imported from abroad 
in great variety. Altheas, rose acacia, jessa- 
mine, calycanthus, snowberry, sumach, syrin- 
gas, spicewood, sheperdia, dogwood, redwood, 
and other hardy shrubs abound. The rose is 
an especial favorite. The Bengal, Tea and 
Noisettes, bear our winters in the open garden 
w-ith but slight protection. The Bourbon and 
Remontantes will, however, drive out old and 
ordinary varieties. The gardens of this town 
would afford about sixty varieties of roses, 
which would be reckoned first rate in Boston or 
Philadelphia. 
While New England suffered under a season 
of drought, on this side of the mountains the 
season was uncommonly fine — scarcely a week 
elapsed without copious showers, and gardens 
remained moist the wdiole season. Fruits ri- 
pened from two to three weeks earlier than 
usual. In consequence of this, winter fruits 
are rapidly decaying. To-day is Christmas — 
the weather is spring-like — no snow — the ther- 
mometer this morning 40®. Mv Noisettes re- 
tain their terminal leaves green; and in the 
southward-looking dells of the woods grasses 
and herbs are yet of a vivid green. Birds are 
still here — three this morning were singing on 
the trees in my yard. There are some curious 
far-ts in the eariv history of horticulture in this 
region, which I meant to have included in this 
communication, but insensibly I have, I fear, 
alread}'' prolonged it beyond vour convenience. 
H. W. Beccu!-:r. 
Indianapolis, Dcc,2jlh, 1844. 
Swiiiey, or Disease or Strain of Slioulder. 
From the American Agricullurist. 
This is an affection not uncommon, but yet 
little vnderstood. If of recent occurr-ence it 
will be seen that the shoulder is swelled ; if of 
long standing, that the shoulder is dnivinis'icd in 
size,{\\e muscles having shinnk away. The 
shoulder is frequently shrunk w.hen there is no 
disease in it. This shrinking arises from .dis- 
use of the muscles. To ret iin its full volume 
a muscle must have constant aciion. Now, 
disuse of the muscles of the .-shoulder may arise 
from two causes: 1st, lameness of the iooi or 
leg; 2nd, lameness of the shoulde.r. If it arise 
from the foot no treatment is necessary for the 
shoulder. It may be easily known if it pro- 
ceeds from the foot. In such case the horse, when 
he moves, lifts h\s foot clear from the ground ; 
and when he points his foot forward he places 
it flaton the ground. If the injury be in the 
shoulder, when he moves he drags the toe of the 
foot along the ground, seemingly "unable to lilt it 
clear; when he points his foot out, bis /we only 
rests on the ground, not th ' sole of the foot. If 
the injury is in the shoulder the horse reluctant- 
ly turns his head towards the opposite shoulder, 
as thi.s strains the muscles ; but he will willingly 
turn his head toward the lame shoulder, as this 
relaxes the muscles. 
The common causes of shrinking or swiney 
of the shoulder, when it arises from the foot or 
injury to the leg below the shoulder, are all the 
diseases of the foot and leg, which continue 
long enough to occasion such a disease of the 
muscles of the shoulder as to occasion their 
shrinking. Such diseases are foot founder, 
contraction of the foot, strain ol the navicular 
joint, ring-bone, pumiced foot, sand crack, quit- 
tor, gravel, any separation of the foot, in short, 
any of the various diseases ol the loot which in- 
duce the horse to favor it, and thus use as little as 
possible the whole leg and .shoulder. 
'J’he shrinking of the shoulder, n-licrc ir arises 
