244 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST 
[July, 
feel called upon to protest against it. Those who 
thoughtlessly fall into this unpleasant error, need 
only to be reminded of it, and they will sensibly 
avoid it. From the chronic boaster of his own 
achievements, we hope to be delivered. 
Tlie SSeueJits of Excursions 
to other localities where others are following simi¬ 
lar pursuits to our own, are not to be measured by 
the profitable hints we may pick up, but there is a 
mental and bodily relief that comes from a change 
of scene, which will allow one to return to the later 
work of the season refreshed,and with a spirit of con¬ 
tent—for one who travels with his eyes open, can 
not fail to see that others, as well as himself, have 
their discomforts and drawbacks, and he is all the 
■more disposed to meet his own with a brave spirit. 
Orchard anal Nursery. 
On various occasions we have called attention to 
the value of early varieties of apples for a near mar¬ 
ket. This is a matter of special importance to 
■orchardists in the Eastern States—indeed, to all 
fruit growers who live near large cities anywhere. 
Winter Apples have a very long season, and if 
properly packed, may be transported for very great 
■distances without any injury, and their slow ripen¬ 
ing allows them to be stored for weeks or months. 
This peculiarity of late fruit allows the grower at a 
distance, where land is cheap, to compete with the 
orchardist near the markets. But with 
Early Apples, the advantage is all on the side of 
She home market. Early varieties are short-lived— 
i. c., the period between the time when they arc fit 
to pick, and that when they should reach the con¬ 
sumer is very short. Their general tender character 
does not allow of long transportation, as they are 
■easily bruised, and soon fall into decay. For these 
reasons it is worth while for those who have 
orchards near large cities to consider the experience 
of the fruit-growers of Monmouth Co., N. J., aud 
other localities near New York City. These gen¬ 
tlemen have ceased to compete with the orchardists 
in Ohio, Michigan, and other Western States, and 
find their profit in early fruit, of kinds which the 
Western growers can not possibly supply. 
Care with Early Fruit is quite essential to success, 
and selection and neat packing are found to be as 
important with this as with any other fruit. The 
time when one would fill a wagon body with Early 
Harvest or Sweet Bough apples, put in a shovel 
and half-bushel measure, go to the nearest village 
and shovel up his fruit, has gone by. It pays to 
select the fruit, pack it in paper-lined new half 
barrels, or in baskets or crates, and put it upon the 
market as carefully as if it were pears or peaches. 
Thus treated, summer apples pay, as some growers 
know to their profit. Among the best and most 
Profitable Early Apples, we enumerate the follow¬ 
ing, remarking that the list, as with fruit lists, will 
not answer for all localities: Benoni; Carolina 
Red June ; Early Harvest; Large Yellow Bough ;' 
Primate, one of the best, but tender; Red Astra¬ 
khan, tart, and excellent for cooking; Summer 
'Queen, large aud profitable ; Tetofskv; William's 
Favorite. A variety locally called “Orange Pip¬ 
pin,” is also very profitable in New Jersey. 
Early Pears come to maturity rapidly, aud if not 
gathered in time, many are apt to rot at the core. 
Selection and neat packing pay with these. 
Thinning Fruit, however thoroughly it may have 
been done early in the season, will still need atten¬ 
tion, and any excess may still be removed. 
Young Trees.—See former mouths for the needed 
mulching, care against strangling with labels, etc. 
Much pruning may be avoided by occasional pinch¬ 
ing the young growth, and removing entirely shoots 
that start where branches are not needed. 
Blight. —We know nothing of this mysterious 
malady until the fatal blow has fallen. Cut away 
the blighted t.vig, branch, or tree, back to sound 
wood, and as a precaution, burn the dead prunings. 
Insects. —It is not practicable to repeat every 
month aud every year the whole insect story. In 
brief: Borers show themselves by “saw-dust,” 
by gum, and by a flattened dead-looking place on 
the bark. Cut out or probe with wire_The 
peach-borer is to be sought for just at or below the 
surface; the insect lays its eggs from now until 
autumn. A small mound of coal-ashes around the 
trees has been found useful_ Codling Moth. —Pick 
up and feed to pigs all fallen fruit, or keep pigs in the 
orchard. Examine weekly the traps, whether of 
cloth or hay-bands, and kill those that have hid¬ 
den there. Cloth traps may be run through an old 
clothes-wriuger_ Slugs, on pear, cherry, and other 
trees—little dark-green, slow-moving, slimy crea¬ 
tures—are killed by dusting lime, ashes, or even 
fine road dust_Late nests of the Tent Caterpillar, 
aud those of the Fall Web-worm, now often abun¬ 
dant, must be destroyed wherever found. 
Blade Knot, often mistakenly supposed to be 
the work of an insect, should be cut out on its first 
appearance on plum aud cherry trees. 
The Time for Budding varies with the locality. 
Cherries and plums are ready first, and the pear 
next. The proper time is when well-formed buds 
may be had, and the stocks are in growiug condi¬ 
tion, so that the bark readily parts from the wood. 
Fruit Warden. 
Whatever is said on the general treatment of 
trees, and on insects, under Orchard, is generally 
applicable to trees in the Fruit Garden. 
Grape-vines. —It was not. necessary to give a spe¬ 
cial article ou our “ One Grape-vine ” this month, 
the directions given on page 212 last, month being 
sufficient for the treatment of the young vine. The 
growth this year of the new vine being preparatory 
only, all that-can be done is to encourage the pro¬ 
duction of a single strong, vigorous cane. When 
the shoot has reached the top of the stake, let it 
hang over as it will. Keep the laterals pinched as 
there directed ; pick off all beetles and caterpillars, 
and use sulphur freely if mildew appears. 
Old Vines need similar treatment as to laterals, 
insects, and mildew. Chance shoots often appear 
on the arms, or other parts of the old wood. If 
these are not wanted, rub them off at once. But it. 
sometimes happens that these come iust where we 
would like to have a cane, to allow some change to 
be made in the training, such as to give us a new 
arm to replace one that is faulty ; in such case we 
have only to encourage, the new growth. 
Summer Layering is au easy aud rapid method of 
propagating the vine. As soon as a shoot of the 
present season, in a convenient place, becomes 
hard enough to handle—recollect that they break 
with the greatest ease at the nodes or joints—open 
a trench a few inches deep, and bury a few joints, 
removing the leaves from the buried part of the 
shoot; put down a stake, and lurn up and fasten 
the end of the shoot to it, and treat this as if it 
were a young vine. In hot weather, aud in light 
soil, it is well to lay a flat stone over the buried 
part of the vine, to keep the place moist. 
Blackberries and Baspberries, as all cultivators 
should know, have biennial stems. The shoot 
which grows this season will bear fruit next sum¬ 
mer ; the stems now bearing fruit will die in the 
fall, to be succeeded by those now green and grow¬ 
iug. Growers differ as to the propriety of remov¬ 
ing the stems as soon as the fruit is off, some pre¬ 
ferring to leave them until fall, under the plea that 
they will help strengthen the root. As good culti¬ 
vators are equally divided on this, both parties 
claiming that practice warrants their view, we 
doubt if it is a matter of great importance, aud 
would follow the most convenient course. New 
shoots, or canes for next year’s fruit, should be 
cared for, and all that start, but are not needed, be 
hoed up as weeds. Raspberries may be stopped in 
their upward growth, by pinching, when at three 
or four feet, aud blackberries at five or six feet. 
This piuching the tops will cause side branches to 
grow, which are to be kept in control by pinching 
when they have grown as long as desirable. 
Black-cap and Purple-cane varieties do not throw 
up suckers at a distance from the old stool, but 
their new shoots start from the base of the plants, 
and these should be cared for as above suggested, 
as the branches that have fruited this season must 
be cut away in the fall, if not sooner. I 
Strawberries must be kept clear of weeds ; if the 
single stool, or single row, method is adopted, then 
keep off all runners ; if they are grown in alternate 
beds, then encourage the runners to take root in 
the intermediate spaces, to form a new bed. 
Mitclicit anil Market Garilen. 
Notwithstanding this has been mentioned as one 
of the gardener’s leisure months, it should, in one 
respect, be one of his most stirring months, so far 
as the soil is concerned. Those who wait until 
weeds need to be killed, before they set the culti¬ 
vator, hoe, or rake, at work, lose much. Killing 
weeds is au important work, but is not the only 
good resulting from the frequent use of tillage im¬ 
plements. In a hard, compact soil, moisture read¬ 
ily finds its way up from below, and evaporates ; if 
the surface is fine and loose, this loss of moisture 
ceases, aud good cultivators know that a layer of 
loose soil is one of the best possible mulches. We 
have often advised the frequent use amongst the 
plants of a rake with long, sharp teeth ; this allows 
of going over much surface that the cultivator can 
not reach, allows of rapid work, and besides being 
one of the most efficient weeders, leaves the sur¬ 
face of the soil in the best condition to resist drouth. 
Asparagus. —See last month. The growth of tops 
will keep down all but a few coarse weeds, which 
should be pulled up as they appear. 
Succession Crops will not be overlooked by those 
who would make the most of their gardens. Corn, 
Bush-beans, Beets, and Cucumbers may be sown. 
Beets make in hot weather one of the best substi¬ 
tutes for spinach, and are sown by some for this 
purpose only; but we also keep up a succession of 
the Egyptian for their roots, as they are vastly 
preferable to late sorts. 
Cabbages and Cauliflowers. —The late crop in the 
latitude of New York is set by the middle of the 
month. If to be worked by horse cultivator, make 
the rows three feet apart, and set the plants 18 to 
24 inches apart, according to the variety. Examine 
the plants, and set none that have bad roots, or 
have gone “ blind,” by injury to the growing point, 
or terminal bud. Set well down, and then press 
the earth firmly around with the foot. 
Celery. —Around New York the main crop is set 
the first half of the month. Market gardeners 
have quite given up trench-planting, but set the 
plants on the surface in well-manured soil, and do 
not commence earthing up until the plants have 
made a large share of their growth. The dwarf 
varieties are grown almost exclusively. Ground 
that has been heavily manured for early crops of 
cabbages, etc., is laid out in rows three feet apart, 
and the plants set at six inches in the rows. Press 
the earth firmly around the plants, and keep them 
free from weeds. 
Egg Plants, when fairly established, may be 
pushed with liquid manure every two or three 
days. Where potato-bugs abound, the plants have 
an almost hopeless “ struggle for existence.” 
Squashes, Melons, and all of the family, are at¬ 
tacked by insects from the first show of the seed- 
leaf to the gathering of the fruit. Those which 
attack the foliage are bad enough, but the borers, 
which enter the vine near the root, wait until the 
plant seems out of danger, and then bring it to a 
sudden end. Several advise covering the vine with 
earth for the first three or four joints from the 
root. More fruit is usually set than can be ma¬ 
tured, and it is well to remove the excess. Mem.— 
Winter squashes, even when very young, are better 
for the table than any summer squash. Allow the 
vines of these to take root at the joints. 
Sweet Potatoes need to be kept clear of weeds un¬ 
til they cover the ground. In northern climates, 
the vines should be prevented from taking root at 
the joints, which is easily done by running a rake 
or smooth pole under, and lifting them. 
Tomatoes. —See last month for hints ou supports. 
In field culture, the vines are allowed to spread 
upon the ground. Several have asked for direc 
tions for pruning tomatoes ; the only pruning that 
we have found profitable (and we have tried the 
French system, where fruit is treated as if it were 
