310 
FRUIT GARDEN OF DR. RHINELANDER. 
take this cutter to England, in the kindest manner 
offering me letters to his friends there; being 
pleased to say, that such an improvement in agri¬ 
cultural implements would, of itself, afford me an 
introduction to Lord Spencer, more potent than a 
letter from any diplomatist in Europe. 
I have now, in pursuance of your suggestion, 
made this statement with respect to this knife. If 
you think it will add to the gratification or in¬ 
struction of your readers, you are at liberty to pub¬ 
lish so much of it as seems meet unto you. 
C. T. Botts. 
Richmond, Va., Aug., 1844. 
We take great pleasure in saying, that we have 
examined the above straw-cutter of Mr. Botts, 
and think it the best contrived for the southern 
States of any that has yet come under our notice. 
It combines great strength with simplicity, and is 
just the thing to be placed with the careless hands 
on a plantation. Mr. B. expressed the fear that it 
might not be strong enough to cut the large corn¬ 
stalks of the south. We have none whatever on 
this score, provided they do not exceed three inches 
in diameter, and are not over twenty feet high, as a 
gentleman, when we were on the Mississippi, mod¬ 
estly assured us they thus grew to shelter “ bar” 
(bear), like a cane-brake in Arkansas. Mr. Free¬ 
born of this city has the above cutters for sale— 
price $27 50. 
FRUIT GARDEN OF DR. RHINELANDER. 
On a recent visit to Dr. Rhinelander, of Hun¬ 
tington, L. I., I found so much of successful exper¬ 
iment in the cultivation of fruit, that I deem it 
scarcely fair that horticulturists should remain in 
ignorance of his exertions. The Doctor having, a 
few years since, exhausted the field of medicine, 
and imparted his varied knowledge to a numerous 
class of pupils, retired to his present residence, 
and turned his attention wholly to the study of 
horticulture, and more particularly to the cultiva¬ 
tion of grapes and stone fruits, the latter well 
known as subject to several diseases. Having but 
little previous knowledge of fruit culture, he 
studied it as a science founded on correct princi¬ 
ples, and of his entire knowledge of those princi¬ 
ples, his great success is the best evidence. 
He treated his trees as he did his patients. He 
could not, it is true, give them calomel, jalop, or 
salts, but he purged them in an equally effective 
way ; and so thoroughly has this cathartic treat¬ 
ment driven disease from them, that he is enabled 
to fruit plums, peaches, nectarines, and apricots, 
with as much ease as apples or pears. His soil is 
admirably adapted to the cultivation of those fruits, 
being of a gravelly nature, with a porous subsoil. 
It is a generally admitted fact, that all plants 
discharge from their roots more or less excrement- 
ory matter, which, if left in the soil, is .decidedly 
injuriou s to the plant from which it came,* although 
* We have seen this doubted latterly, if we recollect 
right, by no less an authority than Professor Lindley of 
England; also, by German vegetable physiologists.— Ed. 
frequently beneficial to others. It is from this 
cause that successive crops of grain, or any other 
product, from the same soil, produce poorly, and 
that a proper rotation of crops is deemed indispen- 
sibly necessary to the success of every farmer. 
The plum and its kindred fruits discharge far more 
of this matter than the apple or the pear, and are 
therefore far more likely to be injured by its super¬ 
abundance in the soil. A rich, heavy mould, or 
retentive soil, prevents its escape, while a porous, 
gravelly soil will allow the rain to pass through it 
freely, and wash away all offensive matter. As 
Dr. R.’s soil was of this porous nature, he had no 
difficulty of this kind to contend with, and directed 
his attention to other equally important points. 
The curculio is well known as the most serious 
enemy to the plum, peach, apricot, and nectarine. 
To put an end to their destructive ravages, Dr. R. 
uses clam and oyster shells, small stones, and sim¬ 
ilar materials, to make a hard, compact surface 
around the body of the tree, and as far as the 
branches extend. The benefit of this is obvious ; 
the curculio deposites its eggs in the fruit, just 
beneath the epidermis, the worm from which 
makes its way to the stone,' and along it to the 
stem, which when it reaches, the fruit falls, with 
the worm, to the ground. This hard, compact 
surface of shells, &c., prevents the worm, as it 
issues from the fruit, finding its way into the earth, 
there to remain until the next season brings it 
forth in the shape of a fly, to renew its depreda¬ 
tions on the fruit. Having thus left the fruit, the 
worm finds no way to enter the earth, and is soon 
destroyed by the heat of a summer’s sun. It is 
for this reason that stone fruits, which many find 
it impossible to perfect in this part of the country, 
succeed so well in New York, where a hard pave¬ 
ment surrounds the tree. 
Having thus placed the trees in a condition to 
perfect the fruit when produced, Dr. R. endeavored 
to discover the most effective mode of rendering 
them very productive. For this purpose he has 
successfully adopted the en quenouille mode of 
training, and other ways of bending the branches 
of the tree from their natural position, that the 
sap, being furnished by the root faster than the 
unnaturally twisted limbs can dissipate it, becomes 
thick and forms flower instead of leaf-buds. I saw 
one plum-tree, about as thick as a man’s finger, 
with two branches forking off and trained horizon¬ 
tally about a foot from the ground, which were 
studded with plums of rich and healthy appear¬ 
ance. He also practises a judicious system of 
summer pruning, which he finds far more import¬ 
ant than winter pruning, inasmuch as the sap of 
the tree is thus economized and directed to the 
formation of fruit. His success is not with the 
plum alone; his peaches are as fine and healthy 
as I ever saw in New Jersey or Delaware. The 
apricots were equally promising; and the necta¬ 
rines, which it is generally deemed impossible to 
perfect in the open air, show as fine an appearance 
as any cultivated under glass. Many of his trees 
had died after being planted several years, and he 
attributes it to their having been inoculated on 
peach stocks. Too much care can not be taken on 
this point. The peach is, comparatively, a short- 
