AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
83 
Downing's New Gooseberry—Not in 
Market- 
Our notice of this variety, on page 23 
(Jan.) lias called forth a number of inquiries for 
it. We addressed a note to the originator, Chs. 
Downing, Newburgh, N. Y., to which he replies 
that “ ... .The seedling gooseberry has not been 
eropagated at all; all the cuttings have been 
given away to the many nurserymen and ama¬ 
teurs who have applied for them ; so that in time, 
some will be for sale. I have no cuttings left, 
and do not intend to propagate it for sale.—It is 
an improvement on the Houghton’s in size, and 
form of the bush (being more upright and stout;) 
in flower, about the same; color, greenish 
white.” 
Leaf and Blossom Buds. 
Totthe Editor of the American Agriculturist: 
I understand that all peach buds will not answer 
for working upon small trees, as some of them 
bring blossoms only. If such is the case please 
inform me, and give directions so that I will know 
which to cut. I also wish to know how and in 
what month to bud the peach. I intend planting 
an orchard in the Spring, and would like to see 
an article containing the desired information. 
Tippecanoe Co., Ind. G. N. O’Dell. 
REMARKS. 
We introduce the accompanying cut to illustrate 
the different buds referred to by our correspond¬ 
ent. The side buds b b, known 
by their full round appearance 
contain the embryo blossoms, 
and should not be used in 
budding. The proper ones 
to select are the single, point¬ 
ed, leaf or shoot buds, as seen 
it; the upper end of the cut a t 
ip. Sometimes a leaf bud is 
formed by the side of or be¬ 
tween two blossom buds, as 
seen near the bottom of the 
cut, v> being the leaf, and b b 
the blossom or fruit buds- 
They should be discarded in 
working, as the vital fluid 
necessary to nourish the 
bloom, and sometimes form 
fruit even, would be diverted 
from its proper channel, and a 
weak growth would be the 
result. 
More care is required in 
selecting peach buds than cherry, pear or other 
kinds of fruit. Buds are chosen in mid summer 
from the present season’s growth, and excepting in 
the peach, we seldom find fruit buds on these 
shoots. July and August are the proper months 
to bud in. Full directions with illustrations were 
given in our last volume at page 161 (July), and 
other suggestions will be thrown out at the bud¬ 
ding season o, the present year. 
■--• 
Peach Borer Plastered Up. 
We lately neard of a fruit-grower who, after 
cutting out a number of grubs from his peach 
trees, thought he would try the experiment of 
■walling in a few. So he took some pure white 
clay, and plastered up the holes left by the gentle¬ 
men within. The clay soon became dry, the 
wound healed over, and, of course, the borers 
were smothered. 
Taking a hint from this, we, last Summer, cut 
off the retreat of a borer in one of our young 
English elms. He had worked his way into the 
tree, an inch or more, and then ascended, pushing 
behind him, and out of the hole, the debris made 
by his incisors. With a sort of malicious de¬ 
light, we cleared out the mouth of the hole with 
a knife, and then filled it up with a mixture of 
gum-shellac, made of about the consistency of 
thick cream. This dried very soon, and, of course, 
gave the borer an air-tight parlor, which was fatal 
to his health and his future explorations. 
The Orchard—No. III. 
Apples —Continued from page 50. 
For the first half-dozen years, plowing the 
whole ground will not be necessary. A few feet 
each side the tree, say twice the distance that the 
limbs spread from the trunk will be sufficient to 
mellow the earth for the young roots to penetrate 
and to let down the warmth, air, and rains, upon 
them. Beyond the spread of the roots the plow¬ 
ing may be deep, but where they have already 
run it should be shallow, as, otherwise, the roots 
will be cut and injured. We have seen fine 
young orchards almost ruined by deep plowing 
close to the trees. When the trees have grown 
to five or six inches in diameter grasses may be 
permitted occasionally to grow among them, parti¬ 
cularly if pastured by small animals which will not 
injure the bark of the trees; the grass being 
closely cropped will admit the rains to penetrate 
the soil, which crop grasses will not so readily do. 
Hogs, thoroughly rung in the snout, are the best 
graziers in the orchard. They eat the windfalls, 
and of course destroy all the worms in the fruit, 
and so far, prevent the further propagation of such 
insects. Sheep may be allowed, but if the grass 
be cropped too close, they may gnaw the bark of 
the trees, which, should be carefully looked after. 
Cattle and horses are too large to range in the 
orchard, as they browse the limbs, tear off the 
fruit, and bark the trees by their horns, or teeth. 
A rampant young bull of our own once bounded 
through our orchard bars within sight, and before 
we could reach him, he had attacked the body of 
a fine tree, four or five inches in diameter, with 
his horns, and being in the Summer, when the 
bark was “ in the peel," he destroyed it in less 
than a minute’s time. 
Thus it will be seen that a positive, and for 
a term of years, a dead investment of capital, 
according to the extent of the orchard, must be 
made before any compensating returns can be 
expected from it. Yet, when those returns com¬ 
mence, they rapidly increase to cent percent, and 
that almost in perpetuity during the better part of 
a century ; and although the actual returns of 
the orchard have been greatly exaggerated, still, 
in the absence of extraordinary casualties, and 
under favorable circumstances, no agricultural in¬ 
vestment can be more profitable or certain, when 
within the control and supervision of an intelli¬ 
gent proprietor. 
LOCALITY OF THE ORCHARD. 
Where good varieties of apples will not net the 
grower twenty-five cents a bushel at his farm, an 
investment in a large orchard may well be ques¬ 
tioned. And when the soil and position are not 
natural to the growth and annual bearing of the 
trees the orchard is not to be recommended. Situ¬ 
ations liable to late Spring frosts are to be avoid¬ 
ed. We repeat even what we have already said, 
that warm, free soils,‘with natural protection, by¬ 
way of hills or woods, from high sweeping winds, 
are, if possible, to be preferred. Sweet, friable 
soils, natural to while clover, even if stony on 
their surface, are excellent ; but where the water 
stands long after rain or snow, or in places natu¬ 
rally springy, the soil is cold, and adverse to the 
growth of fruit trees. Dry and warm strong clay 
loams are good for many varieties of apples. 
Some soils not naturally warm and dry, may be 
made suitable by under draining ; but as the or¬ 
chard usually occupies only a small portion of 
the farm, lands naturally fitted, are the best for 
the purpose. As the choicest fruits for marketing 
and long keeping, are those which are handpicked . 
they should not be subjected to trundling over 
rough, jolting roads, in transportation. We have 
known the products of large orchards ruined by 
wagoning a dozen miles over bad roads. There¬ 
fore, proximity to a railway, canal, river, or olhe r 
water communication, is a very desirable require 
ment in locating an orchard. 
PROFITS OF ORCHARDING. 
We have been often amused in looking over 
the Reports of Fruit Conventions, and some en¬ 
thusiastic writers in our periodicals, at the ab¬ 
surd statements they make of the profits of fruit¬ 
growing, drawn from the example of a single 
tree, or a half dozen trees, in a fortunate locality, 
and a successful -season. Such statements may 
all be true, as a chance or extraordinary crop ; 
but he who takes such samples for a rule will he 
sorely disappointed. The orchard has to encoun¬ 
ter predatory enemies of more formidable descrip¬ 
tion than any crop-bearing material on the farm. 
These enemies extend, not only through the long 
catalogue of the insect tribes, but they embrace 
numerous birds and beasts. From the' mouse 
and the mole, up to the rabbit, they are subject to 
occasional depredations, to say nothing of the 
sometimes inevitable damages by the larger farm 
stock, and the violations of lawless men. Ad¬ 
verse seasons, and the elements, may affect them 
ruinously, and against all, or some of them, it is, 
at times, scarcely within the vigilance or inge¬ 
nuity of man to guard. Then most kinds of ap¬ 
ples give but a full crop once in two years. Some 
varieties are so well balanced in their bearing 
that they give a moderate crop annually ; bu 
they are the exceptions, not the rule. True, at 
orchard may be so constituted, that it will give a 
fair crop every year, but not from the same trees. 
Trees of the same variety, in the same year, 
will not bear equally alike; they may alternate 
each with the other. Date Spring frosts may cut 
off the crop of some, while it may be spared in 
others, and thus accident will change their years 
of bearing. In looking over the proceedings of 
our pomological conventions, it must be borne in 
mind that they are composed principally of nur¬ 
serymen who raise trees to sell; and although we 
regard them as a useful, intelligent, and upright 
class of men—as much so as those of any other 
profession—we must bear in mind, that they are 
there in the promotion of their own interests, as 
well as that of the public, and their statements ol 
individual things are to be taken with some al¬ 
lowance, when applied at large. 
To conclude : The following items may be 
adopted at the outset, by all who are about to 
enter on the plantation of orchards. 
1st. A dedication of the land appropriated to that 
purpose, and to nothing else, so far as profitable 
crops are concerned. 
2 d. An annual outlay of labor and manure, with¬ 
out much return, as the case may be, in the cul¬ 
tivation and growth of the trees, Until they arrive 
at a bearing condition. 
3d. An investment of the necessary capital to 
get the trees, the preparation of the ground, and 
planting them ; from all of which no return of 
V b 
A\ 
