30ft 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[October, 
Tlie ground having been staked out in the usual 
manner, the board is placed with the center 
opening over a stake. Now insert two small 
pins in the ground, through the openings in the 
end, and lift the board, leaving the pins in the 
earth. Next dig the hole, and when completed, 
replace the board over the end pins. The open¬ 
ing in the center shows the exact place tlie stake 
occupied, and the trunk of the tree being intro¬ 
duced through the side opening, will be held 
in the same place, while the hole is being filled, 
thus greatly facilitating the work. 
In planting fruit trees near the house, avoid 
setting them near fences. Besides the tempta¬ 
tion offered to climbers,-and passers on the high¬ 
way, much fruit will be lost by falling and be¬ 
ing bruised upon the fence. Let such places be 
occupied by tall-growing deciduous shade trees, 
as the maple and elm. Evergreens may come 
next, then the fruits near the house, where they 
may be seen to best advantage by the occupants. 
Pears in the Northwest. 
Mr. C. D. Bragdon gives in the Rural New- 
Yorker, a lengthy pear talk from the or¬ 
chard of R. Douglass, who has 1000 to 1400 
trees, half of them in bearing, at Waukegan, 
Ill., on the shores of lake Michigan, 40 miles 
north of Chicago. By the way, this is in what 
is being designated as the “North-Western 
Fruit Belt,” embracing northern Ohio and Indi¬ 
ana, southern Michigan and Illinois. Wes¬ 
tern New-York might also be included, and, in 
fact, the whole of the country bordering upon 
the great lakes, and lying between 41° and 43°, 
which takes in the southern peninsula of Cana¬ 
da West. The great pear-growing region of 
Boston and vicinity, on the Atlantic coast, is in 
the same latitude. 
Returning to Northern Illinois, we find Wau¬ 
kegan bidding fair to rival Boston in pear cul¬ 
ture. The soil varies from a stiff clay to a deep 
sandy gravel. Mr. D. speaks at length upon 
the different varieties, from which we extract 
the following: Louise Bonne de Jersey —nothing 
equal to it on the quince, upon which I would 
grow it altogether; bears heavily every year, 
and still grows well; have 30 to 40 trees in every 
variety of soil and situation. I would rather 
grow the Bartlett on pear than on quince, is not 
very hardy, but when headed low, it endures hard 
winters here very well. It brings the highest 
price in market, and is a pear everybody should 
grow, but will not thrive in very exposed situa¬ 
tions. A dwarf Bartlett, ten years from the 
bud, was loaded down with fruit. Vicar of 
Winlcjield succeeds poorly as standard or dwarf.- 
It does not fruit, neither does the Duchesse d'An- 
gouleme. The Buffum is a fair pear, a good grow¬ 
er, and productive, but does not come into bear¬ 
ing very young. Belle de Bruxelles, is a great 
bearer, fruit large and handsome, but worthless. 
Rostiezer is a good summer pear, and a fair bear¬ 
er. Belle Lucrative is a good bearer on both 
pear and quince, and the trees are hardy. I 
think a great deal of the Canandaigua, on ac¬ 
count of its upright growth and fine foliage. 
Onondaga, or Swan's Orange, docs not prove 
quite first rate, but is a good bearer and hardy; 
it succeeds on both pear and quince, though 
liable to overbear on the latter. Seckel killed 
some during the hard winter, but will probably 
be a good tree here on both stocks. It is full of 
fruit. Glout Morceau is a good winter pear on 
quince ; it comes late into bearing, but yields 
well; is hardy, and sells well, ripening in Jan¬ 
uary and February. Beurre Biel is an uncertain 
bearer, not to be depended upon. Doyenne d'Ete 
is a good summer pear, very productive, and a 
regular bearer. Tyson, good on pear and quince, 
is rather late in coming into bearing, but prom¬ 
ises well. I can not do the Flemish Beauty jus¬ 
tice ; “ it bears early and often, and all the time” 
as a standard. There are hundreds of bushels 
growing about here. Every tree is loaded, and 
this variety is considered the standard pear for 
the West—hardy and always productive. The 
Flemish Beauty on pear, and Louise Bonne on 
quince, may be emphatically recommended, and 
a bushel of either sort can be raised as soon, as 
easily, and as surely, as a bushel of apples, any¬ 
where that apples will grow. This has been 
demonstrated in a hundred localities, and can be 
relied on. Such is the experience of Mr. Doug¬ 
lass at the West. In regard to the sureness of 
the pear crop, Mr. Wm. S. Carpenter, a success¬ 
ful pear grower of Westchester Co., N. Y., who 
chanced to hear us read the proof of the above, 
remarked that he would rather raise a bushel of 
pears than apples, considering them a more cer¬ 
tain as well as a more profitable fruit. 
Pruning Trees at time of Transplanting. 
Here is a mooted point, with something to be 
said on both sides. Certain theorists declare 
that a tree should not be pruned at the time of 
transplanting, because it needs the branches to 
elaborate material for new roots. The roots are 
weakened just in proportion as the top-is di¬ 
minished. Leave on the tops, it is said, until 
the roots are partly restored, then (say, the year 
after removal,) give the top a moderate pruning. 
That a tree closely pruned looks bad, no one will 
deny. On the other hand, it is replied, every 
newly dug tree has many of its roots cut off or 
mangled, and we must diminish the top in order 
to maintain the balance of parts: otherwise, the 
superabundant branches will pump the feeble 
roots dry. With care a tree may be transplant¬ 
ed, without pruning; but experience shows that 
one suitably shortened-in will recover from the 
shock of removal, and make a more vigorous 
growth in three years than one not pruned. If 
small trees are taken up with care, and immedi¬ 
ately set out in the same garden, they may re¬ 
quire little or no shortening-in. This is often 
done by nurserymen. But trees taken up in 
haste, and in the rough, bungling way often 
practised, and then exposed to sun and wind, 
one, two, or more days, can hardly be expected 
to live without vigorous pruning. Better prune 
at this time, and seldom use the knife afterward. 
Upright Trees. 
When crooked, lop-sided, leaning trees are 
seen in a wild forest, we call them picturesque, 
and let it go. But -when we see them in a neigh¬ 
bor’s orchard, (or our own), or by the roadside, 
or in a lawn, we say somebody is to blame, for 
generally it comes from sheer neglect. As to 
leaning trees, the history is something like this: 
when first transplanted from the nursery or the 
woods, they are straight and tall. They are set 
out in exposed places, and not being staked and 
tiedbup, they soon get out of the perpendicular. 
This is not to- be wondered at, considering the 
smallness of the roots, and the softness of the 
soil. It is a very easy matter to prevent this. 
Let every newly planted tree be staked and tied 
up, using broad and soft bands to prevent chaf¬ 
ing the bark. Or, in the lack of stakes and 
bands, use heaps of stones laid over the roots on 
the windy side, which will ballast them. In case 
a tree gets thrown over, it can be righted up by 
loosening the earth about the roots, and then 
drawing it up and fastening it to a stout stake. 
If it has stood leaning for several years, it may 
be necessary to vise an ax on one or two obsti¬ 
nate roots. But by all means get every tree up 
Straight and then keep it up. 
A Talk on House Plants. 
None can deny the pleasantness of house- 
plants in Winter. When the hills are clad 
with snow, and the cold winds howl about our 
windows, it is not the least promoter and token 
of comfort and home content, to see a fine 
stand of plants, blooming and green. They 
need not be of rare and costly varieties; the 
number need not be large; only let there be a 
collection suited to the circumstances of the 
household, let them be well kept, and the sight 
will please every eye. We have often noticed 
how even a single plant in a window redeemed 
the room from barrenness, gave it an air of com¬ 
fort and refinement, and prepared us to think 
well of the occupants. It diffused a certain air 
of culture and taste through the apartment, a 
something purer and higher than could come 
from the most splendid display of rosewood and 
gilding. Yet it appears that of late years there 
are fewer good collections of house-plants than 
formerly. Why so? Because our modern 
houses are made so tight as to exclude nearly 
all fresh air; because we heat many of them with 
coal-stoves or furnaces, and light them with gas. 
Here, then, comes up the practical question 
of how to grow house-plants successfully? 
1. A first requisite is a suitable degree of 
moisturre. Who does not see, every year, fine 
plants at the kitchen window, and poor ones in 
the parlor ? And this, because the evaporation 
of water from the cooking-stove or range, sup¬ 
plies the air with an abundance of moisture. 
Some plan, therefore, should be contrived for 
generating a healthy degree of moisture in our 
parlors and living-rooms. It is not impossible 
to do this. A house warmed by a furnace, 
should have a broad pan of water in the hot-air 
chamber, or an evaporator at the register of the 
room containing the plants. Pans of water 
may also be placed on the plant-stand, whose 
slow evaporation will be of some account. 
Rooms heated by coal or wood stoves, should 
have some vessel of water on them continually 
evaporating at least a quart or two of water daily. 
Here is another method: nail a cleat on the 
outer edge of the plant-table, or the edges of the 
shelves, raised an inch or two higher than the 
surface of the table or shelf. Set on the pots in 
their saucers, then fill up the spaces between 
with moss, or sand covered with moss. The 
appearance of the moss will be ornamental. 
Moisten this moss and sand thoroughly, morn¬ 
ing and evening, and this will diffuse a constant 
moisture among the leaves. The roots must, of 
course, be watered. No universal rule can be 
given for this, some plants needing much, and 
others only a little water. Those at rest require 
only just enough to keep them from wilting. 
Those in active growth and bloom need much 
more. For the majority of such plants, the sim¬ 
ple demand is that the whole body of the earth 
be kept moist, not wet. See that the pots are 
well drained; then water may be poured in 
freely, and with little risk of harm. To find out 
when a plant needs watering, examine the soil 
with a sharp stick, or better still, by rapping 
the sides of the pot. If it gives out a hollow 
sound, the plant needs more water. Then give 
