230 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST!. 
for making a good bed, and every man must 
adapt himself to his circumstances. Suc¬ 
cess can be reached on almost any soil, by 
deep trenching, and manuring. The deeper 
the soil, the better, and it can hardly be made 
too rich. We think our correspondent will 
find it for his advantage to make his soil 
deep and rich before planting, rather than to 
rely upon after culture. As he is near tide¬ 
water, marsh mud composted with stable ma¬ 
nure or guano, will probably be found one of 
the best ameliorators of the soil devoted to 
this crop. An occasional dressing of lime, 
salt, and ashes, will also be economical. We 
have never tested the application of liquid 
manure to this crop, but from its native hab¬ 
its we have little doubt that it would pay 
those who grow it on a large scale to have 
an apparatus like a street-sprinkler in the 
city to water the beds with liquid manure, as 
often as every other day, during the "season 
of cutting the heads. G. W. Johnsonrecom- 
mends a mixture of half an ounce of guano, 
and four ounces of salt to one gallon of wa¬ 
ter, as a liquid manure for asparagus. But 
we should like to see a liquid manure pre¬ 
pared from the stable, the stye, or the privy, 
applied to a square rod of this vegetable, its 
product noted, and compared with another 
square- rod under the ordinary treatment. 
Will not some of our readers among the 
market gardeners try the experiment and 
report the results ? 
For the American Agriculturist. 
FORCING OF ASPARAGUS AND SEAKALE. 
A few lights and a hot bed are the most 
economical means of obtaining these most 
useful vegetables where manure can be ob¬ 
tained ; but where there is an early vinery 
they can be had with much less trouble. 
The hot beds for this purpose should be 
made three feet and a half in height at the 
back, and three feet in front. When they 
have settled, and arrived at a temperature of 
from 60° to 70°, they are ready for use. 
The bed for the asparagus should receive six 
inches of light mould, or decayed tanner’s 
bark, spread evenly over the surface. The 
roots should then be placed as close together 
as possible, all over the bed, and covered 
from six to eight inches deep with light, veg¬ 
etable mould or decayed bark. When the heat 
begins to decline, which may be ascertained 
by thrusting a stick into the middle of the 
bed, a lining of hot manure should be 
placed round the frame, and the sashes may 
be closely covered with straw, to exclude 
frost. They need not be taken off till the 
asparagus is fit to cut. 
The mould for the seakale should be the 
same as for the asparagus, and should be 
placed in the frame in the following man¬ 
ner: Commencing at one end of the frame 
let the mould be a foot in depth and six inch¬ 
es wide ; cut down straight with the spade, 
against which place the roots, about an inch 
apart in the rows, and six inches between 
the rows throughout the length of the bed, 
when they should be covered about an inch 
with mould, and the sashes closely covered 
with straw to exclude all light and frost. 
They should never be taken off, except at 
the time of cutting. The means to restore 
the declining heat may be the same. As for 
the asparagus, a few sashes will in this man¬ 
ner supply a large family with these deli¬ 
cious vegetables, till they can be obtained 
from the open ground. 
W, SUMMERSBEY 
PEACH CULTURE. 
The following article we take from the 
Philadelphia Florist, not to endorse all its 
statements, but because every thing calcu¬ 
lated to give any new light, or call forth dis¬ 
cussion upon the growth and diseases of 
this delicious but fast degenerating fruit, is 
now of especial importance. We invite 
contributions on this subject from experi¬ 
enced cultivators. 
For the last few years the culture of the 
peach has declined. The “yellows,” “blight,” 
peach-worm and curculio have been singu¬ 
larly destructive, and fruit which a few years 
ago could be scarcely given away, now finds 
ready sales at high prices. Old orchards 
are dying out, and comparatively few new 
ones formed to replace them ; confidence in 
their successful culture is yearly growing 
weaker, till in almost every region we travel 
we are told “ peaches will not grow with us 
any more.” 
I am not going to deny that there are no 
difficulties attendant on modern peach-grow¬ 
ing near cities, or even that if there are diffi¬ 
culties, that they are not greater than at¬ 
tended the effort of our forefathers ; but 
merely to point out how they can still be 
grown successfully, either to return a hand¬ 
some profit in a commercial point of view, or 
to yield a crop of the very finest kind of fruit 
for the raiser’s own table. 
The aspect of the site of a peach-orchard 
is one of the first importance. Contrary to 
the general idea in favor of a southern ex¬ 
posure, a north-western or western is pref¬ 
erable. Peach trees on a southern aspect 
seldom bear well over five years, or live over 
ten. On any other, all other things being 
equal, there seems to be, as there probably 
is, no limit to their age. Rarely do we 
meet with a peach tree on a southern slope 
stricken with the “yellows,” while aged, 
healthy trees are invariably found in such 
places in perfection. I have some trees at 
the present moment in my mind’s eye, so 
old that I can find no one to tell me their age 
exactly, which are growing on the north side 
of some high buildings, models of health and 
productiveness. 
Theory confirms this view of the proper 
site for peach trees, as well as observation ; 
not being a native of this country, it is like 
most exotics, not perfectly adapted to our 
climate. The sap vessels of the wood are 
large, and there is a large amount of moisture 
stored up in them, in the winter season. 
Science has shown that when these vessels 
are frozen through, they become particles of 
ice, any sudden thaw is apt to burst the cell 
tissues, if the expansion by the act of freez¬ 
ing alone doec not do so; so that trees in 
situations where they are not liable to be 
suddenly thawed in winter, are more liable 
to escape injury. In the respect of soil, the 
peach is not. so fastidious as it is often sup¬ 
posed to be. Any loose kind of loam will suit 
it. I have seen as fine and productive peach 
trees in “ Pennsylvania clay,” as in “ Jersey 
sand.” In a red clay loam, on a subsoil of 
rotten shaly rock, I have noted splendid 
specimens. In each, it is more easy to point 
out what soils are ill adapted for peach cul¬ 
ture, than what is the best; and the whole 
subject may be summed up in the observa¬ 
tion, that the peach will do well in any soils 
except heavy clays, or soils very retentive 
of moisture. 
Having dismissed the questions of aspect 
and soil, we may talk a little on the prepara¬ 
tion of the ground. If it be of a nature to get 
very dry in summer time, it should be 
trenched eighteen inches in depth, if the 
piece to be planted is small; and subsoil 
plowed, if their culture is to be carried on to 
a large extent. Sandy soils will not require 
this operation, because they retain moisture 
a long time, a few inches below the surface, 
though on the ground such soils soon become 
hot and dry; all strong manures are super¬ 
fluous, if not injurious; wood ashes, and in 
some cases, lime in small quantity, I have 
found beneficial. 
The selection of kinds to plant is difficult, 
if we will have only the lest; if we seek 
merely good standard varieties, it is a very 
simple affair. In the Philadelphia markets 
the Early York, Crawford Early, Crawford 
Late, Morris White, and Morris Red, with 
occasionally, the Heath and George IVth, 
probably comprise three-fourths of all the 
named kinds offered there. If I were to se¬ 
lect twelve varieties for myself, I should take 
for the two best early Crawford’s Early, and 
Druid Hill; next, early George IVth, Haines 
Early, and Morris Red ; next succeeded by 
Morris White and Cooledge’s Favorite; 
Crawford’s Late and Ward’s Late coming in 
after these ; and the admirable Late Heath, 
and the Oldmixon Free winding up the list, 
and the season. This list comprizes well 
known and general favorites. There are 
many other new kinds, and some old, but 
ill-known ones, probably as good as those 
enumerated. The Tyson is a fine large, 
well-flavored variety, ripening about mid-sea¬ 
son. In my observation, it seems but a shy 
bearer, but I have only seen young trees. 
The Eliza is a veryearly, large,yellow peach 
of which I think very highly, though some of 
my friends deem it but second rate in flavor. 
Tippecanoe, and La Grange have high repu¬ 
tations. but of these, I can not speak from my 
own experience. The Shanghai peach, 
lately introduced from China, will, I think, 
prove one of our best late peaches. The 
fruit is very large, flesh melting, and of a 
yellowish white, the habit of the tree is pe¬ 
culiar ; the buds are white, and the leaves 
and shoots very vigorous and strong. But as 
tastes differ as widely as, in many cases the 
varieties of the peach itself, we will pass to 
another bone of contention—the best time to 
plant. So far as my experience goes, peach¬ 
es will do nearly as well planted early in 
spring, as early in the fall—say before the 
15th of November. I prefer to plant them 
as soon as the first autumn frosts have 
scorched the leaves. The only disadvantage 
I have noted as attendant on autumn planting 
peaches is, that the soil becomes packed 
tight around the roots by spring, and the fi¬ 
bers do not seem to push so freely there, as 
they do in soil newly turned up, and well 
filled with air and nutritious gases. On the 
other hand, an early fall planted tree, gener¬ 
ally gets a good root hold before fall, and 
while it suffers less from severe winters, will 
at the same time, often bear some fruit in the 
following season, which a spring planted 
tree rarely does. The advantages and dis¬ 
advantages of spring and fall planting, are 
respectively so evenly balanced, that proba¬ 
bly opinions will never be united in one chan¬ 
nel on the point. Each will do well to con¬ 
sult his own observations and convenience. 
My after management of the peach is a J 
very simple affair. It consists in chief, of 
“ letting them alone.” If they do not seem 
as vigorous as I like them, I prune back, or 
shorten in a little, some of the young shoots ; 
but the maxim is sound, that if you wantzeood, 
prune and “ trim out,” if fruit, cut as little as 
you can. I like the ground around and about 
peach trees to be kept constantly tilled, cul¬ 
tivated and kept clean. I never could con¬ 
vince myself by reason, analogy, or observa¬ 
tion, that peach trees did well with a mass of 
sod around them, and the constant cultiva¬ 
tion of the soil is also advantageous toward 
inducing fruitfulness, by cutting off occasion¬ 
ally some of the smaller roots, thereby 
checking that extreme luxuriousness which 
