AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
79 
CULTIVATION OF THE PEACH-NO. II, 
To the Editor of the American Agriculturist. 
I now propose to consider the raising of young 
trees, with some remarks on budding, after cul¬ 
ture, &c. The only method used for propagating 
the peach is from the seed or pits, and in no 
branch of Horticulture can I conceive it of great¬ 
er importance to secure good seed than that of the 
peach. I would as soon have the Canada thistle 
sown with grass seed, or the wild onion with 
wheat, as I would plant and grow diseased peach 
pits, if 1 knew it. There is scarcely any part of 
the country where budded trees are planted which 
lo exempt from the yellows. No cure has yet 
been found fcr this disease, except instant and 
entire eradication by removal and burning, which 
I must urge as of vital importance. 
It is the planting and rearing of young trees 
from citv-picked pits, and other domestic sources, 
that is sowing the mischief broadcast all over the 
land; and until we have more honest or more in¬ 
telligent cultivators, we may expect plenty of the 
disease called yellow’s. 
Now, without desiring in the least to impeach 
any respectable person in the Nursery business, I 
speak of a fact when I say that I knew a man to 
distribute throughout the country, some 12,000 
peach trees, raised, as he himself assured me, 
from domestic pits, the bestof which are of doubt¬ 
ful quality. 
MODE OF PLANTING 
Assuming that good seed has been obtained, it 
is customary to provide a bed of clean sand in 
some out-of-the-way corner of the farm or garden, 
where it may remain for years. On a layer of 
sand four inches deep, a layer of pits is spread 
{in the Fall) two inehes thick, which are covered 
with two inches of sand. In the Spring, perhaps 
two-thirds of them will have sprouted, and should 
be carefully removed to the nursery, and planted 
in rows four feet apart and six to eight inches in the 
row. The ground should be wholly occupied by 
the trees, instead of having here and there vacant 
spots planted with vegetables. A healthy, well- 
developed, growing plant, needs sun and air as 
well as simple ground-room. Of course clean 
culture is not only desirable, but understood to be 
absolutely necessary. Thrifty, healthy and vig¬ 
orous trees being the object, frequent stirring of 
the ground, careful weeding, plucking up the un¬ 
derlings , SfC., is essential. 
In August and September, these young plants 
require budding, which should be done with judg¬ 
ment and care, or the labor is lost and the trees 
are materially injured. As I consider this matter 
of vital importance, I propose to dwell on it suffi¬ 
ciently long to be clearly understood. Let us sup¬ 
pose that 200,000 peach trees are annually sold 
from New-Jersey. This immense distribution, 
therefore, ought not to be intrusted to ignorant 
and unskillful cultivators. I will first show the 
difficulties, then point out the remedy. The most 
formidable enemy to the success of the peach is 
the disease called Yellows, which I shall simply 
define as a premature and incurable decay, the 
leaf assuming in its last stages a sickly yellowish 
cast; hence its name. Now I hold that this dis¬ 
ease is extensively propagated by budding, just as 
sure and certain as that any virus is infused into 
the human system on the point of a knife. It is, 
therefore, of incalculable importance that the 
budding should be intrusted only to skillful and 
intelligent hands,—those familiar with the vari¬ 
ous phases assumed by this disease,—who would 
in time work this wide-spread disease out of ex¬ 
istence. With the utmost vigilance, some plants 
may turn out diseased, or yellow. An early and 
total eradication has already been proposed. 
Morristown, N. J. Wm. Day. 
POOR SOIL RENOVATED. 
DETAILS OE A LADY’s EXPERIENCE. 
To the Editor of the American Agriculturist: 
I noticed in the February number of your paper 
(which has been a valuable auxiliary to me for 
the past year), that you will publish articles from 
ladies that demonstrate improvements whereby 
home is made happier. I will give you a little of 
my own experience, wherein that point has been 
achieved. 
The Spring of 1855 found the grounds around 
my home a barren, unsightly waste, not a shrub, 
plant or flower, was to be seen. I planted out 
shrubs, and put seeds into the ground, which I 
found to be a stiff clay with no good soil upon the 
surface. The shrubs, by frequent watering and 
the aid of the ordinary barn-yard manure, sus¬ 
tained only a breath of vegetable life during the 
Summer. The seeds germinated, peeped out to 
the light, and then withere'd away. I was quite 
discouraged, on being told by my husband that 
nothing would grow here, as this ground was 
scraped from the hill above it, and that the sur¬ 
face soil was buried five or six feet deep under 
this cold, hard clay, which had scarcely the first 
principle of vegetable life in it. I was truly in a 
dilemma, as I could not think of living without 
flowers and pleasant grounds around my home. 
I cast about to see where I could obtain the requi¬ 
site information to make this ground productive, 
and soon resolved to take your paper, from which 
I received many valuable suggestions. I wish 
every one in like situation with myself would 
read the March, April and May numbers (1856) 
of the Agriculturist; they would find them valua¬ 
ble and instructive.* I will, in a fe*v words, give 
you my mode of making soil on this barren spot. 
I had the grounds laid out in pear and oval-shaped 
beds, a portion of this clay scooped out, and then 
broken up to the depth of one foot, the exact 
shape of the beds. These I filled with a mixture 
of equal parts of saw-dust and wood ashes (un¬ 
leached), and a small portion of sand with a top¬ 
dressing of surface soil two inches deep. On 
the beds I planted the choicest kinds of perpetual 
and other flowers, thirty varieties in all; most 
of them were prolific in blossoms. Many other rare 
exotics bloomed equally well. I used a small 
quantity of fertilizer from the pig-sty, in the holes 
where I planted the bushes and shrubs. On the 
beds for my annuals, I omitted this, and used only 
a top-dressing of black mold from the woods, one 
inch deep. These grounds, that were so arid and 
desolate the year before, last year were indeed a 
wilderness of flowers, enjoyed and appreciated by 
the many who yearly gather here. The pinks, 
verbenas, balsams and asters elicited much admi¬ 
ration. Many gentlemen of wealth and taste, who 
had for years prided themselves upon the growth 
ard beauty of their blooms, and had left nothing 
untried (guano, &c.) to increase their richness in 
color, eagerly asked me what foreign substance I 
used to produce so fine flowers. Common as it 
might appear, I could only answer, they all grew 
from the mixture before mentioned. One lady told 
me she counted seventy-nine varieties in blossom 
at the same time. Many of the seeds were gath¬ 
ered by patients and visitors, and will, I trust, 
make other rural homes attractive, which other¬ 
wise might be without the balmy influence of 
flowers. H. D. L. H. 
New-Gr^efenberg Water-Cure, ) 
February 21, 1857. 5 
* These numbers are out of print, and cannot be ob¬ 
tained.— Ed. 
The art of conversation is to enable others to 
talk and show their gifts. 
A CHEAP AND SUCCESS FUL FLOW Eli PIT 
To the Editor of the American Agriculturist: 
The following description may be useful to oth¬ 
ers : A pit was dug twelve feet long, six feet wide, 
and six feet deep. The digging occupied one man 
nearly three days. Locust posts were driven at 
each corner, and two others on one side for the 
door, and a lining of spruce boards an inch thick 
nailed on the inside of the posts, leaving a space 
of three to four inches between the boards and 
the earth. This space was closely packed with 
coal dust, fine ashes, and other similar materials 
at hand. The bottom was paved with rough 
stones. The posts were kept firmly in their places 
by a brace at each end. A common frame-work 
was then put on, with three sashes ; a door fitted 
closely. The steps were outside of the door and 
enclosed with a trap door. The sashes sloped 
about one foot. Wooden shutters were put on in 
severe weather, and covered with a layer of salt 
hay. The ground around was neatly sodded, and 
the frame-work painted, making a very good ap¬ 
pearance. The carpenter’s bill, including outside 
shutters, was $58, making the entire cost some¬ 
what less than $65. It held about 125 medium¬ 
sized pots ; and every plant kept in it the past 
Winter is untouched by frost. It was tightly 
closed when the severe weather came on, and not 
opened until the mild,days in February. 
Westchester County, N. Y. 
POT ATO^BKE AD. 
A lady correspondent at the West, whom 
we recognized as a good writer in days of 
yore, when we were schoolmates together, 
sends us the directions below. We are 
partial to well-made “ potato bread.” It 
may not be generally known that the starch 
in potatoes is a healthful and admirable sub¬ 
stitute for “ hog’s fat” in making bread ten¬ 
der or “ short,” as well as sweet. We sup¬ 
pose it breaks up and overcomes the tough¬ 
ness of the gluten, abundant in all flour, and 
especially in that grown at the South.—E d. 
On the afternoon preceding baking day, pre¬ 
pare the yeast as for any bread—hop yeast, or 
brewer’s emptyings With the supper fire, boil 
some cleanly washed, unpeeled potatoes, say 
twelve medium-sized potatoes, for two common 
loaves. One advantage heie, is, that “ small po¬ 
tatoes” can be used. When done, pour off the 
water; peel and mash them well ; stir in from a 
pint to a quart of flour, according to their moist¬ 
ure, and let it scald ten minutes. Then add suffi 
cient cold water to make the mixture milk-warm. 
Add the prepared yeast, and let stand in a warm 
place over night. A common tin pail answers well 
for the mixture. In the morning, strain the whole 
through a coarse sieve or cullender into the flour. 
Stir into stiff sponge or batter, and let it rise ; 
then mix into dough, adding a teaspoonful of sale- 
ratus, and as much salt. Leave it in one loaf to 
rise again, keeping it in a warm place. When 
light, mold into loaves, and put it in pans for 
baking. Now, if not made too hard, it only needs 
to stand fifteen minutes or half an hour, be¬ 
fore it is ready for the oven. Bake n'cely, and you 
have a loaf worthy of “A Baker.” 
A SIMPLE FRUIT CAKE. 
To the Editor of the American Agriculturist. 
In common with many of your readers, I like 
to receive and give any useful hints upon house¬ 
hold affairs, and I send you the following recipe, 
which I think a very good one, especially when, 
as now, butter and eggs are very high : 
One pound of flour ; one pound of sugar ; two 
ounces of butter ; half a pint of sour milk ; one 
teaspoonful of saleratus, or soda ; a little salt; 
spice and fruit to suit your taste. Mix and bake 
in the usual manner. Rachel Lamson. 
North Brookfield, Mass., Feb. 11,1857 
