AMERICAN AGRICCfl /TURIST. 
BLACKBERRIES. 
Letter from Dr. Sloms, of Cincinnati—The New 
Roohelle or Lawton Blackberry at the West — Na¬ 
tive Varieties. 
To the Editor of the American Agriculturist. 
As the object of your publication is the collec¬ 
tion and collation of such facts as may prove in¬ 
teresting and instructive to the agriculturist, horti¬ 
culturist, pomologist, &c., I venture a few obser¬ 
vations suggested by your article in the September 
number, under the heading “ New Roehelle or Law- 
ton Blackberry." From the exhibitions in our Horti¬ 
cultural Society, this season, members generally 
came to the conclusion that the New Rochelle or 
Lawton Blackberry was an over-rated fruit. Form¬ 
er descriptions were of a very visionary order, 
however, and hence the reality scarcely meets 
with exact justice. The largest contributor of 
this berry upon our horticultural tables, was Mr. 
William E. Mears, of Anderson Township, whose 
plants, I believe, were secured from Dr. Grant. 
That they were genuine, I have no doubt, as the 
berries correspond with your drawing, and the 
shoots with your comments. At each and every 
time Mr. Mears exhibited the New Rochelle or 
Lawton, larger fruit by one fourth, equally deli¬ 
cious, rich and juicy, was exhibited by other 
members from their own fields, growing wild. 
In short, besides being larger they were 
equal 'In every respect of quality. I have also 
visited the grounds of Mr. Mears, and find that 
his plants come up to your description in every 
position stated ; the new shoots being from eight 
to ten feet high, and an inch in diameter at the 
base. Half a mile from the Nursery of Mr. Mearsi 
in an old woods pasture, is quite a large planta¬ 
tion of wild blackberries ; and upon examination 
of these, I found two or three different varieties, 
all fine, but one variety truly magnificent, much 
larger and equally prolific with the Lawton. 
There is no possibility of a doubt, that if a selec¬ 
tion of those I saw wmre marked, taken up at the 
proper season and transplanted, properly treated 
and cultivated, but they could he made to entirely 
outstrip the New Rochelle or Lawton. Depend 
upon it, the rage to send east for the latter, since 
the exhibitions of the past season, has very much 
subsided, and properly too I think. That you are 
perfectly honest in your descriptions of their ex¬ 
cellence, I make no question ; but if none of your 
wild fruit comes up to the New Roohelle or Law- 
ton, in every aspect and particular, then we can 
beat you out West—that’s all. 
Wm. Stoms. 
Cincinnati, Sept. 1st, 1857. 
Remarks. —We have not seen the wild black¬ 
berries referred to by Dr. Stoms, but we have no- 
tioed the native varieties growing in very many 
Western localities, and none of them we have 
seen deserve even mention in comparison with 
the New Rochelle. Mr. Mears’ plants may not 
produce so well as the same variety hereabouts, 
but this we must say, that if there are wild black¬ 
berries growing in tho vicinity of Cincinnati 
wliieh excel, or even equal the New Rochelle 
(Lawton,) the enterprising members of the Horti¬ 
cultural Society, at that place, have been remiss 
ia duty in not bringing them prominently before 
the community, and taking measures to have 
them propagated and disseminated. We hope 
they will look after the matter at once. We shall 
be exceedingly glad to get a few plants of any¬ 
thing better than the New Rochelle.— Ed. 
RASPBERRIES 
Should be planted this month unless defeired 
until Spring. Enough has already been said, in 
this volume, on the value of this fruit, both for 
home use and for market. Now is the time to 
hunt up a supply of the Allen, Red Antwerp, 
Fastolff, Brinckle’s, Orange, 
Franconia, &c. 
DIGGING 
HOLES 
FOR, AND 
SETTING OUT 
TREES. 
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To the 
Editor of American Agriculturist. 
In a former number of the Agriculturist , I ob¬ 
serve a communication on this subject, and wish 
to add my Western experience in planting trees. 
In the Spring of 1846, I planted an orchard of 
eighty apple trees on the side of a ridge mode¬ 
rately sloping to the south-east, with a rich but 
rather shallow surface soil, and a stiff clay sub¬ 
soil. It had been cleared of its natural growth of 
hazel, wild plum, crab apple, thorns, &c., and cul¬ 
tivated in corn one year. The holes were dug 
from four to five feet in diameter, and about two 
feet deep. Half of this depth was a tough red 
clay, which had to be removed with a mattock, 
forming a retentive basin to hold water, as was 
proven by a heavy rain before the trees wero 
planted. This could only be removed by bailing 
out. The trees were carefully planted, the holes 
filled with the best of the soil, to whioh was 
added for each tree, two wheelbarrow loads of a 
compost prepared by mixing lime, ashes, stable 
manure, dead animals and coarse bones, with a 
little earth, all well pulverised, except the bones, 
and well mixed. None of the compost, however, 
was put in contaot with the roots. Much care 
was used in planting, and the roots given a natural 
position in the earth. The ground was cultivated, 
in corn for the first five or six years, with a good 
dressing of manure at the last planting ; then 
sown to wheat, and stocked down with clover 
and a small portion of Timothy. 
And lol for these many years have I sought 
fruit on my trees, and with one exception found 
very little, and that of an inferior quality com¬ 
pared with similar varieties in ordinary cases. 
I have cared much for the trees, pruning and 
whitewashing them, washing their trunks with 
soap, and sprinkling their heads with the same 
by means of a garden syringe, to expel insects, 
&c., and have digged about them and dunged 
them, and with all my oare, they have been dying 
at the rate of two to six a year. 
The trees were small when planted, and were 
set about the same depth as in the nursery. It 
was a difficult matter to keep them straight, even 
by tying to a stake, and they have acquired a 
leaning position some degrees to the north-east, 
thereby exposing the south-west side of the 
trunks to the direct rays of the sun, and when the 
mercury has gone as high as 104° in the shade, 
the bark has been killed on the sunny side of 
nearly every tree. The borers have also got into 
them, and they a 1 1 show signs of decay, and ap¬ 
pear destined to destruction, in spite of all my 
labors, and I have concluded to let them go, and 
plant an orchard in a new place. 
I propose to plant on a deeper soil, nearly 
level, though a little inclined to the north-east, 
as I understand, in the form of an equilateral tri¬ 
angle, or, perhaps, more properly a hexagon, with 
a tree in the centre, as seen in the accompanying 
figure—all the trees being equi-distant. 
More trees can he set upon the same ground at 
a given distance apart, in this manner, than in 
any otheT, and I think it rather ornamental I 
intend to plant in the Fall, and shall dig the holes 
no deeper than the ground can be uniformly 
loosened with a subsoil plow, and even then, I 
shall be a little cautious about throwing out too 
much of the subsoil. I design training them with 
low heads, and shall cultivate the ground with 
corn or vines for a few years, and then stock 
down with clean clover, which, as a general rule, 
I would leave to rot upon ihe ground. 
If I have formed erroneous ideas, or if any 
one’s experience or theory differs from mine in 
regard to the best method of planting trees on 
grounds w ith a tenacious clay subsoil, in a prairie 
region'where the winds have great power, I hope 
it may be given through the columns of the Agri¬ 
culturist. J. F. Hunt. 
Warren, Lee Go., Iowa. 
Remarks.— We commend the care exercised 
by our correspondent in planting his fruit orchard, 
and have no doubt but he will ultimately succeed 
We are of the opinion, however, that he will 
find it to pay to prepare for thorough drainage in 
his second orchard. Trees will certainly do far 
the best, if set where they have a very deep bed 
of good soil. If to be planted on a hard-pan, it 
will he most economical to run a deep drain be¬ 
tween each two rows, or, if the soil be very wet, 
there might he a drain under each row. If this is 
not practicable, then cut a few main drains, and 
run shorter ones from each tree. If neither of 
these modes can be adopted, then plow the 
ground into high ridge-lands, with deep, dead fur¬ 
rows, and plant the trees upon the summits of the 
ridges ; and let the after-tillage be such that the 
high ridges and deep dead-furrows shall remain 
permanent. By two, three, or four plowings, each 
time making the centres of the lands in the same 
place, the ground can be so ridged as to give a 
difference of two to three feet between the level 
of the top of the ridges and tho bottom of the 
dead furrows. Then set the trees upon the cen¬ 
tre of the ridges, preparing deep, wide holes, 
filled with rich surface soil, for the roots. 
Many years since, we planted an orchard in a 
locality where south-west winds prevailed. We 
set all the trees leaning to the south-west, say 
three and a half to five inches from a perpen¬ 
dicular at the bight of three feet from the 
ground. The amount of inclination depended 
upon the location of the different trees, and the 
protection afforded by fences, groves, &c. By 
the time the trees had become thoroughly estab¬ 
lished, and firmly rooted, they stood very neatly 
erect, though, as intended, those most exposed 
still leaned a little, against the future effects of 
the wind.— Ed. _ 
THE MESQUITE TREE. 
-4>- 
The Secretary of the California State 
Agricultural Society, writing fromLos Angel¬ 
es, says: 
‘ We here saw a Mesquite tree, about nine feet 
high and ten across. It is a beautiful tree, pro¬ 
ducing a plentiful supply of beans, which, among 
the inhabitants of Mexico, are used for fatting 
