1866 .] AMEKIGAN AG-RICULTURIST. 
Field Work .—The farmer should begin each, 
day with a clear notion of about what, and how 
much each man and team will do if it remains clear, 
or if rain comes. He must be his own judge 
of when rain is severe enough to stop work, and 
when men and teams will receive no harm. In 
Mauling out manure, it is best to spread and 
plow it under immediately, though a day or two of 
fair weather will noi injure it. Eain, however, 
washes it, and the crop will show where the heaps 
stood. There is danger, too, that rain may render 
the soil for several days unfit for 
Flowing, which should only be done when the 
ground will crumble, and after the water is so much 
out of it that the furrow slices will not dry and 
bake into hard clods. In breaking up grass land 
turn an absolutely flat furrow. Increase the depth 
of the soil just as fast as it is safe to do so when 
plowing for all hoed crops, and on dry or well 
drained land, the subsoil plow will be found to pay 
well. Get in 
Spring grain of all kinds as early as the ground 
can be well worked. See several items on this 
subject in the present number, and that for March. 
Flax should be sowed in very well-prepared soil, 
as soon as it is thoroughly warm. Our readers who 
are interested in the culture of 
I Onions, or of Flax, Mbps or Tobacco, can not do 
I better than to consult the pamphlets on these 
i crops, which we publish. We have received the 
thanks of hundreds for having furnished so much 
! information in so convenient and cheap a form. 
■ See Book list on another page. 
Carrots and Parsnips may be sown as soon as the 
ground is thoroughly worked and warm. Barel}' 
cover the seed and they will come up much sooner 
than otherwise, and are then out of danger. So 
far as our experience goes, mild frosts no not hurt 
parsnips ; they germinate very slowly, and so if wet 
weather comes, (and such is almost sure to come 
in May,) the seed rots. We prefer sowing quite 
. early if the land is dry and warm. Put carrots on 
lighter soil than parsnips, if you can choose, and 
for both crops work the land deeply and thor¬ 
oughly, and manure it well. 
Potatoes .—Plow deep. Manure with a good com¬ 
post, and with leached ashes in the drill, or use any 
manure not in a condition of rottenness. Plant 
early and 4 or 5 inches deep, using large seed cut 
in quarters. Plant no small potatoes of any kind, 
1 but if you wish to make the seed go as far as pos¬ 
sible, cut to single eyes, plant not quite so deep, 
; and give better care. 
: PasiMj'es.—Keep every hoof, large or small, off 
I them ; pick off the stones, cut the brush,clear up the 
; fence rows, reset the fences if necessary, and sow 
i grass seed, ashes and plaster on thin spots. Treat 
' in the same way the 
Mowbig lands, conducting upon them the road 
‘ wash. Apply any saline manure at hand, as ashes, 
plaster, sulphate of ammonia, crude saltpetre, gu¬ 
ano, either in fine composts or sowed on, or if 
soluble, by the liquid manure distributor. 
Oa’claard aaad. WHS’sery. 
Trees will have a hard time of it this mouth. 
: Kudely taken out of the ground, carelessly handled 
in transportation, dried up by being long in 
transit, stuck into the holes with ouly enough care 
to keep them right end up, and then left to begin 
life auew, their treatment is often such as to excite 
pity in those who care for living things. Trees 
have life, and a great deal of it, or they would never 
survive much of t he rough usage tliey get. If they 
[ only had consciousness, with what grim satisfaction 
i might they in after years listen to the grumbling at 
their unfruitfulness. Nurserymen have blame 
I enough that they deserve, but all trouble with trees 
is not chargeable to them. They must do all the 
I mischief that the tree can get at their hands in a 
‘ very short time, while the isurchaser can spoil the 
tree at his leisure. When trees are received from 
the nursery, if not ready to proceed immediately to 
planting, open a trench in a convenient place, un¬ 
pack the t-i'ees and heel them in, covering the I'oots 
well with moist earth. If, as sometimes happens, 
the tops are dry and the bark shriveled, bury tbe 
whole tree for several days. In planting, have the 
holes large enough, trim all mutilated roots with a 
cut sloping from below up, and shorten the branch¬ 
es as directed last month. Fill in with good sur¬ 
face earth, but do not put manure around the roots. 
We have been looking over the letters relating to 
orchards, that have lately accumulated, and find 
many complaints which may all be summed up in 
What ails my apple trees?" As far as we can 
judge from the description of the diseases, we 
should say, wet feet aud starvation—one or both. 
There are but few of these unfruitful orchards, 
or those in which lack of size aud fairness in the 
fruit is complained of, that would not be greatly 
helped by draining or manuring, or both. Put 
down large tile or other drains between the rows ; 
and this may be done without difficulty in orchards 
where the trees are large. Give a good dressing of 
composted manure and plow it in, aud if the trees 
are not veiy large, some hoed crop, such as beans, 
may be planted, not for the crop, but just as an in¬ 
ducement to use the hoe. Lime often has a strik¬ 
ingly beneficial effect on au exhausted orchard. 
A very old andY>eglected orchard, unless the 
trees seem to have -Tigood deal of promise in them, 
will not pay for much trouble and expense. It 
is better to set out a new orchard in a good place. 
Grafting is oftener done too early than too Late, 
aud much of the lack of success is due to setting 
the cions long before growth begins, and thus ex¬ 
posing them to the drying influence of the winds. 
Cions put in just as the buds on the stock are 
ready to burst, are more likely to take than those 
worked in March. In late grafting, more care is 
required, as then the bark parts readily from the 
wood, aud bad wounds may be made in carelessly 
sawing the limbs. The stock should be more ad¬ 
vanced in growth than the cion, though some claim 
equal success with cions cut at the time of insert¬ 
ing them. Any one who cau whittle, can graft, and 
every farmer’s boy should know how to do both. 
The operation was fully described and figured iu 
March, 1864, ,and we have not space to repeat. 
Those who wish to raise their own 
Stocks for budding or grafting, should get the 
seeds in early. The pits of peaches and other stone 
fruits that have been kept buried during winter, 
start very early in spring; and if they are found to 
h.ave germinated, will require careful handling. It 
is the practice with some to allow the seeds to 
germinate, and then to pinch off the j’oung root 
before planting, with a view to forming a more 
branching root. Apple aud pear seeds need to be 
sown in a finely worked soil, enriched with well- 
rotted manure, ashes and lime, ^ 
Quinces are most welcome as a fruit, but they are 
seldom much thought of or cared for as a tree. 
The trees have a slow growth when young, but, 
when they come into fruit, are profitable. The 
young tree should be trained to a stake until it gets 
strong, and pruned so as to form a regular head, at 
about four feet from the ground. They may be 
grown as pyramids, with fruit branches near the 
base, but tbe leader must be kept tied up to a 
stake. Tlie Orange or Apple variet}' is the one 
most cultivated. Ilea’s seedling is highly spoken 
of, but it seems to be scarce. We are sometimes 
asked why we say no more about 
Plums .—If oue will give the time to fight the 
curculio and black knot, he may be tolerably sure 
of success, but ■without this, all planting of plum 
trees is useless. A selection of varieties was given 
iu the February Agriculturist, page 63. 
Peaches succeed best iu billy districts, and upon 
land not before occupied by a peach orchard. Land, 
suitable for a good grain crop, will do for peaches. 
Eighteen to twenty feet is tlie usual distance. The 
orchard Is cultivated to potatoes or buckwheat be¬ 
tween the rows. On a subsequent page a novel 
method is given for treating a peach orchard. 
Another plan recommended for their treatment is, 
to cut the young trees back at planting to 18 inches, 
and thHS induce them to grow in a bush form, The 
varieties mostly grown for the Eastern markets, 
are: Troth’s Early,'Honest John, Crawford’s 
Early, and Old Mixon. Hale’s Early receives com¬ 
mendation everywhere, as the earliest good peach. 
Crawford’s Late, Smock, Heath, Ward’s Late, Mor¬ 
ris White, and other late sorts are grown. 
Frtsit Gariieii. 
The suggestions given last month as to prepara¬ 
tion of the soil and planting, will for the most part 
be appropriate now. Many of the hints given un¬ 
der Orchard and Nursery, are equally applicable to 
the Fruit Garden. Planting of all kinds should be 
done as early as the ground can be worked, or the 
plants procured. 
Dwarf Trees are the only ones admissible in the 
fruit garden, and these c.an be kept as small and 
compact as is desired, by root pruning, or if space 
will allow, they may develop into medium sized 
trees. One great trouble, especially upon pears, is 
Imsects on the Bark—The. scale and woolly Aphis 
if not checked in time, will often completely cover 
the bark. The first is a little brown scale, shaped 
somewhat like a miniature ov'ster shell, and the 
other is a little louse, with a copious covering of 
Tivhite 'wool which makes him quite conspicuous. 
Soft soap, made sufficiently thin, and applied all 
over tbe limbs with a stiff brush, rubbing moder¬ 
ately hard the while, will usually do for them. A 
friend of ours is using petroleum for this purpose, 
but we await the results before recommending it. 
We have an article elsewhere on cultivating the 
Fig .—A few trees are ■ivorth growing as curiosi¬ 
ties, if liothing more. In a sheltered situation with 
proper care, they will usually bear fruit. 
Almonds are also interesting, and it is well to 
have a tree for the novelty of the thing. They will 
flourish -wherever the peach will. Nothing makes 
a finer show than a 
Quince Tree, laden with its golden fruit, and it is 
also handsome when in flower. See hints for train¬ 
ing, under Orchard and Nurser}'. 
The Currant is, so to speak, one of the most flex¬ 
ible of fruits. Neglect will bring small fruit from 
large varieties, aud pruning aud manuring will in¬ 
duce tbe small sorts to swell to a i-espectable size 
with gratitude for the attention. The moral of 
which is, manure the currant bushes. 
Gooseberries should not be overlooked. The 
Houghton and American Seedling are better than 
no gooseberries. We do not see why Downing’s 
Seedling is so generally overlooked. It is a much 
better fruit tlian either of the others. Why don’t 
some oue get up a gooseberry as hardy as the 
Houghton and as good as the Whitesmith ? 
Easpberries and Blackberries have their cultiva¬ 
tion sufficiently treated of on page 145, and with 
other things have quite cro'wded out our notes on 
Grapes .—Varieties have been so fully discussed 
during tbe past year, that but little can be said 
about them until the growing season. Of course 
many thousands of vines will be planted, many 
without proper care will fail, aud the nurseiymen, 
the variety, or the season, will be blamed. Unless 
tbe soil is naturally drained, drain it. Work the 
soil w'ell to tbe depth of 18 or 20 inches. Use no 
other than vegetable manure at planting. Make 
the hole large, put in fine surface soil so as to form 
a flat mound. Set a stake 6 or 8 feet high, place the 
vine beside it, and spread its roots evenly in all di¬ 
rections. The point from which the roots start, 
should be about 4 inches below the surface. Cover 
the roots carefully with fine soil, fill up the hole, 
aud press the earth moderately with the foot. 
Allow but one cane to grow the first year, and that 
should be from the strongest shoot that pushes. 
Any vines remaining covered, should be lifted, and 
tied to the trellis. 
Strawberries, as soon as winter is well over, are to 
be uncovered, parting the straw so as to expose the 
plants, but leave the ground covered. New beds 
are to be planted as early as possible. For the gar¬ 
den, beds 4 feet -wide, with 2 feet walks between 
them, answ'er the best, Set the plants in three 
