AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
339 
For the American Agriculturist. 
One Season why Apples fall before Eipe. 
During the month of June a small brown moth, 
called the codling moth, lays its eggs upon the 
blossom end of the young fruit. From these eggs, 
a minute worm is hatched, which immediately 
burrows into the substance of the apple, and 
makes its way to the core. This causes the fruit 
to ripen before its time, and it is easily shaken 
from the tree by the wind, when only half or two- 
thirds grown, and worth little or nothing. When 
fully grown, the worm leaves the apple, and 
creeps into a chink of the bark of the tree, or 
other secure place, spins his cocoon, and waits 
till the season for coming forth arrives. In some 
instances this takes place the same season, and 
thus Autumn fruit is frequently much injured by 
the second crop of worms. By keeping the loose 
rough bark scraped from the trees, they are less 
liable to be infested, as they afford less shelter for 
the worm. The worm-eaten fruit should be 
gathered and fed, or otherwise disposed of to de¬ 
stroy the worms. Orchardist. 
“ ' ' 4 1 pBWwf 1 ■ ■ ■ 
What Variety of Apple Seeds to Plant. 
To the inquiries of Mr. Jno. Strong, Huron 
Co., O., we answer: If it is intended to raise 
seedling trees to obtain new varieties of apples, 
it is advisable to procure seeds of the best known 
varieties of fruit, as these will be more likely to 
yield superior kinds. Where the object is to 
raise stocks for grafting with improved fruit, it is 
better to sow seed from natural fruit. The stocks 
will be more likely to grow up hardy and vigorous. 
■-->-<&*-- 
How we got our first Crop of Plums. 
It was upon a loose gravel, where that slippery 
rascal, the curculio, revels, sweeping every 
thing before him, as clean as the locusts of Egypt. 
The varieties were Green Gage, and Imperial 
Gage, young vigorous trees, hut old enough to 
have borne fruit three years ago. They had 
blossomed and set fruit, several years, but not a 
specimen had escaped the fatal incision of the 
little Turk. 
Last Spring, we determined upon a vigorous 
warfare with the enemy, resolved, that if he got 
the fruit, this year, he should earn it. We pro¬ 
cured a barrel of air-slaked lime, and as soon as 
the blossoms began to fall, and the fruit was 
fairly set, began to shower the tree with the 
powdered lime dust every morning, while the 
dew was on. This we followed up for three 
weeks, until all danger was past. The plums set 
well, grew well, and the most of them matured 
in tip-top condition, large greenish yellow, juicy 
fruit—where never a plum grew before. 
We have pretty much made up our minds that 
many men are too slothful to grow this very fine 
fruit. It requires a little attention every day, 
early in the morning, before a good many people 
are astir. The essential thing is, we apprehend, 
to follow up the enemy with sharp practice, and, 
we think, almost any remedy that involves this 
disturbing of the trees, every day, will succeed. 
The instinct of the curculio leads her to seek a 
quiet place to deposit her eggs. This is seen in 
the fact that she drops upon the sheet as soon as 
the plurn tree is jarred, or disturbed, in any way. 
The sprinkling of lime, or ashes, or dry dirt, 
upon the trees, alarms the insect, and leads her 
to seek some more quiet place, for her deposit. 
The application of whale-oil soap, or the salt and 
lime mixture, or sulphur water, accomplishes, in 
part, the same purpose. It may be that these ap¬ 
plications, both dry and wet, have something of¬ 
fensive in them, which hastens her departure, 
but, we think, the main thing in all curculio rem¬ 
edies, is the disturbing of the trees, and making 
the quarters of the enemy too hot for him. 
At any rate, the lime did the work for our little 
torments, and we bagged the plums with as much 
satisfaction as if they had been nuggets of gold. 
Nobody but smart people can expect to eat plums 
raised on a sandy or gravelly soil. Get a barrel 
of lime, this Fall, take out one head, and let it 
stand in any dry place, until next Spring, and it 
will be ready for use. * 
- - 4 m a <©-51 5>—<3t»- 
Eoot Structure—A Hew Discovery in 
England, an old one Here. 
To the Editor of the American Agriculturist • 
I have just read the article in your October 
number entitled : “ Root-Structure—Physiologi¬ 
cal Curiosity being an abstract of an article in 
the (London) Gardener's Chronicle, about some 
new discoveries of Prof. Henfrey in England, 
concerning the formation and growth of the root. 
Now the greatest physiological curiosity about 
the matter, as it appears to me, is, that what has 
been (or ought to have been) familiarly known in 
this country for the last ten years, should be her¬ 
alded in England at this late day as an important 
“ discovery." I send you an extract from a pret¬ 
ty well-known school-book, from an edition pub¬ 
lished in the year 1850, which your readers may 
compare with the article in question : 
“ It (the growth of the root) begins by the production 
of a quantity of new cells (by division) at the extremity 
of the radicle ; not on its surface , however, but beneath its 
thin epidermis and the superficial cells.. . .In this way the 
root grows onward by continual additions of new materi¬ 
al to its advancing extremity ; lengthening from the lower 
end entirely or chiefly, so that this part of a growing root 
always consists of the most newly-formed and vitally ac¬ 
tive tissue. The new cells , however , do not occupy the very 
point, as is commonly, but incorrectly, stated. This is 
capped, as it were, by an obtusely conical mass of older cells, 
consisting of the superficial tissue of the end of the radi¬ 
cle, pushed forward by the cell-multiplication that com¬ 
menced behind it, as already mentioned. As the original 
cells of this apex wear away or perish, they are replaced 
by tile layer beneath ; and so the advancing point of the 
root consists, as inspection plainly shows, of older and dens¬ 
er tissue than that behind it. The point of every branch of 
the root is capped in the same way. It follows that the so- 
called spongiolcs or spongelets of the roots have no ex¬ 
istence. Not only are there no such special organs as 
are commonly spoken of, but absorption evidently does 
not take place, to any considerable extent, through the 
older tissue of the point itself.”— Gray's Botanical Text 
Book, 3d edition, 1850, p. 81. 
As a following number of the Gardener's Chron¬ 
icle goes on to speak of the root-hairs or fibrils, 
and their use in absorption by the roots, as an¬ 
other important novelty, just brought to notice by 
Prof. Henfrey, and by Messrs. Garreau and Brau- 
wers,—it may be well to continue the quotation 
from the Botanical Text Book, which proceeds 
thus (omitting the references to the original fig¬ 
ures which illustrate the subject): 
“ As to absorption by roots, the inspection of the root of 
a germinating plantlet, or of any growing rootlet, even 
under a low magnifying power, shows that they must im¬ 
bibe the moisture that bathes them by endosmosis through 
the whole recently-formed surface, and especially by the 
hair-like prolongations of the exterior layer of cells, or fi¬ 
brils, as they may be termed, which are copiously borne by 
all young roots. These capillary tubes, of great tenuity 
and with extremely delicate walls, immensely increase 
the surface which the rootlet exposes, and play a more 
important part in absorption than is generally supposed ; 
for they appear to have attracted little attention.” p. 82. 
___ ^_ G. 
Blackberries from Seed. 
To several queries called out by the offer of 
seed in the October Agriculturist, we reply : The 
seed, sown in Spring, will send up oniy small 
plants the first year. On these there may he a 
few chance berries the next season. The Spring 
after planting a number of pretty strong canes 
will be sent up, if the soil be of good quality, and 
these will yield a fair crop of fruit the next Sum¬ 
mer, besides an abundance of plants for fruiting 
the following season. Plants put out in Autumn 
should yield a fair growth of canes the next sea¬ 
son for fruiting the following year. Plants set in 
Spring will not produce so large a growth of 
canes, usually, as if set in Autumn, so as to be 
ready to grow on the first opening of the ground. 
By setting the roots instead of planting seed, 
there is a gain of one year in obtaining fruit, and 
usually of two years in getting a large yield. So 
it is always preferable to secure the roots when 
possible. Our design in offering seed is only to 
put it in the power of those who can not get the 
roots, to secure plants by waiting a year or two 
longer. We desire to have every reader of the 
Agriculturist supplied, as early as possible, with 
the luxury of a home supply of the magnificent 
New-Ilochelle Blackberries. 
Fall Work in the Kitchen Garden. 
I. Cleaning up. —Potato tops, beet and carrot 
tops, bean, melon, cucumber, and squash vines, 
and in short, all rubbish of this sort should he 
gathered up neatly and thrown into one corner, 
for use in the compost-heap, or for protecting ten¬ 
der plants. Pea-brush, bean-poles, frames for to¬ 
mato vines, boxes for melons, and all such per¬ 
ishable materials should be well housed before 
Winter. They will then last several years. Nor 
will it be waste time or labor, to give the whole 
surface of the garden a good hoeing, to extirpate 
the weeds which have sprung up in beds and al¬ 
leys, during the fall rains. 
II. Protecting.— Every good garden has some 
plants which need this care ; for instance, sev¬ 
eral of the best, kinds of strawberries, raspberries 
blackberries and grapes. Over the first, spread an 
inch or tw r o of manure, or leaves, or tan-baik. 
This will prevent the heaving out of the roots 
and the blasting of the fruit-buds. Such rasp¬ 
berries as the Red Antwerp and the Brinckle’s 
Orange should be bent to the ground and pinned 
down with stakes; then lay over them a little 
rubbish (mentioned above,) and throw over this a 
few inches of dirt. The New-Rochelle blackberry 
is benefited by the same treatment north of lat. 
42°. These fruits may sometimes go through 
the winter unprotected without injury, but, to 
make sure of a crop every year, they should be 
slightly protected. Most of the better sorts of 
grapes now planted are hardy, yet it is best, some¬ 
time in this month, to untie them from the trellis, 
and lay them carefully on the ground, and throw 
over a little litter or dirt. Even if the danger of 
loss is not very great, one feels better during the 
vicissitudes of winter, to know that his choice 
vines are snugly sheltered ; and when in Spring 
one lifts up his canes and ties them to the trellis, 
lie feels quite sure that they will yield him a 
bountiful crop. And when he gathers the beauth 
ful clusters, he feels repaid for his labor a thousand 
fold. 
III. Ridging up the Ground. —For light.sandy 
soils, this is not necessary, but for all soils it is very 
useful. Dig the trenches two feet deep, throwing 
up some of the subsoil to the action of the frost. 
This will pulverize it, and prepare it for growing 
plants. Ridging up also exposes the seeds and 
roots of many weeds to the frost, and upsets 
many growing families of noxious insects. It 
serves, too, to drain a garden ; when Spring opens, 
the ground dries off much sooner than it would 
if it had lain a dead level, and is ready much ear¬ 
lier for receiving the first crops. 
