HORTICULTURAL DEPARTMENT. 
255 
worm is dead, you are certain that his ravages 
are ended, and these insects, like some other 
things in the world, have various ways to cir¬ 
cumvent the ingenuity of traps and boluses. 
CRANBERRIES. 
The cultivation of this valuable fruit has been 
recommended on uplands; but we do not be¬ 
lieve in it. The cranberry is a water plant, and 
so long as there are such large tracts of natural 
cranberry land, which can be profitably devot¬ 
ed to no more productive purpose, we believe it 
better that they should retain their own primi¬ 
tive soils. In marshy lands, flowed more or 
less by fresh water, in a loose soil, they thrive 
wonderfully; and as they are a fruit always 
saleable in their season, and largely consumed 
where they can be obtained, they will continue 
an object worthy the attention of those who have 
the proper soil for them. 
One, two and even three hundred dollars have 
been obtained from the produce of a single acre 
in one year! But they require care, as does 
everything worthy of cultivation. Yet, so mis¬ 
taken have been the notions of some over-nice 
people, that they have, at great expense, drained 
a cranberry marsh, which, under proper care 
and husbandry for cranberry culture alone, 
would have yielded a net annual income of $200 
or $300 value per acre; yet, when drained and 
put under cultivation for ordinary farm crops, 
would yield scarcely half that income, so little 
did they consider the value of wild fruit. 
For particulars of cranberry cultivation we 
refer to several articles’ in our past volumes. 
KEEP YOUR FRUIT TREES STRAIGHT. 
Trees in an open exposure often acquire a 
leaning position from the prevailing winds. 
This should not be suffered beyond a certain 
stage of the tree. When as large as one’s wrist, 
they should be set up erect, and, indeed, thrown 
into the wind at an angle of ten or fifteen de¬ 
grees, in order to bring them ultimately into a 
straight position. This is best done by obtain¬ 
ing crotched limbs from the woods, eight to 
twelve feet long, and placing the butt end, which 
should be sharpened, on the ground, and the 
crotch end either against the trunk immediately, 
beneath the branching point, or against a large 
outer limb, if more convenient, securing it from 
chafing in the crotch, by a padding of straw, or 
litter, and setting the tree at once up to the de¬ 
sired angle of elevation. Loosen, also, the 
ground on the windward side of the root so that 
it will not bind, and the work is accomplished. 
Let this be done when the tree begins to make 
its summer growth, or soon after leafing out. 
One season, if the tree is thrifty, will be all that 
is required. If, however, ^t be obstinate, repeat 
the trial another year. The remedy is sure. 
Even large trees, which have acquired a perma¬ 
nent lean, may be thrown into an erect posture, 
by loosening the earth at the root, and occa¬ 
sionally cutting off an obstinate large root, with¬ 
out injury to its growth, and thus be made 
sightly. An erect tree will be longer lived, and 
more fruitful than a leaning one, and not half 
so subject to casualty as if left to its own guid¬ 
ance. 
THE BLACKBERRY CULTURE. 
Of all the berries which our land produces, 
none, in their season, excel the high blackberry 
of the northern states. Growing wild in our 
mountain passes and glens, among bush pas¬ 
tures, or by the highways, or along the fences, 
they produce abundantly without care or culti¬ 
vation, and in certain portions of the country, 
they are, perhaps, the most profitable object to 
which the land they occupy can be devoted 
when a ready market exists for them. Thou¬ 
sands of bushels are annually brought into New 
York, where they find a rapid sale and con¬ 
sumption with all classes of our people. 
But we believe they can be produced in 
greater abundance and of better size and qual¬ 
ity by cultivation, and to a good profit also. In 
the neighborhood of Boston, they are so pro¬ 
duced, and of a size and flavor surprising to 
those who have only tasted the wild blackberry 
of the hedge rows and pastures. 
Their cultivation is extremely simple: Take 
good land—old pastures are perhaps the best—- 
plow it deeply and well, drag it thoroughly, 
trace out deep furrows six feet apart, and plant 
in autumn—October or November—four feet 
apart in the rows, the young sprouts which grow 
wild in the open grounds. Cultivate them as 
you would corn, keeping the rows clean of 
weeds, and topping the bushes in spring, as you 
would raspberries. The production of berries 
will be enormous, large, and delicious in flavor, 
and sell for double the price of the wild. Tr)^ 
it, and see whether the blackberry thus culti¬ 
vated will not pay. 
Asparagus. —As asparagus is esteemed one of 
the greatest delicacies which the garden affords, 
no person fond of it should be unacquainted 
with the method of producing it, if practicable, 
in every month of the year. 
