MOORE’S RURAL NEW-YORKER: AN AGRICULTURAL AND FAMILY NEWSPAPER. 
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“SHORTENING-IN ” PEACH TREES. 
All writers on the subject agree that “ the 
Peach of all other trees, is one that from its 
mode of growth and bearing, requires constant 
pruning to maintain it in a shapely, thrifty and 
productive state.” This is explained by the J 
author of the “ Fruit Garden ” as follows:—j 
The sap of the peach tree tends powerfully to 
the extremities of the shoots, more so than in 
any other fruit tree. The buds that do not 
push and form shoots the first season after 
their formation, are lost; they cannot, as in 
most other trees, be excited into growth; and 
hence it is that the lower parts become so 
rapidly denuded of young wood, and that trees 
left to themselves for six or seven years are in 
a measure worn out or worthless. 
It is a fact that must always be kept in view 
by cultivators of the peach, that “ the fruit 
is borne only on wood of the preceding year; 
and consequently one of the great objects of 
pruning is to keep all parts of the tree furnish¬ 
ed with a regular and constant succession of 1 
annual bearing shoots.” 
The shortening-in mode of pruning has been | 
found most successful in accomplishing this, j 
It consists in yearly cutting back the extremi-1 
ties, so as to counteract the spread of the limbs, ! 
and induce more frequent branches. In a 
young tree, for instance, the growth of a year J 
consists of shoots all over the top or outside of j 
the tree, from a foot to two feet long. In a 
bearing tree there will be one or two wood , 
buds at the base, and two or three more near j 
the top and terminating the shoot. The re- i 
mainder—a dozen or more in number—will be 
fruit buds, and if untouched, will probably ; 
bear, destroying the wood buds at the base and ; 
pushing out at the extremity, new shoots, but : 
weak in consequence of the quantity of fruit 
below them. At the end of the season, the 
shoot of last year will show a long, vacant j 
space, without a young shoot or living bud, 
and in this way the centre of the tree soon 
contains only bare limbs, and the vigor of the j 
tree is wasted by over production. 
When the shoots are shortened one-half, or j 
thereabouts, the sap is retained in their lower I 
parts, one half the fruit buds are removed, and 
those that remain produce larger and better 
fruit; the lower wood buds produce vigorous 
shoots to bear next year, taking the place of: 
those which have already borne. In this way, j 
regular, uniform crops of large and line fruit 
are produced, and a succession of young shoots ; 
kept up. “ If this pruning,” says Tiiomap, “ is 
regularly and annually performed, the head of 
the tree will be preserved in an even and com-1 
pact shape, and iu a healthy and vigorous 
condition; and it will rarely become necessary 
to shorten and thin out the limbs by cutting , 
back the larger side branches.” 
° . i 
This mode of pruning is most expeditiously j 
and neatly performed by a pair of light hand- 
pruning shears, cutting every shoot separately j 
and discriminately. Indeed this must needs 
be so attended to, for it will not answer to clip , 
the trees as one would a hedge — the circum- j 
stances of growth, situation and number of j 
buds must be considered, to perform it proper- i 
]y. If ihe top is sheared evenly all over, it 
tends to produce a thick, impenetrable mass 
of shoots on the outside, shutting out the light 
from the centre, and increasing instead of di¬ 
minishing the evil. 
Something may be done for large, neglected j 
trees, by an intelligent operator. They will | 
have a head composed of long, branchless j 
limbs, and consequently an open centre. The , 
fruit will be produced on the ends of the limbs,: 
aud the tree become tall and enfeebled from I 
over bearing and a constant succession of ter-1 
minal shoots. The proper shorteniug-in is j 
performed by cutting back the principal limbs j 
three or four feet— taking care to do so just; 
above a considerable side branch, which leaves , 
no stump, aud causes the wood soon to heal ! 
over. Such pruning will, in a year or two, 
convert the unshapely and unproductive tree 
into a compact and vigorous one, improving 
the fruit exceedingly. The tree will throw 
out a new head of healthy bearing wood, and i 
trees “ given up by the doctors ” as superannu- j 
ated and worn out, have thus regained their; 
youth again, — good at least for half a dozen i 
years’ fresh service. Some cultivators operate I 
on only one side of a tree in a year. This! 
does not prevent the bearing of the other side, j 
and next year the side first cut will be roadv i 
for fruiting. Early in spring, is the proper 
time for this, as well as most other pruning.—is. j 
House Plants which have done blooming, ! 
should be removed to a cellar or other cool 
place. Plants which have been kept in cel- j 
lars, should now be watered more freely than j 
in the winter, and have more air admitted j 
during warm days. 
Huiiamel asserts that fruit grown on stand- 
ard trees, is far superior, in all cases, to the I 
same variety of fruit raised on espaliers or j 
walls, or in any other way. 
in damp pine saw-dust in a warm cellar, and (M 
though apparently in perfect order, they became m 
worthless. CM 
CULTIVATION OF ANNUALS. 
One of the strongest evidences of the in¬ 
crease of true refinement amongst the rural 
population, is the increased attention paid to 
the cultivation of flowers. We rejoice to note 
this, not merely because it indicates a higher 
intellectuality, an elevated and refined feeling, 
and a love for the serene beauty of nature.— 
but because, while it refines, soothes, and ele¬ 
vates the mind and the affections, it strength¬ 
ens the body, gives col or to the cheek and lustre 
to the eye, and infuses new life and vigor 
through the whole frame. English ladies set 
us a good example in this respect Nothing 
is more common than to see ladies of the high¬ 
est rank, education and fortune, with sun-bon¬ 
net and gloves, busily engaged with spade, hoe, 
rake, wheel-barrow and watering can, in culti¬ 
vating their flower-beds. Such exercise affords j 
the highest pleasure and the most delightful ! 
recreation, and gives new zest to intellectual j 
pursuits or domestic labors. 
Nor is this love of flowers confined to the I 
rich and the educated. The poor, illiterate ; 
peasant wife must have her flower garden, which I 
though it contains fewer new and rare varie¬ 
ties than the Squire’s lady’s parterre, is, never¬ 
theless, a source of great pleasure, whiling 
away many hours which would otherwise be 
spent in vain broodings over property and 
humbleness of birth. It is principally owing 
to this love of flowers, this floral adornment 
encircling the cot of the laboring poor, which 
makes the hardy, stalwart, though ill-paid 
British peasant so loth to leave the old ham¬ 
let of his father’s, even for the higher remune¬ 
ration and brighter physical and intellectual 
prospects of the loudly lauded New World.— 
Many of our fair trans-Atlantic friends, when 
bidding a long adieu to the scenes of their 
youth, have sighed with old mother Eve when 
quitting Paradise. 
* * * * “O flowers! 
That never will in other climate grow, 
My early visitation, and my hist 
At even, which I bred up witii tender hand 
From the first opening bud, and gave you names. 
Who now shall rear you to the sun, or rank 
Your tribes and water from the ambrosial fount?” 
Were more attention paid to beautifying 
country residences, by cultivating flowers and 
flowering shrubs, there would be less desire 
among farmers’ sons and daughters for the 
crowded, exciting, wearying life of the city. 
Now is the time to turn a little attention to 
this subject. Of course every intelligent farmer 
has a vegetable garden; he should also have a 
flower garden, for the especial benefit of his 
wife and daughters. Much may be done in a 
single season by sowing Annuals. To encour¬ 
age this as much as possible, we intend giving 
engravings and descriptions of a few of the 
choicest and best at present known. 
“The Balsam, or Lady's Slipper,” says the 
Horticulturist, “is a native of the East Indies, 
China and Japan. It has succulent stems, and 
beautiful, showy flowers. The plant should 
branch down to the ground, the flowers com- i 
pletcly encircling the stem on all sides.” Fre- j 
quent transplanting is the best means to ob¬ 
tain these bushy plants and flowers in perfec¬ 
tion. To obtain fine Balsams, the seed should 
be sown about the first of April, in a hot-bed 
of moderate heat, or in a cold frame. Or, if 
these are not at command, sow them in a warm 
border as soon as the soil becomes dry and in 
good condition to work. From this border 
they should be transplanted, allowing each 
plant at least 18 inches square. 
China Asters wore first sent from China to 
Paris in 1736. They were single, and of two 
colors only, red and white. The Germans 
have taken great pains to improve these flowers, 
and the better sorts are called German Asters. 
Their cultivation is similar to the Balsam 
The Portulacca is a succulent, spreading 
plant, that loves the hottest and dryest weather. 
There are four varieties—the scarlet, crimson, 
yellow and white. The Horticulturist says, 
“We know ©f few more beautiful objects in 
the floral world than a bed of the Portulacca.” 
It is somewhat difficult to save the seed; but 
when you once get a bed of them in a garden, 
you will generally have plants enough from 
self-seeding. Sow as early as the soil will ad¬ 
mit. 
The points to be attended to in sowing An¬ 
nuals, are,—the preparation of the soil, which 
should be dry aud rich, and be deeply and 
thoroughly pulverized. The seeds should not 
be covered too deeply. Many err on this 
point. An eighth of an inch j is quite deep 
enough. The seeds are generally small, and 
there is danger of sowing them much too 
thick, unless you intend to transplant, which, in 
fact, with most Annuals we would recommend 
you to do. 
CUTTING SCIONS. 
After a tree becomes dormant and the leaf 
falls in October, scions may be cut at any time 
before the buds again start, which here for 
seeded fruits is about the last of March or in 
April. In fact there is no difference in time, so 
far as relates to the value of the scions—the 
only trouble is to keep them. This may be 
done for six months or six years, and have 
them perfect. Scions cut in the fall may be 
buried in any dry soil in the orchard or garden 
until wanted for use. When one is collecting 
them during the winter, the best way is to se¬ 
lect some place where snow will not be affected 
by thaw, and bury them in snow as received, 
taking them out where the snow begins to 
melt in the spring, and transferring them to the 
ice-house or cellar. 
When one cuts scions on his own premises 
for use or distribution, the best time here is 
generally the last of March or early in April, 
as they are then as dormant as in the winter, 
and take less time and trouble to keep them. 
Keeping Scions. —The only secret is to keep 
them cool and damp; not wet. The best 
course I have ever tried is to lay them on 
a brick floor in a cool cellar, and cover with 
thick, damp sacking—if the sacking becomes 
dry, sprinkle it. In this manner they are kept 
in perfect order from March until June, and 
easily taken as wanted. Many plans are 
recommended, some troublesome, and others 
unsafe. I once had more than 5,000 packed 
Transportation of Scions. —When sent in \ 
such quantities as to send by express, the win- J 
ter is the best time—but if sent in the spring, i 
they can easily be sent 1,000 miles or more by | 
being packed in clamp moss, which is well un¬ 
derstood by those who sell scions, so that any 
one wanting can order with the assurance of 
receiving in perfect condition. Amateurs who 
wish sorts, can, at the present low postage, get 
them by mail. Get a piece of oiled silk, which 
yon can do at any dry-goods store—enclose it 
with two or three stamps to your correspond¬ 
ent, with directions to wrap the scions in the 
silk; in this way they may be received from 
any part of the United States. 
Dry Scions. —Scions that have become dry, 
(not injured by water,) may be buried in ordi¬ 
nary garden soil one or two weeks, and become 
perfect—which if inserted without may be 
worthless. This is also the true mode of treat¬ 
ing young trees from dry transportation.— 
Bury the whole tree one or two weeks before 
planting, and a healthy, vigorous growth is 
obtained, instead of a sickly and slow one.—C. 
Goodrich, in JY. E. Farmer. 
Planting Apple Orchards. —In answer to 
an inquiry respecting the proper distance apart 
to set out apple-trees, the Horticulturist says: 
“ For a permanent arrangement, forty feet 
will not be too much in rich, deep soil, where 
the apple-tree is likely to attain its greatest di¬ 
mensions. In light soils, thirty feet will be 
sufficient. An economical arrangement is to 
place the trees twenty feet apart, and after 
they have borne a number of years, and begin 
to encroach upon each other, remove half of 
them. In this way you obtain the greatest 
1 advantage from the ground occupied and the 
| labor expended upon it. The preparation of 
! the ground costs as much for fifty trees as for 
| a hundred, and the first cost of the tree is a 
J small consideration.” 
Pruning Apple Trees. —In the climate of 
all northern New York, from the 15th of May 
to the 10th of June, is the season for all gen¬ 
eral pruning. The sap at this season has ceas¬ 
ed its rapid flow, so as to prevent bleeding; 
it is the season of growth, so that wounds soon 
heal, and the surface wherel arge branches are 
cut soon dries, so that no disease is caused by 
it. If large branches are cut off in the winter, 
a poisonous sap runs out, which by passing 
down the bark, blackens and deadens it. This 
every careful observer will discover. By prun¬ 
ing in the winter north of latitude forty-three 
degrees, disease i3 pretty sure to follow; but in 
a warmer climate the same results do not fol¬ 
low this practice.— Elihu Cross, in Country 
Gent. 
Amnestic Ccmum 
To Remove Stains of any kind, from your 
Hands. —Take, a small piece of pumice-stone, 
the size to suit your convenience, grind it so as 
to make it smooth on all sides, and rub the 
hands wherever they are stained, just as you 
would use a cake of soap, in water. Rub 
hard, and it will remove all stains in a few mo¬ 
ments. Where stains are connected with 
grease, use soap with the stone. Soft water is 
the best at all times. Keep this stone in your 
wash-room, where it will be the most conven¬ 
ient: it will last a whole family an age. Try it, 
ladies.—H., LeRoy, March, 1854. 
Dr. Negler, a French physician, says, that 
the simple elevation of the arm will stop bleed¬ 
ing at the nose. He explains the fact physi¬ 
cally, and declares it to be a positive remedy. 
Try* it 
Kentucky Cake. —One tea-cup ,of butter, 
two of sugar, four of flour, and one of milk, five 
eggs, two tea-spoonfuls of cream of tartar, and 
one of soda. 
Election Cake. —Four pounds of flour, two 
of sugar, two butter, and four ejrgs. Spice and 
fruit to your liking. 
To Bake Meat. —In baking meat see that 
the oven is of right heat, so as to bake quickly 
without scorching. Rub salt, and if desired, 
sage or other herbs upon the meat, and put it 
in the dripping pan, with water in the bottom, 
so as to absorb the juices of the meat which 
would otherwise be dried aud burned upon 
the dish. Beef should be cooked “ rare,” other 
meats thoroughly. When the meat is taken 
up for the table, set the dripping pan on the 
fire, remove the extra fat, add more water and 
make gravy as for fried meat 
Cure foe Corns. —A correspondent writes 
that a pint of alcohol poured in his boots 
caused all his corns and calluses to peel off, 
leaving his skin smooth and soft If this be 
so, alcohol in the boots must have an effect 
contrary to the usual one, for we have known 
many individuals to get tremendously corned 
on much less than a pint of alcohol, largely di¬ 
luted with Croton. 
Ants. —The best method we know of to rid 
trees of these insects is to trap them with some 
bottles of some sweet liquid hung among the 
branches. In the ground, turpentine may be 
poured on their nests. 
Dysentery. —The best remedy is parched 
rice — burned like coffee. After it is well 
browned; cook it by boiling in the usual way, 
and let the patient eat of it. 
Polishing Plows. —It is sometimes desira¬ 
ble to remove the rust from mould boards, &c. 
This may be easily done by moistening the sur¬ 
face with a little dilute muriatic acid. Sul¬ 
phuric acid is frequently recommended for this 
purpose, but it not only dissolves the rust, 
(oxide of iron) but also the iron, and should 
not, therefore, be employed, unless the plow is 
run through the soil immediately after its ap¬ 
plication. The same remarks apply, not only 
to plows, but to all iron implements, tools, &c. 
DOW TO MEND A CHAIN-PUMP. 
Chain pumps are very much in use at pres¬ 
ent. They are very good pumps, especially in 
wells that are not protected much from the 
frost, as they seldom get frozen so as to pre¬ 
vent their operating, unless the water in the 
well itself freezes. Sometimes, however, the 
chain breaks or parts, and then it has been 
thought necessary to take up the whole pump 
in order to mend and replace it. A friend 
told us the other day, a method which he has 
adopted in such cases with perfect success.— 
The chain with its plugs, you know, is an end¬ 
less one, going over a pulley at the top, down 
outside the pump into the water in the well; 
then over a pulley under the water at the low¬ 
er end of the pump tube, thence up the tube. 
Now if the chain parts, it is difficult getting 
one end over the lower pulley and up to the 
other side unless you take up the pump to do it. 
Take a strong string of sufficient length to 
reach from the bottom of the lower pulley to 
the surface of the water in the well:—tie a 
cork to one end of it and tie the other end to 
the chain. Then winding the string round the 
cork, put it into the tube, and let the chain 
follow it down. As soon as it gets down un¬ 
der the pulley, the cork will rise to the top of 
the water in the well, from which it may be 
hooked up. The chain will be hauled up with 
the string, and the two ends may then be 
fastened together in the usual way.— Maine 
Farmer. 
Important if True. —A Paris correspondent 
of the Times mentions the following remarka¬ 
ble discovery: 
A very remarkable discovery was announced 
to the Academy of Sciences by M. Dumas in 
its last sitting. He stated that M. Saint-Clair 
Deville had succeeded in obtaining from clay 
a metal as white and brilliant as silver, as mal¬ 
leable as gold, and as light as glass. It is fus¬ 
ible at a moderate temperature. Air and 
damp do not affect this metal, which is called 
aluminium; it retains its brilliancy, and is not 
affected by nitric or sulphuric acid, either 
strong or diluted, if the temperature be not 
raised. It is only dissolved by very hot chlor- 
hydric acid. Several specimens of this metal 
were exhibited to the Academy, and on the 
proposition of Baron Thenard, it was voted 
unanimously that a sufficient sum should be 
placed at the disposal of M. Saint-Clair De¬ 
ville to enable him to make experiments on a 
large scale. 
Immense Steam-ship. —A new and powerful 
steam-ship called the Himalaya has been built 
in England for the Peninsular and Oriental 
Steam Navigation Company. From the 
1 'names to Southampton, her average progress 
during thirteen hours that she was under wav, 
notwithstanding unfavorable weather duriim- 
part of the time, was 13* knots per hour. 
The Himalaya is said to be the largest 
steam-ship in the world. She is 3,550 tons reg¬ 
ister, and equal to over 4,000 tons burden.-- 
She is 372 feet 9 inches in length, exceeding 
the length of the Boston clipper. Great Repula 
lie, lately burned at New York, by 47 feet, 
but not of equal tonnage. The Himalaya is a 
screw steamer built of iron, and has engines of 
890 horse power. She has accommodation 
for 200 first and second class passenger?_ 
stowage for 1000 tons of measurement goods 
on freight, and can take 1200 tons of coal.— 
Scientific American. 
Hardening Cast Steel for Cutting. —Kie- 
ser, of Issy, in Switzerland, prepares admirably 
hardened razors, penknives, &c., from English 
cast-steel, by plunging the blades, at a dark 
cherry-red, into a bath made of 14 parts, by 
measure, of yellow resiu in fine powder, 2 parts 
fish oil, and 1 part hot melted tallow; they are 
then allowed to cool perfectly, and without 
wiping them, are re-heated to a low red heat, 
and immersed in water in the usual way of 
tempering such articles. The edge of the 
blade treated in this manner is said to be 
very fine, and the hardening more uniformly 
than by any other process.— London Artisan. 
Buttons. —We have often admired a set of 
buttons upon the overcoat of a friend of ours, 
and notice them for the benefit of domestic 
manufactures. These buttons an: made of sec¬ 
tions of the shells of black walnuts, (gaglous 
nigra.) sawed off and polished, and furnished 
with a stout brass wire eye. The buttons may 
be cut the size of a cent or larger, taking otF 
one fourth of the shell. Their brown, rough, 
convex surfaces, make a really handsome but¬ 
ton, and as strong as horn pearl, or metal.— 
The manufacture of such buttons is well 
worthy of attention.— Tribune. 
Half Bricks.— We believe that a benefit 
would be conferred upon masons, if brick-ma¬ 
kers would mould half-sized as well as whole 
bricks. Half bricks are often wanted for be¬ 
ginning and finishing rows, so as to have every 
alternate row break joint. To obtain these, 
the masons have to break whole or trim bro¬ 
ken bricks. This occupies considerable time 
which would all be saved by half mould bricks, 
of which a certain number might be made for 
every thousand of whole bricks of the common 
kind.— Sci. Am. 
