MOORE’S RURAL NEW-YORKER 
AN AGRICULTURAL AND FAMILY NEWSPAPER 
ing remarks though referring to timber trees, are 
applicable iu a measure to all trees, and show the 
cause of the rotting we have mentioned, as being 
so destructive m some parts of the country, as 
well as the remedy. 
Pruning Treks for Timber. — The sap in all 
plants has a natural tendency to flow to the high¬ 
est points; and hence we find the leading shoots 
always the strongest, the buds farthest from the 
root, if nearly vertical to it, the plumpest and best 
formed; while both lateral (tranches and their 
bnds, towards the bottom of the tree, are foond 
invariably to be the weakest, and in the coarse of 
time die away altogether. Hence, we think, nature 
teaches us our first meson in timber-tree pruning; 
she does so, beginning near the ground, and pro¬ 
ceeds upwards progressively, but slow.y; and so 
should we, if increasing the balk of the stem, or 
of the main branches, of ramifying trees, anch ae 
the oak, oheBtnnt, Ac., whose main iimbB for cer¬ 
tain purposes are as valuable as the trunk itself, be 
onr object. Nevertheless, thi3 is a business re¬ 
quiring caution and early attention; for if lateral 
branches be allowed to form near the bottom of 
the atem,and permitted to continue, their amputa¬ 
tion afterwards has a serious effect not only on 
the constitution of the tree, bat on the quality of 
the timber also. “ When a branch is cut off imme¬ 
diately from the body or trunk of a large tree, the 
usual sap which supplied it in its ascent from the 
roots will be stopped short, and for a time w ill ooze 
out from the cut part. In a short time, however, 
the Bap, as it rises in those vessels of the trunk 
PROFITS OF FRUIT CULTURE. 
Mr. Hovey, in his Magazine of Horticulture, baa 
several times taken occasion to complain of the 
statements made before the Fruit Growers' Society 
of Western New York, of great profits from the 
culture of fruit in certain specified cases. Mr. H. 
seems to take great credit to himself for honesty 
in denouncing these statements, while it, would be 
for his inttrest to encourage them. In one short 
paiagraph he thus flatters himself and don’t flat 
ter anybody else:—' Speaking as a nurseryman, it 
would be for our interest to circulate these re¬ 
ports of tae great profits of frnit culture; we shall 
therefore not be accused this time of having an 
'axe to grind,’ when we say these reports repeat¬ 
ed every year are simpjy absurd, and should not 
be conntenanced by any association of pomolo- 
gists having the true progress of the science at 
hear!. Some isolated cases of large profits of 
Borne single tree or half a dozen trees may be 
named, hut to argne from this that similar profits 
accrue to the extensive cultivator is not true.”— 
We are not aware that any one was foolish enough 
to “ argue'' in this way. 
From the statements which Mr. Hovey takes 
occasion to criticise and condemn we select two: 
—“ Mr. 0. Downing stated that 'the Hudson River 
Antwerp Raspberry was the only sort cultivated 
for the New York market. The product was from 
$300 to $800 per acre.’ At ten cents per quart, 
besides the expense of picking, selling, interest 
of land and cultivation, it would require 8,000 
quarts to the acre to produce the latter sum?"_ 
The critic is badly at fault here. He should learn 
to distinguish between “ product ” and profit. Mr. 
Hovey, to make out a case, gives the price at 10 
known, good and bad, and then those who need 
information can jndge for themselves. 
The folly of the position assumed by Mr. Hovey 
is apparent Let ns have the plain simple facts, 
whether favorable or unfavorable. The people 
can then jndge for themselves. 
On no subject connected with tbs orchard and 
garden is light so much Deeded, as that of prun¬ 
ing. Many entirely neglect to prune their trees, 
and prefer to let nature take its course, forgetting 
that the whole operation oi the gardener jb an ef¬ 
fort to divert trees and plautB from their natural 
habits into better. Our tine fruits are the results 
of artificial culture. Budding, aud grafting and 
hybridization, and high manuring, are all artifi¬ 
cial operations. If we leave our trees to nature 
we must be satisfied with natural fruit. Had we 
lived before tbe fall, It might have been different, 
bnt after this sad event, thorns and briars became 
the natural products of tbe Boil, and even bread 
was procured only by labor and toil, to say noth¬ 
ing of peaches, and pears, and grapes. Then iherc 
are others who prune their treeB in the most bar¬ 
barous manner. An old axe is the only imple¬ 
ment they require when going into the orohard to 
do tbeir annual pruning. To these, and all, we 
think the following practical hints, from McIntosh’s 
Book of the Garden will be instructive. 
Pruning Standard Fruit Treks. —Theprinci 
pal object is to modify the head, and to thin the 
branches so that the sun and air may penetrate to 
every part, so that the frnit muy ripen throughout 
the whole tree in an equal manner. All standard 
fruit trees rhould be allowed to assume their own 
naturnl habit of growth, and those habits are vari¬ 
ous— some throwing out their branches horizon¬ 
tally, others almost upright or fastigate, some 
drooping, and others very irregular, Such habits 
should not be interfered with; a reduction of re¬ 
dundant or misplaced branches, together with all 
useless Bpray and dead spurs and shoots, should 
only be effected. " If the tree is to be left to its 
natural Bbape, which is by far the best, it will, in 
the apple, pear, cherry and most other fruit trees, 
assume something of the oouioal shape, at least for 
some years; but whatever shape it has a tendency 
to assume, that shape must not be counteracted by 
tbe prnner, whose operations must be obitfly nega¬ 
tive, or directed to thinning out the weak and 
crowded shoots, and preserving an equal volume 
of branches on one Bide of the tree or on tbe other, 
— in technical language, preserving its balance.” 
Tbe points of the external branches should be 
everywhere rendered ihin and pervious to the 
light, so that the internal parts of the tree may not 
he wholly shaded by the external parts: the light 
should penetrate deeply into the tree on every 
side, bat not anywhere through it. When the 
prnner has jadiciously performed his work, every 
part of the tree, internal as well as external, will 
be productive of fruit; and rhe internal part, in 
unfavorable seasons, will rather receive protection 
than iDjnry from the external. A tree thus pruned 
will not only produce much more frnit, bnt will be 
also able to Bupport a much heavier load of it 
without danger of being broken; for any giveD 
weight will depress the branch, not Bimply in pro¬ 
portion to its quantity, bnt in tbe compound pro¬ 
portion of its quantity, and of its horizontal 
distance from the point of suspension, by a mode 
or action similar to that of the weight on the beam 
of the steelyard; and hence 150 pounds, suspended 
at one foot distance from the trunk, will depress 
the branch which supports it no more than 10 lbs. 
at 15 feet distance would do. Every tree will 
therefore support a larger weight of fruit, without 
danger ol being broken, In proportion as the parts 
of such weight are made to approach nearer to its 
centre. 
Coxe, an American pomologist of high repute 
remarks very truly, "when orchard trees are much 
pruned, they are apt to throw out numerous (super¬ 
fluous) suckers from the boughs iu following Bum¬ 
mer; these should be rubbed ofF when they first 
appear, or they may be easily broken off while 
young and brittle,—cutting is apt to increase their 
number.” This chiefly takes place when trees 
We make the following extract from the Address 
of Hon. N. P, Banks, of Massachusetts, before the 
American Institute, New York city, on the 22d 
ultimo: 
“ It was among the last of the public declara¬ 
tions of Sir Robert Peel, that England owed to her 
mechanic industry the power with which she had 
passed through the wars of half a century; that 
furnished her exchequer; that sustained her 
credit; floated her triumphant navies, and placed 
for a time in Her hands the trident of the seaB.— 
The same element of national wealth in France 
and England enabled them to breast and turn the 
tide of Russian aggression in the late war. Su¬ 
preme in everything material, it has also attained 
the dignity and elevation of the fine aria. The 
grandest conceptions and creations of geniuB, in 
sculpture, painting, poetry and music, ar repeat¬ 
ed in perfect and numberless copies, until they 
axe universally known and appreciated. How is 
-A REMEDY FOR BORERS A ' D MICE. 
Eds, Rural:— As this is the month to transplant 
fruit trees, and feeling a lively interest in the eno- 
cesB of our pomologioal interests, I sit down this 
evening to give to the readers of the Rural the 
results of some experiments made during the last 
18 months. And first, I will briefly state, that in 
the spring of 1849 I commenced planting an 
orchard in old Cayuga, with ohoice young fruit 
trees, little knowing what foes I had to encounter. 
f the 60 trees I started with, I lost about 20 the 
second year by the “ borer I kept replanting 
yearly until the spring of 1856, losing annually 
about one-third of my trees, — pears, peaches, 
about one-third of my trees, 
quinces and apples, all fell before tbe Vandals. I 
tried all the remedies I could hear of from books, 
papers and nurserymen, without avaiL Oar old 
cider apple trees of 50 years standing, are being 
perforated by the borer, followed by tribes of ants, 
and all slowly, but surely, falling before their foes. 
What would my friend Yeomans say about the 
profits of growing fruit in such a locality ? 
In the spring of 1856, 1 saw in some paper th. 
s atemsm that laurel oil, if pnt on picture frames, 
would keep off flies, the thought occurred to me, 
•'why will not some pungent oil keep of the ‘borer, 
and save my young fruit trees?” Having some oil 
from the gas works, 1 made the experiment by 
removing the soil from the tree*, and with a sw..b 
putting on a good coat. After s x months I ex¬ 
amined with care, and where the trees were sound 
when the oil was appljed, they remaiued so still: 
also that some of the infecied ones had revived 
and healed over. I felt encouraged to make 
another trial, and in November last purchase'. 150 
apple frees, and before setting Btirred some sul¬ 
phur in with the gas oil, and with a paint brush 
gave them a good coat irom the roots up, 8 or 10 
inches. 
Yesterday, I made a personal and careful exami¬ 
nation of every free. I found eight that had the 
borer in them—dx of them were the largest trees, 
and the gnm were three-fourths of an inch in 
length—had perforated the wood, and had evi¬ 
dently gained a residence while in the nursery !— 
The other two were new cases; grubs small, and 
had found entrance where the trees had been 
i jured by the harrow. 
From these results I claim that, if applied be¬ 
fore the larvce la deposited, it is a safe and cheap 
preventive of the borer, and furthermore is a per¬ 
fect remedy against those “Border Ruffians," the 
Mice. Now for proo 
bitiou — what names upon the roll of fame are 
dearer to human hearts than those borne upon 
thy roster—what nobler pursuit is open to man 
than that of penetrating the mysteries of earth, 
air, lire and water in thy service, sweet goddess of 
invention— mother of peaceful industry and 
companion of liberty! 
While tbe apple grows on the apple tree, 
And the wild wind blows o'er the wild wood free, 
And the deep river flows to the deeper sea; 
And they cannot help growir g«Dd blowing and flowing, 
Turns the heart of the world to thee. 
The elements of onr national wealth are far 
from their full development. Greater changes 
than we have yet experienced will occur, and in¬ 
dividual fortunes more gigantic than any yet ac¬ 
cumulated will be suddenly rolled up, to be as 
suddenly dissipated. Nature does not perfectuate 
gigantic accessions of power in States or men.— 
Ponderous Empires find their solvents, and over¬ 
grown individual fortunes tbeir proper distribu¬ 
tors. In this country as in England, mechanical 
industry, so essential to the development of the 
vast mineral resources of the continent and in 
the consumption of agricultural products cannot 
fail to reward its agents with the wealth that fol¬ 
lows successful enterprise. But it has a higher 
claim to our encouragement, in the fact that while 
it does not shut oat the accumulation of such for¬ 
tunes as will satiate ambition, it affords a more 
certain guarantee for the equitable distribution 
of its profits among all its disciples. While we 
cannot but rejoice in the highest prosperity of our 
country, we ought not to forget that happiness 
springs rather Irom general distribution than from 
great accumulation of wealth in single hands, and 
that those pursuits which embrace the grea'est 
numbers and distribute most equally the profits of 
industry are the only sources to which we can look 
for the happiness of the people, for just govern¬ 
ment, and for a stable national prosperity.” 
\V\ 7^] If the body or trunk of the tree is 
V vjrf / - in proportion enlarged.” The 
\l7 annexed wood cuts will explain 
'W. tiro effects of judicious and in- 
\W/, judicious pruning better than 
| a lengthened letter-press de¬ 
scription. Fig. l represents 
a tree of thirty years’ growth, 
which has been regularly 
| pruned. Fig. 2 a tree of the 
same a K e . Which has been 
Pmperiy Pruned neglected as to pruning dur- 
Tree - Fig. 1. ing its early growth, and has 
now been pruned in a way too frequently prac¬ 
tised — namely, by sawing and lopping off the 
I set those trees upon my 
corn ground, where the mice had burrowed under 
the shocks of corn, yet not one was harmed, while 
a neighbor of mine, Mr. Remington, informs me 
that he lost over thirty trees by the mice the last 
winter. But will it not injure the trees, says one? 
Of the 150 trees I have not lost one. All have 
grown finely. A a Mother Earth is a great absorber 
of “villainous smells, 1 ’ I would recommend the ap- 
plication twice in a year, to wit: —in the montLs 
of May and October. Too much labor says one. 
Iu reply, I would say, it took me four hours yester¬ 
day to operate upon 150 trees, and half a day with 
a team to fill up with compost. 
Now friend Moore, I had some idea of getting 
you by means of the Rukal, to get up a “ furore ” 
about a great discovery in u 7 ena-Culture,” and 
ofler to discover the secret on the payment of ten 
thousand dollars; but as the Buck-Eyes did not 
quite elect Br. Henry Governor, I thought per¬ 
haps your readers may not quite make out the 
sum! so I have concluded to be magnanimous,and 
submit the above fc-r you to publish, or suj press, as 
you please, hoping tty brother farmers may be ben¬ 
efited by, and improve upoD, my experiments. 
Auburn, N. Y., 1857. Nklsoh Pay.vb. 
Needle Making. —Needles are made from tie 
best steel wire. After being cut of the proper 
lengths, by shears which will cut four hundred 
thousand in ten hours—each being made into two 
needles—they are straightened by being passed 
under a heavy iron plate. They are then pointed 
by grlndiug on a rapidly revolving grindstone. 
They must be ground dry, in order to prevent 
rusting, cacsincfthe air to.be filled with a siiicious 
and steel dcs’.^bich formerly was very injurious 
to the lungs and"ey<* of the workmen, bnt the 
evil effects of which are now prevented by a pow¬ 
erful fan. iV.Oy are then cut iu two, the beads 
flattened and the eyes pierced. After the eye haB 
been smoothed, they are tempered on steel plates, 
and are plunged suddenly into cold water, which 
makes them very hard and brittle. The needles 
are then polished by long friction with quart zose 
sand and some oily substance, scoured by sawdust, 
winnowed and sorted. 
This flue variety was exhibited by Mr. T. Rivers 
before the British Pomological Society, in Lon¬ 
don, on the 30th of August, and In tbe report of 
the meeting », is ’bus spoken of:—“ Eirly York.— 
First week iu August. An American peach ol 
medium size, and of a bright red next the sou: 
flavor full, deliciously melting, with a fine aroma 
This is without doubt by far tbe best early paach 
known.” This is high praise from the British po- 
mologiate, and admitting a good deal for onr 
American fruits. According to the reports of the 
London Horticultural Society and the British 
Pomologies!, the best pear known is the Secbel, 
and the best peach the Early York, They have 
only to try other of our American varie'ies of 
both pear and peach to ascertain that we have 
many of equal quality, which aie welt worthy of 
introduction into all English collections. Among 
all the flue American varieties of those two fruits 
not ten are known or appreciated in Great Britain 
It i* hard work to persuade her cultivators that 
Knigiu's Monarch, Crass-ine, and aims) tr old pears, 
are not the best fruits in the world. We hope the 
great exhibition which took place in London, on 
the 24th of October, will tend, in a slight degree, 
to diminish the prejudice against foreign fruits, 
and eu opportunity to taste some of cur finest 
varieties show them how much they have lest by 
delaying the introduction to so late a period.— 
Even with the ikes’ Belgian and French coilec- 
tiuna of pears within a hundred miles of London, 
they scarcely yet know auy thing of the great 
number ot new varieties which have enriched our 
American collections for so long, and enabled our 
cultivators to produce, at the present day, a finer 
display of this frnit than can he made even in 
that land ot p'ar cu'ture—Belgium. — Hovey's 
sr fhey have attained a large size, 
the bad consequences of neglecting 
early pruning, in the ease of a 
jjfl plank cut from an aih >ree, which 
1j had been pruued by lopping off 
the large brulches many years 
before it was felled. “The cuts 
in this case,” say g the very intel¬ 
ligent and venerable editor, “had 
been made several Itches from 
the bole, and the branches being 
very large, the stamps left haa 
become rotten. The enlarge¬ 
ment of the trunk had not, how¬ 
ever, been s opped, for the new 
wood had covered over all the 
i haggled parts, in some places to 
A several inches thick. Yet the 
M effects of the previous exposure 
A Piece of Ingenuity. 
■We were shown, the 
other day, a remarkable piece of work, the result 
of much patience and perseverance. It consisted 
of a glass bottle, the height of which was only 
one foot, and m watch were constructed several 
reels of wood, having on them 3,437 beads, 120 
yards of silk, and 8 china images; altogether this 
curious bottle contained 3,688 pieces, so jointed 
and framed that tuey filled the bottle, and had all 
been put together through the neck. But the 
crowning work was the stopper, from which four 
pieces projected in the form of a cross, so that it 
could not be with :awr>, aud the question with us 
was, how was it got in? T- is bottle is the v o k 
Mr. F. A. Fahvier, of New York, and is well v ort ly 
the attention of the connoisseur and enriou 1 ._ 
T; ere ate two on exhibition at the Crystal 1 alace. 
—Scientific American. 
\l||i /f\y \\\\\ Action of the weather, by 
IlfcllM \11 it'judicious pruning, is strikingly 
by the decayed state ol 
Ejects Of Bad tbe parts connected with the 
Pruning on ff'ood. brunches which had been ampn- 
cateo. ' Prom this it will clearly appear, that, it 
i roiling is to be practiced on deciduous trees at all, 
it should bo commenced while they are youcg, and 
ehrried on progressively; and if so, no such bkm- 
Telegeafhic Improvements. — Edward High- 
ton, C. E., of England, has ja^t obtained a patent 
for, firstly, sending telegraphic messages both ways 
through one and the same wire, at the same in¬ 
stant, without interfering in any way with each 
other; secondly, for preventing the destruction of 
a wire in the sea or underground: and, thirdly, for 
mending a decayed telegraphic wire in the ocean 
without raising it out of the mud. 
outeB, uave wo neon called upon to examine 
orchanls where the trees were affected with what 
their owners culled the black canker. At every 
point where a largo limb was taken off, the wood 
beeamo affected with something like a black rot, 
which eoutinued to spread into the very heart of 
the tree, until it was destroyed. This wo found to 
be most common on wof, cold soils, and where the 
wintem were generifly severe. The ouly remedy 
we oonld suggest, was good drainage, and such a 
system oi pruning as would render it unnecessary 
to remove large limbs. Where trees are likely to 
be affected in this way we would cover every 
wound made in pruning with grafting wax, or a 
solution of gum shellac and alcohol. The follow- 
Tar a Remedy for Mice.—I find that the appli¬ 
cation of tar applied with a stifl brush to the 
bodies of young fruit trees will prevent the mice 
Loot girdling them, when dritted with snow in 
winter. Will you or some of your subscribers be 
so kind as to inform me whether tar will be in any 
way likely to injure the young trees.—J. V.Shanee, 
Spnugport, (Yon., 1857. 
Remarks. —The tar will not Injure the trees._ 
Mr. Payne gives his experience on this point in 
the present number. 
Iron Cars.—S heet-iron cars, cushioned inside 
have been in use on the Baltimore Railroad for 
about five years, fur freighting purposes, and in one 
instance one of these ears loaded with 80 barrels of 
flour, was precipiiated down a steep embankment 
without doing it material damage. 
/ ruitres Warren Pcreival, p. Cargill. F. Glazier, 
Committee on fVnr7-D.Taber, I. W. 
I ritti.ii ios’er, W. H. Panin, C’alviu Spauhl. 
. 1 t '”^ er <>! Board of Agncu.ture —D. A. 
Fairbanks, 
