p 
( PRICE six (’ENTS 
) #2.50 PER YEAR. 
TEntcrcd accord Inj* to Act of Congress, In the yoar 1873, by D. D. T. Moore, in tho office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington.] 
IV. F. TmriE. .This specimen is about seven 
feet in diametetr and fifty feet high. Its 
'beautiful proportion and graceful habit is 
well shown in oui - illustration. 
proved by the very lowest orchards. Mr. TREES POISONED WITH OAS. 
Grubb of Brown Co., who has a large or- How can a shade tree (Maple) that is grad- 
chard, seventeen years old, is decidedly in uallv dying, owing to the ground being per- 
favor of very low-headed trees, and he prunes mea ted with gas through n leak in the street, 
none except with thumb and finger; and the j be brought to a healthy condition again ’? 
best lesson he said he ever got on pruning Trees are constantly dying in this manner in 
was from the late Ruben Ragan of Indiana, our city, and we have a sick one that we val- 
who said when he found that pruning was ue highly and wish to save if possible. An 
coming into his mind, the very first thing lie answer through your paper would reach us, 
should do was to throw his knife into the well. | and probably many others similarly situated. 
—Platt <fe Platt, Eagle 
k Office, Po'ke.epxie. 
sonous gasos, and when its 
the foundations of our cities 
ARAUCARIA 1MBRICATA 
PRUNING FRUIT TREES. 
TriE Kansas Stake Horticultural Society 
has been discussing pruning, and it is assert¬ 
ed that the best success was from low-headed 
trees little pruned ; in fact this is said to bo 
Our native forests are so rich in their 
abundance of beautiful and useful trees that 
we have really no need of seeking others 
from a foreign country. Still it is the nature 
of man to be unsatisfied so long as there is 
anything to bo obtained, 
no matter if lie does pos¬ 
sess more than he can 
properly use. One might 
suppose that our people 
would be satisfied with our 
native evergreens, begin¬ 
ning with the trailing Juni¬ 
pers of afoot in flight and 
thence passing upward to 
the giant Sequoias of four 
hundred feet high. But 
foreign species are planted 
to the exclusion of the • • 
natives; we import from 
Europe and send our own 
species buck in exchange, 
and thus we add variety 
and probably-gain some- 
tiling in wealth and knowl¬ 
edge by the operation. * ~ _ 
The Southern half of our 
continent also contributes 
many beautiful evergreens 
to the Northern, and among 
them perhaps there is no 
one tree that has attracted 
more attention than the 
Araucaria, imbricata, a 
native of the Andes of 
South America. It is not 
quite hardy in the North¬ 
ern or Middle States, al¬ 
though we have known 
specimens to survive for 
several years in the open 
ground in the vicinity of 
New York City. Further - - - — - < 
south this tree will no 
doubt become a valuable \ 
acquisition, especially r 
when the planter learns 
what kind of soil and ex- ' 
posure is best suited to this 
species, it may thrive in 
some of our Western States 
or Territories and at some 
future time become one of 
our most valuable ever- 
green trees for ornamental 
purposes. Even should wo >4 
never succeed in producing 
fine specimens in this cotin- 
try, its beauty, grandeur 
and value remain unim- 
paired in countries where 
it does succeed, and wo may 
with as much propriety 
and profit visit the old. 
world to see a noble tree as _ 
Notre Dame, the Vatican T or 
any noted building to- " ", t 
which so many make a pil- 
grimage. In England this ' 
beautiful tree appears to- 
succeed almost as well as ^ 1,. 
in its native clime, ami the . 
accompanying illustration ^"' v 
represents a specimen ** 
planted nearly fifty years * 
ago at Woodstock, the 
property of the Right Hon. 
BRIEF NOTES 
The Buckeye (JEhcuIun 
P avia), nearly allied to 
the Horse-chestnut, is sug¬ 
gested by the Rural Press 
as a source from which 
starch can be manufac¬ 
tured. A large factory 
near Paris is making starch 
exclusively from horse- 
chestnuts, which are said 
to yield fully Hi percent. 
When it is for food, it 
is washed in waterin which 
carbonate of soda is dis¬ 
solved; and it is afterwards 
washed in several waters; 
thus the bitter idement is 
eliminated. It is suggested 
to Californians as a new 
field, since noth ng is 
cheaper than starch mak¬ 
ing, and starch will pay in 
California. The Buckeye 
is abundant t here and the 
nuts are cheaply gathered. 
To Make Fruit Stay on 
Apple Trees, the New En¬ 
gland Homestead says: 
“ Girdle an apple tree when 
it is in blossom by cutting 
a slight strip of bark, say 
one-eighth of an inch, 
around the tree, and it will 
cause the fruit to stay on. 
This has been tried and 
proved to no a harmless 
operation to the tree. Se- 
wall Randall of Belcher- 
town tried it on some of 
hi3 trees last year with suc¬ 
cess, and has also tried it 
again this year.” 
