420 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
came worse. Why ? The ventilation, position, 
and borders could not be improved, and the evil 
was olsewhere. One man would not be advised 
and though ho always got poaches, they were 
poor samples; but the other—Mr. Wsi. Cummings 
—slit all of his trees but two, and in a couple of 
years he had as good peaches as anybody. The 
two left, were kept at my request by way of ex¬ 
periment. One was in the early house—fruit in 
May—and the other in a later compartment— 
fruit in June and early July. The early tree— 
Royal G-eorge—at the end of two years showed 
much greater decrepitude than the late one— 
Walburton Admirable—which I presume, was 
owing to the latter’s more natural condition of 
growth—exemption from hard forcing—but both 
yearly produced and ripened fruits, though these 
were fewer and inferior to those yielded by the 
“ Blit ” trees. The result so overcame Mr. Cum¬ 
mings’ ideas of physiology that in future he re¬ 
solved to assist as well aB follow nature. 
That the evil under these artificial conditions, 
does not appertain to auy had state of the root- 
bed is perfectly evident j it is fonnd in the ina¬ 
bility of the compressed hide to grant the ready 
passage of nourishment sufficient for the health¬ 
ful demand of branches, leaves, and fruit, or, in 
other words, “ the trunk being left to itself can 
not appropiiate its proper share of the nutri¬ 
ment supplied." This '• slitting the bark,” is a 
more delicate operation than some may think : 
in fact, it is a job experienced gardeners either 
do themselves or have done by their foreman, for 
they would no sooner trust it to their journey¬ 
men, apprentices, or laborers, than ay army sur¬ 
geon would the amputation of an officer's leg to 
a private soldier. 
When this operation should be executed, is 
most reliably told in answer to a correspondent 
by the Eds, of the Gardeners’ Chronicle, p. 1121. 
1867 :—“ Early in the soason, but not when the 
tree would bleed from the cuts ; therefore not 
when the sap is flowing, but when the leaves 
have expanded." As regards the slitting itself, 
may I ask what harm does it do to the tree oper¬ 
ated on, providing a sharp tbiu-bladed knife be 
used, the cuts made clean, through the bark—no 
more—from top of main stem downwards, and 
one or two incisions (two to three cuts are usual¬ 
ly made at first application,) and the time in 
New England be during the first three weeks in 
July ? 1 never knew evil to accrue from thus 
judiciously slitting the bark, but on the contra¬ 
ry, time and again, I have found it to most for¬ 
cibly improve debilitated and mossy apple and 
pear trees that I was satisfied were hide-bound. 
Gumming and other diseasos are generated 
by unjust mutilation of the bark of stone-fruit 
trees, and with this in view, and incited by a dis¬ 
cussion we had on this subject when I lived in 
the Southern States, I Blit tho bark of peach, 
nectarine, apple, pear, persimmon, box-elder, 
and several other trees, that were not hide¬ 
bound, and not in a single instance was gum¬ 
ming or any harm apparent, and by the succeed¬ 
ing winter the wounds had filled up and healed 
over. My friend, Mr. Silman of Leon Oo., 
Texas, had a peach orchard of fine young trees, 
and a few he trained as high standards, that is, 
with clean stems, some four feet high,as he wished 
to plow under them after they became biggish 
trees, but they grew unwieldy and several got 
broken. I called there in May '75, and we dis¬ 
cussed the orchard freely. I advised him by no 
means cut out his standards, but instead, either 
fli mly stake them permanently, or stake them 
temporarily and slit them to see what effect that 
would have on them. “ Well,” he remarked 
“they’re of little use as they are anyway, and 
if you do it for me, I'd as lief slit them as not.” 
I slit every alternate tree, and when I saw them 
again—the January following—the average 
trunk of the slit, tree was some throe-fourths of 
an inch greater in circumference than that of the 
uncut, and all were w ell healed and sound. The 
land was cleared Post Oak, and the Boil a rich 
gray Bandy on a clay subsoil. The point to be 
gained in this case was not a relief because of 
hide-bound, as the trees were very thrifty and 
not perceptibly, if at all, hide-bound, but to 
get a trunk stout enough to support its head 
unassisted. 
At Corsicana I met a farmer from Waco, 
who has a thrifty orchard of apple trees, but, 
he said, the stems were not growing as faBt as 
the tops were and he had to stake them. The 
trees were of tall-standard fashion, as we have 
in the Northern States and quite unfit for the 
South. 1 told him to slit the stems and if any 
switches grew on the stems not to out them off 
as he used to, but piuch their points when they 
got six or eight inches long, and then cut them 
off in winter. He said he would try it, and in a 
letter I had last fall from a friend at Mexia, he 
thanked me for the suggestion, and stated that 
his trees had improved mightily. 
This idea was first impressed on myself by 
my esteemed friend Pitman, who is foreman in 
that old-established and famous nursery— Os¬ 
borne's, at Fulham, London, and who during 
55 years has been connected witn the establish¬ 
ment. He endeavors to prevent rather than in¬ 
duce and then cure this hide-binding. He does 
this by permitting the existence of a few spray- 
ey or spur-like shoots along the stems of the 
young fruit and ornamental trees. Not only 
does this prevent the stems from becoming hide¬ 
bound, but it also so strengthens them that 
stakes are seldom necessary as supports. Of 
course, I don't mean that the trunks are 
feathered like those of annually clipped basliet- 
D. M. Ferry & Co., Detroit, Mich. A cata¬ 
logue for 1878, comprising 144 pages and hun¬ 
dreds of excellent engravings and two chromos. 
Free to all. 
Peter Henderson A Co., 35 Courtlandt St., 
N. Y. Catalogue of "Everything for the Gar¬ 
den." We need scarcely refer to this compre¬ 
hensive catalogue as being one of the most at¬ 
tractive and instructive of any published. It 
BRAMEK’S corn harrow. 
willow treeB ; no, only a few shootB are left, and 
these are foreshortened in the summer time and 
removed in the winter. 
Whether or no trees become hide-bound, and 
the effect produced on them by cutting the 
bark, is scientifically and most minutely detailed 
in that excellent work— Sachs’ (professor of 
botany in the University of Wurzburg) text¬ 
book of Morphological and Physiological Bot¬ 
any, and under the heading of “ Mechanical 
Laws of Growth—modification of growth caused 
by pressure and traction." 
The practice of slittiug the bark in order to 
relieve hide-bouud trees has been practiced for 
centuries back, as will be observed from the 
following lines which I quote, by way of curiosi¬ 
ty, from Lord Bacon’s “ Bylva Sylvarum,” which 
waH written in the earlier years of the Seven¬ 
teenth century ;—“It hath beeno observed, that 
Hacking of Trees in their Barke, both downe- 
rigbt, and aorosse, so as you make them rather 
in slices, than in continued Hackes, doth great 
good to Trees ; And especially delivereth them 
from being JEde-bound , and killeth their Mosso. ' 
The presence of moss upon trees he attributes 
to loss of vigor, thus :—“ Old Trees, are more 
Mossie, (farre) than Young ; For that the Sap 
is not so franoke as to rise all to the Bou^jL^?, 
but tireth by the way ; and putteth out Moss." 
Botanic Gardens, Cambridge, Maas. 
-- 
CATALOGUES, &c., RECEIVED. 
D. C. McGraw, Riverside Gardens, Bingham¬ 
ton, N. Y. Abridged catalogue of seeds, green¬ 
house and bedding plants, shrubs, evergreens, 
Ac., for the spring of 1878. 
T. 8. Hubbard of Fredonia, N. Y., who, as is 
well known, has made a specialty of grape-vine 
culture and propagation for many years, will 
Bend a price-list free, and a descriptive list of 
trees and small fruits also, upon receiving post¬ 
age stamp. 
The Stockbridok Manures, originated by 
Prof. Levi Stockbuidge, and sold only by W. 
H. Bowkeb & Co., Boston and New York. A 
pamphlet giving all needed information and 
prices. 
Er.T.T s Brothers, Keene, N. Y. Descriptive 
catalogue of choice green-house and bedding 
plants, seeds, small fruit and vegetable plants 
for 1878. 
Our acknowledgments are due to Messrs. S. 
It. Wells A Co. for a very useful as well as 
ornamental Phrenological Bust, which they pre¬ 
sent to each subscriber to the Phrenological 
Journal for 1878. 
Circular. Analyses and commercial values 
of commercial fertilizers admitted to sale in 
Georgia. Under the supervision of the Com¬ 
missioner of Agriculture, Atlanta, Ga. 
Waukegan Nursery, Robert Douglas A 
Sons, Waukegan, Lake Co., ILls. Wholesale 
catalogue of evergreen and ornamental tree 
seedlings, etc. Messrs. D. & Sons have found 
that, after twenty years’ experience in growing 
evergreens from seed, packing and shipping mil- 
lione, annually, they cau so pack aud ship them 
that they will arrive as Hafely and transplant as 
successfully as apple or other deciduous trees. 
Thomas Jackson, Portland, Me. — Twenty- 
seventh annual wholesale Catalogue of Nursery 
Stock for spring of 1878. 
Plant Seed Co.’s Illustrated and Descriptive 
Catalogue for 1878, St. Louis, Mo. Vegetable, 
Field, Tree, Grass aud Flower seeds, Seed Po¬ 
tatoes, Summer-flowering Bulbs, etc., 64 pages, 
free to applicants. 
Cole & Brothers, Pelia, Marion Co., Iowa. 
Illustrated Guide to the Flower and Vegetable 
Garden, Vegetable seeds of all kinds—C'hufas, 
Artichokes, Field and Flower seeds. This cata¬ 
logue offers special premiums to all purchasing 
seeds. 
offers many novelties and two colored plates, 
one of Pansies, the other of the Hydrangea, 
“Thomas Hogg” and the white Tea Rose 
“ Cornelia Cook.” 
Our thanks are due to Mr. Daniel H. Whee¬ 
ler, Secretary of the Nebraska State Board of 
Agriculture, (Plattsmouth)) for au address by 
Prof. Rodney Welch upon " How the West bas 
Moved On." 
R. S. Johnson, Btockley, Del. Wholesale 
price-list of Nursery stock at the Sussex Nur¬ 
series. Also abridged wholesale price-list. 
George S. Josselyn, Freedonia, N. Y.—A 
little work of thirty-two pages with plans and 
elevations descriptive of the most approved 
methods of caring for high class poultry. 
Events and items of interest and importance for 
reference. It will be sent free to all applicants. 
Mr. Josselyn is, we presume, one of the largest 
breeders of pure-bred poultry in the world. He 
may be the largest for aught we know. 
The Dingee A Conaud Co.—West Grove, 
Chester Co., Penn. The New Guide to Rose Cul¬ 
ture. We have much pleasure in commending 
this catalogue to lovers of tho Rose, for it con¬ 
tains all the information in a plain practical 
form, that anybody needs, aud is to be obtained 
, for tho asking. Its perusal will reveal the secret 
of their great success as roBe-growers, a suc¬ 
cess scarcely equaled by any other establishment 
of the kind in this country. 
Industrial Jntjilemfnts, 
BRAMER’S CORN HARROW. 
If the farmer of one hundred years ago were 
permitted to return to the scenes of his busy 
and useful life, he would be gratified to 11 nd his 
prediction more than fulfilled. Ho would see 
the wilderness, where his were tho first sturdy 
strokes that felled the trees, now peopled by an 
active population, the farmer on his rich and 
productive farm, the mechanic in his workshop, 
the merchant at thriviug business centers, ex¬ 
changing the products of labor ; each contrib¬ 
uting to the success of all. But this would not 
be all. He would note the rapid strides that 
had been made in the methods and means that 
wrought such results—making the work lighter, 
more expeditious, and productive of better re¬ 
sults. He would Bee that improvements in im¬ 
plements to aid the husbandman, had enabled 
him to till his fields, out and secure his crops, 
aud do all the work that, in his day, taxed phys¬ 
ical endurance to the utmost, with case and 
celerity. The old sayiug that “ Ho who makes 
two blades of grass grow where but ouo grew 
before, is a public benefactor,” is no more true 
than that he who, by his ingenuity, makes it 
possible to do in one hour, without additional 
expense, what before had requirod two hours, is 
entitled to the same praise ; for time is money, 
aud in these days no laggard need hope for suc¬ 
cess. 
The Warrior Mower Co. of Little Falls, N. 1 ., 
whose name has becomo familiar to farmers as 
manufacturer of the “ Warrior," has, without 
doubt, enabled many a farmer to make two 
blades of grass grow where but one grew before, 
by the introduction of the Randall Harrow, mak¬ 
ing it possible to do twice the work in a given 
time, and, while thus reducing the labor, largely 
increasing the yield of the lands. This Com¬ 
pany, ever alive to the wants of the farming 
community, has, after thorough tests, added, 
thiH season, to the speoialtieB of its manufacture, 
a Corn Harrow, for working rowed crops. 
This implement represented by the cut, has 
the same soil-working devices as the Randall 
Harrow; a Beries of plate wheels set so as to 
run at an angle to the line of draft, each wheel 
cutting, lifting, turning over, and thoroughly 
pulverizing the soil in its path. In the Corn 
Harrow the two gangs of four of these wheels 
each, are used ; one gang working each side the 
row. The advantages claimed for thiB Corn 
Harrow are, that instead of lifting up the Boil 
and allowing it to drop back in nearly its origin¬ 
al position with weeds and grasses, in many 
cases, left in prime condition for growth, it cuts 
deep, and turning tho soil, bnries the weeds and 
grasB beyond the hope of resurrection. Instead 
of clogging with every obstacle with which it 
comes in contact, it rolls over and cuts through 
without trouble or delay. It is easily ohanged to 
throw the soil towards or from the growing 
crop as may be desired. It is also adjustable in 
width to adapt it to the work to be done. 
--a ♦ »-- 
“THE FIRE ON THE HEARTH.” 
In this ago of thrifty devices no object of 
domestio economy has taxed the ingenuity and 
skill of inventors more heavily than the dis¬ 
covery of that form of stove which, while simple 
and inexpemdvo, is at the Barne time most 
economical of fuel and most efficient in diffusing 
throughout the area to be heated a uniform and 
wholesome temperature. While the ordinary 
open fire-place is pleasant in its cheerful glow 
and healthful by the vontilation it produces, yet 
it is a sad waster of fuel, both on account of the 
imperfect combustion effected by it, and because 
warming the room almost entirely by direct 
radiation, the air which causes combustion, 
rushing in a hot current up through the 
ohimuey, is wasted iu the open air instead of 
being utilized either for culinary purposes in 
the kitchen or for increasing the temperature in 
sitting rooms. It has been calculated that on 
an average six-sevenths the caloric contained in 
fuel used in ordinary open fire-grates, is lost in 
this way ; while some of the lauded hearths of 
our fore-fathers swallowed np in their capacious 
maws fully seven-eighths. The ordinary closed 
Btoves, while lacking the genial glow, and easy 
ventilation of the opeu grate are, it is true, far 
more economical of fuel, yet they are, many of 
them, very unnecessarily wasteful, a fact that 
can be readily detected by feeling the tempera¬ 
ture of the pipe through which the smoke and 
other products of combustion escape into the 
atmosphere. Moreover, when made of cast-iron 
aud highly-heated carbonic oxide and other 
deleterious gases are generated which, every 
winter, are stealthy, but prolific causes of not a 
few annoyances and ailments. 
Among tho numerous stoves of various 
patterns aud patents, that have come under our 
notice, there is none which commends itself 
more strongly than “ The Fire on the Hearth” 
both for its beauty of design, simplicity of con¬ 
struction, oheerfulnoss of effect economy of fuel 
and efficiency iu diffusing a healthful and uni- 
foi m temperature. Used with the blower on, 
it acts in every way like a close stove, but with a 
large, additional air-warming capacity; with the 
blower off, it is converted into a “Franklin” 
stove, oheerful as an open grate, but with a 
greatly increased air-warming power. Bo thor¬ 
ough is the combustion of fuel in this stove, 
and so entirely is tho heat utilized in warming 
the room that the temperature of the products 
of combustion escaping through the smoke-pipe 
into the chimney, when the blower is off, is 
actually less than the temperature of the air 
delivered iu the room from tho top of the stove, 
demonstrating the remarkable utilization of the 
heat generated from combustion of fuel. Ibis 
excellent stove, which during the six years of 
its existence, has found its way all over the 
world is for Bale by The Open Stove \ entilating 
Co., N Y. 
FARM NOTES. 
S. RUFUS MASON. 
A CHEAP POULTRY HOUSE, AND HOW TO USE IT. 
A house for 50 hens should be 16x24 feet in¬ 
side. Bet up 3x4 posts, 8 feet long, so as to 
inclose that space, and outside of that auothei 
row, four feet off. Nail boards, 1x4 inches, 
around the outside and insido,—one board even 
with the top of the posts, one six inches from 
the bottom, and one in the middle. Let the 
posts be about five feet apart. Nail common 
plastering lath upright from the top strip down 
to the bottom strip, and about six inches apart. 
Lay for tho roof a 3x4 from post to post aoross 
the room, not the cribwork ; support these by 
central posts, and cover with long, straight wil¬ 
lows, laid quite close. The door aud windows 
must now bo provided for. I use three hot-bed 
sashes on one end, and the light iB ample, lhe 
frame of the house is now finished. Fill in the 
walls with straw, old hay or any light material, 
packed down tight; cover the whole with straw 
