a 
4SF 
greens the young shoot of the season may be 
shortened at any point desired, as. new buds 
will be formed during the season. In shorten¬ 
ing the limbs of deciduous trees, the same rule 
should be applied, cutting from within and to 
a bud, only here we havo the advantage of 
directing or training the young tree by 
judicious selection of the bud next below the 
cut: as these organs are always in a definite 
spiral, we can trim so that the shoot formed 
by this bud shall incline toward or from the 
central axis, or diverge to the right hand or to 
the left as may be desired to occupy a vacant 
space in the contour of the tree. 
From what has been already written the 
reader will infer that a very limited catalogue 
of tools will be required, A strong, sharp 
knife is indispensable as the most important 
trimming must be done upon the small trees. 
The bill-hook will be useful in the forest plan¬ 
tation, for rough work, such as slashing away 
obtruding growths from the nurse-trees, and 
here the brush scythe will he usr ful at times. 
For the removal of larger branches the prun¬ 
ing chisel and the mallet will be fouud invalu 
able, and the long handle will enable you to 
reach those requiring removal above your 
head. The saw is indispensable for the re¬ 
moval of larger branches, but it should be 
judiciously applied—the kerf should incline 
outward in passing from above downward, 
always beginning as close a 3 possible to the 
axil of the branch and the stock, so that the 
wound may be closed over as quickly as pos¬ 
sible with no dead stump projecting from the 
bole of the tree. When sawing off a limb of 
greater size than can be readily supported 
with the left hand of the operator, two separ¬ 
ate cuts should be made, the first at the base 
of the limb, part way through so as to secure 
the assistance of the leverage of the limb, but 
have a care not to saw too deeply; then cut 
the limb quite off at a distance of two or three 
feet out from the first cut, and let it fall, after 
which the stump end may easily be cut away 
from the bole of the tree,and being held firmly 
by the left hand while sawing with the right, 
there need be no danger of tearing the bark 
below the limb. The pruning chisel or the 
knife may follow the saw to give smoothness 
to the cut surface—the stump may be covered 
with paint or shellac. Nothing has been said 
of the ax or of the hatchet in this catalogue 
of tools, nor need there be more than this; 
they are not needed and should be left at 
home. 
THE BASKET WILLOW. 
The White Cedar in this section is found 
generally on low and wet land and it is infer¬ 
red from this fact that such land is best adapt¬ 
ed to its growth. This is so far from being 
true that in transplanting it, after an experi¬ 
ence of thirty years, I invariably put it on 
dry ground. The common opinion is that the 
Basket Willow requires wet land because it 
succeeds on land so wet that scarcely any¬ 
thing else will grow there, and yet my expe¬ 
rience proves that it is a success on dry 
ground. In fact, it appears to succeed on any 
soil, wet or dry, but the quality is said to be 
best on dry ground. It succeeds here on land 
that is overflowed a part of the year. On one 
account it is desirable to put it on wet land, 
as we can make this land more profitable with 
this crop than with anything else. It seems 
that high-priced garden lard near the cities is 
worth too much for this crop, yet people here 
are buying such lands for this purpose. The 
price it now brings—<30 per ton—will fully 
warrant this. It is true the price may be¬ 
come lower, but there are more probabilities 
of its being higher, as the demand increases 
much faster than the supply. 
Land prepared as for an ordinary farm crop 
is in good condition for planting the willow, 
and I have known of good crops grown where 
the land was so wet and miry that it could 
not be plowed, but the cuttings could easily 
be stuck down in the mud. This willow is 
never raised from seed, but always from cut¬ 
tings that are about one foot long. It is 
planted in rows just far enough apart to per¬ 
mit cultivation, but in most cases it is not cul¬ 
tivated at all more than one or two years. 
After this the labor is limited to catting the 
crop. My first and only plantation was made 
thirty years ago. I sold the farm on wh ich 
it was made a few years afterward; but I un¬ 
derstand that good crops of willow are still 
grown there. I am not interested in this crop. 
I have never sold a dollar’s worth, have none 
to sell and none to buy. I deem it necessary 
to say this as some may think I have an inter 
est in the matter. 
We do not raise enough iu this country for 
oiir own use and the rest is imported from 
Europe. In most cases where there ure Ger¬ 
mans some of them understand working it, 
and people who are near railroads can always 
send it to a good market. Iu this section one 
of the main advantages of this culture is the 
labor it gives to an industrious class during 
the Winter in makiug it into baskets. The 
amount of manufactured willow sold in Syra¬ 
cuse yearly is about <100,000 worth. Now this 
is not made in Syracuse, but in a small village 
about five miles north of the city. 
A question often asked Is whether some va¬ 
rieties of our native willow will not answer 
the purpose. I have known baskets made of 
native willow, but no workman will touch it 
when be can get the improved kinds. It is of 
no use to talk of native willow. About the 
time I made my plantation the nurserymen 
were beginning to import this stock from Eu. 
rope. Importations, I believe, were made from 
England, France and Germany. I think the 
French varieties have taken the lead and at 
the present time only one of these is raised to 
any great extent. I do not know the true 
uame of this variety. It is commonly called 
here simply the Osier. I will try to ascer¬ 
tain the true name and report through the 
Rural. [Salix virainalis?— Eds.] 
Several persons from the Southern States 
write me to inquire if it is adapted to their 
climate. I have no positive knowledge to 
warrant me in answering that question; all I 
can say is from what I do know of its nature, 
I should have no fears of it anywhere in this 
country. Another important question is, What 
time in the year should it be planted? The 
plantations here have all been made in the 
Spring so far as I know; but I do not know 
of anything to hinder making them in the 
Fall. There is one objection, however, to 
Fall planting on some kinds of lands. The 
heaving of the land might throw the cuttings 
out, but where the land does not heave, I 
don’t know any reason why the Fall planting 
would not be the best. On such land a fruit 
tree planted in the Fall makes the most 
growth the next season, and suffers least dur¬ 
ing the drought of Summer. We formerly 
kept our quince, grape and currant cuttings* 
until Spring, but of late years we plant them 
in the Fall, and are still more successful. I 
do not know why it would not be the same 
with the willow. One of my neighbors went 
South last year on purpose to raise willow; 
we may soon get information from him as to 
the suitableness of the soil and climate. 1 am 
aware that there are other items of informa¬ 
tion wanted on this subject, but I believe I 
have answered the questions of most import¬ 
ance, and before time for planting I will an¬ 
swer iu the Rural such other questions as 
may be asked. A., m. w. 
Syracuse, N. Y. 
|3xniltnj JktrtX 
ARTIFICIAL INCUBATION. 
Experiment No. 2. 
In a former communication I gave my trials 
and tribulations in artificial incubation, but 
nothing daunted by the ill-success I had expe¬ 
rienced, I resolved to buy one more incubator 
and try my luck, lose or gain. I examined 
the merits as far as possible of the several in¬ 
cubators offered for sale, and bought accord¬ 
ing to my best judgment from the several de¬ 
scriptions given, this time, a machine that 
had been in use one season. I sent for specific 
directions for its management to the maker, 
and placed the machine In the second story of 
my hennery, filled it according to direction, 
and commenced business with bright hopes of 
success,egg drawers filled to their capacity with 
180 eggs. For five days the weather was 
moderately cold and of very even tempera¬ 
ture. My machine worked to a charm at 103 
degrees steadily. On the sixth day I bad oc¬ 
casion to visit the city and left it alone until 
2 o’clock P. M. On my arrival home I repair¬ 
ed at once to the incubator to see if all things 
were in order. During my absence the weath¬ 
er had greatly moderated; the machine being 
a non-regulator had sent up the mercury to 
120 degrees. ‘“Well, well,” thought I, “an¬ 
other 180 eggs spoiled!” For an instant I 
meditated upon taking a sledge hammer and 
“ braining the critter” at once, but after rea¬ 
son bad once again assumed its place, I turn¬ 
ed down the light, opened the doors, removed 
the eggs, and gave it a good airing inside 
while meditating upon what course to pur¬ 
sue. 
I finally determined to try it again, but 
proceeded cautiously. I would put twenty- 
five eggs inside and no more. After eight days' 
diligent attention, I examined the eggs and 
found a goodly number had commenced hatch¬ 
ing; this gave me renewed courage. 1 imme¬ 
diately put fifty more eggs to the test; all 
seemed to work well for a few days until one 
night the wind begau a violent blow from the 
northwest and it became extremely cold. In 
the morning I repaired to the hatchery with 
many misgivings, and fouud the mercury had 
fallen to 80 degrees. I remained for some 
hours undecided as to my future course, but 
finally determined to put 12 eggs inside and 
make a new departure. The weather had great¬ 
ly moderated and hope once more arose. In 
a short time I encountered another serious 
difficulty. The noonday sun shone into the 
windows, warmed the room too much, and as 
the after part of the day became cool, my en¬ 
tire time was demanded to regulate the tem¬ 
perature. The nights were cold and run the 
heat too low. 
As variations of 20 degrees would occur by 
the warm noonday sun and sudden changes 
take place during the night, I well knew the 
machine was not altogether at fault, but, I 
could not prevent the difficulty until the 
weather became more settled with an even 
temperature; finally when the trees began to 
bloom my incubator began to be more obedient 
and I did really hatch a few sprightly chicks. 
I had finally succeeded, but somehow the heat 
was not satisfactory, or the results what l had 
hoped to accomplish. However, the machine 
would hatch chicks; that was a fact I had 
longed to see accomplished. I drew off the 
water and bid good bye to it for the season. 
In the month of February 1882, I removed 
it to juy cellar in a room I had specially pre¬ 
pared for its reception und for future experi¬ 
ments. Starting with a batch of ISO eggs, I 
ran it for eight days with a variation of only 
three degrees; IDS'* as instructed by the manu¬ 
facturer. I examined the eggs,but not one had 
commenced to hatch. During the said eight 
days I had many misgivings in regard to the 
heat, as the eggs felt too warm. I thereafter 
began to meditate upon the present failure 
and search for a reason which was soon dis¬ 
covered; I found the trays had lowered five- 
eighths of an inch in the bottom by the weight 
of the eggs while in service, carrying a station¬ 
ary thermometer with them, thereby requiring 
too much heat to raise the mercury to 103 
degrees. Having removed the spoiled eggs, I 
raised a movable thermometer five eighths of 
an inch in the egg drawer, put 13 more eggs 
in one of the trays, and kept it at 103 degrees 
by the one I had elevated. In eight days I 
found 10 of the 13 eggs had begun to hatch. 
There were eight degrees too much heat iu the 
trays with my first experiment through the 
cause above given. I then kept adding eggs 
every few days until both trays were filled 
and in due time had the satisfaction of remov¬ 
ing a splendid lot of lively young chicks. 
But another difficulty soon blasted my great 
hope of a splendid brood in the early Bpring 
months. My artificial mother did not at all 
meet the requirements of the occasion I 
found my chicks were dying off rapidly, from 
what cause I did not know; at first I believed 
artificial hatching produced unhealthy chicks, 
as almost every morning I would take from 
10 to 13 dead chicks from the brooder,and this 
state of things continued until only one doz-n 
were left. Having two hens with only a few 
chicks to shelter, I pat the remaining chii ks 
with them and raised every one of those left. 
This experiment proved them to be healthy I 
then tested the heat of the brooder and found 
it impossible to get sufficient heat to raise 
chicks iu cold weather. In conolusion.I would 
advise courage, dose attention, a room of even 
temperature, and a brooder that can be suffi¬ 
ciently warmed to keep chicks alive. 
Schraalenburgh, N. J. C. S. Cooper. 
homological 
PROPAGATION OF SEEDLING 
PEACHES. 
Some time since I noticed in the Rural a 
communication from North Carolina showing 
that the “ tree drummer ” had been “ doing ” 
a portion of that State with a peach that re¬ 
produced its variety from its seed. If this 
peach possesses merit I regard the originator as 
peculiarly fortunate, inasmuch as he has suc¬ 
ceeded where, as far as my observation has 
extended, otheis have failed. 
My experience in this liue may be briefly 
stated as commencing with seed of three va¬ 
rieties, namely. Early Crawford, Barnard 
and Isupposably) Coolidge’s Favorite. As 
there were no other peach trees within a radi¬ 
us of six miles and the intervening space,at the 
time the parents blossomed, was an unbroken 
forest, the parentage, it is safe to assume, was 
restricted to the varieties named. These seed¬ 
ling trees have afforded seed for a second gen¬ 
eration, and about twelve hundred have borne 
fruit; yet of this number no tree with its fruit 
is a perfect reproduction of either parent. In 
moat, resemblance iu many points can be 
easily traced, the Favorite leading. Next in 
order is the Crawford, and last the Barnard. 
Whether the lead of the Favorite was the re¬ 
sult of affinity, its superior vigor iu our soil, 
or was wholly fortuitous, is a problem for the 
professors of horticulture. 
Many seedlings, however, bear little resem¬ 
blance to the parent tree. Indeed, their char¬ 
acteristics are quite remote; they are a mot¬ 
ley aggregation, each possessing distinguish¬ 
ing features. The parents were “ free stones,” 
yetamoug their seedlings there are “clings” 
large, small aud medium-size:!, representing 
shades from deep purple to nearly white. 
There are “ free stones,” too, of all shades and 
sizes known to the peach family. There are 
those in which the noyau flavor approaches 
that of the bitter almond. There are poor, 
medium, good, excellent peaches, with every 
conceivable grade from sweet to very acid. I 
might multiply indefinitely differential notes, 
but those adduced may suffice to show the 
tendency of reproductive nature to diversify 
rather thau duplicate. A distinguished author 
informs us that “some varieties reproduce the 
same from the stone with slight variation.” I 
recognize the “ variations ” and think the 
peach-grower should be thankful therefor; for 
it is the attribute to which he is indebted for 
so many excellent varieties. 
I will add a few words in regard to the 
future introduction of seedlings. There are 
now so many very good varieties running 
through the entire peach season, that to add 
thereto seems supererogatory. It would be 
swelling lists already too large for the general 
grower. Something p irhaps might be accomp¬ 
lished in the direction of hardiness. Those 
denominated “ frost” peaches are uniformly 
quite hardy,but their low quality renders them 
unworthy of extensive cultivation. My ob- 
s ‘rvation, however, leads me to believe that 
if seed of good varieties were taken from the 
highest present limit of their production, and 
planted in a higher latitude, where a lower 
temperature is assured, and their propaga¬ 
tion continued through a few successive gen 
erations from the best and most hardy selec 
tions, the good peach belt might be made to 
compete with that of the apple; it might cer 
tainly be expanded much beyond its present 
limit. To those favorably situated the ex¬ 
periment would prove inexpensive. 
In regard to the antiquated whim of freez¬ 
ing and thawing peach pits to cause them to 
germinate, I will say that I have learned that 
no advantage cau be derived therefrom. If 
from the recently removed pulp the pits are 
placed in soil where they will be kept slightly 
moist with sufficient earth between them to 
prevent their molding, they will be in good 
condition in the Spring. An examination of 
the stone between the cell aud the superior 
edge will lead to the discovery of the channel 
through which moisture reaches the germ. 
The double office of the little, slightly branch¬ 
ing, filamentous substance which is found in 
this channel,the decay of which leaves the pas¬ 
sage open for moisture, might afford material 
for a learned dissertation. Perhaps Profes¬ 
sor Somebody may be induced to grasp and 
ventilate the subject for the edification of the 
the Rural readers. 
To those interested in budding I will say 
that in case of failure of buds, instead of cut¬ 
ting back aud retarding the bearing period, 
l have satisfactory results from budding well 
up on the second year’s growth and many of 
the finest trees in my orchard are those which 
were budded “standard bight.” 
Mason Co., Mich. Jos. Hubbard. 
-- 
CORDON PEAR TREES. 
The Gardeners’ Chronicle gave last 
Spring in the season of orchard bloom, some 
finely engraved woodcuts, from photographs 
taken in the Chiswick Gardens, showing 
beautifully,and in exact detail the form of cor¬ 
don and pyramidal pear trees before leafing. 
None of the side branches on the cordons are 
longer than half the length of one of the 
bricks of the wall; but the stems, which are 
S3 brick courses high, are covered evenly with 
them; and they are full of fruit spurs and 
bursting bloom, the projections looking like 
stumpy fingers. On the pyramid side branches 
bear these bunches of bloom-spurs up nearly 
to the top. There is not much actual need of 
such system of pruning and training iu the 
full light and ripening power of our bright 
Summer skies, yet it is found so useful as to 
be generally practiced in France in an atmos¬ 
phere much like our own; aud to those of us 
who have small gardens and spare time now 
and then for a recreative tour among the 
trees, there is nothing pleasanter or easier than 
the care of half a dozen cordons treated as 
these illustrations show how. A pinch of the 
thumb and finger on occasion, to stop a shoot 
that shows a disposition to run, is nearly all; 
sometimes the leader may re pure a tying into 
the line of direction of the stem, which may 
be erect or diagonal. The fruit drawing 
abundant supplies and safe from w ind-wrench- 
ing, owing to its being so close to the main 
stem, attains larger size, and proportionately 
more juiciness and fiuer quality than on long- 
branched standards; aud if a piece of ground 
is set with a sufficient number of well trained 
dwarf trees it is said to produce more fruit, 
aud with much more certitude and of course 
more variety aud excellence thau if occupied 
by tall standards. The Chronicle gives some 
interesting accounts of the varied effects of 
differing stocks upon different sorts, each 
seeming to have its preferences, some for the 
pear root, others for quince, while others do 
very well on different sores of thorn—the 
Winter Nelis doing well on Cratiugus coccinea. 
The other sorts of pears named that are grown 
with us, viz. Bonne Louise and Angoulfime 
