Vol. LVI. 
No. 2490. 
NEW YORK, OCTOBER 16, 1897. 
01.00 PER YEAR. 
AUTUMN PLANTING IN OHIO. 
HOW THE LITTLE TREE IS STARTED. 
Preparation and Pruning. 
There is’nothing that so enhances the value and at¬ 
tractiveness of a country home as to plant about it a 
garden of choice fruits. The trees, plants and vines, 
if they be well planted, properly pruned and neatly 
trained, not only supply the table with luscious fruits 
of all kinds every day in the year, but they, at all 
stages of their growth, somehow give to the most 
humble cottage an air of refinement and genuine 
“ home-likeness ” that a veritable whirlwind of bay- 
windows, ornamental gables-and sky-scraping turrets 
fail to contribute. The home grounds of every farm 
dwelling should not only be securely inclosed from 
the intrusion of stock, but should be-made ornamental 
and productive of home comforts and luxuries. There 
are so many sheltered and fertile little nooks about a 
country place, in which a tree or vine-would delight, 
that lack of room can hardly be considered an excuse 
for not planting, even though the home grounds be 
very limited in size. 
About our own home, we now have growing 55 
Plum, 85 dwarf pear, 
30 peach, 18 cherry 
and 6 apple trees— 
194 trees in all—upon 
just one acre of 
ground; and the old 
adage that “ there is 
always room for just 
one more ” is still ap¬ 
plicable. Fifty of the 
plum and the 85 dwarf 
pears occupy small 
blocks of their own, 
while the remaining 
59 trees were given 
the many desirable 
little nooks about our 
dwelling, stable and 
outbuildings. The 
greater number o f 
our trees have not 
yet come into bear¬ 
ing. We have, how¬ 
ever, gathered some 
very fine peaches and 
plums from the older 
trees. Last season, 
from two seven-year- 
old Ford’s Late peach trees, we picked 12 bushels of 
beautiful fruit. It was no trouble to find specimens 
measuring nine inches in circumference. Three 
Wealthy apple trees of the same age have now borne 
three heavy crops. 
Autumn is my favorite season for planting all kinds 
of hardy trees. Not only is the soil usually in much 
better condition, but a tree properly planted in autumn 
will make a much more vigorous growth the follow¬ 
ing season than if planting were delayed until spring. 
Even if the autumn be very dry, and the soil appar¬ 
ently without a trace of moisture, planting may be 
done with the greatest assurance of success. After 
placing an order, it is a good plan to dig the holes im¬ 
mediately, so that, when the trees arrive, they may 
be set at once if the weather be favorable. If, through 
any inclemency of the weather, planting must be de¬ 
ferred, the trees may be safely kept by carefully heel¬ 
ing them in a trench—the tops all in one direction 
and at an angle of 45 degrees, and the roots firmly 
covered with fine soil. In preparing the ground for the 
reception of the trees, the holes should be dug not less 
than two feet in diameter and 16 or 18 inches deep, 
throwing the top soil and subsoil in separate heaps. 
In planting a tree, return a quantity of the top soil, 
or loam, into the bottom of the hole. Then with a 
keen-edged knife or pruning shears cut away all 
mutilated or broken roots, and shorten the larger 
ones about one-third. Place the tree in position, in 
the center of the hole, and leaning toward the pre¬ 
vailing winds slightly. Straighten all roots out natu¬ 
rally, and sift in among them fine, loamy soil with 
the hand. Continue the straightening and sifting 
process until all the roots are compactly covered by 
the little pyramid of soil formed by this gradual 
“building up” operation. The remaining soil may 
then be shoveled in and made firm with the feet, fin¬ 
ishing with the subsoil, which should not be allowed 
to come in contact with the roots of a young tree. 
The most important point in autumn planting, how¬ 
ever, is the protection from heaving by frost during 
the winter—a comfortable “ muffler” in the form of 
a bank or mound of soil about the base of the tree. 
No. 1, Fig. 283, shows a baby Baldwin tucked away 
in its winter quarters, and fully explains this method 
of winter protection. The mound should be about 18 
inches in diameter and 10 or 12 inches high. In plant¬ 
ing about the home grounds, there is, usually, more 
or less sod to be removed in preparing the soil for the 
reception of the tree. These sods form an excellent 
material for topping off the mounds. In case there 
are no sods at hand, it is well to finish off each mound 
with a forkful of strawy manure. 
I do not think it best to cut back the head of the 
young tree in autumn. The wounds, although slight, 
heal more perfectly and, of course, more rapidly, if 
the cutting back be done in early spring, just as the 
buds begin to swell. No. 2 shows the same little 
Baldwin early in spring. Its “muffler” has just been 
removed—dug down—forming a fine, mellow mulch, 
and its head, or branches, properly thinned and 
shortened back. I know by experience that some will 
think this a heartless and useless operation ; but it is 
ODly courageous and, in time, will prove to have been 
a real kindness. No. 3 is from a photograph of a 
yearling Burbank plum tree previous to heading back. 
Fully one-half of country planters set out their trees 
and allow them to remain just in this shape. It is no 
wonder that, in driving through the country, we see 
so many top-heavy, leaning, sprawly and crooked 
young trees. I have seen whole orchards of valuable 
stock turned out in this root-hog-or-die fashion. It 
makes my fingers tingle to get just one good slash at 
each tree with a pair of sharp pruners. No. 4 shows, 
from nature, just what would be left of each tree of 
the style shown at No. 3. “ Ruined ! ” some one will 
exclaim. “ Just look where he cut that Burbank ! 
The whole head gone at one slice ! Only a stub left! 
It ’ll die—it ’ll never amount to - to-.” My 
friend, just pass to No. 5, which shows this same 
“ stub ” only two weeks from the day of the “ execu¬ 
tion”. At the end of the same growing season, this 
proved to have made a growth of from four to five feet, 
and was low-headed, erect, sturdy and full of vigor. 
Ohio. _ F H RALLOU. 
APPLE GROWING IN EGYPT, ILLINOIS. 
A NEW COUNTRY OPENING UP. 
That portion of the State of Illinois lying south of 
the Big Four railway, is known as Egypt. This name 
was given it years ago for the alleged reason that it 
was covered with the Egyptian darkness of ignorance. 
Its inhabitants were said to subsist chiefly on nuts, 
roots and “ homemade twist”, the latter being a com¬ 
bination of raw tobacco leaf, sorghum, and the juices 
of certain plants supposed to contain medical proper¬ 
ties of remarkable value. In the woods roamed the 
typical hazel-splitter of Georgia, while well-fed ’coons 
were to be found up 
every large tree, and 
unctuous ’possums in 
every hollow log. 
The most valuable 
animal a man could 
possess—the one that 
would make his name 
a household word in 
his locality and 
gather about him a 
great wealth of the 
stanchest friends— 
was a thoroughly re¬ 
liable ’coon dog, one 
that never was known 
to bark up the wrong 
tree. In Egypt, coun¬ 
ties and townships 
were an unknown 
quantity, all locali¬ 
ties being designated 
and known as 
“P’ints,” “Perairies,” 
“Criks” and “Fords”, 
with the name of 
some person or pecu¬ 
liarity attached. 
It used to be a standing joke in other portions of 
the State, that, in the halcyon days “ befo’ the wah”, 
delegates to political conventions in Egypt were not 
obliged to provide themselves with credentials, the 
color of the clay found in their ears being sufficient 
to identify them with the “P’int” or “Crik” from 
which they were sent. In those days, it was easy for 
a rattling good talker who was sharp enough to un¬ 
derstand the peculiarities and prejudices of the peo¬ 
ple, and properly to manipulate the “leaders”, to get 
himself elected to almost any local office to which he 
aspired. But of the old Egypt of Illinois, about all 
that is now left is the name. The close-observing, 
far-sighted, educated business man from the East, and 
the sturdy, tireless, scientific worker from the North, 
have gone into this region, searched out its possibili¬ 
ties and, to the wide-eyed wonder of the natives, de¬ 
veloped industries of such vast proportions that the 
country is rapidly being transformed into a human 
bee-hive. The new-comer brought with him new 
methods, new books, newspapers and farm papers, 
and live school teachers and ministers, and before the 
onslaught of these allies, the darkness of ignorance 
disappeared as night before the rising sun. Pretty 
villages with all modern improvements and conven- 
No. 1. No. 2. No. 3. No. 4. No. 5. 
STARTING AND TRIMMING THE AUTUMN-PLANTED TREE. Fig. 283. 
