1883 .] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
413 
picker. When the apple is in the cage, draw the 
elide down until the points of the picker meet on 
the apple stem. The thumb-stop will hold it se¬ 
cure. Turn the pole slowly without pulling, push¬ 
ing, or shaking the limb, and the apple will come 
off easily. The cage of the picker should be large 
enough to contain the largest apple, and enough 
wires may be attached to hold the smallest. The 
jaws should not be over one-eighth of an inch 
thick, flattened on the inside, to prevent bruising 
the ripe fruit. They may be wrapped with cloth, 
if thought necessary. Q. 
Make the Meadows Permanent. 
We cannot expect meadows, as they are usually 
managed, to be permanent. Grass, this year, in 
old meadows, is much lighter and thinner than 
last year. The past season has been one of ex¬ 
treme dryness in some sections of the country, 
there being no rain for two or three weeks during 
the time of getting in the hay. The removal of 
the grass during this dry period, allowed the 
hot sun to fall directly upon the roots, weakening 
and killing a large amount of them. Cutting with 
mowing machines, as it is generally done, leaves 
the stubble so short that it affords scarcely any pro¬ 
tection to the roots. Under these circumstances, 
meadows will run out; and when there is no 
growth of aftermath, there will be a loss in the 
future production of the meadow. If the winter 
is open, and the surface of the ground exposed, 
the damage is increased. A good aftermath is an 
indication of vigor in the grass roots, and essential 
to the protection of the meadow in winter and 
early spring. How shall this be secured ? A 
farmer who succeeded in preserving his meadows 
better than his neighbors, had a rule never to cut 
them in a dry time, and once in three years to let 
the grass stand until the seed ripened, so that 
it would shell out and renew the meadow. 
These results may be obtained by other methods, 
and the hay secured before it is over-ripe. The 
cutting-bar of the machine should be set higher, 
so as to leave longer stubble, which will help to 
keep the plants from dryiDg up. Plaster, liberally 
sown over the surface, will attract moisture and 
perhaps ammonia, and give the grass a good start. 
With a higher stubble, and this inexpensive auxil¬ 
iary, a growth of aftermath may be secured; and 
if this is left to rot on the ground, an annual pro¬ 
tection and enriching may be obtained, which will 
help to make the grass permanent. Pasturing 
meadows is frequently a damage. If seed is sown 
in August or September, and covered as much as 
possible with a harrow, it will help to renew the 
crop, although not so well as to sow the seed, and 
sprinkle it over with muck' or finely rotted manure. 
It will pay, when a field is well fitted for a 
meadow, to make it as permanent as possible. C. 
Successful Celery Management. 
Certain plants grow most rapidly during Sep¬ 
tember. The warm days are followed by cool 
nights, which bring copious dews; these refresh 
and invigorate the plants to such a marked degree, 
that it is not difficult to believe that they act as a 
fertilizer, bringing down the ammonia of the at¬ 
mosphere for the use of the plants. Among the 
crops most strikingly benefited by the alternation 
of warm days and dewy nights, is celery. Hav¬ 
ing recovered from the effects of transplanting, it 
is now fairly established ; its rapid growth should 
be encouraged by the frequent use of the hoe, 
without reference to the presence of weeds. In 
the old plan of planting celery at the bottom of a 
trench, earth was added every week or two. Some, 
in adopting the improved method of planting upon 
the surface, think that it is necessary to earth up 
the plants gradually. This is a mistake, and the 
treatment will result in poor, hollow stalks. In 
the present method, the plant should first make its 
full growth, and then be blanched by excluding 
th? light, which is the object of earthing up. If 
the earthing is gradual, the stalks will continue to 
grow at the tops, but largely at the expense of the 
lower part, which will be drawn upon to continue 
the growth, and instead of solid, crisp, and tender 
celery, it will be tough, hollow, and stringy. The 
main portion of the crop should not be blanched 
until its growth is complete, and severe frosts are 
at hand. If celery is needed for early use or sale, 
then a share of the crop, but only as much as can 
be disposed of, is to be earthed up. The first step 
in doing this is to bring the stalks of each plant 
into an upright position, grasping them with one 
hand, while with the other sufficient soil, previ¬ 
ously made loose by hoeing, is drawn towards the 
plant and pressed against it, to keep the stalks 
erect. This operation, called “handling” by the 
gardeners, is followed in about a week by earthing 
up by use of the spade, banking the earth against 
the plants to about half their bight. A week later 
the earthing is carried as high as the tops of the 
plants. Celery thus treated will blanch in about 
ten days, and Should be used as soon as ready. 
The bulk of the crop, for winter use, is to bo 
“handled” in the same manner, but not until 
next month, when all the plants should be brought 
into shape, the stems being erect, by this treatment. 
A Disbeliever in Hedges. 
Western farmers are apparently beginning to 
realize that Osage Orange hedges are not altogether 
an unmixed blessing, for I observe they are not 
now planting them around, across, and through 
their farms as freely as a few years ago. They 
were then styled the “poor man’s fence,” and 
while their praises were sounded far and near, 
thousands of miles were set out. A great many 
farms were divided into ten-acre lots, and some 
even smaller. Many of these cross-hedges have 
lately been cut out, and there are indications that 
more will soon follow. Between my farm and that 
of a neighbor stands a hedge that was planted 
thirteen years ago. The greater part of it was allow¬ 
ed to grow at will, and a cross section of it, roots and 
all, is shown in fig. 1. A small portion has been 
kept closely trimmed down to the hight of four 
feet, and a cross section of this is shown in fig. 2. 
The land on my side of the hedge has been con¬ 
stantly cultivated and frequently manured. On the 
opposite side, my neighbor has a strip of grass 
land twenty feet wide, which he uses as a road. 
The roots of the hedge, and their effect upon my 
corn crop last year, are plainly shown in figs. 1 and 
2. Investigation showed that, on my side, each 
large root was fed by thousands of fine fibrous 
roots, which literally filled the ground, reaching 
both up and down, and robbing the soil of all the 
fertility and moisture within their reach. The for¬ 
mer owner of my land made a weak attempt to 
prevent this piracy on the part of the hedge by 
digging a ditch two feet deep alongside of it. The 
effect of this ditch is shown in fig. 3. The evil I 
effects of the hedge roots were most noticeable 
during a dry season, and always very apparent. 
I suggested to my neighbor that it would please 
me greatly if he would grant me permission to re¬ 
duce the whole hedge to a uniform hight of four 
Fig. 3.— HEDGE AND DITCII. 
and a half or five feet. He objected on the ground 
that it afforded a fine windbreak for his pastures, 
yards, etc. Not wishing to enter into doubtful and 
expensive litigation with him, I had a ditch four 
feet deep and three feet wide dug the entire length 
of the hedge, two feet from it. It was a difficult 
and laborious job, but millions of the robber roots 
were severed, and the effect on both my land and 
the hedge was significant. About one-fourth of 
the hedge died. The remainder seems to be afflicted 
with the “ yellows,” while my crop this year looks 
ns well close by the ditch as it does fifty feet away. 
When it is fully understood that a healthy, trimmed 
Osage Orange hedge requires land at least a rod in 
width upon which to grow, and that an untrimmed 
hedge requires fully two rods, I think a less number 
of cross hedges will be planted, and many more that 
now cumber the land will be grubbed out. P. 
Preserving Forests against Fires. 
Wherever it is possible leave the trees standing 
in blocks. Between these blocks the land should 
be kept under cultivation by the plow, or pastured 
so closely as to prevent any grass from growing up 
and standing in high tufts, for such would enable 
the fire to run over the ground, and thus carry it 
from one block to another, to the destruction of 
their trees. The size of these blocks ought to be 
as small as possible; as a general rule, we would 
limit them to five to twenty acres, and never let 
one exceed fifty acres. The cultivated division 
between these should vary in breadth according to 
circumstances, to be decided upon by a Govern¬ 
ment surveyor. As western winds are more gen¬ 
erally prevalent during a dry time, when forests 
are most liable to be fired, the space ought to be 
broader between the eastern and western lines than 
the southern and northern. As wood and timber 
are cut, they should be hauled out from the woods 
and piled on or near the center of these spaces, 
and then, in case of fire, these at least would be 
saved from destruction. 
Before commencing lumbering in the forests, or 
clearing for cultivation, the tract of country sub¬ 
ject to this ought to be surveyed, and the spaces 
lined out to be first cut over, and all the brash 
cleaned up and burned before dry weather sets in. 
In some instances, these spaces could be left safely 
to grow up a new forest, but it would be better to 
put them under cultivation or into grass. If suit¬ 
able blocks of forest were left standing, the thin¬ 
nings of these would go far to supply the country 
with a sufficiency of lumber. As soon as a tree 
here had attained a proper age and size, it might 
be cut down, hauled out, and turned into lumber, 
as is done in many of the European forests. This 
gives the younger trees near where they stood a 
chance for a better and more rapid growth, thus 
keeping the blocks up for a never failing supply 
of wood aud timber for the annual wants of the 
country. 
Forests are set on fire by so many various ways, 
that neither guards nor laws, however strict, can 
