336 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
Nov 
pike—high on the acclivity of the Tryon he will find 
a bench of land which possesses a very peculiar charac¬ 
teristic. At night, generally, there is a pleasant breeze, 
and for several miles along the mountain side, there is 
never any dew to be found, and it is very rare that they 
have frost except in winter; and when the whole 
country above and below is covered with sleet, along 
this mountain side there is none. Here grows the 
finest native grapes that I ever saw, and the fruit crop 
never fails. And here is grown the heaviest wheat and 
rye in all the country. Here the inhabitants have the 
first dawn of the morning sun, and persons unaccustomed 
to the view, fancy that they can almost see him coming 
up from the watery deep. On the eastern side of this 
mountain is the earliest pasturage in spring, and the 
latest in the fall that is found in the whole range of 
mountains. 
This location is about 46 miles E. S. E. from Ash- 
ville, and 20 miles S. S. W. from Rutherfordton. Here 
two of those ever persevering men from the north, 
called Yankees, have commenced to wall in a vineyard, 
and to cultivate the broom corn, for manufacturing 
brooms. They have the purest water that flows out of 
the earth; and around them are beautiful cascades 
more than a hundred feet high, and above them the 
toppling peak of the Tryon. 
Thousands of persons throng this mountain region 
during summer to enjoy the pure bracing atmosphere, 
which on the eastern face of the mountain is dry and 
healthful; but farther back, in the mountains of the 
French Broad, there is much more dampness and heavy 
fogs; and if you still go west into Tennessee, the 
higher and thicker the mountains, and richer the soil, 
the more humid and unpleasant the atmosphere. 
You may readily conclude that along the eastern 
slopes of these mountains, the climate and country is 
finely adapted to the growth of wool, as may also be 
seen by many of the fine flocks of native unimproved 
sheep, which wander here untended, regardless of 
wolves or dogs, their greatest enemies. 
For two hundred miles along the eastern slopes of 
these mountains south, there are situations well suit¬ 
ed for large flocks of sheep, and land is cheap. In many 
places it does not cost more than 20 cts. per acre, and 
very fair land may be had for 40 cents per acre. 
But the stock is now being taken to make a railroad 
from the sea to the mountains, which will give great 
facility to trade and travel, and awaken new energy and 
enterprise in all this up-country. Henry M. Earle. 
Pacolett, Rutherford Co., N. C., Sept. 21, 1846. 
CULTIVATION OF CRANBERRIES. 
Mr. Editor —Permit me, through the Cultivator, to 
make some inquiries in regard to the cultivation of cran¬ 
berries. I have a piece of marsh land which is covered 
with what I call water bushes, and is also considerably 
sprinkled with cranberries. I intend this fall to tear 
up the bushes by the roots, and if possible have the 
cranberries take their place. I should be glad to 
know— 
1st. Which is the best way of getting the land well 
and evenly set with the cranberry plants? Should fruit 
or seed be sown broadcast, or plants set out? 
2d. If sown broadcast, what quantity should be sown 
per acre, and at what time in the year should the work 
be done? bearing in mind that in spring the land is un¬ 
der water. 
3d. Would it be better to give the muck a dress¬ 
ing of sand two or three inches in thickness, before 
seeding? 
4th. How long will they be in coming into bearing 
from the seed? 
5th. If plants are to be set, how far apart should they 
be placed? B. P. Robbins. 
Springfield, Mass., Sept., 1846. 
[We should be pleased if some of our readers who 
are acquainted with the culture of cranberries would 
answer the above inquiries.—E d.] 
PLANTING- NEW RESIDENCES. 
Every man who builds a new house on a new spot 
of ground, at the same time that he suits his taste, suf¬ 
fers the serious inconvenience for some years, of a want 
of large shade trees and of plenty of fine fruit. He 
must wait till the trees can grow; but if this period 
may be reduced to less than one-half its usual length, 
most men would certainly hail the means for its accom¬ 
plishment with great pleasure. If fruit trees which 
often stand for ten or twelve years without yielding 
much, can be made to produce considerable crops in 
five, a great object would be attained. Having had 
some little experience in this matter, we propose to 
offer a few hints. 
Trees should be set out as soon as possible after the 
ground is selected, in order that they may be growing. 
But nothing is gained by transplanting them before the 
ground is prepared for them. We have set out trees on 
land which had been simply plowed and made mellow, 
and where manure could not be well applied and in¬ 
termixed afterwards by plowing and harrowing. The 
consequence was, that trees of the same size at the time 
of transplanting, set out two years afterwards on pro¬ 
perly prepared land, outstripped the first in three years. 
In all irregular planting, or where horse cultivation can¬ 
not be afterwards constantly kept up, by the arrange¬ 
ment of the trees in rows, the soil should be previously 
prepared in the very best manner, by plowing and 
trench-plowing, and by the thorough intermixture of 
manure at the same time. The ground will be better 
fitted for the purpose ii prepared previously by the cul¬ 
tivation of root crops foi the more thorough admixture 
of the applied manure; out this should not occasion de¬ 
lay in planting trees, as numerous harrowings will ac¬ 
complish the same object very well, especially if the 
manure be short. Ground thus well prepared, and 
proper care afterwards, are far more important than set¬ 
ting out trees of very large size. A tree of moderate 
size is less checked in growth by removal, and will, as a 
consequence, often outstrip a larger tree, provided it 
receives proper care. The mode of producing imme¬ 
diate plantations of large trees, by removing those 
already six inches to a foot in diameter, first adopted on 
a large scale, by Henry Stuart, of Scotland, obtained con¬ 
siderable favor in that moist climate, though wholly un¬ 
adapted to this country. But Loudon, who had great ex¬ 
perience pledged himself to produce a fine and thrifty 
plantation of large trees in less time, by employing 
trees of moderate size, placed on deeply trenched and 
highly enriched soil, kept under good cultivation; seve¬ 
ral years being required to overcome the stunted and 
sickly appearance produced in the large trees. 
Much time may be gained in bringing young fruit 
trees into bearing by the selection of varieties, espe¬ 
cially of pears. There are some celebrated and excel¬ 
lent old pears, which usually require many years for the 
production of the first crop; while again there are 
other varieties, many of them comparatively new, which 
not unfrequently yield fruit before they leave the nur¬ 
sery row. Dearborn’s Seedling, Bartlett, Amire Joan- 
net, Indiana, Andrews, Cushing, Bloodgood, and some 
other fine varieties, often produce pears when but little 
larger than a stiff walking-cane. Peach and apple trees 
have often produced from half a bushel to a bushel per 
tree, the fourth or fifth year from transplanting, where 
the best cultivation had been given them. In other 
cases, where neglected, they have not yielded a peck 
in ten years. 
Before concluding these remarks, we wish to urge 
one point, so important, that if repeated three hundred 
times a year, would not be too often if it would accom¬ 
plish by that means the desired object. This is the 
thorough and constant cultivation of the soil for several 
years after young fruit trees are set out. If they are 
to stand in grass, which should be avoided if possible, 
a circle, at least six feet in diameter, (and better if ten) 
must be kept spaded mellow round each tree, and no 
grass nor weeds allowed to grow near it. The difference 
between neglecting trees, and keeping them in the best 
