1872.] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
143 
of the tree. A person will open ancl kill the 
worms in from 400 to 800 traps in a da}'.” I 
have known one of these traps to be so thor¬ 
oughly torn to pieces by the Downy Woodpeck¬ 
er, that if they are to be preserved from year to 
year, it would be dangerous to leave them on 
the tree during winter. 
The inventor informed me that he believes his 
trap is more apt to come into general use by 
being patented, than if offered without price to 
the public. If, in his hope to realize a fortune 
from it, he sends out agents among the fruit¬ 
growers of the country, I am not sure but he is 
correct; especially if such agents are enabled, 
by proper circulars, giving a true and condensed 
history of the Codling-moth, to disseminate im¬ 
portant information. But the danger is, that 
patentees are sure to claim too much for their 
pet creations. This fact is well exemplified 
in the present instance, for the label pasted 
on such of the traps as have been so far sent 
out, commences as follows: 
Thomas Wier’s 
APPLE-WORM 
AND 
CURCULIO TRAP, 
Which catches Apple-Worms, Curculio, and 
every Species of Insects infesting Fruit. [7 / /] 
The love of gain obscures the light of truth; 
and this wonderful power of a pair of shingles to 
catch “every species of insect infesting fruit” is 
altogether too much like Mr. Quackenboslr’s pat¬ 
ent universal, never-failing Elixir, which cures 
all diseases that possess mankind ! It would not 
deceive the well-informed, but the glittering 
of its panaceal power may lure the ignorant. 
Other evils will likewise result from the sale 
of this trap under such spurious claims, and 
without some explanation of the insects’ habits. 
One of them may be illustrated by the following 
dialogue, which is not altogether imaginary, but 
is founded on an actual occurrence. Agent 
Gaingreedy — his desire to sell rights being 
stronger than his love of accuracy—meets farm¬ 
er Glauball, and straightway expatiates upon 
the merits of the patent trap. He shows how 
the worms gnaw their way in between the shin¬ 
gles, and how easily they may be destroyed. 
“ Acli! ” cries the credulous German, “ und is 
it true das de worm rader eat de schindel dan 
de apfel ? ” “O yes! ” says Gaingreedy, “ screw 
one of the traps on to this tree, and in a week I 
will come back, and we will examine it.” At 
the expiration of the week the trap is opened, 
and upon viewing with wonder the worms that 
have secreted in it, Glauball rapturously ex¬ 
claims, “ 1st es moglicli ? das ist de best ting I yet 
see,” and purchases the right to use much quick¬ 
er than he would if he knew that the worms had 
already been in his apples. 
It may be claimed that so long as men can be 
induced to use the trap, and kill the w'orms 
regularly, it matters little whether or not they 
understand the philosophy of its use; but bar¬ 
ring the principle at stake, the spread of error 
can never be fraught with any continued good; 
and when, by carelessness or oversight, some of 
the very priests of horticulture spread through 
the columns of prominent journals the absurd 
idea that the moth deposits her eggs between 
the “face of the trap,” it becomes patent that it 
is not the credulous German alone who needs 
correct rather than bogus information. 
I have thus indicated the mischief that may 
be done by overestimating the value of this trap, 
in order that the patentees may strip it of all 
appearance of sham, and present it to the fruit¬ 
grower for what it is—a very useful and impor¬ 
tant device—and not extol it as a sure Codling- 
moth exterminator. 
Onion Sets —A New Plan of Raising. 
BY PETER HENDERSON. 
Mr. VVm. C. Pelham, of Maysville, Ky., 
writes requesting me to try his method of 
raising onion sets the coming season, and give. 
the result of the experiment to the readers of 
the Agncultunst. But his method is so simple, 
so valuable, and so certain to be successful, that 
I deem it advisable to give it to the readers of 
the Agriculturist at once, so that many may 
avail themselves of it the present season. 
Mr. Pelham says that his method for the 
past three years has been to select a level and 
dry piece of ground. His ground is rich allu¬ 
vial loam, but the character of the soil is of no 
special importance. Beds arc formed two feet 
wide, with a path of one foot between. The 
“beds” are excavated to the depth of two 
inches—or, in other words, the path or alley 
between is two inches higher than the beds; 
the bottom of the beds is nicely smoothed with 
the back of a spade, so as to present a level 
surface whereon to sow the seed. The seed is 
sown so that from fifteen to twenty seeds will 
cover a square inch. If the surface of the beds 
was sprinkled with plaster or white sand, the 
seeds, which are black, could be sown more 
evenly. After sowing, the seeds are covered 
with two inches of pure clean sand, which 
brings the beds and paths to the same level. 
The whole is then rolled with a light roller or 
patted down with a spade. The advantages of this 
plan are, that there being no seeds of weeds in 
the sand, the labor of weeding is entirely saved, 
and the sets when matured are far more easily 
harvested from the clean, soft sand than from 
the hard-baked surface which most soils pre¬ 
sent after a season’s rains and sun on a surface 
that can not be stirred. 
I consider this plan of raising onion sets 
most valuable to the market-gardener, as a very 
little space devoted to this purpose will save 
him a heavy expense in the purchasing of onion 
sets. Few market-gardeners can grow them 
in the ordinary manner, unless at an expense 
greater than they can be purchased for from 
those who make a business of growing them. 
But the price paid for sets the past six or 
eight years has been so high that many market- 
gardeners have abandoned growing them. Last 
year I paid about $150 for sets sufficient to plant 
an acre. By Mr. Pelham’s method, I think the 
same quantity may be grown at an expense of 
from $30 to $50. 
Every now and then we find practical gar¬ 
deners and farmers grumbling that there is 
nothing new for them to learn from our agricul¬ 
tural papers. True, they may not learn some¬ 
thing valuable from every number, but there 
are very few who will carefully read the col¬ 
umns of the Agriculturist for a year without 
gaining some information. I consider that this 
simple plan of Mr. Pelham’s is alone worth 
twenty years’ subscription to any market-gar¬ 
dener cultivating five acres of land, and who 
makes onion sets one item of his crop. 
Hot-beds are mor elikely to suffer this month 
than at an earlier time. Though the weather 
may be cold, the sun has now great power, and 
a short neglect of the tender plants in the beds 
may ruin them past recovery. Give air before 
the sun gets too hot in the morning, and cover 
early in the afternoon. Be prepared with mats 
or shutters for a cold night. The sudden 
changes must be watched, and their ill effects 
provided against. 
Hints about Tree-Planting. 
BY AN ILLINOIS COBBESPONDENT. 
There is a prevalent idea, that trees if grown 
from seed in any particular locality, will be 
especially adapted to its soil and climate. I re¬ 
gard this as all humbug. It can not be expected 
or looked for any more than that an elephant 
born at the North Pole should be adapted to 
the climate and food of the white bear. 
Many men buy apple and pear seed, and 
plant them with the expectation that the trees 
will be adapted to their climate and 6oil, which 
is no more apt to be the case than were they 
grown in any other country. It will be a hard 
matter to find two trees in one thousand that 
are exactly alike. < 
The first thing for any man to do, if he wants 
to plant an orchard, is to make a survey of his 
own town and county, investigate the different 
orchards, varieties, and locations, no matter what 
he may have seen away from home, or how 
well he may like certain varieties. All that he 
has observed elsewhere is of but little use until 
he determines its adaptability to his own locality. 
Could we have things done as they should be, 
there would not be such a loss in apple, pear, 
and cherry tree3, in the West and South-west. 
We plant so many trees that are not adapted 
to soil and climate, and our management is so 
bad, that we lose thousands of trees yearly by 
what is called by some of our wise men “ root- 
rot.” A thorough investigation of the matter 
proved to me that there was no such complaint 
or disease among trees, notwithstanding it is 
kept before the people, like many other hum¬ 
bugs, not for the utility of the theory, but for 
want of something better. 
The cause of this complaint is banking trees . 
above the collar. In the months of July and 
Augusta canker sets'in just below the surface, 
and continues until it eats the bark to the 
wood; then the trees die immediately. 
The only way to avoid this is to keep the 
crown of the tree exposed to the weather all 
summer, or by double-working the tree. It has 
been claimed by some that root-grafting was the 
cause, but experience has shown different. Take 
any sort that will throw out new roots when 
the tree is too deeply set, and you may root-graft 
all you please, without any bad results, except 
an overgrowth of some varieties. Then you 
ean top-graft, and you have the whole thing, 
and just such a thing as you want, without any 
interference of soil or climate. 
The best time to plant trees is in the spring. If 
we take trees from New York to a colder climate 
in the fall, and set them out in the field, the 
chances are that many sorts will die. But if set 
in spring, they have a chance to become accli¬ 
mated, and will stand the succeeding winter far 
better, I am very much opposed to planting 
trees in the fall for that reason. If trees are 
grown in crowded nursery rows, the bark and 
wood are tender, and if taken to the cold bleak 
fields, many will die, and, especially where the 
ground freezes and thaws, the roots will be in¬ 
jured. If planted in spring, the trees take root 
and become acclimated. Always keep one 
thing in view—do not set trees too deep ; let the 
collar be above the ground ; then, with decent 
cultivation, the tree will grow and do well. 
Zack. 
