130 
THE CT LTIYATOR. 
©ar^en anb tf)e ©rdjarb. 
CULTURE OF FRUIT—No. III. 
ADDITIONAL REMARKS ON TRANSPLANTING, GRAFT¬ 
ING, &C. 
The writer having just been favored with some criti¬ 
cisms, and additional remarks, from a source entitled to 
the highest confidence, hastens to add them to the re¬ 
marks already furnished. 
“ Seven feet in diameter is not too large for the holes, 
but it is too much to insist on when many trees are to be 
transplanted; because common folks would not obtain the 
necessary labor in the planting season. I could not, for 
one. By being too strenuous, our advice might be 
wholly rejected.” The object of the writer of these ar¬ 
ticles was to slate what he considered the best and most 
economical course, not what he thought would be most 
probably followed.* The holes may be dug for ten 
cents a piece; the trees cost twice as much, and will grow 
more than twice as fast, and produce more than double in 
a given time. But very few can afford to spare the labor 
in the transplanting season; hence it is better either to 
make the holes somewhat smaller, to dig and nearly fill 
them at some other season, or to transplant one-half as 
many, which, if done in the very best manner, and after¬ 
wards well cultivated, would probably yield more fruit 
than a much greater number taken care of in the usual 
manner. The necessity for large holes would doubtless 
be in a great degree obviated, in planting large orchards, 
by plowing a strip of land eight feet wide for each row, 
of double depth, and applying and thoroughly mixing 
with the soil, so much well rotted manure, compost, or 
chip-dirt, as the case may require. 
“ The great benefits of chip-dirt and rotten wood, so 
excellent for all kinds of trees, both for fruit and orna¬ 
mental, has been overlooked.” 
“ No certain rule will apply well for the distances be¬ 
tween apple trees. The Bough would do well on a square 
rod or 160 to the acre, while of “ the 18 ounce apple,”] 
more dwarfish still, more than 200 might grow on an 
acre. On the contrary, the Spitzenburg ought to stand on 
four square rods, and the Swaar on half that space. 
Again, the Seckel pear, and all cut-leaved peach trees, 
are dwarfs. ‘ Mere varieties [often] differ greatly in 
in size.’ ” But it becomes necessary to adopt some uni¬ 
form distance in planting common orchards, and in the 
former article, the average was taken. The instances 
just mentioned are unusual variations, and in very large 
orchards for commercial purposes, it might be well to 
vary the distances of the rows, without changing the dis¬ 
tances in them, for the several sizes. 
“ Does the curculio e rarely’ though ‘ frequently ? attack 
the earlier peaches?” The writer stated in No. 1, that 
“it rarely touches other than smooth stone fruit;” and 
that “the earlier peaches frequently suffer from its at¬ 
tack.” The White and Red Nutmeg were chiefly allu¬ 
ded to, which are rare in comparison with the rest of va¬ 
rieties. They are also comparatively smooth, nearly as 
much so as the apricot, which, though not possessing the 
glossy surface of the plum and nectarine, is so clear of 
down as to invite freely the attacks of this insect. “ No 
notice is given of catching it on sheets; and yet without 
this method, I could not hope for apricots in a fruit gar¬ 
den as large as mine. Last spring we destroyed [by this 
means] more than 1,600, and more than this number two 
years before.” It is done as follows:—Sheets are spread 
under the tree, which is jarred violently; the insects im¬ 
mediately drop on the white surface, where they are seen 
at a glance, and destroyed by the thumb and finger. The 
best time for the work is the cool of the morning. If 
commenced early enough in the season and continued 
every morning for a few weeks, this mode proves very 
effectual. Twice or three times a day would doubtless be 
better. The blow of a mallet on the stump of a sawed 
* In this he acknowledges himself inferior in shrewdness to 
the man from Limerick, who, writing home, stated he had meat 
in America twice a week: “ But,” said his companion, “ you 
have it every day.” “ Aye,” replied he, “ but do you think I’m 
such a fool as to tell them what they will never believe !” 
t A large striped apple, commonly known as the <l Twenty 
ounce apple 
limb, is the best mode of jarring the tree. A few minutes 
time is sufficient for many trees, if a few boys are at hand 
to carry and spread the sheets. 
“ The pail of icatcr should be applied [in transplant¬ 
ing] by throwing on about two or three quarts at a time, 
though dashing would be a better word.” 
“ Transplanting in autumn should be confined to dry 
soils, or such as are so loose that water will not stand in 
the holes during winter. In clay, trees should not be set 
in autumn.” 
“ To guard against mice , raise a small mound of earth 
one foot high round the tree. This method has never 
failed with me, and has proved of no injury.” 
The preceding remarks are given with the hope that 
they may prove of value to others, to whom objections 
similar to those just quoted, may have occurred. 
PRUNING ORCHARDS—Fig. 39. 
In the remarks on the Apple, in the last number of this 
paper, a very common error in pruning old trees, was 
not noticed. It consists in 
trimmingup the branches to 
a height of ten or fifteen feet 
from the ground; which, 
without much benefiting the 
growth of the tree, renders 
their appearance extremely 
unsightly, and precludes the 
possibility of gathering the 
fruit without great difficulty. 
Fig. 39, represents two spe¬ 
cimens of this bad pruning; 
which are not worse in ap¬ 
pearance, than hundreds 
found all over the country. 
Fig. 40, shows how they should be trimmed, to cause a 
fine, new, thrifty head, not so high as to be above easy 
reach, nor so low as to prevent the cultivation of the land. 
In heading down all large trees of this kind, it will be 
obvious that the large wounds need a covering; the best 
of which is a mixture of tar and brick-dust, applied hot 
to the fresh surface. 
The trees are represented leafless, in order to show 
them more clearly. J. J. T. 
CULTIVATION OF FRUIT—No. IV. 
THE CHERRY. 
Cherry stocks, in common with those of other fruit 
trees, are best when raised from seed; and for this pur¬ 
pose the stones should be dried moderately in the shade 
and then buried in earth, or else buried as soon as taken 
from the pulp. If they become much dried, vegetation 
will always be retarded a year, and generally wholly pre¬ 
vented. The mazzard or heart varieties are preferable 
for stocks on account of their straight and rapid growth. 
They are grafted standard height, when the round fruited 
varieties are inserted into them, as in such case they fur¬ 
nish better shaped trees. When budded standard height, 
the first shoot of the bud should be cut down to three oi 
four inches, to form a better head. 
Great difficulty is sometimes found in successfully 
[grafting the cherry. It should be performed very early 
