382 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
bat the average, might be doubled by thorough tillage, a 
judicious application of manures and fertilizing agents. 
If fifteen bushels can be added to our crops, and I know 
of no reason why it cannot, I do know that the last fif¬ 
teen can be produced with as little expense as the first. 
For our swamps are full of muck, our forests full of 
leaves, and many of our barn-yards, (I shame to say it,) 
unless we move our barns and yards, are full from year 
to year; and our straw, huge piles, sometimes covering 
acres, is left to lie and bleach and blow away by the 
winds of Heaven, if it does not suffer a more speedy de- 
.struction by fire. We have also forests that must be fell¬ 
ed before we can cultivate the soil; these furnish ashes 
and coal to our heart’s content. We have materials 
enough for manure; all we want is a little extra labor, 
and time to make a proper use of them, and our soil, as 
well as producing as good soldiers and as eminent states¬ 
men, would produce as good crops as the broad domains 
of our transatlantic brethren. 
Yours, my dear Sir, with much respect, 
Levi H. Hare. 
Centreville, St. Joseph Co., Mich., Oct. 7, 1844. 
CULTURE OF FRUIT TREES, &c. 
Luthe” Tucker, Esq—In your very interesting pa¬ 
per, The Cultivator, Jan. 1844, page 37, is the com¬ 
mencement of some very judicious remarks, by J. J. Tho¬ 
mas, on the culture of fruit trees. When farmers trans¬ 
plant fruit trees, they have a desire to seem them “ bring 
forth much fruit.” I will say to them, follow the direc¬ 
tions of Mr. Thomas, and with a little care of the trees 
after they are set out, they will be sure to have an ample 
supply of fruit. I hear one say, “ I have so much corn 
to plant and other work to do, I cannot spare time, neith¬ 
er do I think it will make a very great difference. My 
grandfather and father, never took so much pains, and 
their trees bear well.” I reply—“If you follow the di¬ 
rections of Mr. Thomas, you will have much better fruit 
than your father ever had, and double the quantity. If 
you wish to receive the greatest possible benefit from 
your labor, plant less corn, and take more time to set out 
your trees.” 
In the N. E. Farmer of May 11, 1842, page 355, there 
is a letter I wrote, which differs a trifle from the follow¬ 
ing statement. 
Our island is surrounded by the ocean; it is 21 miles 
long and 5 wide. But little fruit has ever been raised on 
it, and that little, very inferior. It has often been said, 
“it is impossible to raise good fruit on this island.” 
Eleven years ago, I hired a man to set out 17 apple trees. 
He dug very small holes, and set them out in a very short 
time. The spring following, I set out one apple tree. I 
dug the hole 10 feet in diameter and 3 feet deep. The 
subsoil (yellow earth,) was carried away, and the hole 
filled with sods inverted, and rich earth. That tree has 
borne more apples than all the others. This spring it mea¬ 
sured 34| inches in circumference near the ground. The 
largest of the others, is 23| inches. Had I given ten dol¬ 
lars a piece to have had them set out as they should have 
been, instead of having them set out as they were, I be¬ 
lieve it would have been money well laid out. 
One of my trees has borne no fruit. This spring, I ex¬ 
amined it, and instead of having the roots to extend hor¬ 
izontally, or nearly so, they turned directly down. I 
have thought of transplanting it this fall. Will that be 
best ? If not, what shall I do with it ? 
In whip grafting, I cannot see the use of tongueing. I 
never practice it, and seldom lose one. It appears to me 
to be labor lost. I never have more than two buds on the 
scion. I cover the ends with composition. If bo f h buds 
sprout, I cut off the weakest. If the scion should need 
support, I tie a small stick to the stock, and let it extend 
high enough to tie the scion to. In budding, I support 
the scion the same way. In the spring, if the bud has ta¬ 
ken, I cut off the stock as smooth as possible, the healing 
process commences immediately, and the wound soon 
closes. 
Peach trees do not thrive with us. I have whitewash¬ 
ed them and washed them with soft soap. Around their 
trunks, I have put ashes, lime, barn manure, chip dirt, 
charcoal, &c. But they seldom live more than three or 
four years. Their leaves expand in the spring, and for a 
few weeks the trees look well, but soon the leaves turn 
red, become very thick, double up and die. Many of the 
limbs, and often the whole tree dies. I have carefully 
examined the leaves, and I have pulled up many of the 
trees, and examined the roots, to see if the worm had at¬ 
tacked them, but found nothing. I therefore think it 
must be the atmosphere that effects them. 
The Canker Worm and Borer have not troubled me, 
but we have a plenty of worms that do their work quite 
as well. 
I know of nothing that is so poisonous to insects as di¬ 
luted oil soap. A few days ago I had a bucket of diluted 
soft soap, into which a grasshopper flew, he swam about 
for a long time before he died. I had another bucket of 
diluted oil soap, a grasshopper hopped into it, and very 
soon (almost instantaneously,) expired. My gooseberry 
bushes have been attacked by small green worms. I 
sprinkled some diluted oil soap on the bushes, which im¬ 
mediately checked their ravages. When Canker Worms 
are discovered on apple trees, would it not be well, (if 
it has not been tried,) with a good syrenge, to sprinkle 
your trees with diluted oil soap 1 
Will whip grafting do for the grape vine ? If so, at 
what time must it be done ? 
An answer to the above questions, will oblige some of 
your constant readers. Yours, respectfully, 
Edgartoxcn, Oct. 16, 1844. Allen Coffin. 
LABELS FOR FRUIT TREES. 
Editor of the Cultivator —I noticed in a recent 
number of your paper, a mode for preparing labels for 
fruit trees, &c. from wood; I send you another, and think 
far better label. Take slips of zinc, of size suitable, say 
3 inches long, by half an inch in width, (any tin plate 
worker will cut them out of the size desired) drill or 
punch a hole near the end of each slip; then write upon 
them the name of the fruit, &c., or its number in your 
fruit list, with the following composition: 
composition for writing on zinc labels: 
Take verdigris in powder, one part, 
sal ammoniac, one part, 
lamp black, half a part, 
water, ten parts. 
Mix them in a glass or wedgewood mortar, at first add¬ 
ing as much water as will mix the ingredients well to¬ 
gether, then add the remainder of the water; when pla¬ 
ced in a vessel, let it be well shaken up from time to 
time, and in a few days it will be ready for use. Shake 
well before using it. The mixture writes about as easi¬ 
ly as common writing ink, and makes a permanent black 
mark upon the zinc. I have used this composition for 
labels on my trees for a number of years past, and I do 
not find t-hat the exposure to the weather has obliterated 
a single mark; the names are as legible now as on the 
day they were written; painted cedar labels marked with 
a black lead pencil, put on at the same time with the zinc 
labels, have ceased to be of any use, the wood being 
mos’ly worn out, and the writing illegible. 
The foregoing recipe was furnished me by a gentleman 
some years since; he said he believed it had been publish¬ 
ed in some agricultural paper. The labels are to be at¬ 
tached to a limb of the tree by copper wire. 
My plan is to write the name of the fruit, &c. on one 
side of the label, and on the opposite side I place the 
number which I have affixed to that variety in my fruit 
book; thus on one side, “Broca’s Bergamot,” on the op¬ 
posite side of the label “No. 100,” No. 100 being Broca’s 
Bergamot, in my list. Yours, &c. W. N. Green. 
Worcester, Mass., Nov. 8, 1844. 
Native Grape. —A correspondent of the Boston Cul¬ 
tivator speaks in high terms of a seedling grape, purcha¬ 
sed of G. B. Emerson, Esq. of Boston. The size of the 
berry is said to be about that of an ounce bullet, or that 
of the Sweetwater grape. The flavor is rich, much more 
so than the Isabella. It has no pulp or foxy taste. It is 
not likely to be injured by frost, as it puts out about ten 
days later than the Isabella, and ripens a month earlier. 
It was in eating the latter part of August. The vine is 
perfectly hardy. 
