1849. 
117 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
to grow. But if cut too closely, the stump of the stock 
will be ome partially dry down below the place of the 
bud, and endanger its growth; hence two or three inches 
must be left until some inches of growth are made, and 
to this stump the young shoot is tied to straighten the 
tree. The stump may be cut closely about mid-summer 
or sooner. 
Young trees, lacking vigor of growth, maybe ma¬ 
nured by spreading compost or yard manure over the 
surface for some feet from the tree, and spading it in. 
For the peach, pear, and apple, the application of ash¬ 
es, (if leached, they are highly valuable,) and lime, is 
usually found of eminent service. 
Preparing for transplanting, should |>e done in 
the most thorough manner. Large holes, six or seven 
feet in diameter, and a foot and a-half deep, filled with 
rich mould, will be found cheaper for most kinds, than 
holes just large enough to crowd the roots in with some 
difficulty. A still better way is, to subsoil and trench- 
plow for one year previously, either the whole surface, 
or a strip ten feet wide where the row of trees is to 
stand, thoroughly mixing in manure, muck, and ashes, 
in compost, by the process of plowing and tillage. 
Now, does any one start up in alarm, at the cost of 
this preparation % As well might he become frighten¬ 
ed at the expense of setting out his trees at all,—and in¬ 
deed with a great deal more propriety, at the hasty and 
superficial style; for fifty apple trees, thoroughly set out 
at a cost equal to the price of fifty more, will yield in 
ten years, more than twice the amount of fruit to be 
obtained from the full hundred without care or prepa¬ 
ration, to say nothing of the superior quality. 
Pruning connected with Transplanting. 
Every cultivator must have noticed the great differ¬ 
ence between the vigor of growth, and the power of 
producing new shoots, possessed by those more south¬ 
ern species, the peach and the grape, than those of 
more northern origin, as the apple and cherry. Hence 
the greater necessity of pruning the peach and grape, 
to improve the quality of the crop, and prevent a re¬ 
dundancy of wood and leaves. 
This reproducing power enables tne cultivator to se¬ 
cure an important advantage in transplanting. The 
shoots of a grape-vine, wdien set out, may be cut back 
to two or three buds, and it will quickly throw out a 
new growth. The peach will do the same. It hence 
becomes far safer in removal to lessen the number of 
buds, until a corresponding growth of the root will sup¬ 
port a heavy amount of foliage. This also explains 
the reason why peach trees may be set out in the bud , 
(that is, before the inserted bud has started,) with such 
great safety, and without diminishing the growth for 
the first, nor any subsequent year. 
So important is the shortening back of the shoots of 
young peach trees when transplanted, so as to reduce 
to a-half or a-quarter, the number of buds, that we 
have had as good success in setting out trees three or 
four years from the bud, with this shortening, as in 
others only one year old, without it. 
The Peach Crop. 
Through a large portion of Western New-York, most 
of the peach crop has been destroyed by the severe cold 
of the late winter, the thermometer having sunk seve¬ 
ral degrees below zero. In favorable localities, a part 
of the fruit buds have escaped. Where the thermome¬ 
ter sunk to 10° or 12° below zero, nearly the whole 
have suffered. The fruit buds are capable of endu¬ 
ring a much lower degree of cold, if they have not been 
in the least degree swollen by previous warm weather; 
but it usually happens that a few mild days late in au¬ 
tumn or during winter, throw into them moisture 
enough to render them liable to destruction. The re¬ 
markably mild weather, at the commencement of the 
past winter, will be recollected by all, and it was ob¬ 
served with apprehension by those who knew the dan¬ 
gerous position in which it wasplacing the peach crop. 
Large and Small Fruit. 
The value which is placed on large size alone, has 
contributed in a great degree, to introduce poor fruits 
into cultivation. Where would have been the Mon¬ 
strous Pippin or the Gloria Mundi (glory of the world) 
if it had been no larger than the Ross Nonpareil or 
Bullock’s Pippin ? Such 11 heavy orbs” as the Alexan¬ 
der, the Twenty Ounce, and Pound Sweeting, although 
not to be compared in quality to many others, have 
been suffered to eclipse them, until cultivators had their 
sight thoroughly satiated by gazing at the monsters, 
and the palate remained yet to be consulted. 
There is less excuse for retaining such large sorts, 
because beyond a certain size for an apple, weight be¬ 
comes an evil, by adding to the liability to bruise. For 
this reason, it is not desirable to have larger than the 
Gravenstein, Swaar, and Esopus Spitzenburgh, when 
well grown. Much smaller sorts, on the other 
hand, although they may be of high flavor, are less 
convenient in gathering, and have hardly space enough 
for a good mass of pulp between the skin and the core. 
Hence the value of Bullock’s Pippin, and English Gol¬ 
den Pippin become greatly diminished; and even the 
Pomme Grise and English Russet, are less prized for 
falling a little below the standard of magnitude. Ear¬ 
ly apples, softer and more easily bruised, may be less 
in size than keepers; for which reason, the small figure 
of the Early Joe and Garden Royal should not be re¬ 
garded as so serious an objection as with winter fruit. 
With small fruits, as the cherry and strawberry, it is 
more important to secure large size. If it requires as 
much time to pick a peck of one of these, as a cartload 
of apples and peaches, doubling the bulk becomes a 
point of great convenience. 
We have often thought that a classification of a few 
prominent varieties, according to their leading qualities 
of recommendation, would be interesting as well as use¬ 
ful:— 
Fruits remarkable chiefly for large size: —Mon¬ 
strous Pippin, Pound Sweeting, Alexander and Kentish 
Filbasket apples; Belle et Bonne, Colmar d’Aremberg, 
Dunmore, and Cumberland pears; the Yellow Egg, 
Diamond, and Duane’s Purple plums; and Methven 
and Wilmot’s Superb strawberries. 
For remarkable beauty alone: —Cranberry Pippin 
and Beauty of Kent apples; and Belle de Bruxelles, 
Columbia, Summer Belle, Jalousie and Forelle pears. 
For fine flavor, but deficient in size :—Early Joe, 
Ross Nonpareil, Bullock’s Pippin, (when well ripened,) 
Garden Royal, Golden Pippin, and Sam Young apples; 
Seckel, Eyewood, and Rostiezer pears; Green Gage 
and Frost Gage plums; and Duke of Kent strawberry. 
Fruits of good quality, whose reputation has been 
assisted by fine or handsome appearance :—Dutch 
Mignonne, Red Astrachan, Williams’ Favorite, Maid¬ 
en’s Blush, St. Lawrence, and Lady apples; Golden 
Bilboa, Bartlett, and Vicar of Winkfield pears; Cool- 
edge’s Favorite and Crawford’s Early peaches; Wash¬ 
ington and Cruger’s Scarlet plums; Napoleon Bigar- 
reau and Graffion cherries; and Hovey’s Seedling straw¬ 
berry. 
Cherries arranged in order of their size: —Napoleon 
Bigarreau, Black Tartarian (when not overloaded,) 
Graffion or Biggareau, Large White Bigarreau, Hol¬ 
land Bigarreau, Knight’s Early Black and Belle Mag- 
nifique, Large English Morello, Black Eagle, Carna- 
