118 THE CULTIVATOR. April, 
tion, Florence, Elkhorn, Early Purple, Guigne and 
American Heart, Sparhawk’s Honey, Gridley and Belle 
de Clioisey, Downer and Madison Bigarreau, and May 
Bigarreau. __ 
Pruning Young Apples—the Baldwin Apple. 
Eds. Cultivator —Mr. Downing seems to think that 
our powerful sun reaches every part of the tree, and 
renders the minute system of pruning and training, 
which occupy so large a portion of the English works 
oa this subject, of little or no moment to the cultivator 
here. I have been engaged in raising engrafted fruit 
about twenty years, and my impression is, that strict 
and minute attention should be given in the formation 
of the young apple tree. I have found that where the 
tree was suffered to take its own course, that in a great 
many instances, when it comes to bearing, the tree will 
be badly balanced, and some limbs having a greater 
amount of fruit than others, come in contact. When 
this is the ease, the fruit on the younger limbs will not 
mature well. The best method of forming a tree that 
has ever been suggested to my mind, is at about seven 
feet from the ground, to trim all the limbs off but four, 
and them to be left in opposite directions—say to cor¬ 
respond with the different points of the compass. Pass¬ 
ing up the main shaft of the young tree, about four ft. 
above the first tier of limbs, you should then leave four 
more young limbs, immediately over the spaces of the 
under tier of limbs. You can extend the same course 
as much higher as may be thought expedient. A tree 
pruned in the above described way, let it be ever so 
heavily laden with fruit, will not break in any part; be¬ 
sides, if one limb has more fruit on it than the others, 
when bowed down, it will not come in contact with 
limbs on the lower tier, because there is none immedi¬ 
ately under it. When a tree is formed as above de¬ 
scribed, the fruit throughout the whole tree will be of 
an uniform size, and will mature better than when ma¬ 
naged in any other way. 
It is supposed by some that the Baldwin apple does 
not do as well south of New England, as it does there. 
I have had trees of that description in bearing for about 
fifteen years, in the vicinity of Wheeling, Va., which 
is in latitude 40° 10'. The Baldwin apple in New Eng¬ 
land I only know by reputation; therefore do not know 
how it ripens and keeps, when compared with other 
keeping fruit. My Baldwin apples are fit for barreling 
from ten to fourteen days sooner than any of my other 
fruit, and I have a goodly variety. If they are picked 
and barreled with care, and laid in some cool place, 
they will keep tolerably well until the last of February. 
They are very palatable and even delicious, and parti¬ 
cularly so when we speak of them as a cooking apple. 
N. P. A. Etna , O., 1849. 
Raising Peach Trees. 
Eds. Cultivator —I have been very successful in 
raising peach trees in a nursery, and the following has 
been the method practiced: I always procure pits of 
the common late variety, and none others, which are 
kept dry until about the first of March, when they are 
then soaked in barrels of water until the seeds are per¬ 
fectly swelled with the moisture. The pits are then 
placed in layers on the surface of the ground, and co¬ 
vered with soil, where they are exposed to the frost un¬ 
til about the first of April, when they are taken out 
and carefully cracked by hand, and as fast as the seeds 
are taken out, they are thrown into a dish of water, 
which breaks the fall and prevents injury to the germ. 
The seeds should not remain too long in the water, as 
they are liable to be injured by an excess. The next 
process is to put them in a situation to germinate; and 
I have found a preparation of leaf mould and fine 
yellow loam sifted, much the best for the purpose; as 
the seeds are not liable to be injured in their removal, 
after they are sprouted, the preparation should be pla¬ 
ced in a situation where the sun shines most during the 
day, with the peach seeds mixed through it. The 
dark color of the leaf mould attracts the heat of the 
sun, and soon causes the seeds to germinate. The next 
process is the planting, which is a very important part.* 
After the ground is plowed and leveled, a line is stretch¬ 
ed where the first row is intended to be planted. The 
line is spaced off at six to eight inches, and permanently 
marked, and a seed is to be planted opposite to each 
mark which makes great regularity in the growth of 
the trees, all having an equal chance. In putting the 
seeds in the ground, I use a common transplanting 
trowel to dig fhe hole for the seed, which is made about 
one inch deep. The root and seed is placed carefully 
on the side, and covered with moist and mellow soil. 
If the earth is very dry, it should be watered over each 
seed, to insure complete success. If any fail to grow, 
they can be made good by setting in plants of peach 
trees 2 or 3 inches high. The latter operation should 
not be put off too long, as peach trees will not grow 
well if transplanted after the roots turn red. After the 
trees are about three inches high, they should have the 
ground well loosened around them, and the surface be¬ 
tween the rows well stirred with the cultivator. The 
trees need be hoed but twice during the first season. I 
always make it a practice to use the cultivator after 
every rain which occurs during the growing season, 
while the trees remain in the nursery. The rows should 
be made three and a-half feet distant from each other. 
There is one other notion connected with the opera¬ 
tion of growing peach trees. If seeds of the top onion 
are planted in the space between the trees, a crop of 
excellent onions may be grown, without being at all 
detrimental to the growth of the trees, and the quan¬ 
tity will at least pay one-half the expense of raising 
the nursery. The onions which I have raised in this 
manner, were of fair size, and the fact of their being 
shaded by the trees during l he hot weather, prevented 
their becoming so outrageous strong as they generally 
are. when exposed to the full heat of the sun during the 
summer. The great ultima thule of growing peach 
trees, whether in the nursery or orchard, consists in 
stirring the ground often, especially after every rain 
which falls through the growing season; and this fact 
should be impressed upon the mind of every person who 
expects to realise his wnshes in this matter. A regular 
system of operation should be adopted, and carried out; 
and is actually of as much or more importance than is 
necessary to their growth and welfare, (i. e.) the 
warmth of the sun, vegetable matter, air, &c. I have 
often noticed the sad effects of plowing or summer fal¬ 
lowing ground occupied by peach trees. Such an ope¬ 
ration is almost sure destruction to them, from the fact 
of the fibrous roots being destroyed at a time when they 
are of the greatest importance for the nourishment of 
the tree; (the same will apply to the apple orchard.) 
My young peach trees are always fit to bud in August; 
and if it is done early, an opportunity is afforded to re¬ 
bud any trees where the bud fails in the first trial. I 
cut or head down my inoculated trees about the last of 
March, and if I find any trees whose buds failed to 
grow, I immediately dig them out and throw them 
away, as of no importance, for I consider it better to 
raise anew, than to bother with old, as they obstruct 
the free growth of buds around them, being of better 
constitution than most of the improved kinds. Isaac 
Hildreth. Yates Co., N. Y. 
* When the seeds are taken out for final planting- after being 
sprouted, they should be covered with a wet cloth to prevent the 
gum from drying in the sun or wind. 
