54 
THE CULTIVATOR. Feb. 
Horticulturist; and the writer 
can also add his testimony in 
its favor, having for many years 
used one of precisely similar 
operation, but of much simpler 
construction, and which was 
figured and described in the 
Fruit Culturist. As it appears 
never to have been much used, 
we append a figure and descrip¬ 
tion for the benefit of our rea¬ 
ders. The thin cutting blade 
A, is about two and a half in¬ 
ches long, set back at an angle 
of a hundred and twenty de¬ 
grees with the shaft and handle 
B, which moves it as a lever, 
in cutting; and when shut, 
reaches the concave bed or 
groove, sheathed with leather, 
in the wooden piece, C. These 
two pieces, with the connecting pivot, constitute the 
whole implement. The angle which the blade forms 
with the handles, causes an oblique or sawing motion 
to the edge of the blade, which renders it far more ef¬ 
fective in cutting, than the one described in the Horti¬ 
culturist, where the blade acts directly, not obliquely, 
by means of a lever and wheel. This tool is used in 
cutting off the heads of the stocks, preparatory to 
grafting, as well as in forming the slit of the graft; and 
the quickness and ease with which a tree an inch or 
more in diameter is severed at one stroke at right an¬ 
gles, is astonishing to one who first tries it—a slight 
pressure with the left hand against the top of the tree 
being given at the same timd. A blacksmith will make 
the blade in half an hour, and another hour’s work will 
complete the implement. The writer has used one ex¬ 
tensively for a dozen years, and it will apparently last 
as much longer, without any repair. 
Early Fruits. 
The Primordian and Cherry Plums. —The value 
of very early fruit is indicated by the eagerness with 
which the first ripening specimens are plucked from the 
early trees, or the high prices which such fruit always 
commands in market. A variety, even if second or 
third-rate in quality, becomes desirable, if but a few 
days in advance of all other sorts. There are, we be¬ 
lieve, no plums which nearly approach in early matu¬ 
rity the two we have here figured. 
The White Primordian, Jaune Hative, or Early 
Yellow , appears to have been much underrated, or at 
any rate, its merits entitle it to a far more extensive 
cultivation. It appears to be the earliest known vari¬ 
ety; its quality is good, certainly equal to some later 
ones, whose large size and showy appearance have 
given them a high reputation; and it is a most abun¬ 
dant bearer. The tree is of slender and slow growth, 
and of rather difficult propagation, which is perhaps 
one reason it is rarely to be found in nurseries.* With 
this exception, it appears to be quite superior to the 
Cherry plum—it greatly excels it in productiveness. 
Fully grown trees are usually loaded with as heavy a 
crop as the branches can bear. 
The fruit is small, the figure indicating the size of an 
average specimen, somewhat obovate, slightly marked, 
surface smooth, greenish yellow at first, becoming a 
fine clear yellow when fully ripe; stalk half an inch 
long, slender, downy, in a very narrow rather deep 
cavity; flesh yellow, moderately juicy, delicate in tex¬ 
* It may be possible that this plum does not succeed so well in 
other places as in Western New-York, to which these remarks 
apply. 
ture, of a very pleasant sweet (no acidity) but not 
high flavor; stone small, parting freely from the flesh. 
Branches slender, quite downy. It ripens at or a little 
before the usual time of wheat harvest, or in the early 
part of 7 mo. (July.) 
The Cherry Plum, Early Scarlet , or Myrobolan , 
is rather smaller than the Primordian, and just percep¬ 
tibly later; the tree is a freer grower, and the fruit 
more showy, but in all other particulars it is inferior. 
It is nearly round, color bright red, flesh greenish yellow, 
very juicy, rather coarser in texture than the Primor¬ 
dian, subacid, pleasant flavor, but not rich. It ripens 
during the latter part of wheat harvesting. Under or¬ 
dinary management, it is so poor a bearer as to be 
scarcely worth cultivating, even by the amateur; but 
we are informed in the Horticulturist, that Samuel 
Reeve, of New-Jersey, raises abundant crops every 
year, by retarding the luxuriant growth of the tree by 
transplanting them every five or six years; and hence 
root-pruning is recommended for the same purpose. 
There are some doubts, however, whether over-luxuri¬ 
ance is always the cause of its sterility, as old trees, 
growing in western New-York, as they advanced in 
age and decreased in thrifty growth, still remained 
nearly barren. 
Profits of Orchards. 
The past season has been remarkable for the ine¬ 
quality of the apple crop; for while in some parts of 
the country it has been a total failure, in others, or¬ 
chards have been uncommonly productive. Perhaps no 
where have they yielded more abundantly than in the 
western part of Wayne County, New-York, and the 
adjacent region. The following are not extraordi- 
dinary examples, and all occurring within about one 
mile of the residence of the writer. On one farm, 
one acre of ground is occupied chiefly with large trees 
of the Rhode Island Greening. The product was two 
hundred barrels, after reserving a sufficient quantity for 
domestic use. The price was sixty-two and a-half 
cents per barrel, and the aggregate amount one hun¬ 
dred and twenty-five dollars. Deducting twenty-five 
dollars for picking and carting to market on the Erie 
canal, which is more than the actual cost, we have 
one hundred dollars the nett proceeds of a single acre. 
It would require but a small farm, at this rate, to yield 
a greater revenue, than the salary of the Governor of 
the State. 
On another farm, half a mile distant, there are four 
and a-half acres of orchard, with vacancies nearly 
equal to one acre. The proprietor sold six hundred 
and fifty barrels, for four hundred and six dollars, be¬ 
sides reserving a supply for his own use; which is very 
near the amount per acre in the former instance. In 
this orchard, one tree of the Rhode Island Greening, 
bore forty bushels ; and two neighbors had each a tree 
of the same variety, the crop from each exceeding for¬ 
ty bushels, or ten dollars per tree. 
