THE CULTIVATOR. 
24 
is in a manner quiescent. This is declared by many to be the best 
period for pruning—because the second growth suffices to cover 
the lips of the wound, or, when small, the wound itself, with new 
wood and bark; and, in the second place, because the volume and 
force of the sap are then so much diminished, that few shoots or 
spray are thrown out. We have tried the different seasons, and are 
of the opinion, that the last mentioned time has a decided prefer¬ 
ence, For three successive years, we have pruned our orchard af¬ 
ter cutting an early crop of grass, say the middle of July, and have 
witnessed none of the evils which have resulted from autumn and 
spring pruning. 
We recommend to the cautious orchardist to do as we have done: 
try the three methods, and hold fast to that which does best. Ex¬ 
perience is the best school in which to gain instruction, and it is the 
only school in which most of us are willing to learn. 
We will give but three rules in regard to the operation of pruning 
an orchard, and they will be short ones. 
Prune annually. If judiciously done, none but small branches 
will be required to be cut, and the wounds of those will soon heal. 
Make a clean cuf, and pare smooth, w.th a sharp knife, the edges 
of the wound. This will greatly facilitate the healing process, and 
preserve the tree from decay. 
When the habit of the tree will allow, take out the leading shoot, 
at the height where you design to have the branches spread. A 
horizontal branch will produce more fruit than an upright one. 
The best application that we have tried, (and we have used it to 
advantage six or seven years,) to kill bark lice upon the apple tree, 
to destroy larvae of other insects, and to give a clean, healthy ap¬ 
pearance to the tree itself, is a strong ley, made of wood ashes or 
potash. It is applied to the bole or trunk of the tree, and branches 
if necessary, with a brush, nailed or tied to a stick a yard or more 
in length. The most suitable time to make the application is be¬ 
tween the middle and last of May. 
There are advantages and disadvantages in tilling an orchard. 
In tilled ground, trees are the most vigorous and thrifty; and it 
seems to be in a measure necessary to plough a few years to give 
the young trees a start. Yet even at this period, great care is re¬ 
quired not to cut the roots with the plough. But when the trees 
have acquired six or eight years’ growth, and the roots become ex¬ 
tended, still greater precaution is necessary, or the injury becomes 
serious. It is not altogether the large roots that are so liable to be 
cut, for these are often below the plough, but the innumerable 
fibres that spread in every direction, which escape the ploughman’s 
notice, but which are literally the mouths that convey food to the 
plant. Our practice has been, when an orchard is to be ploughed, 
to proceed, first to dig the ground superficially v ith the spade, about 
the tree, two or three feet in breadth, and as many yards lengthwise 
of the furrow, so that there shall be no balk, and to run the plough 
shallow near the dug part: and where the orchard is in grass, to 
dig circles round the trees after harvest, both to facilitate growth 
and to prevent injury, in winter, from moles. There is no less cau¬ 
tion necessary in using the spade than the plough, to preserve the 
roots entire. It is a good practice to cut the grass close with a hoe, 
and then to strew rotten chip dung, if mixed with a little lime the 
better, about the tree. 
THE GARDEN. 
If a snug well kept kitchen garden is not an infallible proof of 
thrift, when seen near a farm-house, it is a pretty certain indication 
of comfort and good sense. It shows that the owner is well to live, 
and intends to live well, so far as his labor and his lands can conduce 
to good living : for it will not be denied, that the farm and the gar¬ 
den may be made to produce, not only the substantials, but a great 
many of the luxuries of life—we mean those luxuries which, while 
they are grateful to the senses, neither pall the appetite, vitiate the 
taste, impair the health, nor corrupt the morals of those who par¬ 
take of them. Some consider the productions of the garden as 
constituting a necessary part of human food. So the man of the 
lorest would tell us, that bread is an unnecessary article of food— 
the Abyssinian, that it is unnecessary to cook our meat—and many 
of the inhabitants of Asia would insist, that it is i < p ous to indulge 
in the use of animal food at all. But as none of these opinions are 
suited to our age and country, there is no need of combatting them. 
The pleasures and benefits of a garden are so manifest, that none 
who have once enjoyed them are willing voluntarily to do without 
them. To have a succession of delicious fruits, plucked at maturity 
from the trees and vines which one has plamed and reared ;—and to 
partake daily of fresh gathered vegetables from one’s garden, the 
product of his labor, promotive alike of health and pleasure, are no 
mean gratifications; and yet they are privileges, we are too sorry 
to say, which, though all can enjoy, but few, comparatively, at pre- 
' sent, do pari icipate in. 
Let us enumerate some of the good things, conducive alike to 
heahh and innocent gratification, which a garden may be made to 
produce with very little expense. Our perennial products, which 
require very little care after they are once established. We will 
name, of fruits, the strawherry, (for these will be smothered by the 
grass on a well conducted farm,) ihe currant, gooseberry, plum, pear, 
quince, grape, and, in situations where they will thrive, the apricot 
and peach. But of fruits, we would have none but the best sorts ; for 
the best are as cheap as the worst, are as easily cultivated, and are 
infinitely more healthy and grateful. These, 'if well selected, will 
give a succession of fruit from June to November, and in a preserv¬ 
ed state during the year. Plants to begin with will cost from three 
to five dollars. They may be multiplied, by grafting, budding, &c. 
by the boys or men of the family, without any expense. The trees 
should be so arranged as to shade as little as possible the grounds 
that are to be tilled. Half a dozen roots of the pie-plant (rhubarb) 
will furnish abundant materials for pies and tarts, litlle if any inferi¬ 
or to the gooseberry, from April to July, or until the fruit is suffi¬ 
ciency advanced to supply its place. These should be planted two 
feet apart in good soil. A bed of forty by three and a half feet will 
supply the table with delicious asparagus, during a part of April, and 
the whole of May and June, if kept in good order. For this the 
ground should be dug deep and made rich. The seed, which will 
cost a shilling, should be sown in drills ten or twelve inches apart, 
about the first of May ; the bed should be kept free from weeds, and 
the ground forked in the spring. The third year it will be fit to cut. 
Or, roots may be bought at fifty cents the hundred, which will give 
a crop the second year. Plant them six inches apart in the drills. 
About two hundred and fifty plants will fill a bed of the given di¬ 
mensions. Among the perennials, we may also class some medicinal 
plants and sweet herbs which are useful and necessary in the econo- 
my of a family, such as sage, thyme, hyssop, bam, rue, tanzy, worm¬ 
wood, &c. which it requires ten times the labor to beg from more 
provident neighbors that it does to raise in our garden. The annual 
products, winch go towards subsisting a family, and which are sel¬ 
dom produced but in the garden, are numerous, as the onion, beet, 
carrot, parsnip, cabbage, peas, beans, pot herbs, sallads, radishes, 
squash, cucumber, melon, &c. Some of these are in use most of 
the season, and most of them afford valuable winter stores. 
These productions of the garden which we have named, and the 
list might be greatly extended, are all useful in the economy of a fa¬ 
mily, they afford a grateful variety, and tend to lessen, in no incon¬ 
siderable degree, the quantity of more solid and expensive food, 
which would be required without them—and yet they may all be 
produced in sufficient quantities for an ordinary family, upon a quar¬ 
ter of an acre of ground, and without seriously abstracting from the 
ordinary labors of the farm. A garden is truly a matter of economy 
in a pecuniary point of view ; but when we add to this consideration, 
the comfort and pleasure which it affords, we are persuaded we are 
in the line of duly, in commending the subject to the particular con¬ 
sideration of our readers. 
It is not our purpose at present to prescribe rules for laying out 
or managing a garden ; yet we cannot forbear to suggest, that the 
first step should be, to enclose it with a good substantial fence, and 
to keep that at all times in repair, so as effectually to exclude hoof 
and hog. We have said nothing of the sale of the surplus products 
of a garden, although hardly any location is without a market for 
such products; nor have we noticed the ornamental department; 
because the wife or daughters will see to this—they will have their 
shrubbery and their flower border. 
ON IMPROVED FARMING. 
The method of farming that has heretofore been generally adopt¬ 
ed in this country, was to cultivate that kind of crop which gave 
temporarily the most profitable returns, utterly regardless whether, 
by a succession of exhausting crops, the soil became impoverished 
or not Indeed, it was not till of late years even thought necessary 
to aid its fertility by such a thing a6 a rotation of crops, or the regu- 
