1847. THE CULTIVATOR. 14 7 
had no effect as manure. The following year, which ceptible effect whatever. The soil clay loam. Solon 
was last summer, ground planted with corn,- no per- Ramsdell. Elmira , N. Y. } March , 1845. 
THE ORCHARD AND THE GARDEN. 
Management of Pear Trees. —I find in the Cul¬ 
tivator for December, an account of the manner in 
which an ‘•outcast” pear tree was renovated. The 
case I wish to present for your consideration is not ex¬ 
actly like this, for my trees are young and thrifty; but 
the fruit they bear, as described by J. B. W., is “ only 
cracked, blighted, and miserable.” Five years ago 
last November, I procured from an adjacent nursery, 
six Virgalieu pear trees, and set them in my garden. 
Believing that trees worth a dollar apiece were also 
worthy of the best attention, I did not fail to bestow it. 
Chip manure was repeatedly, and a small quantity of 
lime occasionally applied, and the ground about the 
trees kept mellow. The result of all was a rapid 
growth, one or two of them having already attained a 
height of sixteen feet, and at this ratio of increase, will 
soon become large trees. Eut unless they can be made 
to produce entirely different fruit from any yet gathered 
from them, they will be of little value. It has been 
suggested that so rapid a growth is unfavorable to bear¬ 
ing. There may be some truth in this remark. I have 
been informed that one or two trees of the same variety 
as mine, and taken from the same nursery, about the 
same time, but treated with comparative neglect, and 
of stinted growth, • have borne excellent pears. I ad¬ 
ministered a pretty thorough pruning last spring, and a 
generous clipping of scions was also taken from them, 
with no apparent benefit. Thus, Mr. Editor, I have 
given you the facts in the case ; and now I inquire 
whether the method pursued by J. B. W. to renovate an 
old tree, would, in your opinion, be likely to accomplish 
a similar result if applied to mine ? G. Butler. 
Clinton, Jan. 1st , 1847. 
Remarks. —It is impossible to prescribe with pre¬ 
cision in such cases as this, without knowing all the es¬ 
sential circumstances. Whether the difficulty is owing 
to a too rapid growth, to the exhaustion of some essen¬ 
tial ingredient in the soil, as is suggested in the case 
given by J. B. W., or to something else unknown, or 
to several causes combined, it would be impossible to 
decide. 
The experiment tried by J. B. W., is a very interesting 
and striking one. The trees were thrifty, and for a 
time bore well—they subsequently produced only worth¬ 
less fruit. On the supposition that they had exhausted 
rsome essential portion of the soil, the trench was made 
round them, and new soil applied, with cinders, char¬ 
coal, and potash, accompanied by pruning. But a sin¬ 
gle case like this, though very interesting, is insuffi¬ 
cient to establish a rule. Trees which continue grow¬ 
ing, are constantly extending their roots into new 
portions of soil; hence a difficulty in this supposi¬ 
tion. The beneficial effect of the newly applied soil 
and other ingredients, can however scarcely be question¬ 
ed. The root pruning, given in digging the trench, may 
have had its influence; especially as the tree bore good 
fruit when younger, and pruning the tops and thus in¬ 
creasing the vigor of the branches, in connexion with 
the pruning of the roots, doubtless induced a growth 
very similar to that of the younger tree. Instances 
are not rare, where good pruning of old and apparently 
worthless trees, has thrown into them new vigor and 
productiveness. One part of the operation mentioned 
cyJ. B. W., was that of rubbing the tree with soft 
soap; now, a very successful cultivator informs the wri¬ 
ter, that when his pear trees become stunted, a fine 
thrifty growth is invariably induced by only washing 
with soft soap, and without any additional treatment. 
These different influences are merely mentioned, to show 
in how many different ways this tree may be operated 
on, without at all meaning to assert that they all opera¬ 
ted in the case mentioned. 
With the trees mentioned by our correspondent, too 
rapid growth in connexion with some other unknown 
cause, may be the source of the difficulty. If he should 
try the experiment of lessening their luxuriance by root 
pruning, on one of his trees, and suffer the grass to 
grow about another, for the same object, he might per¬ 
haps determine this point. The treatment of J. B. W., 
may also be tried on others. To point out any remedy 
with greater precision than this, would perhaps be im¬ 
possible, without knowing more of the real cause of the 
difficulty in question. T. 
Insect on Gooseberry and Currant Bushes.— 
I have in my garden a large number of gooseberry 
bushes, most of which are of the finest varieties I could 
procure. I have picked from them as many as ten 
bushels of fruit in a season; and whilst most of my neigh¬ 
bors are troubled with mildew, I have never seen any in 
my garden. Yet I have suffered from another cause. 
About three years since, there appeared a small worm 
on the bushes, in one corner of the garden, which eat 
off the leaves and left the fruit. The destruction of the 
leaf stopped the growth of the fruit, and destroyed it 
The worms have increased until the last season they 
had spread over the whole garden, and when the goose¬ 
berry-leaves were gone, they attacked the currants, and 
trimmed them also. The worm or caterpillar, is. when 
full grown, about one inch in length, its color yellow, 
with black spots. After" they have done their work, 
they go into the ground; after which the garden is filled 
with millers, which deposit their eggs on the bushes, 
to hatch out the next season. 
I have given this description, hoping that you or some 
of your numerous correspondents may know of a reme¬ 
dy. I have tried every thing that has been suggested 
that I have seen, viz., lime, sifted on the bushes, and 
also mixed with the earth under the bush. I have tried 
nitre dissolved, and sprinkled oh with a watering pot, 
snuff, and various other articles. A Subscriber. 
Utica, March 5, 1847. ...... 
Preserving Scions. — I have tried at different times 
several plans for preserving scions from the time of cut¬ 
ting them in February and March, till the time of using 
them in April and May, and have never succeeded in 
any other way so well as by packing them in damp saw¬ 
dust. They are then easily overhauled if necessary , are 
entirely clean, the labels are neither covered with dirt 
or the marks obliterated; they will not become mouldy, 
are thus kept colder, and consequently may be kept 
much longer in good condition with the same care, than 
when packed in earth. 
I have kept them thus from February to August, and 
from July to November, and I doubt not they might 
have been kept much longer. I packed them in a box, 
left them in a shady place in the open air. 
I am of the opinion that saw-dust is also the best ar- 
