122 
April. 
THE.CULTIVATOR. 
had never learned them before—the chief of which 
is comprised in following nature ” in planting, 
transplanting, omission of pruning, &c. This is 
the substance, we learn, of some four’ or. five 
’ hours of tedious lecturing, and for which $500,000 
were asked the State legislature for divulging. 
Cemetery Trees. — (R. L. G., Edmeston, Ot¬ 
sego co.) The Weeping Willow will.grow as well 
on dry upland as on any other soil, provided it is 
fertile. Its growth will be greatly accelerated by 
frequent irrigation, not with a mere surface wa¬ 
tering. It will be more likely to escape injury 
from the severe cold of Otsego county, if on up¬ 
land, and out of the reach of valley frosts. The 
American Cypress is not an evergreen, and is not 
particularly adapted to cemetery planting; it is 
probably rather tender for Otsego county. The 
European Cypress, although a beautiful evergreen, 
growing somewhat in the form of a Lombardy 
Poplar, is still more tender, and will not at all en¬ 
dure the winters of the northern states. A few 
of the best trees for the above purpose, are the 
Irish Yew, Balsam Fir, White Spruce, Silver Fir, 
Hemlock, Red Cedar, with a very few of the 
Mountain Ash. The introduction of a few of the 
finest climbers would much relieve the stiffness 
otherwise apparent in a plantation chiefly of ever-. 
greens. These can all be had at any principal 
nursery, at prices of.about fifty cents each, or 
more for larger specimens. 
Prairie Roses and Wistaria. —(“A Sub¬ 
scriber,” Grafton, Yt.) These highly ornamen¬ 
tal runners are propagated with great ease by lay¬ 
ers. Good rooted plants of the Wistaria, and of 
a large number of varieties of the Prairie rose, 
may be obtained of nearly all nurserymen. They 
all flourish best in a deep rich soil, which is indeed 
absolutely essential to the success of the Wista¬ 
ria. All perfectly hardy. 
Fruit Trees on Stony Soils. —H. Stearns, 
of Felchville, Yt., inquires if it “will pay to mow 
the weeds and grass in an orchard of young fruit 
trees, where it is too rocky to cultivate with the 
plow, and rake them around the trees for mulch¬ 
ing, and forego the profits of pasturing the land.” 
The advantages of deep, rich, well-cultivated 
land, in promoting the rapid growth of fruit trees, 
and in increasing the extent of the crop, as well 
as the fairness and high quality of the fruit, are 
so extraordinary, that in all practicable instances 
the very best land should be selected for an or¬ 
chard. But where circumstances entirely pre¬ 
clude this selection of land, and stony ground 
must be taken' from necessity, the mode proposed 
by our correspondent may be regarded as' next 
best. Deep and .wide mulching, although by no 
means equal to good cultivation, is far superior 
o the more common practice of neglect; and it i§ 
altogether probable that when mulching is well 
attended to, young trees will do decidedly, better 
on hard, stony land, than on the best soils, where 
they are permitted to become choked with weeds 
and grass. It must never be forgotten that the 
mulching is to be removed after the dry season- 
passes, so as to prevent injury from mice. 
In planting trees on such stony soils, those va¬ 
rieties should be selected which possess great vi» 
gor and hardiness of growth, and whose fruit is 
always fair, even under poor culture. Perhaps 
no sort is equal in this particular to the. Rhode 
Island Greening. The Roxbury Russet, Baldwin, 
Autmun Strawberry, Peck’s Pleasant, and others, 
are also of unusually fair exterior. 
Culture of Onions.—Wm. Cowen, of West 
Exeter, N. Y., inquires for a mode of cultivating 
onions, as at present one-half of his crops be¬ 
come scullions, without any assignable cause. 
Never having met with this difficulty, we can only 
suggest the propriety of procuring the best seed 
from some reliable seedsman; to manure the 
ground well, if practicable, with fowl or hog ma¬ 
nure, or with well decayed cattle manure, all 
thoroughly mixed with the soil, with a dressing 
of soot about the time of sowing, and soap-suds 
during the previous winter; and of trying the re¬ 
medy sometimes adopted by gardeners to prevent 
thick necks in the plants during wet seasons, 
namely, bending down the tops with the hoe han¬ 
dle or wooden rake-head, to check their rapid 
growth and cause them to bulb sooner. 
Cotton Covering for Hot-beds. —M. Wyn- 
roop, of Catskill, N. Y., asks for information in 
relation to the use of cotton cloth as a substitute 
for glass in hot-beds. The cotton is first stretched 
on the frames, and then coated with a composition 
consisting of three pints of best old boiled linseed 
oil, four ounces of white resin, and an ounce of 
sugar of lead; the latter being first ground with 
a little oil, and the oil and resin heated to make 
them mix. A coat of this should be applied every 
season just before use. The cost of this mode is 
about one-fourth of glass, and for most common 
purposes, answers about as well. 
Maturity of Scions.—I have a number of ap¬ 
ple trees that I commenced grafting last spring, 
that I wish to -finish the coming, spring with the 
same kind, and as I cannot get scions in this vici¬ 
nity, I should like to know whether scions cut 
from these trees will answer to set. L. N. 
There is no objection whatever, to cutting sci¬ 
ons from shoots made from last year’s grafts, ex¬ 
cept that the growth being rather more vigorous 
and succulent, they will not be quite so likely to 
take. The more matured and hardened the 
wood, the better will be the success of the opera¬ 
tion, and this is the sole advantage of matured 
wood. - 
Hedges. —Will you give us, through the Cul 
tivator, an article on the subject of Hedge Fence? 
the best plant adapted to that purpose, the proper 
mode of cultivation, the time required to make a 
fence, and the manner of propagating the plant. 
Also, what plant, if any, is adapted to marshy 
ground? H. H. Tuthill. Kelloggsville, Feb.,„ 
1853. 
• The two “ plants” that have been the most ex¬ 
tensively approved for hedges, are the Buckthorn 
and Osage Orange. The Buckthorn is the hardi¬ 
est and therefore best adapted to the extreme 
northern portion of the Union; and it possesses 
the advantage of being as easily raised from seed 
as apple trees, and of being as easily transplanted 
as a current bush. It must be very bad treat¬ 
ment that would destroy one in a hundred by re¬ 
moval. The only objection to the Buckthorn is 
its want of thorps, the sharp ends of its shoots 
forming its only armor. The Osage Orange, on 
the other hand, is so numerously furnished with 
sharp thorns,, that any ordinary animal, would not 
