1868 .] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
ITS 
the soil prepared as thoroughly as for a garden 
crop. Levelling must be attended to—not that 
the whole surface should be a dead level, but 
there must be no inequalities of surface. The 
ground being manured, plowed, harrowed, lev¬ 
elled, and rolled, is ready for the seed. It is a 
good plan to delay sowing the seed for a few 
days, to allow any unevenness in the prepara¬ 
tion to show itself, in wnicli case hollows 
must be filled up and the surface again rolled. 
Where the land is weedy it is a frequent 
custom to devote it the first year to potatoes or 
other hoed crop. On poor land, for which 
there is not sufficient manure, it is w T ell to turn 
under green crops to aid in fertilizing it. 
Any kind of spring grain may be sown, and 
before it comes into blossom, turn it under with 
a dressing of lime,then Sow grain again and plow 
under the green crop as before, and after level¬ 
ling and harrowing, sow grass seed in the fall. 
The kind of seed to be used is of much im¬ 
portance. The imported “lawn grass” mix¬ 
tures are generally unsatisfactory; we have tried 
them several times, and obtained only a sward 
of white clover. We know of successful lawns 
made with only one kind of grass, either the 
June grass,or Kentucky Blue-grass, as it is called, 
(Poa pratensis), or Red-top (Agrostis vulgaris). 
■ The Red-top makes the most velvet}' turf, but 
the June or Blue-grass stands the summer better. 
Meehan recommends a mixture of one-third 
Ray-grass (Loliumperenne) and two-thirds June 
grass. We have not seen this used, but it is 
given on good authority. Some recommend a 
mixture containing Timothy; this should always 
be avoided, as the tendency of that grass is to 
form strong tussocks which soon make an un¬ 
even surface to the lawn. The quantity of seed 
is a point upon which practice differs. Thick 
seeding is undoubtedly advantageous, but it 
may be overdone. Perhaps three bushels to the 
acre may be given as the medium. Some add 
white clover to the grass seed, and others, again, 
add a small proportion of the seed of the Sweet- 
scented Vernal-grass for the sake of the pleas¬ 
ant odor given off when the grass is mown. 
When the lawn is made in spring it is not nec¬ 
essary to sow grain with the grass, as is some¬ 
times done, though it is beneficial when the 
lawn is seeded in the fall. The subsequent man¬ 
agement of the law'll as w T ell as the turfing 
of small plots must be left for another article. 
The Red Cedar. 
The Red Cedar is a much more important tree 
at the West than people at the East have any 
idea of. It grows with great rapidity, and has 
an appearance of thrift and vigor that would 
surprise one who had only seen it along the 
seaboard. It is in such request, not only for 
ornamental planting, but for the economical pur¬ 
pose of shelter, to both of which uses it is ad¬ 
mirably suited, that great interest is felt in its 
propagation. The seeds, as planted ordinarily, 
will stay in the ground two, and sometimes three 
years before they germinate. Mr. Samuel Ed¬ 
wards, of Illinois, recommends mixing the seed 
with moistened ashes, with the view of making 
them more permeable to moisture. Mr. F. Lee, 
of Clark Co., Ill., thinks he has a better and 
easier mode. He says: “ Put in a sack as much 
seed as you wish to grow, place the sack in 
a kettle of boiling water, and allow it to remain 
for about five minutes. Take them out and rub 
with the hands to remove the pulp, and the 
seeds are ready to put in the ground; plant in 
drills a foot apart, in soil where clay predomin¬ 
ates, on the shady side of a fence running east 
and w 7 est. The shade of the fence keeps the 
ground moist. I have seen my mother grow 
hundreds of cedars by this simple process. The 
seed should be planted about March 1st in this 
latitude (39°); farther north, later would do.” 
The Quince—Culture and Varieties. 
“Quinces are a profitable fruit, why do you 
not oftener recommend them to be planted ?” 
writes some one. It would be much more to the 
purpose if w T e were to advise care of them after 
they are planted. Generally a quince tree is 
little else than a nuisance ! Planted in a low 
corner and left to itself, it forms any amount of 
suckers, and these, with the interlaced branches, 
make a thicket rather than a tree. Young trees 
need a few years’ care in training and pruning, 
and then they form beautiful objects, whether in 
flower or in fruit. The popular notion that the 
quince needs a very moist soil is a mistake ; set 
the young trees in good, rich, deeply worked 
soil, such as is fit for other trees, cultivate well, 
REA’S SEEDLING QUINCE. 
manure if needed, and they will pay. The ap¬ 
plication of an occasional dressing of salt is said, 
on good authority, to be beneficial. Twelve feet 
apart each way is the usual distance for the 
quince. The treatment of the young tree "will 
depend upon the hight at which the head is de¬ 
sired. A young quince tree, as sent from the 
nursery, is usually very twiggy and unpromising 
in appearance. For a low-headed tree cut off 
all the lower branches so as to get a clean stem 
for 18 inches; above that select four of the best 
branches that are evenly distributed around the 
stem, and shorten these to three buds each; 
cut all the rest away, top included. Suckers and 
all growths that push,other than those from these 
buds, are to be rubbed out, and thus is secured a 
basis upon which to form an evenly balanced 
and open head. For a head higher up, a single 
straight stem must be trained. If the nursery 
tree is crooked, let it grow a year, and next spring- 
cut it down to near the ground, allowing but a 
single shoot to grow. This must be kept lied 
to a stake as if it were a vine. The next spring 
shorten it back to a good bud, cut back the side 
shoots to two or three buds, and tie the upper 
shoot to the stake for a leader. When a good 
self-supporting stem is obtained by this manage¬ 
ment, the head may be formed at the hight of 
three feet. The variety most common is the 
Apple quince; the Pear quince is also much 
grown. Pomologists differ in opinion as to 
which is the better of the two, probably for the 
reason that seedlings have been produced differ¬ 
ing somewhat in quality. The Portugal is es¬ 
teemed better than either, but is a poor bearer. 
The Angers, the variety so much used for pear 
stocks, is said to give a good fruit, but it is sel¬ 
dom grown for this purpose. It is singular that 
so few experiments have been made to produce 
new varieties of this old and generally valued 
fruit. The only one that has of late years ap¬ 
peared in our fruit 
lists is Rea’s Seed¬ 
ling, which originat¬ 
ed in Green Co., N. 
Y. We were much 
pleased with the ap¬ 
pearance of this va¬ 
riety in the grounds 
of EllwangerA Bar¬ 
ry ; the tree is a 
good grower, a good 
bearer; the fruit 
large, fair, and of ex¬ 
cellent quality. We 
give an engraving 
of a specimen ob¬ 
tained at the time. 
The quince, except 
the Portugal, is 
readily raised from 
cuttings, and any 
one can grow young 
trees with but little 
trouble. It is best to 
select the cuttings' 
from bearing trees, 
the quality of the 
fruit of which is 
known; they should 
be about a foot long, 
and from wood of 
last year’s growth. 
These are best cut 
in autumn and kept 
buried during the 
winter, but fair suc¬ 
cess may be had with 
spring set cuttings 
in a bed that can be watered in case of drouth. 
See note on Planting Cuttings in March “Basket.” 
Prune neglected and unfruitful trees into shape 
and give them a good dressing of manure, and dig 
out borers, which are apt to trouble the quince. 
Peach Culture. 
New laud of sufficiently good quality to pro¬ 
duce grain crops is best. Light land is selected, 
as the trees come into bearing soon, but those 
on heavy soil, if well drained, last longer. Sit¬ 
uation has much to do with success; a cold 
much below zero will destroy the vitality of the 
flower buds, especially if the cold occurs just 
after a warm spell. So uncertain is the crop 
