70 
THE CULTIVATOR 
surrounded by a carriage road, and a border planted with 
evergreens, rose bushes and other flowering plants. 
Lettuce, 1100 very large heads. 
Cabbages, 1400 do. 
Radishes, 700 bunches. 
Asparagus, 250 do. 
Rhubarb, 300 pounds. 
Marrowfat peas, (in pod) 14 
bushels. 
Beans, (in pod) 40 bushels. 
Sweet corn, from plantings at 
3 different times, 419 dozen. 
Summer squash, 715 dozen. 
Squash peppers, 45 dozen. 
Cucumbers, 756 dozen. 
Cucumbers for pickles, 7 bbls. 
Beets,. 147 bushels. 
Carrots,. 24 do. 
Parsneps,. 26 do. 
Onions,. 120 do. 
Turneps,. 80 do. 
Tomatoes,. 40 do. 
Early potatoes, 35 do. 
Winter squash, 7 wagon loads. 
Celery, 500 large heads. 
These articles, estimating their value at the lowest 
price for which they were sold during the season, in 
this neighborhood, would have fetched $625; but I wish 
to add what is well known to those who reside in this 
vicinity, that they were of the very best and earliest 
kinds; and had they been carried to market and sold, 
instead of being mostly consumed by our large family, 
a much larger sum would have been realized. This 
garden has not only produced an abundant supply of 
these articles, for our family, averaging 130 persons, but 
more than we could consume; and we accordingly sold 
and gave away a considerable amount of rhubarb, let¬ 
tuce, radishes, beets, celery, &c. 
Several of the patients of this institution, for their 
amusement assisted in the cultivation of the garden; but 
our excellent gardener, Mr. Thomas Burns, assures me 
that he should consider it an easy task for one person to 
do all the labor required. 
The land is good, but no better than the land in this 
region. It has been well manured every year; but no 
extra or unusual expense incurred. 
I have believed that more might be realized with but 
little labor from a large garden in the neighborhood of 
this city than is from many large farms with much la¬ 
bor ; and this account of the Retreat Garden must satisfy 
others of the fact, and I should be pleased if it induced 
farmers—not to neglect their farms—but to pay more 
attention to their gardens, not only for the comfort and 
enjoyment of their own families, but as a source of 
profit. A. Brigham, 
Superintendent of the Retreat for the Insane. 
Retreat for the Insane, Hartford, Feb. 23, 1842. 
ON THE CULTURE OF THE PEACH. 
Messrs. Gaylord & Tucker —I take the liberty of 
offering a few suggestions on the culture of the peach. 
The many casualties with which the tree bearing this 
delightful fruit has to contend in country places, where 
a good market does not justify great care, are so dis¬ 
couraging that very few are willing to be at the trouble 
of rearing them; and yet, I conceive that the exercise 
of a little good sense in the choice of ground, and care 
of the trees, will insure a fair crop of delicious fruit in 
every average season. 
In fact, the neglect to select the better kinds of peach¬ 
es has caused this fruit to be greatly underrated by our 
farmers and gardeners in general. The luxury of a 
luscious peach is known to but few comparatively. I 
shall not attempt here to enumerate the various choice 
kinds which may be procured at all the good nurseries 
in the country, as printed catalogues can be obtained of 
the proprietors gratis. 
In the choice of a site I would select a hill side, hav¬ 
ing a western or even a northern aspect, so that the 
morning sun would not strike the trees until an hour or 
two high. There is a general error that it is the frost 
which kills the tender kinds of hardy trees. It is the 
action of the sun, striking abruptly upon the frozen 
wood. This injury is generally effected in autumn or 
spring, when the sun has more power, and seldom in 
mid winter, when he has less. This law, so applicable 
to the wood, is equally so to the fruit buds. Another 
advantage in such a site is, that the situation being less 
favorable for early and late growth, the buds do not 
push so early in the spring, and vegetation ceases much 
earlier in the fall, so that the wood hardens or ripens, 
and prepares itself for hibernation. In confirmation of 
this position,—and the fact itself is valuable, where a few 
trees only are to be grown—I have observed that peach 
trees planted on the west or north side of a house or 
barn are less affected by frost, and fail of fruit only in 
extreme seasons. 
Another enemy with which the tree has to contend is 
the grub. This is a serious one, but not invincible. 
Some gardeners, to obviate this difficulty, bud or engraft 
upon plum stocks; but phytology teaches us that trees 
so managed will be very short lived, and seldom will 
produce more than one crop of fruit. The only way is 
to go directly at the enemy. Every household produces 
weekly the very best remedy for this evil: that is soap 
suds. Let the suds, pretty strong, be applied once a 
month during the open weather, around the roots of the 
tree, taking care that the liquid does not flow off, and I 
will vouch that no grub will infest them. Even if they 
have commenced their work, remove the gum which 
issues from the wound, so that the liquid can fill it, and 
the grub will soon crawl out and confess the potency of 
the medicine by his instant death. The soap suds, too, 
is an excellent manure, which of all trees, the peach re¬ 
quires the most. No tree so soon exhausts the soil in 
which it grows; and manure, either liquid or solid, 
should be poured around or dug in about the tree every 
year. 
The peach tree requires a light, dry and rich soil. It 
is very impatient of standing water, and delights to push 
its roots not only wide but deep. Good fruit can only 
be expected from thrifty growing trees. I have ob¬ 
served that cow-yard, or chip manure well rotted and 
mixed with a small portion of wood ashes—if leached, 
the portion may be greater—is better than stable ma¬ 
nure. 
The yellows is a disease to which this tree is incident, 
and for this, I know no remedy but immediate eradica¬ 
tion. With regard to this disease, I have but little ex¬ 
perience ; but I am inclined to think it can be avoided 
by proper culture, and seasonable application of the ne¬ 
cessary manures. J. Dille. 
Newark , O., February 25, 1S42. 
A REMEDY FOR UNPRODUCTIVE TREES. 
Messrs. Gaylord & Tucker —In the last volume 
of the Cultivator, page 77, I noticed a recommendation 
for grafting apple trees that are “ shy bearers.” That 
grafting is not a certain remedy, one instance I will 
mention will show. Two trees, standing not to exceed 
five rods distant from each other, were grafted on the 
same day with cions that were cut at the same time, and 
if not from the same tree, there was no difference in 
them to my knowledge. One of the trees commenced 
bearing the second year after setting, and continued to 
bear more or less yearly. The other grew more thriftily 
for four or five years without producing a blossom that 
I could discover. Having heard of ringing or girdling 
trees that produced no fruit, and considering this one 
useless and a fit subject to experiment upon, I took a 
ring of bark from about one-half of the branches as near 
the stem of the tree as convenient. The following year 
those branches operated upon produced fruit, and the 
others none. The next succeeding year, those which 
had previously remained barren, produced fruit; and 
those which had been operated upon, none. Before the 
season of fruit the next year, I left the premises, which 
was ten years ago, and know nothing of the production 
of the trees since that time. The kind of frutt, blue jil- 
liflowers. On the premises which I now occupy are 
two trees, which were said to have been inoculated, 
and each producing the same kind of fruit, but different 
from the above mentioned. By the like operation, the 
same effect was produced for two succeeding years; since 
that time, both trees have produced bountifully once in 
two years, and in no season entirely barren. In the 
above cases, one-eighth or one-twelfth of an inch of the 
wood was laid bare, but cut wider at the surface for the 
convenience of taking off the bark. In the above in¬ 
stances the bark was taken off in the month of June, 
when the bark peeled easily. Branches operated upon 
grow larger above than below where the bark is taken 
off; and from this, I infer that a check is put to the too 
free circulation of the sap downward between the bark 
and wood. If that is not the cause, will you or some of 
your correspondents explain the subject. 
Volncy, Oswego Co., 1842. Joseph Sanford. 
TRANSPLANTING FROM THE FOREST. 
Trees and shrubs transplanted from the woods to open 
situations seldom grow. The cause of failure is, that 
they are taken from shade and moisture and exposed to 
the hot sun, which stops the circulation; the body of the 
plant perishes, and the root in consequeqce dies also. 
It is well known that if briars are cut in the heat of 
summer the roots generally decay and die. So with the 
trees and shrubs in question. To remedy this evil, it is 
suggested to cut off the tree or shrub close to the ground 
and plant the root only. The young shoots grow out 
with the spring, are naturalized to their situation, and 
soon attain a height and size as great as that which was 
cut off at planting. The fact that transplanted trees some¬ 
times die at the top, and yet sprout from the root, proves 
the correctness of the above suggestion. The writer has 
been informed that the trial of this method has been made 
in another state with complete success, and recommends 
the experiment the ensuing spring. It is obvious that 
trees which do not sprout are unfit subjects for this pro¬ 
cess; such as pines, cedars, &c. P. 
New-Jersey, Feb., 1842. 
GRAFTING A WHOLE TREE. 
A neighbor of Van Mons, the celebrated Belgium hor¬ 
ticulturist, having a good apple tree of some ten feet in 
height which he was obliged to cut down, Van Mons de¬ 
termined to make an effort to preserve it entire, by 
grafting it on one of his own, but of inferior fruit. A 
tree of the same size was selected, which was cut square 
off a little distance above the ground, the surface of both 
made smooth, and the graft or rather tree placed in its 
new position by the operation of pin grafting. Grafting 
clay was placed around the junction, earth heaped over 
the spot, and the tree strongly secured by stakes. A 
union between the parts was soon effected, and the se¬ 
cond year the tree fruited as well as formerly. 
NEW MODE OF PROPAGATING FRUIT TREES. 
The New-Hampshire Whig says—“Two of the best 
farmers within our knowledge secure their fruit trees 
thus: they dig at some distance from the body of a fa¬ 
vorite tree until they find a root, which they cut off. 
The part disjointed from the tree is turned up so as to 
appear above ground. This sends forth shoots the first 
season, and bears in a few years fruit precisely like the 
parent tree. Let those whose trees are decaying, or 
who wish to increase good varieties, try the experi¬ 
ment.” 
ikierincirs HDvpartment. 
HOOF-CUTTER—(Fig. 40.) 
Messrs. Editors— Our sheep in Vermont suffer much 
from the severity of our long winters, in freezing their 
feet, which causes their hoofs to grow to an uncomforta¬ 
ble length; which for the benefit of the sheep should be 
taken off (of some) as often as twice a year. I have 
seen some cut them with an axe, some with a chisel and 
mallet, and I have spent much time in cutting their hoofs 
with a strong knife, which is not very easy work for the 
hand. I have an instrument for cutting sheeps’ hoofs, 
recently invented here, a set of which every wool grow¬ 
er' should be the owner of, unless he has something that 
will do the work better. For the sake of a name, we 
will call them Hoof-Cutters; of which, the following is 
a rough representation. 
The handles should be 12 or 14 inches long, coupled 
together with a bolt and nut, for the convenience of 
taking them apart to grind. The edge should be 2 inch¬ 
es wide, straight, and made of good steel. The oppo¬ 
site jaw, of the same width, should have a piece of cop¬ 
per dove-tailed into it at a, for the sharp edge of the 
instrument to strike upon. It should be made sufficient¬ 
ly strong in all its parts to stand the strength of a strong 
man. 
The best time for cutting hoofs is after a rain sufficient 
to soften them. Sometimes small horns turn and grow 
into their heads, and often injure their eyes, which can 
frequently be taken off with the Hoof-Cutters better than 
with any other instrument. 
Two men, one to catch and hold the sheep, the other 
to handle the instruments, will trim two or three hun¬ 
dred sheep in a day. Care is necessary not to cut so 
close as to touch the quick. They may be made by any 
blacksmith who can make edge tools. A large copper 
or cent, when drawn into proper shape, is sufficient to 
dove-tail into the lower jaw. Brother wool growers, 
if you have anything that is to be preferred to the Hoof- 
Cutters for doing this work (which I consider very es¬ 
sential in promoting the condition of our sheep) please 
communicate. If not, try the Hoof-Cutters; and my 
word for it, the benefit derived will well reward the ex 
periment. J. N. Smith. 
Chimney Point, Addison Co., Ft., Feb. 9, 1842. 
EPIDEMIC AMONG HORSES. 
A disease has prevailed this season, very extensively 
throughout New-England, destroying many valuable 
horses. No name, so far as I have learned, has been 
assigned to this ail; it is, evidently, inflammatory. Its 
premonitory symptoms are lassitude, stiffness and swell¬ 
ing of the joints, loss of appetite, anti occasional running 
at the eyes. These symptoms are followed, in severe 
cases, by swelling of the head and the glands of the 
throat, accompanied with considerable fever. The most 
successful treatment has been, bleeding in the neck, to 
the amount, at least, of one gallon; (this should be done 
in the forming stage of the disease,) and followed by one 
or more brisk cathartics of Glauber or Epsom salts. 
When this treatment sufficiently subdues the inflamma¬ 
tion, the animal should be given, during his convales¬ 
cence, a tea spoon full of crude antimony, daily. 
Charles A. Savory. 
Contoocookvillc, N. IT., Feb., 1842. 
TO STOP THE EFFUSION OF BLOOD. 
Messrs. Editors —In answer to an inquiry in the last 
number of the Cultivator, respecting a remedy for stop¬ 
ping blood, I will relate two instances of the application 
of cobwebs, with instantaneous and complete success. 
The first was a cut just below the fetlock joint of a 
young horse, from which a stream of blood of the size 
of a knitting needle spirted very swiftly. A small wad 
of cobweb from the cellar was bound on, which entirely 
stopped the blood in an instant. At another time on 
bleeding a horse in the mouth, the incision was made 
deeper than was intended, letting more blood than was 
designed. After other remedies in vain, the above ap¬ 
plication was made with the same effect as in the first 
case. H. Milton Hart. 
Cornwall, Ct., Feb. 23, 1842. 
HORSE RADISH FOR ANIMALS. 
Austin Randall, Esq., of Paris, writes to us as fol¬ 
lows : “ I have seen in your excellent paper no notice of 
the value of the horse radish for cattle. I have found it 
very useful for them. If given to cows in doses of a 
pint at a time once a day, it will materially aid their ap¬ 
petite, and will prevent or speedily relieve cows of the 
disease called cake in the bag. I feed it freely to any 
animal of mine that is unwell, aud find it of great ser¬ 
vice to working oxen troubled with the heat. I have 
had one ox that would eat greedily a peck at a time. 
Few animals refuse it; and if they do, it may be cut up 
and mixed with potatoes or meal.” Mr. R. cultivates 
his corn without hilling, and his success with his last 
crop (73 bushels per acre) is a favorable commentary on 
the practice. 
