234 
THE 
SEASONABLE HHJTS. ® 
Fall-Planting. -'nie question of the advan- man 
tages of autumn-planting over spring-plant¬ 
ing presents itself to many of our readers 
at this season. With the skillful and 
careful planter this is merely a matter 
of expediency. His trees will grow, plants 
ed at almost any time, but as at this 
season there is not so much pressing work, 
many orchardlsts prefer fall to spring-plant¬ 
ing of trees, vines and plants. 
If the ground has been devoted to some 
hoed crop during summer, it is now in the 
very best condition for tree planting, and 
the sooner .after the leaves have fallen, the 
trees are taken up and transplanted, the bet¬ 
ter. In fact it is a common practice in 
nurseries to strip the leaves from the trees 
in order to prepare them for earlier plant¬ 
ing, and although this may seem an unnat¬ 
ural procedure, it works well in practice, 
and is really not more unnatural than prun¬ 
ing roots and branches, or transplanting 
Itself. 
in fall-planting great care should be ex¬ 
ercised to have the soil come in direct con 
tact with ever}' part of the roots, and to 
pack it well aronnd every part of them. All 
the branches should be shortened in at the 
time of planting, and not allowed to remain 
till spring, ottering additional surface for 
evaporation. 
Planting A'uts.—Most nuts will not sprout 
after they have become thoroughly dry, and 
should therefore be planted as soon as ripe. 
If the groimd is in proper condition the best 
plan is to plant the nuts just where the trees 
are wanted. A mellow, moderately rich 
soil, covering the nuts two to three inches 
deep, and packing the earth firmly over 
them, is aU that is needed. 
If it is not practicable to plant in the fall, 
or where squirrels and field mice abound, 
which are very apt to steal the nuts, it is 
better to defer planting till spring. In this 
case the nuts have to be kept in sand over 
winter. 
To preserve the nuts over winter take a 
box,—which should not be water tight,— 
cover the bottom with about three, inches of 
fine sand, spread a layer of nuts over it, 
cover with sand, aud so on, finishing oil' 
with a three-inch covering of sand; phice 
out doors and cover with soil. In spring, 
as early as possible, plant in nursery rows, 
or in the places where the trees are to re¬ 
main permanently. 
K'-.vping (rrap/m. —Only tough, leathery, 
skinned varieties cun be presei’vcfl in good 
condition till winter. It is throwing away 
time anti Grapes to attempt keeping Con¬ 
cords and other varieties with thin skins. 
Bunches intended for keeping shouid be 
gathei'cd when i>ei'fe(;tly di'y, and handled 
with utmost cai-e so as not to bruise the ber¬ 
ries, wrapped in clean, soft jaiper, aud 
placed in shallow boxes. 'I'hc stoi-age I’ooni 
should be dry, and as cool as jjossible with¬ 
out actual freezitig. 
OENTEAL NEW 
October, 
AMERICAN CARI^^^— '--= ============^^ TV 
-- destructive attacks of ^acte- 
rows four feet apart 
trowel, the plants na, 
and marked out in 
Pl.anting is done with a 
being set nine inches .apart io the row , a 
planting about 4000 plants—.after being 
trimmed—in a day. , 
After tlie plants are set, .and bcfo 
weeds get a good start, we go twice 
a row with a Corn plow and give the pla ts 
ough but shallow lioeing. In the 
coiu-se of two weeks we repeat the oper.atiou, 
using a cultiv.ator instead of .a plow, and 
again hoe. Plowing and cultivating are then 
alternated every twoiveeks from the Is' o ' 
June to the 1st of August aud as much later 
as the growth will permit witliout hijui y to 
the young plants; the cleaner they are kept 
the better. If the se.asou sliould be f.avor- 
able, by the last of October the rows will 
have grown together; then, wlien cold we.ith- 
er sets in, and tlie ground remains frozen, 
we cover with R,ve Straw, Hemlock boughs 
or Potato vines. 
As soon as danger of severe freezing is 
past in spring we take ott the covering, and 
plants are dug from between the rows to set 
another piece. IVe then go once through 
between the rows witli a Corn plow to maik 
them out for picking. Mothing more is done 
to them but to pick and market the crop. 
The patch is allowed to fruit another season 
without giving it any care or protection in 
winter. "We then plow under and sow to 
Buckwheat or fodder Corn; if to Buckwheat, 
it is plowed under green in the fall and 
sowed to Rye, and seeded down in grass 
aud Clover. After a year or two it is ready 
for another planting of berries. Our soil is 
a gravelly loam with a great man}' paving 
stones. 
The varieties grown are mostly Wilson 
and a few Shar])less; of the first we raise 
about as many bushels per acre as we do of 
Potatoes. The crop was good this year, 
prices .averaging about six cents per quart. 
.1. .Jeaxnix, .In. 
Tlmsc minute organisms find their way 
to the .animal and if the conditions are favor- 
Iw 'the atuck is vigorous and deat^ may 
STEA'WBEEEY CULTUEE IN 
YOEK. 
The most succe.ssful growei’S prefer a good 
Clover sod, plow it under in the fall, ami re¬ 
plow in spring, with but little or no manure. 
The ground is then thoi-oughly liarrowed 
THE BLIGHT OF THE PEAE. 
Professor Arthur of the Xew York Exper¬ 
imental Station reports some very interest¬ 
ing investigations upon Pear Blight. The 
readers of The Ameihcax Gaudex have al¬ 
ready been made acquainted with the thcoi’v 
of the blight in Pear and Ai)i)lc ti-ees as ad¬ 
vanced ])}• Professor Burrill in 1877. 
'I'hrough a long series of microscoi)ic inves¬ 
tigations he was <-onvince<l that the cause of 
the blight was du(‘ to tlie iiresenceof mimitc 
organisms known as bacteria. 
'I'liese bacteria ai-e single-celled ))lanl.s be¬ 
longing to tlie order of fungi to whicli tlie 
various moulds, rusts, smuts, toadstools, etc. 
belong. Gn account of their smallness bac¬ 
teria have e.scaped the notice of all exceiit 
tho.se who are exjierts witli tlie liiglier powers 
of the compound micro,seo))e. liacteria may 
be seen by the naked aye, rn mannf wlieii they 
are in large iiumbers. 'I’liey develop in ail 
piitrifying siibsLanees and are now eonsld- 
ered as the iiriniary cause of putrefaetion 
A clear liquid capable of putrefaetion may 
be kept free froni decomposition by e.\e|„d 
ingtlie,se germs. The process of' eannine- 
meats, fruits, etc.. Is simply one by wldi.r 
the germs of liacteria are killed in tiie male- 
rial by liigli temperature, .. afterwards 
sealed so tliat germs cannot enter tlie e.i|,u 
Tlie germ theory of disease 1,, animal's is 
If d’lins anthrax or splenic fever in 
cSle'is now known to bea well-established 
case of bacteria disease. The germs can be 
Jound in a sick animal. They maj. be propa- 
fh3 outside of the .animal in a glass vessel 
and afterward introduced into a healthy am- 
mal and in a short time will produce the 
same disease as was manifest in the first .ani¬ 
mal The list of maladies, many of 
wiiidi arc most to be dreaded because 
„,ost contagious, belong to the germ diseases 
Some authorities arc firm m the belief that 
all contagious diseases are due to bactena. 
At first thought it may seem to many that 
this cannot be true. In what better way 
can the ordinary facts of everyday obsei-va- 
tion concerning cont.agious diseases be ex¬ 
plained'? If a person is exposed to a catch- 
in<>'” disease to what is he exposed? Is it 
no” easiest to think that there .are minute 
germs given oil'by the sick individual which 
coming'in contact with the ivell peison de¬ 
velop sickness? IVhy cleanse a room after 
it has been occupied by a sick person unless 
to remove the lastgerni that may be adhering 
to the wall or other part? Those who know 
that the genus do exist and in countless nuni- 
liers, do not need .any such argument to cou- 
viuce them. It is to thegreat mass of people 
who cannot study these subjects that such 
thoiiglits need to bo presented. 
If the reader can accept the germ theory 
of disease as illustrated in various fevers, 
cholera, diphtheria, etc., he is in a position to 
consider the advanced views regarding the 
Pear blight. Professor Burrill has proved 
to his own mind and to many others that 
tliis strange disease appearing so suddenly 
and destructively in the orchard is the result 
of countless bacteria preying upon the vital 
juices of the plants. Professor Arthur h.as 
taken iqi the same subject and verified the 
observations and experiments of Professor 
Burrill. He found that the disease could be 
transferred from one tree to another by care¬ 
ful inoculation. 
'i’hc best results were obtained in the more 
thrifty parts when growth was rapid. The 
fruit as well as the loaf and stems were in¬ 
oculated—tlioseniost succulent “taking" the 
most violent form. Professor Arthur veri¬ 
fies Professor Burrill's conclusion that the 
blights of the Pear, Apple and Qulucc are 
identical, lie also found that the .1 unc-berry 
and'riiorn were susceptible. Failures to in¬ 
oculate resiilteil with the Mountain Ash, 
RasplieiM'y and Grapes. Professor Arthur 
thinks it is |)ossible that the trouble is caused 
l>y a poisonous princi))le residing in the Iluid 
surrounding the bacteria or in the dead 
juices of the plant. It has not been shown 
tliat this Iluid without the germs will convey 
the, disease or that the bacteria, without this 
Iluid will inoculate. The germ theory is not 
tlierefore fully proved hut so nearly as to be 
a subject for belief. 
Very little that is new regarding remedies 
is oll'ered. 'I'he destruction of all alleeted 
parts at the first indications of blight is reo- 
oimnended. (hit oil' all diseased parts and 
Imni them. It does not .seem probable that 
ehemicals applied to the soil will ell'ect any 
'■''‘"'g''- Dii. Bykon D. Hai.stud- 
