present a surface partially or entirely ground as to have been able to form a sys covered with russet, without a correspondent difference of taste; however, they are essentially Milams, with a russet, instead of a bright, smooth, shining, red skin. This result has been hastily attributed to the influence of the pollen of the Russet trees; hastily I say, for as like causes produce like effects, we should constantly find similar results in our mixed orchards, which is not the case. I should rather attribute the circumstance to the supposition, that the two apples originated in the same parcel of seedlings, and partook of the same consanguinity. tem of roots of their own. The same observation has been made upon the growth of pears that had been grafted upon apples or thorns; fine shoots were thrown up the first year, but the union was not perfect, and the descending sap, aërated and prepared by the leaves of the pear, appeared unsuited to the sustenance and growth of the original stock and roots below. Therefore those who graft pears into apples cr thorns, should always preserve one or more limbs of the original stock to retain its vitality and health. Further, those who wish to experiment in the nursery by using dissimilar or uncongenial stocks, such as wild The quince for pears, the Mahaleb for cherries, and perhaps some other stocks for certain varieties, appear to be sufficiently cognate to produce good results; but even here we need the combined results of many observations, before we can safely determine which varieties may be safely recommended for this mode of treatment. The I am not aware of any experiments having been made to perpetuate the variety and thorn for pears, are urged to set them having been made to perpetuate the variety plums or peaches for plum grafts, or apple here noted, by grafting or otherwise, as has been done with the Red Russet in New deeply in the ground, and earth up deEngland. But, if such experiments were cidedly for two seasons, so as to enable the followed by a similar result-the establish- cions to establish their own roots. ment of a permanent variety, I should not attribute it to the influence of pollen from another tree, having produced an effect upon the fruit and stem, in addition to its legitimate one upon the seed; I should rather refer the phenomenon to a curious freak of nature, such as is often observed among greenhouse and garden plants, where we see what are called "sports," equally remarkable in the decided changes of color and markings, in the leaves and petals of geraniums, encnymus, buxers, vinca, and many others, which occurring originally as sports, are continued permanently in the cuttings and offsets. With regard to the growth of plums upon peach stocks, the result of considerable observation has proved to me, that while some varieties take much more readily than others upon the peach, and grow with corresponding vigor for the first year or two, few ever make large and permanent trees, unless they have been so situated in the attention of pomologists is requested to this topic, and their opinions are solicited. Messrs Editors :-I send you today, some fruit from the old Endicott pear-tree, which I received from C. M. Endicott, Esquire, of Salem, one of the descendants of Governor Endicott, and the author of a very interesting memoir of his worthy ancestor. In regard to the origin of this ancient tree, he told me that" the trees which composed his arch is the only survivor, were imported, first orchard, of which this venerable patri[in 1628,] and not raised from the seed, as I had supposed, but they were packed in boxes, containing earth, and that this was a common way of importing fruit trees, at that period. S. P. FOWLER. -N. E. Farmer. DANVERS, Sept. 18, 1852. LAUREL AND AZALEA SOILS. The Garden. "MY STAND back, bewildering politics, GARDEN GATE." Nor tread my holy ground. Stand back, ye thoughts of trade and pelf, I wish to commune with myself; My mind is out of gear. These bowers are sacred to the page Of philosophic lore; Within these bounds no envies rage- Stand back, Frivolity and show; It is a day of Spring; I want to see my roses blow, I wish to prune my apple-trees, I have no room for such as you, They will not scorn my household stuff, Or criticise my store. Pass on the world is wide enough I've shut my garden door. Stand back, ye pomps, and let me wear 1 have a coat at elbows bare, I love its dishabille. Within these precincts let me rove, With nature free from state; What boot continual glare and strife? I would not struggle all my life; I need a breathing time. Pass on; I've sanctified these grounds 273 LAUREL AND AZALEA SOILS. in the coming season, the display will be finer than anything of the kind that was ever seen in this quarter. It is sad to think how many fine plants of the Heath tribe,* have perished in our ungenial soils before I made this discovery. Dr. Warder :—I was gratified to learn from the last number of the Review, that R. B. N. had succeeded in finding Laurel earth; and that her Kalmia latifolia had revived. By way of encouragement to her and others interested in such culture, I would state that my Rhododendron maximum, which This natural order includes many genera, among I carried, not two years ago, on a small hand-which are Kalmia, Azalea, Rhodora, Rhododendron, spade, and set in a bed of this earth, is now decorated with twenty-one flower buds as large as plums; and if no accident happens Epiga, Andromeda, Gaultheria, Arbutus, Pyrola; but there are many other plants not belonging to this order, that require a similar soil, such as Helonias dis ica, Frillium pictum, Euchroma coccinea, and many others. just before a rain, or throw some loose brush over them, which may be removed when they are settled down, so that the wind will not blow them away. No further attention is required to make the crop. When the potatos are wanted for summer use, the leaves may be raised and the best matured tubers taken away without disturbing those not yet grown. Many years ago, Robert Carr, of the Bar- in rows twelve inches asunder, and cover tram Botanic Garden, near Philadelphia, them from twelve to eighteen inches deep sent me a large Azalea calendulacea-called with leaves. It is best to put the leaves on by Pursh "the handsomest shrub in North America;" but it imbibed the poison, and died in the second year after its removal. I have now one of the same kind, which has stood in a border of selected earth four years; and its growth in the last season was the most vigorous of all, being more than eleven feet, if we count the length of all the shoots. Another species of this genus, (4. pontica,) with yellow flowers, has become a robust shrub, and to all appearance quite at home. The Kalmias also hold their own, after a trial of eight years. The Purple Magnolia, (M. obovata,) which in our common soil was sickly, with white leaves and some dying branches, began to revive soon after it was set in laurel earth; and acquired as green a leaf as perhaps it ever wore in China. GREATFIELD, 1st Month 24. Leaves for Potatos. D. T. The largest, most mealy, and best flavored potatos I have eaten were raised in this way; and the yield is so great as to surpass credulity, except with those who have witnessed it. Try it, everybody. It will pay you thrice-first, in the largeness of your pototos; and thirdly, in the imof your crop; secondly, in the superiority provement of your soil. It is best adapted to garden culture, but may be used profitably in the field. Now is the time to gather SYLVANUS. and preserve the leaves. MT. VERNON, Posey Co., Ind. -Gazette. Heavy Spade vs. Light Fork. LITTLE stands have been made about the farm by manufacturers, who take advantage of the agricultural gathering at Tiptree to WILL you allow a plain practical man to display such tools and implements as are occupy a few lines in the agricultural de- thought worth displaying. The stand is partment of your excellent paper, on a sub-made over a patch of the hardest soil, a ject not often alluded to in our agricultural journals? I will not at present stop to unfold the character and and use of leaves in the economy of vegetation; nor will I attempt to analyze their component parts, and show their immense value as enrichers of the soil. At some future time I may undertake this task. My present purpose is to call the attention of farmers to the use of leaves in the culture of potatos. The largest crops and the best potatos I ever saw grown, were produced by the aid of leaves. My plan is this: I have my ground spaded up and well pulverized, from eighteen inches to two feet in depth, and raked off smoothly on the top. I then cut in two, lengthwise, the largest and best seed I can procure, and lay them on the top of the ground eight inches apart, spade is taken, and it is found that with much effort it is simply impossible to dig with it efficiently in soil so hard. The man then takes a light fork, weighing two pounds less than the agricultural fork commonly put into the hands of laborers. Its five narrow prongs are of cast steel, and it is completed of one solid piece without joint or weld. With this fork the man proceeds to dig with wonderful facility the heavy stony soil. The prongs of such forks yield place to the stones, and bend round them, loosening the soil, springing instantly, when withdrawn, into their original form. A match was on one occasion tried be tween two workmen, one of whom used the old-fashioned, rigid, and broad-bladed fork, the other used one of these light implements (Winton Parkes' they are called) with narrow tines of elastic steel. The man with the light fork earned four shillings, while the other was earning two shillings and three to its oleaginous character, Col. White found pence, and the heavy fork after the match it impossible to preserve it by drying; but required an outlay of sixpence for repairs. by pouring strong vinegar on it after The savings in repairs and renovation pay for boiling, he has made a sauce or pepper de the light fork several times in the course of coction of it, which possesses in a most cona year, and in labor the saving is so great, centrated and intense form, all the qualities that a man using this fork is said to lift-by of the vegetable. A single drop of this the saving of two pounds in each effort sauce will flavor a whole plate of soup or five tons less in the course of a day's work other food. The use of a decoction like than his old-fashioned neighbor. Some of this, particularly in preparing the food for these forks are made still lighter for the use laboring persons, would be found exceedof children, who can earn good day wages ingly beneficial in a relaxing climate like by the use of them at twelve-inch trench- this. Col. White has not had a single case ing. These forks were regarded as play- of cholera among his large gang of negroes things by the men when they were first since that disease appeared in the South. brought to Tiptree, but it was soon found He attributes this to the free use of this valthat whoever could get one of them to use uable agent.-New Orleans Delta. was saved twenty per cent. of labor, and was able to perform his work more thoroughly than it could otherwise be done. Thus it appears that there is room for Young Agriculture to display its brains, even upon a pitchfork.-Dickens' Household Words. Red Pepper. Pruning Roses. THE following remarks on pruning will, 1 trust, prove instructive to the young rose grower. As regards the time for pruning, some recommend autumn or winter, while others advise its being done in the beginning of March. I, as well as most rose growers, like the latter season best. By winter pruning, the buds break in the latter part of the winter, and are almost sure to be cut off by late frosts in March. Pruning effects two objects: it makes compact, handsome trees, free from weak shoots and dead wood, and it increases the amount of floral beauty throughout the summer and autumn. It is susceptible of three divisions-first, long; second, moderate; and third, close pruning. Long pruning is employed for all strong, vigorous, free growing kinds. The consequence of vigorous growing roses being close pruned is, that it will make a quantity of strong shoots, generally springing from the crown close to the stock, and very likely no flower during the whole year-at all events, not until late in autumn. ONE of the most useful vegetables in hygiene is red pepper. Especially in warm countries has it been considered invaluable as a stimulant and auxiliary in digestion. Among the Spanish and French races it is used in the largest quantities, and they invariably enjoy most excellent health. Of late, particularly since the cholera visited our state, our planters have begun to discover the virtues of this vegetable, and mingle large quantities of it with the food of their negroes. Considerable attention has been drawn to the selection and cultivation of the best kinds of pepper. Among those who have appreciated the importance of this vegetable is that admirable planter, and exceedingly practical gentleman, Col. Maunsel White, the proprietor of "Deer Range," commonly known as the model sugar plan- The proper plan is, to leave from five to tation. Col. White has introduced the cele- eight strong shoots, placed as regularly as brated tobacco red pepper, the very strong possible; to cut them back, so as to have est of all peppers, of which he has cultivated four or five buds of last year's wood, and a large quantity, with a view of supplying then carefully to prune away all weak and his neighbors, and diffusing it through the dead branches. Roses do not flower well in state. The tobacco pepper yields a small the center of the bush, and therefore that red pod, less than an inch in length, and part should be well thinned out, leaving the longitudinal in shape. It is exceedingly branches as free of each other as possible. hot, and but a small quantity of it is suffi- As a general rule, it is not right to cut into cient to pepper a large dish of food. Owing the bush below the preceding year's wood; but when the tree becomes old, it is necessary now and then to cut away a portion of the old wood, which becomes clubbed; and this applies more or less to all rose-trees. It should be removed with a nice small saw, and the wound afterward smoothed over with the pruning-knife. These remarks apply to most of the Hybrid Chinas and Hybrid Bourbons, also some of the Hybrid Provence, Hybrid Perpetuals, and Bourbons. Moderate pruning consists in using the knife more freely than in the former case; in leaving but two eyes of last year's wood, and in carefully training the branches, so as to make the head round and compact. As roses that require moderate pruning have a greater natural tendency to flower than those of the last mentioned class, a little inattention is not so injurious to them. Under this head may be enumerated the greater part of our newest and best roses, including the Moss, Gallica, Damask, Hybrid Damask, Perpetual, and a great portion of the best Hybrid Perpetuals and Bourbons. shortly after they have done flowering, leaving three or four branches a little shortened. The rest must be cut well back, when they will make good flowering wood the remainder of the season, and ripen it well.-J. McArdell, in Beck's Florist. Sugar Corn. IN the Wisconsin Farmer, Mr. A. H. Platt, of Sheboygan Falls, Wisconsin, recommends Sweet Corn as very superior for fattening hogs. He has, from New Jersey, a large sort of it, as large as the common eight rowed corn. We think that there can be no doubt that he is right; sugar, in food, being an element in the formation of fat. The Patent Office Report, 1845, thus speaks of it "Sweet corn appears like an unripe grain. Its origin is unknown; but it seems to have been used by the aboriginal inhabitants of New England anterior to the settlement of the country. It is a remarkable variety of corn; containing an unusually large proportion of the phosphates (boneforming materials,) and a large quantity of sugar and gum, with but little starch. There is Its excellence as food in a green state is well known and appreciated. double the amount of phosphates in the sweet corn as in the Tuscarora. A crop of sweet corn will take up twice as much of the phosphates as the other variety, and consequently, will sooner exhaust the soil of them; and also, if the soil is deficient, will require more phosphates (bones) to be added." This is an important consideration; for while the phosphates are the most requisite inorganic elements of all our grains, they are naturally the least plentiful, and the most difficult to restore.-Farmer's Companion. The third method, or close pruning system, is used for those roses which are termed dwarf growers, or that make but little wood. This class is not numerous in comparison with the others, but it contains many of the brightest gems of the rosary. They succeed better on dwarf stock, than on those of four or five feet in hight. In some cases they are shy growers, and apt to overflower their strength. This is obviated by close pruning, as the strongest shoots come from the crown; and as it is the interest of the grower to get wood of this class, the last year's shoots should be cut away pretty freely. Under this head may be classed a few of the best Moss Roses, and many Hybrid Perpetuals, Damask Perpetuals, and some of the Bourbon tribe. A few words on Yellow-brier roses, and I have done. Roses of this class are peculiar in their flowering, and therefore MR. SHILLINGSBY, of Clinton, New Jersey, require peculiar pruning. They are early exhibited some ears of White Flint Corn bloomers, and make no wood previous to at the Farmers' Club, New York city. This flowering. They generally put forth the is part of a crop of 178 bushels of ears to leaf and the bud about the same time; it is the acre. The land had been treated with therefore necessary that as much as possible super-phosphate of lime, applied with the of last year's wood be retained, particularly the ends of the branches, from whence most of the flowers proceed. The method that must be pursued in order to get as much flowering wood as possible, is not to prune them when other roses are pruned, but Special Manures. seed in the hill. It was said to be an average specimen of the entire crop, which measured 85 bushels of shelled corn to the acre. By means of the same manure, Mr. Shillingsby raised 900 bushels of carrots on one acre. |