of note, that many of our best apples for Wis- berry. Doesn't it look splendid in cluster? consin are of Southern origin.

Mistakes of Tree-Planters.

BY DR. JOHN A. KENNICOTT.

[From a lecture before the Illinois State Horticultural

Society, December 1, 1860.]

In the mode of planting there are bad mistakes. Few prepare their ground properly, and most of you hurry the operation, for fear of losing your trees. All wrong. The first thing you should do, on receiving trees-either spring or fall-is to heel them in, nicely, in

moist mellow soil-unless frozen-and even then you must heel in, suddenly, and in bulk, if not well "packed.' You are mistaken in believing that freezing the roots will kill a tree, if thawed properly-and you are oftener mistaken in supposing trees dried in the package must be dead. We occasionally have trees months on the way, and quite dry when received. But they are not always dead. Bury them, root and branch, for a week or two, where air, heat and moisture can act upon them gradually, and then cut back severely, plant and shade them, and they may do pretty well, for all the drying. It is a very bad practice, for all that, to let the roots of trees get dry; and a worse one to let them freeze, while naked, as some of you do, in moving them without packing.

But to the operation of planting. Some of you do prepare your soil, by deep plowing; but I fear most of you do not plow deep enough. All of you dig "holes"-some of them deep enough for fence posts, and not much larger than old fashioned "post-holes." Part of you put manure in the bottom-a damnable practice-others don't, and are right there. Most of you crowd the roots into these "holes," hap-hazard, and sink them deep enough, not to need "staking," and then shovel in the earth -with or without water-and "tread down" firmly, and the work is done-and the tree often done for." I have just heard of a thousand or so, planted in this manner, by a man who pretended to know how, and trodden down so as to turn the ends of the roots upwards! and leave a nice dish about the stem of every tree to catch the rain!!" I am told that some of them are alive, but they ought not to live.

or

Nearly our whole system of pruning is a mistake-a barbarism." Cutting back, "shortening in," is often necessary, in shaping a tree, and keeping it in good shape, and in restoring something like a reasonable balance between top and roots, in cases of great destruction of the latter, in digging them up. The removal of interfering branches may be called for, when they cannot be drawn apart and preserved--and dead wood, and sometimes thick unfruitful spray, may, well enough, fall under the saw or the knife. But, as usually practiced, better never prune at all.

MULCHING.

Just mulch

Mulch is almost always a good thing, if not carried to excess; and it is indispensible, in connection with late spring planting. But some of us overdo the thing. enough, after planting, to prevent rapid evaporation from the soil, and sudden changes of temperature, and it is of great service; while too much of it is dangerous, excluding sun and air, and, perhaps, other good influences-preventing early maturity, by encouraging late growth-harboring vermin, and all that. Fall mulching is another thing, especially where your object is to retain the heat of the earth, as long as practicable.

CULTIVATION.

Many planters expect a crop of fruit, without any particular cultivation; and yet they would laugh at the idea of a corn or potato crop, under like circumstances. Be assured of one fact, I pray you: All our best fruits need Never dig "holes"-never dig deeper in one more liberal culture than corn, especially while place than another-and never deeper where young. Better not plant at all, unless deterthe tree stands than twenty feet from it. I mined to cultivate. And just about as well would have every root I should get, and have cut down your young fruit trees, as "seed them all fresh and good-pare their bruises, down" the orchard, as some of you do, and and then carefully imbed them in fine earth, better cut it down than sow the small grainsspreading and separating them, and planting buckwheat, possibly, excepted-among your just enough deeper than the tree grew in the trees. Some one-perhaps Downing-has said, nursery, to allow for the settling of the soil. that "two crops of rye" would ruin any orchI would dip the roots in a rich puddle, before ard. I think three crops of any other small planting and before "heeling in," too-and unhoed cereal about as fatal. It is great mistake my time for the work. In very loose soil take to put any but hoed crops in an orchard; I would press down, gently over the outer ends and, of those, corn, sorghum, and other tall of the roots-not next the stem--and if neces-plants, are objectionable, on account of shade, sary stake them in the spring-and certainly late in summer, until the trees get high enough

to overtop it. Where the soil is very deep and rich, and the trees large, perhaps red clover may be sown, as a check to wood growth.

Many of you plant too deep, and use a spade when a fork would do better, among the roots of growing trees. A corn plow, or "cultivator," aided by fork and hoe, are the implements to use in the orchard and fruit garden.

MANURE.

be taken to have it removed. There are few seeds that require such extreme attention.

Small seeds, as Petunia, Portulaca. &c., sow about of an inch in depth; those of larger size, as Mignonette, Sweet Alyssum, &c., about of an inch in depth; still larger, as Balsam, Morning Glory, &c., of an inch in depth; and seeds of the largest size, as Lupine, Nasturtium, &c., fully 1 inch in depth. They leaf-mould, slightly pressed down, and should must be covered with finely pulverized soil, or sprinklings of water, until they make their be kept moderately moist by shading or slight appearance. When about one inch in height the plants must be thinned out from one to two inches apart, to prevent crowding. Tall varieties should be neatly staked to prevent

Who ever knew corn or meadow land too highly manured! I never did. Who has seen rhubarb or currant bushes too liberally supplied! I should like to know. But manure for such gross feeders may be all right, and often necessary; while, with every fruit tree, great caution, in its use, or its entire abandonment, is the safe course. As a rule, you give young orchards too much, and your old bear-injury from wind or rain. ing ones too little manure.

The time for sowing is regulated by latitude -April and early in May are the months generally selected about New York and Philadel

phia, and about Charleston and Savannah

some six weeks earlier.

Practical Observations on Grape Growing.

BY J. C. PLUMB.

[A Paper read before the Madison Hortticultural Society, March 18th.]

Of all the small fruits, the grape is most unsuited with wet feet, or an inactive cold soil.

And in neither case do you discriminate as you should, or give or withhold manure for a specific reason. In a large proportion of our virgin soil, the young tree, if well cultivated, is likely to grow fast enough; and too fast, for safety, if a tender sort. Here, fat manures will do much more hurt than good-so far as the tree or plant is concerned. But, by and by, the crops taken from between the trees, and occasional large yields of fruit will begin to tell on the trees, and then vegetable and animal manures may come in, to keep up a healthy growth, and help sustain large crops of fruit. And mineral matters may be still more useful; for you can no longer plow deep, to bring them from below. The roots are in the way of the plow. And here I note another mistake. You pile the manure around and near the bodies of your trees, when the roots, to feed on it, are no longer there! If your tree is twenty feeted by the perfect æration and decomposition. high, the best feeding roots may be twenty feet At the same time it is true that the grape loves from the tree! perhaps interlocking with roots to luxuriate in deep mould, if underlaid by a selffrom neighboring trees. Place your manure there; and, in "plowing it under," don't plow draining stratum; as is often found on the rich up the roots of your trees. Barnyard manure river banks of the middle and western states, is not, as some suppose, always the best sort for bearing trees. Leached ashes, powdered where are an abundance of mammoth vines, with diminutive worthless fruit. It is therefore evident that to secure success in grape grow

The natural habitat of the choice fruit-producing vine, is the rocky hill-side, with just enough soil intermixed, to filter out and retain the rich mineral elements, continually furnish

or dissolved bones, marl, or air-slaked lime, may be much more useful; and these should be given, whenever their constituents are deficient in the soil-either with or without yard ma-ing, we should combine the alluvial with the nure, or compost-according to the WANTS OF mineral, in such proportions and place, as to

YOUR SOIL.

On the Sowing of Flower Seeds.

[From the Ag. Department of the U. S. Patent Office.]

In order to be successful in raising flowers from seed, it will be necessary to bear in mind that the smaller the seed the less deeply should it be covered with earth. Some seeds are so small that they require only to be sprinkled over the ground and gently pressed into the soil, and should the weather prove very dry, a thin layer of damp moss ought to be placed over them till they germinate, when care must

give vigor, health, and productivness to the vine, and excellence and beauty to the fruit. Location. The first important consideration of which is, THOROUGH drainage.

The second is, exemption from early and late frosts, and cold, damp air generally.

The grape requires an even temperature, and above all our common fruits, is sensitive to extremes of heat and cold.

A very large and even amount of heat is

warm side of a brick or stone building, especially if the basement or cellar wall runs deep down, affording drainage; and the usual embankment and rubbish from the cellar and wall, form a good combination of soil.

The west side is the surest in our climate, being less subject to extremes, and less frosty;

desirable, but in our latitude is practicable only under glass—but we design to treat only of out-door culture-therefore to secure these desirable conditions before mentioned, we would, when possible, plant upon, or near the crown of the highest hills, in gravelly soils; or if the soil be clay, clay marl, or calcarious, we would deeply trench the whole vineyard, throw-the change is not so rapid on those frosty ing in stone, brush, straw, or some other loose material, to gradually decompose, affording a good underdrainage, and a constant source of circulation, both from above and below. When trenching the whole vineyard is impracticable, or only a few vines are to be planted, as in the case of trellis-culture in the garden,— then adopt a system of deep spading, or plowing, then ridging.

In field culture successive plowing-as we have often recommended in orchard planting sufficient to raise a ridge for each row of vines, two or three feet above the bottom of the dead furrow will answer; in garden culture, this can be performed with the spade, or when the soil is poor, or very stiff, by carting in good surface soil, with an admixture of gravel or sand, to render it porous, elevating the bank or border two feet or more, enough for the entire sustenance of the vine, without expecting or compelling its feeders to go into cold, inactive soil for pasture.

In soils underlaid with gravel, it is not positively necessary to elevate the vine-row or border, if the gravel can be reached at the depth of two or three feet. There is great folly in the old mode of digging a grave, and depositing, deep down, all manner of "dead things," filling up with half rotted manure and soil, on which to set the vine. It is even worse than useless; it usually proves the grave of the planter's hopes and efforts.

mornings followed by bright sunshine. A southern aspect will bring forward vine and fruit earliest, and to greater perfection, but will require some careful watching and covering with mats, &c., to secure from dews and sunshine, when frost is expected.

On this subject of aspect, the same remarks will apply to field culture. A free circulation of air is essential to success.

The grape is most particular in its choice of location, yet fortunately, it adapts itself in the different varieties, to almost all kinds of soil; and no one need be deterred from planting, who has the ordinary resources at hand; for the level land can be made a hillock relatively; the soil full of stagnant water can be drained; the stiff clay can be made friable and porous by trench exposure to the action of frost and air, and when thus served, generally contains the desired elements in good proportion. The warm sand and gravel soils only require the yearly application of good composted manures to the surface to render them superior for the grape.

Α

On planting, little need be said; but to urge the previous preparation of the soil as before mentioned, giving a place for each root and fiber as nearly as possible, covering lightly with soil, but heavily with mulch of straw, leaves, saw-dust, or well rotted manure. compost heap prepared a year beforehand, is the most economical manure pile the planter can invent, as it absorbs all the vegetable rubbish Thorough drainage secures complete æration of the season, is ever ready, both for manure and of the soil; such soils are never cold, and inac- mulch, always safe, the "philosopher's stone" tive; seldom suffer from dryness, or wet, and of the gardener. An annual top dressing of even when done on a small scale, it is productive this compost, or even coarse manure, should of very decided lessening of the extremes of be applied at the time of annual pruning in temperature, both in frosty nights and sultry the fall, as winter mulch and protection; to days. be forked in in the spring. Special manures An excellent situation for the grape is the are not necessary, unless it be to renovate old