This fruit is native in the warmer parts of Asia: hence, the cold winters of the Middle, Northern, and Western states, and of Canada, would destroy the trees in the open air without protection. But as the trees are low-growing shrubs, they may easily be protected either in cellars, greenhouses, or the open air, and uncovered or planted out in the beginning of warm weather. Frequent removals and transplantings injure the fig less than any other fruit, and our summers are long enough to produce large crops of excellent figs. In New England they are raised in tubs, set out of the cellar in spring, and produce largely. South of Virginia, the fig is hardy, and may be cultivated with profit in the open air. The best method of raising all kinds of fruit, in climates where the winters are too cold for them, is to build a wall twelve feet high on one side, and six feet on the other, with the ends closed, and cover it with glass facing the south. This should only be kept warm enough to prevent freezing, which would require only a small outlay. Men of moderate means might thus have oranges, lemons, figs, &c., of their own raising. In all except our coldest latitudes, such fruits might be raised at a profit.
Soil.—The best is a deep, rich loam, with a dry subsoil.
Propagation is by layers and cuttings. The latter should be taken off in the spring, be of last year's growth, with half an inch of the previous year's growth: they take root better.
Varieties are numerous, and names uncertain. White, in his Gardening for the South, says, some of the best varieties are not in the books, or so imperfectly described that they can not be recognised. This is true of all the fruits, and hence our decision, in this work, not to attempt to describe fruits with a view to their identification. As this fruit is more for the South than the North, we give the whole of White's list, as being adapted to those regions:—
1, Brunswick; 2, Brown Turkey; 3, Brown Ischia; 4, Small Brown Ischia; 5, Black Genoa; 6, Celestial; 7, Common Blue; 8, Round White, Common White, Lemon Fig; 9, White Genoa, White Italian; 10, Nerii; 11, Pregussatta; 12, Allicant; 13, Black Ischia; 14, White Ischia. These, with a few others, are those described in most of our fruit-books. The catalogue of the London Horticultural Society enumerates forty-two varieties. Only a few of them have been introduced into this country. Any of these varieties are good at the South. The five following are the most hardy, and, being in all respects good, are all we need in our more northern latitudes:—
1. Brunswick.—Very hardy, productive, and excellent.
2. Brown Turkey.—The very hardiest, and one of the most regular and abundant bearers.
3. Black Ischia.—Bears an abundance of medium-sized, excellent fruit, very dark-colored.
4. Nerii.—Said to be the richest fig in Britain: from an acid mixture in its flavor, it is exceedingly delicious.
5. Celestial.—This may be the "Malta" of Downing. Under whatever name, though small, it is one of the very best figs grown in this country.
For forcing under glass, the best are the Allicant and Marseilles. With care, the first three of the above list may be raised in the Middle states, without removal in winter. Any variety may be protected by bending and tying down the branches, and covering with four inches of soil. Below Philadelphia, a little straw will be a sufficient protection.
Dried figs are an important article of import into this country; yet they might be raised as plentifully and profitably in the Southern states. Prune only to keep the tree low and regular. The fig-tree is a great and regular bearer, only when the wood makes too strong a growth, as it is somewhat apt to do. The remedy is root-pruning. Cut off, on the first of November, the roots to half the length of the branches from the tree, and occasionally shorten the branches a little, and the fruit will be abundant, and not fall off. The ripening of the fruit may be hastened and perfected by putting a drop of oil in the blossom-end of each fig. This is done by dipping the end of a straw in oil, and then putting it into the end of the fruit. This is extensively practised in France. Compost, containing a pretty liberal proportion of lime, is the best manure for the fig.
FISH.
The cultivation of fish is attracting much attention in this country and in Europe. The study and experiments of scientific and practical men have established important facts upon this subject. Fish may be successfully cultivated wherever water can be conveniently obtained. The creeks, ponds, and small rivers of our land may be well stocked with fish. Fish may be raised as a source of profit and luxury, with as much ease and certainty, and at a much less expense than fowls. This is so important to the whole people, that it demands the earnest attention of our state authorities, as it has engaged that of the government of France. The species of fish best adapted to artificial culture, in particular climates and in different kinds of water, have been ascertained. A man may know what fish to put in his waters, as well as what crops to put on his land, or what stocks on his farm.
The following brief synopsis of the best methods of cultivation will be sufficient to insure success. The first requisite is suitable water for hatching eggs that have been artificially fecundated, and for the occupancy of fish of different ages, and for different species of fish. Fish of different ages are much inclined to destroy each other for food; and hence, in order to multiply them most rapidly, they should be kept in separate ponds until considerably grown, when they will take care of themselves. A spring sending forth a rivulet of clear water, and not subject to overflow in freshets, is the best location. Clear, cool water is essential to the trout, while some other fish will do well in warm and even roily water. The rivulet running from the spring should be made to form a succession of ponds, three or four in number. These ponds should be connected with flumes made of plank. If the space they must occupy be small, make the flumes zigzag, to increase their length. Put across those flumes, once in four or five feet, a piece of plank half as high as the sides of the flume, with a notch cut in the centre of the top, that the fish may easily pass over: this will afford a succession of little falls, in which the trout very much delights. These different ponds are for the occupancy of fish of different ages, one age only inhabiting one pond. The flumes should have four inches of fine and coarse gravel in the bottom, making the most perfect spawning-ground. Although you would not wish the female-trout to deposite her eggs in the natural way, but will extrude them by the hand (as hereinafter directed), yet they must have these natural conveniences, or they will not incline to spawn at all. At the upper end of each of these flumes separating the ponds, there should be a gate of wire-cloth, to prevent the passage of the fish from one pond to the other; also one at the outlet of the lower pond, to prevent egress of the fish. These must all be so arranged that freshets will not connect them all together. When trout are about to spawn in their natural waters, they select a gravelly margin, and remove, from a circle of about one foot or two feet in diameter, all the sediment, leaving only clean gravel, among which they deposite their eggs, where they are hatched. They want running water of three or four inches in depth for this purpose. A male and female occupy each nest. If left to themselves, they will gradually increase; but so many of their eggs fail of being fecundated, and so many are destroyed before they hatch, by enemies, and by the collection of sediment in the nest, that the number of young fish is small compared with the whole number of eggs deposited. Artificial spawning, fecundation, and hatching, are far more productive. The process is simple and easy: when the female-fish first begins to deposite her eggs, catch her with a small net. It can not be done with bait, for fish will bite nothing at the time of spawning. We recollect, often when a boy, of trying to catch trout out of the brooks in October, where we could see large, beautiful fish, lying lazily in the places from which we had caught many in the summer, and put our bait carefully on every side of them, and they would not bite. Then we knew not the cause: since studying the habits of fish, we have learned that they never will bite while spawning; with trout, this is done from the 1st to the 15th of October, some few spawning till the last of November. Having caught two fish, male and female, take the female in one hand, and press her abdomen gently with the other hand, gradually moving it downward, and the eggs will be easily extruded, and should fall into an earthen vessel of pure water. Then take the male-fish, and go through the same process, which will press out the spermatic fluid, which should be allowed to fall into the same vessel with the eggs; stir up the whole together, and, after it has stood fifteen minutes, pour off the water, put in more and stir it up, and let it stand as before. This having been done three times, the eggs will be thoroughly fecundated, and are ready to be deposited in the nests for hatching. If the fish are caught before the time of beginning to spawn, the eggs and the spermatic fluid will not be mature, and will be only extruded by hard pressing, and failing to be fecundated, the eggs will perish. The fluid from one male will fecundate the eggs of half a dozen females. These eggs may be hatched in the flumes described above, though hatching-boxes are preferable. The old fish can be returned to the water, and may live many years and produce thousands of fish. These fish, carefully treated and fed, will become so tame as to eat out of your hand, like the "Naiad Queen" of Professors Ackley and Garlick, of Cleveland, Ohio. Among all the hatching apparatus we have seen described, we regard that of the above professors at Cleveland the best. To these gentlemen the country is much indebted for the knowledge derived from their zeal and success in fish culture. At the head of a spring they built a house eight by twelve feet; in the end of the house toward the spring they made a tank four feet wide, eight feet long, and two feet deep; this was made of plank. Water enters the tank through a hole near the top, and escapes through a similar one at the other end, and is received into a series of ten successive boxes, each one a little lower than the preceding one. These boxes were eighteen inches long, eight inches wide, and six inches deep. These were filled to the depth of two inches with clean sand and gravel. The impregnated eggs were scattered among the gravel, care being exercised not to have them in piles or masses. Clean water is necessary, as the sediment deposited by impure water is very destructive to the eggs. If it be seen to be collecting, it should be removed by agitating the water with a goose-quill or soft brush, and allowing it to run off; continue this till it runs clear. But there is a method of preventing impurities in spring-water, that will be always effectual: just around on the upper side of the spring make a tight fence two feet high, and it will turn aside, and cause to run around the spring, all the water that may flow down the rise above in time of rains. The house being near the head, there will not water enough get into the spring, in any storm, to roil the water. On the side of the boxes where the water escapes should be wire-cloth, so fine as not to allow the eggs to pass through. Such an apparatus will be perfect. This great care is only necessary for trout. All other fish worthy of cultivation, will only need spawning-beds on the margin of their pond. A convenient hatching apparatus is a number of wicker-baskets, fine enough not to allow the eggs to pass through, set in a flume of clear running water.
The method of Gehen and Remy, the great fish-cultivators of France, whose efforts and discoveries have contributed more to this science than those of any, if not of all other men, was to place the eggs in zinc-boxes of about one foot in diameter, having a lid over them—the top and sides of the boxes pierced with small holes, smooth on the inside; these boxes were partly filled with clean sand and gravel, and set in clear running water. M. Costa's method, at the college of France, is to arrange boxes in the form of steps, the top one being supplied with water by a fountain, and that passing from one to the other through all the series, and the eggs placed on willow-hurdles instead of gravel.
Another very simple method may be arranged in the house. It is a reservoir—a barrel or cask—set perhaps two and a half feet from the floor, and a little hatching trough a few inches lower, into which water gradually runs through a faucet, from the reservoir. This water running through the hatching-box, escapes into a tub a little below. Whatever plan be adopted, great care is necessary in preventing sediment from depositing. Cleanliness is a principal condition of success. The eggs of the trout thus fecundated and deposited in October or November will hatch in the spring. Young trout need no feeding for a month after leaving the egg. There is a small bladder or vesicle under the fore part of the body, when they first come out, from which they derive their sustenance. After this disappears, or at the end of about a month, they should be fed, in very small quantities. Too much will leave a portion to decay on the bottom and injure the water. The best possible food (except the angle-worm) is lean flesh of animals, boiled and hashed fine for the young fish. The flesh of other kinds of fish, when they are plenty and not very valuable, would be very good. These young fish should be kept in the first pond until a year old. Then let them into the second pond, closing the gate after them, to make room for another brood in the first pond. The next year let them into the third, and those into the second that are now in the first, and so on till the fourth. In the last pond, those of different ages will all be large enough to take care of themselves. But sometimes a trout two years old is said to swallow one a year old. But when they get to be three or four years old, this sort of cannibalism ceases. These principles can be carried out in small streams, by constructing gates to keep sections separate, and by forming banks and waste ways for water, with wire gates so high, that the water will not overflow in freshets, and carry the fish away. In taking trout use angle-worms or the fly. A fine light-colored small line is best. They are very shy. The following is a list of other fish, beside the trout, that are well worthy of cultivation:—
Black Bass.—When full grown, this fish is from twelve to eighteen inches in length. One of the better fish for the table, and profitable to raise in a pond covering not less than half an acre. Chub, being a very prolific little fish, may be kept in the same pond as food for the black bass and other large fish. They are very fond of them. Minnows are the best bait for these fish, though they will bite a trolling hook of any ordinary kind. You may raise them as given for the trout above, or allow them to deposite their eggs in spawn beds of their own selection in their pond. They will do well in water less pure than is demanded for the trout.
White Bass.—Not so large as the black bass. Seldom weighs more than two pounds. One of the best for food. Thrives well in small ponds. Requires the same treatment as the preceding. Spawns in May and hatches soon. Easily caught, as he is a great biter, at almost any bait.
Grass Bass or Roach.—One of the most beautiful of the bass kind, and as a panfish highly esteemed. It prefers sluggish water, and hence is well adapted to small artificial ponds. Spawns in May. May be treated as the preceding. Bites the angle-worm well, and several other kinds of bait.
Rock Bass.—A small fish seldom reaching a pound in weight, but is fine and very easily raised in small ponds of any kind of water. Spawns in May and may be treated in all respects as the rest of the bass family, only it will flourish well in quite small ponds.
Pickerel.—Is one of the best of fish, weighs from three to fifteen pounds. Suitable only for large ponds. Spawns early in the spring in the marshy edges of sluggish water. The eggs may be procured and treated as the trout, only cold running water is not necessary. Best caught by trolling. It is not a good fish to raise with others, as it is apt to eat them up.
Yellow Perch.—Is everywhere well known as a beautiful little fresh-water fish, and good for the table, at all seasons when the water is cool. Perfectly hardy and adapted to sluggish waters, it is one of the best for artificial ponds. Treat like all the preceding; or allowed to take its own course in the pond, it will increase rapidly.
Sun-Fish.—Rarely weighs more than half a pound, but is a good pan-fish. This and the grass bass and yellow perch may be put together in the same pond.
Eels.—May be cultivated with great success in almost any water. But we are so prejudiced against them, never consenting to taste one, that we can not speak in their favor. Of the methods of introducing fish into our rivers and creeks, from which they have nearly all been taken by the fishermen, it is not our design to treat. That subject may be found fully presented in treatises on fish culture, and should command the immediate attention of the authorities in all the states.
We have here given all that is necessary to success among the masses all over the land. There is hardly a township in the United States or British provinces, where good fish-ponds might not be constructed so as to be a source of profit and luxury to the inhabitants.
Fish are so certainly and easily raised, that the practice of cultivating them should be universally adopted.
Transporting fish alive is somewhat hazardous, especially if they be of considerable size. The difficulty is greatly lessened by keeping ice in the water with the fish. Change water twice a day and keep ice in it, and you may safely transport fish around the globe. Eggs of fish are best transported in boxes six inches square, filled with alternate layers of sand and eggs scattered over. When full, make quite wet, and fasten on the cover. Other methods are adopted which will be easily learned of those engaged in the trade.
FLAX.
Change the seed every season. This will greatly increase the quantity, and improve the quality. In nothing else is it more important. In Ireland, the great flax-growing country of the world, they always sow foreign seed when it can be procured. American seed is preferred, and brings the highest price. Experiments with different seeds, on varieties of soils, are much needed. Changing from all the soils and latitudes of our country would be useful. The general rule, however, as with all seeds, is to change from colder to warmer regions.
Soils.—The best are strong alluvial soils. Any soil good for a garden is good for flax. As much clay as will allow soil soon to become dry and easily to be made mellow, is desirable; black loam, with hard, poor clay-subsoil, is also good. Mellow, friable soils are not more important to any other crop than to flax. Land must not be worked when too wet. The land should be rich from a previous year's manuring. Salt, lime, ashes, and plaster, are good applications to flax after it has come up. On light soil with bad tillage, when the flax was so poor that the cultivator was about to plow it up, the application of three bushels of plaster, in the morning when the dew was on, produced a larger yield of better flax from an acre than adjoining growers got from two acres of their best land.
FLOWERS.
Floriculture is an employment appropriate to all classes, ages, and conditions. No yard connected with a dwelling is complete without a flower-bed. The cultivation of flowers is eminently promotive of health, refinement of manners, and good taste. Constant familiarity with the most exquisite beauties of nature must refine the feelings and produce gentleness of spirit. Association with flowers should be a part of every child's education. Their cultivation is suitable for children and young ladies in all the walks of life.
House-plants, and bouquets in sick-rooms, are injurious; their influence on the atmosphere of the rooms is unhealthy. But the cultivation of flowers in the garden or yard is in every way beneficial. We earnestly recommend increased attention to flowers by the whole American people. The necessary limits of our article will allow us to do but little more than to call attention to the subject. Those who become interested will seek information from some of the numerous works devoted exclusively to ornamental flowers.
Flowers should be planted on rather level land, that the rains may not wash off the seeds and fine mould. Choose a southern or eastern exposure whenever practicable. Avoid, as much as possible, planting in the shade.
Soil—Should be a deep, rich mould, neither too wet nor too dry, and should be enriched with a little compost, every year.
Sowing the Seeds is a most important matter in cultivating flowers. Many fail to come up, solely on account of improper planting. The seeds of most flowers are very fine and delicate. Planted in coarse earth, they will not vegetate; planted near the surface in a dry time, they usually perish. It is best to cover all small flower-seeds, by sifting fine mould upon them; and if the weather does not do it, use artificial means to keep the soil suitably moist until the seeds are fairly up. Stir the soil gently often, and keep out all weeds. It is always best to plant the seeds in rows or hills, with small stakes to indicate their location; you can then stir the ground freely without destroying them. Flowers usually need more watering than most other plants. The usual application of water to the leaves by using a sprinkler is injurious; it may be better than no watering at all, but is the worst way to apply water. Make a basin in the soil near the plants, and fill it with water. The selection of suitable varieties for a small flower-garden is quite important. We shall only mention a brief list. Those who would make this more of a study, are recommended to study "Breck's Book of Flowers," which is quite as complete for American cultivators as anything we have. The principal divisions are, bulbous flowering roots, flowering shrubs, and flowering herbs—annual, biennial, and perennial—the first blossoming and dying the year they are sown; the second blossoming and dying the second year, without having blossomed the first; the last blossoming, and the top dying down and coming up the next spring, for a series of years.
Bulbous Flowering Roots.—These need considerable sand in their soil. They should be taken up after the foliage is all dead, and if they are hardy, put the soil in good condition, and dry the bulbs and reset them, and let them remain through the winter. They may need slight protection, by spreading coarse straw, manure, or forest-leaves over them late in the fall; but all the more tender bulbs do better kept in sand until early spring. The best list with which we are acquainted, for a small garden, is the following: the well-known lilies, the tulips, gladiolas, hyacinths, Feraria tigrida, crocus, narcissus, and jonquils.
Flowering Shrubs.—The following is a select small list: Roses, as large a variety as you please, out of the hundreds known; flowering almond, Indigo shrub, wahoo or fire-shrub, the mountain-ash, althea, snowball, lilac, fringe-tree, snow-drop, double-flowering peach, Siberian crab, the smoke-tree, or French tree, or Venitian sumach, honeysuckle, double-flowering cherry.
The list of beautiful herbaceous flowers is very lengthy. We give only a few of those most easily raised, and most showy; the list is designed only to aid the inquiries of those who are unacquainted with them: superb amaranth, tri-colored amaranth, China and German astors—the latter are very beautiful—Canterbury bell, carnation pinks (great variety), chrysanthemum (many varieties and splendid until very late in autumn), morning glory or convolvulus, japonicas, Cupid's car, dahlias, dwarf bush, morning bride or fading beauty, fox-glove, golden coreopsis (we have raised a variety that proved biennial, which was superb all the season), ice-plant, larkspur, passion-flower, peony, sweet pea, pinks, sweet-williams, annual China pink, polyanthus (a great beauty), hyacinth bean, scarlet-runner bean, poppy, portalucca, nasturtium, marigolds (especially the large double French, and the velvet variegated), martineau, cypress vine.
FOWLS.
We are glad to believe that the hen mania, that has prevailed so extensively during the last fifteen or twenty years, has considerably abated. After all the extravagant notions about the profits of hens shall have passed away, the truth will be seen to be about the following: Every farmer who has considerable waste grain about, and plenty more to supply the deficiency when the fowls shall have gathered up all the scatterings, had better keep a hundred hens. If he has sand and gravel, and wheat-bran and lime for shells, within their reach, and plenty of fresh water, they will do well, without much further care, in mild weather. In cold weather in winter, keep not more than forty hens together, in a tight, warm place, well ventilated; give them their usual food, with burnt bones pounded fine and mixed with mush, given warm, with occasionally a little animal food and boiled vegetables, and they will lay more than in summer. They will lay all winter without being inclined to set. Every family, who will treat them as above, may profitably keep one or two dozen through the winter. Most persons who undertake, with a few acres of land, to keep fowls as a business, will lose by it. A few only of the most experienced and careful can make money by it. It may be cheapest for some persons to raise a few chickens for their own use, although they cost them more than the market-price, though it would not be best to raise chickens in that way to sell. "But some one raised the chickens in market for the market-price, and why not I?" Because, they raised a few that got fat on waste grain, and you must buy grain for yours, and give more for it than you can get for your chickens. Whoever would make money by raising fowls on a large scale, must first serve some kind of an apprenticeship at it, as in all other business. Get this experience, and learn by experiment the cheapest and most profitable food, and keep from five hundred to a thousand fowls, and a reasonable though not large profit may be realized. For store-fowls, boiled vegetables and beets cut very fine, with a little meal mixed in, are a good and cheap feed. When keeping fowls out-door in warm weather, keep no more than fifty together, and them on not less than one fourth of an acre of land. The expensive hen-houses and artificial nests are mostly humbugs. Have many places of concealment about, where they can make their nests as they please. When a hen begins to set, remove her, nest and all, to a yard to which layers have no access, and you need have no difficulty with her. Set a hen near the ground, in a dry place, on fifteen fresh eggs, all put under her at once, and they will hatch about the same time at the end of twenty days. Old hens, of the common kind, are best to set. Let them have their own way in everything but running in the wet with their young chickens—and that they will not be much inclined to do if they are well fed. Much is said about the diseases of fowls and their remedies. We have very little confidence in any of it. Sick chickens will die unless they get well. Time spent in doctoring them does not generally pay. Wormwood and tansy, growing, or gathered and scattered, or steeped and sprinkled about the premises occupied by hens, will protect them from small vermin. Never give them anything salt or sour, unless it be sour milk. The eggs of ducks, turkeys, or geese, may be hatched under hens. Time, thirty days. Hence, if put under with hens' eggs, they must be set ten days earlier, that they may all hatch at once. Fattening chickens may be well done in six days, by feeding rice, boiled rather soft in sweet skimmed milk, fed plentifully three times a day. Feed these in pans, well cleaned before each meal, and give only what they will eat up at once, and desire a very little more. Put a little pounded charcoal within their reach, and a little rice-water, milk, or clear water. This makes the most beautiful meal at a low price. Never feed a chicken for sixteen or twenty-four hours before killing it.
Varieties or Breeds.—This has been matter of much speculation. The result has been (what was probably a main object) the sale of many fowls and eggs at exorbitant prices. When chickens have sold at fifty dollars per pair, and eggs at six dollars a dozen, some persons must have made money, while others lost it. Yet, there is some choice in the breed of hens. The kind makes less difference, as far as flesh is concerned, than is usually imagined. It requires about a given quantity of grain to make a certain amount of flesh. Large fowls give us much larger weight of flesh than small ones, but they also eat a much larger quantity of grain. Large fowls are certainly large eaters. The three best layers are the black Polands, the Malayas, and the Shanghaes. Half-bloods, by crossing with the common fowl, are better for this country than either of the above, pure. Fowls are generally improved by frequent crossing. The best we have ever had, for their flesh, we produced by putting a black Poland rooster with common hens; they grew larger than either, and their flesh was very fine. Shanghaes and half-blood Shanghaes have proved permanently the best layers we have ever had. Early pullets make great fall and winter layers, and late chickens are great layers in the spring, when older ones wish to set.
Ducks we have considered in a separate article. We shall do the same with turkeys. Killing, dressing, and preparing all fowls for market, will be treated under the head of "Poultry." Geese will also be considered in another place. We should give drawings of aviaries, but we consider these generally worse than useless, as they are usually constructed. An airy place for summer, and a warm room for winter, poles with rough bark on for roosts, and plenty of feed and water, sand, gravel, and lime, will give abundant success.
FRUIT.
The value of fruit is not fully appreciated in this country. As an article of diet nothing is more natural and healthy. The Creator gave this to man for food, when human nature, physically, was in its normal condition. And why meats have since been allowed, I know not, unless it be the reason why Moses allowed divorce in certain cases, although it was not so in the beginning, viz., the hardness of their hearts. Why the stomach, upon the healthy condition of which all physical, mental, and moral functions so materially depend, should be made the receptacle of dead animals, and especially those so long dead, as much of the meat offered in market, it would puzzle a philosopher to tell.
But we will not write an elaborate article on the healthfulness of a diet composed mainly of milk, fruits, and vegetables. Suffice it to say that experience and observation, as well as analysis and physiology, unite in demonstrating that ripe fruits contain virtues, that go far toward preventing the ordinary diseases of men. They are good, plain or cooked, and for sick or well persons, except in extreme cases. They regulate the bowels and control the secretions, better than any other article of food. They are so highly nutritious, that they sustain nature under arduous toil, better than either meat, fine bread, or the Irish potato. With proper care the fruits are cheaper than any other article of food. They can be raised cheaper than corn or potatoes. They may be enjoyed all the year, are profitable for market, and for food for animals.
FRUITFULNESS.
Inducing it in Fruit-Trees.—Fruit-trees often grow luxuriantly, but bear no fruit, or very little. In nearly all cases the evil may be remedied. One remedy is shortening in. This is done by cutting off half the present year's growth in July. This checks the tendency of the sap to promote so large a growth, and forces it to mature blossom-buds for the next season. Another effectual means is to bend down all the principal branches and tie them down. This has a great influence in checking excessive growth and forming fruit-buds. Frequent transplanting has a tendency also to induce fruitfulness. Root pruning is one of the best means of securing this object. Lay bare the upper roots and cut off all the larger ones two feet from the tree. This will check excessive formation of wood and foliage, render the wood firm, and the organic matter of the sap will form abundance of fruit-buds. These methods will produce fruit in abundance on nineteen twentieths of barren or poor-bearing fruit-trees.
GARDEN.
The garden has been the most delightful abode of man ever since his creation, before and since the fall. One of the most pleasant pastimes, for ladies and children, is gardening. The flower, vegetable, and fruit departments are all pleasant and healthful.
Situation of a garden is important. This varies with climates. In a cold country the warmest exposures are best, and in a hot climate select the coolest. A garden combining both is the best possible. The warmest exposure is good for early vegetables, and the cooler and more shady for the main crop. Much can be done to regulate this by fences and buildings. They will be warm and early on one side, and cool and late on the other.
Soil.—A rich loam is always best. To convert stiff clay, or light sand and gravel, into a good loam, is an easy matter on so small a plat as is usually devoted to a garden. Draw an abundance of sand on clay-ground, plow deep and mix well, and one winter's frost will so pulverize the whole that it will be in excellent condition. In warm climates, the incorporation of the sand with the clay is effected by frequent plowing and rains. On sand and gravel draw plenty of clay and loam, if it can be easily procured; thus it is easy to form a good friable, retentive loam, adapted to every variety of soil-culture. Decayed wood and forest-leaves are excellent for garden-soils. Manure well; but remember that it is possible to overfeed the soil of a garden, so as to render it unproductive. Deep plowing or spading is very important; it is the best possible remedy for excessive drought or unusual rains. The water will not stand on the surface when it first falls, and will be retained long in the soil for the use of the plants. The soil should be very mellow. Plowing or spading too early, in hope of getting earlier vegetables, is often a failure. The earlier the better, if you can pulverize the soil; otherwise not. Plowing when covered with a heavy dew, or when it rains gently, is equal to a good coat of manure. A garden should be on level land well drained; if much inclined, rains will wash off the best of the soil, and destroy many seeds and plants. No weeds should be allowed to grow to any considerable size in a garden. Early and frequent hoeings are important to success. Directions for the cultivation of each garden vegetable and fruit are given under each of those articles respectively. Methods of gardening at the South and the North vary but little in the main articles. At the North we have to guard against too much cool weather, and at the South against too much heat. Some vegetables that need planting on ridges in the North, to obtain more sun and heat, should be planted on level land at the South, to guard against too much heat and drought. Besides this, the main difference is in the time of planting, which varies more or less with every degree of latitude, or every five hundred feet of elevation. Have no fruit-trees in your vegetable or fruit garden, unless it may be a few dwarf-pears on the quince-stock, and these had better be by themselves.
The plan of a garden is a matter of taste, and depends much upon its size and necessary situation. We prefer ornamental shrubs in front of the house, the flowers adjoining it and passing the windows of those rooms that are constantly occupied, and the fruit-department in the rear of the flowers, while the vegetable-garden should be at the right or left of the fruit, and in the rear of the kitchen. On the other side of the house should be the larger fruit-trees, extending back as far as the fruit and vegetable garden, and in the rear of it, the carriage-house and other out-buildings. The best fence is of good wrought iron, sharp and strong enough to exclude all intruders. When this can not be afforded, a good hedge, made of the plants best adapted to hedges in your latitude, is preferred; next to this a good tight board-fence.
All fruit-gardens should have alleys, eight or ten feet wide, within four rods of each other, to afford space for carting on manures, &c. A vegetable-garden of one acre should have such an alley through the centre each way, with a place in the end, opposite the entrance, to turn around a summer-house, arbor, or tool-house. One rod from the fence, on all sides, should be an alley four or five feet wide; other small alleys as convenience or taste may require. The usual way is to sink the alleys three or four inches below the level of the beds, and cover with gravel, tanbark, shells, &c. We strongly recommend raising the alleys in their middle, at least four inches above the surface of the beds. The paths are always neater, and the moisture is retained for the use of the plants. Excessive rains can be allowed to pass off. This making alleys low sluice-ways for water is a great mistake in yards and gardens.
GARLIC.
This is a hardy perennial plant, from the south of Europe, and has been in cultivation, as a garden vegetable, for hundreds of years. It is cultivated as the onion, and needs much ashes, bonedust, and lime, in the soil. It is much esteemed in some countries, in soups. It is but little used in the United States: it is used at the South as a medicinal herb. We know of no important use of garlic for which onions will not answer as well, and therefore do not recommend garlic as an American garden vegetable. Those who wish to cultivate it will pursue the same course as in raising onions from sets. This will always be successful.
GATHERING FRUITS.
This is almost as important as proper cultivation. This is especially true of the pear. Many cultivators raise inferior pears from trees of the very best varieties, for want of a correct knowledge of the best methods of gathering, preserving, and ripening the fruit. Complete directions will be found under each fruit.
GEESE.
Farmers usually are opposed to keeping geese, believing them to destroy more than they are worth. If you have a suitable place to keep them, they may be profitable. They should have a pasture with a fence they can not pass, enclosing a spring, pond, or stream. They do better to have a little grain the year round. This, with plenty of grass in summer and cut roots in winter, will keep them in fine condition. The feathers will pay the cost of keeping, leaving the increase and feathers of the young as profit. On an acre or two, one hundred geese may be kept, and if the proportion of males and females be right, they will yield a profit of two dollars each.
GOOSEBERRY.
This is a native of the north of Europe and Asia, from which all our fine varieties have been produced by cultivation. Our own native varieties are not known to have produced any very desirable ones. Probably the zeal of the Lancashire weavers, in England, will surpass all that Americans will do for the next century in gooseberry culture. They publish a small book annually, giving an account of new varieties. The last catalogue of the London Horticultural Society mentions one hundred and forty-nine varieties, as worthy of cultivation. A few only should receive attention among us. Gooseberries delight in cool and rather moist situations. They do not flourish so naturally south of Philadelphia; though they grow well in all the mountainous regions, and may produce fair fruit in many cool, moist situations. Deep mulching is very beneficial; it preserves the moisture, and protects from excessive heat. The land must be trenched and manured deep. In November, cut out one half of the top, both old and new wood, and a good crop of fine fruit may be expected each year, for five or six years, when new bushes should take the place of old ones. Propagate by cuttings of the last growth. Cut out all the eyes, below the surface, when planted. Plant six inches deep in loam, in the shade. Press the soil close around them. To prevent mildew, it is recommended to sprinkle lime or flour of sulphur over the foliage and flowers, or young fruit. The fruit-books recommend the best varieties, and very open tops, as not exposed to mildew. We recommend spreading dry straw, or fine charcoal, on the surface under the bushes, as a perfect remedy, if the top be not left too thick. There is no necessity for mildew on gooseberries. The fall is much the best season for trimming, though early spring will do. Varieties are divided into red, green, white, and yellow. These are subdivided into hundreds of others, with names entirely arbitrary. The following are the best varieties, generally cultivated in this country:—
1. Houghton's Seedling.—Flavor, superior; skin, thin and tender; color, reddish-brown. Prodigious grower and bearer—none better known. Free from mildew. Native of Massachusetts.
2. Red Warrington.—Later and larger than the preceding; hangs long on the bush without cracking, and improves in flavor.
3. Woodward's Whitesmith—is one of the best of the white varieties.
4. Cleworth's White Lion.—Large and late; excellent.
5. Collier's Jolly Angler—is a good green gooseberry; fruit large, excellent, and late.
6. Early Green Hairy.—Very early; rather small; prolific.
7. Buerdsill's Duckwing—is a good, late, yellow gooseberry; large fruit, and a fine-growing bush.
8. Prophets Rockwood.—Very large fruit of excellent quality, ripening quite early.
The foregoing list, giving two of each of the four colors, and early and late, are all, we think, that need be cultivated. Many more varieties, nearly equalling the above, may be selected; but we are not aware that any improvement would be made. Downing gives the following list for a garden: —
Red.—Red Warrington, Companion, Crown Bob, London, Houghton's Seedling.
Yellow.—Leader, Yellow Ball, Catharine, Gunner.
White.—Woodward's Whitesmith, Freedom, Taylor's Bright Venus, Tally Ho, Sheba Queen.
Green.—Pitmaston Green Gage, Thumper, Jolly Angler, Massey's Heart of oak, Parkinson's Laurel.
Thus you have Downing's authority; his list includes most of those we have recommended above. The varieties are less important than in most fruits, provided only you get the large varieties of English gooseberry. Proper cultivation will insure success. Whoever cultivates, only tolerably well, the Houghton Seedling, will be sure to raise good berries, free from mildew.
GRAFTING.
This is one of the leading methods of obtaining such fruits as we wish, on stocks of such habits of growth and degrees of hardiness, as we may desire. The stock will control, in some degree, the growth of the scion, but leave the fruit mainly to its habits on its original tree. The advantages of grafting are principally the following:—
Good varieties may be propagated very rapidly. A single tree may produce a thousand annually, for a series of years. Large trees of worthless fruit may be changed into any variety we please, and in a very short time bear abundantly. Fruits not easily multiplied in any other way, can be rapidly increased by grafting. Early bearing of seedlings can be secured by grafting on bearing trees.
Tender and exotic varieties may be acclimated by grafting into indigenous stocks. Fruit can be raised on an uncongenial soil, by grafting into stocks adapted to that soil. Several varieties may be produced on the same tree, for ornament or economy of room. Dwarfs of any variety may be produced by grafting on dwarf stocks, and we may thus grow many trees on a small space. A slow-growing variety may be made to form a large top, by grafting into large vigorous-growing stocks. We are enabled to carry varieties to any part of the world, at a cheap rate, as the scions, properly done up, may safely be carried around the globe.
Time of Grafting.—Grafts may be made to live, put in in any month of the year, but the beginning of the opening of the buds in spring, is the preferable season. Stone fruits should be budded; and all fruits may be made to do well budded. Budding is usually only practised on small trees, while grafting may be performed on trees of any size.
Cutting and preserving Scions.—Mature shoots of the previous year's growth are best. Those of the year before will also do. They may be cut at any time from November to time of setting. Perhaps the month of February is best. They may be well preserved in moist sawdust in tight boxes. The more there are together the better they will keep. They keep better by being cut a little below the beginning of the last year's growth, but it is more injurious to the tree. They may be kept well in fine sand, moist and cool. Too much moisture is always injurious. Put the lower ends in shallow water, and they will look very fine, but not one of them will live. Scions cut in the fall and buried six inches deep in yellow loam or fine sand, will keep well till next spring. There are several methods of grafting only two of which deserve particular attention. These are cleft-grafting and tongue or splice grafting, see figures.