Rensselaer Republican, Volume 19, Number 26, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 3 March 1887 — THE ORCHARD. [ARTICLE]

THE ORCHARD.

Cheap Grapev Profitable. Ten to twenty years ago the prides of grapes were much higher than now, and those who intelligently cultivated them then made large with the'deefine in prices grape growers would be ruined, but such is not the fact. Profits are reduced, but even at low prices grapes pay better than most farm crops. Three to four tons of grapes per acre is no uncommon yield. At even three cents per pound this gives a very comfortable sum of money, besides paying for the labor, Traneplantihy Surgery Stock. T 7 The most successful nurserymen transplants twice those trees which are choicest or which they wish to put in orchards for their own use. The first transplanting is done while the trees are small, or a year before the second. - This check to the root causes the formation of a large 1 mass of feeding roots where they were cut off the year before. All trees in nursery rows get more or less root pruning by cultivation, and this is one reason why well-cared-for nursery stock is much more valuable for transplanting than trees of equal size or larger that hate grown in open ground. Lack of fibrous roots is one cause of the failure of so many young forest trees dug up in woods and transplanted. Pruning, When and Hour. The jobbing gardeners and others, who go about trimming (they often call it “thrumming”) grape vines, and fruit and ornamental trees, look so wise, and surround the matter with so much mystery.

that many ordinary people fear to undertake it As to the time of pruning—we refer to the removal of ripening wood—it may be dohe at any time between the fall of the leaf, and when the swelling of the buds indicates that new leaves are about to be produced. It is not advisable to prune in severe winter weather, as at that time the wood may crack and make a bad wound. Besides, that is a time when it is uncomfortable to do the work. The outfit for one whp would undertake to do his own pruning is; a sharp pruning knife, a pair of pruning shears, a pruning saw, i. e. a saw with a narrow blade, the teeth of which have a wide set. For branches not over two inches in diameter at the base, many prefer a broad, stout chisel to a saw. This , has a socket into which handles of various leughts can be inserted. The chisel is placed at the under side of the branch to be removed, and the end of the handle is struck upwards with a heavy mallet. All large wounds should be covered with some material to protect them from the weather. Shellac varnish is best for this purpose, but at the present price of alcohol, is too expensive. Melted grafting wax is the best substitute, and in the.absence of this, any thick paint may be used. To prune understaudingly, one must know something of the manner of growth of trees, etc. The most important is this: the growth next spring will proceed from the buds that were formed last season. — ~ American Agriculturist.