SETTING OUT ORG II ARDS TRANS
PLANTING FRUIT AND ON AMENTA L
TR EES.
If you wish to . enjoy fruit, of , the finest kind,
from tree., of your planting, begin setting them
oatnow. The establishment of a good and per
fect orchanl, containing a succession of all the
best fruits adapted to' the South from the earliest
to tho latest is so casv, in our most favorable
climate, that it seems a wonder to us that any land
owner, who. has the comfort and welfare of his
family and humanity at heart, should be without
one. "A contemporary, who is engaged in the
praiseworthy work of propagating and dissemi
nating the choicest varieties of fruit trees has tru
ly said : "The man who plants an orchard erects
his own monument; and such a 'mouumcnt built
by his own hands, reflects greater honor upon his
memory than towering marble sculptured by his
posterity."- It a'maxin of the Romans, that
"old men iu ;ut t; ws, for young men were
not wise envv ; ! t, alasl we fear that neither
old men - i ; nro overburdened with tree-planting
v - v.Ljrever the all-powerfur cotton plant
ho1 ,y . Let us not be misunderstood. Cot
' a ;:lorious plant, and wts yield to no proper
.'..latiun of its value;-but that its cultivation
r.:ghout tho South ha3 been pushed onward to
the c!:nost totalexclusion of many products which
contribute very largely to the comfort and luxury
of life, nc one will deny.
In our attention to fruits, particularly, we are
far behind our neighbors of the North, though our
That she has not done so heretofore is to us, in
deed, a marvel and a wonder; but that our pco
plchhould continue indifferent to their own en
joyment and interest in this matter much. longer,
seems hardly possible, when we reflect upon the
success which has everywhere attended all well-d
rccted efforts in fruit growing, in every section of
the South; as evinced lor a few years past at our
Agricultural aud Horticultural exhibitions, and
through the columns of our own and other jour
nal. of similar character.
It is not improbable thatthc failures which have
often attended the introduction of Northern and
European trees into the South, have hadndiscour
aging CiTect upon many persons who were desir
ous of cultivating fruit j but now that wc arc be
ginning to establish large nurseries for the propa
gation and sale of Southern Seedling Fruits, and
the proper acclimation of Northern and foreign va
rieties, there can be no possible drawback upon
the prosecution of this delightful pursuit, except
indifference, indolence, and the want of proper in
formation. This information it has been, and will be, out,
aim to communicate to our readers from time to
time, and, as the season for transplanting trees and
shrubbery is at hand, a few suggestions as to tho .
best manner of performing that important opera
tion may not be unacceptable.
TRANSPLANTING TREES AND SHRUBBERY.
1. The time. When the leaves have fallen, and
after the first good, soaking fall rains, is the best
time for transplanting, fruit and all deciduous or-
advantages in climate, length of the growing sea-J namentul trees in the South j but any time before
son, number of varieties, &c, surpass theirs ira- February will do.
J measurably.- For instance : in the vicinity oi Au
gusta, we have the apple, pear, peach, plum, nec
v tAMne. anricoL aulnce. cherrv. i?rane. strawberrv.
. (fruit3, common to more Northern climates, grow
i ig side by side with the fig, the pomegranate, the
jujube and the olive all denizens of the warm,
semi-tropical latitudes, while a short distance south
of us, the" orange, the lemon, the lime, the guava,
and the banana flourish equally well. With all
our advantages of climate, therefore, and with ev
ery variety of soil and exposure with tho mar
kets of tho whole world thrown open, aud, as it
were, " brought to our very doors' by the all po
tent aid of steam, on land and sea is it not sur
pvising that the South has not poured olive " oil
and wine," fresh fruit and dried, and many other
luxurious dainties, into the laps of lesj favored
Northern nations, long ere this ?
2. PrcpawlwH of Uit ground. If not naturally
dry, your land must be thoroughly drained. Then
plow and cross plow, stirring up the subsoil and
pulverizing the earth as deeply as possible. The
subsoil plow, following in the furrow made by a
good common double-turning plow, ought to do
t!iis work well, if properly used. On fresh new
land no manure will be needed ; but, on poor old
fields, it will be necessary either to turn under a
good crop of pea vinos, or give the land a heavy
top dressing of compost formed of stable manure,
woods mould, broken bones, ashes, lime, &c, be
ing careful to bury all fertilizing matter well at the
final plowing. Then harrow your ground fin ily,
stake o(T at the proper distance for the trees, and
preparo these for planting.
3. Preparation of the tree. This consists ia
cutting off smoothly, wijh an upward slant, tho
i tnd? of all broken or bruised roots, and cutting ia
a