, 1866-03-06
TEE FARM AND GARDEN,

p0see-AFbeFvStae Fence PotSa-Enru-
pcnD LarelA-ltH m pid dfsrow1t-8uck-
thorn, Honey Locust and Willow.
cHA.fAlax. ILL.,, Feb. Is, 1885,
A correspondent from Millersburgh, calling
himself nurserJmau, takes exception to our
article On the subject Of Red Cedars. He says:
Vn me suo)ec. Of 1lmscr heItk nc truIai} recom-
ucnds The Rcd Cedar. lie Informs that pl1uls from
tS sSh h'd for e 10
wh.1e plsus Of essh size can e obtained % cheap
e edss ioar to * iaehes e * dollsi hou
and But these planss ne to be taken from
,hetr 14ai.ve Woodlands ia the state Of
ibsre 10 nlinois Rna 0bst T y ne sDea euf iaex. @
pc11enced farmers to do with theee tender plan,s,
inst removed tiom their nalye w1lds, The nu..
se1ymen Who obtain eyerE1eens from the forest.
nf.t plant them in beds-n.e lsater lreely-mulch
veil w1th Old sswdust, and nnally build thick
ne1t lprog ,he olpsh IT i iesaovsd,ssy i've scsree
made any growth the nrtt season but they arc H.
loved to remain IN the bed another yeaf in open
But with all this carr. 1t Is about Ordinary luck il
the nnIsezy nan Ia tavcd one half
me,s t4e these feeble plants fso be forest iii
arc obtained At these low rates and succeed with
item in open htld expo ure.r
ways taken from the seed bed, aud are never
sent out "onee transplantcd at that size,
but It is the usual size TINT nusserymen pur-
chase.
VIC will give this correspondent the benefit
Of our experience, nnd see how 1t agrees with
his ideas, for practical experience with the
red cedar, We think, he has had none.
In May, 1858, with view of testing the
value Of The native red cedar Of the southern
part fths State, we requested Mr.. G.. II. Ba-
ker, fruit grower at 3outh Pass, Union
county, to send us three or four hundred red
ccda1s, two to three feet high. to be taken d.
good order, some Of them with new growth
Of six to ten inches. These were set In the
open ground, not mu1cled, bnt cultivated at
least once week. Tie result was that at
least nine tenths Of them lived and
made IT,, good good growth .n This satisfied
State could be made available, but we could
tind no one to take up ind ship q large lot Of
them, and IN the spring Of 1859 We purchased
about one thousand red cedars at Rochester
twelve inches high. These cainn packed In
moss and apparently in good order, but we
lost full thrce-fourths Of them; while In the
same day, side by side, nearly all Lived: In
the spring Of 1850 we obtained 10, 600 red
ceda's from the south part oltthe State. 4 to 8
inches, hieh, costing 900 per 1000. These
We set under the shade Of a row OF peach
trees with the exception OF one row in the
A"sN41" = A& AHk%C4 Eve" UELkC1 kA1Au kuC
former, and as large proportion lived. In
the spring Of 1851 We set another lot OF ten
thousand, with larger proportion in the
open ground, with the same result. We were
now satisfied that Ne could set In The open
ground with safety, and ordered 100 for the
March and were set in the mud, tie last Of
the month; the result Wns fonr-fifths of them
living against three-fiftls on former occasions
The demand for the red cedar for oraa-
mental hedges has enabled us to sell nearly
all of the last two lots.
lake up the plants, shake the earth OF the
roots, and pack in moss. In the southern
| part OF the State there Is NO moss for this
| purpose, and, taking hint from packing
strawberry plants In clay, we had these red
cedar seedlings packed rs follows: In the
southern part Of the State where these cedars
grow the soil ts an adhesive clay, sticking
like wa1. 4 puddle or mortar Of this clay Is
| made near where the water siands-for during
March, the time to lit these cedara. 1t IL tue
rainy season, and the country Is pretty well
soaked, the weather vet aud foggy, The soil
sloppy and .reasy with this rich clay. The
plants are found in beds amongst The open.
ings, but never in the thick, shaded forest,
and hare had the benefit Of the sun during
their growth. II the weather is wet or cloudy,
the plants are put in basket as taken up,
which IS done BY hand; but II The suu shines
/ " tle "nu tittn - tncJ 1le put 10 sacks m
stead, md thus brought 10 The packing
ground. Here they are counted aud tied in
packages Of hundred each. The package Is
lntner+ed. frat In thin puddle, such
as nnrseTFmcn Eensraliy use, and then encascd
n , bali 2, o.. thiek clay mortar as thick As eau
made for the purpose Is set on end, little
Inclined back for convenience, and IL filed
with these packages firmly pressed together.
When the box Is full. holding from one to two
thousand plants, tue top Is secured with 1aih.
SO Us to give the tops Of the plants air. These
| 70 thousands If miles OF he weeks cut OF the
! ground. When planted, the cl8y will be
found hard, and in many cases almost dry !;
they ore placed In shallow vessel or pail H.
led with water, when the clay u dissolved
and the roots separated, and they arc best
planted with sharp spade being driven down
in the row and pryinG the earth open, the
plant is held into it., to the proper
depth and the space filed. with
the foot pressing down the soil firmly about
iron roller over the plants. We commence
cult1vating them as,ef the tlrst rain, so as to
allow no crust to form. This We prefer to
mnlchtnE.
For tbe past five or sir years from one to
two hundred thousand Of red cedar Seeding
have been sent annually to nurseEy-men from
the south part Of our State. Tho business is
| Increasing in that direction We arc well
aware that It is not our interest as nursery
man to thus advertise this business to the
| profits, but We have pride in seeing our
| noble State use tue resources that nature has
| given her. We c4nnot await the slow move
! mcnts Of the nurscry.1nen who have their
hands full 10 supply the new orchards and to
otherwise bcautity tho homes Of the farmers.
As class, no better men live but we do
not need their assistance to any great extent
in either making hedges, shelter belts or
] woud lots. Thcse the farmers must learn to
| provide at first hands for themselves.
We are pretty well posted IN evergreen
and With the exception of the Abor yitn we
want none Of them, when nc can get ever
green's one to two leet high that have been
once or twice trnnsp9auted.
We farmers have gTeat deal to learn As
long been educated In the school Of prejudice
nnd our reasoning faculties need more develop
| Inent. We must strike out boldly, taking
science for our guide, and no longer be led
by the nose by ienorance.
If cvcrg1cens from the Northern forests
reaching lis in May, when the sun has become
powerful to force the rapid growth oi vcgeta-
lion, anu the dry air drinks up the moisture,
60 that the newly arrived plants must be pro-
tcctcd from their influence, It does not follow
tlat the red cedar, the most hardy of all
everreens brought here from the South early
weeping skies Of April to establish their
growth before the summer sun can burn them
up, need the same treatment. The
conditions Of the two nfe entirely DIFF
ferent, and with this fact proved
hy years Of experience, We yentured t9 give
usE. Herein is the point where our good
friend lns committed the error. It will be
seen that with Kocheateregro Seeding red
ccdars, we had worse luck than with those
from our own State. This may be attributed
Dthe 1ate Eeason Of arrival, o. what is more
the roots before packing. No doubt that
many farmers will fail with tue rcd cedar rs
prepared, for many farmers think themselves
lucky If they make my out Of a hundred ap.
pie trees grow, that hare Just been taken
nom neishboring nursery. We attribute no
small value to lie new mode Of packing in
clay, instead Of Ahoss; at least there Is little
danger OF exposure to the sun and wind Of
plants thus SECURED, In the hands Of the
farmer, and II the mRn who takes them up
docs lis duty By them, there viii be but a
1--we could have the cvergreens from the
North reach us go as to plant carly in March,
or even during that month We should need
little protection for them.
On the one hnnd We have evergreen from
the North, which crows generally In sandy
soil and near large bodies of water, In a eli
Ennte always moist, transferred to the South
in dry, changeable climate; and on the other
hand the red cedar comes from warm eli
mate under an ardent sun that 1akes its mark
on the brow Of those exposed to its influence,
md We are not surprised 10 find that ever.
green Seeding grown In such IN exposure, ca
Pnble Of being transplanted in nm open expo.
sure. With the same prospect Of success as on
the dccideous trees.
If our friend will look into the lumber
yards Of Chicago, he will find thousands of
Arbor Bitea posts Commonly called white ce-
dar), three and hnlt anG four inches In tli.
ameter at the top and about five at the bntt.
These are, called second class posts, while
those Of iive and s1x inches are considered
| number one.
| We have shown that red cedar will attain
tbTce 10 four inches in diameter ia
four years after setting ont, with a height
Of six to scren feet. This gives ne.rly OF
quite IN inch in diameter. or half an
inch to each concentric ring of growth. We
therefore consider II safe to say that posts can
I 1aA al An1f fnF% ~