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APPLICATION DURING AUTUMN.

which the oxygen of the air was necessary, and of which it would have been partially or wholly deprived in the soil: fresh manure might have remained unfermented, and therefore useless under these circumstances.

M. Boussingault has an interesting paper on this point. He says: "If opinions are divided on the question whether manure should be used before or after fermentation, they are not less so as regards the manner of spreading it, and the proper season of carrying it into the field. Those who are convinced that the dung should be used as it comes from the stall, are quite indifferent as to the time of carting it; the most convenicnt time may be chosen, which is no small advantage, and this is our practice at Bechelbronn, where it is carried out as soon as possible. The fields to be fertilized for spring cultivation are manured in the winter, when the frost permits. The dung, at first laid in little heaps at regular distances, is afterwards spread as equally as possible, generally on the snow, — a practice in which we have never found any inconvenience. The method adopted by certain cultivators of keeping dung in great masses, with the view of spreading it when the tillage takes place, is certainly wrong; the spots in which the heaps are laid are too highly manured, and the plan is adapted for fresh dung only. The custom of leaving it for months, perhaps, spread on the land, and

SURFACE APPLICATION.

199

exposed to every variation of the season, has been criticized. It is said to lose its volatile parts; that rain washes out and carries away those which are soluble; and, induced by these fears, many do not spread the dung till the very moment when the land is ready for the plough. This difference of opinion in parties personally interested in making the most of their manure, ought not to be passed over lightly. In agricultural matters it is dangerous to generalize too much. The climate ought to be taken into consideration. In Alsatia, where the rain during the whole year amounts to twenty-seven inches, during December, January, and February, the quantity amounts only to four inches and thirtysix hundredths. The quality of the manure might, perhaps, be injured when the proportion in winter is greater. The quality of the manure itself must also be taken into consideration, as a heap which contains a large portion of carbonate of ammonia, and emits a very decided odor of volatile alkali, would certainly be deteriorated by prolonged exposure to the air; but this loss is scarcely perceptible where the manure contains but a small quantity of ammoniacal salts, as is the case with that which has been treated with gypsum. When the rains are not too heavy, the soluble part of the manure which is spread over the land penetrates it, and is retained in the upper stratum, exactly as when, instead of incorporating the manure with the soil, it is spread

over crops in full vegetation, or before the germination of the seed. This practice of top-dressing is often profitable, and is proof enough of the little inconvenience there is in exposing the dung to the changes of weather. It arose in the first instance, perhaps, from necessity; but it has been found so useful that it has been much adopted. We have applied it with decided advantage to crops after hoeing-time being thus gained for the production of manure. In the district of Marck, it is daily gaining ground; the dung is spread when the plant has already appeared, and experience shows that the passage of the carts over the land is not sensibly injurious. It would be preferable, however, to choose a time when the surface is hard from frost. This method, according to Schwartz, is very useful in Switzerland for hemp, and indeed for almost every kind of crop. I regard it myself as a matter of convenience; but Shaer assures usand his authority is of great weight-that he has too often seen its good effects on leguminous crops not to be convinced of the excellence of this method on loose land in which grass has been sown late."

Thus green manure should be applied on the surface in the fall or winter.

CHAPTER VII.

SELECTION OF VARIETIES.

EVILS OF INDISCRIMINATE

SELECTION-FRUITS

SUITABLE FOR THE

AMATEUR, FOR FAMILY USE, FOR THE MARKET CATALOGUE OF THE DIFFERENT VARIETIES ADAPTED TO THE DIFFERENT SECTIONS OF THE COUNTRY — THE BEST SIX, TWELVE, TWENTY, OR ONE HUNDRED SORTS, FOR EACH STATE.

§ I. THEIR ADAPTATION TO DIFFERENT LOCALITIES.

WE

E have already considered the influence of the atmosphere, the properties of the soil, and the various methods of improving it. The next subject to occupy our attention is the selection of varieties of fruit adapted to different conditions.

Much of the failure in the growth of fruit is to be attributed to an indiscriminate selection, in the belief that one variety is as well suited to a certain position as another. Both science and practice teach us that it is folly to remove a tropical plant to the polar regions, with any expectation of success; the climate is not adapted to it, and it soon perishes; vice versa, plants from cold regions become stunted and die in the tropics. To be sure, art sometimes overcomes these difficulties, and in

202

ADAPTATION OF VARIETIES.

duces plants to flourish for a time; but, if left to nature, they soon become extinct, or produce an offspring suited to their present surroundings.

This law of adaptation is one which relates not only to the orders, genera, and species of the vegetable kingdom, but also to its varieties; and, as we descend the scale, this distinction becomes more nice. For instance, some varieties of the pear luxuriate upon a rich alluvial soil, while others become diseased and worthless.

But, as it would be impossible to form an isothermal map of any country in which the influence upon the temperature of every little elevation of the surface should be noted, so is it to form one exhibiting the proper varieties of fruit to be grown in every conceivable position. There is no universal law within our knowledge for the government of the cultivator in this respect, and all the data from which we have to judge are the results of experience.

We avail ourselves of the excellent catalogue of the American Pomological Society, to which we have been enabled to add one or two Southern States from documents in our possession.

As the United States possess such a diversity of climate, many of the most valuable fruits of one section will not arrive at maturity in another. This fact enhances the value of such a table as we insert, prepared by the able chairman of the General Fruit