156 BOARD OF AGRICULTUEE. 



from high winds, well fenced, and in a way not to favor the drift- 

 ing of snows upon the young trees. The soil, may be similar to 

 that of the place designed for the orchard, and should be deeply 

 worked for two j'ears previously. If not good enough to yield 

 fifty bushels of corn per acre with ordinary manuring, it should 

 have a liberal dressing of compost made of leaf mould, i. e., de- 

 cayed leaves from the woods, mixed with wood ashes and lime. 

 Fruit trees, if stunted or ill fed in their earlier years, can never 

 become what they ought to be ; — on the other hand, stimulating 

 manures are to be avoided as liable-to induce a late and uniipcned 

 growth of wood which cannot withstand our severe winters. If 

 the seedlings grow well, those to be worked in the nursery may be 

 budded in August, or grafted in the spring following; at which 

 time the budded ones are to be headed down to within three or 

 four .inches of the bud. After the buds start, and as often as nec- 

 essary during the season, rub off the robbers — that is to say, all 

 shoots except from the inserted bud or scion ; and tic the bud to 

 the stock above in such a way as to secure it from being blown 

 out. As it is of prime importance to secure well ripened wood, 

 and more especially the first year, it is well to go through the trees 

 from the 5th to 15th of August and pinch the ends of such as are 

 still growing, so that instead of extending in height, they may 

 devote the remainder of the season to hardening and ripening the 

 wood already made. Clean culture and thorough loosening of the 

 soil are to be continued as long as the trees remain in the nursery. 

 Those which are not worked require no treatment beyOnd a little 

 pruning to shape them properly. All the trees not removed to the 

 orchard at a year from the bud should have their tops formed 

 before removal, and if properly done, little subsequent pruning 

 will be found necessary. 



Whether grafted young or not, the evident design of nature to 

 shield the stem from the burning rays of the sun, by means of side 

 branches or shoots, should not be interfered with so as needlessly 

 to expose the trunk to its scorching influence. This is a point of 

 considerable importance, but is often thoughtlessly sacrificed to the 

 supposed beauty of a bare, smooth stem ; many j'oung orchards have 

 been seriously injured in this wa}'. The lower side shoots and 

 limbs should be gradualbj removed, and only as the tops extend 

 sufficiently. Low branching tops are preferable to high ones, as 

 more healthy and productive. An excuse, often given for desiring ' 



