114 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



The trees being grafted as alx)ve are set in good soil in rows four 

 feet apart, the grafts being twelve inches apai-t. They are carefully- 

 cultivated and allowed to grow as thej' will the first year. Very 

 few are lost, and the growth averages eighteen inches. The next 

 spring they are pruned to one stem when more than one has grown, 

 and after the buds have opened all but one strong one, as near the 

 top as ma}' be, are rubbed off. At the close of the second season 

 the average height is about four feet. The next spring five or six 

 strong buds at the top are allowed to grow for branches, those below 

 being rubbed off' as soon as they are opened, and all that start sub- 

 sequentl3' during the season, are care full}' removed in the same way 

 as fast as they show themselves. The trees at the end of this, (the 

 third) season, will be from five to six feet high. This is the age at 

 which they are usually transi)lanted, or sold. Many of mine, how- 

 ever, have been transplanted when two 3ears old, and allowed to 

 branch where they are to stand. Some varieties (paiticularl}' Scott's 

 Winter) do not, however, transplant well until three years old, 

 owing to the fineness of their root growth. 



The subsequent management consists in keeping the ground be- 

 tween the trees cultivated in low hoed crops until the trees come 

 well to bearing. My orchards are set out in rows 24 feet apart, the 

 trees being 12 feet asunder in the rows. My intention is to cut out 

 every other tree in the row as soon as they appear to crowd, leaving 

 the orchard 24 feet each way. These intermediate trees pi'oduce 

 many barrels of fruit before it is necessary' to remove them. With 

 varieties like the Duchess, Wealth}' and Scott's Winter, which bear 

 young and abundantlv, and do not grow fast after beginning to bear, 

 it would probably pay, when the available area for one orchard is 

 limited, to plant the j'oung trees 12 feet apart each wa}*. But the 

 soil should be good, well tilled, and well fed to make this method 

 successful, and as soon as the trees begin to interlock their branches 

 every alternate row must be relentlessly dug up, or the orchard will 

 be ruined. 



In severe climates even the hardiest ti'ees are injured by cutting 

 off" limbs so large that the wounds do not heal the first year. This 

 necessitates careful and thorough removal of superfluous gi'owth in 

 the young tree before it reaches a size be3'ond half an inch in 

 diameter. With all trees disposed to grow bush}' this penknife 

 pruning must be relentless during the first four or five years after 

 setting. With the best care some superfluous branches will escape 



