FARMERS' INSTITUTES. 151 



The root should not be used too close to the crown or collar, as it is there bet- 

 ter supplied with dormant buds than in any other part, and will cause the tree 

 to sprout more than if the lower part of the root had been used. The work of 

 the nurseryman in cultivating, trimming and sprouting should be carefully 

 and faithfully done till the trees are transferred from the nursery to the 

 orchard. The size of an orchard, or the number of trees of which it is com- 

 posed, should be a very important question with the farmer. It should always 

 be large enough to pay for cultivating, but never so large as to be neglected 

 for want of time to cultivate it, or to occupy more land than can be spared 

 from other uses. I think this is one great source of failure of orchards on the 

 farm — they are too large. They either get no cultivation at all or the land 

 must be used for general farming purposes while trying to raise aj^ples. Both 

 cannot be successfully done. The orchard on tbe farm is more frequently 

 used for pasture than for anything else ; but this I think is bad policy, espe- 

 cially when pastured with hoises and cattle. Some farmers depend mainly on 

 their stock for trimming their orchards. It is needless to say it is not very 

 well done ; and yet I think it is done nearly as well as some professional prun- 

 ers do it. A great many orchards are nearly ruined by bad pruning. The- 

 great object with some seems to be to cut off all the lower limbs, and when fol- 

 lowed up for a number of years leaves the tree almost useless for the purpose 

 of bearing fruit, and what little it does bear costs about all it is worth to pick it. 



There are two principal objects, I think, to be kept in view in trimming 

 trees : first, to keep the top properly thinned out to admit sunshine and air ; 

 and, second, to keep the tree from growing too high. In regard to the ene- 

 mies of fruit, and especially of apples, I shall speak of only those which have 

 been the greatest pests in my own orchard. First in order comes the ajjple- 

 tree borer, which mainly affects young trees which are not healthy or have 

 been injured by hard winters. The egg is laid in June, and generally on the 

 south or southwest side of the tree where the bark is dead or dying, and soon 

 hatches and commences its ravages. The first year it eats its way between the 

 bark and wood, eating mostly the new growth of wood. The second year it 

 enlarges its burrows till it attains its full growth, when it eats its way into the 

 tree, boring a hole two or three inches in length, and thus frequently ruining 

 the tree. It reaches its jierfect state, and comes out a small, bluish shiny bug, 

 the last of May or first of June, ready to deposit its eggs and begin its course 

 of destruction anew. 



As prevention is always better than cure, and sometimes more easily applied, 

 the application of a thick wash or paste of lime or soap to the body and 

 lower limbs of the tree will prevent the deposit of eggs, and, of course, there 

 will be no worms. But if this is not done, and the worms hatch out, then the 

 knife is the best remedy, and it can be used so as not to materially injure the 

 tree, and still remove most of the worms. After the worms bore into the tree 

 a piece of wire is the best thing to hunt them with ; or, if not readily found, 

 then fill their hole with putty, and as the bugs cannot eat their way out they 

 must die. 



The next enemy I notice is the tent caterpillar, consisting of two broods, or 

 varieties, I am not sure which. The first brood comes early in the spring, be- 

 fore the leaves are out. They hatch from eggs laid in the fall in bands or cylin- 

 ders around the small branches. As soon as they hatch they crawl to the base 

 of the limb on which they hatch and there make their tent or nest. They eat 

 the leaves and blossoms as fast as they grow. They can be readily destroyed, 

 either before or soon after hatching; more easily found after hatching by their 



