STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 131 



a deep sandy or giavelly loam, with a soft clay subsoil. Very line trees are found 

 growing where the subsoil is sandy and gravelly, but the clay bottom is preferable 

 when it can be had. Tiie trees on it will, perhaps, not bear so soon, but they will be 

 less liable to exhaustion from overcropping, and will endure longer. Whatever may 

 be the quality of the soil, it must be dfy ; that is, Iriu* from stagnant moisture. Many 

 soils are apparently dry, and are sarticiently dry to produce good farm crops, but not 

 suitable for fruit trees. In Western New York, where I reside, I think that there is 

 not rive per cent, of the land rit for fruit trees without underdraining, and the land 

 that needs draining is by far the best. ■ Very few soils, indeed, anywhere are suitable 

 for fruit culture without this preparation. I recommend, therefore, thorough drainage 

 for all soils intended for Pear orchards, except when the surface is rolling and the 

 subsoil absolutely porous of sand or gravel . The ettects of drainage upon soil is now 

 well understood, as well as the manner and cost of doing it; I shall therefore pass that 

 over. 



The next requisite to which I wish to call attention is — 



Shelter. — This I regard as of the highest importance to all plantations of fruit trees, 

 but especially to the Pear, and this will apply to all parts of our country. Exposure 

 to the winds has a very damaging efftict upon both tree and fruit Irom the time that 

 the leaves and blossoms expand until the fmiit is gathered. It is on this account that 

 we see trees in sheltered gardens yielding abundant crops and tine fruits, whilst those 

 in exposed places failed entirely, or produced only knotty and worthless fruits. We 

 often see the leaves and fruit on the exposed sides of trees destroyed, while on the 

 other side they escape injury. At a recent meeting of the Scientiric Committee of the 

 Royal Horticultural Society of England, Prof. Ansted called attention to this fact, 

 and the chairman stated that there had been an illustration of this recently in Somer- 

 setshire, where the trees for a distance of thirty miles or more had the foliage black- 

 ened and destroyed on the windward side. We all know the eftect of shelter on many 

 ornamental trees and plants, equal, indeed, to several degrees of latitude, in our 

 State (New York) we have a striking instance of the influence of a sheltered situation, 

 at "Pleasant Yalley,'' in Steuben county, famous now for its wines. This county 

 lies very high, considerably above our best fruit district, and in the country in the 

 immediate vicinity neither the peach nor the vine can be grown. The shelter which 

 the valley receives from hills around it several hundreds of feet in height, combined 

 with the influence of a small lake near by, make it a wonder in the country around. 

 1 would, therefore, recommend that, in the ai)sence of ample natural shelter, that belts 

 and lines of rapid growing trees, like the spruce and larch, be planted on the exposed 

 sides, and at intervals through the orchard, if of considerable extent. 



Pruning. — The importance of pruning cannot be over estimated. The chief object is to 

 maintain an unijorm degree of vigor and fruitfulness hetween the various parts of th^ tree . 

 Among trees badly pruned, or not pruned at all, it is ([uite common to see all the vigor- 

 ous shoots, as well as fine fruit, on a very small portion of the top. On any tree, or 

 part of a tree, where there is not a new, healthy growth of wood, we cannot expect 

 fair or fine fruit. Certain varieties, but all more or less, tend to produce the most 

 vigorous shoots and best fruit at the top. This we must correct by the application 

 of the knife. I recently observed in the grounds of a noted pear grower many trees 

 almost worthless from this cause. Full three-fourths of their sui-face was so enfeebled 

 as to have reached barrenness. 



