300 [Senate 



Zenj— and filled, ready for the reception of the trees, the following 

 spring. The holes may be thus prepared, at any season of the year. 



In setting out the trees, it is of the greatest consequence to tie 

 them to stakes, to prevent their being blown about and loosened by 

 the wind. An excellent way is, to drive a stake close to the tree, 

 before the earth is thrown into the hole, which prevents bruising the 

 roots. To this stake the tree is to be tied, by straw or bass matting. 

 The hole is then to be filled with pulverized earth, spreading the fine 

 roots, at the same time, horizontally on every side ; and all the in- 

 terstices, — which prove highly detrimental to the success of the tree, 

 — well filled ; a few quarts of water are to be dashed in, before the 

 hole is quite filled with earth. 



The great importance of the preceding requisites, — large holes and 

 a fertile bed of earth at the roots, — firm stakes, for stiffening the 

 tree, and a compact filling up of the soil on all sides of the finely 

 spread fibres,— cannot be too well understood. But while these are 

 all-essential, there is another requisite of more importance than all else, 

 — and that is, a continued and thorough culture of the soil, for several 

 years after. The difference between an orchard suffered to become 

 overrun with grass and weeds, and one kept in fine tilth by constant 

 cultivation, in both cases, for several successive years after transplant- 

 ino", could hardly be believed by one who has never actually tried 

 the experiment on two orchards side by side. In one case, the trees 

 will linger in growth, become stunted, and perhaps mice-eaten, and 

 many, as a consequence, will die ; while with those that survive, ther 

 period of bearing will be prolonged many years ; even then, to 

 yield only a stunted and inferior fruit. In the other, the growth is 

 vigorous and certain ; few if any losses by death, ever occur ; mice 

 find no shelter on a clean, well tilled surface ; and the fruit, which is 

 early and abundant, is of the finest quality, and commands the high- 

 est price in market. The latter consideration is not to be overlook- 

 ed, especially in case of foreign exportation. For while the shipping 

 of common or inferior fruit has, in some cases, been attended with 

 heavy losses, the finest quality rarely fails of a good profit. A dis- 

 tinguished cultivator, who has exported largely to London and Liver- 

 pool, says, in a letter to the writer, " I once sent 350 barrels to Lon- 

 don, and the returns, after deducting freight, were sixteen shillings 

 and sixpence, — and I have sold apples there for twenty- one dollars and 

 fifty cents per barrel, — such apples as would require a hundred trees 



