(32 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



exposed to their depredations. Calves have proved within my 

 observation the most objectionable animals that get into a young 

 orchard ; you never know what they will do over night. On my 

 way here, I saw a young orchard near a barp where calves were 

 allowed to lie, and those trees had been girdled nearly from the 

 root to the branches this very winter ; and all of you doubtless 

 recollect cases within your experience where you have found them 

 most unsafe animals to get into an orchard. 



Should an orchard receive any culture ? Here we come upon 

 very disputed ground. The circumstances of location, the strength 

 of the soil, products of the farm, facility of obtaining manure, and 

 various other points, come in here and are to be considered. My 

 practice has been, while the trees were small, to cultivate with 

 some low, hoed crop, potatoes, roots or something of that kind ; 

 but I insist strongly upon leaving plenty of room about the tree 

 that is not planted with any crop. In plowing an orchard, my 

 difficulty has been to prevent my men from plowing up the trees. 

 Thoy would plow too close to the trees and too deep, so that 

 oftentimes they would do more harm than good. After the trees 

 have attained some size, unless the culture is very careful and 

 guarded, I believe they are often as much injured as benefitted by 

 it ; and I have seen many cases of the most successful orchard 

 culture and growth where the land has been laid down to grass 

 and allowed to remain so. If the land is to be in grass, I advise 

 pasturing rather than mowing. I advise pasturing with sheep 

 and swine, if possible ; with larger animals only when the trees 

 have attained sufficient size so that the branches arc in a good 

 degree above their reach. One great advantage connected with 

 pasturing over any other system is, that all the fallen fruit, during 

 the whole season, is consumed by the animals, and with the fallen 

 fruit the insects which are our great enemies in orchard culture. 



I had an orchard of full size that had been plowed, cropped, 

 manured and mowed — always carried through such a succession 

 of crops. The trees were getting old and seemingly becoming 

 valueless. About six years ago, I turned it out for a cow pasture, 

 and my herd of cows preferred to lie there rather than in any other 

 part of their range. The result has been marvellous. The trees 

 have assumed a rich, healthy green, the foliage has come out 

 luxuriantly and holds on well in the autumn, and the growth of 

 fruit has been in every respect satisfactory. I pastured it until 

 sometime in July, and then shut it up, as the weight of the fruit 



