102 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE. 



back the most rampant growing shoots will check the free 

 circulation of the sap, and thus promote fruitfulness. Root- 

 pruning is a very eiFectual method, yet its permanent effects 

 on the life and vigor of the tree are somewhat questionable. 

 Two maxims are to be observed in pruning : first, never prune 

 while the sap is thin, as it will injure the tree ; second, always 

 cut close and clean, and cover large wounds with wax or gum- 

 shellac dissolved in alcohol. 



Yet, no matter how scientifically we study to prune or form 

 the top, if we neglect the 7'oots, our trees fail ; a vigorous grow- 

 ing tree is a rank feeder on the soil : therefore we must fur- 

 nish it with the requisite elements of food ; all growth of grass 

 or grain must be stopped around young growing fruit-trees. 

 The soil may be looked upon as the laboratory of nature, 

 where her great decomposing agencies, air and water, prepare 

 the food for plants, and the object of culture is to facilitate 

 the chemical operations. Experience shows that frequent 

 stirring of the surface stratum of the soil, thus allowinoj the 

 air and moisture to penetrate to the growing roots, is the 

 most essential item in cultivation. An annual dressins: of 

 ashes or bone-dust spread on as far as the limbs extend, and 

 forked under, will greatly assist the growth. All the rough 

 bark should be carefully scraped off, and in early spring a 

 solution of soft-soap, or better still, whale-oil soap (and if 

 inclined to be mossy, dissolve a pound of potash in water), 

 applied to the limbs and trunks, which will rid them of all 

 insects' eggs that harbor there. Borers can be killed by a 

 sharp wire : follow up in the holes made by them ; be sure and 

 keep oflTthe caterpillars, web-worms, etc. 



A very important question is. What varieties shall we grow? 

 As it costs no more to have the best than the poorest sorts, 

 be careful to select the very best, and those that are adapted 

 to your locality. Old Massachusetts is eminently the home 

 of the apple ! And in no place, from the State that first greets 

 the rising sun on the east, to the golden slope of the Pacific 

 Coast, does better flavored fruit grow than in our own State. 

 Had not our soil been congenial to the apple, how could we 

 have produced such varieties as the Porter, Hubbardston, 

 Williams, Baldwin, Pippin, Russet, etc.? And all but two 



