HORTICULTURE AND LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 135 



branches. The trunks and main limbs, so far as a man could reach, were 

 scraped, all the loose bark and " moss " being removed. This scraping was 

 performed solely for the purpose of making the trees look better. It is a 

 common observation that the most successful orchardist is the tidiest one. 

 Care was taken not to scrape into the live bark. The implements used for 

 this purpose were old, well-worn hoes with the handles cut off about two- 

 feet from the blade. This implement should be held loosely in the hand, 

 else it will scrape too hard. 



As soon as the pruning was accomplished and the great quantity of brush 

 removed, the ground was plowed, and plowed as deeply as possible. To be 

 sure roots were broken, but this did no harm. The ground was cultivated at 

 intervals with the spring-tooth harrow, and in August a second plowing, in 

 the opposite direction, was made. No crops were planted. There was no 

 effect produced upon the trees that year. The season's growth, if any, was 

 well under way when the first plowing was made. The leaves continued yel- 

 low, and fell very early, as usual. 



In 1886 the same treatment was repeated. Nearly as much pruning was 

 done as in the previous year, this time, of course, entirely in the tops of the 

 trees. Care was exercised, however, not to prune the tops so thin that the 

 large limbs would be injured by the sun. The trees early showed signs of 

 improvement. Although the summer was dry, the growth on all the trees was 

 good and the leaves assumed a dark, vigorous color, and remained very late 

 upon the trees. So marked was the improvement in the orchard that it was 

 a subject of common remark. A fair crop of apples, some 300 bushels, was 

 also gathered. 



In the spring of 1887 the orchard was again plowed, deeply as always 

 before, and the sod was removed from all the trees by hand. The tops are 

 now so high that the plow turned over nearly all the sod. The ground was 

 now in good heart. The trees set very full of fruit, and no pruning was 

 attempted. Although the trees have borne a heavy crop, and the season has 

 been one of almost unprecedented drouth, the growth has been heavy. 

 The bearing trees are 140 in number, of which less than 100 — all Northern 

 Spy — are a prolific variety and produced apples which find a demand in 

 market. There are a number of Sweet Romanites and others which can not 

 be expected to return a profitable crop. The sales for the year have been as 

 follows : 



274bbls. No. 1 (822 bu.) @ $1 35 $369 90 



100 bbls. No. 2 (300 bu.) @ 75 75 00 



60 bu. @ $0 25 15 00 



lOObu.® 30 30 00 



220 bu. made into cider® $0 20.. 44 00 



300 bu. cider apples @ $0 05 15 00 



1802 bu $548 90 



The reason for the great proportion of cider apples is the heavy crop and 

 the drouth, rendering it impossible for all the fruit to mature. Thinning would 

 probably have paid. The crop was remarkably free from worms. Old apple 

 buyers declared that they had never seen so few wormy apples in a crop. 

 This freedom from insects was due to sprayings of Paris green. Field's 

 force pump, manufactured at Lockport, N. Y., for about $30.00, was used for 



