SUMMER MEETING AT BROOKFIELD. 23 



large enough to cover the bottom of such an excavation as he had 

 made. After drawing them to the places where each would be wanted, 

 he next drove to the barn and brought two large cart-loads of old, well- 

 rotted manure, one for each of the two trees he hoped by a gigantic 

 effort to finish setting that afternoon. He now returned the earth 

 thrown out for the first tree, mixing it very evenly with one load of the 

 aforesaid manure from the barn, rounding it up a little above the gen- 

 eral level of the lot, and set one tree. This accomplished, he secured 

 it firmly by binding it to four well-set stakes with a slack-twisted 

 hempen cord, that could not possibly gall its bark in case of its being 

 shaken by high winds. He then set the other tree in a like thorough 

 manner. It is needless to say that he was paid a very moderate com- 

 pensation for his hard day's work, and dismissed by his employer. 



Another man was employed to set the remaining ninety-eight 

 trees. He did the job in a hurry, digging the holes but little larger 

 than a peck measure and thrusting in the trees, or rather stamping 

 them in with a heavy boot; he then with a hoe drew around each a 

 little soil, a little turf, a few dry grass roots, and thus the work was 

 soon finished. But not so the diverse results. At the end of nearly 

 half a century the owner of that farm confessed that the ninety-eight 

 trees had proved nothing but a vexation to him, while the two set by 

 the gardener had given a very large profit over and above the interest 

 on their cost and expensive setling for about thirty-eight years. 



Trees of three years' growth in the nursery are, all things consid- 

 ered, the best age for planting. There is a disposition on the part of 

 many to get long, handsome trees with smooth stems. This principle 

 of selection would be excellent when one goes after a bean-pole or a 

 cane, but not for a fruit tree. 



For many reasons the trunk of a tree should not exceed four feet. 

 It is not wise to expose a long stem to the full sun of our summers. 

 They are more liable to be disastrously affected by high winds, and 

 the fruit is much more difficult to gather in. 



VARIETIES. 



The question of varieties is of paramount importance, and cannot 

 well be overrated. No matter how favorable the site, how good the 

 soil or how thorough the preparations may have been, all may go for 

 nothing by a bad selection of trees. This is the fatal rock on which 

 many eager growers make shipwreck. We have noticed many fine- 

 looking orchards that in reality had no commercial value — not worth 

 the ground they occupied. In reality, we have but very few good 

 market varieties — certainly not more than ten reliable well-tested sorts. 



