MISCELLANEOUS ARTICLES. 



TREE-PLANTING. 



[The following paper was read at the meeting of the Warsaw Horticultural Society, 



in Hamilton, by A. C. Hammond.] 



When the subject of tree planting is referred to, the question is 

 often asked, are the present inducements sufficient to justify the com- 

 mercial grower to continue to plant largely, or the ordinary farmer even 

 a limited number of fruit-trees J ? In reply to this question I will say, 

 that if I were just entering upon my life work, I should prefer horticul- 

 ture to any other branch of business, and should expect to make it 

 more profitable, and it certainly would be more pleasant, than ordinary 

 farming. This may seem a wild proposition to those who look only on 

 the dark side of the question, but those who take a broader view will 

 understand* that the misfortunes of the last decade have driven the 

 careless and unskillful orchardist from the field ; their orchards are a 

 wreck and will never be replaced, and the owners have engaged in 

 other business that requires less thought and patience. 



We know better where and how to plant and how to cultivate than 

 we did years ago. We have learned that it is not so much the cold of 

 winter as the scorching drouths of summer that kills our trees, and 

 that this unfavorable influence may be overcome by means of cultiva- 

 tion, fertilization and mulching. We have learned that insects and dis- 

 eases, that have in the past made it impossible to grow any of the 

 orchard fruits, can be successfully combated by the use of insecticides 

 and fungicides. This will enable the orchardist hereafter to put a 

 superior quality of fruit on the market, which will always sell at a pay- 

 ing price. 



But more important than this is the planting for home use, as this 

 phase of the question interests every one who owns a piece of land, 

 from a town lot up to the largest farm; and I wish to impress upon the 

 farmers of Hancock county the importance of planting all kinds of 



