422 AMERICAN THOUGHT AND ACTION. [April 



brush, grass, and other coarse material growing upon much of the 

 land of New England, the hundreds of thousands of acres of the 

 now almost useless land, and rough stony land can be made to 

 produce paying crops of fruit, while the smooth land that can be 

 cultivated should be used for other purposes. 



The oldest, most healthy, and productive apple trees generally 

 grow in turf ; seedlings spring up with vigour in pastures ; while 

 the plough deteriorates the fertility of orchards. Thus of 100 apple 

 trees planted at one barren spot, in turf last season, all are living 

 and making good growth. 



Upon another piece of stony land, which was fast becoming 

 covered with the common pitch pine, 175 small No. 2 peach trees 

 were planted last spring, not averaging much over a quarter of an incli 

 in diameter, when a single large handful of bone and potash was 

 thrown across the hole and upon the pile of soil. After the roots 

 were covered with 2 or 3 inches of soil, another handful was 

 scattered in and the balance of the soil thrown in. After the 

 planting season was over, about June 1, two more , handfuls of the 

 same material were strewn around each tree, and a spade-wide more 

 of the turf outside of the hole turned under with the spade. In 

 July the bog-hoe was used to loosen up the surface soil that had 

 been turned over. The whole cost of this worlv was just 6 cents, 

 per tree. All of the trees, with tlie exception of perhaps five or si.x, 

 have made a satisfactory growth. 



In a ]\Iassachusetts orchard on a steep hill-side wliere the ground 

 is very rocky, sheep are allowed to run. The crop from 800 trees 

 has run from 2000 to 600 bushels within the last seventeen years. 



Professor Maynard advised the use of a reel of No. 14 galvanized 

 iron wire, witli drops of solder at intervals of 10 feet to mark the 

 places for the trees. He would set apple trees 30 feet apart, with 

 a pear, plum, peach or cherry tree between. Fifteen feet from the 

 first row should be a row of the four last-named trees, and 15 feet 

 from that another row of apple trees. He had never seen any injury 

 result from the use of well-decomposed manure, ground bone, or 

 bone and potash in moderate quantities, mixed tliorouglily with the 

 soil at the time of setting trees, and advised to throw from one to 

 five handfuls of ground Ijone, or from one to three handfuls of bone 

 and potash, so that part may fall into tbe hole and tlie remainder 

 upon the pile of soil to be filled around the roots. 



Until the trees are large enough to bear, the land should be 

 devoted wholly to their growth,' but after they begin to produce 

 fruit more plant food must be applied in some form, and animals 

 must be turned in, to assist in the destruction of injurious insects 

 that feed upon and develop in tlie fruit. For the destruction of the 



