ORCHARDS. 113 



have no use for this pestiferous excresence, and consider it a 

 deadly enemy to the health and free growth of fruit trees 

 It is only the old^ neglected^ or the starved^ young orchards 

 in the South, that are infested with moss, and, the only way 

 for its eradication is to lop, scrape, soap, cultivate, mulch, and 

 manure ; and, if judiciously performed and applied, success- 

 ful renovation will be accomplished. Indeed, if the trunks 

 of old trees are tolerably sound, remunerative crops will cer- 

 tainly be secured, and the trees in a manner be rejuvenated, 

 if treated as above recommended. 



Free f!;rowing trees are seldom affected with moss, and, pre- 

 vention is better than remedy. By keeping your trees in a 

 fine, thrifty condition, moss will not accumulate, and mai.y 

 other ills of tree life will be warded oif. 



VARIOUS MANURES FOR FRUIT TREES. 



Almost all kinds of manures are useful for fruit trees. 

 Give the ground under them a heavy dressing of cow-stable 

 or barn-yard manure, muck, or ditch mud, and ashes, which 

 contain much lime, in any convenient proportion. If the land is 

 light or sandy, the muck should largely preponderate. Rich 

 soil, or mould, ojyposite in character to that in which the trees 

 are grown, may be spread and mixed with the soil under them 

 with great advantage. Air-slacked lime is excellent for top 

 dressing, so is ashes, both especially so when well rotted litter 

 is added. 



APPARENT DECLINE IN THE GROWTH AND PRO- 

 DUCTIVENESS OF THE APPLE AND OTHER FRUIT 

 TREES. 



The declension of fruits is a subject which has elicited some 

 controversy. That varieties of cultivated fruits may, and do 

 decline, is, perhaps, true. But the reason of this deteriora- 

 tion may be accounted for in the altered circumstances under 

 which they are now grown. When the country was new, and 

 the unexhausted, virgin soil teemed with the rich, mellow mould, 

 containing a profuse amount of vegetable food, just suited to 

 9 



