RESTORATION OF APPLE TREES. 



267 



are found distinct from all others. Blessed 

 then as our country is by the profuse hand 

 of nature, shall Americans confine them- 

 selves simply to the improvement of exotic 

 species, and neglect those presented to us 

 on our own soil, and which are of much our common country, 

 greater hardihood. I trust not, but anxious- 



ly hope to witness the same zeal displayed 

 in regard to one as to the other, that we 

 may, in the result of our labors, be enabled 

 to boast improvements as numerous and 

 wide spread as are the glorious regions of 



W. R. Pkince. 



HO"W TO RESTORE THE PRODUCTIVENESS OF OLD APPLE TREES- 



BY H. W. ROCKWELL, UTICA, N.Y. 



A. J. Downing, Esq. — I do not recollect of 

 having seen any very valuable results re- 

 corded in the Horticulturist, concerning the 

 root pruning of the apple. I have, how- 

 ever, tested the experiment, with a little 

 variation from the directions laid down in 

 the article of your correspondent, " How to 

 renovate an outcast," and have had the satis- 

 faction of seeing my most sanguine anti- 

 cipations more than realized. 



The experiment was performed upon 

 three trees standing in my grounds, none 

 of which were less than thirty years old. 

 One of these trees, an old fashioned [New- 

 town] Pippin, and a great favorite, had 

 borne moderately ; the other two made out 

 between them, to " get up " about a dozen 

 apples a year, just to let me know, I pre- 

 sume, that they " could do it," but were 

 perfectly indifferent how it was done. 



I, last summer, undertook the renovation 

 of these trees. For this purpose, I opened 

 between them trenches, say ten feet in 

 length, two feet in depth, and about eight 

 feet equidistant from tree to tree. The 

 roots which were encountered in this ope- 

 ration, were, of course, all cut off, the 

 trenches filled with well rotted manure, and 

 closed. I finished by giving each of the 



trees about a peck of charcoal mixed with 

 the same quantity of ashes, and now for 

 the result. I have this year gathered from 

 the " two outcasts " just mentioned, instead 

 of my annual dividend of a dozen apples, 

 from six to eight bushels apiece of as hand- 

 some fruit as you ever saw, with about the 

 same proportion from the third, which has 

 always been a moderate bearer. I believe 

 the experiment has succeeded as perfectly 

 as if each tree had been completely indr- 

 cled by a trench, as directed in the plan for 

 the renovation of the pear tree. It certain- 

 ly is easier to be put in practice where root 

 pruning is to be done on a large scale. 

 Yours. H. W. Rockwell. 



We commend the foregoing to the pos- 

 sessors of unfruitful old apple orchards. 

 Such are not unfrequently seen, where the 

 barrenness of the tree arises solely from 

 their having exhausted all the elements (^ 

 fertility in the soil. Forced to emit a set 

 of new roots, and supplied with abundant 

 nourishment, the trees quickly regain their 

 former fruitfulness. The result of Mr. 

 Rockwell's experiment proves that for the 

 labor expended, the orchardist is abundant- 

 ly remunerated. — Ed. 



