A JOO IN THE FRUIT GARDEN. 



same atmosphere to breathe, the same rain to drink, the same climate to enjoy, as 

 whcMi tlu'v '•ore tlie fine crops of fruit whii;l> you lament ? "What has changed ? 



j;,,tliiii(r — absolutely nothinf; — but the soil. 



Need I p;o any further to establish this ? I hope not. But the soil is probably 

 pitiably run out — run out, past the power alone of stable manure to bring it up 

 again. It is run out, as the chemists say, in "lime and the phosphates." But 

 it can be renovated, just as surely as there is manure, and, lime, and the phos- 

 phates to be had ; and you may set about it now, if you please, for this is the 

 best time in the world to begin. 



Now, to do this well and thoroughly will cost from two to three dollars a tree, 

 labor and all included. An old officer of this sort, that has been off duty and on 

 half pay for ten or fifteen years, can't be brought into active service again without 

 squaring up old accounts somewhat ; and you must make up your mind to 

 this, or else have no further fruits from the old veterans. 



Supposing we commenced with a middle-aged pear or ajjple-trce, with a sound 

 constitution, which has been sulking for some time past on half pay. Now, it is 

 all very well to say that this tree don't want animal manure. Its roots have been 

 in the same place for twenty-five or thirty years, with only a little sprinkling of 

 something stimulating over the tops of the soil, which the grass, indeed, has 

 pretty much taken to itself, or a slight yearly dressing of compost (if it has stood in 

 the garden) which the vegetables have devoured. Look at its little short-jointed 

 shoots and unthrifty growth, and you will see that, first of all, it wants manure. 



Very well. Now clear away everything in the shape of trees, shrubs, bushes, 

 or vegetables of any kind that stand within fifteen feet of the trunk of this tree. 

 Next, bring a good two-horse wagon-load of fresh stable manure, and trench it 

 under as deeply as the roots will let you, and particularly beyond where the roots 

 extend. It is as foolish to put manure within five or six feet of the trunk of a 

 tree, as it would be to pour drink over the back of a thirsty man. At the very 

 outside of the roots, trench the soil two feet deep, and mix the manure with it, 

 leaving it rough and loose for the winter ; for it is there — at this outside limit — 

 that the roots will get a good living again. 



But this is not the whole which is to be done. Remember that lime and the 

 phosphates must be supplied, for it is above all these that old soils grow poor in. 

 It would not do to put them in with the fresh manure, since they would not agree 

 well together, but would go to decomposing one another, instead of making a 

 succession of good dinners for the " feeders" — that is to say, the little fibres of 

 the roots. 



But next spring, as early as the soil is dry, you must apply to each large tree, 

 manured in the fall, two bushels of ashes and a peck of plaster or gypsum, and, if 

 it lie a pear-tree, a half bushel of bone dust. If it is an apple-tree, you may 

 substitute a peck of air-slaked lime for the plaster. Spread this evenly over the 

 soil that was dug and manured last autumn, and mix it through the whole with a 

 stout three-pronged fork. This will bring the soil to a good condition again; 

 and the old tree will speedily commence making new roots, setting new fruit 

 buds, and, the next season, begin to bear fine fruit again. And this I do not 

 give you from theory, but from actual trial, under the most unfavorable 

 circumstances. 



I do not tell you to prune your tree, because I very much doubt the wisdom of 

 it the first year. I would only see that the bark is clean and smooth ; and give 

 it a little more soft soap, if necessary, in that quarter. After the tree has begun 

 hibit signs of feeling the full pay you have given it — say twenty months 

 then you may, if needful, prune it moderately. When, indeed, the tree is 



tr 



