APPLES AT THE SOUTH. 



manuring, becomes a dark loam. Its proportion of lime is scarcely appreciable, by ana- 

 lysis not over one-tenth of one per cent. It is of but moderate fertility, and is naturally 

 pretty well timbered with pine, chestnut, tulip tree, sweet gum, and several species of 

 oak. 



With us, the apple is, I think, comparatively with most sections, a difficult fruit to cul- 

 tivate. A full grown, healthy apple tree, one which is entirely free from disease, is, in 

 this section, a rarity. Occasionally, they suddenly " die and leave no sign" at all — ap- 

 pear thriving as usual in autumn, and in spring are dead, with no assignable cause. Some 

 die gradually, like a peach tree with the yellows, exhibiting for a long time a kind of ge- 

 neral debility, which I know not to what to attribute, unless to the too intense action 

 of the sun upon the soil and roots — or perhaps to the deficiency of lime in the soil. We 

 have also the bark louse, and the borer and the caterpillar, but these are no worse than 

 with you. Again, many of our trees have the bark of the trunk blistered, and soon de- 

 cay, where they are exposed to the raj^s of the early afternoon sun. Then, worse than 

 all, is that pestilent fellow, the wooly aphis, rightly named the American blight. Here, 

 I believe, he is indigenous, as he is found on the wild crab, as well as on the cultivated va- 

 rieties, and in situations where one would hardly think he had been introduced. He must 

 be a vigilant watcher, the branches of whose trees this aphis does not " pull the wool 

 over," or cover their roots with the warts produced by his minute lacerations. 



Now, these are serious difficulties in the way of the fruit grower, but still the worst of 

 them may be overcome. Bark lice, caterpillars, and borers, a little care in season will 

 destroy as effectually here as anywhere. The sun-burned trunk can be prevented by plant- 

 ing maiden trees, (one year's growth from the bud,) and shortening them in, so, when 

 planted, that branches may be thrown out near the earth. The thick foliage will thus 

 shield the trunk from the sun, and also keeping the roots shaded, will do much to correct 

 the debility we have before noticed. The lime, or whatever other constituents the soil may 

 lack, can from time to time be also supplied, at no very serious trouble or expense. 



The aphis is more troublesome. If they are on a single tree of the garden, the wind will 

 soon convey them, enveloped in their down, from one end to the other. Each tree, before 

 planting, must be thoroughly worked, and its roots soaked in strong soap suds from the 

 laundry. You will thus be free from the rascal to begin with. But this is not all. Vigi- 

 lant attention is afterwards required. Every place where they appear, before they have 

 time to seek the roots of the tree, must be coated with a paint composed of soap suds, 

 thickened to the right consistence for application, with quick lime. This is an effectual 

 remedy, and besides a beneficial application to the tree. 



In selecting varieties for cultivation here, as it is a matter of some difficulty to raise a 

 good supply of apples at all, the apple being a northern fruit, we are obliged to guard 

 against over refinement. In regard to a fruit, it is not our first question, is it of the very 

 highest quality? but, is the tree sufficiently hardy and productive to bear fruit at all? 

 Will it produce enough to be worth cultivating? When we find a tree to be hardy, and at 

 least moderately productive, it is then quite early enough to inquire which of those, hav- 

 ing these indispensable good qualities, and ripening at the same season, are of the highest 

 flavor for the desert or kitchen, and from these to make our selection. 



As the peach and pear, are both more easily cultivated than the apple in this section, to 

 say nothing of figs, grapes, &c., which a little care may place abundantly on every table, 

 a very large list of summer apples is not desirable. Of these we have enough kinds alrea- 

 We need good autumn and winter varieties, and for these we must look at home, as 

 fine northern winter apples have usually ripened and decayed, the few years they 



