EXPERIMENTAL FRUIT CULTURE. 



BY T. G. YEOMANS, WALWORTH, N. Y- 



I HAVE, from the commencement, been an 

 attentive reader of the Horticulturist, and 

 most especially interested in such portions 

 of it as relate to the cultivation of trees, and 

 choice fruits. 



I propose to occupy the attention of your 

 readers, a few moments, with some account 

 of my experience, during the last three 

 years, in enriching the soil and growing 

 trees. 



In September, 1845, I purchased a piece 

 of ground, from which had been cut a crop 

 of wheat in July of that year ; the land had 

 never been manured — the soil a strong 

 loam. During the same autumn, I drew on 

 to 15 acres of this land, about 450 wagon 

 loads of swamp muck, leaving it in piles of 

 one load each. I then drew from an old 

 ashery as many loads of leached ashes, — 

 putting a load of ashes on every load of 

 muck. 



I then spread the whole evenly over 

 the ground, and ploughed it pretty deeply, 

 though not with a subsoil plough. I next 

 proceeded to plant about 700 apple and 

 peach trees on seven acres of the ground, 

 setting half of each, and alternately in the 

 rows each way, and twenty feet from each 

 other ; about 500 were set in November, 

 and 200 in April following. In planting 

 the trees, I prepared the places large enough 

 to receive the trees properly, and then pro- 

 cured and placed by each hole thus prepared 

 one shovelfull of swamp muck, one of leach- 

 ed ashes, and one of fine charcoal dust ; 

 these I mixed well with fine mould, or sur- 

 face soil, and with this mixture planted the 

 trees. 



The trees, thus planted in the fall, were 



" shortened-in" about March, cutting away 

 half or two-thirds of the [terminal growth 

 of the] branches ; and the 200, set in the 

 spring, were shortened in the same manner 

 when set. Of the 500 trees thus planted in 

 the fall, 6 or 7 died the first winter ; and 

 they were set in the wettest part of the 

 ground ; and to the wet and freezing wea- 

 ther, without the usual quantity of snow, 

 I attribute their loss. With this slight ex- 

 ception they all grew finely ; some of the 

 peach trees forming branches the first year 

 four feet in length. There was no percep- 

 tible difference between those planted in 

 the fall and spring. 



Of this seven acres of ground, thus.plant- 

 ed to orchard, I planted about six acres in 

 the spring to nursery trees, such as apples, 

 grafted in the root, peach pits, apple seeds, 

 cherry and pear stocks ; and a portion of 

 the balance I planted with beets and car- 

 rots. The beets and carrots were well hoed 

 till they covered the ground sufficiently to 

 keep the weeds down. The nursery plant- 

 ed on the six acres, was kept well worked 

 during the whole season with plough, culti- 

 vator and hoe. The orchard trees on the 

 nursery ground grew more than twice as 

 much the first season as on the ground 

 planted to beets and carrots ; and this dif- 

 ference I attribute — not to the beets and 

 carrots, drawing more from the soil than 

 the young trees, as many supposed — but 

 to the difference in the manner of culti- 

 vating them, and the continued cultivation 

 of the nursery trees till fall. 



And this conclusion will be made more 

 clear, by stating that the row of beets and 

 carrots adjoining the nursery trees, and be- 



