324 



THE BELLE ET BONNE APPLE. 



twenty feet. The leaves are large, and of 

 a rich green colour ; and I could easily 

 credit the statement of my friends, that, 

 when loaded, as it was in the year 1847, 

 with from forty to fifty bushels of apples, 

 all large and fair, it presented a spectacle 

 not a little exciting to the lovers of fine 

 fruit trees. The fruit ripens late in the 

 fall, and, at the time of my visit, the last of 

 May, it was still perfectly sound, of an 

 agreeable sub-acid taste, and entitled to 

 rank high among the finest winter apples. 



The Belle et Bonne is, I learn, not a 

 French variety, as the name might imply. 

 It is a native variety, so named, [Belle 

 et Bonne, — being, literally, beautiful and 

 good,) by the French, at the time the French 

 troops were stationed here during the revo- 

 lutionary war. The original tree, (the pa- 

 rent of those now growing here,) was cut 

 down only two years ago. It stood upon 

 the land of Mr. Jason Roberts ; and Mr. 

 R. says it was believed to be more than 100 

 years old when cut down. 



My friend having obtained an excellent 

 drawing of the tree belonging to Mr. 

 CowLEs, it was agreed between us, that Ave 

 would (with your leave,) give to the culti- 

 vators of fruit abroad the opportunity of 

 sharing with us the pleasure with which we 

 viewed the East Hartford Belle et Bonne j 

 a tree which combines, in a singular degree, 

 the qualities of the finest fruit bearer, with 

 the ornamental properties of a fine shade 

 tree. 



Mr. Olmsted also showed me examples 

 of his treatment of old apple trees, which, 

 by successful grafting, he has not only re- 

 animated with the vigor of youth, but ren- 

 dered them prolific of finer varieties of fruit 

 than were ever yielded by them before. I 

 have also been favored with occasional spe- 

 cimens of his fall and winter apples, which, 

 for beauty of form and deliciousness of fla- 



vor, have never been surpassed in my expe- 

 rience. Respectfully yours, 



Denison Olmsted. 



Yah College, Sept. 3, 1843. 



We add to the foregoing the following 

 additional notes, by Mr. George Olm- 

 sted : 



Dear Sir — The old apple trees on my 

 grounds, to which Professor Olmsted al- 

 ludes in the foregoing, were a few years 

 ago worthless, until they were completely 

 changed by my grafting them over. 



These trees I commenced grafting six 

 years ago last spring. / began on the top, 

 and grajted one-tlm'd of the tree each year. 

 It therefore required three years to com- 

 plete the entire heads of the tree. 



I like this method better than any I have 

 ever tried for grafting large trees, as it 

 gives the grafts a good opportunity to get 

 well started. Cutting off' and grafting the 

 top first, gives the grafts there the best 

 possible chance, while the necessary reduc- 

 tion of the top throws the sap into the re- 

 maining side branches, which fits them 

 well for grafting the following year ; and 

 the third year, the lowest branches being 

 made ready in the same way may be graft- 

 ed successfully. By this mode, it will be 

 seen that when the grafts are put in on the 

 side branches they are not shaded by heavy 

 shoots above them, and they have an unu- 

 sual supply of nourishment to carry them 

 forward. Those who have attempted to 

 graft the whole head of a large tree at 

 once, are best aware of the great difficulty 

 in the common mode of getting the grafts 

 to take on the side limbs. 



One of these large trees, so treated, is 

 probably more than 75 years old, and has 

 now an entirely new and vigorous head, 

 grafted with this excellent variety. When 

 I began with it, the fruit was only fit far 



