WINTER TREATMENT OF KITCHEN GARDENS. 



325 



cider, and it was questionable whether the 

 tree should not be cut down. By grafting 

 it in this manner I have added surprisingly 

 to its value. Two years ago (the bearing 

 year,) I obtained from it 10 bushels of ap- 

 ples, last year 8 bushels, and this year, 

 (only six years from the time I began to 

 graft it,) I gathered 23^ bushels of excellent 

 fruit ! 



I consider this tree now worth SlOO ; 

 the cost of grafting it was about S5 ; and 

 the latter was all repaid two years ago, — 

 the first season the grafts bore fruit. Yours 

 respectfully, Geo. Olmsted. 



East Hartford, Ct., Oct. 25, 1843. 



P. S. My mode of setting out young 

 trees in our soil, (a light sandy loam,) is to 

 dig the hole six feet square, and three and 

 a half feet deep. I reject the subsoil of 

 sand when filling in the holes, and place a 

 layer of sods or rich turfs at the bottom 

 and sides of the hole. I then fill up to the 

 height on which the roots of the tree should 

 be set with rich mould, (which I cart to the 

 spot, if it cannot be found in the vicinity.) 

 When the tree is planted, I leave the ground 

 about the tree in a slight hollow ; and as 

 the main point here is to guard against the 

 effects of drouth, I finish by mulching, i. e., 

 placing a heap of litter round the tree for 

 the first season. Repeated deep hoeings 

 are a very good substitute. 



With this foundation, and with proper 

 after care, my trees grow with great vigor, 

 and bear large crops of good fruit. G. O. 



We have heard much of the beauty of 

 growth of the Belle et Bonne apple, which 

 has a great reputation in Connecticut ; and 

 this portrait certainly justifies all that has 

 been said. Mr. Olmsted informs us that 

 young trees take the same full and sym- 

 metrical habit, and that this variety is re- 

 markable for its fine habit of growth beyond 

 any other known to him. 



The fruit of the Belle et Bonne we have 

 examined, and find it a very large and 

 showy yellow apple, belonging to the same 

 class as the Fall Pippin, the Fall Harvey, 

 and the Golden Ball. It has an excellent 

 sub-acid flavor, not, perhaps, equal to the 

 Fall Pippin, but fully equal to the two 

 others. It appears to be so much more 

 productive than either of these varieties, 

 that if it retains this habit in other parts of 

 the country, it will become one of the most 

 popular market fruits. In Hartford, we 

 learn it has scarcely a rival for size, beauty 

 of appearance, and profit to the cultivator. 



Mr. Olmsted is a practical fruit grower 

 of much skill, and we recommend his re- 

 marks on grafting large apple trees to the 

 attention of our readers. His practice is 

 sound, and is based on the true theory. Ed. 



■WINTER TREATMENT OF KITCHEN GARDENS. 



BY A SCOTCH GARDENER, BOSTON. 



In the early part of winter we often have a 

 good deal of open or mild weather ; and it 

 is a matter of some consequence to know 

 how the gardener can be employed to the 

 best advantage. 



As I observe that, comparatively, few 

 gardeners here appear to place sufficient 



importance on the value of exposing the 

 soil, as much as possible, to the winter's 

 frost, I wish to be allowed to make a few 

 remarks upon the subject. 



Ridging up the surface of every unoccu- 

 pied spot, in a kitchen garden, is one of 

 the things most of all insisted upon in 



