The RoUa Apjjie T/ie Baldwin in Michigan. 



19 



An Orchard Saved by Mulching. 



ED. Western Horticulturist :— A few 

 notes from this quarter of the State may 

 be of interest. Most of the bearing apple 

 trees in this region were badly injured by 

 the last winter, or killed outright. On the 

 " bottom " or valley lauds, the destruction 

 has been much the greatest, on the prairie 

 very considerable, and on timber lands, with 

 clay subsoil, least. Trees that bore fruit 

 last year (1872) appear to have suflfered 

 most. Trees which have been most neglected, 

 and which have borne but little fruit, on 

 timber and prairie lands, are the least in- 

 jured. 



Few people hereabouts pay any regard to 

 mulching their orchard trees. I have found 

 one orchard of apple trees on a steep slope 

 to the east, which have been carefully culti- 

 vated and thoroughly pruned, that are in 

 perfect condition — all, excepting two trees, 

 which are nearly dead. The owner told me 

 that the trees were all well mulched last fall, 

 except the two dying ones —that they had 

 only a few potato vines thrown about the 

 roots. He said the mulching saved the 

 trees. He mulches in the fall, removes it 

 in the spring and cultivates the ground. 



This orchard is the healthiest I have seen* 

 The young orchards have suffered much less 

 than those previously in bearing, and those 

 most protected from the west and north 

 winds — other conditions being equal — are 

 least injured. But on the rich valley lands, 

 although protected by high bluffs, large, fine 

 trees, which have borne well before, have 

 succumbed, like the grass of the valley. 

 Tetofski, Duchess Oldenburg, Haas, St. 

 Lawrence and Fameuse went through the 

 frosty ordeal best. J. Alden Winter. 

 Village Creek, Alamakee Co., la. 



Remarks. — We thank our correspondent 

 for his very instructive observations. We 

 might almost say they aiford a key to cer- 

 tain success. For years we have urged upon 

 tree planters the great importance of both 

 mulching and deep planting in the windy, 

 frosty country. We venture the assertion 

 that at least seventy-five per cent, of all the 

 apple trees in Iowa, Wisconsin and Minne- 

 sota, killed outright or materially injured, is 

 due to neglect of these two important essen- 

 tials to success — deep PLANTING- and 

 MULCHING. . 



G-rades of Black Cherries.— The Coun- 

 try Gentleman says there are four old black 

 cherries that present successive grades of 

 improvement, namely : the Black Mazzard, a 

 small, bitter variety, which has a high and 

 somewhat agreeable flavor when "dead 

 ripe ;" the Black Caroon, or Carone, larger 

 and less bitter — by some confounded with 

 Black Heart, which is still larger and better ; 

 and lastly, Black Tartarian, the well-known, 

 old, popular variety of largest size. As 

 each sort is successively larger, it becomes 

 milder in flavor. Prince, in his Pomological 

 Manual, made the Carone distinct from the 

 Black Heart, but the Catalogue of the Lon- 

 don Horticultural Society seems to confound 

 them, and Downing copies the mistake. 

 The true Carone has probably passed out of 

 existerice or cultivation. 



The Rolla Apple.— Mr. Nathan Schce of 

 Sehonsburgh, this State, writes us that in 

 the spring of 1871, he grafted a cion of the 

 Rolla into a stock of the Janet that pro- 

 duced the following year (1872) a fine, large 

 specimen ; last spring it bloomed profusely 

 and held its fruit till of the size of a hazel 

 nut. Fruit large, oblong, yellow, sub-acid, 

 early winter ; think it a very promising 

 apple. 



The Baldwin in Michigan.— The Bald- 

 win apple is reported more largely planted 

 in the region of St. Joseph, Mich., and the 

 demand for the fruit greater than that of 

 any other variety. The preference given it 

 over other sorts is on account of its early 

 bearing, productiveness and fairness, rather 

 than quality. 



