FKUTT-TEEES THE APPLE. 141 



man. I estimate that my apple-trees would bear at least 

 one-third more fruit if I could retard their blossom- 

 ing a fortnight, so as to avoid the cold rains and cut- 

 ting winds, often succeeded by frosts, which are apt 

 to pay their unwelcome farewell visits just when my 

 trees are in bloom or when the fruit is forming di- 

 rectly thereafter. Hence, I say to every one who 

 shall hereafter set an orchard, Give it the northward 

 slope of a hill if that be possible. Other things being 

 equal, the orchard which blossoms latest will, in a 

 series of years, yield most fruit, and will be most 

 likely to bear when the Apple -crop of your vicinity 

 proves a failure. I do not recommend storing ice to 

 plant or bury under the trees in April, for that in- 

 volves too much labor and expense ; yet I have no 

 doubt that even that has been and sometimes might 

 be done with profit. In the average, however, I 

 judge that it would not pay. 



In locating and setting an orchard, the very first 

 consideration is thorough drainage. Nothing short 

 of a destructive fire can be more injurious to an 

 apple-tree than compelling it to stand throughout 

 Winter and Spring in sour, stagnant water. Bar- 

 renness, dead branches, and premature general decay, 

 are the natural and righteous consequences of such 

 crying abuse. There are many reasons for choosing 

 sloping or broken ground for an apple-orchard, where- 

 of comparative exemption from frost and natural fa- 

 cility of drainage are the most obvious. A level field, 

 thoroughly undrained to-day, may, through neglect 



