196 



THE APPLE CULTURIST. 



4. A large proportion of the orchards all over New Eng- 

 land, and many other States, have been almost ruined by 

 stupid management. As the soil had become very much 

 impoverished, in consequence of having yielded a long suc- 

 cession of bountiful crops of fruit, and the trees began to 

 show the results of injudicious management, some stupid 

 wood-chopper would be directed to prune the trees ; which 

 would be performed by cutting off about half of the entire 

 top, and in numerous instances more than half ; and large 

 limbs, six to eight inches in diameter, have been chopped 

 off, making such broad wounds that they could never heal 

 over. Hence, the wood began to decay, so that thousands 

 of valuable apple-trees, that once yielded full crops of fruit, 

 decayed to the heart, often becoming hollow. Such man- 

 agement and treatment of fruit-trees is surely sufficient to 

 effectually annihilate the most hardy and prolific variety of 

 pears or apples that has ever been cultivated. 



The diagrams of two murdered trees (Fig. 74), which 

 were originally engraved for the "Annual Register," will 

 furnish a fair idea of the system of management adopted 

 by untold numbers of farmers. The trees have been ruined 



by some tree-murder- 

 er^ who has cut and 

 carved, right and left, 

 leaving long and un- 

 even stubs, which, in- 

 stead of healing over, 

 have decayed. Be- 

 sides this, the land 

 has been cropped un- 

 til the soil has no 

 more fertility left 

 in it, either for pro- 



Apple-trees badly managed. ducing apples Or any 



