542 



FARM, ORCHARD, DAIRY AND GARDEN. 



ley planting, even what might be termed 

 bleak exposures have the preference, and 

 the unsatisfactory results attending orch- 

 ards in low protected grounds has led to a 

 supposition that shelter is injurious rather 

 than beneficial. 



The addition of shelter to an otherwise 

 judiciously selected site is altogether dif- 

 ferent from endeavoring to secure it by 

 choosing a low situation. The efficacy of 

 protection is now generally well under- 

 stood, especially by those who attempt 

 pear culture in regions that are compara- 

 tively treeless. Even the White Doyenne, 

 the famed Virgalieu, or butter pear, worth- 

 less in exposed situations, is produced in 

 all its pristine excellence where the tree is 

 protected, as may be seen in many old 

 gardens in cities, where this variety is very 

 common. 



The shelter required is not so much to 

 repel or alleviate mere thermometric cold, 

 as it is to arrest evaporation and its ac- 

 companying exhaustion of vitality, by 

 checking the rapid and penetrating action 

 of dry winds. 



Evergreen trees afford the most perfect 

 shelter in the least space. A single row 

 of Norway firs, Austrian pines, or other 

 equally hardy evergreen trees will give 

 shelter for a considerable distance; thickly 

 planted belts of deciduous trees will also 

 render effective service. How far apart 

 these belts and hedges should be placed, 

 and in what direction they will be most 

 useful, will depend upon the surroundings 

 and local specialties. As the best mode 

 of draining a field will depend upon its 

 surface undulations, so the best mode of 

 sheltering will be guided by the general 

 aspect and position of the orchard. 



PEAR ORCHARDS, Soil for.— The 

 pear will exist in a variety of soils, but 

 attains great perfection in clayey loam. 

 Even on stiff clays the tree will grow and 

 produce very satisfactorily under the ame- 

 liorating influences of the preparation and 

 culture which such soils require. Drain- 

 ing first and subsoiling afterwards are the 

 chief requisites for gradual amelioration; 

 in short, while a water-soaked clay soil is 

 the most utterly worthless of all lands for 

 the growth of any crop, a properly drain- 

 ed and aerated clay soil is by far the most 

 valuable, and only requires careful man- 

 agement to render it available for the best 

 productions of the orchard, farm, or gar- 



den. The prominent precaution in man- 

 aging a clay soil is never to work on it 

 while wet, but only when it is dry to fri- 

 ability. No expedient or process of cul- 

 ture will compensate for the injury sus- 

 tained by working clay soils during sum- 

 mer, when they are saturated with water; 

 the injury cannot be remedied except by 

 a winter's freezing, which will again pro- 

 duce friability, under proper treatment. 



Soils of a sandy or gravelly character 

 are not well adapted to the pear. In 

 these soils, so valuable in their degree of 

 moisture, the trees ripen prematurely and 

 drop their foliage early, if the weather 

 proves dry towards the end of summer; 

 then, in the event of moist weather fol- 

 lowing a period of drought, a late second- 

 ary growth will be produced, which, fail- 

 ing to mature, induces a tendency to 

 blight, and predisposes to other diseases. 

 Surface dressings of compost, repeated 

 cultivation, or constant mulching, will 

 counteract, to some extent, the effects of 

 uncongenial soil for the pear roots, but 

 where it is impracticable to select any but 

 a thin gravel or sand for the growth of 

 this fruit, the dwarf tree is preferable, as 

 the roots of the quince can be confined to 

 a small area, which may be prepared and 

 maintained to meet all the requirements 

 of growth. 



PEAR TREES, Planting.— Where the 

 soil has been prepared by deep tillage it 

 will not be necessary to dig holes deeper 

 than required to merely cover the roots of 

 the plant. In heavy soils that have not 

 been prepared in the most thorough man- 

 ner the holes should be made wide rather 

 than deep. In gravelly subsoils pits may 

 be dug eighteen inches in depth, the sur- 

 face soil and the subsoil being thrown out 

 at opposite sides, and filled in equally 

 until the proper height is reached for set- 

 ting the plant. In either case about a 

 bushel of compost, made up of leaf mold, 

 rotted manure, and light soil, if carefully 

 spread around the roots, will form an ad- 

 mirable rooting medium ; this should be 

 finely pulverized and rather dry than wet 

 when used. 



Deep planting and shallow planting are 

 the injurious extremes in setting trees. 

 The plain and incontrovertible rule is to 

 set the plant so that the point from 

 whence the stem and roots proceed in op- 

 posite directions will be about one inch 



