254 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



them as beneficially as the wine recommended to Timothy " for 

 his often infirmities." We have sometimes seen whitewashing 

 recommended for apple-trees, but we should as soon think of 

 whitewashing a man. Lime may destroy some insects, but it 

 Btops the pores of the bark and deranges its respiratory func- 

 tions, and must induce disease. We have found the latter part 

 of May or the first of June the most propitious season for apply- 

 ing the soap, as at this time the bark lice are just being hatched 

 out and are destroyed most effectually. The beetle, also, which 

 lays the eggs for that terrible pest of the apple-tree, the borer, 

 is at this season prowling about seeking where he may puncture 

 a nest for his ovum, and turns up his nose in disgust at the vil- 

 lanous smell of soft soap. If by chance the eggs are already 

 deposited when the soap is applied, their vitality is destroyed. 

 We have never been troubled with the bark louse nor with the 

 borer when we have thoroughly soaked our trees, and at the 

 proper time. If the bark lice are not totally destroyed by the 

 washing in May, a second crop is hatched out the latter part of 

 July, and another washing at this time may be necessary. 



Some recommend ploughing an old orchard as a sovereign 

 remedy for the disease of its old age, and we grant that the 

 first year after an orchard is ploughed, it generally bears well, 

 but it is like the flickering of a lamp just before it is extin- 

 guished. Our observation has been that the ploughing of an 

 old orchard does not give it permanent vigor. The severe root- 

 pruning to which it is subjected by the action of the plough, 

 induces the formation of fruit-buds, and a large crop of fruit 

 follows for one and possibly for two years, but the trees muti- 

 lated in their roots, are soon exhausted by over-production, and 

 speedily decay. The plough is a rude instrument for root- 

 pruning. As Ik Marvel says, " It makes butcher work where 

 nice surgery is demanded." The suggestion of Holy Writ, to 

 dig about and dung the trees, is far preferable. This " nice 

 surgery " is more expensive, but whatever is worth doing is 

 worth doing well. 



Some form of manure is absolutely essential for rejuvenating 

 an old orchard. A tree cannot, like an animal, rove around in 

 search of food. It does indeed send out innumerable little 

 rootlets, and they are most diligent foragers, but their range is 

 limited, and foraging for fifty or a hundred years in the same 



