OP FRUIT TREES. 91 



with a certain prospect of ample reward for his 

 labour, even if no damage were apprehended from 

 the canker worm ; and if the operation is perform- 

 ed in June, he can raise a crop of potatoes round 

 the trees the first season. Hence it is obvious, 

 that several very important advantages will be ob- 

 tained in addition to the prime object ; and the 

 prudent farmer, who adopts this method, will 

 nave in view the most, if not the whole, of the fol- 

 lowing distinct objects : 



1. Extermination of the canker worms. 



2. Growth of the tree?. 



3. Fruitfulness of the trees. 



4. Defence against the moles. 



5. Several crops of potatoes. 



6. Manufacture of compost. 



Mr. Kenrick never having had any canker wormi 

 on his farm, could not personally prove the efficacy 

 of the method proposed, by actual experiment. But 

 it should be strongly recommended to the attention 

 of cultivators of orchards, and it is hoped the pub- 

 lick may be made acquainted with the result of 

 every trial. 



John Lowell, esquire, (Mass. Agricul. Repos.) 

 observes, that " the expense of tarring an orchard 

 for several years, together with the injury sustain- 

 ed by the trees in the common mode of doing it, 

 will be nearly equivalent to a total loss. The im- 

 provements, introduced by Mr. Parsons, and other 

 cultivators, of surrounding the trees with canvass 

 and rope-yarn, and stopping the descent of the tar 

 by a bandage of coarse hemp, together with the 

 mixture of the tar with oil, so as to keep it longer 

 in a soft state, have very much diminished the in- 

 convenience of the old practice. Still much re- 

 mains to be desired. The process is imperfect, un- 

 less performed as faithfully in the fall as in the 

 spring. If your neighbours are inattentive, you 

 may be subjected to this labour for ten or twenty 



