MY FARM OF EDGEWOOD 



what vainly upon the others, quickened into a 

 marvellous luxuriance; and the few shoots I 

 set upon them are now supplying the best fruit 

 of the orchard. Even these, however, are not 

 free from the pestilent stings which the swarms 

 of winged visitors inflict upon every crop. 



It is very questionable if ploughing is, upon 

 the whole, the best way of reinstating a neg- 

 lected and barren orchard. It is a harsh 

 method; trees struggling to keep up a good 

 appearance under adverse circumstances — like 

 men — use every imaginable shift; their little 

 spongiole feeders go off on wide search; they 

 are multiplied by the diversity of labor; and 

 the plough cuts into them cruelly, making 

 crude butcher work where the nicest surgery 

 is demanded. I am inclined to believe that a 

 deep trench, sunk around each tree, at the dis- 

 tance of from eight to ten feet from the trunk, 

 and filled with good lime compost, is the surest 

 way of redeeming a neglected orchard. Even 

 then, however, the turf should be carefully 

 removed within the enclosed circle, that the air 

 and its influences may have penetrative power 

 upon the soil. The method is Baconian (fodi- 

 endo et aperiendo terram circa radices ipsa- 

 rum) ; it is thorough, but it is expensive; and 

 a farmer must consider well— if his trees, soil, 



i6o 



