THE FARMERS' REGISTER. 



311 



THE FRUIT GARDEN. 



By David Thomas, of Cayuga county, N. V. 



From the Transactions of the New York State Agricultural 

 Society. 



In traversing our wide spreading county, the 

 pomologist must observe with regret that so lew 

 of the landed proprietors enjoy the luxuries ofihe 

 fruit garden. The stately mansion, the comlbrta- 

 ble farm-house, or the neat cottage, may meet his 

 view in every direction ; and well cultivated fields, 

 loaded orchards, and abundant harvests, indicate 

 that plenty reigns within ; but if he stop and in- 

 quire lor the finer fruits of the garden, what an- 

 swer would he get 1 In nine cases out of ten, 

 perhaps, their names would sound like the words 

 of an unknown tongue ; and the lord of the soil 

 know as little about them as he does of the lotus 

 of Lybia, or the mangosteen of India. 



How many of our Ji-eeholders have ever lasted 

 an apricot 1 How many of them cultivate the 

 best cherries 1 How many know that delicious 

 plums, always fresh from the tree, may be hat! 

 irom early wheat harvest till the ground li-eezes 

 in autumn ? How many eat the finest varieties 

 of the peach 1 How many think of having " the 

 circle ol' pears 1 



These questions if duly examined and consider- 

 ed, would show our deficiency — for deficiency, 

 omission, or neglect it must be, not to provide lor 

 all the reasonable wants of our lamilies. Now 

 fine fruit in abundance would supply a reasonable 

 want. The relish lor it is prevalent throughout 

 every class of our population — Irom the honored 

 guest who regales on what is set before him, down 

 to the school-boy who slops to plunder by the 

 way. 



Hundreds, however, may think, or say, " We 

 have no time to attend to such trifling affairs." 

 This plea might be allowed while a°man was 

 struggling to save his properly Irom execution, or 

 his land from the foreclosure of a mortgage : but 

 from him who basks in prosperity, it would come 

 with an ill grace. Every day comforts are not 

 trifles. Luxuries which delight the palate, and 

 conduce to health, are not trifles, yet well ripened 

 fruits belong to this class ; and we are satisfied 

 that much suffering, and many a doctor's bill, 

 might be saved by a plentiful supply. 



It may be said indeed, that fruit often causes 

 illness. So grain often causes founder ; and cold 

 water often causes death ; but it is the excess that 

 proves baneful or destructive. Hall- ripe, crude, 

 unwholesome fruits have no attraction lor him 

 that has free access to the fruit garden : it is the 

 unfortunate wight for whom nobody has planted 

 or provided, that incidentally suffers. 



One hundred trees in most cases, would fur- 

 nish an ample supply Ibr a family, and may be 

 selected in the following proportions 



The common nursery prices are added ; and 



the annual interest on this sum, whelher borrowed 

 or appropriated, would barely replenish a tobacco 

 box through the year. 



Now a fruit garden containing this number of 

 trees, ought to yield a constant supply of cherries 

 Ibr two months ; of apricots lor one month ; of 

 pears Ibr nine months ; o\' plums for three months ; 

 and of peaches Ibr two months. 



One hundred trees would do well on half an 

 acre ; but if we allow a square rod Ibr each tree, 

 the iruit garden would only be ten rods square. 

 Now a lot of this size may be conveniently ap- 

 propriated on every farm ; and where is the owner 

 who cannot build lorty rods of lence? Let him 

 listen, however ; thorny shrubs would afford the 

 best protection— not aguinst quadrupeds, but Pla- 

 to's " two legged leal herless animals;" and the 

 sooner such a hedge is planted the belter. 



''Un ortunately lor the moral character of our 

 population, Iruit is loo generally considered lawful 

 plunder. The culturist is allowed to have a lull 

 and exclusive right to his corn and- potatoes— -it 

 would be iniiimy to steal them ; but no exclusive 

 right to his fruit— if they can get it. Thousands 

 of honorable exceptions to this charge, indeed, 

 may be found, but it is not the less true that a 

 great part of our population is tainted, and de- 

 serves to be branded with leproach. 



The native fruit of a thinly populated country, 

 growing without culture, and free ibr all— has 

 doubtless had its share in producing this laxity of 

 morals. " 1 would sooner have a hundred Irish- 

 men around me than one Yankee," was the de- 

 claration of a sufferer, whose fruit had been 

 plundered near the lime of the Erie canal, when 

 that great work was in progress. But Europeans 

 are generally more exemplary on this point than 

 I Americans— shame on us! When Professor 

 Stowe was in Prussia, where (he roads are lined 

 with fruit trees by order of the government, he 

 observed a wisp of straw, attached to particular 

 trees, to protect the fruit : a sufficient guard ; but 

 he suggested to the coachman that in America, it 

 might only prove an invitation to plunder. 

 " Have you no schools 1" was the significant 

 reply. 



Yes, we have schools ; but how many where 

 the child is taught to respect his neighbor's pro- 

 perty 1 Too often he acquires literature and 

 vice at the same time. The State of New- York 

 is famous for her schools and her prisons ; the lat- 

 ter to supply the delects of the former system, 

 which they do, however, very iraper/ectly. Better 

 let the mandate go forth that the morality of the 

 Bible shall be one of the chief objects of instruc- 

 tion. Teach her children to be honest, and then with 

 science and literature, a foundation for true great- 

 ness and prosperity would be laid. 



One thing is worth bearing in mind by those 

 who purchase fruit trees : the best kinds are gene- 

 rally as hardy as the worst, and the difference in 

 price fades into nothing when compared with the 

 difference in quality. Nobody is satisfied with 

 mean fruit after tasiing better. 



For a fruit garden, a western aspect is gene- 

 rally best, because it is the least subject to sudden 

 transitions of temperature. Severe vernal frosts 

 often prove injurious, or otherwise, according to 

 the weather that fbllows. If the sky be overcast 

 in the morning, and the air continues cold, little or 



