N 





LAJND FARMER. 



Published by JOHN B. RUSSELL, nl t'ne cornpr ofCon^r-'s? and Lindall Sireet?, Boston — THOMAS G. FT.S-KKDFr-;. FniTon. 



VOL. IV. 



BOSTON, FRIDAY, APRIL 7, ]«2(i. 



No. 37. 



OaXGXNAI. COXaMUNZCATlOZTS. 



TO THE EDITOR OF THE NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



DURABILITY OF FRUITS, &c. 



CnujUi; of fVorcesler, March 27, 1826. 

 Mr Fe^?f.nten,— Unt'orlunately for me, your 

 valuable paper don't ol'len reach me until i! has 

 passed the rounds thrnug^h our nelgliborhood ; 

 and not being- aide to subscribe Cor it, unless 1 

 can get if in course, I must, I fear, depend on 

 the goodness of some of my friends to supply me 

 Kith the loan of theirs for the future. — The last 

 numher that 1 have seen is that of the 17th in- 

 ftant, which 1 have looked over with interest; 

 particularly the articles signed " Rusticus''— the 

 one taken from the Mass. Agricul. Repos'y. ;— | 

 and the one relative to the " Borer" signed " A 

 Subscriber." 



ailer Mr Knight considered it as riui out, or ex- 

 tinct, then 1, for one, must lie permitted to doidit 

 the correctness of the doctrine. I should be 

 much obliged to you therefore to ascertain this 

 fart, nnd make it public if you can get at it ; 

 aid iliil you may do this uith the best advan-j 

 !a.je you may invite all those ivho are culliva- 

 lors of fruit to give you some account of their! 

 sirress with this variety.. I liivo. understood 

 lUit Mr Gorham Parsons of Brighton, and Dri 

 Djxter, tlie former President of the Massachu- 

 srtis Agricultural Society, are rniln ators of this 

 fruit, and (hat they are usually successtul in get- 

 ting good crops, and good fruit from their trees. 

 If this be true, then <ve mus_f;4,ook for another 

 cause for the decay of this apple in England. 



The article relating to the borer has induced 



me to submit a few observations on this subject 



. _ . ,, _ now, although 1 had iuteu t >d to defer liiem (ill 



The ouolations of Ptusticus, as nel a? some • , , , -.i. • 



J. lie ijuuu iiuuT. ui i"^' !■ " ,^ I [,.,j passed over one more season, with a view 



others that 1 have seen from the sam" nnihnr 



author, 

 in relation to the durability of fruits, are intend- 

 ed to show, if I understand them, that all fruits 

 contain, or carry v\ithjn themselves, the limita- 

 tion of their own existence. Or in other words 

 that the duration of each variety of fruit is lim- 

 ited by the Older of nature. To prove this, Mr 

 Koiglil has shown that several varieties ol ap- 

 ples, that formerly grew well, and were in high 

 estimation in England, have now inn out, or ar- 

 iived at the period prescribed as the limitation 

 inferred to. Among these fruits the Golden Pip- 

 ) in was mentioned as a striking example by Mr 

 Knighl, some twenty or more years past, (lor I 

 ■{'.rink iitsj book Mas wriltou in 1801)— of course 

 it is to be presumed that this apple no longer 

 txists in England or any where else ; for if it lie 

 true that the term of its existence was near at 

 hand in 1801, it must now be extinct — but is this 

 the fact,Mr Editor?— If it be true that the Gold- 

 en pippin, or any other variety of fruit, carries 

 within Itself the certainty of its own destruction 

 er decay within a limited state, it can be of no 

 consequence whether it be planted or grafted 

 in England or America; for that particular vari- 

 ety ot fruit must perish at the period lixeil by na- 

 ture, wherever it may be. I don't mean to say 

 that they will all cease to exist on the same day, 

 or month or year; — but if 200 years be consid- 

 ered a fair average of their durability by Mr 

 Knight, 1 presume he would allow that twenty 

 ye lis' grace, after they had run out in England, 

 was sufficient to test the truth of this doctrine 

 throughout the world. — If this be not -time 

 enough, how many years will be sufficient to 

 test the fact? Probably not in my life tjine, or 

 yours, sir, but the subject will be left for (he 

 next generation to discuss with the same chance 

 of success (hat has heretofore existed in regard 

 to the termination of the old century, and the 

 commencement of the new one. 



But, perhaps, the question is already settled, 

 and the Golden pippin has disappeared every- 

 where ? If that be a fact, then Mr Knight's 

 theory is established; but if on (he o(her hand 

 Ihe Golden pippin is now to be found in this 

 counliy in full vigour and health, both as re- 

 ganls the (tees and the fruit, Iweut^-tour jears, 



(() confirm some experiments which h tve suc- 

 ~:eyded with me the two last years, and wliicli f 

 <id not wish to trouble (he public with until n- 

 ^o'.her trial could have been made with success. 

 Others, I know, have tried Ihe same thing with 

 ;tl-. antage; but whether it can be done on a 

 lir?e scale, that is in extensive orchards, is be- 

 V)rul my means of knowing. 



liy (he recommetidadon of some of my neigh- 

 hJr- I applied (ar to my trees ; surrouuiling the 

 !>»■'>• of the free with it at Ihe insertion of the 

 gi'f-fil roots, and keeping (he earth a( |pas( a 

 f>o; from (lie Iree. This I found (o be (he 

 .1 .ii,- thing i could hav«rri1one ; all (Iwi ('oes 

 which had tar about them were found (o have 

 a double portion of these destructive insects im- 

 mediately in their neighborhood, on the bnrk. 

 when examined in June. The moisture which 

 was retainec] by Ihe tar appeared to be conge- 

 nial to their habits, for all my peach, «pple, :ind 

 quince trees that stood in rich moist land, were 

 more or less infested with the borer. But on 

 examining the trees that stood in dry gravelly 

 soil, 1 foiin^ them free from worms of all sorts, 

 and none of them touched wilh the borer. — 

 This led ."ne (o (ry ashes. I removed (he (ar 

 from the body of a number of trees that had 

 been surrounded with it, and took ou( all Ihe 

 borers that I could find, on or in Ihe tree, and 

 applied a quanti(y of wood ashes in i(s stead, 

 ailowinj no earth to (ouch (he body of the tree. 

 I then removed the tar from other trees, and 

 cleansed (hem also of (he borer in like manner. 

 To this last I applied a fresh quantity of tar, 

 keeping the earth away from the tree. The 

 same thing was done with the trees that stood 

 in rich soil, ashes being applied to a portion of 

 the.se also. On examining my trees in the Fall, 

 and a.fferwards in the succeeding summer, I 

 t'ound that Ihe trees that had ihe ashes kept 

 round (hem free from a inix(ure of ear(h or (ar, 

 were clear and without (he appearance of bor- 

 ers ; while those that had tar or rich earth near 

 them, were as full as ever. I then removed all 

 the tar, took out the borers, and applied ashes, 

 as far as I had the means of doing it, wilh suc- 

 cess. It was my intention to have tried it an- 

 other season to noake the facts sure before 1 



na Ip any report, a: 1 have found it lost labor, 

 in many instances, to adopt new [dans, recoin- 

 mrnded from hii=lv and imperfect experiments. 

 I shoiibl advise thosp who may consider (his as 

 worth their atlrntion to try it first on a limited 

 scale, and satisfy (hrm«elves of its eflicacy be- 

 fore they expend murh labour or time in its 

 .■idoption. On iV.ims where there are large or- 

 chards, a cheaper, an.l 1 believe a highly bene- 

 ficial course, may be pursued to proiluce the 

 same result. 



The last of Jilay, or early in .hine, remove 

 (he earth from alioiii ynur trews that are altar.k- 

 cd by Ihe borer, and rid t!io free of (he insect 

 as far as you can do i( without lacerating the 

 bark too much. As soon as the body of (lie tree 

 is drv where (heeartli had covered it, apply two 

 oood coalsof while wash (clean lime ond -sinter') 

 from Ihe fiserlion of the great roots, to about a 

 foot or eighteen inches above (he level of the 

 earth wlif^n iC is replaced. Let this be done 

 every suinracr at flio same (imo, and I think 

 great advilfitage v.-jH be derived frnin,it. I do 

 not moan (o say that you must not go higher 

 than 18 inciljes, if yon have lisiiG and money to 

 •-ipare; for \ believe lime to be very useful if 

 apjdicd in (ie lonr. of white Wis?!), to Ihe whole 

 body of ll^ (rep. the 1st oj' .'m;e or earlier if 

 the weath^' be »v;irm, as it destroys the insects, 

 of which jtrrat numbers altvays lodge in (he 

 cracks and Ipeni-.igs of the bark, and make (heir 

 way under V, if npi removed in season. It is, 

 however, bm. if ii can be done, (o scrape (he 

 rougii hark ly S.dore (he wash is applied, by 

 tihirh iiieap..s '>*u reniovs \h.-. shelter, as well 

 as the insect itieli, and prevent others hatinTtii- 

 ing in your trees. 



I( is a common idea (hat the bores enters the 

 tree, always about the level of the earth, just 

 under its surface. This is in fact commonly 

 Ihe case, particularly in ajiple trees, and iheir 

 presence may be always ascertained in these 

 trees, as well as in the mountain ash, (of which 

 they are sworn enemies) by the appearance ol 

 a little powdered wood like saw dust. A small 

 dark spot will show the entrance, and by cutting 

 off a small piece or slice of Ihe bark about ibis 

 spot, you will fall on the trail of the animal. — 

 But in peach, and even cherry trees, they are 

 found frequently in the bndy and branches of the 

 trees, ten feet from (he ground. 1 have (aken 

 them out of both repeatedly, and whenever you 

 see in these trees an issue of gum without the 

 appearance of a wound, you may probably find 

 a borer snugly lodged under (he bark. They 

 enter these trees also, particularly the peach, 

 a\ the surface of the ground, and may be detect- 

 ed by the appearance of gum. It must be ob- 

 served that gum proceeds iilso from Inruises, 

 cuts, and diseases of various kinds, r,o that its 

 appearance does not always indicr,(e the pres- 

 ence of the borer, although it is always seen in 

 quantities where this enemy to good fruit is har- 

 boured. — Having extendei', my observations in 

 this article to an unreasonable length, 1 must 

 defer noticing your catalogue of (he best sorts 

 of" fruits" until your p atience is restored, and 

 you can again indulge a subscriber of Worcester 

 county, who is NO FARMER, 



