50 ON FRUIT TREES. 



ON FRUIT TREES. 



The Committee appointed to award the premiums offered by the 

 Society for Fruit Trees and Nurseries, have attended to the duties 

 assigned them, and herewith Report the results of their examina- 

 tions and the conclusions at which they have arrived : 



Three applications only were made to the Committee for the pre- 

 miums ; those Avere by Messrs. William G. Lake, of Topsfield, 

 Ephraim "Woods, of Salem, and James B. Cole, of Beverly. The 

 nurseries of each of these applicants were visited by some of your 

 Committee in August and September last, and the trees as carefully 

 examined as circumstances Avould permit. 



The nursery of Mr. Wm. G. Lake, examined by the Committee, 

 consists of about three acres of level land, well adapted by its soil 

 and exposure to the purposes to Avhich it is applied. It is well 

 stocked with apples, peaches and some pears. The trees offered for 

 the Society's premium by Mr. Lake, were about three thousand 

 peach trees, budded with several different varieties, in but a small 

 proportion of which the budding had been unsuccessful. Mr. Lake's 

 trees, especially his peach and apple trees, appeared healthy, vigorous 

 and thrifty, and his ground to be well cultivated. His mode of cul- 

 tivation and general course of management cannot now be related ; 

 for, although a statement from him containing many particulars was 

 forwarded in season to a member of your Committee, yet it is not 

 •where it can now be made use of.^ 



*Mr. Lake, in a letter forwarded November 28th, says : "I have now abour one hundrfd 

 thousand trees set out in nursery rows, which 1 have raised from the seed, which are from 

 one to three years old; among which are some of the rarest kinds of apples, pears, plums, 

 peaches, cherries, &c. 



The part of my nursery which was proposed for the consideration of the Committee, 

 contains about four thousand peach trees. These trees were planted in the spring of 1845, 

 in the following manner: The land was ploughed in 18 W, and planted with potatoes that 

 season, and no manure has been put on the ground since that year. The peach stones 

 were laid on the top of the ground, until they had the action of a severe frost. 1 then 

 cracked the stones at my leisure, and put them into sand, and set them in tlie cellar until 

 spring. In April I planted them out in rows, three leet by eight inches, with a light 

 coTering of earth. In September of the same j'ear, I budded them with those kinds of 

 fruit which I had found to be of superior quality. The buds took well, and the last spring 

 I topped them down within two inches of the bud, which was set near the ground. The last 

 summer they have made wood very rapidly. A large portion of them have grown seven 

 and a half feet high. 



The nursery ground, which I cultivate, contains about seven acres. On this ground are 

 four hundred standard trees; among which are about seventy kinds of fruit, of the choicest 

 varieties, which I have obtained from the best nurseries in this and foreign countries. 

 I take great pleasure in the cultivation of these trees, and shall be pleased to give any in- 

 formation in my possession, in relation thereto.' 



