122 ESSAY ON THE APPLE. 



which hardens by the sun into a cake, obstructing the free entrance 

 of the atmosphere into the soil, without which no plant will thrive. 

 Mulching, (so called,) which is done by placing coarse manure or 

 litter around a tree, will preserve the moisture, and is a much better 

 practice than surface waterings. 



Soil ^c, for an Orchard. The soil best adapted for an apple 

 orchard, as well as the situation and aspect for the trees is not so 

 easy to determine, as we cannot set down rules that will not meet 

 with exceptions ; but of this we feel confident, that deep rich soils in 

 sheltered situations are not as some suppose the most proper for the 

 apple ; for we find that this tree succeeds well in shallow loam, the 

 young wood is always of more moderate growth, and better ripened, 

 than when their roots strike deep into the ground. 



Position of an Orchard. The situation of an orchard should 

 neither be in the bottom of a narrow valley, nor on the top of an ex- 

 posed hill ; in the first, the bearing wood is rarely so well ripened, 

 and in the second, they are too much exposed to winds ; the most de- 

 sirable site, is the side of a hill which slopes to the South or South 

 west . In planting out an orchard of standard apple trees they 

 should be placed in rows ranging from North to South, or as near to 

 these points as may be ; the distance of the rows apart should be 

 forty feet, and the spaces from tree to tree, in the rows, should not 

 be less than from twenty to twenty-five feet. The holes, for the re- 

 ception of the trees ought to be circles or squares, of not less than 

 six feet over ; the trees should not be permitted to be grass bound, 

 but the grass or sod dug out as far as the extent of their branches 

 during their whole growth. It is not well to raise a crop of tap-root- 

 ed vegetables in an orchard ; the onion is probably the least iujuri- 

 ous in a young or newly set orchard ; white beans we find the least ex- 

 hausting to raise between our nursery rows of young fruit trees. 



Pruning. In pruning the apple tree we have found the spring 

 the most favorable, soon after the swelling of the buds, the sap 

 then being in motion, the wounds soon heal over ; if this is done in 

 the fall or winter months, the trees are apt to crack or canker. Ev- 

 ery limb taken off should be cut close to the main stem, and provid- 

 ed the limb is large, a composition of tar and red ochre, or burgundy 

 pitch and beeswax well incorporated, be spread upon the end to 

 keep out air and moisture. The great principle to be attended to in 

 pruning apple trees, is to cut out all dead, diseased, or useless branch- 



