120 (Senatc 



Communication from B. G. Bosxoell on the Cultivation of Fruit. 



Soil. — The hard gravelly soil of the eastern states, the sandy soil of 

 New Jersey, tie clay soil of Pennsylvania, and the rich alluvial bottoms 

 of the west, all produce an abundance of the ditferent varieties of 

 fruit when proper attention is jriven to the trees. Mr. Phinney, of 

 Lexington, Massachusetts, has ditched and drained one of his swanops, 

 and h-'s now on it a luxuriant orchard of apple-trees. The great 

 'point is to have a dry soil. If it is not sufficiently rich, make it so j 

 no mail should expect to havejine crops of anything unless his soil is 

 rich. 



Setting out Trees. — If by exposure the roots have become dry, 

 immerse them in water 20 or 30 hours previous to setting them out. 

 Prepare a compost as follow^s : take 3 bushels of rich soil, or 3 bush- 

 els of swamp muck would be better, 1 bushel night soil, 1 bushel 

 fine charcoal, (if charcoal is plenty 3 to 4 bushels is to be preferred,) 

 1 bushel slaked lime, 1 bushel of unleached, or 2 bushels of leached 

 wood ashes, and 1 peck of salt. Mix the above well together. 



Dig the holes three feet across and two feet deep, keeping the top 

 soil by itself; fill in a portion of the bottom soil until nearly ready 

 for the tree, then fill in half a bushel of the compost, and set in the 

 tree, spreading out the roots to their natural position, and fill in the 

 top soil, gently shaking the tree two or three times to settle the soil 

 around the roots. The tree should be set the same depth in the or- 

 chard that it stood in the nursery. Leave the soil a little hollowing 

 about the tree to catch and retain the rain-water. Put around each 

 tree half a peck of fine charcoal, and half a peck of slaked lime. 

 With these precautions, neither peach nor any other fruit-trees will 

 be infested with worms at the roots, provided they have suitable af- 

 ter-culture. For many of the above suggestions, the writer is in- 

 debted to R. L. Pell, Esq., of Pelham, Ulster Co., N. Y. 



Culture of Orchards. — The soil around the trees should be kept 

 loose, either by spading, digging with a mattock, or by plowing. If 

 a crop is put in the orchard, nothing should be planted or sowed 

 within five feet of the trees, as the nourishment taken up by the crop 

 is so much taken from the growth of the trees. After the lime and 

 charcoal has been around the trees for one year, spread it around the 

 trees in a circle often feet in diameter. This should be done in the 

 spring, when the soil is cultivated, and a fresh supply of lime and 

 charcoal applied. 



When the trees have been set out three or four years, the soil should 

 be enriched with a compost of manure, swamp muck and ashes. Ear- 

 ly every spring the trunks of the trees should be washed with strong 

 ley, strong soap-suds, or thin soft soap. Apply either of these with 

 a whitewash brush as high as man can reach. When the trees grow 

 rapidly, their growth will be increased by slitting the outer bark the 

 whole length from the ground up to the limbs. This gives the trees 

 room to expand. As soon as the trees blossom, throw over them 

 lime perfectly slaked — this should be done while the dew is on. 



