Nf:W EN€}L.AMB FARMER. 



Published by John B. RnasEiL, at M. 52 JVoHh Market Street, (at the Agricultural Warehouse).— Tnomxi^Q. Fessenden, Edilnr. 



VOL. VII. 



BOSTON, FRIDAY, MARCH 20, 1829. 



No. 35. 



^^1 



HORTICULTURE. 



Mr 



FOR THE NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



THE ORCHARD. 



Fessenden— It is much to be regretted, 



way apples of the best kinds may bo produced in j or three arms on each; more might have been left, 



a short time with comparatively little trouble or 

 expense. 



I have stated that the trees which I took from 

 iTrlr Kenrick's nursery appear better and more 

 promising than any others I have growing. Al 



at so little attention is given to the cultivation of though such is the fact it is not on account of any 



apples, as it is well known that thosa of a good 

 quality, especially winter apples, generally find a 

 ready market at a fair price. But, strange as it 

 may seem, only here and there a farmer, or any 

 one else, makes any exertion to rear an orchard, 



or even a small number of valuable apple trees. 



And in most instances, where any effort of the 

 kind is made, it is in such a way and manner, as 

 to present very little prospect of success. Mow 

 often is it the case that shrubby unpromising trees 

 are procured and set out, because they cost Kttle 

 or nothing, and when those more thrifty and 



superior management, or more ^rticular attention 

 paid to these than to others, as 1 pnrsue substan- 

 tially the same course with all my young trees. — 

 The cause I attribute mostly to their tlirifty and 

 healthy state when taken from the nursery. I am 

 jtarticularly careful in taking up young trees to 

 break and injure the roots as little as possible, and 

 in setting out equally cautious to have the roots 

 properly adjusted. I make the holes about four 

 feet in diameter and from twelve to eighteen 

 inches in depth into wliicli I place the roots of the 

 ., — , tree, I then put in a small quantity of compost ma- 

 flourishing are chosen, they are frequently torn i r.ure, then replace what was taken from the hole, 

 in a barbarous manner, and set out under such j l)Utting the best or loamy part firsts or at the boX- 



annuallydig about the trees the samedis- 



circumstances as to give very little chance for fu- 

 ture growth or prosperity. And, should thty in 

 some instances live and grow, they are frequently 

 mangled and destroyed by cattle, which are occa- 

 sionally turned in upon them,or left to dwindle snd 

 die for the want of suitable care and cultivation. 



It is said that 75 or 100 years ago, apple tiees I thrifty appearance 



torn. I 



tance as was dug for setting them out, and plant 

 potatoes, applying yearly a little more manure, and 

 in this way keep the ground loose and in good or- 

 der, so that the roots spread rapidly around, the 

 trees grow fi.st, always presenting a healthy and 



grew almost spontaneously, being properly set out, 

 notliing more was necessary, the work was roni- 

 pleted ; and in a few years they arrived at matu- 

 rity and jnoduced plentifully. But the cours« of 

 things has materially changed. Now we miirh.as 

 well think of raising a field of corn without ^^ ; 

 use of the plough or hoe, and the applicetion of 

 manure, as to rear an orchard without labor ard 

 cultivation. From the little experience I h.-.ve 

 had, I find particular care and attention indisien- 

 sable, especially during the early growth of the 

 tree, as its future prosperity greatly depend} on 

 the outset. I have tried different methods in rear- 

 ing apple trees for bearers. I have several now 

 in a productive state, which were raised from the 

 seed, but none of them producing apples lit fur 

 any other use than to make into cider. Others I 

 have which were produced by setting out small 

 trees, and letting them stand one or two years and 

 then grafting them at the ground. These have 

 giuwn very well, bearing earlier than those raised 

 from the seed. A third class I have, which were 

 taken from Mr KenricU's nnrc!f.r\. at Wa^rf^., :„ I 



A FARMER. 



County of Worcester, March, 1829. 



QUERE RESPECTING APPLE TREES. 



Mr Editor — Between sixty and seventy years 

 ago my grandfather came into possession of the 

 rariii wliich I now occupy, .ind finding Uifvoontiie 

 remains of a nursery, he took from it such of the 



trees as were suitable, and sot out an orchard 



These trees all produced apples exactly of the 

 same kind, and as they were raised from the seed 

 I have never been able to discover a satisfactory 

 cause for the occurrence of such a circumn-tanee. 

 Could you or any of your correspondents show the 

 cause of this novel circumstance, the curiooity of 

 one of your constant readers would be somewhat 

 gratified. A FARMER. 



FOR THE NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



TRANSPLANTING AND GRAFTING PEAR 

 TREES. 



Mr Fessendej* — I notice in your last number 



""■■sery, at Newton, in some inquii-ies by a correspondent, respecting fruit 

 the spring of 1826, being then of two years growth ] trees, and in answer to his first inqniVy whether a 

 jrom the moculation, and although taken from ' pear tree 25 or 30 years old can be engrafted or 

 land in a high state of cuhivation, and planted on! inoculated with good success, I beg leave to state, 

 that of an ordinary quality, have done remarkably j that I have a tree in my garden which I had trans- 

 well, and appaar better and more promising than I i>lauted thither about seven vears ago ; and which 

 any others I have growing. Should no calamity ! was then, I should think, about 30 years old— a 

 befall these trees, they will probably in a (e^v year^i ; sound thriftv tree, but of a very ordinary kind of 

 doubly repay all the labor and expense devoted to fruit. It was taken up with much care, and after 

 ' ^™- depriving it of a large part of its top, I set it in its 



1 have several others taken last fall from the 'present situation in the same position in which it 

 fine nursery of Dr Fiske, in Worcester, which, formerly stood, but without much expectation, I 

 judging from their thrifty appearance, will flourish confess, of its surviving this operation, on account 

 equally as well if the same care and attention be of its age ; but the second year it began to show 

 paid to them. I am now entirely satisfied that it Isigns of renewed vigor, and the third or fourth 

 IS the most economical and expeditious way of lyear 1 had it engrafted with the seckle pear. I 

 rearmg apple trees, to take them directly from the had, as before observed, taken off many of its 

 nursery already gisafted or inoculated. In this ibranches, leaving only two principal ones with two 



but as this was an experiment, in the success of 

 which I had not much faith, perhaps less care waai 

 taken about it than would ha\e been proper.— 

 However, (he grafts succeeded perfectly and grew 

 very rapidly — the natural shoots were all rubbed 

 off as tliey appeared, except in places where they 

 would he wanted to fill u[) the tree. These shoots 

 I inoculated in July and August of the same year, 

 with buds taken from the grafts before mentioned, 

 which now had come to sufficient maturity for 

 the purpose, and in this I succeeded perfectly, 

 and out of about twenty buds inserted, scarcely 

 one failed, and the following spring, the branches 

 above them being cut off, these grew and filled 

 their place, and I have now a large, thrifty, and 

 handsome tree entirely renovated. And instead 

 of being \i. cumberer of the ground, it now pro- 

 duces the best pears which our country affords. 



Having -succeeded so perfectly to my satisfac- 

 tion in this instance, I should not hesitate to pro- 

 ceed in the same way under similar circumstances 

 — grafting and bud;ling in the same year. Grafts, 

 will, no doubt, produce fruit sooner than buds, but 

 by budding in the manner I have mentioned, a 

 bett'jr formed tree may be produced. I have also 

 " unequivocal evidence" that trees of considerable 

 size and age may be as safely transplanted as those 

 of smaller size, by cutting off the top to corres- 

 pond with the reduced root. 



Yours respectfully, D. F. 



Charlestown, March 9, 1829. 



Jol.nE NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



BROAD WHEELS. 



Mr Fessenden — I saw -in a late number of 

 your useful paper an article wiitten on the subject 

 of broad wheels, from which I understood tliat 

 wagons with wheels, the tire of which being of a 

 greater breadth than five inches, were required by 

 law, and in general use m one or more of the New 

 England States. 



I have long considered the regulation of the 

 breadth of wagon wheels, a .'^ubject worthy of le- 

 gislation, as nothing would, in my opinion, con- 

 tribute so much to improve the condition of 

 our roads. In our state, Pennsylvania, broad 

 wheels are confined to the turnpikes. I am well 

 convinced that the general adoption, though at 

 first attended with some additional expense, in pre- 

 paring the roads for their use, and a loss from 

 casting away those at present used, would, on a 

 few years trial, be found to contribute to the ad- 

 vant.ige, as well as comfort of the inhabitants, of 

 any country, where they were in general use. 



I have entertained the opinion, that in the con- 

 struction of wagons, there might be, in addition to 

 the advantage derived from the width of the 

 wheel, another from the axles being of a different 

 length, so tliat the wheels would not follow exact- 

 ly in the same track, but that the hindmost might 

 track about five inches nearer together than the 

 two foremost. The adoption of this plan would 

 be attended viith some expense, but would event- 

 ually be found highly beneficial, as the highways 

 instead of being cut dee]) as at present with the 

 narrow wheels and prepared for to be washed into 



