234 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



May 



cumulating heap in the barn cellar, this is perhaps 

 the best use of it. The less a manure heap is hand- 

 led over, in the open air, especially in windy days 

 in Spring, the more of its value is retained. 



DEEP PLOWING. 

 The Depth of our Plowing is another question, 

 which must depend on many circumstances. I 

 plow all my own land from eight to twelve inches 

 deep. Much of it is sandy, and I manure heavily. 

 The deeper such land is plowed, the better it will 

 stand the drought, because the roots will strike the 

 deeper, and on light soils, however much the ma- 

 nure may be dift'used, the roots of the plant are 

 sure to pursue and find it. On my heavy clay soil, 

 in turning over the sod after haying — say once in 

 half a dozen years — to exterminate the bad grasses 

 and briars, which spring up after a few years, I am 

 suspicious that I have usually plowed deeper than 

 is profitable. In my next experiment, for which I 

 am preparing a large compost heap of night soil 

 and swamp mud, I propose to run the plow to the 

 depth of about eight inches, apply the compost, 

 harrow it well, and sow my seed in August, or ear- 

 ly in September. On such land, which has a 

 strong affinity for ammonia, there will be little loss 

 by evaporation, and the young grass roots will find 

 their food at hand for a start. In after life, much 

 of their nourishment is derived from the air and 

 •water; and the heavier portions of the manure 

 they will have time to seize upon, before it washes 

 below their reach. For several years, I have used 

 the sod and subsoil plow, and run it a foot deep, 

 for my hoed crops ; but upon a stiff clay, which had 

 been plowed but five or six inches before, I should 

 deem such an operation dangerous. A deep soil is 

 desirable everywhere, Ijut it must be deep^'ued grad- 

 ually, unless bountifully manured. In our rocky 

 soil, it is often impossible to plow more than eight 

 inches, though I believe it is well established that 

 a granite subsoil, taken even from the bottom of a 

 ■well, will become fertile merely by exposure to the 

 air, so that on such soils, we have little danger to 

 apprehend from deep cultivation. 



PLOWING ORCHARDS. 

 Shall 1 plow my orchard deep ? is a question of- 

 ten asked. My answer would be, plow it as deep 

 as possible, and subsoil it before your trees are 

 planted. After that, plow as deep as practicable, 

 •without cutting the roots of the trees. As they ex- 

 tend through the soil, plow more shoal, so as not 

 to disturb them. I have no doubt trees are often 

 injured, by this violent kind of root pruning. There 

 are "circumstances" to be regarded as to the treat- 

 ment of apple trees. On the old homestead 

 at Chester, on the firm granite subsoil, an apple 

 tree takes a hold of the earth that the elements 

 themselves cannot unloose. The wind may break 

 down the tree, but it cannot uproot it. On our 



sandy land in Exeter, it is no uncommon thing to 

 see a thrifty tree so loaded M'ith apples, as to actu- 

 ally be weighed down, and its roots drawn from 

 their bed, on one side. The root, in a deep, fine 

 soil, with no surer foundation than sand for twenty 

 feet below, can find nothing of sufficient substance 

 to which to attach itself. Now in the first case, the 

 earth may be kept as light as possible by frequent 

 forking, and deep tillage. In the latter case, the 

 soil is fine and porous enough, without artificial 

 aid, and if manure be applied, and merely covered, 

 and the land be occasionally laid to grass for a 

 year or two, provided it he kept always rich, the 

 trees will be the better for the treatment. 



General Rides for the treatment of all soils, can- 

 not be given. General Principles, to be applied by 

 the aid of common sense, may be learned by all 

 who seek for them in the proper direction. Until 

 the distinction between rules and principles is bel- 

 ter understood, Ave shall continue to have those, 

 whom even braying in a mortar will not cure of 

 braying in another sense, complaining that the 

 teachings of scientific agriculturists are inconsist- 

 ent. 



Par the New England Fanner. 



SWEET APPLES. 



The cultivation of sweet apples has been too 

 much neglected ; they often command an extra 

 price — especially the best winter varieties — and it 

 is difficult to obtain them, even at that. Many per- 

 sons prefer them, rather than the acid kinds, for 

 the dessert, and for baking; they are altogether 

 superior in sickness. As food for cattle, and other 

 animals, they are especially valuable. It may be 

 said that horses or cattle have sometimes broken 

 into orchards and surfeited themselves, so as to 

 cause their death, or serious injury, and the same 

 may be said of the corn-field. Apples fed to stock 

 daily, and in ])roper quantity, are no doubt benefi- 

 cial, and are highly relished by them. An experi- 

 enced farmer in this vicinity, formerly a member 

 of Congress, informed me that he had tried the ex- 

 periment of feeding swine with Ijoiled sweet apples 

 and potatoes, and that he never had better pork, 

 or less difficulty in fattening it. There are superi- 

 or kinds of sweet apples to be found in the cata- 

 logues, and none but those which rank as first rate 

 should be selected for cultivation ; among these 

 are the Early Bough, Danvers Winter, Haskell and 

 Orange Sweet, Tollman, Seaver and Ladies' Sweet- 

 ing ; the last mentioned is a New York variety, 

 which is highly recommended, but may not have 

 been sufficiently tested here. There are other 

 kinds, as well as the above, which are of first qual- 

 ity, and one can select according to his fancy, al- 

 ways bearing in mind that the variety should be 

 productive, the fruit first qualitj-, and the tree har- 

 dy, and of vigorous growth. It is no more expensive 

 to cultivate a tree which will produce from five to 

 ten barrels of good fruit in a bearing year, than one 

 which will yield but a single barrel, and that nearly 

 worthless. " O. V, Hills. 



1^ A negro carpenter was lately sold in Adams 

 county, Miss., for $3,700. 



