1850. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER, 



13 



of all the various breeds, has cleared his estab- 

 lishment of every shanghai, cochin china, or 

 other outlandish fowl, breeding only from old- 

 fashioned barn-yard chanticleers, and the femi- 

 nines of the same species. He contends that the 

 extra size of body and eggs pertaining to these 

 foreign breeds can only be produced and sus- 

 tained by extra food, while for capon raising the 

 flesh is neither so delicate nor juicy as that of the 

 native bird. 



The manure produced in this French estab- 

 lishment is no small item, and since it forms the 

 very best fertilizer for many descriptions of plants 

 it is eagerly sought for at high prices by the mar- 

 ket gardeners in the vicinity. The proprietor 

 estimates the yield this year at about 100 cords. 

 He employs nearly 100 persons in different de- 

 partments, three-fourths of whom, however, are 

 females. The sales of eggs during the past win- 

 ter have averaged about 40,000 dozens per week, 

 at the rate of six dozens for four francs, bringing 

 the actual sales up to $5,000 in round numbers, 

 for every seven days, or $200,000 per annum. 

 The expenses of M. de Sora's hennery, including 

 wages, interest, and a fair margin for repairs, 

 &c., are in the neighborhood of $75,000, leaving 

 a balance in his favor of $185,000 per year, al- 

 most as remunerative as Col. Fremont's Mari- 

 posa grant. — Selected. 



For tlie New Ensland Farmer. 



BEPORT OF THE COMMITTEE ON FRUIT 



At the AflEicuLTURAL t'AiR, Chaelemont, Ms., Sept. 28. 



There was on exhibition one small lot of pears. 

 In traveling the county of Franklin, and all 

 western Massachusetts, 1 have rarely seen a pear 

 tree among the farmers. Fifty years ago there 

 were large and heavily bearing pear trees in the 

 eastern part of the State. Perchance I see a 

 small tree, now in the hill towns, and in the 

 Connecticut valley, loaded with delicious pears, 

 and I exclaim, why did not the man who planted 

 that tree, plant 20 at the same time ! Well en- 

 riched, the pear is a sure bearer on the pear 

 Gtock, preferred to the quince. 



The plum and the cherry were not on show. 

 They are even less common in this country than 

 the pear. There are cherries, sweet and healthy, 

 good bearers and growers, and long-lived shade 

 trees that will ilourish beautifully on our soil. 

 Should not the cherry by cultivated ? 



Early in September, I was in the garden of 

 the llev. B.Foster, of Dummerston, Vt. There 

 I saw plum trees loaded with fruit, perhaps 20 

 bushels, all of the largest and most delicious va- 

 rieties. The trees, all small, were bending un- 

 der their loads. Mr. F. has saved the fruit from 

 the curculio by rapping the trees and killing the 

 grub, beginning when the trees began to blossom. 

 But he is feeling confidence in a compound ap- 

 plied to the tops of the trees with a garden sy- 

 ringe. 



I noticed a tree loaded with plums in the gar- 

 den of Dr. Clark, of Conway. He says, that in 

 the spring he painted the body of the tree and 

 the limbs as high as h3 could reach with soft 

 soap and a brush. 



Somebody, everybody in the hill countrv of 



Mass., has neglected his duty 20 years ago, and 

 every year since — and to-day we are none the 

 better for want of the pear, the plum and the 

 cherry. 



But the apple — every owner of land in these 

 parts is bound by his home comforts, and as a 

 good citizen, to cultivate some of the best ap- 

 ples. The climate, the soil, the profit, the com- 

 fort and the crop, in the valley of the Deerfield, 

 as sure as in any place in the world, tempt the 

 people to cultivate the apple. 



You see these ledgy, hill-side pastures where 

 the maple and chestnut and hickory grow. That 

 is the soil for the apple. Such pastures, well set 

 in good apples, are a better investment for your 

 son, or for the sale of your farm, or for your own 

 comfort, than any other investment you will 

 make with any hundred dollars. In ten years, 

 and for forty years afterwards, the pasture will 

 produce ten times more profit than it can yield 

 in feed for sheep and colts. Keep the bushes 

 dow'n, keep your scythe and stock out of it, con- 

 secrate the soil to the apple, and say, since God 

 has made this rocky hill-side very good for the 

 apple, so will I. 



When the wife and the children, and the gen- 

 eration after, eat the delicious fruits which you 

 have planted, they will bless the man who plant- 

 ed them — his grave will have a pleasant look to 

 the children, for surely, as to good fruits, the 

 nearest way to the hearts of children, younger or 

 older, is down the throat. 



In the east part of Charlemont along the road- 

 side, there has been lately the trimming away of 

 the hedge of 50 j^ears, and the planting of many 

 apple trees. I puss that way every week and re- 

 peat the thought: — "Surely, in this. Dr. Taylor 

 has done a thing of true practical wisdom." 



You may notica that Josiah Ballad's door- 

 yard, east of the Charlemont church, is full of 

 loaded peach trees. These were planted since 

 the memory of any boy of 12 years old. I have 

 lately passed these enchanting trees severa^ 

 times, and aUvays repeat the same words. They 

 are these : "T//e bearing year neeer comes to him 

 wild cultivates no frees." 



Travelling in any direction through western 

 Massachusetts, one may notice the neglected 

 orchards, — old orchards, well planted and well 

 grown, untrimmed, ungrafted, unprofitable, — 

 neglected, friendless. This remark, with some 

 beautiful exceptions, extends into Vermont and 

 New Hampshire. Travelling, this autumn, 100 

 miles of the valley of the Connecticut, I noticed 

 not many young orchards. The best one which 

 'I have seen, and this is a very perfect one, is 

 ' owned by Mr. Wells, at the point of the hill two 

 miles west of Greenfield. 



Last year, in Denmark, Iowa, I was walking 

 with the llev. Mr. Turner in his orchard. He 

 had planted several hundred trees about 12 years 

 before, on very rich soil, and they had grown 

 rapidly, and Avere filled to excess with limbs. I 

 said, your trees need much trimming. He re- 

 plied, "The soil is rich and will sustain a heavy 

 top." I said, the tops arc already entirely too 

 thick, and unless half their branches are cut 

 away your fruit must be diminished in quantity 

 and in size, and your trees will be decaying ear- 

 ly. I said this with earnestness. With an ex- 

 pression like begging my sympathy, he replied, 



