1869. 



NEW ENGLAND FARRIER. 



421 



gardefts. They cost less in actual price, in 

 freight and in planting, than older trees. 

 They are surer to grow, have more and better 

 fibrous roots, and will adapt thfmselves 

 quicker to the soil and location. With equal 

 watching and care they will grow so vigor- 

 ously as to excel older trees, in abun- 

 dance of fruit, size and health. Never choose 

 standard apples, plums or cherries, more than 

 two years old, and dwarf trees one year old. 



Be careful in your choice of soils. A sandy 

 soil is leachy, contains no moisture, and is 

 liable to drought. A very heavy, clayey soil 

 is directly the opposite, being too wet, tough 

 and adhesive. Few or no fruit trees do well 

 in either. A gravelly soil is hardly more de- 

 sirable. A deep lo my or alluvial soil may 

 always form a good choice. 



When you are ready to plant, plough with 

 a subsoil plough as deep as possible a strip 

 six feet or more wide ; then dig holes a foot 

 or eighteen inches deep, and about three feet 

 in diameter. Place the tree at the same depth 

 it formerly stood ; then replace the earth, 

 taking care not to bend or break the rootlets 

 of the tree, and always allow abundance of 

 room for the growth of the roots. 



Many inexperienced persons lose their trees 

 from too deep setting. No tree should be set 

 lower in the earth than its original position. 

 Where the ground has not been ploughed and 

 subsoiled, the planter must invariably dig his 

 holes two feet deep and four or more wide. 



Mix with the earth, before it is returned to 

 the hole and 's placed around the roots of the 

 tree, a good compost of ashes, chip manure, 

 leaf mould, muck and lime. Let a large por- 

 tion of the compost be placed beneath, but 

 not in contact with the root of the tree, and 

 the remainder on the surface of the ground to 

 act as a mulch. The quantity will vary from 

 a half bushel upwards, according to the size 

 of the tree. The effect will be most marked, 

 and the growth astonishing 



If any of the roots are mutilated or bruised, 

 pare them off with a sharp knife to prevent 

 decay, cutting back on the under side until 

 you reach sound wood. 



Nearly all trees that come from the nurse- 

 ries have lost some of their roots ; conse- 

 quently their branches should be shortened in 

 the same proportion. At the time of plaming, 

 prune all branches back to three or four buds 

 from the base of each branch. 



All large trees will require stakes ; young 

 trees tirmly set, will not. Mulching is almost 

 indispensable. The earth should rise like a 

 small mound toward the trunk of the tree, and 

 over this should be a mulch two inches deep 

 of hay, half decomposed manure, saw ilust or 

 tan bark. It not only saves the labor of cul- 

 tivation, but prevents the moisture of the soil 

 from evaporating, renders the temperature 

 more uniform and prevents injurious effects 

 from frost. The mulch should extend beyond 

 tho tips of the roots. 



Cultivate the ground carefully. Never allow 

 grain crops, nor root crops of an injurious 

 nature, to grow in the field. Neither allow 

 grass nor weeds. The cultivation and ma- 

 nuring necessary for growing some kind of 

 judicious crop between the rows, as potatoes, 

 beets, or turnips, will always prove a benefit. 

 If no crop is grown, go through frequently 

 with the cultivator or horse hoe and stir the 

 soil two or three inches deep. A thorough 

 stirring of the soil is nearly as good as a coat 

 of manure. 



If trees are dried by too long carriage, they 

 may be restored by immersion for a day or 

 two in water or thick mud. Use no water in 

 planting^. It tends to bake and harden the 

 surface of the earth, and generally proves in- 

 jurious. Mulching will supply all the moisture 

 necessary. 



Careful pruning is essential. By careful 

 pruning is not meant cutting off large, healthy, 

 vigorous branches ; but it does mean the cut- 

 ting out of all diseased branches or dead 

 wood , and such smaller shoots and branches 

 as appear to prevent the free access of sun 

 and air to all parts of the head of the tree. 



If farmers would only cultivate their trees 

 as well as their corn, they would have little 

 occasion to utter complaints against poor or- 

 chards or poor fruit. m. s. W. 



Mason, N. E., June 5, 1869. 



For the New England Farmer. 



OtJR QUIET VILIiAQE. 



A standing complaint against our village is 

 that it is too quiet. But to the writer this 

 very characteristic seems an attraction ; but 

 let me just here inquire if it is worth while to 

 mix the noise and comaiotion of a manufactur- 

 ing village with the comparative quiet of a 

 farming community. No vindication is pro- 

 posed of that lack of public spirit wuich char- 

 acterizes this and that staid old farming town, 

 nor any defense of that disposition to discour- 

 age new enterprises, and keep in the old ruts 

 from generation to generation, which is too 

 prevalent in some districts of New England. 



But, when we reflect, is it to be wondered 

 at that a rommunity, mainly agricultural, 

 should pursue the even tenor of its way quietly 

 as the succession of seed-time and harvest, 

 and calmly as the procession of the seasons? 

 The farmer, indeed, craves excitement as well 

 as any man, and gets it with interest some- 

 times in his town or parish meeting. And the 

 winter need not be to him a dull season, if it 

 be one of comparative rest. In fact he can 

 then be the liveliest of mortals, while those 

 heavy burdens which the busy season imposes 

 are happily rolled off. He can also improve 

 the opportunity to make a trip to the metropo- 

 lis, and contrast its crowded, biillimt thor- 

 oughfare with his own humble highway. A 

 day spent amid its sights and sounds will 



