1868. 



NEW ENGLAND EARTHIER. 



193 



acres to each farm, on a basis of fifteen bushels 

 wheat, to feed her people. This State has paid 

 about $3,600,000 per annum, the past two years 

 for flour. Notwithstanding its general sterility, it 

 has some good wheat lands. 



EXTRACTS AND REPLIES. 



TREATMENT OF AN ORCHARD. 



I have taken your valuable paper for the last 

 three years and would not do without it for twice 

 the cost. I take two agricultural papers and pay 

 for them both in advance. I am a farmer by occu- 

 pation, and like many other farmers am not ac- 

 customed to writing; and but for your promise to 

 make all smooth, I should not have had courage 

 to come forward with this, my first epistle. 



I have an orchard situated upon a cold piece of 

 land with an easterly aspect which is too rough for 

 cultivation. The trees are mostly young and graft- 

 ed, but look sickly. They blossom full but do not 

 mature but little fruit. 



The land has been mowed, or rather gone. over 

 with the scythe, for the last twenty years. What 

 can I do to the trees to make them thrifty and re- 

 turn me pay for labor expended ? I wish to do 

 something with them the coming season. Can I 

 make it profitable to buy calves, at their value as 

 veal, and raise them with but little milk, providing 

 they have every other necessity ? Henry Bell. 



South Halifax, Vt., Feb. 3, 1868. 



Remarks. — Probably your trees are simply 

 stars'ing to death. You say the land has been 

 mowed, or rather gone over with a scythe, for the 

 last twenty years. Would you expect to raise 

 good hills of squashes, potatoes, corn, tomatoes or 

 any other fruit or vegetables "cultivated," on the 

 same spot for twenty years, just as you have culti- 

 vated your trees ? Did you read an article in the 

 Farmer of Sept. 5, 1867, about the "Best Orchard 

 in Massachusetts ?" Wouldn't such treatment 

 make your trees shout for joy ? "In the sweat of 

 thy face shalt thou eat" — apples ! Don't you re- 

 member how Mr. Pierce said he kept the ground 

 cultivated and rich enough to raise squashes, how 

 be fought the canker worms and caterpillars, and 

 how he used $80 worth of mulching ? If, however, 

 you do not wish to plough up your orchard, try 

 mulching. Coarse hay or straw, leaves and mould 

 from the woods, or even brush, sods, muck, or 

 good soil spread under the branches may, if your 

 orchard is not too far gone, prove beneficial. 

 When trees are "at home" in the woods, think how 

 nicely they cover up their roots to protect them 

 from the pinching frost and the burning sun, with 

 a light and warm carpet of leaves, and then can 

 you wonder that yours "look sickly ?" 



MAPLE SUGAR — TAPPING, SPOUTS, ETC. 



Your correspondent, Mr. Field, of Charlemont, 

 has written an article on sugar-making, with 

 which I beg leave to disagree. He says, "The 

 rough bark should never be hewed o'f, as this in- 

 jures the tree." If there are others of this opinion 

 I should like to hear their reasons for it. It is 

 often necessary to remove the rough bark to pre- 

 vent the spout from leaking, as well as to save it 

 from injury from driving. 



Mr. Field objects to shaving the spouts down on 



the top. I have used those made in that way and 

 dislike them because they cannot be sufficiently 

 cleaned. I scald them both before and after using 

 them, and give them a thorough cleansing, which 

 I find cannot be done as effectually if they are 

 whole. Mr. Field says, "Never set more than two 

 tubs to a tree, or more than one spout to a tub, and 

 bore into the tree as far as the wood is white and 

 sound." If a tree is to be bored a^ far as the wood 

 is white and sound, I should recommend but one 

 spout, and the smaller the bit the better. I have 

 hundreds of trees in my orchard, about three hun- 

 dred of which I set out thiity years ago, and their 

 wood is white nearly through. I cut down a tree 

 last spring about three feet through, and the wood 

 was almost entirely white. I put only one spout 

 into those a foot in diameter, and bore about one 

 inch into the wood. I bore the large trees about 

 two inches, put two tubs to a tree, and two spouts 

 to a tub. I have learned bv observation that the 

 sap flows more freely near the bark, and that deep 

 boring injures the tree more than the proportional 

 gain in sap. As to boring near the ground, it will 

 do as well for a few years, but in time it will 

 amount to girdling the tree. I am satisfied it does 

 not injure the tree as much to vary from one to 

 four feet from the ground, as to have the wounds 

 in a circle, as is the practice of some at the present 

 time. L. M. Hunt. 



Sunderland, Mass., Feb. 17, 1868. 



Remarks.— The inquiries of "A. B.," of Essex, 

 Vt., as to the distance from the ground is it best 

 to tap the tree, and as to the depth it is best to 

 bore, are answered in the above communication. 



BIRD houses. — starting PLANTS EARLY. — WILL 

 BEANS MIX ? 



I wish to inquire through your interesting and 

 instructive columns whether it is best to divide a 

 bird house into compartments, or let it be all in 

 one ? If divided, how large should the rooms be ? 

 Are Martins the most desirable kind of birds, and 

 how get them ? 



Will beans mix if planted side by side ? 



How shall I start my plants early and not ex- 

 pensively ? I have a window sa«h, can I make use 

 of that ? What kind of soil ? When sow ? 



A Constant Reader. 



Campello, Mass., 1868. 



Remarks. — Scarcely anything is more social 

 than a family of martins near the dwelling. Their 

 house should be placed upon a pole not less than 

 fifteen feet high, and away from buildings and 

 trees. If a pole is placed upon a roof it must be 

 quite high, for martins seem to have an in- 

 stinctive knowledge that cats can climb poles of 

 moderate height. The rudest building, if tight, is 

 as acceptable to them as one that is carved and 

 gilded. God has "set them in families" as well as 

 ourselves, and the house, therefore, should be di- 

 vided into rooms. A room nine or ten inches 

 square is none too large, as they carry in consider- 

 able material in building their nests. The hole to 

 admit them is quite often made too small. It 

 should be four inches high and three inches wide. 

 Martins will amply repay your care for them by 

 their cheerful music and the destruction of insects 

 upon which they feed. 



Beans. — We have planted a variety of beans, 

 side by side, for many years, and have never 



