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NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Junk 



shade or shelter, we will choose such as from as- 

 sociation, or by their form and foliage, represent 

 those qualities. The deciduous trees being more 

 changeful in their beauty are on many accounts 

 most desirable; but the evergreens afford great 

 protection from bleak winds, and enliven a wintry 

 landscape. 



In selecting trees to adorn our homes we must 

 regard the extent of premises and size of build- 

 ings. Thus, if the lot is somewhat circumscribed 

 and the house high, one tall, stately tree will have 

 a finer effect than several of smaller growth ; 

 while for a cottage these would be very appropri- 

 ate. Again, in a small enclosure, or along a nar- 

 row walk, trees of a close, compact habit look bet- 

 ter than the spreading varieties. 



The English elm, ash, and larch, and the pines 

 generally, are trees of the highest growth. The 

 mountain ash, laburnum, acacia, locust, alder, el- 

 der, lilac, are the smallest. The maple, linden, 

 willow, lime, plane (or button-wood), beech, birch, 

 abele (or poplar), oak, sumac, American cedar, 

 and elm, the nut trees, hemlock, spruce, arbor 

 vitse, fir, catalpa, tulip, ailanthus, are of medium 

 height. The chestnuts, particularly the horse 

 chestnut, the butternut, some oaks, poplars, 

 limes, maples are of the closest foliage and most 

 compact form. The American elm, and willows 

 generally, of spreading shape and light, open fo- 

 liage. The English elm and ash are narrow, with 

 round heads. Firs, cedars, and pines, are broad 

 at their bases, with pointed heads. The longest- 

 lived are the oaks, poplars, and firs ; next to these 

 the elms and the limes. Oaks, elms, and most 

 pines, grow slowly. The willow, the sumach, 

 larch, and the birch, rapidly. The sycamore (a 

 species of plane) will grow six feet in a season ; 

 the larch, four feet; spruce, and some firs three or 

 four feet. 



All nut trees require a tender and rich soil ; ma- 

 ples, a sandy loam ; also pines and firs. Elms, 

 oaks, limes, poplars, ash, willows, do best in rich 

 soil. The birch, the larch, the elder, the alder, 

 will grow in the poorest. Many of these areeasily 

 raised from their seeds. Nuts should be planted 

 about an inch deep, in fine, moist, rich soil in the 

 autumn ; ash seeds as soon as they are ripe, in a 

 sunny situation, the same depth ; sycamore, not 

 quite so deep, in dry, sandy soil in April. Elms, 

 maples, pines, larches and firs may also be started 

 in this way. But where only few are needed it is 

 best to procure young trees of a thrifty growth. 



Having decided what tree to set, be sure that 

 your soil will suit it. This often varies in a square 

 rod, and if the spot has not properties for holding 

 the tree's roots and yielding them nourishment 

 you must supply them. Thus, if the ground be 

 sandy and too loose, mix it with bog-earth and 

 leaf-mould; if too heavy and close, gravel from 

 the street— chip-dirt from the wood-house. 



Trees should be re-set as soon as possible after 

 being taken from their native soil. If the roots 



get dry, put them in water till thoroughly moist- 

 ened, and trim off all decayed and broken portions. 

 The surface of turfed ground in which trees are to 

 be set should be cut into sods that are to be re- 

 placed afterward. Make the hole at least a foot 

 dee, er than the length of the roots, and wide 

 enough to spread them naturally. Throw in at 

 first soil, and then soil mixed with your strongest 

 compost. Place the tree upright upon this. Shovel 

 on the roots sufficient soil to cover them lightly, 

 and then pour in water. Add more soil as it sinks 

 around the roots, and more water, until the tree 

 stands well. Then press the earth with the spade, 

 beat it, and tread it, to make it firm and smooth. 

 The soil ought to lie closely enough to keep the 

 tree in an erect position without any support, but 

 if it sways or begins to lean in a day or two, tie it 

 to a stake. If your land is wet it will be well to 

 place a layer of large stones at the bottom of the 

 hole to serve as a drain. 



As to pruning, there will be little need of it if 

 you watch the growth of your trees and rul) off all 

 buds that would develop into superfluous branches. 

 The object of pruning is to assist the tree in at- 

 taining a natural shape, to give it a strong, stout 

 trunk and sjTnmetrical head. No branches should 

 be cut off that do not interfere with the leading 

 ones, and always before they attain an inch in di- 

 ameter, or not at all. Use garden shears or a prun- 

 ing knife — very sharp, — to make a smooth cut that 

 will heal readily. The branches of evergreen trees 

 should be tied in for the winter if in bleak posi- 

 tions to protect them from the frost. They sel- 

 dom need trimming ; if ever, in early summer. 

 Fruit trees should only be pruned in the latter part 

 of May or in June — shade trees, in the autumn. 



Among fruit trees, the Apple should be our first 

 choice, because it is most likely to flourish in ordi- 

 nary garden mould ; its fruit is the most valuable 

 as an article of food, the tree is less liable to dis- 

 ease than others, and it lives to a great age — an 

 English author speaks of one over a thousand years 

 old — it frequently yields good crops two hundred 

 years. With all these excellent qualities, it is at 

 times very beautiful ; what finer object does na- 

 ture furnish than an apple tree in full bloom, or ia 

 its ripened fruitage ? Although the apple is so 

 widely known, and reaches its highest perfec- 

 tion in this country, it is not native to our soil, — 

 there were none here before its settlement by the 

 whites. But it seems well fitted to the climate, has 

 improved so much by its migration and culture 

 here that the once boasted pippins and pearmains 

 of England are outrivalled by the same fruit now 

 exported from New York and Massachusetts. 



Apple-trees that yield summer fruit are of more 

 uprignt form and lighter habit than those that 

 bear fruit for the winter; these have widely-spread 

 branches and dense foliage. In planting a garden 

 it is best to take these matters into consideration. 

 Again, russet apples have more pulp, and there- 

 fore are more desirable for cooking ; pippins are 



