312 



Too Much Work. 



Vol. XI. 



rious, consists in leaving the trench open, 

 and covering it with boards only, or boards 

 with a top layer of turf. The tree then is 

 somewhat checked in its growth, it throws 

 out an abundance of small fibres into the 

 ball of earth containing the roots, and is the 

 next season transplanted with great ease 

 and safety. 



The proper size for transplanting varies 

 somewhat with the sort of tree and the kind 

 of culture intended. It is, however, a maxim 

 equally well settled, both among theorists 

 and the best practical men, that health, im- 

 mediate vigor, and duration, are all greatly 

 promoted by transplanting fruit trees of small 

 size — from three to six or seven feet. We 

 are fully aware with what impatience the 

 beginner, or a person who knows little of 

 the culture of trees, looks upon trees of this 

 size — one who is eager to plant an orchard, 

 and stock a garden with large trees, think- 

 ing to gather a crop the next year. The 

 latter may indeed be done, but the trans- 

 planting so affects the tree, that its first 

 scanty crop is followed by a long season of 

 rest and feeble growth, while the plantation 

 of young trees is making wood rapidly, and 

 soon comos into a healthy and long-continued 

 state of productiveness — often long indeed 

 before the large trees have fairly arrived at 

 that condition. The small tree, transplanted 

 with its system of roots and branches entire, 

 suffers little or no check; the older and 

 larger tree, losing part of its roots, requires 

 several years to resume its former vigor. 

 The constitution of the small tree is healthy 

 and unimpaired ; that of the large is fre- 

 quently much enfeebled. A stout and vig- 

 orous habit — what the nurserymen call a 

 good stocky flant — is the true criterion of 

 merit in selecting fruit trees for transplant- 

 ing. 



Trees intended for orchards, being often 

 more exposed than those in gardens, should 

 be somewhat larger — not less than six, or 

 more than eight feet is the best size. For 

 gardens, all experienced cultivators agree 

 that a smaller size is preferable; we prefer 

 plants two years old from the graft. Most 

 gardeners abroad, when they select trees 

 with more than usual care, take what are 

 called maiden plants — those one year old 

 from the graft, and there can be no doubt 

 that, taking into account health, duration, 

 and the ease with which such a tree can be 

 made to grow into any form, this is truly the 

 preferable size for removal into a fruit gar- 

 den. But we are an impatient people, and 

 it is not till after another century of trial 

 and experience in the culture of fruit trees, 

 that cultivators generally in this country 

 will become aware of the truth of this fact. 



The facility with which the different fruit 

 trees may be transplanted differs consider- 

 ably. Plums are generally removed with 

 most success, and after them nearly in the 

 order as follows: quinces, apples, pears, 

 peaches, nectarines, apricots, and cherries; 

 the latter succeeding with some difficulty 

 when of large size. 



In planting an orchard, always avoid 

 placing the trees in the same spot or near 

 where an old tree stood before. Experience 

 has taught us that the growth of a young 

 tree, in such a position, is weak and feeble; 

 the nourishment suitable to that kind of tree 

 having already been exhausted by a previ- 

 ous growth, and the soil being half filled 

 with old and decayed roots, which are detri- 

 mental to the health of the young tree. 



Too much Work. 



People do not have relaxation enough in 

 New England. They too generally have a 

 care-worn expression, from infancy to age; 

 and the fact cannot be denied, that anxiety 

 is weariness to the flesh. We are all utili- 

 tarians in this country, especially in the 

 Northern States, hardly affording ourselves 

 opportunity for eating or sleeping, in the 

 manner which nature demands — for she can 

 only conduct her chemical operations pro- 

 perly, and re-adjust the deranged vital ma- 

 chinery, while we are quietly slumbering. 

 We recruit ourselves and grow fat during a 

 refreshing nap — but exhaust the system, 

 both physically and mentally, in pursuing to 

 excess the ordinary round of every-day bu- 

 siness. "All work and no play, make Jack 

 a dull boy," is a proverb based on a profound 

 knowledge of the laws of our being. 



Females in New England, are worse off 

 than the other sex in the deprivation of out- 

 of-door relaxation, as custom has made it 

 vulgar to breathe the fresh air, unless it is 

 done in a very lady-like manner. Hence 

 they make feeble mothers — look thin, sallow, 

 lank, and die prematurely, of diseases that 

 never would have been developed had there 

 been less education of the mind, and more of 

 the body, in girlhood, 



A sad mistake is produced by a too impli- 

 cit belief in the adage that "time is money," 

 since the first object of pursuit is in conse- 

 quence, made to be cash. Those who at- 

 tempt to rest reasonably from their labours, 

 at proper periods, are either afraid of not 

 having enough, or are perpetually reminded 

 that idleness ends in want. So the shuttle 

 flies faster than it ought to go; the farmer 

 cheats himself out of all that is worth hav- 

 ing, health, by denying himself and his boys 

 a holiday, because time is money and exara- 



