1857. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



22 3 



where the Baldwin will bear in four. He did not 

 believe the Porter and other apples were deteriora- 

 ting when properly cultivated ; nor are the Bart- 

 lett, and other pears deteriorating. He was in fa- 

 vor of manuring trees, but not with guano, nor any 

 strong manure. No manure that ferments should 

 be used. Ashes, comjiosted with meadow mud, or 

 chip manure, may be mixed with the earth near the 

 roots ; but no strong manure should ever be placed 

 near the roots unless it is designed to kill them. 



Mr. Dodge, of Sutton, did not believe any wash 

 but water could be safely used. To cultivate the 

 ground thoroughly was the best way. When seven 

 hundred bushels of carrots can be raised from an 

 acre, then it is pretty sure that trees can be put out 

 with profit, and not till then. He had tried a great 

 many experiments, but farmers cannot afford gen- 

 erally to do much in that way. Farmers better 

 plant no more trees than they can take good care 

 of. He earnestly cautioned against any wash. He 

 would manure the trees at a distance from the body^ 

 and would keep his orchard in cultivation. Where 

 calves rub against young trees, they seem to poison 

 them with the oil that seems to be rubbed from 

 them. The trees turn red and rough where they 

 rub against them, and small trees will cease to grow, 

 and finally die. It is of no use to set out trees on 

 poor land, or where cattle may rub against them. 

 Four or five varieties of apples, and the trees well 

 taken ore of, will be better for farmers than many 

 kinds neglected. 



Simon Brown, of Concord, said the question is 

 often asked whether we are not going too far in 

 raising fruits, especially apples. He referred to a 

 recent visit to a farm about eighteen miles from 

 Boston, and while spending some time in that vicinity 

 several orchards were pointed out, that stood in grass 

 ground, and were rubbed against by cattle, and ])ro- 

 duced no fruit. One-quarter part of the trees planted 

 will ne?er produce any thing. Many have a fancy 

 to plant trees, but the novelty of the thing wears 

 oif, then trees are neglected and die, or are good 

 for nothing. A few years ago, he bought a piece of 

 land having fifty old trees on it ; and he scraped 

 them, and pruned them, and cultivated the land 

 around them, and they are now bearing well. An 

 old tree, even if it has only a shell, three inches 

 thick, can be made to bear. Spare the old trees. 

 Many prune trees too much. We neglect it too 

 long, and then prune too much. We prune, too, at 

 the wrong time of the year. The custom is to prune 

 in March or April, because the wood is cut, and 

 there is little else to do. The moment an incision 

 is made at that season, the sap starts and runs over, 

 and often leaves black spots upon the trees as long 

 as they live. If pruned in June the sap is returning, 

 and the growth of the tree soon heals the wound. 

 Another great error is, that the farmer does not 

 realize as much as he ought, after he has raised 



fruit. Two of his neighbors had good crops of Bald- 

 wins ; the crop of one averaged twice as much as 

 the other by the barrel. One scoured his barrels 

 and sorted the apples into three grades. The other 

 was careless in preparing his apples for market and 

 had them all mixed together. If a farmer means 

 to realize all he can, he must do as the merchant 

 does, assort his fruits and his productions equally, 

 and bring them to market in a neat manner. All 

 should cultivate well, even the small pieces of land. 

 The city is the best place to raise grapes. The lit- 

 tle front yard is the very place to raise grapes. In 

 the city of Brooklyn, more grapes are raised than 

 in Boston. There, every sunny exposure is filled 

 with vines trained up to the walls. When an or- 

 chard is to be planted, let the farmer select a few 

 well known varieties, and avoid the expensive ones. 

 When trees are grafted — old trees — let all the sci- 

 ons put into one tree be of the same kind. It is a 

 great trouble to assort different varieties from the 

 same tree for market. With reference to setting 

 out trees by the road-side, Mr. Brown referred to 

 his own experience. Many years ago, he set out 

 cherry trees on each side of the road near his resi- 

 dence. His neighbors laughed at the idea, and in- 

 quired why he did not set out elms. But he was 

 better pleased with a tree that would furnish both 

 shade and fruit. Now, those trees bear abundantly ; 

 they are not molested by the boys, for they belong 

 to them when they are ripe, and so they allow them 

 to grow, and when the boys have what they want, 

 the birds have the rest. 



Mr. Fitch, of Sheffield, spoke briefly of his ex- 

 perience in fruit raising. He had found ashes an 

 excellent manure for trees. 



The subject for the discussion of the next meet- 

 ing was announced to be "Feeding of cows, with ref- 

 erence to the production of milk ; and feeding and 

 breedinj? swine." 



Fur the New England Farmer. 



WHAT SHALL THE FARMERS' 

 DAUGHTERS DO? 



Mr. Editor : — Your columns seem to be open 

 to the remarks of your many readers, and not a few 

 of them lake advantage of the opportunity thus of- 

 fered, of making known their various opinions upon 

 agricultural, as well as some other suV)jects, and of 

 learning those of others upon the same. 



The farmers have written upon the advantages 

 and disadvantages of large farms and small farms, 

 of good farms and poor farms, the best marner of 

 raising neat stock, horses, sheep, hogs and poultry;, 

 and the ways in which a man commencing the world 

 without a dollar, can in a few years acquire a good 

 farm well stocked, a good home, with all the com- 

 forts and many of the luxuries of life, have been in- 

 geniously set forth, much to the encouragement^ 

 probably, of many who were on the point of "giving 

 up the farm," and betaking themselves to some 

 more genteel or lucrative business. 



