No. 9. 



Management of a young Orchard. 



279 



the much that she has done in furnishing 

 millv in abundance and excellence, in its 

 various forms. The cow is strong' and ac- 

 tive, generally very docile, and with proper 

 training, may be managed without difficulty. 

 For many days in the year she has nothing 

 to do but eat, and stand or lie, and chew her 

 cud. At such times, exercise from mode- 

 rate labour, would be a benefit. And at 

 most times of the year, with gentle usage, 

 she mioht do moderate labour, when fhe 

 weather is favourable, without injury to her- 

 self or offspring, and without injury to the 

 quality of her milk, and generally without 

 any diminution in quantity. When cows 

 are worked, as they take more exercise 

 they require more ibod, and to keep up the 

 quantity of mijk, they should have better 

 keeping. 



In som.e few cases cows are worked in 

 Nev;? England, and the practice seems to be 

 a good one, as a matter of economy. Some 

 farmers cannot conveniently keep more than 

 one yoke of oxen, though they sometimes 

 want two ; in such cases the deficiency 

 might bo supplied by a pair of cows. Some 

 men with small farms, could do very well 

 with one horse and one yoke of cows, and 

 find it much more profitable than keeping a 

 yoke of oxen, for which they may have work 

 only a part of the year — not enough to pay 

 half the expense of keeping. 



A farmer observed to us a few years ago, 

 that he found oxen the most unprofitable 

 stock on the farm, as it cost a great deal to 

 keep them, and he had work for them only 

 a part of the year; so as a matter of econo- 

 my he worked his cows, first one and then 

 two pair, and did all his work on the farm, 

 and in the winter he used them in breaking 

 open the roads in deep snows. They were 

 very gentle and tractable, were more smart 

 and active than oxen, and in every respect 

 answered the same purpose for labour. In 

 some seasons of the year, he worked them 

 almost every day, and he did not perceive 

 that their labour caused them to give less 

 milk, or that the milk was inferior in quality. 

 He kept his cows well, and treated them 

 very kindly, and this is essential to success. 

 Another farmer gave us an account of two 

 cows that were generally worked as regu- 

 larly as oxen, from the time of calf hood till 

 tliey were seven years old, and they were of 

 a large size and very handsome. They gave 

 a good mess of milk when kept well. 



An English writer says, " I think that 

 cows are much more useful than oxen, and 

 that it would be an advantage to the king- 

 dom, if bi^t few or no oxen were reared. 

 The uses of cattle are to work, milk and 

 feed, I have seen barren cows work as 



well as oxen ; they require less feed and 

 walk faster. Oxen are of no use in the 

 dairy, and they will not fatten as fast as 

 cows. I followed the example of my pre- 

 decessors, in feeding chiefly oxen, but I soon 

 found that cows fed much faster and on less 

 food, and for some years past have carefully 

 avoided having any oxen in my stalls." 



We now introduce this subject to our 

 readers, as it is a suitable season to direct 

 attention to it. Those who would work 

 cows, should begin with heifers, even when 

 calves, as this is the better way to manage 

 the ox kind. But cows may soon be trained 

 to work. The farmer who gave us the 

 above information, said his cows were gene- 

 rally docile after a few days. — Boston Cul- 

 tivator. 



From the Prairie Farmer. 



Management of a young Orchard. 



By Edson IIarkness. 



To THE Editors, — 



A FEW desultory observations on the cul- 

 ture of fruit trees, may be of service to those 

 who are planting orchards. 



Ctdtivation of the srround. — Every body 

 knows that keeping the ground free from 

 weeds, and in a loose, friable state near the 

 surfiice, is absolutely necessary in raising a 

 hill of corn. But every body does not seem 

 to know that the same treatment is indispen- 

 sable in regard to young fruit trees. Such, 

 however, is the case, and those who expect 

 good fruit by merely planting trees and leav- 

 mg them to take care of themselves, will 

 find their half-done work end in disappoint- 

 ment and loss. Wheat, oats, or grass, when 

 suffered to grow near a young tree, will rob 

 it of its proper nutriment, and produce re- 

 sults as unfavourable as the growth of weeds. 

 Corn, beans, potatoes, or onions, may be 

 grown in the young orchard; but none of 

 these should be planted nearer than four 

 feet from the trees, and in all cases the 

 ground should be kept clear of weeds, and 

 loose on the surface. Young trees treated 

 in the above manner, upon a rich dry soil, 

 will grow with great rapidity. I have one 

 tree upon my premises, which, in the spring 

 of 1840, was a mere whip, — such as I am 

 selling to my customers for a hit, — which is 

 now 5| inches in diameter a foot from the 

 ground, with a well formed top of 12 feet 

 across; and this particular tree is but little 

 larger than 50 more set at the same time. 



Pruning. — Tiiere are, perhaps, as many 

 young trees injured as benefited by pruning, 

 from the work being done either at a wrong 

 time or in a wrong manner. Still, there is 

 a right time and a right way to do it, which 



