280 



Management of a young Orchard. 



Vol. Vlil. 



adds much to the value of the orchard. This, 

 however, must depend, in a good degree 

 upon the skill and judgment of the cultiva' 

 tor. We will venture, nevertheless, to give 

 a few hints which may, to the inexperienced, 

 be of some service. 



And first, let it be premised that the size 

 of the tree is increased, alone, by food pre 

 pared in the leaves — and may, therefore, be 

 said to grow downwards instead of upwards 

 — from the leaves and not from the roots. 

 It must be obvious, then, that every healthy 

 limb which is pruned off, injures the growth 

 of a tree. Why then prune at all! We 

 answer, for two very good reasons. First, 

 to prevent the top from growing too thick; 

 and secondly, to prevent too many primary 

 limbs from growing out of the main trunk. 

 A tree will remain sound and healthy to a 

 great age, provided the barh can he kept 

 whole. The cutting off small limbs does 

 little or no harm, as the wounds heal over 

 before the wood begins to rot; whereas the 

 cutting off large ones, is dangerous to the 

 future health of the tree, as rottenness en 

 sues before the wound is protected from the 

 atmosphere, by healing over. It is therefore 

 proper that not more than three or four limbs 

 be permitted to start from the main trunk or 

 stem; and these should grow out, as near as 

 may be, at right angles with the stem. If 

 they are suffered to run up near together, 

 they will, when they attain a considerable 

 size, come in contact and pinch — that is, 

 enclose the bark between the branches 

 When such is the case, the limbs are very 

 apt to split off when the tree comes into full 

 bearing. By giving the primary and se- 

 condary limbs the right direction, in the 

 start, there will afterwards be but little use 

 for the knife or the saw, except to prune out 

 small limbs which are beginning to decay, 

 or such as cross each other and chafe. The 

 most common error in pruning, is committed 

 bv making an effort to hurry up the main 

 stem to its full height for a top, by depriving 

 it of all its side limbs, which is literally 

 " killing with kindness." This suggestion 

 however, pertains rather to the nursery than 

 the orchard. I have found by experience, 

 that the nearer the ground the primary limbs 

 are permitted to branch off, the better the 

 young tree will grow. Three feet is high 

 enough for the first set of branches, and 5^ 

 feet tor the main top.* 



As to the time of pruning I do not think 



* We are quite of the opinion that the recommen- 

 dation for the branchi's to start from the main stem at 

 three feet from the nrounil, is hardly judicious. Horses 

 in plouffhinf; could not pass under them, and they 

 would unavoidably be e.xposed to great injuries.— Ed. 



it very material, provided the limbs to be 

 taken off are small — but taking off limbs of 

 any considerable size in winter, is certainly 

 a bad practice. The young orchard should 

 be gone over just as the leavoe begin to 

 start in the spring, tlie tops thinned out 

 where too thick, the eggs of the caterpillar 

 taken off, the root examined to see if the 

 borer has been there, and then thoroughly 

 washed with soap-suds, or rather with com- 

 mon soft soap, diluted by an equal quantity 

 of water. If there are any holes in the 

 bark of the tree made by insects, till them 

 up by pressing in a small piece of hard soap. 

 In a month after, take a second look for the 

 borer; if he is there, and you examine care- 

 fully, you will find his chips, or rather his 

 saw-dust, for he cannot mal^e a hole in the 

 wood, without leaving some sign of his de- 

 predations. Again in July, go through the 

 orchard with the knife, and" also give the 

 trees a second wash as above. 



We have a few varieties of apples Vi'hich 

 are liable to winter-kill, when cultivated so 

 as to grow flist. But these, when grafted 

 or inoculated on seedling stocks a "foot or 

 more from the ground, are as hardy as any 

 other, at least they proved so last winter, 

 which must be admitted to have been a fair 

 test of their hardihood. It is always dan- 

 gerous to cultivate the peach so as to give 

 it a rapid growth. The peach trees of this 

 region, which stood upon cultivated ground, 

 were, generally, killed last winter, while 

 those which were neglected and grew but 

 slowly, escaped. 



Delay in plantinsc trees. — Young farmers, 

 who are beginning new farms, are not gene- 

 rally aware of the lo^;s they sustain by de- 

 laying a single year, to plant an orchard. 



Trivoli.lll., Jan. 3rd, 1844. 



Large Sale of Wool. — It is stated in 

 the Susquehanna, Pa., Register, that the 

 largest sale of wool over made in this State, 

 probably in the United States, by the origi- 

 nal proprietor, took place recently in that 

 county, consisting of upwards of three hun- 

 dred bales. The weight on the bales was 

 noticed as they passed the Choconut, on 

 sleighs, on their way to New York, to be 

 from one hundred to one hundred and eighty 

 pounds each. The purchase, it is under- 

 stood, was made by a manufacturino- house 

 in Ithaca, N. Y., of the estate of the late 

 R. H. Rose, of Silver Lake, at 31 cents per 

 pound, four months credit. Ten thousand 

 sheep, it is said, are kept on tlie estate. 

 Susquehanna county is well adapted to the 

 keeping of sheep, and is one of the best 

 grazing sections in Pennsylvania. . 



