1854. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



459 



the Rhode Island Greening has a compact and 

 pendulous head, the ends of" the limbs often touch- 

 ing the ground when loaded with fruit, although 

 leaving the main stem at a distance of five or even 

 six feet from the ground. The branches of the 

 Baldwin usually assume a position the most con- 

 venient to come at either for working among or 

 for gathering their fruit, as they seldom take a 

 vertical or true horizontal direction. So the Blue 

 Pearmain and the Sopsavine have forms peculiar 

 to themselves. 



Now it will be apparent to any observer that 

 the same kind of pruning will not answer for all 

 these varieties, — and that in order to prune judi- 

 ciously, there must first be some knowledge of the 

 habit of the tree operated upon. Lacking this 

 knowledge, many trees receive precisely the kind 

 of treatment which they ought not to get. 



A word of caution may be given with regard to 

 the depth at which a transplanted tree ought to 

 be set. If too deep, especially if the soil be cold 

 and springy, the fibres and small roots are apt to 

 mould and decay, and thus affect the larger roots ; 

 the tree will also frequently throw out a new set 

 of roots just at the point which was originally the 

 crown of the root. But if not set deep enough, 

 the tree is too easily shaken by the wind, and the 

 roots are so near the surface that the proper culti- 

 vation cannot be carried on without constant dan- 

 ger of injuring the roots. The rule should be to 

 set the tree as nearly as possible as it stood before 

 it was removed, varying a trifle, perhaps, if the 

 soil is different from that from which it was tak- 

 en. 



It is essential to the thrifty growth , and even 

 the health of trees, that the ground upon which 

 they are set should l)e cultivated ; and we have 

 long observed that where hoed crops are planted, 

 the trees flourish the best. Digging about them 

 for the space of three or four feet will not answer. 

 They feel cramped and confined in such a posi- 

 tion, and will not freely extend their I'oots ; they 

 shun a compact grass ground, and will shoot in 

 any direction to avoid it. We once removed a 

 row of apple trees which were four years old, on one 

 side of which was an old mowing field, and on the 

 other a well-cultivated garden ; on lifting them we 

 found that on the side of the tree next to the grass 

 ground there had not a root extended to the 

 length of six inches, although the sward itself 

 was not within two feet of the tree. Some roots 

 had started on this side, but had all turned to the 

 lighter earth of the garden. In this mould they 

 had free range and paeturago and many of the 

 roots were tlirce feet long. 



Some persons practice digging a space about 

 the trees, and keeping it free from weeds and 

 grass, and then plow a strip through the centre 

 of about half the whole width at which the trees 

 arc set apart ; this, they say, makes a rich and 



mellow bed which the roots from each side will 

 seek, and the trees will flourish finely. We have 

 had no experience of this kind, and cannot say 

 how such treatment will succeed. To expect trees 

 to thrive well on grass ground is almost as absurd 

 as to expect them to do so if tlicy Avere annually 

 defoliated in June. 



We will suggest to the inexperienced, also, the 

 importance of protecting the young trees against 

 the eiTects of the drouglits which prevail in our cli- 

 mate. It is important that the tree should ba 

 kept generously growing through the month of 

 August. Forest .trees are, probably, seldom af- 

 fected by drought. The leaves which they cast 

 fall upon their roots and soon accumulate to such 

 a depth that the sun's rays are excluded, and 

 evaporation greatly impeded. The cultivator must 

 imitate nature in this respect and cover the 

 ground for several feet about the tree with straw, 

 refuse hay, saw dust, chip dirt, or anything that 

 will have the effect of the f^iUen leaves. We have 

 seen fine brush, mostly wliito birch, answer the 

 purpose admirabl y . 



With one other caution we will leave the sub- 

 ject for the present, and that is, to keep all cattle, 

 horses and swine from young trees. The apple is 

 not a difficult tree to raise ; with a little but con- 

 stant care almost any garden will produce enough 

 for the wants of a common fLuuily. They can 

 have 



"The pippin, burnished oe'r with gold, the moyle 

 Of sweetest honied taste ; the fair pearmain, 

 Tempered, like comeliest nyrapli, with white and red." 



together with the Baldwin, Porter, Russet, Sweet- 

 ing, and a dozen other varieties. 



For the New England Fanner. 



EFFECTS OF THE DROUGHT. 



Mr. Editor : — Witiiin a few days }iast, I have 

 had an opportunity to notice the condition of the 

 crops, in the County of Essex, and never have I 

 seen the effects of the drought more general and 

 destructive. On grass fields, where a fine second 

 crop was cxjoected, there is nothing to be mown, 

 and scarcely anything to be fed. Tliis part of 

 the produce of tlio farm must fail entirely. Most 

 of the fields of Indian corn are suffering severely. 

 Where a fortnight since thei-e was good reason to 

 expect GO bushels to tlic acre, I think tlie proprie- 

 tors would gladly compromise for tliirty; — and 

 many fields, where the ears had not r)rmed l)et'ore 

 the drouth began to pinch, there will l)e scarcely 

 enough to pay for gathering. On such fields, an 

 anxious inquiry arises, what shall be done ? Sliall 

 the whole be cut up, at the ground and cured for 

 fodder — or shall an attempt Ite made to cut the 

 stalks — or shall the field be left, until the time of 

 harvest ? These are questions, in vvliich many cul- 

 tivators feel a deep interest. Notiiing can be more 

 disheartening to tlie confiding lal)orcr, who has 

 toiled from April to Sept., in the iiope of fimiiiig 

 a reward for hi.s labors, in ids well tilled ears of 

 corn, than to find nothing but cobs, and these im- 

 perfectly grown. Such, if I do not mistake, is to 



