140 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER, 



NOV. 3, 1841. 



For ihc New Englaqd Farmer. 



A WORD TO F.MlMIiRS ABOUT ORCH- 

 ARDS. 

 It will be denied by few, or none, that a thrifty 

 bcarint; orchard i3 one iif the surest and most pro- 

 titable sources of the farmer's income. It costs, 

 to be sure, labor, care nnd time to bring it to ma- 

 turity ; but "hen it is brought there, it remains 

 for years, reciuirinsr each year but little attention, 

 and repayinir the husbandman by an ample reward 

 for his pains. 



Now if such be the fact, why is it that so few 

 good orchards rre to bo found among us ? Why 

 13 it that Ihe old orchards, planted by our grand- 

 sires, but sadly thinned by the hand of time ami 

 decay, are still seen, disfiguring many a plain and 

 lull-side, and yielding but ii scanty hardest of 

 knurled and diminutive fruit ? Why is it thai our 



(ithcrs nay, that we ourselves have not been up 



and doing — doing each year something to bring 

 forward a new and healthful race of trees ? 



These questions have often occurred to me, ns 

 I dare say they have to others— and several proba- 

 ble answers have also suggested thomselves, which 

 it may not be amiss to consider ; for the subject, 

 though not new, is so important that it deserves 

 repeated consideration tn impress its imporiance. 



Many a farmer doclipos setting out young trees, 

 for the reason that he r.ii»y-not live to partake of 

 their fruit. He seems tr. reason with himself thus: 

 that as posterity never did any thing for him, «o he 

 should do nothing for posterity. But to such an 

 one a better mode of arguing might be suggested, 

 viz : that as those who lived on this spot of ground 

 before me, have done something for me — something 

 at least, which 1 now enjoy — so urn 1 bound to do 

 something for those who shall hereafter take my 

 place — rjr, in other words, if my ancestors had 

 doDO nothing towards rearing an orchard, I should 

 now have no orchard ; so, if I do nothing, in the 

 same way, my children will have none after me. 

 Manv of the trees that once stood here, he might 



state another case. A venerable clergyman of| Another evil to which young fruit trees are tc 

 New Rowley, Dr Chandler, lived tc. partnke many often e.xposed, even where they are in other ri 

 years of the fruit of some chesnut trees, the seeds spects well taken care of, is the browsing of ca 

 of which ho planted after he was///;/ years of age. | tie. For the sake of saving the aftercrop of grae 

 After instances like these — and they might be , many farmers turn their cattle into young orcharr' 

 multiplied — let us hear no more of the common and thus inflict upon them wounds from which lh( 

 objection urged against rearing an orchard, that are slow to recover. It is not safe to let eve 

 you are too old and shall never live to fee it grow calves or yearlings run where there are youn 



Go to work at once about it — let your appre- trees, 

 hensioiis give way to anticipations — let doing take later. 



They will get a nibble nt ihera sooner 

 Thus browsed, orchards, if they survive tl 



the place of doubling — and in a few years you will ; operation, will be dwarfish and scrubbed. Tht V 

 have the satisfaction of witnessing a substantial j can bo told as far as they can be seen, and it me^ k 

 change in your orchards. 



But it is not from neglect alone to set out trees, 

 that young and thrifty orchards are so rare. Con- 

 vinced of the necessity of making a beginning, 

 many farmers procure trees and set them out, and 

 leave them to take care of themselves. The field 



selected for the purpose, was that year laid down I gleet to keep them from being browsed. If 

 to grass — the following year it is sodded over — j be the frequent fact — and who can doubt it ? — w ii 

 and so it remains as long as it continues to yield , cannot fail to pee another cause of the deficienc 

 a fair burden of grass. In the mean time, neither ' of good orchards. That deficiency will be su] 



be safely predicted that they will be as worthle |l 

 aa they ore ill-favored. The best course to h In 

 taken with them is to cut them oft" and new grai » 

 them. But this again your improvident farm' 

 will not do; it is too much trouble, and if be di it 

 do, it would be of no u^e, as he would again m 



plow nor hoe comes near the roots of the ycmnj 

 trees : they are grass-bound as firmly as was Gul- 

 liver when tied to the earth by pack-thread : they 

 receive neither heat nor moisture, nor air: nay, 

 they arc not supplied with even an annual pit- 

 tance of food. Is it any wonder, then, that they 



plied, only when young trees are guarded as si 

 curely as are corn-fields and mowing land. 



But supposing a good orchard transmitted, i 

 many such have been to the farmers of New Enj 

 land, why is it that they are so fast disappearing 

 The successive ravages of the canker worm hav 



refuse to grow ? How can they, when they have not jn many places, doubtless contributed to this «• 

 one of the elements to promote growth? and if ; gult niore than any other cause. Tarring the tr6> 

 they had, have not elbow-room to grow in? Ask the only effectual remedy as yet discovered, Im 

 the fanner w!iy he docs not keep the field under m many orchards been successfully practiced ; hi- 



cultivation 



much 



more 



-he will tell you that it requires too 



in more instances, from being only occasional! 



anure, and he lias other fields that need il j performed, has resulted in little benefit. Whft. 



Inquire of him why he does not cultivate the grubs run in large numbers, an omission to ti 

 at least a small spot around each tree, — it is too I for a single night, may render abortive the open' 

 much trouble, and besides he does not like this tion, if repeated every other evening in the seaso- 



forcing the growth of trees; they will run out, he 

 says, faster than lliey run up. 



It is in this starving, neglecting system, as 1 



It demands careful watching, both in late autum. 



and early spring, to detect the day when the 



prolific marauders take up the line of march. Bi 



conceive, lies the great reason that we have so few ii,js early and late watching is what most farme 



thriving orchards. Trees — young trees — like corn ] 

 or potatoes, must have food, or they cannot grow 



not, or do not, attend to. After the enemy 

 upon them, then, if at all, they begin to make pp 



V 'l have cut down for fuel so. that even when they must have cultivation, as plants have, or the parations for an onslaught. I know of a large o 



dead I reaped a benefit from them. In the island 

 of Japan, there is a law that no one can cut down 

 a tree without permission of the magistrate of the 

 place, and even when he obtains permission, must 

 replace il immtdiaUly hy auotlur. Now, by the 

 latter clause of this law should every one act who 

 inherits an estate. 



But again, how know you that you may not live 

 to enjoy yourself tlie fruit of your labor ? You 

 say that you are old, and the chances arc against 

 you; and you reason thus year after year, making 

 the chances more against you, and letting opportu- 

 nities slip by, opportunities, which if unproved, 

 would turn the scale the other way. But, friend, 

 let me tell you that you are not too old, if you set 

 about the business in good earnest. You do not 

 know how much longer your own life will bo ex- 

 tended, and perhaps you do not know how rapidly 

 a. young orchard, well taken care of, will tread up- 

 on your heels. In the preface to the valuable lit- 

 tle work on fruit trees, by Robert Manning, of Sa- 

 lem, he states that it wan late in life when he com- 

 menced the business of a nurseryman. His friemls 

 remonstrated with him on such an enterprise for 

 one of his years, and treated ihe project as visioua- 

 Ty in the extreme. But he still went on, and what 

 is the result? The author tells us that ho hus 

 lived to sell out many nurseries, and to eat the 

 fruit of many a tree of his own planting. Let mc 



eeds and grass will choke their growth. Trees, 

 or any of the vegetable race, may bo stimulated to ] 

 excess — become rank and luxariant, and conse- 

 quently weak and short-lived. But I have yet to 

 learn that good cultivation and a plentiful supply 



chard, once among the most productive and valui 

 ble in the county of F/Ssex, now almost good fi 

 nothing but fire-wood, from the unchecked depr( 

 dations of the canker worm. 



Look to it, farmers — look to it in season — loo 



of manure, are fatal to their health and longevity, t/i it constantly, that you meet this enemy and vat 



Where we have one orchard in danger from these 

 causes, there are hundreds that from the want of 

 them, are in peril of coming to a premature grave 



quish him. One or two yearly battles, vigorous! 

 maintained, and you are rid of him. Follow hii 

 up day by day ; do not spare the tar for fear eitht 



The contrast between orchards well cultivated and 1 of the expense or of killing the tree. The one i 



those which are not, is so marked and striking, 

 that it cannot fail to attract the notice of every ob- 

 server. The bark of the former is healthy-look- 

 ing, smooth and glossy: that of the latter is of a 

 sickly hue, scurfy or moss-cpvered. The branches 

 of the former present the last year's growth of a 

 great length : those of the latter scarcely give 

 signs of any last year's 'yfrowth at all. The leaves 

 of the one are large, green, and glisteuing : those 

 of the other are pinched, yellowish and dull look- 

 ing. Eftccts so different, mu.-t proceed from causes 

 lis different; and lluise causes arc, in general, none 

 other than the dill'erent modes of treatment or cul- 

 tivation, to which the trees have been subjected. 

 Trees, properly taken care of, will yield fruit much 

 sooner and of better quality tliau those which are 

 but imperfectly cultivated ; whilst such as are alto- 

 gether neglected, will linger along only to mock 

 the expectations of their improvident owner. 



not to be named compared with the benclit yo 

 will gain from it. Of the other there is little dan 

 ger to large trees, especially if the tar be scrap« 

 off in summer. Numerous are the orchards de 

 stroyed by the cankor worm, but 1 know and I ha»' 

 read of none destroyed bv the process of tarring 

 ALLEN W. DODGE. 

 Hamilton, Oct. 20<A, 1841. 



KENNEBEC AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



Dr Holmes, editor of the Maine Farmer, furnish 

 cd a pleasant report at the Kennebec Co. Catlh 

 Show, parts of whicli we extract: 



"The Committee appointed by the Trustees ol 

 the Kennebec County .'\gricultural Society, undei 

 the appellation of Jncidental Committee, wliich be- 

 lli" interpreted, ineaiielh a committee to do jus- 

 tice to those who arc thrust out by arbitrary rulei 



