1853. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



29 



good supply of water and a full supply of light. — 

 But it must not be forgotten that green-house 

 plants generally are nearly dormant during winter, 

 and the soil must therefore be kept but modei-ate- 

 ly moist, as the plants in this condition do not 

 pump any moisture from the soil, and little escapes 

 directly by evaporation. Drainage, by tilling one- 

 fifth of each pot with charcoal, is of importance. 



Temperature. — Many house plants are destroyed 

 by too much heat, which increases the dryness, 

 and both these causes together are more than they 

 can endure. A cool room, never as low as freez- 

 ing, is best. From 50 to 55 degrees is much bet- 

 ter than G5 orVO, the ordinary temperature of liv- 

 ing rooms. 



Syringing the foliage with tepid water, to wash 

 off whatever dust accumulates, is of use ; and the 

 admission of fresh air, when there is no danger of 

 chilling or freezing the foliage, should not be ne 

 glected. — Albany Cultivator. 



PLOWING ORCHARDS. 



In an article on old apple trees, recently, we 

 spoke of the effect of plowing upon the roots, and 

 suggested that great caution should be observed 

 in cultivating among them. The remarks below 

 are from two or three speakers who took part in a 

 discussion at one of the agricultural meetings held 

 by the members of the legislature in Maine, last 

 winter. We suppose the gentlemen were not 

 speaking of orchards just planted, but of old 

 orchards, or those that are in bearing. These 

 remarks will have a tendency to make us all more 

 careful with the plow among our trees. 



" Mr. FdSter said, he was satisfied that it was 

 not a good plan to plow and cultivate the land in 

 orchards. Plowing wounded the trees, broke off 

 the roots, and produced disease. It was best to 

 select a spot for the orchard, which the farmer 

 would never want to plow. He recollected a case 

 which confirmed his theory. He was called upon, 

 by a farmer, to graft his orchard. The orchard 

 where the grafting was to be done had been pre- 

 pared with great care, plowed often, and the trees 

 pruned closely. By its side, stood another orchard 

 in a pasture. When he went into the orchard for 

 the purpose of grafting, the trees he found were 

 much diseased. He thought he would examine 

 the trees in the pasture, as they were planted at 

 the same time, in like soil, and the only difference 

 in their management was that while the trees in 

 the enclosed orchard had been pruned closely and 

 ploughed among, those in the pasture had been 

 left to grow pj-etty much as they would. The 

 trees in the pasture he found sound, — the wood 

 white clear through. He was satisfied that plough- 

 ing, breaking the roots as it must in every direc- 

 tion, was bad treatment for the orchard. 



Mr. Boothbay, of Saco, would subscribe to the 

 doctrine that ploughing in an orchard was detri- 

 mental to the trees. It was his experience. He 

 had several trees in a pasture, situated near a 

 spring where the stock went to water. In the 

 summer, the stock would go to the spring for 

 water, and, having slacked their thirst, would lie 

 down under the trees, and stamp around them, 

 keeping the ground porous. Tlie trees had flou- 



rished finely and bore well, while he could not say 

 so much for his trees situated eisewhei-e. 



The Chairman, Col. Smart, of Troy, said that he 

 had been as it were, reared in an orchard ; he con- 

 curred with his friend Foster, somewhat, in his 

 ideas respecting ploughing an orchard. A brother 

 of his had taken three crops of wheat from his or- 

 chard, and he was aware that the trees had suf- 

 fered materially in consequence, and that injudici- 

 ous tilling had caused it to decline. Several years 

 ago, his son took a considerable quantity of muck 

 from a low spot where flags grew, and carted it 

 into the orchard, and spread it among the trees, 

 and he thought the process increased the yield of 

 the trees very much. 



For the Neiv England Farmer. 

 APPLES. 



Mr. Editor : — At the last exhibition of the 

 Middlesex Agricultural Society in Concord, we 

 noticed among the superb display of fruits on that 

 occasion, a number of varieties of Apples, (which 

 were new to us) of very great size and beauty ; 

 but as the " orders of the day," would not per- 

 mit us to judge of their quality except by the 

 outward appearance, which you well know is not 

 always a sufficient datum upon which to pronounce 

 a righteous judgment ; and as we sav/ no one 

 present of whom we could obtain the desired in- 

 formation, we were obliged to leave without hav- 

 ing our curiosity fully gratified. Among these, 

 were the Golden-Sweet, and Harrison Apple, pre 

 sented by Mr. J. AVetherbee, of jNIarlborough, and 

 the New-York Baldwin, of which we do not recol- 

 lect the contributor. We also noticed some new 

 varieties (Seedlings, we believe) in the extensive 

 collection of Mr. Eustis, of South Reading. Now 

 we are aware, that " all is not gold that glistens," 

 and that " a new broom usually sweeps clean," 

 and we know equally well that some kinds of 

 fruit which make a very l)rilliant display in a 

 horticultural exhibition, are totally worthless, in 

 fact, a complete nuisance, to everybody except the 

 amateur cultivator. We do not know, however, 

 that this is the case with those varieties we have 

 mentioned ; and if Mr. Wetherbee, or any other 

 reader of the Farmer who has cultivated these va- 

 rieties, will give us through your columns, an ac- 

 count of them, describing the fruit, its size, qual- 

 ty, the bearing habits and growth of the trees, 

 we should be much obliged to him. 



Of the Northern Spy, we do not recollect of 

 seeing a single specimen. As this fruit is getting 

 to be extensively spread, and ;is its success in 

 New England is at least problematical, (it being a 

 New York apple), we shcj^ild like to know if any 

 one has made a sufficient trial of it, to determine 

 its value as a variety for extensive orchard culture. 

 Its character shou'il be better knov.-n. 



By the way, we conceive that the colnmns of 

 an Agricultural paper could not be better occupied 

 than by devoting a reasonable space to the dis- 

 semination of such a knowled^ of the different 

 varieties of fruit, their defects, as well as their de- 

 sirable qualities, as might serve as a guide to the 

 practical cultivator. It is only after a thorough 

 and extended trial, of any fruit, that its good or 

 bad qualiiies, its productiveness or unproductive- 

 ness can be determined ; and if those who possess 

 the requisite knowledge would impart the fruits 



