1853. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



217 



minghiim, on the 2l8t March. A large audience 

 of ladies ancf gentlemen was present, and by their 

 attention manifested a deep interest in all the ex- 

 ercises of the evening. They had, as usual, an 

 address, followed by a discussion, wiiich last was 

 on the importance of a good library, and a better 

 knowledge of Agricultural books. There is wealth, 

 and talent, there, sufficient to establish the first, 

 and to appreciate the attractive literature of the 

 latter. Witli an organization a little more precise, 

 with standing committees on the leading subjects, 

 and essays and reports, one of the most useful as- 

 sociations in the State may spring from this germ. 



For the New England Farmer. 

 CULTIVATION OF FRUIT. 



The cherry, plum, peach, quince, pear, and ap- 

 ple, are the staple fruits of New England, and ev- 

 ery farmer whose climate and soil is adapted to 

 their culture, should raise an abundant supply for 

 his own family, and as many as possible for the 

 best market he can command. There are many 

 sections, however, in Maine, New Hampshire and 

 Vermont, where the stone fruits, as also the quince, 

 cannot be raised. For instance, the farmers of 

 Vermont should not expect much profit from the 

 peach, plum, cherry, or quince, as they cannot 

 be raised with advantage unless in the southern 

 countries, and the towns bordering on the Con- 

 necticut. 



But in the southern, middle, and eastern por- 

 tions of Massachusetts, and the vicinity of all our 

 cities and large villages, they may be, and are 

 raised for greatly remunerating prices. A single 

 plum tree in the vicinity of Boston, has produced 

 $30 or .$40 in a year, and many farmers have car- 

 ried to the market from 3 to 500, and some as high 

 as 8 or 1000 bushels of peaches, and sold from $1 

 to $2 per bushel, obtaining more clear profit from 

 one-half acre of land, than is realized from a ma- 

 jority of the farms in the State. The cherry should 

 be raised for family use, and every good husband 

 (whether he has a wife or not) who has ground 

 on v/hich to grow them, may have the luxury in 

 the different varieties of good sweet cherries, from 

 four to six weeks. 



The quince, may be grown to great profit, al- 

 though its culture cannot become so generally 

 profitable, as the peach or apple. The culture of 

 the apple is one of importance to fruit growers, 

 in all climates where it can be made to flourish, 

 and there is hardly a farm in New England that 

 has not some locality well adapted for an apple 

 orchard. 



My object will be to make some suggestions de- 

 rived from mj own observation and experience, to 

 induce others to engage in this lucrative and pleas- 

 ant branch of farming. But, says some good old 

 farmer, "I shall never live to raise fruit, if I set 

 out trees ; my son James or William may if they 

 want tu." But my friend, suppose you do not live 

 to enjoy the fruit from those trees, somebody else 

 will regale themselves by eating it. And beside, 

 have you not eaten fruit a hundred times from 

 trees tliat you did not set ouf? And does not jus- 

 tice to the world require that you do as much for 

 others that come after you, as has been done for 

 you by others before you ? Away then with that 



false and selfish policyj so detrimental to all im- 

 provement in the moral and physical world. How 

 noble to see a man in the decline of life planting 

 the little acorn that shall grow to a tree, under 

 which, generations yet to be born, shall be screened 

 from the mid summer's sun. Who does not wish 

 to do some beneficent act, to leave the world a lit- 

 tle better for having lived in it, and perpetuate a 

 pleasant remembrance to those that come after us. 

 A gentleman some years since, was riding through 

 old Framingham, in Middlesex county, and pass- 

 ing a fine orchard, saw a man standing under an 

 apple tree very greedily devouring a fine apple. 

 The stranger halted, and asked the man to give 

 him an apple. He did so, and finding the fruit ex- 

 cellent, he inquired of the man under the tree. 

 "Who set out this fine old orchard sir." "An old 

 Mr. John Ames, Go<;l bless his old soul," said the 

 man with a mouthful of the rich apple. Who does 

 not wish to have a liearty "God bless his soul" 

 rest on his memory for having done something un- 

 selfish for the good of others. But look here friend, 

 don't you see tliat every good fruit tree set on 

 your farm makes it the more valuable, if you ever 

 want to sell it, or fur your sons and daughters to 

 live on it? But any man under seventy years, in 

 good health, and in favor of the Maine Law, may 

 hope to live to cat of the fruit from the trees set 

 by his own hands. Rev. Mr. Davis, of Fitchburg, 

 tells of an old acquaintance of his, in Michigan, 

 who set out an orchard after he was eighty years 

 old, and lived to eat the fruit thereof, a number of 

 years. Joshua S. Everett. 



EverettviUe, Princeton. 



LEGISLATIVE AGRICULTURAL MEET- 

 INGS. 



Tenth Meeting— Tuesdav Evening, March 22, 1S53. 



The tenth meeting of the series was held at the 

 State House on Tuesday evening. 



The subject of discussion was "TAe Subdivision 

 and Fencing of the Lands of a Farm.^^ 



Mr. Brooks, of Princeton, presided, and on 

 opening the discussion remarked that he had but 

 little experience in the matter. As to the material 

 for fences, in the district where he resides stone 

 fences are almost universally used, and are con- 

 sidered the cheapest — their first cost being very 

 little more than wood fence of any kind. They 

 will stand thirty to forty years without re-setting, 

 and can be renewed at a cost of 50 cents per rod. 

 He had stone fences on his farm fifty years old, 

 which he had renewed for 25 to 30 cents. He 

 preferred to renew his walls upon the old founda- 

 tion layer of stones, because they get firmly fixed 

 in the earth and are less liable to the action of the 

 frost. In regard to the subdivision of lands, he 

 considered small lots preferable. In his neighbor- 

 hood the practice is to enclose in lots of one to 

 three or four acres. Frequent fences serve to keep 

 the snow upon the ground, and retain the fructi- 

 fying substances which fall with the snow and 

 rain. They also prevent the light debris from be- 

 ing blown from land, and thus serve to retain fer- 

 tilizino; matter. Around the wall of an acre lot 



