280 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



June 



they will grow on all soils whatever, that are not 

 surcharged with water. The roots are near the 

 surface, and hence do not require a deep soil ; and 

 as tlieir needlo-like leaves do not carry off much 

 moisture by evajooration, their soil may be drier 

 than that required for any other kind of tree." 



In Peck's Gazette, published some twenty years 

 since, after describing the beauty of the pine, he 

 speaks of the delightful atmosphere in tlieir pres- 

 ence, calling it a ''tcrcbinlhine atmosphere;" the 

 word terebinthine being the Latin word for turpen- 

 tine. 



"We thought our theory worth uttering ; — at 

 some future time it may be dignified into a scien- 

 tific fact. 



(b.) The gentleman who said the reason "why 

 some fields become green sooner than others', in 

 the spring, is because more grass was left on the 

 them in the fall, and that the withered blacks turned 

 green,'" stated what, he said, were facts— what he 

 had carefully observed, by marking portions of 

 grass and watching the change from day to day. 

 He presented parcels of the grass which he said 

 had been changed in this manner. 



(c.) With regard to the good influence o? stones 

 on the land, the gentleman who introduced the 

 topic at the agricultural meeting at the State 

 House must defend himself. Many persons (but 

 not among them our intelligent correspondent, 

 "Jonathan,") seem to have an idea that weeds, 

 beyond a sufficient quantity to give the pigs an oc- 

 casional feed, and stones enough to make what 

 wall is wanted, are nothing but a pest and a 

 plague. In wisdom He made them all, that made 

 the corn-plants and the fruits and flowers. Weeds 

 are but grasses out of place, and stones impart, at 

 least, hut fu'.ure harvests of manure.' Large por- 

 tions of our soil come from the stones ; the gran- 

 ite, so common all about us, contains some of the 

 richest elements of fertility. One kind of its feld- 

 spar contains nearly seventeen -proportions in a hun- 

 dred of potash. We are also dependent on the 

 rocks for the liuie and gypsum which we use as 

 fertilizers. Marl is a compound of lime and clay, 

 while clay itself has been formed by a decompo- 

 sition of rocks, such as granite, feldspar, clay 

 slate, &c. We have heard of an instance where a 

 farmer manured a large field unwittingly. Wish- 

 ing to dispose of a surplus of small stones, he 

 placed some hundreds of loads along a side hill 

 where he intended at a future time to* build a wall; 

 circumstances prevented this, and after awhile he 

 noticed that tlie grass crop for several rods below 

 the stones had materially increased ; and this pro 

 cess went on until several acres were fertilized in 

 this manner. We know nothing of the particu- 

 lars of this case, but presume the stones were in 

 a state of partial disintegration. If they were feld- 

 spar, it will readily be seen, from what has al- 



ready been said, what an amount of potash they 

 might supply. 



Our friends, however, will hardly consider their 

 stone heaps a reliable source of fertility for their 

 exhausted acres. We only mention this instance 

 to show that with many of us, there are a great 

 many things "which our philosophy never dreampt 

 of." 



For the New Ens:land Farmer. 

 FRUIT TREES. 



The very great and increasing interest in fruit, 

 and fruit trees, will be my apology for offering a 

 few remarks upon the subject. 



Your correspondent P., a few weeks ago, spoke 

 of an orchard of 40 trees that produced 300 barrels 

 of Baldwin apples, in each of the years 1850 and 

 1852. This is certainly an extraordinary yield, 

 and would seem to warrant almost any amount of 

 cultivation. I think the public would like to know 

 some more of the particulars about this orchard. 

 How the trees were set out upon the ground ? 

 How far apart; whether the ground was all shaded, 

 by the trees, or whether they were standing more 

 open, admitting the sun more freely ? How much 

 ground did they stand on ? Did those standing 

 near the wall bear any better than those in the 

 centre of the lot T What kind of soil ? &c. , &c. Be- 

 cause it is doubted by some whether it is best to 

 cultivate so highly. It is thought that forcing the 

 tree beyond its natural and h3althy powers, will be 

 injurious to its longevity and future productivness. 



It is thought by many, that fruit trees are 

 forced too much at the present day, more especial- 

 ly apple trees ; pear trees will bear a higher state 

 of cultivation. 



In support of this theory, it is asserted that veg- 

 etables, if cultivated too highly, will not bear fruit ; 

 potatoes will run all to vine, corn to stalk, &c. 

 Animals may be fed too highly, wear out and be- 

 come useless in a short time. Stage horses are 

 soon used up, and even cows when forced to yield 

 three' pounds of butter a day for one season, are 

 seldom heard of afterwards. 



We think that young apple trees should not be 

 forced with very rich manure. If the ground 

 around the trees, from 2 to G feet, according to 

 the age of the tree, be kept cultivated and free 

 from weeds, if a quantity of mulch, or meadow- 

 hay be placed about it, the weeds will be kept 

 from growing, and the hay will be suflicient ma- 

 nure. We think we have seen trees that have 

 been forced and driven too fast, especially peach 

 trees ; at least the fruit on them was scarce. 



Some flourishing peach orchards, in this neigh- 

 borhood, have been rooted up, and burnt, on ac- 

 count of the disappointment of the owners. 



Trees, when forced so much beyond the natural 

 and healthy growth designed by the Author of 

 Nature, are much more liable to be affected by the 

 cold of winter. The tender and succulent growth 

 of the wood will not get suSiciently hardened to 

 resist the frosty weather. 



Young apple trees were injured, in this region, 

 in the winter of 1850 — 1, on the north side of the 

 tree ; the most thrifty and latest growth were the 

 most affected, and more on the north side of the 

 hill than the south ; and mostly confined to ele- 

 vated grounds. Ji* 



Topsjield. . 



