THE GENESEE FAEMEE. 





CONDUCTED BY P. BAKRY. 



cL 



* MANAGEMENT OF ORCHARDS. 



The management of orchards is a matter of no trivial importance to this country at 

 the present time. Thousands of acres of the best land are planted with fruit trees, and 

 a large amount of capital has been expended in their purchase and planting, and whether 

 this land has been rightly appropriated, -and this money judiciously expended, depends 

 entirely upon future management. Many people have embarked in this as in o-ther 

 pursuits, with spirit and enthusiasm. They prepare their ground, plant their trees, take 

 good care of them probably for a year or two, until their enthusiasm begins to cool, 

 when some new hobby i* taken up, and the orchard is lost sight of, probably "seeded 

 down," and left to take care of itself with the occasional assistance of cattle, sheep, or 

 hogs, that may be turned in to pasture among them. Thus "seeded down," and crop- 

 ped, and bruised, and barked by animals, starved for the want of suitable and sufficient 

 nutriment, the trees become stunted, mossy, covered with insects, and, in short, a 

 nuisance. 



This is the actual history of many an orchard we know of this day, and thousands 

 and tens of thousands of dollars have been lost to hard-working, economical farmers, 

 and to the countr}^, by this very system, if we may so call it. Gardens are managed 

 not unfrequently in the same way. A great many impulsive sort of people rush into 

 fruit culture and gardening this season with all the enthusiasm of devotees — one would 

 suppose, to hear them talk, that gardening would occupy their attention largely to the 

 end of their lives; but next season we will find- them with not a thought of gardening, 

 all the improvements and expenditures of last year neglected and lost. Need we caution 

 people against such folly ? We fear we need, and yet every year we can see a 

 greater degree of prudence manifested in the matter — plans better matured and having 

 more the appearance of reality and permanence. These spasmodic efibrts will gradually 

 disappear as people become better informed and enter upon improvements with more 

 correct views and prospects. 



But to return to orchards, to which we propose to confine our present remarks We 

 must beg of cultivators not to entertain for a single moment the ruinous practice of 

 "seeding down." If you think you cannot afford it, or that it will not pay to give your 

 orchards good clean culture until they have at least attained a full bearing condition, 

 dig them up and burn them, and convert your land at once and completely into corn 

 fields or pastures, as it may seem fit. You may rely upon it, that you cannot have a 

 more unprofitable or discreditable piece of property than a starved, neglected fruit tree. 

 Uow is it possible that a young tree can thrive in a pasture or tough sod ? The young 

 roots near the surface of the ground that are really the most important as furnishing 

 the better portion of the food of the tree, are robbed by the grass and weeds, and die 

 out, leaving the tree to find its entire support through the deep roots that are bedded 

 in the poor, cold subsoil. In such a situation, a tree immediately looses its vigor. It 

 begins to look feeble, old and knarly, fungi and insects take possession of it, and there 

 it ends. 



It is surprizing to people who have not observed very closely the results of various 

 modes of culture upon trees, how soon young trees show the intluence of plants growing 

 around or near their roots. A few years ago, in an economical mood, we sowed carrots 

 between some rows of young apple trees. The rows were 3^ feet apart, and we sowed . I 



