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THE GENESEE FARMER. 



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dense, an important point is to keep the heads open to the sun and air ; the trees in 

 this orchard were quite open, the branches curved outward, and the fruits all exposed as 

 much as they should be. The Rhode Island Greening, and all such trees, with a 

 spreading, irregular habit, take care of themselves pretty much in this respect. 



We observed that in many cases the trees leaned considerably to the north-east on 

 account of the prevailing winds beating against them from the south-west, and in nearly 

 every case, and especially with pear trees in this condition, some injury had been 

 inflicted on the sunny side of the trunk, apparently having been done while the trees 

 were yet young. It is very obvious that the trunk of a tree in such a position, one side 

 exposed to the rays of the sun all day and at all seasons, must suffer. In winter it is 

 frozen hard at night, and early next morning a strong sun pours down its melting rays 

 upon it. This points to the necessity for staking, or otherwise securing trees in an 

 upright position, and also to keep the heads pretty near the gfound. A fine Bartlett 

 pear tree loaded with fruit met our eye, and brought it on the carpet. " I find it impos- 

 sible," said the orchardist, " to get good Bartlett trees without top-grafting others of 

 large size. Wlien I plant small trees, they bear themselves to death before they get to 

 be of any considerable size." The fact is, the gentleman's soil is a very warm light 

 sand, entirely too light for the pear, and the Bartlett in it being so precocious, and find- 

 ing a stinted supply of food, bears heavily, and makes no growth. Following this up 

 for a few years closes up the career, of course. The pear needs a substantial soil, and 

 in such light soils as we have referred to, the trees to prosper at all for any considerable 

 length of time must have frequent and liberal dressings of compost, and every season 

 be pruned. With this treatment a good growth is secured, as well as a good crop of fruit. 



Leaving the apples and pears we turned into the peach orchard. " Just as you came 

 up," said the gentleman, " I was going into my Crawford'' s Early to beat off" a portion 

 of the crop." Certainly they needed it, but it should have been done a month ago. 

 If one half of this great crop had been taken off" then, the food they have since appro- 

 priated would have passed to the benefit of those left, and now they would have shown 

 it. It is just when trees begin to grow slowly and feebly that they begin to bear 

 abundantly, and thus comes on decrepitude. We touched upon this important point 

 in a late number of the Farmer, and we are happy to know that it had some eff'ect; 

 there are thousands of cases, however, it did not reach. The Early York was a fair 

 crop, and promises to' be ripe about the last week in August; the Yellow Alberge, or 

 Barnard''s, was bearing well, and we were told that had it not been for this variety last 

 season, the crop would have been a complete failure. These odds and ends of observa- 

 tion may possibly be the means of calling the attention of unexperienced persons to 

 certain points that might be overlooked. 





New Fruits. — Among the new fruits that have attracted attention this season, 

 McAvoy'^s Superior strawberry has been one of the most prominent. As far as we 

 know, it has come up pretty well to expectation, except in one or two cases. It is a 

 pistillate variety, large ovate, occasionally with a short neck. Color — a rich crimson 

 scarlet, with pale colored yellowish seeds. Flesh — red, juicy, and find flavored, but not 

 equal to Burr''s New Fine. Tlie berries do not fill up quite plump at the point, which 

 is a slight imperfection. It is an abundant bearer, and altogether a valuable fruit. 

 At the exhibition of the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society, Mr. Cope produced speci- 

 mens measuring Jive and a half inches in circumference. This is, at least, one-third 

 larger than any wo have seen. 



LongwortJi's Frolifc is pronounced by many the largest and best of hermaphrodite 

 sorts. Our Genesee is the best of this class we have yet grown — a large conical-necked 

 berry of a brilliant color, firm, and of good quality. 



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