APPLE. 



sary or advisable ; but when, as in 

 the case of grafting, or of heading 

 down for a new growth, it becomes 

 unavoidable, it should always be per- 

 formed in that interval between the 

 time the frost is coming out of the 

 ground in spring and the opening of 

 tlie leaf 



" For that moderate pruning, which 

 alone is generally needful, June and ; 

 July, and during the longest days of | 

 summer, is the very best time ; for 

 wounds of all kinds heal admirably at ' 

 this period, the wood remaining sound 

 and bright ; and even a tree debarked | 

 at this season recovers a new bark 

 immediately. 



" Trees ought not to be pruned in 

 February and March, at the time the 

 frost is coming out of the ground. 

 This is the season when most trees, 

 and particularly the vine and sugar- j 

 maple, bleed most copiously and in- i 

 junously. It causes inveterate cank- 

 er, the wounds turn black, and the j 

 bark, for perhaps several feet IjcIow, 

 becomes equally black, and perfectly 1 

 dead in consequence of the bleed- 

 ing" I 



-Mr. Pell, who has an orchard of 

 20,000 Xewton pippins, has succeed- 

 ed, by the following method, in indu- 

 cing the trees to bear crops every 

 year : 



" Three years ago in April, I 

 scraped all the rough bark off from 

 several thousand trees in 1113" orchard, 

 and washed the trunks and limbs 

 within reach with soft soap, trimmed 

 out all the branches that crossed 

 each other early in June, and paint- 

 ed the wounded part with white-lead 

 to keep out moisture, then split open 

 the bark by running a sharp-pointed 

 knife from the ground to the first set 

 of limbs in the latter part of the 

 same month, which prevents the tree 

 from becoming l)ark-bound, and gives 

 the inner wood an opportunity of ex- 

 panding. In July I placed one peck 

 of oyster-shell lirne around each tree, 

 and left it piled about the trunk un- 

 til November, during which three 

 montlis the drought was e.vcessive. 

 In November the lime was dug in 

 thoroughly. The following year 

 C3 



(1842) I collected from those trees 

 1700 barrels of fruit, some of which 

 was sold in New- York for S4 per 

 barrel, and others in London for S9. 

 After gathering the fruit in October, 

 I manured the same trees with sta- 

 ble manure, and covered it imme- 

 diately with earth. Strange as it 

 may appear, this year they are lit- 

 erally bending to the ground with the 

 finest fruit I ever saw. The other 

 trees in my orchard, not treated as 

 above, are barren, next year being 

 their bearing year." 



Fruit for exportation and spring 

 use must be allowed to ripen well, 

 be plucked with the hand, and care- 

 fully exposed on the barn floor to dry 

 for 15 to 20 days ; they should tlien 

 be placed in clean barrels, and stored 

 in a dry cellar not subject to frost. 

 In shipping, they should never be 

 jolted. They should be placed be- 

 tween decks, in an airy situation. 

 Fruit grown in dry seasons always 

 keeps best. 



The products of the apple-orchard 

 are so numerous that there is no lo- 

 cality in wliich it may not be made 

 profitable. Not only does the fruit 

 ciimmand a good price, but ciJer and 

 vinegar are easily obtained, while 

 hogs flourish on the fallen fruit, de- 

 stroying, at the same time, the Iriiit 

 cateipillar. The pomace, or refuse 

 of the cidcr-mill, is very acceptable 

 to cows and swine, or contributes to 

 enrich the manure heap. See Cider. 



Indeed, the value of apples as food 

 for hogs is little appreciated ; but 

 there is abundant evidence furn.shed 

 by practical men that they are almost 

 as valuable as potatoes. The flesh 

 is very firm and fine in swine thus 

 fattened. 



Insects. — Numerous insects affect 

 the apple and pear tree, ciiher bo- 

 ling tlie trunk, destroying the young 

 leaves, or inhabiting the fruit. The 

 fruit caterpillar {Torlrix pomonana) 

 causes the fall of many apples before 

 the ripening season. The moth [Jig. 

 /), whose eggs produce the destruc- 

 tive worm, is to be seen in the even- 

 ings ot June and July flying about the 

 trees, or on the windows of the house. 



29 



