ORCHARDS. 



11 



man, and that the great majority take as much pleas- 

 ure in making known new modes of cultivation as 

 some of the other sex are said to do in divulging the 

 profoundest secrets. There is a pleasure in communi- 

 cating information : both sexes delight in it. By the 

 system here recommended we make our duty a pleas- 

 ure, and we may thus hope to persevere till we make 

 New England a garden, and the wild places to blossom 

 as the rose. 



All, without exception, are invited to join us for the 

 promotion of knowledge. We will give them certifi- 

 cates of membership for life, if they will take so deep 

 an interest in our institution ; and we hereby promise 

 to communicate as much information to any member 

 as he shall communicate to us. 



ORCHARDS. 



We would not say much on orchards at this time 

 of year were we not constantly reminded, winter and 

 summer, as we pass along the road, of the amount of 

 labor that has been thrown wholly away by inefficient 

 attempts to plant an apple-orchard. We have come 

 to the conclusion, from the orchards we have observed 

 in our various travels, that the owners of ninety-nine 

 in a hundred had generally thrown away their labors, 

 and that the orchards they attempted to plant were 

 only a nuisance to their grounds. These lands were 

 generally quite rich enough for trees of this kind. 

 This was not the evil. The trees were not well se- 

 lected at the first ; they were not carefully taken up ; 

 they were not properly set in the ground ; they were 

 not tilled after setting ; and the cattle, in most cases, 

 were called in to trim the trees. It was an old max- 



