ORCHARDS. " 11 



ORCHARDS. 



We hope you will not forget what we have said on 

 setting out trees. We grieve to see so much time and 

 money heedlessly thiown away, and we shall often 

 invite attention to the subject. We have yet said but 

 little on trimming : for years we have heard the cry 

 of trim, trim ! in some of the papers, as if we could 

 never trim enough. We think many orchards are in- 

 jured by excessive trimming, and know that large 

 hmbs should never be cut from the tree. Heading 

 down has been practised by many, to let the sun in to 

 ripen the fruit ! One consequence is, the tree branches 

 out, covers a large tract of land, and is forever in the 

 way of your plough, your team, and your head. Tiieii 

 you look out for a high tree in vain, and you leave a 

 great portion of the space you are fairly entitled to by 

 deed, ^^ usque ad coelwn^''^ — up to the very heavens,. 

 — entirely without occupation. We think no leading 

 upward stem of the apple-tree should be lopped after 

 it is taken from the nursery, or after three years' 

 growth : a twenty-foot tree will produce you more 

 than a ten-foot tree, and one good quality in a tree is 

 height. 



On the other hand, it is contended, by some, that a 

 tree should never be trimmed ; that nature has pro- 

 vided no surplus limbs, and that nature must be im- 

 plicitly followed in all tliese matters ; and thatj when 

 the limbs grow too thick, they will die of themselves, 

 as we often see theni in thick forests of timber, and 

 injure the body less than any kind of trimming. 



This doctrine may lead us too far. It is natural for 

 grass to twine around the roots and ruin the young tree. 

 Moss will naturally grow on its trunk, and caterpillars 

 will naturally lodge in its branches ; but we must ap- 

 ply the remedies^ the natural remedies. 



As to the forest trees, we cannot do better than let 



