S m 



MIDDLESEX SOCIETY. 117 



1847 ; it was an old worn-out pasture nearly overgrown with 

 bushes. I cut the bushes and ploughed the ground in April, 

 and set out the trees the first of May. The trees were two 

 years from the bud when set, and were set thirty feet apart 

 each way. The land is a dark gray loam, with a very hard 

 subsoil of clay gravel. 



My mode of setting was to dig a hole about four or five 

 feet in diameter and from twelve to fifteen inches deep ; then 

 fill the place two thirds or more with old turf, of which there 

 was a great abundance turned up by the plough. I then drop- 

 ped about one bushel of well-rotted stable manure near each 

 place and mixed it thoroughly with the best of the loam, suffi- 

 cient to fill the hole. I then covered the turf with the mix- 

 ture and set the trees very near the top of the ground. 



My method of treatment has been to wash thoroughly with 

 potash, one pound to a gallon of water, applying it with a 

 scrubbing brush and rubbing the trees hard, once or twice a 

 year. I have kept the ground tilled every year, with crops of 

 corn, squashes, cabbages, beets, onions, and various other 

 things. 



Dracut, Sept. 3, 1851. 



David C. ButterfielcVs Stat'-ment. 

 My apple orchard consists of 147 trees, set out as follows. 

 In 1846, I set 40 on one acre enclosed by a stone wall before 

 setting the trees. I sowed the ground with oats and grass seed, 

 hoed round the trees a space about six feet and have kept the 

 space free from grass and weeds by frequent hoeings, enlarging 

 it a little every year as the trees have increased in size. In 

 1847, I manured them with coarse manure from my horse 

 stable, by hoeing a small trench from the tree as far as the clear 

 space extended ; spread the manure in the trench and dug it in. 

 In 1849,1 took the same course to manure the trees as in 1847, 

 and repeated the hoeings. In the fall of 1850, I ploughed the 

 ground as deep as I could, cross-ploughed last spring, spread 

 twenty-five loads of manure and planted it with potatoes. 

 Since digging the potatoes, I have ploughed the ground both 

 ways, spread forty horse loads of manure and sowed it with 

 srass seed. 



