156 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE. 



taken that the land bo well drained, for the cold water stag- 

 nating about the roots is peculiarly injurious. 



Nothing is more fatal to an orchard than the slovenly prun- 

 ing we often see practised by inexperienced hands, — large 

 branches hacked off, long stumps left to imbibe moisture, and 

 cartloads of limbs carried off at once. It would seem to be the 

 dictate of common sense that trees should be pruned moderately 

 every year, to remove decayed limbs or an undergrowth of 

 sprouts, and to admit the sun and air into the tops. In our hot 

 and dry climate, however, this last purpose may easily be carried 

 too far. The details of this process, as well as the fit time for 

 the operation, may best be learned in the school of some expe- 

 rienced nursery man or fruit grower, of whom no county has 

 more or better than ours. 



The attractive exhil)ition of pears, for which our fair is so 

 celebrated, provoked the question. Why do we find so few pears 

 in most of our towns ? Nearly all are raised in three or four 

 towns, while in the others scarcely a pear tree is to bo seen. 

 Not because this fine fruit is not appreciated, but from an 

 apprehension of some peculiar difficidty or risk in its culture, 

 or from the supposition that pear trees require many years to 

 produce a full crop, or from a failure that may have followed 

 poorly conducted experiments. Nursery men raise their trees 

 on the best land, deeply spaded, and thoroughly manured. 

 The mistake which buyers make is to plant their trees on a 

 poor soil, half manured, and to neglect pruning and heading 

 in. In two or three years the trees die, or live a miserable and 

 stunted existence, and the farmer complains that they did not 

 correspond with the nursery man's statement. How could 

 trees so managed be expected to prosper ? Separate treatises 

 on the culture of this excellent fruit, may be found in books 

 specially devoted to pomology, with catalogues of the various 

 kinds best adapted to our soil and climate. 



In some towns, Foxborough, Franklin, Medfield, Needham, 

 and a few others, enterprising men have done something towards 

 adorning their respective villages and road-sides, by planting 

 shade trees. During tlie present year many fine trees have 

 been planted. A report from Grantville will be found in 

 another part of this volume. We have overcome the difficulties 

 incident to a new community struggling for existence, and 



