204 ^[ASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE. 



old bits of leather, old boots, liats, rags and bones may be used, 

 but they must not come in contact with the roots ; when they 

 need them they will reach after them and receive benefit from 

 them. The ground in the orchard should be well cultivated 

 and highly manured ; a young orchard requires as higli cultiva- 

 tion and as much care every year as a crop of corn. The trees 

 ^ould be pruned high from the ground, so that horses or oxen 

 can pass under without injuring them ; if care is taken in 

 forming the trees while young, they will need very little pruning 

 afterwards, and if pruned while young, it matters very little at 

 what time of the year it is done. Thin the branches out well, 

 that the light and air may have free access to the very centre 

 of the tree. 



As to the varieties most desirable, if near a market, or where 

 the access to one is easy, it is well to raise the summer and fall 

 varieties ; but for the main crop, and at a distance from the 

 market, the winter kinds are the most profitable ; the Baldwin 

 is the most so, and also the most sure of a crop in all the soils 

 of N.ew England. v 



One would suppose from the large number of apple trees 

 transplanted every year, that the supply would be much larger 

 than the demand, but it has not been so as yet, and I think 

 there is no danger of it in the future. But a small proportion 

 of the trees planted produce fruit. Many people think if they 

 buy and set them out, that is all that is necessary to ensure 

 a fine orchard ; they sow the land down to grass, turn the cattle 

 in, and in a few years not a tree is to be seen where a thrifty 

 orchard should have been. Where a person has only a small 

 piece of land, apples, dwarfed or the paradise, can be cultivated 

 with great success ; the trees do not grow large, therefore do 

 not shade the land necessary for a garden, yet will yield abun- 

 dantly ; the fruit will be very fine, equal to that grown on 

 standard trees, and I would recommend that they be more 

 extensively cultivated in gardens. 



In many of the county societies a premium is offered for a 

 large number of varieties, and to obtain the requisite number 

 many worthless kinds are raised. A great many poor varieties 

 are sold by the nursery-men wlien there are comparatively but 

 a few varieties that arc worth cultivating. Although the 

 improvement in the cultivation has been so great, yet the farmer 



