ORCHARDS. 97 



cultivated in the usual way, with the exception of avoiding 

 crops of rye, which arc too exhausting for the orchard. 



.Many years ago, a friend of mine set out eighty apple trees, 

 and employed a man, (an Englishman I believe,) well acquaint- 

 ed with his business, to do the work of planting. When his 

 first day's work was done, he asked him how many he had set 

 out. His reply was, " eight, sir." This seemed to his employer 

 so small a number that he paid him without allowing him to go 

 on with the work, but the next day engaged another man to 

 finish the job. When night came, he put the same question to 

 him. He replied that he had set out all that remained. As 

 time rolled on, the gentleman found that the first eight trees 

 were worth the whole seventy-two. I presume my trees were 

 set out after the manner of the eight. 



The most of my trees were of the size costing from seven- 

 teen to eighteen cents each. Many of them now measure three 

 and a half inches in diameter, and but few probably less than 

 two and a half to three inches. 



Northampton, October 2, 1854. 



Statement of Benjamin Barrett. 



The orchard to which your attention is called is situated at 

 the foot of Round Hill, directly in the rear of my dwelling 

 house, on Prospect Street, having a north-easterly and south- 

 westerly slope. Its position for the culture of fruit trees is 

 probably not surpassed by any locality in this part of the Com- 

 monwealth. The lot is very productive, and, at present, in a 

 high state of cultivation. The soil consists mostly of a rich 

 dark loam, mixed in some degree with gravel. In some places 

 is found a blue, clayey subsoil, and in others a wet, heavy soil. 

 Most of the lot, however, is of a warm and dry character and 

 of a highly productive quality. 



My homestead, of which this orchard forms a part, consists 

 of four acres, and came into my possession in 1845, and was 

 purchased for the sum of five thousand dollars. The premises 

 are divided as follows : three acres are occupied by the orchard, 

 one-quarter of an acre by the buildings, and the remainder is 

 appropriated to the general purposes of a garden and fruit 



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