ORCHARDS. 99 



apples, such as the Baldwin, Russets, Greenings, Bellfiower, 

 and Newtown Pippin were sold on the trees for one dollar per 

 barrel. Pears and plums sold at one and two dollars, and 

 quinces at seventy-five cents and one dollar. 



To enumerate the varieties of my apples, or to enter into a 

 detailed statement of expenditures bestowed upon the orchard, 

 would occupy too much of your attention. Suffice it to 

 say, that at the late fair in Northampton I exhibited eighty- 

 three varieties of apples, mostly grown on the premises above 

 described ; and allow me further to add, that the income of 

 last year — which is only an average with other years — 

 from the homestead, was seven hundred dollars. The first 

 crop of grass growing on the ground occupied by the orchard 

 yielded two and one-half tons per acre, and was sold standing 

 for seventeen dollars and fifty cents per acre. The second 

 crop yielded about two tons, and was sold for thirty-six dollars. 



It is impossible for me to give you an accurate statement' of 

 the amount of expenditure I have made in bringing my orchard 

 into its present state of perfection. I consider the whole 

 estate as increased in value far beyond the measure of expend- 

 itures ; and I may be allowed to state, in evidence of this, that 

 in 1850 I received an offer of nine thousand dollars, and dur- 

 ing the last year one of ten thousand dollars, for the premises 

 — both of which offers were declined. 



In order to secure success and profit in the cultivation of 

 fruit trees, a few things are deemed indispensable : — 



1st. The Mode of Cultivation. — The process by which the 

 culture of fruit is to be carried on is precisely like that for corn 

 and potatoes. The ground must be well prepared and made 

 mellow by subsoiling and double spading. It is only by such 

 means that the roots of the trees are able to travel unobstruct- 

 ed in every direction in search of food, and that light and 

 warmth are admitted into the bosom of the soil in which they 

 find their residence and support. In young orchards the til- 

 lage should be deep and thorough, without fear of injury to the 

 roots ; with old trees, however, the treatment of the soil must 

 be more gentle ; and I would neither recommend the disturb- 

 ance of the ground to a great depth, nor ploughing near tho 

 body of the tree. These elder members of the family must not 



