300 Address delivered before the Fruit Growers' Society. 



It was an old belief, (now becoming quite antiquated with intelligent persons,) 

 that the planter of trees was not to expect crops in his own life time — that he 

 planted only for his children. No doubt this opinion originated in the slow pro- 

 gress made by neglected young trees. For if a tree makes but eight inches of 

 growth in a season, as in the case just exhibited, and none in grass or grain field 

 can be ex"pected to do much more, it would require at least seven years for such 

 a tree to make the progi'ess attained in a single year under the best culture. I 

 have taken the pains, the present season, to measure the products of a few apple 

 trees, set out about six years ago, then two years from the graft. The Roil 

 had but one light manuring for many years, and was naturally more sterile than 

 most of our common farm soils. But it had been kept under good clean cultiva- 

 tion. Two of the Dyer apple bore each a basket and two thirds ; a Baldwin yield- 

 ed three bushels and a half ; a tree of the Minister, three bu.shels : a Belmont, two 

 years older, bore five bushels ; and a Northern Spy, eight years transplanted into 

 a large hole containing a portion of compost, bore nine bushels. I could furnish 

 many other instances of a similar character and equally striking, had the crops 

 been measured. Some years since, a row of twenty peach trees, the ground hav- 

 ing been kept cultivated and free from all other growth, bore the third summer 

 from transplanting, about one peck each, and one of them bore about three pecks 

 of peaches. Now, these are not extraordinary instances, and they are merely 

 fiirnished to show what may be often reasonably expected when proper atten- 

 tion is given to cultivation. 



Now. no one can justly say that the cost of cultivation is too great for general 

 practice, provided an arrangement is made for horse-cultivatiou. which should 

 always be the case with every considerable plantation, in this land of high-priced 

 labor. No farmer complains of the cost of cultivating an acre of corn or pota- 

 toes, or can'ies his complaiats so far as to propose to let these crops wholly take 

 care of themselves after planting, as many do with their costly young trees. Yet 

 it is much easier to keep an acre of land in trees clean and well pulverized, than 

 an acre of corn and potatoes, for there are usually only a hundred or two of trees, 

 which may be easily work about with plow or harrow ; while there are three or 

 four thousand corn or potato hills, every one of which requii'es separate attention. 

 By keeping the ground clear of all vegetable growth in an orchard or fruit gar- 

 den, whether it be a planted crop, or a self-sown^crop of weeds, which is the best 

 and most profitable coui'-se, (unless it be sometimes that a green crop for manure 

 may be advisable)— by adopting this coiu'se. five or six dollars an acre are all that 

 need be required, where one or two plowings and five or six harrowings are given 

 armually. — aflbrding an almost incredible supply of the necessaries, comforts, and 

 luxuries of life combined ; while without such cultivation, perhaps not a fifth 

 part of the same real value would be afforded. How strange that any one should 

 attempt to save the few by wasting the hundreds ! Squandering the dollars to 

 save the cents, most emphatically ! But it is needless to dwell longer on the sub- 

 ject. 



In addition to the more common objects for our labors. — assisting in the selec- 

 tion of the best fruits, in disseminating them more generally, and in promoting 

 skillful cultivation, — there is another field which has hardly been entered as yet, 

 except by a very few, but which is well worthy of our attention. I allude to the 

 raising of new varieties, not by hap-hazard merely, but by carefully directed, sci- 

 entific labor. 



But some one is perhaps ready to exclaim, '• ^Tiy, we have too many sorts al- 

 ready ! We are already bewildered by the interminable lists of varieties before 

 the public — our object should be to reduce, not increase the number."' This may 

 be true to a great extent ; but what we want is a V>etter quality than we now 

 h^ve ; we wish to cast away the whole multitude of poor sorts, and get better 

 ones. It is true, that we have a vast number, almost worthy of cultivation ; but 

 we want so rich a list to select from, that we shall have not only those adapted to 

 different localities, difterent seasons, different purposes, different appetites, and to 

 a complete succession throughout the difterent months of the year, but we want 

 all these to be of such undoubted, unmistakable excellence and general value. 



