63 



brush. No other insects to any extent trouble our apple- 

 treetf. The field-mice did considerable damage to our young 

 trees during one or two winters, but care should be taken 

 not to allow grass or other rubbish to accumulate around the 

 trees, and thus afford them a shelter. 



We try to prune our trees a little every winter ; should 

 prefer the mild weather during February and March. For 

 young orchard or nurser}^ trees, would trim in June. The 

 wormy fruit that drops is generally disposed of by the sheep 

 and other animals. 



For the ten most profitable apples for this County, I would 

 name the following, (the most valuable first) : Baldwin, 

 Hubbardston Nonsuch, Roxbury Russet, (for heavy land,) 

 Hunt Russet, King 6f Tompkins County, R. I. Greening, 

 Red Astrachan, Gravenstein, Porter, Danvers Winter Sweet. 



For five best varieties for table use, I would suggest Wil- 

 liam's Favorite, Large Yellow Bough, Gravenstein, Hunt 

 Russet, and King of Tompkins Co. They are all good bear- 

 ers. There are probably many other excellent varieties that 

 would do well in this County, but these are old and tried, 

 and no one would go very far astray in planting these. Some 

 of these will do well on a light soil with very little cultiva- 

 tion, while others require a rich soil and very high cultiva- 

 tion. 



STATEMENT OF A GENTLEMAN OF GROVELAND. 



I have perhaps fifty apple trees, consisting of Northern 

 Spy, Hubbardston Nonsuch, Baldwin and Roxbury Russets, 

 for winter use, and Gravenstein and Porter for the fall, grow- 

 ing on a variety of soil, with a subsoil of slate or gravel, 

 with no especial pains to enrich, but growing upon the natural 

 soil. My trees are most of thcmi thirty or more years old ; 

 some of them, however, have been grafted within ten years, 

 and upon these I have had the best crops. 



