72 



third to Hungarian and grass seed, which crops can in most 

 orchards be successfnlly cultivated, it will be in good condi- 

 tion as far as the roots are concerned, to reward the owner 

 with good crops. 



Our trees are nearly all in bearing. One orchard of one 

 hundred trees, which, when planted, in May, 1858, were one 

 inch in diameter. New York trees, are now some of them 

 eight inches in diameter. The soil is rich loam, but very 

 shallow, the ledges often coming to the surface. Borers, cat- 

 erpillars, and canker worms destroy the beauty of most or- 

 chards in this neighborhood. I dig out the borers with a 

 sharp knife, or probe for them with a piece of small-sized 

 wire, partly hooked at the end, whenever I see any signs of 

 them. Caterpillars are quickest destroj^ed by gathering their 

 eggs after the leaves have fallen ; as they are usually on the 

 ends of the branches they are easily detected, and after I 

 gather them I burn them up. 



The canker-worm is the worst pest to deal with. She 

 must be kept down from the trees, for she will deposit her 

 eggs under the loose scales of bark, either on the body or 

 limbs of the trea, and so many of them that it is impossible 

 to destroy them. I have tried several methods to keep the 

 grubs from going up, and I think that a strip of tarred paper 

 tacked around the body of the tree, and the preparation called 

 printers' ink thinned with petroleum put on with a brush, if 

 attended to, will destroy as many grubs, and with less dam- 

 age to the tree, than any other mode. 



In pruning trees I take off a limb at any season of the 

 year when I see a chance to improve the shape of the tree, 

 or when one liml:» interferes with another. If trees have not 

 been pruned gradually as they have grown, and want much 

 wood removed at once, I usually take the month of March, as 

 the dry winds at that time will dry the cut wood, causing it 

 to shrink, and affording a good chance to heal over. Our 

 wormy windfalls we grind and turn to vinegar, or throw 

 them to the hogs. 



