106 



ORCHARDS. 



JABEZ FISHER'S STATEMENT. 

 ORCHARD. 



The apple orchard which I enter for premium is 

 made up of 137 trees, of the following varieties, viz : 

 31 Baldwin, 21 Hubbardston Nonsuch, 11 Minister, 

 10 Danvers Winter Sweet, 9 Coggswell, 8 Porter, 7 

 Large Yellow Bough, 6 Williams' Favorite, 6 Rox- 

 bury Russet, 6 Fameuse, 6 Red Astrachan, 5 Seaver 

 Sweet, 4 Hunt Russett, 4 Ledge Sweeting, and 3 

 Colchester. 



With the exception of a few trees, the orchard was 

 planted in the spring of 1854. The trees are set in 

 the quincunx form, at a distance of 30 feet from each 

 other. Peach trees were set among the apples, but 

 eventually it is expected that the whole ground will be 

 occupied and covered by the apple trees alone. The 

 soil is a strong loam, sufficiently retentive of moisture, 

 and capable of producing upwards of 90 bushels of 

 corn to the acre, if weighed previous to drying. 



At the time of setting the orchard the land was in 

 sward. Preparations were made by digging holes five 

 feet in diameter, and twenty-two inches deep. These 

 were filled with sods and loam, and the trees carefully 

 planted. They varied in size somewhat, having cost 

 from twenty-five to fifty cents each, a rather large 

 price I am aware, but I have not seen occasion since 

 to regret the purchase of such fine specimens. 



I applied different manures and special fertilizers by 

 mixing them with the loam used in filling up around 

 the trees at the time of planting, but 1 have not been 

 able yet to discover that any one of them possessed 

 advantages over the others, or in fact that any benefit 

 has accrued from the use of either of them. 



