80 TEAIflACTIOXS. 



press home to the mind of every proprietor of a garden spot or farm, 

 in Western Massachusetts, the importance of fruit-culture. Then, 

 ere long, this region will become as noted for producing an ample 

 supply of the choicest varieties of fruits, as it has been, hitherto, for 

 the lack of them. 



APPLE ORCEAKDS. 

 STATEMENT OF THEODORE PASCO. 



I have eighty-one trees of grafted fruit in one location, on an acre 

 and a quarter of land. A part stand on loamy, and the remainder on 

 sandy soil. I have, also, twenty-three scattered and ungrafted trees. 

 The trees in my orchard were grafted, six or seven feet from the 

 ground, twelve years after they were set. Most of them are twenty 

 feet apart, but I think it would be better, if the distance was twenty- 

 eight or thirty feet. The land they stand on has never been ploughed 

 since they were set ; for my opinion is, that turning over the soil 

 around the trees, two or three feet from them, and throwing on com- 

 post manure plentifully, is preferable to ploughing. Young trees 

 standing on land, that is often ploughed, at first, will look very thrifty, 

 and grow fast ; but soon the roots are badly injured and the result is, 

 the appearance of the orchard is sadly changed. My varieties of 

 fruit are, Greenings, Nurseries, Baldwins, Roxbury Russets, Shaker 

 Russets, Gilly Flowers, Seek-no-furthers, Winter Sweets, Golden 

 Sweets, Gennetings, Pumpkin Sweets, Spitzenburg, Pound Royals, 

 and several varieties of early apples. I have gathered, this year, from 

 my grafted trees, one hundred and eighty-one bushels of good winter 

 fruit, thirty bushels of fall apples, and one hundred and fifty bushels 

 of cider apples. 



Hadley, Oct. 16, 1854. 



STATEMENT OF NATHANIEL SMITH. 



My Orchard which I offer for a premium, has over seventy-five 

 trees. About twenty of them are thirty years old, but the remainder 

 are young trees, some of which are in bearing this year. The old 

 trees were grafted after they were set out. The soil is sandy loam, 

 deep and rich. The old part is in grass ; broom-corn is cultivated on 

 the other part. The manure used is common compost, and the quan- 

 tity of apples is probably about one hundred and fifty bushels, valued 

 this year from forty-five to fifty dollars. The value of the fruit was 

 much reduced by the hail storm in September. My varieties are, 

 Early Harvest, Porter, Congress, Greenings, two kinds of Russets, 



