290 THE DAILY LIFE OF OUR FARM. 



to exclude moisture and prevent decay. I then in the 

 latter part of the same month slit the bark by running 

 a sharp-pointed knife from the ground to the first set 

 of limbs, which prevents the tree from becoming bark- 

 bound, and gives the young wood an opportunity of 

 expanding. In July I placed one peck of oyster-shell 

 lime under each tree, and left it piled round the trunk 

 until November, during which time the drought was 

 excessive. In November the lime was dug in thoroughly. 

 The result the following year was 1,700 barrels of 

 choice fruit, besides cider from refuse. In October I 

 manured these trees with stable manure, in which the 

 ammonia had been fixed, and covered this immediately 

 with earth. The succeeding autumn they were lite- 

 rally bending to the ground with the finest fruit I ever 

 saw, while the other trees in my orchard not so treated 

 were quite barren, the last season having been their 

 bearing season." 



Careful treatment of the apple I have myself found 

 to be rewarded. Our best orchard we have dressed the 

 last two years, once with old night-soil and lime com- 

 post, dug in at the roots, and once with leaf mould, of 

 which the chestnut wood affords us annually a quantity. 

 We have had grand crops both years since, and there is 

 a good show for the coming season : I shall, however, 

 try to lime around the stems. The trees are too old to 

 derive benefit from a splitting of the bark. 



Our youngsters have taken to bathing, and as our 

 broad river abounds with rapids I thought it best yes- 

 terday to inspect the scene of their enjoyment. I took 

 down the garden syringe to give a drink to the young 

 grass that is springing with a melancholy slowness, where 

 I pared the broken banks. With one end of the gutta- 



