44 



ill this county, pcaclj, plum and cherry trees are much aeg- 

 lected ; notwithstanding the latter, if headed down,* and pro- 

 perly managed, will soon bear abundantly ; and the former are 

 more easily cultivated than most fruit trees. The best kinds of 

 cherries, ripening, as they do, at an early season, when there is 

 no other kind of fruit in the market, will always command a good 

 price. Of these, the birds, which cheer you with their melody 

 in the spring, and greatly benefit you by destro}^ing insects dur- 

 ing that and the following seasons, will claim a share. Instead 

 of declaring war against such good friends, act a more generous 

 part ; plant more trees, and rai^e fruit enough for them, your- 

 selves and the market. Peach and plum trees are generally 

 short-lived : but this is a circumstance of very little importance, 

 as they can always be replaced if a few stones be planted annu- 

 ally. The better varieties of the plum and peach, which can 

 always be raised as easily as any, are delicious fruit, and may be 

 preserved in sugar : or, by drying, for culinary purposes ; or 

 converted into vinous liquors by fermentation. 



European walnuts are deserving attention, as are our native 

 shagbarks. The growth of the timber will pa}'^ for cultivating, 

 and the fruit will be clear gain. . The chesnut is a valuable tree,, 

 both for timber and its fruit ; it grows rapidl}^ ; and a late dis- 

 covery, that the wood is superior to oak bark for tanning, ren* 

 ders it highly impostant that it should be cultivated where there 

 are such extensive tanneries as in some parts of Essex. 



It has been naid of American farmers, thqt '*• they plant" and 

 " they neglect" fruit trees. In this county they seldom do the 

 first. Nurseries are almost totally neglected, notwithstanding 

 there ought to be one on every farm, containing at least apple, 

 pear, plum, peach and cherry trees. At present nothing sells 

 more readily, or affords the cultivator a better profit, than young 

 fruit or ornamental trees, at an age suitable for transplanting ; 

 ti\ii should nurseries ever become so numerous a§ to do away 



* Heading aovp.i. — This method of pruning, Forsyth says, will cause 

 trees to bear every year, and produce three fourths more fruit than they 

 otherwise would. When the buds begin to swell in the spring, cut the 

 principiil shoots down to three or four eyes. In old trees, cut one half of 

 such shoots only, in one 3-ear. This prevents the growth of long, naked 

 branches, anc] fills the head of the tree with bearing v;ood. 



