RURAL LIFE IN LITCHFIELD COUNTY 



injury, but adds that when he began pasturing the 

 clover the injury ceased, and his conjecture was, that 

 "by carefully feeding it to keep it from having any 

 bloom, it does not injure as it manifestly did when suf- 

 fered to come to such maturity as to fit it for mowing. " 



To-day orchardists find that there is nothing more 

 valuable to grow in the orchard than clover, providing, 

 of course, it is grown at the right time of the year and 

 not allowed to check, the tree growth early in the sea- 

 son. The trouble experienced in the early days was 

 probably due to the serious check given the growth of 

 the trees in the early summer, mainly due to the large 

 use of soil water by the clover. The present-day or- 

 chardist cultivates his orchard lands the early part of 

 the season, when the trees are growing rapidly, and thus 

 conserves soil moisture; and then he often sows clover, 

 during the middle or late summer, in order to check the 

 growth of wood, so that it will harden before winter. 

 The clover is generally plowed under early the next 

 spring and serves as a fertilizer for the trees. 



In the "Report of Greenwood's (Litchfield County) 

 Agricultural Society for 1845" will be found the fol- 

 lowing record of varieties reported on by Thomas A. 

 Miller of Torrington, including eight varieties of win- 

 ter apples: "two varieties of Pippins, the Seeknofur- 

 ther, Roxbury Russett, Gilliflower, Pounder, Peck's 

 Sweet and Long Island Red Cheek, all fine specimens 



on 



