28 STATE POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 



favor of setting out trees from seven to ten years old, pro- 

 vided they have been properly cared for in the nursery, and 

 receive the same attention in subsequent years. It is the 

 steady and healthy growth rather than the age and size of a 

 tree that should be taken into the account in transplanting a 

 tree. Extremes, . however, should be avoided. It should be 

 remarked that the last season was one of the most favorable 

 on record for planting trees. 



Some persons prefer grafting the trees when transplanted. 

 My limited experience in this has not been so successful, and 

 I prefer to wait till the trees are well rooted, and the stocks 

 are an inch or so in diameter, and graft them at least three 

 feet from the ground. 



A friend of mine, who is a blacksmith, informs me that he 

 makes a little hill of cinders from his shop around each tree 

 to keep off" the mice. He has found their nests in the spring 

 close up to the hillock without their finding the tree. 



As it has been suggested by a successful pomologist and 

 mem))er of this society, Mr. A. Smith of Monmouth, there 

 is a rage to set out very large orchards. I have something 

 over three hundred trees, and 1 am certain that I can .spend 

 all of my time during the year in looking after that number. 

 As he suggests, the farmer who has forty trees, will find 

 enough to do to care for them, as Mr. Smith cares for his, in 

 connection with his other farming labors. 



I propose to keep the land of my new orchard under culti- 

 vation for a series of years. It is of doul)tful advantage to 

 have a tree come into bearing very early. It is apt to be the 

 sign of dwarfishness, or of premature death. It is better to 

 wait patiently, but keep the trees in a vigorously growing 

 condition until they are capable of producing half a bushel, 

 more or less, of apples in a single crop. One of the best 

 young orchards I have seen in the State is that of Daniel B. 

 Grover, Esq., of West Bethel. The trees were grafted into 

 seedling stocks nine years ago, and the ground has been cul- 

 tivated with hops nearly all the time since. They are large, 

 sleek looking, and just beginning to bear. The ground is 



