166 



THE POMOLOGIST. 



December 



For the Western Pomologiet. 



Vitality of Trees. 



The failure in approciating tliis element 

 iu the cultivation of trues is a fruitful source 

 of iliscouragemout among the best agricultu- 

 rists, and much more so among ignorant 

 emp3'rics, who do not recognise it at all. 

 Vegetable physiology is a science, and it is 

 only necessary to suggest and stimulate re- 

 search, lii my last, essay, I ventured to 

 criticise the empyrical practices of veteran 

 experts, and since that I notice that their 

 plan is recommended, and perhaps -n-ill re- 

 main the most practical or easy of accom- 

 plishment, as endorsed by the agricultural 

 literature of tl)e day. We may pay too dear 

 for the whistle in expending unnecessary 

 labor on tress for sale. 



Many years since, when in the Green 

 Room, Professor Robey asked me which of 

 two cases presented the most favorable 

 prognosis, 1st. A man who gradually lost 

 one whole lung by pleuritic eflusion, or the 

 sudden compression of one-half by the same 

 means. The case of the former is that of a 

 tree gradually deprived of its branches, as I 

 have indicated ia the case of the dwarf 

 pear, and now recommend in trimming the 

 poach, whereas tlie latter is the plan usually 

 recommended for the pear, and universally 

 adopted with reference to the pcacli. The 

 shock when cut back to one bud is not suffl- 

 citnt (perhaps) to reduce the vital power 

 more than one -half, but the subsequent 

 docking of both the roots and the whole o 

 the branches and top must expend much 

 of its vital power, especially when the 

 stumps of the roots measure half an inch' 

 and a corresponding stump is exposed at the 

 other extremity. The question is not 

 whether the plant will survive such treat- 

 ment, but whether its 1 )'jgcvity or profitable 

 fruiting will be impaired. Does it ever, 

 under any circumstances and subsequent 

 nourishment, regain its normal or original 

 vitality, or the peculiar and iudividual gift 

 of a certain measure of life with which 

 every living thing is especiaUy endowed? 

 In other words, can we entertain the mon- 

 strous absurdity of spontaneous generation 

 of life even in a tree ? Analogy may again 

 indicate the answer. What is the verdict of 

 any dozen dairymen when a heifer is allowed 

 to bear two calves during the tirst three 

 years of her life? It will not require a 

 prophet to tell her fate as a cow when com- 

 pared with anotlier that has had but one calf 

 in the same period. Extreme severity in 

 pruning administers a shock nearly equiva- 

 lent to excessive fruiting at an early period, 

 and should be gradually performed, if possi- 

 ble, as I have indicated, at least amoug ama- 

 teurs. 



A switch stimulates, but a large limb 

 knocks down and depresses vitality. More- 

 over, small injuries suddenly multiplied have 

 the same influence. For in«t:iuce, a small 

 blister on the chest is only tolerably irritat- 



ing and flushes the cheeks like roses, and so 

 naturally that it is said the ladies of Queen 

 Elizabeth used such means ; but applied to 

 the whole bod)', although merely skin deep, 

 as a scald, it produces chilliness and death. 

 So also with regard to the peach. The ex- 

 tensive abrasions of hail knock off the fruit, 

 which the hail never struck, by depressing 

 the vitality of the tree. Indeed, some object 

 to the removal of the fruit at an early period 

 on account of the irritation inflicted by thin' 

 ning when the peach is adherent to the skin 

 of the tree. We are now engaged in prun- 

 ing off a large portion of the bearing wood 

 and fruit spurs from both the north and 

 south sides of all our trees, (say ten thousand 

 of various ages,) since we have entertained 

 this impression, and wish to husband the 

 vital resources of the trees, so as to not only 

 insure a crop, but a regular succession, and 

 also the longevity of the trees, also the color- 

 ing and size of the fruit. Vertically, and 

 toward the east and west, we allow the 

 branches to expand unmolested, while the 

 corresponding roots are nourished with spe- 

 cific plant food. 



We are also having the mulch removed 

 from the stem of each tree, and with it all of 

 the surface soil that was banked upon it dur- 

 ing all of the summer, for reasons which may 

 be more appropriately embraced in another 

 essay in the next volume of the Pomologist, 

 at the time when tlie mulch is renewed. 

 Many orchards in this vicinity were com- 

 pletely destroyed a few 3'ears since, by the 

 unfortunate publication of a successful ex- 

 periment in the destruction of the peach 

 worm, by baring or exposing the roots dur- 

 ing the winter. During a moderate winter 

 this may answer, but a severe winter killed 

 all the trees thus treated. 



My plan kills the worms, and also the 

 curculio, and benefits the trees, also. It in- 

 creases my chance for resisting the late 

 frosts of the spring, as I will attempt to ex- 

 plain hereafter. A basin is formed around 

 each tree, where a mound was collected, and 

 the mice are not only expelled, but forbidden 

 to return, while the curculio there embedded 

 and sheltered are exposed on the surface soil 

 and scattered in the exposed space between 

 the rows, east and west, precisely over the 

 roots of the branches that bear next year, 

 giving them a double portion of this rich com- 

 post and surface soil to draw upon. More- 

 over, the eggs or larvie of the peach wasp 

 are left high and dry, where the mulch 

 inocted their deposit, and now, unprotected, 

 they must succumb under the tender mer- 

 cies of the winter, where any one can see 

 them in the spring, riding out on the inspis- 

 sated sap or gu/ii, showing clearly what they 

 would do, "Had not the horn been plucked 

 which grew full in thy front." 



The basin referred to is of course vented 

 on the most dependent portion, to avaid any 

 accumulation of water around the stem of 

 the tree. 



In the spring, we intend throwing the 

 furrow from the north and south sides of 

 each tree, or "bar ploughing," as is said of a 

 similar cultivation of corn, and this must be 

 done before the leaves expand, or it will 

 cause the fruit to drop by disturbing the 

 relation of root and branch ; and these roots, 

 thus preserved, must be supplied with spe- 

 cific manure adapted to the production of 

 wood, such as I recommended Dr. Cowgill, 

 of Florida, recently, for the production of 

 sugar, and upon the same principles, pub- 

 lished in American Farmer, and also in the 

 Richmond Index. I will also send the form- 

 ula to this paper, as the compost may be 

 made on any farm. 



If wc can succeed iu developing the bear- 

 ing wood near the stem of the tree, and 

 avoid the opposite extreme universally en- 

 couraged by the common mode of trimming 

 — moreover, if we can compel each limb, 

 alternat-ly, to rest and produce only fruit, 

 spurs, while the bearing limbs are nouri.shed 

 with specific food, and the fruit exposed un- 

 usually to the sun both moruingand evening 

 — we can not only hear the criticisms of ex- 

 perienced peach growers, but wish to invite 

 all the objections which can be urged, as the 

 uniform and remarkable success of any one 

 person should not be regarded as a safe indi- 

 cation for departure from old established 

 usages. Progress is the popular order of 

 the day, and real progress is detecied more 



certainly and promptly in the North- 

 western than any other States. 



David Stewakt, M. D. 

 Port Ptnn, Del, Nov., 1870. 



Premiums for Forest Trees. 



The Massachusetts Society for promoting 

 Agriculture has awarded to Major Ben Per- 

 ley Poore, of Indian Hid Farm, near New- 

 burj'poit, the premium of $1,000 which it 

 offered in 1858 for the best plantation of 

 forest trees, planted before 1860 and growing 

 iu 1870. The premium was offered in com- 

 pliance with a statute " for the raising and 

 preservation of oak and other forest trees 

 best adapted to perpetuate within the State 

 an adequate supply of ship timber." 



Major Poore has not only sncctssfully 

 demonstrated that forest trees can be profit- 

 ably grown where the land is not of great 

 value, but he has shewn that our bleak and 

 barren hills can be reclothed with forests, 

 restoring the soil, reviving exhausted .springs 

 in the vaDej's, and ameliorating the climate. 

 The plantation on Indian Hill, which is 

 about twent3'-five acres iu extent, is well 

 worth a visit by all interested iu arboricul- 

 ture, and the report by Major Poore of his 

 labors during the past ten years will be a 

 valuable contribution to our rural literature. 



The first premium for forest trees oflered 

 on this continent was by the Massachusetts 

 Society for promoting Agriculture, in 1797, 

 a gold medal worth $200. It was awarded 

 toOol. Robert Dodge, of Hamilton, who was 

 Major Poore's grandfather on his mother's 

 side, and this prompted the Major to compete 

 for the premium last oflered b.v the same 

 Society. It is to be hoped that the example 

 thus set by the parent Society of Mas.sachu- 

 setts will be followed by the county organi- 

 zation.s, and that before many 3"ears Massa- 

 chusetts will'be, as it was when the Puritans 

 came here, "a well wooded country." — Boa- 

 ton Journal. 



