274 



THE POMOLOGIST AND GARDENER. 



1871 



of wheat, on which we depend for our daily bread, 

 was inadequate to the demand ? Yet men are not 

 more dependent for life upon their daily bread than 

 are our fruit crops upon the food which is supplied 

 to them iu the form of manure of one kind or 

 another. To supply this want we shall be com- 

 pelled to rely iu great measure upon artificial fer- 

 tilizers, and chemistry has not yet taught us, as it 

 will doubtless in the future, how to supply the 

 wants of <uir fruit crops with certainty and abund- 

 ance But we cannot too often or too forcibly im- 

 press upon the minds of all cultivators the sacred 

 duty of saving every particle of fertilizing material, 

 and applying it in such manner as will produce the 

 utmost eflect. And on this last point the lesson 

 which experience has taught is, that manure ap- 

 p.ied to fruit-trees should be either in the form of 

 a top-dressing or as near the surface as is consistent 

 with the composition of the soil, aud the preserva- 

 tion of its fertilizing elements. 



MULCHING. 



While on this subject we will add as another of 

 the lessons of experience, which may be said to be 

 fixed, the advantage of mulching for dry seasons 

 and soilb, whereby the temperature and the moist- 

 ure of the soils are kept uniform, and the fertil- 

 izing elements in a soluble state, an essential con- 

 dition for the production of perfect fruit. 



THINNING OF mUIT. 



This is another lesson which we have learned, 

 and the necessity of which we have often endeav- 

 ored to impress upon cultivators, and which every 

 successive season teaches with stronger emphasis. 

 It is absolutely necessary for all who send fruit to 

 market, to send large fruit, and the markets are 

 constantly and progressively requiring large and 

 fine fruit. Even the Secke! pear which once com- 

 manded in Boston market the highest price, will not 

 now, unless of extra size, sell for any more than, if 

 as much as, common varieties of large size. A me- 

 dium-sized fruit, or even one of smaller size, niay 

 be more economical for use, but until some decided 

 change in the preferences of the majority of pur- 

 chasers shall take place, large fruit will sell better 

 than small. To produce this, the fruit must not 

 only have good cultivation, but must be thinned, 

 and we agree with Mr. Meehan that " one-half the 

 trees which bear fruit every year would be bene- 

 fitted by having one-half the fruit taken oflf as soon 

 as it is well set, and that the overbearing of a tree 

 will in a few years destroy it." We lay it down as 

 a certain rule, that excessive production is always at 

 the expense of both quantity and quality, if not in 

 the same season then in succeeding ones, for when 

 branch is contending with branch, leaf with leaf, 

 and fruit with fruit, for its supply of light and food. 

 It would be indeed an anomaly in nature if this 

 should not result in permanent injury to the tree as 

 well as to the annual crop. 



INSECTS AND DISEASES. 



The subject of insects and diseases is daily at- 

 tracting more attention, for their depredations are 

 daily becoming a greater evil, and the importance 

 of entomological investigation is every day more 

 plainly seen. It is less than fifty years since Dr. 

 Harris tirst published his work on "Insects Injuries 

 to vegetation." and great is the debt of gratitude we 

 owe to him and to the succeeding investigators who 

 have given their lives to studying the habits of 



these little " creeping things which be upon the 

 earth," that they may teach us how to destroy 

 those which prey upon our trees, and to distinguish 

 our friends from our foes. Every plant imported 

 from abroad brings with it a new insect or disease, 

 and the dissemination of new plants and varieties, 

 without which there can be no progress in horti- 

 culture, inevitably disseminates their insect ene- 

 mies. On this subject the words of Edmund Burke 

 are appropr iate : " The most vigilant superintend- 

 ence, the most prompt activity, which has no such 

 a day as to-morrow in its calendar, are necessary to 

 the farmer ;" and we may add still more to the fruit 

 grower, and ten fold more necessary in combating 

 our insect enemies. The neglect of battling with 

 these vile creatures is the great bane to successful 

 cultivation ; but as long as moral evil exists in the 

 world, so long may we expect there will be evil in 

 the natural world, and he who is not willing to con- 

 tend against both is not worthy of the name of 

 either cultivator or Christian. 



We belong to that class who have faith in the ul- 

 timate triumph of good over evil in the moral 

 world, and our faith is not less strong that the in- 

 sect plagues shall, if not exterminated, at least be 

 subdued, so that the labor of keeping them so far 

 in check that no material harm shall be caused by 

 them will be comparatively easy. We have diseov 

 ered means for preventing the ravages of the cur- 

 rant worm, curculio, canker-worm, caterpillar- 

 melon bug and aphis, and the mildew and othe, 

 diseases of our vines. If we can do this, is it nor 

 reasonable to suppose that we can discover remet 

 dies for, or the means of preventing, all the disease- 

 and depredations that vegetation is liable to ? Is is 

 consistent with the Divine economy, so benevolent 

 in all its ways and works, to believe that this fait 

 creation has been spread out only to be destroyed r 

 that seed-time should be promised and the harvest 

 withheld; and from year to year our hopes de-; 

 ferred and our hearts made sick ? Is it in harmony 

 with that Divine Providence which created all 

 things and pronounced them very good? 



If any one say that it is no use to contend with 

 these hordes of vile creatures, or the disappoint- 

 ments upon which all culture is incident, let him 

 remember that it is the mission of life to struggle 

 against and overcome them. Instead of fretting 

 and groaning over these evils, let us battle with 

 them aud conquer them. Thus shall we gather the 

 rich fruits of our industry, and, 



" Where some would find thorns but to tortnre the flesh, 

 We'll pluck the ripe clusters our souls to refresh." 



But some one replies, let nature do all this, let 

 nature perform her perfect work ; true, but nature 

 brings us weeds, thistles and thorns, insects injuri- 

 ous to vegetation as well as those that are useful ; 

 and we were placed in this world not merely to as- 

 sist nature, but to meet and overcome the obsta- 

 cles which she sometimes places in our path,— to 

 elevate her to the highest and noblest purposes of 

 her creation. 



Many of the diflSculties and privations we endure, 

 if met and conquered, will prove blessings in dis- 

 guise. It is labor of mind as well as body, it is 

 work, work, work, that makes men strong. AVork 

 is the great engine that moulds and moves the in- 

 tellect, enterprise and destiny of the world— work 

 is the greatest temporal boon bestowed on man- 

 work is the heaven-appointed means of advance- 

 ment to a higher state of perfection ; and in no 

 profession is this more apparent than in the calling 



