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NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



In most all parts of the country, particularly in New 

 England, it fails, as the tree is a slow grower, poor 

 bearer, and the fruit generally knurly, and often 

 inferior in quality. During the last winter and 

 spring, these apples were, in this market, selling at a 

 less price than the Baldwins. We do not believe 

 that the growers of this fruit can show so much profit 

 to the acre, as produced by the Baldwin or Greening. 



We have had several specimens of late-keeping 

 apples, sent into our office by dealers who bought 

 them in New York, when purchasing there last fall ; 

 but generally they are dry and tough ; and the same 

 objections apply to several kinds which wc liavc 

 received from our friends in this section. 



The five following kinds we have described in the 

 American Fruit Book ; as they are new, but little is 

 known of them. 



Shawmut. — This is a good apple till the latter 

 part of May, but it is too small for market. 



Norfolk. — A fine pleasant little apple, in August, 

 the second season ; a good grower. This is all that 

 ■we know about it. 



Orange. — Raised in New Hampshire. Tliis keeps 

 till July. They are rather acid, and excellent for 

 cooking, but rather small for the market. 



Ked IlussET. — We had a barrel of this fruit last 

 fall, and we have a little of it left. It keeps about as 

 well as the Roxbury Kusset, is of the same size, and 

 much handsomer. It is better than the Roxbury 

 Russet both for cooking and for the dessert. We find 

 it an excellent grower, and it is called a good bearer. 

 Mr. N. P. Morrison, of Somerville, who is distin- 

 guished as a successful fruit-grower, gave us a speci- 

 men of fruit and some scions, raised in his vicinity, 

 which he thought might be identical with the Red 

 Russet. The fruit appeared precisely the same, but 

 we thought the wood of the scions was different. 

 We shall examine further into this subject. Mr. M. 

 pronounced the Red Russet, or Baldwin Russet, as he 

 sometimes called it, a very valuable late-keeping 

 apple. 



Tap.le Greening. — We know but little of this 

 fruit, though it originated in our native town, Cor- 

 nish, Maine. Soon after we became acquainted with 

 it, we left that section, and the old tree died, so that 

 we have had to wait for some young trees to come 

 into bearing. We have had these (raised in Maine) 

 in fine condition the second year, in September. 

 Size, medial ; flesh rather hard, but very good for 

 eating and cooking, retaining its qualities remarkably 

 well. It is a good grower, and though our young 

 trees have been rather long in coming into bearing, 

 from causes unknown, the blossom buds which we 

 find on the wood of two years' growth, indicate that 

 it is an early bearer. We have disseminated this 

 variety widely for trial, and we wish for our friends 

 to report when it bears, and is tested in the proper 

 season. At present we recommend it for trial only, 

 though it is very promising, keeping better than any 

 other apple that we ever tried. 



Agriculture is the art of arts : witliout it man 

 would be a savage, and the world a wilderness. 



THE PROSPECT FOR FRUIT. 



The prospect for fruit has changed greatly since 

 early in June. The sudden and extremely hot 

 weather, with severe drought, cut short the straw- 

 berry crop one half. The same causes, with frequent 

 cold north-east Avinds, greatly injured the cherries, 

 causing large quantities to fall when partially grown. 

 Apples, pears, and plums have been blasted to a 

 great extent, and much injured by insects. On the 

 whole, the fruit crop will be light, and owing to fears 

 of the cholera, the demand is light also. 



PRUNING. 



Summer pruning is sometimes necessary in order 

 to give form and proper direction to nursery trees, 

 and standard trees maj' need thinning in order to 

 expose the fruit to light and air. Grape-vines may 

 need thinning, owing to a want of sufficient pruning 

 in the spring or last fall. But in pruning trees thor- 

 oughly, particularly if largo limbs are to be cut off, 

 it is best to defer the business till the last of July, 

 August, or the former part of September. 



Late in summer and early in autumn, the bark 

 does not peel as it does early in the summer, when 

 it often starts from the tree which is injured, bj' going 

 into trees and stepping on Umbs with hard shoes. 

 The sap will ooze out of some trees early in summer, 

 which not only injures them generally, but it often 

 causes the wounded part to decay. 



But in late pruning, the wood, when the branch 

 is cut off, becomes sound and well seasoned ; and 

 though it may not heal over so readily as when cut 

 early in summer or spring, it remains in a healthy 

 state. This is the main consideration. What would 

 it avail for a surgeon to heal a wound at the surface 

 while it was festering at the bottom ? 



Late in summer and early in fall is not only the 

 most favorable season for the benefit of the trees, but 

 it is a convenient and pleasant season for the opera- 

 tion. 



OSAGE ORANGE. 



A writer in the Valley Farmer, who dates Iowa, 

 states that the Osage Orange is too tender for that 

 climate, and that otherwise it is not fit for a hedge, as 

 it forms a tree, not a shrub. He says, that a farmer 

 who sowed thirty dollars' worth of seed, three years 

 ago, has onlj' about a dozen plants left, as each year 

 has thinned them off. 



A NOBLE SENTIMENT. 



The more I am acquainted with agricultural affairs, 

 the better I am pleased with them ; insomuch that 

 I can nowhere find so great satisfaction as in those 

 innocent and useful pursuits. In indulging those 

 feelings, I am led to reflect how much more delight- 

 ful to an undebauched mind is the task of making 

 improvements on the earth, than all the vain glory 

 which can be acquired from ravaging it by the most 

 uninterrupted career of conquests. — Washington's 

 Letters to Arthur Young. 



