84 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURAL REPOSITORY AM) 

 JOURNAL, FOR JUNE. 



(Continued from p. 63.) 

 A letter to the Correspoiulin^: Secretary, on 

 the subject of Fruit Trees, with the signature, 

 " A Norfolk Gardener," contains the following 

 judicious observations : 



'• The health, habits and fruitfulness of a tree 

 depend upon the habits it receives in the nur- 

 sery. 



First. The health of the tree depends in pari 

 on the soil of the nursery, which should be I'rec 

 from manure, and as nearly a gooil viifjin soil 

 as possible. This soil will give sufficient nour- 

 ishment to the plant without tbrcing it into lux- 

 uriance ; and when it is trnn-p!aiitcd from the 

 nursery it will not be checked in its growth il 

 the soil into which it is put has never been ma- 

 nured. Younj trees are more healthy by being 

 put into pure natural earth than if manured ; 

 and when age an;l decay come upon them they 

 will feel the benefit of this stimulus, if applied, 

 with more effect. 



One of the principal causes of ill health or 

 canker in young trees taken from nurseries is, 

 that the nurserj; men seldom take the trouble 

 To cut off the wood above the bud close to its 

 .shoulder, leaving a smooth and sloping surface. 

 !f they were to do this the wound would heal 

 'he tirst season ; but they usually leave a srn.ill 

 piece iVom which the top has been sliced oil 

 without car^; or rellection half an inch aliove 

 the shoulder of the shoot or bud, and of course 

 bevond the reach of the sap which issues from 

 it, and from the edge of the live bark to cover 

 tlie cut. This piece of wood dies, and it will 

 soon communicate its disease to the sound bark 

 and wood, until the eMl is beyond the reach of 

 ihe knif<^. 



Second. The habits of a tree depend in a 

 great measure on the quality of the scion or bud 

 which is ])ut into it, and on the direction given 

 to its branches in the training and pruning them. 

 The scion or bud should never be taken from 

 a tree that is unhealthy, or that is not in hear- 

 ing; and the strong and luxuriant shoots should 

 always be rejected. It is even better never to 

 take them from a tree that is very luxuriant in 

 its growth. 



Ifitbean apple, or pear tree, select your 

 scions from the end, or near the end of the fruit 

 bearing branches. The buds of the shoot should 

 bo plump, full and healthy. The middling 

 •sized scions are the best. The y(umg tree will 

 assume the character of the scion which is in- 

 serted into it, and will grow moderately or oth- 

 erwise; fruitt'ully or barren, according to the 

 judgment u-t'd in selecting the scions and prun- 

 ing its branches. 



If it be a peach that you are to bud, take Ihe 

 fruit bearing shoots of a moderate size with 

 doul)le and triple buds. These will put out 

 bk-'Soms in the spring, which may be rubbed 

 off when the wood bud has opened, and the sec- 

 ond year your tree will show fruit. Whereas 

 trees grafted or budded from strong gluttonous 

 shoots grow vigorously for many years without 

 giving the cultivator any returns for his labour. 

 i have trees, both pears and peaches, in my gar- 

 den, which were taken from a ]iublic nursery 

 more than ten j'ears ago, and which have al- 

 wa.s been growing with rapidity, and in appar- 

 eat good health, but which DCver produced me 



any fruit ; and 1 have otiiers which 1 have bud- 

 ded myself, which have been constantly <n bear- 

 ing from the second summer after the insertion 

 of the bud or graft. This variance 1 attribute 

 entirely to the difference in the qualities of the 

 scions, or buds. 



Third. There is no doubt that the quality o( 

 the soil contriJM^^ also very powerfully to the 

 fructilication oWBit trees. Dilferent fruits re- 

 quire different soils to make them perfect in 

 their kind ; as the Doyenne, or Saint Michael 

 pear produces best in a gravelly soil, while the 

 brown lieurre requires a more nutritious earth 

 and a more sheltered situation to bring it to per- 

 fection. But as a general rule, it is better for 

 young trees to be placed in a good, but not a 

 rich soil ; as the fructilication will be retarded 

 by too rapid a growth : but the fecundity of the 

 tree may be effectually secured by a judicious 

 choice of scions, and a healthy virgin soil that 

 IS light and warm." 



An article which is headed Bad JVinter Keep- 

 ing of Coios, by John Prince, Esq. of Roxbury, 

 contains matter well deserving the attention of 

 the practical farmer. Mr. P. observes that, 



" The too general practice of feeding cows 

 in the winter with only meadow hay, (which 

 has less nourishment tliau good straw) because 

 they cannot sell it, and have plenty of good 

 Knglish hay which goes to market, is I think 

 very bad policj'. If meadow hay must be used 

 in I'url, let it be sailed when ])ut in the barn, 

 and led in racks, in the yard by da3', and gond 

 Itdij, with vegetables of almost any kind in the 

 barn, night and morning, and if bran or oil cake 

 meal can be procured, both of which generally 

 may be had at reasonable prices, they cusht to 

 lie freely used, even though the cow should be 

 dry. 



"■ 1 had myself an instance of the good effect 

 within three years past, having purchased 

 high priced and very tine cow, in the autuinii. 

 which 1 put out for the winter in as good hand 

 as any i'armer in the country, to be fed as his 

 own stock were ; the whole sumnier, after com 

 ing home, though in good pasture, she never 

 gave more than five or six quarts at night milk 

 ing. The next winter she was kept at homo, 

 when she was well fed with good hity. and man 

 gel wurtzel, Swedish turnips or carrots, once a 

 day (though dry) and the whole of the next 

 summer she gave from eight to ten quarts at 

 night milking, and has continued ever since, in 

 the summer season to do equally well." 



Mr. Prince advises to use meadow hay freely 

 for litter, and to card or curry the animals, by 

 wliich ineaiis he is satisfied that they enjoy bet- 

 ter health, and will consume less food, and ob- 

 serves : 



" 1 tiiink it of more importance than is gen- 

 erally believed, that the iiuile, to which the 

 cow is sent, should bo of a really good breed, 

 even although the calf is not intended to be 

 raised — the veal will be better, and 1 believe 

 there is no doubt also, it has some effect on the 

 milk for the next season." He thinks that 

 "most farmers, who now keep 10 or 12 cows 

 in the common way, by selecting one half the 

 number of their richest and best milkers, would 

 make more butter than they now do, ami there 

 is also no doubt, that the manure of well fed 

 auimals is infinitely superior to that from mean- 



ly led ones — and 1 believe the quantity would 

 be as great as from double the number." 



In these sentiments we fully and heartily 

 concur. It was a pithy saying of the Rev. Mr. 

 Packard, (if we mistake not) of Marlborough, 

 Mass. that " were dairies 'estimated by the paib 

 of milk they produce, instead of the number of 

 cows, many farmers' wives, instead of asking 

 their husbands to buy another cow, would urge 

 them to sell two to enrich their dairy."'* 



" We often see in large families," continues 

 Mr. Prince, " where only one cow is kept, and 

 that one z^ell fed and attended to, that she gives 

 an abundance of milk and cream, and also makes 

 six or eight pounds of butter per week. This 

 is not so much owing to the qualities of the 

 cow, as the care and attention of keeping her 

 well fed and regularly and thoroughly milked. 



" I really wish our farmers generallv, would 

 be prevailed on to raise a greater quantity of 

 vegetables for the use of their stock, than they 

 have been in the habit of doing. Swedish fur- 

 nips and Mangel Wurtzel (of the true sorts) are 

 very easily raised, and every farmer has land 

 suitable for them, when he might not have suit- 

 able soil for Carrots, which I think give the 

 richest milk, but are much more expensive in 

 cultivation. These roots with care, even in pits, 

 out of doors, may be preserved till May and 

 .June, and yield generally double the quantity 

 that the same land would yield in potatoes. In 

 deed with me 1 have usually had more than 

 three times as many bushels per acre, and with 

 1 think no more labour. Mangel Wurtzel in- 

 deed iviU by their thinnings and trimmings, if 

 done with care, pay all the labour of the crop, 

 and give a fine evening food tor the cows, and 

 is also an excellent food for swine. 



A small patch of corn broadcast or in rows, and 

 cut after it gets two and a half or three feet 

 high, will give a fine evening food for cows, by 

 cniting it at about one foot from the ground, it 

 will grow again for another crop." 



" The statements of the unsuccessful candi- 

 dates for premiums, whose crops fell in some 

 degree short of those which obtained premi- 

 ums, with the account of the culture," are next 

 in order. The Editors of the Journal preface 

 these statements by observing, among other 

 things, that '' it is not enough to grant a few 

 premiums, limited by our small pecuniary means. 

 The interests of agriculture require, that we 

 should shew that the premium crops were not 

 extraordinary, were easily attainable by all, 

 were in fact almost equalled by others." 



We have then a letter from Mr. Samuel 

 Wright, Jr. of Westford, Mass. to the Chairmaa. 

 of the Committee on Agricultural productions, 

 giving an account of his method of culture, by 

 which he raised 78 bushels and .5 quarts of In- 

 dian Corn on an acre. 



" The ground was a piece which had been 

 laid down and mown six or seven years. I 

 ploughed it late in the fall of 181 S), and in the 

 spring of 1820 I planted it with corn and man- 

 ured it only in the hill with compost, from 

 wl.ich I had a decent crop of corn. Early in 



* Mais. Agricultural Repository, vol. v. p. 71- 



