I!^W ENGLAND FARMEIl. 



301 



f 



SEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



SA.TURUAY, APRIL 19, 1823. 



The Farmer''s and Garilener''s Remembrancer. 



APRIL. 

 Planting Thees. — After your ground has been 



1 operly trenched, spaded or ploughed, till it is 

 isJe perfectly tine and mellow, you may pro- 



ed, in the most judicious manner, and accord- 

 )g to the best authorities, to plant your fruit 



ees, forest trees, &c. The tree to be ])lanted 

 lould be as young as circumstances admit. Mr. 

 ficol, an English writer of reputation, states 



that generally trees three, or at most four 

 ears old from the seed, and which are from 



2 to 24 inches high, will, in any situation or 

 oil, outgrow those of any size under eight or 

 en feel, within the seventh year."* Mr. Cob- 

 ett says " If the tree be for an orchard it must 

 e five or six feet high, unless cattle are to be 

 :ept out for two or three years. And, in this 

 ase, the head of the tree must be pruned short, 

 prevent it from swaying about from the force 

 f the wind. Even when pruned, it will be ex- 

 losed to be loosened by this cause, and must be 

 ;ept steady by a stake ; but it must not be fas- 

 ened to a stake, until rain has come to settle the 

 jroimd ; for, such fastening would prevent it 

 rem sinking with the earth. The earth would 

 ink from it, and leave cavities about the roots. 

 iVhen the trees are short they will require no 

 takes. They may be planted the second year 

 ifter budding, and the first after grafting, and 

 hese are the best times."t 



A great difference of opinion appears to exist 

 •especting the time of the year best adapted to 

 )Ianting fruit trees In Pennsylvania, the spring 

 if the year is preferred. Ebenezer Preble, Esq. 

 n a communication to the Mass. Agr. Society, 

 ays that he prefers autumn to spring for plani- 

 ng apple trees, as the ground will settle round 

 he roots previous to the frost setting in, and 

 )e prepared to shoot in the spring, aided by 

 he rains which prevail at that season. If plant 



by other fibres more quickly. Dig the hole to 

 plant in three times as wide, and six inches 

 deeper than the roots actually need, as more 

 room. And now, besides the line earth gener- 

 allv, have some good mould sificJ. Lay some 

 ol' iliis six inches deep at the bottom of the iiolc. 

 I'lace the roots upon this in their natural order, 

 and hold the tree perfectly upright, while you 

 put more sifted earth on the roots. Sway the 

 tree backwanl and forward a little, and give it 

 a gentle lift and shake, so that the earth may 

 find its way amongst the roots, and leave not 

 the smallest cavity. Every root should be close- 

 ly touched by the earth in every pari. When 

 you have covered all the roots with the silled 

 earth, and have seen that your tree stands just 

 as high with regard to the level of the ground 

 as it did in the place where it before stood, al- 

 lowing about three inches for sinking, till up 

 the rest of the hole with the common earth of 

 the plat, and when you have about half filled it, 

 tread the earth that you put in, but not very 

 hard. Put on the rest of the earth, and leave 

 the surface perl'ectly smooth. Do not water by 

 any means. Water, poured on, in this case, 

 sinks rapidly down, and makes cavities amongst 

 the roots ; lets in air ; mould and canker follow ; 

 and great injury is done."* 



'■ If you plant in the spring, let it be as early 

 as the ground will bear moving ; only bear in 

 mind, that the ground must be dnj at top when 

 you plant. In this, the new roots will strike 

 out almost immediately ; and as soon as the 

 buds begin to swell shorten the head of the 

 tree. After a spring planting it may be neces- 

 sary to guard against drought; and the best pro- 

 tection is the laying of small stones of any sort 

 round the tree, so as to cover the area of a 

 circle of three feet in diameter, of which circle 

 the stem of the tree is the centre. This will 

 keep the ground cooler than any thing else you 

 can put upon it.f 



Mr. Forsyth says, " In transplanting trees, 

 especially large ones, I consider it to be ol 



?d in spring, he observes, the drought and heat great consequence that they be placed in the 



fa' 



jf summer will injure, if not destroy them, be- 

 'ore the roots find their placq. He transplanted 

 them as soon as the leaves fell in aut«mn, and 

 farmers have generally more leisure at that 

 time than in the spring.^ Mr. M'Mahon says, 

 '' as the seasons for planting out fruit and other 

 trees, differ so much in the climates of the U. 

 States, and even in the same place, in different 

 seasons, the only sure guide is, to plant all kinds 

 of trees as soon as their buds begin to swell, or 

 rather a little before. ""§ Mr. Cobbett says, " the 

 season of planting fruit trees is when the leaves 

 become yellow, or as early as possible in the 

 spring." 



When your ground is prepared, take up the 

 iree with care without wrenching or tearing it. 

 ♦' Prune the roots with a sharp knife so as to 

 leave none more than a foot long ; and if any 

 have been torn off nearer to the stem, prune 

 the part, so that no bruises or ragged parts re- 

 main. Cut off alt the fibres close to the roots ; 

 for they never live, and they mould, and do 

 great injury. If cut off their place is supplied 



* Practical Farmer, p. 150, 153; see, likewise, Mr. 

 Lowell's observations on planting Forest Trees, pub- 

 lished in New England Farmer, No. 8, p. 59. 

 ' t American Gardener, par. 287, 288. 



% Mass. Agricultural Repository, vol. iv, p. 8-1. 



same position (that is, having the same parts 

 facing the same points of compass) as formerly. 

 If you take notice when a tree is cut down, you 

 will find that three parts in four of the growth 

 are on the north side.'' 



With regard to the distance of each other, 

 which apple trees should be planted, a variety 

 of opinions have been entertained. Miller, an 

 experienced English horticulturist, recommends, 

 when the soil is good, fifty or sixty feet ; and 

 where the soil is not so good, forty feet. Law- 

 son, another English writer, observes that in a 

 good soil, and under proper management, apple 

 trees will, in forty or fifty years, spread twelve 

 yards on every side ; and the adjoining tree 

 spreading as much, gives twenty-four yards, or 

 seventy-two feet, and the roots will extend still 



i Gardener's Calendar, page 214. 



* " The holes ought, for various reasons, to be made 

 previous to the day of planting. If the season of plant- 

 ing be spring, and the ground and the weather be dry, 

 the holes should be watered the evening before the day 

 of planting, by throwing two or three pails full of water 

 into each ; a new but eligible practice." — Thacher^s 

 Orchardist, p. 52. 



t It has been found by experience to be a good prac- 

 tice, in a light soil, to mix small stones with the loam 

 about the root of the tree, in returning the earth into 

 the hole. These stones help keep the roets firm in 

 I their places in high winds, and prevent the earth about 

 ^ them from being loosened. 



t'urthei. He thereibre recommfnds that apple 

 trees be set at the distance of ciglity feet from 

 each other. Dr. Deane observed that trees in 

 that cold and cloudy region [England] need ev- 

 ery possible exposure to the sun and air. It 

 should be considered at the time of planting to 

 what size the trees are likely to grow. And 

 Ihcy should he set so far asunder, that their 

 limbs will not be likely to interfere wiien they 

 arrive at their full growth In a soil Ihat suits 

 ihcin best they will become largest. Twenty 

 five feet may be the right distance in some ; but 

 thirty-five feet will not be too much in the best 

 or even forty."* \S'e believe that the distance 

 most generally recommended is forty feet in all 

 directions. It docs not answer a good purpose 

 to plant small trees in the midst of full grown 

 trees, nor to plant young trees where old ones 

 have lately grown. An orchard should have a 

 northern exposure, and it is said that the rows 

 of trees in an orchard ought to incline to a 

 point of compass towards the east, as such an in- 

 clination gives the trees the greatest benefit 

 from the morning sun. 



On the choice of trees for pl.^kting. — " It 

 has been a received opinion, that the soil for a 

 nursery should not be made rich, as the plants 

 when removed to a more fertile soil, will flour- 

 ish more luxuriantly ; but late observation has 

 decided that the reverse of this will be found 

 correct. Where the soil is poor and lean, trees, 

 in every stage of growth, are observed to be 

 weak and stinted ; while those reared in a good 

 mellow soil always assume a free growth, and 

 advance with strength and vigor."! 



Look to your Sheep and Lambs. — " See that 

 the lambs can come at the teat ; and if not, clip 

 away the wool of the ewes which hinders thera, 

 as also all tags of wool on the udders of the 

 ewes which the lambs are liable to take hold of 

 instead of the teats. 



" If a ewe refuse to let her lamb suck, she 

 and her lamb should be shut up together in a 

 close place till she grow fond of him. For this 

 purpose, some say that surprising a sheep with 

 a dog will be effectual. 



" Care should be taken to feed the ewes plen- 

 tifully after yCaning, and with some juicy kind 

 of food [potatoes are excellent,] so that the 

 lambs may not fail of having plenty of milk. 

 The rams may be gelded at any time from one 

 to three weeks old, if they appear to be well 

 and strong. 



" They should not be weaned till they are 

 six weeks, or two months old. At this age they 

 should be taken from the ewes, and have the 

 best pasture during the first tortnight; by the 

 end of which time they will bo so naturalized 

 to living wholly upon grass that they may be 

 turned into a poorer pasture. 



" The worst woolled lambs, and bad colored 

 ones, and those that are very small, should be 

 destined to the knife, and not weaned."} 



" Should any deformed or lame lambs be 

 found in your flock, or should any one be killed 

 by accident, strip off the skin from such lamb, 

 and cover with it either a twin lamb, or the 

 lamb of a young ewe, which does not appear 

 to be a good nurse, aud shutting up the ewe 

 that has lost her lamb, she will generally take 

 it as her own. Should she refuse, she must be 



* Dcane's N. E. Farmer, p. 302 ; Welb & Lill/« e<J, 

 t Thacher's Orchardist, p. 30. „,.,,, i 



t Deane's N. E. Farmer, p. 239 ; Welle & Ljllj "fO, 



