404 



INEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



July II, isaS. 



Extracts from Knight's Trtatise m the Culture of\ 

 the Apple and Pear. 



The inexperienced piauter will suppose that 

 much time will be lost in propagating new kinds, 

 as these will not produce I'ruit so soon as grafts of' 

 those which have been long in cultivation ; but 

 he will soon find that the fruit of very small young 

 trees by no means repays him for the injury they 

 sustain in growth. If the seeds, from which new 

 varieties were expected, and those intended mere- 

 ly to produce stocks, were sowed in the same sea- 

 son, the merits of those varieties would generally 

 be known, as early as the stocks would have gain- 

 ed proper size and strength in the nursery, and 

 have become after being moved, firmly rooted in 

 the ground, where they are to remain ; and if the 

 stocks were then to be grafted in the branches, 

 with those new varieties, I know no means by 

 which an orchard could be better, or more cxijc- 

 ditiously raised. 



It has been recommended to remove the young 

 trees once or twice during the time they remain 

 in the nursery, under the idea of increasing the 

 number of their roots ; but I think tlii.i practice 

 only eligible with trees which do not readily grow 

 when transplanted. I have always found the 

 growth of young ap[)le trees to be much retard- 

 ed, and a premature disposition to blossom to be 

 brought on by it, and I could not afterwards ob- 

 serve that those trees, which had been twice re- 

 moved, grew better than others. It has also been 

 supposed that many small roots, proceeding im- 

 mediately from the trunk, ai-e in the future growth 

 of the tree to be prefeiTed to a few which are 

 targe ; but as the large roots of necessity branch 

 into small, which consequently extend into a great- 

 er distance, the advantages of more transplanta- 

 tions than from the seed-bed to the nursery, and 

 thence to the orchard, may reasonably be ques- 

 tioned. 



The apple tree succeeds best in situations which 

 are neither high, nor remarkably lovir. In the 

 former its blossoms are frequently injured by cold 

 winds, and in the latter by spring frosts, particu- 

 larly when the trees are planted in the lowest part 

 of a confined valley. A south, or southeast aspect 

 is generally preferre<l, on account of the turbu- 

 lence of the west, and the coldness of tlie north 

 winds ; but orchards succeed well in all aspects ; 

 and where the violence of the west wind is brok- 

 en by an intervening piece of ground, a southw est 

 aspect will be found equal to any. The trees at- 

 tain their largest stature in a deep strong loam ; 

 but will grow well in all rich soils, which are nei- 

 ther excessively sandy nor wet. An orchard, gen- 

 erally, is most productive of fruit, when it is situ- 

 ated near the fold-yard, and is in consequence 

 much trodden and manured by the cattle in the 

 winter ; and hence it wiU not unfrequcntly be 

 found advantageous to plant on the site of an old 

 orchard. The ground, however, in which old ap- 

 ple trees have grown, is esteemed very unfavora- 

 ble to young ones. When from contiguity to the 

 house, an orchard is jdanted in this kind of ground, 

 the pear and apple sliould be made to succeed 

 each (ifher, as has been judiciously recommended 

 by Mr. Marshall. The roots of the pear descend 

 to a greater depth in the ground than those of the 

 apple tree ; and as the stocks of ncilher of these 

 fruits will afford jB-oper nutriment to the other, it 

 may be questioned whetlier their action on the 

 soil be perfectly similar. 



In the choice of fruits of eveiy situation, atten- 



tion should be paid to select such as are sufficient- 

 ly early to ripen well in it ; for if the fruit be not i 

 ripe, its produce must ever be crude, harsh or un- 

 palatable. A cider apple may be safely pronounc- i 

 ed to be too late for the situation it occupies, when 

 it does not become yellow before the end of Octo- i 

 her ; and I do not know any disadvantages at- 

 tending a more early maturity ; provided the kinds 

 of fruit b6 capable of being kept a few weeks. An 

 opinion, I have observed, prevails that the liquors 

 obtained from all early fruits are without strength 

 or body ; but the strongest cider, yet known, is 

 produced by one of these, the Stire ; and I have 

 met with two other varieties, evidently capable of 

 making extremely strong ciders, which ripens in 

 the end of August. 



In cold and unfavorable situations those fruits 

 will best repay the planter, which in their general 

 character appear nearly related to the native kind 

 or crab ; for though the flavor of these be austere 

 and ungrateful to tlie palate, the ciders produced 

 from some of them, when they have been tlio- 

 rughly ripened, are often found smooth and gen- 

 erous. I would reconunend the grafts to be laken 

 from an improved crab, in preference to the de- 

 generated apple ; for the former will possess much 

 of the hardiness and vigor, whilst the latter will 

 often inherit the debility and diseases of the pa- 

 rent tree. Pro])er fruits of this kind might pro- 

 bably be obtained from a crab of a deep yellow 

 color, and in taste rather astringent than acid, 

 trained to a south wall, and impregnated with the 

 farina of a rich early apple, in the maimer al/eady 

 recommended. But both the red, and the yellow 

 Siberian crabs possess qualities, which apjiear to 

 give them great advantages over eveiy Eiighsh 

 \ ariety. Their blossoms are in an extraordinary 

 degree, capable of bearing cold ; the fruit attains 

 a very perfect and early maturity ; it is iu color 

 and beauty unrivalled, and contains but a moder- 

 ate portion of acid, compared with its astringency. 



I am well satislicd that the fruits, I have ob- 

 tained from these, will flourish and make fine ci- 

 ders ui many situations where kinds which save 

 been more improved by cultivation will not suc- 

 ceed ; and when old trees, whose branches nave 

 been taken off, are to be engrafted, I have no 

 doubt but that fruits of this kind, just arrive! at 

 the bearing age, may be used with very great ad- 

 vantage. The leaf and habit of an improved crab 

 will generally indicate a worse fruit, and of a de- 

 generate apple a better, than the trees will afier- 

 wards produce ; but this remark does not appear 

 to me to be appUcable to those fruits, whose de- 

 generacy, or variation, has been produced by the 

 introduction of the farina of another kind. 



would make it an object to engraft most of the 

 walnut trees. Some have a very thin shell, and 

 a thick, large meat — while others have a thick 

 shell and but little meat. If is probable that the 

 hickory, or shag-bark, would do well, engrafted 

 on the pig-nut. ' If it should, the quantity raised 

 might be greatly increased, and the quality much 

 improved. The Maderia nut, which is usually sold 

 at the shops under the name of the Enghsh wal- 

 rmt, at 12^ to 16 cents per pound, may be culti- 

 vated here without difficulty, and is very produc- 

 tive. In the vicinity of New York, there is a tree 

 which has produced, in a single year, as many as 

 sold in the market for two hundred dollars. We 

 have no doubt that it might be engrafted on the 

 butter-nut, or the walnut, with perfect success. 

 It is a tree of the same genus, and in its character 

 bears a nearer resemblance to the butter-nut than 

 many other trees do to those on which they are 

 successfully engrafted. The experiment is worth 

 trying, and, if successful, it would soon furnish us, 

 at a cheap rate, with a good supply of that excel- 

 lent nut, without waiting the more tardy process 

 of rearing the tree. — Mass. Spy. 



GREEN FRUIT. 



It may not be amis to remind parents, and all 

 those who have the immediate oversight of chil- 

 dren, that unripe fruit already begins to appear in 

 our markets. It is possible that more children's 

 fives are destroyed, in the sununer, by this cause 

 of disease, than ahnost all others put together — 

 Apples which are shaken from the trees by violent 

 winds, or fall prematurely by decay, are immedi- 

 ately gathered and brought to market ; the display 

 of them is too tempting to children to be with- 

 stood ; and of course, they are pm-chased, and eat- 

 en. Nothuig is more pernicious, and yet nothing 

 is more coiimion, than to see children and young 

 persons eating this kind of fruit. We should think 

 that parents would lay a more strict injunction a- 

 gainst this indulgence upon their children. They 

 must, unless they can make up their minds to 

 risk their health and their lives. — JV. Y. Adv. 



GRAFTING AND INNOCULATION. 



It is not unreasonable to suppose that the bene- 

 fits to be derived from the engrafting and innocu- 

 lation of fruit trees, arc far from being fully real- 

 ized. Aside li-om the neglect of improving orch- 

 ards, where there is nothing to prevent but the 

 disposition to procrastinate and delay — so pre\a- 

 lent with all — we believe that the process is of 

 much more extensive application than is generally 

 known, and that it may be the means of introduc- 

 ing the cultivation of fruits, now imported from 

 abroad at a great expense. It has been ascer- 

 tained that the shag-bark walnut may be success- 

 fully engrafted, and that the engrafted trees are 

 Iinich the surest bearers. Where this not the 

 case, the diflcrcncc in the quality of these nuts 



SILK WORMS. 



The white silk worms hatch twice a year — the 

 yellme but once. The latter spins much the largest 

 ball, and is accounted the most valuable and least 

 troublesome. 



The price of eggs is sixpence a thousand. 



Each niUler desposits about 400 eggs. 



It is calculated that the worms produced iron, 

 the eggs of 200 millers, or iviiiged worms, will 

 make ten pounds of silk. 



One hundred and fifty pounds of leaves, it is es- 

 timated, are eaten bv 1000 worms, to spin 1 lb. of 

 silk. 



It takes about 1 bushel of yellow cocoons or 

 balls, to make li lbs. of silk. 



One ball of silk, of the yellow kind, when spun 

 will measure 1750 feet. 



The eggs of the silk worm are of two colors ; a 

 lightish slate, and a yellow. The latter are held 

 in poor esteem : they seldom contain the vital 

 principle. 



THE SHAKER'S CIDER. 



A tourist whose observations appear iu the New 

 York Commercial Advertiser, gives the following 

 resfjecting the mode of making and preserving ci- 

 der as practised by the Shakers of Canterbury, in 

 New-Hampshire. 



" Their line cider sells in Boston for $10 the 



