AND HORTICULTURAL REGISTER. 



PUBLISHED BY JOSEPH BRECK & CO., NO. 62 NORTH MARKET STREET, (Aoeicolturai. WARBHooaB.). 



.XVH.] 



BOSTON, WEDNESDAY EVENING, MARCH 13, 1844. 



[KO. 37. 



N. E. FARMER, 



GHTH AGRICULTURAL MEKTING AT 

 THE STATE HOUSE. 

 (Continued.) 

 ubject — Fruit and Fruit Trees. 

 Ir Dodge, of Essex, said he knew of no subject 

 e interesting than fruit trees. It ia but about 

 years since he entered upon their cultivation, 

 1)6 must say that he had derived much plea- 

 : from the business. He tliought the culliva- 

 of fruit opened a large fiold for our fanners, 

 that all should be induced to enter it for the 

 it and pleasure it would afford. It had been 

 that the railroads were using up the farmers, 

 he believed it was in part true, and for that 

 ' reason it was necessary that they should enter 

 n some new branch ot business. Nothing pre- 

 .e<3 itself with so much promise as the cultiva- 

 of good fruit. The market could not be glut- 

 with it. He thought the fanners were greatly 

 jbted to the (jentlemen connected with the 

 is. Horticultural Society, for their zeal in inlro- 

 ing so many valuable fruits from the old coun- 

 3, as well as for the great interest they have 

 lifested in collecting our fine native varieties, 

 in cultivating, testing and comparing them, 

 had been engaged in raising a nursery ; had 

 -ed apple pomace in the fall. This is objected 

 by some, as the pomace contains malic acid, 

 ich is prejudicial to the growth of the tree, but 

 manuring with ashes, this difficulty is obviated, 

 e trees will make a vigorous growth the first 

 r, but will not be fit to bud until the second, 

 ich stones may be planted in the spring, and 

 Ided in September following. He considered 

 nuch better to bud trees while they were young, 

 n to craft when they were older. Budding is 

 ch more simple than grafting, and the trees bear 

 it equ.illy well, although he had been often 

 ed whether this was the case. Budding is on 

 same principle as grafting, excepting it is done 

 h a single eye, instead of a number of eyes, and 

 was an absurd idea to suppose there could be 

 f difference. Buds should be fully ripe before 

 erted and he never takes out the wood, as is 

 nerally recommended. This is called the Amer- 

 n syslem, and succeeds well in our climate. In 

 sinn- the bark to insert the bud, great care 

 juld be taken not to injure the inner bark : the 

 srilion should be performed very delicately. In 

 ng round the matting, every part of the slit 

 )uld be covered, and bound so tight as to exclude 

 air from the wound. To succeed well in hud- 

 ig, it was necessary to pay attention to Jittle 

 ngs. To learn the art of budding, a person had 

 tter witness the operation, in preference to con- 

 Iting books. Practice, not theory was wanted. 

 He had raised fine Pear stocks three years since) 

 ,m seed sown in the pomace in the fall: they 

 me up well and made vigorous growth. In the 

 11 he was advised to lake them up and put them 

 his cellar, as it was said the winter would de- 

 ■oy them, but he let them stand, and Done died. 



His soil is a light sandy one, and not retentive of 

 moisture, and therefore not inclined to heave. 



Mr D. thought trees taken iVom a nursery where 

 they were much crowded and forced, would not do 

 well. Trees thus unnaturally forced have a great 

 flow of sap, which enlarges the eap vessels ; and 

 when planted into a poorer soil, there is not sap 

 enough to fill them : they consequently shrivel 

 and the tree dies. In transplanting, it is impor- 

 tant to preserve the small fibres or spongioles. 

 The tree should be removed before the buds begin 

 to start, and should not be set deep. Whether 

 spring or fall is the best time, he knew not ; but 

 had succeeded well in transplanting in the spring. 

 He was opposed to staking trees. He thought the 

 stones in an orchard had better remain there. He 

 ftnew an orchard which was never broken up, and 

 in very rocky ground, yet it was a very fruitful 

 one. The question was often asked, whether the 

 quality of the stock affected the fruit of the bud or 

 graft. He thought it did not. There might be 

 some difference in the quality of the same variety 

 of fruit, owing to different soils and exposures ; but 

 he said the sap from the stock did not go directly 

 to the fruit, but ascended to the leaves which were 

 from the bud or graft, and it was in the leaf the 

 sap was elaborated into the juices that form fruit, 

 and this gives its peculiar character. 



Mr Cole described the manner in which he 

 raised trees from seed. There were some who 

 thought it necessary to expose the seed to tlie ac- 

 tion of frost, and therefore sowed it in the fall : 

 but this was not correct. On sowing a lot of ap- 

 ple seed in the fall, he saved a parcel of seed for 

 experiment. He divided it into two equal parts. 

 He wet one lot in the winter, put it into sand, and 

 buried it in the cellar, where it was not exposed 

 to frost. Next spring, planted it and the other 

 lot dry in adjacent rows. Those that were kept 

 moist grew ; the others did not. The next year, 

 he obtained 23 quarts of apple seed after the 

 ground was frozen. In the winter wet it and put 

 It in sand, and set one-half out of doors to freeze ; 

 the other half were put in the cellar and did not 

 freeze. The next spring being wet and backward, 

 the seeds all began to sprout about alike, and some 

 of the sprouts were an inch in length before the 

 ground was ready to plant them in. He had come 

 to the conclusion that it was necessary to keep the 

 seeds moist, but not to freeze them. 



In planting peach trees, bethought it necessary 

 to get the stones from fruit rai.'ied among us, rather 

 than from that which came from the South, as he 

 imagined the trees would be hardier. He said the 

 stones should be buried a foot below the surface in 

 the fall, to keep them from mice ; in the spring, 

 take them up and crack them, and plant as we 

 should corn. 



Transplanting may be done in the spring or 

 fall, if it be done well. The objection to fall 

 transplanting arises from its being done too late. 

 The proper time is from the 20th of Sept. to the 

 lOlh of Oct. The earth then gets well settled 

 round the roots, and the trees will grow well the 

 next season. 



Mr Gardner, of Seekonk, said there were diffe- 

 rent opinions — some recommended setting trees in 

 the fall, others in the spring — some wore for plow. 

 ing an orchard, and others to let it remain in grass. 

 He had an orchard of 4 or ,5 acres, set out in the 

 fall, and only two or three trees died. It flour- 

 ished well without plowing, but in consequence of 

 what he heard in the agricultural meetings last 

 winter, in favor of plowing, he had plowed it, and 

 if what had been said by some of the gentlemen 

 this evening be correct, he had done wrong. He 

 had another orchard of 4 or 5 acres, which had not 

 been plowed for 15 or 20 years, and he got Irom it 

 successive crops of grass and a large amount of 

 excellent fruit. Some of his neight)or8 plow their 

 orchards and let their swine run among their trees, 

 but he thought they did not succeed so well. 



From the American Agriculturist. 



WORN-OUT LANDS. 



I find Massachusetts is full of worn-out land — 

 largo farms, not a tittle of which are cultivated aa 

 they ought to be. These frequently have large 

 houses on them, many of which have cost more 

 than the farms would sell for. The sons of their 

 owners, instead of staying at home and educating 

 themselves for cultivating these lands in an im- 

 proved manner, in many instances emigrate south 

 and west in quest of a fortune, which, after years 

 of hard struggling and suffering they but seldom 

 obtain ; or they turn merchants and soon fail, or 

 take to a starving profession, already too full and 

 overflowing; leaving their father, after draining 

 every cent they can from him for a college educa- 

 tion or an outfit, to carry on the farm as he best 

 may in his old age. Thus situated, he cannot af- 

 ford to hire laborers to assist him, and he has no 

 heart to make improvements himself; he therefore 

 goes on in the old routine, and makes what he can. 

 I find such a course as this one of the greatest bars 

 to improvement in my native State. 



Many of the farmers now are alarmed at the fa- 

 cilities which the western railroad offers (or bring, 

 ing western produce to Boston ; but I think these 

 fears arc without cause, for they can turn their at- 

 tention in Ma.ssachusetl8 to raising fruits, vegeta- 

 bles, and such articles as can never be transported 

 any great distance at a profit. Besides, the manu- 

 facturing villages, since the revival of business, 

 are affording good markets to every thing raised in 

 their vicinity ; and by means of the railroads, the 

 farmers can transport many things to Boston and 

 other markets, and sell at a fair profit, which they 

 could not do before; and then they make their pur- 

 chases there, which saves lliem from 10 to 20 per 

 cent. ; so that upon the whole, I think the railroads 

 in a few years, from the facilities they offer, will 

 even be found beneficial to the farmers. 



A Traveller. 



Young apple, peach, plum, apricot, pear, cherry, 

 and indeed all kinds of trees and shrubs, whether 

 fruit or ornamental, may be set out aa soon as the 

 frost is out of the ground. 



