1860. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



125 



told him if he was going to set out an orchard of 

 1000 trees for profit, 999 should be Baldwins. Few 

 people understand the matter of fruit cultivation, 

 and yet it Avas so simple he could scarcely explain 

 it. Many people decline engaging in the cultiva- 

 tion of fruit, because so many fail, but a good 

 orchard could be secured as easily as a crop of po- 

 tatoes or corn, with less labor and greater profit. 



He advocated thorough drainage and thorough 

 pulverization of the soil — not sub-soiling and 

 trenching — but to be done by loosening the soil, 

 and not manuring too highly. 



Mr. Stone then spoke of the Messrs. Clapp, of 

 Dorchester, who, by systematic culture, raised on 

 five acres of land, planted with apple trees, $G00 

 v/orth of currants as an undercrop, while they had 

 each year a large crop of the best apples. [The 

 chairman said that the profits of Messrs. Clapp 

 were between $2500 and $3500 per year.] 



Col. Stone then spoke of the immense quantity 

 of apples exported from northern and western 

 New York, and the profit made by the business. 

 He said the pear had been considered more diffi- 

 cult to cultivate than the apple, but he was satis- 

 fied that in the first 15 years he could make as 

 much profit from an equal number of trees as he 

 could from Baldwin apples, although they would 

 require different treatment. 



The chairman said that currants were an excep- 

 tion to any other crop for an undergi-owth in 

 orchards, as they will grow better in the shade, 

 and bear abundantly where no other crop will. 

 He considered that grass or grain exhausted the 

 trees. He spoke of a man in Rochester, N. Y., 

 who, from half an acre of the St. ]Michael pear 

 trees, 8 years old, raised last year 40 barrels, 

 which he sold for $15, $16 and $20 per barrel, at 

 the lowest rate realizing $640. Mr. Wilder also 

 alluded to the orchard of Mr. Austin, in Dorches- 

 ter, as being very productive, and said that the 

 pear could not be grown on gravelly, sandy or 

 boggy land, but required rich, deep loam. 



Mr. Demoxd, of Ware, asked what the best 

 mode of pruning fruit trees was, as also the sea- 

 ison to do it and the best wash for young trees ? 

 also saying that in his part of the State they were 

 in the habit of getting another crop from their 

 orchards, and he wished to know what was con- 

 sidered the best crop. 



CoL Stone said he trimmed his trees about 

 the last of June, as by that time the sap had got 

 into the leaves, and the cutting will not do injury 

 by allowing the rising sap to run out and prevent 

 healing, lu relation to wash, the gentleman said 

 he discarded potash altogetlier, as it never was in- 

 tended to be applied to fruit trees. He used one- 

 third soft soap, a year or more old, and two-thirds 

 water, and washed twice a year. Of this a suffi- 

 cient quantity reraaiiis on the bark for the alkali 



to run down by the action of the rain, and thus 

 keep off the borer. Alluding to undercrops, Mr. 

 Stone said that for the first 8 or 10 years he 

 thought plowing would not hurt the trees, and he 

 would recommend the raising of root crops so as 

 to keep the ground free of weeds. 



A gentleman asked what should be done to 

 prevent so many of our apples becoming so wormy, 

 as he understood that nearly three-fourths of the 

 crop in Worcester county had been spoiled the 

 past season by this trouble. 



Col. Wilder said that the best way to prevent 

 this was to prohibit the destruction of birds, and 

 he spoke of a correspondent in Belgium inform- 

 ing him that their fruit was nearly ruined in con- 

 sequence of the destruction of birds for epicures. 

 He said he was informed that apples sold there, 

 in consequence of this, for $9 per sack, or $6 per 

 bushel, and this in the finest fruit-growing coun- 

 try on the continent. 



Mr. Simon Brown, of Concord, said the Chair- 

 man had covered a good deal of ground in his 

 opening address, but he would only touch on one 

 or two subjects. The first was the grape ; and he 

 hoped to see more attention paid to the cultiva- 

 tion of this fruit. We look upon the apple as a 

 blessing, but I am sure the grape will eventually 

 be considered of almost as much importance. It 

 has been a great problem to solve, as to what Avill 

 check the habits of our people in the indulgence 

 of intoxicating dj'inks, and the speaker gave it as 

 his opinion that the best means to do this would 

 be to make the cultivation of the grape common, 

 and thus make cheap wines common. As an il- 

 lustration of the effect cheap wines have on the 

 temperate habits of a people, he spoke of an ar- 

 tist friend Avho had travelled in France for a year 

 and a half, who had told him that during that 

 time he had only seen one man intoxicated, and 

 only some half dozen in the least disguised with 

 liquor ; he bad also travelled in Italy a year, and 

 the result was the same. Mr. Brown spoke of the 

 temperance of the people of Hungary in support 

 of his theory, and also the extraordinary fatigue 

 Napoleon's army had undergone on their dry 

 crust and pint of wine. He said there was room 

 enough in the city to raise tons of grapes ; indeed, 

 these were the best places, as they were sheltered 

 by the M'arm, sunny walls, from the winds, where 

 with a little care they can be raised in perfection. 

 He had been told that several of our hardy, and 

 even tender kinds, would flourish on a north wall. 

 There were seventy-five new varieties he had in- 

 formation of, of which several were said to be 

 equal to some of the white grapes raised under 

 glass, and this ought to serve as a stimulus in the 

 greater cultivation of this delicious fruit. 



In reply to a question which had been asked, 

 Mr. Brown alluded to pruning trees, and said 



