216 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Mat 



hardly worth gathering ; or, if we raise all the dif- 

 ferent kinds of grain, but of so unproductive and 

 dwarfish a growth as to be almost worthless, wc 

 may be morally certain, that, in each instance, we 

 have not all the right things in the right place at 

 the right time. In all the foregoing particulars, 

 we have utterly failed, either because we have not 

 had the right things, or because we have not used 

 them properly at the right time and place. We 

 must not only have the right tools and implements 

 and animals to work with, but we must have the 

 right breed of animals, the right lands of fruit, the 

 right kinds of vegetables, and the right kinds of 

 grain ; and, to be successful in our operations, we 

 must have all these in the right place at the right 

 time, and make the best possible use of them. 

 What amount of wealth, what increase of the means 

 of doing good and of human happiness, what abun- 

 dant harvests, what supjilies of the necessaries and 

 luxuries of life, what protection to life and property, 

 and Vr'hat security against the accidents and ca- 

 lamities of life, might be effectually secured by al- 

 ways having the right things in the right place at 

 the right time, and by directing them to the ac- 

 complishment of their proper objects ! 



Warwick, 1862. John Goldsbury. 



For tha Sew England Farmer, 

 PliOWTNO- ORCHABDS. 



Much was written a few years ago, in favor of 

 keeping land on which orchards were set contin- 

 ually under the plow. If your orchard did not 

 bear well, plow it. If it showed signs of prema- 

 ture decay, plow it. Thorough cultivation was the 

 panacea, and scarcely a dissenting voice was heard. 

 Many people, taking it for granted that those who 

 wrote knew what they said to be practically true, 

 followed the directions given in the papers. Or- 

 chards were planted, and the land was higlily cul- 

 tivated. In a short time, complaints began to be 

 made that trees did not flourish well. Almost 

 every winter some died ; others were deprived of 

 a limb, or had a few frost-bites on their bodies. 

 At length, thought was awakened, and the query 

 arose whether so much plowing was not a cause 

 of decay. This led to observation, which resulted 

 in the conviction of many minds that too much 

 cultivation was a prime cause of the early decay 

 of so many fruit trees. 



To aid in proving that this conclusion was not 

 groundless, 1 Avill mention a few cases that came 

 under my notice. In the spring of 18i33, I pur- 

 chased a village lot on which were a few fine ap- 

 ple trees, some of them six or eight inches in di- 

 ameter. The ground had not been very well cul- 

 tivated for a few years, yet the trees were healthy 

 and productive. Wishing to make them grow ra- 

 pidly, and produce more abundantly, I spaded the 

 ground under them thoroughly and very carefully. 

 They bore well that year. The next spring I 

 again tried spade culture, but I noticed that the 

 earth under tlie trees, was literally bound together 

 by fine rootlets, and that a great number of them 

 were broken at every shovelful that I turned up. 

 I began to reflect on the utility of these fibrous 

 roots. I thought them analogous to the minute 

 veins, absorbents, and capillaries of the human 

 system, every «ne of which conveyed a certain 

 portion of nutriment to the body, or to some or- 



gan of it ; hence I concluded that the process of 

 constant cultivation must be injurious. 



My fears were realized. In 1855 two of the 

 best trees died. A great many trees died that year 

 in various parts of the country, and the cause was 

 attributed to the weather. I have no doubt that 

 a severe winter hastened the decay, but in this re- 

 gion, the best cultivated orchards were most se- 

 verely injured. I can mention many instances in 

 further proof of my position, if necessary, but de- 

 fer it for the present. Suffice it to say, that obser- 

 vation and experience have confirmed me in the 

 belief that orchards should not he continually cul- 

 tivated. The roots of trees naturally run near the 

 surface, but plowing either cuts them off, or sends 

 them down into the subsoil, which, in most cases, 

 yields no nourishment to plants, and is generally 

 too hard to be penetrated by the tender roots of 

 an apple tree. Hence the tree, being deprived 

 of the requisite amount of light and heat, and of 

 the proper nourishment to supply its wants, lan- 

 guishes and dies. I believe this to be a rational 

 view of the case, and I doubt not that a vast 

 amount of experience will be found coincident 

 with mine. 



That orchards need occasional plowing, and 

 that the soil should be kept in good condition by 

 the frequent application of manure, I do not doubt ; 

 but I would not recommend plowing very near tlie 

 trees. A space nearly as large as that covered by 

 the branches, should be left. Thorough annual 

 top-dressing will keep the soil sufficiently loose*. 

 K the soil around the body of the trees should be- 

 come too stiff, it may be carefully removed, and 

 its place supplied by coarse stable manure, or tho 

 scrapings of the chip-yard. 



Let this process be adopted, and I believe our 

 orchards would be more hardy, more thrifty, and 

 consequently, more productive. L. Varney. 



Bloomjield, G. W., 3 Mo., 1862. 



Vegetable Garden. — In the open air, peas 

 and potatoes are about the first crops to be attend- 

 ed to. Of the former, the varieties have now be- 

 come so numerous that even "new grapes" will 

 soon have to give way in that respect. The ear- 

 liest are the Prince Albert, and the "Extra Ear- 

 lies." 



Of early Potatoes, we think Fox's Seedling i« 

 the earliest, though in some localities the prefer- 

 ence is given to the Early Walnut. Beets, the 

 Early Six AVeek Turnip rooted, is perhaps the ear- 

 liest. Carrot, the Early Horn ; Cucumber, the 

 Early White Spine, or Early Cluster ; Lettuce, 

 the Silesian, or Early Curled — to cut before head- 

 ing ; and the Early Butter left to head, are the 

 first in season. Amongst the Radishes, the Old 

 Short Top, and Red and White Turnip are still 

 ahead ; and in Spinach, the old Round-leaved- — 

 Gardener's Monthly. 



Pruning a Clijibing Rose. — In pruning a 

 climbing rose, all the very strong and vigorous 

 shoots of last year should be preserved, and all 

 weak and decayed ones, as well as old shoots ex- 

 hausted by abundant flowering, should be cut away. 

 It should also be an object to get good strong 

 shoots as low down towards the root as possible, 

 as the finest flowers, coming from the strongest 

 shoots, are thereby equally diffused over the plant* 



