26 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Jan. 



TILLING OHCHARDS. 



The question is often asked, "Ought orchards 

 to be tilled ?" Our reply is, Yes. The principal 

 objection, we believe, is, that no crop will remun- 

 erate the cost of cultivation, and that the time and 

 capital expended upon it is nearly a dead loss. 

 Corn, and even potatoes, which require sunshine 

 and a free circulation of air, generally fail in pro- 

 ductiveness when planted in orchards, and as they 

 are strong feeders, have rather an exhausting ef- 

 fect upon the trees ; but there is no doubt that 

 the loosening and stirring of the soil is a great ad- 

 vantage, as it lets in the dews and rains, and tends 

 to augment the supply of nutrimental matter con- 

 tained in the soil. 



Some persons have recommended cultivating 

 orchards in peas, oats, turnips, cabbages, beets, 

 &c., and in many cases wTiich have fallen under 

 our observation, these crops have succeeded well. 

 The primary object, however, is to impart new 

 energy to the trees. All the farmer realizes from 

 his crops in this case, should be set down as clear 

 gain — as a recompense for the labor bestowed 

 upon the soil for the benefit of his trees. 



Allowing orchards to become swarded over with 

 a thick set and vigorous turf, and to remain in 

 this condition for years, while at the same time, 

 perhaps, the tops are neglected, is a most effectual 

 mode of ruining them. No grass should be al- 

 lowed to grow for any considerable length of time, 

 around the trunk of any tree, fruit or ornamental, 

 if health, fruitfulness and a good development 

 are desirable. 



Where trees have not been liberally manured, 

 it would be about as good policy to sow grass seed 

 in the corn field as in the orchard. But vthere 

 manure has been liberally applied and the trees 

 have made a rapid growth of wood, but do not 

 fruit, laying the land to grass for two years will 

 check the exuberant growth of wood, and bring 

 the trees into bearing. At the end of two years, 

 a shallow plowing, and the land again seeded with 

 clover, will be a profitable operation. 



Lime and ashes, with a horse load of clay to 

 each tree, if the soil be of a light or sandy texture, 

 will be found an excellent top dressing for most 

 fruit trees. 



There is danger of manuring apple orchards 

 too much. If green manure is applied in large 

 quantities, the trees will be forced into a rapid and 

 unnatural growth ; they become tender, the wood 

 is not fully ripened, the bark turns a reddish- 

 brown color, is separated in some places from the 

 wood, and in a few years the whole orchard dies 

 prematurely of the gout ! If apple trees make an 

 annual average gi-owth of ten to fifteen inches, it 

 is enougli. AVhen that is the case the new growth 

 will be thoroughly ripened, and the whole action 

 of the tree will be natural and healthy, and the 



orchard will be established with a permanent and 

 prolific character. 



For the first ten years, — if we are contented 

 with a moderate and healthful growth, — the land 

 may be cropt so as to pay a fair profit on all the 

 labor bestowed to produce it, and also on that 

 given to the cultivation of the trees. It should 

 not be devoted to the small grains, however, but 

 to any of the hoed crops, corn, potatoes, beans or 

 roots. Under this practice the cultivation of an 

 orchard is done at little or no cost. 



For tlte New England Farmer, 



THE BIRDS OF NEW ENGLAND— No. 25. 



SNOW BUNTINGS — SPARROWS. 



Snow Buntings— Lapland Longspur — Savannah Sparrow— Bay- 

 winged Sparrow — Yellow-winged Sparrow. 



The Snow Bunting, {Pledrophanes nivalis, 

 Meyer,) is a not uncommon and often familiar 

 winter visitant from the North, inhabiting the 

 whole northern part of the continent, fi-om the At- 

 lantic to the Pacific, and spreading far south- 

 ward into the United States in the snowy season. 

 A few stragglers are sometimes seen in this State 

 before the close of October, but they are not gen- 

 erally observed in numbers till after the fall of se- 

 vere snows, when small roving parties are seen 

 gliding over the country in search of food, flying 

 in close bodies, and whirling, with amazing swift- 

 ness, from field to field. Many remain in the 

 New England States throughout the winter sea- 

 son, visiting such places as best suit them, being 

 abundant and familiar in some sections, gather- 

 ing the crumbs about the farmer's door, while in 

 others they are comparatively rare, shy and dis- 

 trustful. In summer they are chiefly confined to 

 the regions near the Arctic Circle ; and being com- 

 mon to both continents, in winter, millions de- 

 scend southward over portions of Europe and 

 Asia, where many are killed for food by the in- 

 habitants. 



Nuttall says, "In the dreary wastes of Green- 

 land, the naked Lapland Alps, and the scarcely 

 habitable Spitzbergen, bound with eternal ice, 

 they pass the season of reproduction, seeking out 

 the fissures of rocks on the mountains in which to 

 fix their nests, about the month of May or June ;" 

 and it is in these barren tracts, he says, that they 

 "waste the sweetness of their melody, unheard by 

 any ear but that of their mates." A few breed in 

 New England, their nests having been repeatedly 

 found among the declivities of the White Moun- 

 tains in New Hampshire. The food of this spe- 

 cies consists of seeds chiefly, and various species 

 of insects. 



The Snow Bunting is seven inches in length, 

 and twelve in alar extent. In summer, the colors 

 of the adult are pure black and white ; in winter, 

 varied with black, rufous, and white. 



The Lapland Longspur, (Plectrophanes 

 Lapponicus, Selby,) like the bird just described, 

 is a common inhabitant of the extreme northern 

 parts of both continents, in winter migrating 

 southward, at which season it often enters the 

 United States ; but it is much less common than 

 the Snow Bunting. It is a beautiful species, and 

 in habits nearly agrees with the bird above de- 



