520 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER, 



Nov. 



much sought for by a class of epicures fond of 

 rare dishes. They are somewhat particular as 

 to their growth and treatment. Now is a good 

 time to construct the proper beds. The de- 

 tails of making the beds and growing the 

 mushroom is too lengthy for these notes, and 

 is merely alluded to as a reminder. 



Continue to do all seasonable work, gather- 

 ing crops, seeds, &c., preparatory for winter, 

 and to advance or lessen the spring's work, 

 Wm. H. White. 



South Windsor, Conn., Sept. 26; 1867, 



BEST ORCHAKD LN" MASSACHUSETTS, 



Having heard much of Capt. George Pierce's 

 orchard, in Arlington, we took occasion to 

 visit it on Thursday week. Its area is about 

 five acres, and comprises about 200 trees. 

 The ground is under cultivation, — squashes, 

 cauliflowers and other vegetables being grown 

 among the trees. Capt. Pierce does not believe 

 in growing grass in orchards, nor weeds, but 

 holds to the thorough tillage thereof. His 

 squash crop last year was some twenty tons on 

 the part of the orchard thus used. The crop 

 is less bountiful this year than last, but will, 

 probably, net him as much money, as they sell 

 much higher than they did last year. He 

 plants his squash hills twelve feet apart each 

 way. He thinks his squash crop about as 

 good as if there were no trees. The trees of 

 the younger portion of the orchard are thirty- 

 six feet apart, and the older, forty or more. 



Mulching is practiced by Capt. Pierce, as 

 relates to his bearing trees ; and such is his 

 faith in this, that he said he should do it, did 

 his swamp hay thus used cost him $40 a ton ; 

 it cost him this year about $15, hay being 

 scarce and high. His mulch cost him $80 this 

 season. After the fruit is gathered, the mulch 

 remaining undecomposed is gathered and saved 

 for another year ; but if too far gone for this, 

 it is spaded under. He applied it about the 

 first of July this season. It serves to keep the 

 weeds in check and furnishes a nice clean bed 

 for the apples to drop upon, thus preventing 

 bruising, and keeping them as clean as while 

 hanging upon the trees. 



The Williams Apple (Williams' Favorite, 

 Early Red) is his leadmg early variety, of 

 which he has 38 trees, from which he has gath- 

 ered and sold over 200 bushels this season, a 

 few more still remaining on the trees, 7 bush- 

 els having been gathered on the morning of 

 the day we visited the captain. They sold for 

 $6 a bushel, the highest this year, and last 

 year the highest brought him $8 a bushel. He , 

 regards this as the very best market apple | 

 known at present, for the season at which it 

 ripens. 



As they ripen and fall, they are picked 

 every morning, sorted, bo.xed and sent to mar- 

 ket on the following morning. The greatest 

 amount gathered on any one day was 15 bush- 

 els. Capt, Pierce's Williams sell higher in 



market than others of the same variety, for, 

 owing to his method of pruning, they are larger 

 and more highly colored. 



The Porter. His next market variety for 

 the season is the Porter. 



Baldwin Apple. Of this variety Capt. Pierce 

 has the most remarkable show we have ever 

 seen. The Baldwin and Porter are of the old- 

 er portion of the orchard, and the trees are 

 much larger than his Williams are, as the lat- 

 ter were grafted on to the former. The Bald- 

 win trees are very heavily fruited, most extra- 

 ordinarily so. It is estimated that one tree 

 will produce, some say — and they are apple 

 buyers and know what they are talking about, 

 — from 20 to 25 barrels ; and there are other 

 trees not far behind this in production. The 

 former tree, according to our pacing, is some 

 50 feet from the extreme terminus of the limbs 

 on one side to that of the same on the oppo- 

 site side. The tree's stem or trunk, from ac- 

 tual measurement near the ground, is 5 J feet 

 in circumfierence, less than two feet in diameter. 

 While the complaint was often heard in the 

 early part of the season, that apples fell prema- 

 turely, Capt. Pierce says, "too many of mine 

 hang on the trees." 



Among his miscellaneous varieties are the 

 Gravenstein, the River, the Sour Bough, Hub- 

 bardston Nonsuch, Northern Spy, Wine Apple, 

 with some others not recollected. But as 

 seen. Captain Pierce devotes his attention to 

 the growing of the leading, because the most 

 popular, varieties of market apples. It would 

 be hard to name three other varieties of the 

 apple which net so good returns as Captain 

 Pierce's three leading sorts, the Williams, the 

 Porter, and the Baldwin. 



Pruning Apjjle Trees. Captain Pierce stated 

 that he prunes about the last of May or first of 

 June, he having satisfied himself that where 

 limbs or branchlets are to be cut off, there is 

 no other period of the year so favorable as 

 this ; where much wood is to be removed he 

 does this when there is no crops growing on 

 the ground, cutting off the limbs with a saw, 

 about six inches or so from where they are to 

 be cut again at the season for healing over or 

 growing over. The fitness of this practice is 

 clearly confirmed by the observation of all who 

 visit his orchard. 



The Form of the Trees his pruning has giv- 

 en is particularly noteworthy. Having allud- 

 ed to the splendid coloring of his Williams, it 

 is owing, he said, to my pruning, so as to let 

 in the sun. His Williams trees, we neglected 

 to say, bear every year. 



In conclusion, we asked Captain Pierce, 

 How is it that your trees, are over-fruited, as 

 it were, while almost everybody else complains 

 that he has no fruit, though plenty of bloom ? 

 Said the sage orchardist: "I prepare and till 

 my ground well, keep off and destroy cater- 

 pillars, canker-worms, web-worras, prune my 

 trees myself, «&c. It is no matter what I am 



