Proceedings of the Farmers' Club. 515 



straw, nearly a foot deep, and extending about eighteen inches around 

 the tree ; the soil about the other trees was constantly kept light and 

 clean. As all were planted with great care, all grew off finely; but 

 a severe drouth, though not very protracted, checked the growth of 

 the cultivated trees, at an average of about one foot. The mulched 

 trees pushed steadily on until September, when they had grown from 

 two to four feet, and stout in proportion. Trees of the previous year 

 standing in a clover lot, but pretty well worked, grew from two to 

 three feet. I lost scarcely any oats, as they too grew finely from the 

 mulching, when not too heavy. Some of the scions planted were not 

 more than a foot high ; they are now nearly five, and very thrifty. 

 We should order one-year trees exclusively ; and the nurserymen, 

 relieved of a year's labor and of considerable trouble in taking up and 

 packing, and enabled to turn over their capital twice as often as for- 

 merly, should reduce prices accordingly. Who will lead off in a 

 movement calculated to benefit both parties so much ? 



Mr. W. J. Hayes, South Norridgewalk, Mich. — I readily acquiesce 

 in the opinion of A. Pratt, in regard to top-dressing upon grass land 

 or meadow for the hay crop, providing the manure be rotten and 

 thoroughly pulverized, and that the meadow on which it is applied 

 has plenty of roots for the grass to grow from ; otherwise, in this sec- 

 tion of the country, top-dressing proves of little consequence. But so 

 far as potatoes and grain crops are concerned, we do not realize over 

 two-thirds the benefit from manure spread on top and harrowed in 

 in the spring just before planting our potatoes that we do where we 

 plow it in, especially for the potato crop. Although it may be accord- 

 ing to the laws of nature to drop her fertilizers on the surface, yet I 

 hardly think that a shovelful of coarse manure dropped on the 

 surface can be of as great benefit to the soil as it would be if buried 

 three inches deep, especially in a dry season. 



What Can be Raised on One-fourth of an Acre. 



Mr. Henry P. Thompson, Peapack, 1ST. J. — I have a little less than 

 a quarter of an acre of limestone land. It lies in a parallelogram ; 

 its length about four times its width ; and along one side are six 

 apple and two cherry trees now in good bearing. In the fall of 1860, 

 the land being covered with stones, briars and foul weeds, I had it 

 cleared, plowed (twice) ten inches deep, and thoroughly pulverized, 

 limed, and sowed with wheat ; sowed also with timothy in the fall 

 and clover in the spring. The wheat crop was fair, leaving a heavy 

 crop of grass after it. The ground has never been plowed since. I 



