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38 



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near tbe house and out-buildings, so that fowls 

 and pigs could have the run of it to pick up in- 

 sects and fallen wormy fruit; but, in this case 

 care should bo taken to ly,ve a good fence be- 

 tween the barn-yard and it, to prevent cattle 

 getting in. Too many have only a poor or tem- 

 porary fence between them, and in winter the 

 cattle have the run of the orchard, browsing on 

 and destroying the trees. Sheep, even, can be 

 permitted to run in a young bearing orchard, 

 with good advantage, if proper precautions 

 are taken to have the branches 30 high 

 from the ground that the sheep cannot reach 

 them, and the stems protected in the following, 

 or some other manner, to prevent them from 

 gnawing the bark of the trees :^ 



A very simple mode of protection is to take a 

 section of bark from a young elm or other suit- 

 able tree, say of six inches in diameter, and 

 of the neccpsary length to reach from the 

 ground to the branches. This can easily be done 

 by cutting two circles through the bark at the 

 proper distance apart, and then slitting it up 

 on one side, when it can easily be removed. The 

 bark will at once contract loosely round the stem 

 of the fruit-tree, and will bo found a perfect 

 protection from sheep, or from wild rabbits in 

 parts of the country where they are plentiful ; 

 and it will also be a great protection from frosts 

 in winter, as it is the action of the bright sun 

 on the frozen stem, more especially at the snow 

 line that causes the greatest injury from the 

 alternate freezing and thawing of the bark. 



No young orchard (unless growing very 

 strongly) should be aeeded down to grass till the 



trees have commenced to bear. Previous to that 

 time, it should be cultivated with hoed crops 

 that require manuring annually. In no 

 case should grain of any kind (except Indian- 

 corn) be sown, as it is destructive to or- 

 chards ; more of which are permanently injured 

 from this cause than any other ; but where from 

 any cause it may be snlvisable to seed it down 

 earlier, a space of from four to six feet in dia- 

 meter round each tree should be kept clear from 

 grass ir weeds by repeated digging or hoeing 

 till the trees fairly commence to bear ; and where 

 root crops or Indian-corn are planted, it is 

 equally necessary to leave that space round 

 each tree unplanted, to be kept perfectly free of 

 weeds. 



Some think that seedling apples are more 

 hardy and bear better than grafted ; but even 

 were such the case (which it is not if proper 

 varieties are scleci^d) it cannot be advisable to 

 plant them, as the fruit is comparatively worth- 

 less, and any surplus cannot be profitably sold. 

 They are also, in general, of much slower growth 

 than the better varieties of grafted fruit, while it 

 costs as much to cultivate the worst as it 

 does the best varieties. 



Should the directions given in these letters, 

 which are derived from upwards of thirty years' 

 practical experience, enable the intending 

 fruit-grower to plant and cultivate trees satis- 

 factorily and profitably, they will have served 

 the end I had in view in writing them. 



JAMES DOUGALL, 

 Windsor, C.W., March, 1867. 



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