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72 



THE ILLmOIS FAEMEK. 



Mae 



Orchard Planting and Fruit. 



Arispb, Bureau county, Sept. 19, 1857. 



Mr. Dunlap — President Northwestern Fruit 

 Growers' Association : Your circular was received 

 in due time. I regret to say it will not be con- 

 venient for me to be present, as our county Fair 

 is held at the same time of the N. W. F. G. A.? 

 which I feel much interested in, as well as the 

 Association. 



The circular sets forth the objects of the As- 

 sociation "To correct the nomenclature of fruits 

 to compare their qualities, best mode of propa- 

 gation and culture, effects of soil, aspect and 

 climate, hardiness of varieties, best modes of 

 keeping, profits, insects injurious thereto," &c. 

 My experience is quite limited on many of those 

 subjects, as regards propagation. 



We will take up the apple first. I contend the 

 best way to propagate it is by grafting one year 

 old seedlings at the collar, and cut the root off 

 eight or ten inches long, and throw away the 

 lower part. When grafting in this way, it is 

 done by whip grafting, the scion and root being 

 nearly equal size, they grow as smooth where 

 united as though it had never been grafted, the 

 root being but one year old, throws out roots 

 equal on all sides. Trees in th's way will be as 

 large at three years old, as those worked on 

 pieces of roots will at four years, generally. 

 Where pieces of roots are used, it is necessary to 

 use long grafts, and set so deep as to have three- 

 quarters or more of the grafts under ground. In 

 this way the graft soon throws out roots from it- 

 self, which_ take the lead, and the piece it was 

 set upon loses its vigor, and one or two roots 

 from the graft grow very vigorously, and fre- 

 quently on one side, so that when the tree is ta- 

 ken up for transplanting, it has one or two, or 

 more large clubbed roots. Trees of this kind 

 are much more liable to get leaned over side- 

 ways by the wind than those with roots develop- 

 ed on all sides, although with care will grow and 

 become good trees. 



Budding, when done on small stocks, at sur- 

 face of the ground, is nearly as good as grafting. 

 Some, no doubt, will contend that it is equal, if 

 not better ; a bud is always upon one side of the 

 stock, which takes several years to get grown 

 over, whilst the graft is directly on the top of the 

 stock, which makes a straight tree, whilst the 

 former is always more or less crooked. 



Grafting and budding up standard hight I 

 consider very objectionable, as the graft or 

 bud frequently outgrow the stock ; another 



objection is, seedling trunks are much more 

 likely to sprout about the roots, and experience 

 teaches that many seedlings are not so hardy as 

 the variety worked on them. 



OBCHABD CULTUKE. 



The best modes of culture for the orchard I 

 consider is, to keep the ground in cultivation 

 every year in pota.toes, beans or corn. Trees 

 cultivated will not fruit quite so soon, but will 

 grow large, and produce more fruit at the end of 

 ten or twelve years than though allowed to grow 

 more slowly by being laid down to grass and 

 fruiting younger, and are not so liable to be at- 

 tacked by the borer, as when more neglected ; 

 it is not advisable to apply any manure at trans- 

 planting but a great advantage to put about a 

 wheelbarrow load around each tree in the fall 

 before the ground freezes, and in the spring, after 

 the frosty weather has disappeared, level it down 

 and leave it on the surface, as mulching. Per- 

 sons that have not practised it have but faint 

 ideas of its benefits. This treatment will apply 

 to all kinds of fruit trees ; only should be varied 

 according to size of trees and quality of soil, 

 &c.; if soil is loose and rich, use coarse and 

 poorer manure. This application will be found 

 very beneficial every year ; it prevents the 

 ground from thawing during winter, and keeps 

 the trees in a dormant state all the winter season, 

 in consequence they lose none of their vitality 

 by thawing and freezing of their roots, as is 

 often the case in winter, will grow more vigorously, 

 with darker foliage, and more healthy appear- 

 ance. 



PRUNING. 



There is a very erroneous opining among al- 

 most all in regard to heading out their trees. I 

 see all orchards almost invariably with trunks 

 four or five feet high, and then the branches all 

 pruned off smooth, so as to make a trunk of 

 each, with all the branches for fruit as high up 

 as you can reach, which gives the trees a small 

 top and very thin, leaves it ro open that the 

 wind has more force through it to blow off the 

 blossoms and fruit. Trees headed out near the 

 ground, left with their full natural top, will gen-' 

 erally fruit much the best ; some varieties re- 

 quire little thinning, and many none at all. In 

 this windy, prairie country, I find by experience 

 that many trees that grow rapid while young, 

 with tops seemingly much too thick, as soon as 

 they commence to fruit, #ie branches bend out 

 and open the top sufiiciently, for instance, yellow 

 Bellflower, planted ten years on good prairie soil, 



