338 



THE ILLmOIS FAKMEK. 



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KOT. 



}s very clestriictive on fall plnnted trees. From a 

 few experiments we arc inclined to recomiuend 

 this mound to all spring pi ntcd trees, to be re- 

 E«oveiJ in July or August and mulcliing to be ap- 

 plied in its pdace. So many thousand riollars 

 are lost every year by careless planting, that we 

 urge unusual care in its management. 



SHELTER AND ASPECT. 



A level surface is the worst place for an orch- 

 ard. An eastern aspect is the best, hut it matters 

 little if the slope is sharply to the west, if it is 

 protected by a belt of trees to break off the 

 winds. We know an orchard that produces good 

 crops with a sharp western aspect ; but a belt of 

 locust trees, two or three rods wide and thirty 

 feet hicb, break oif the winds and the trees pro- 

 duce good crops, an) make a healthy growth. 

 Shelter, therefore, is of the highest value. The 

 old orcha'ds that have produced annual crops 

 for the last twenty to thirty years along the east 

 Bide of the Okaw and Embarrass rivers, art all 

 ghelteied on the south, east and north. The most 

 of them are in the nocks of the limber belts, 

 looking out to the east or northeast, while those 

 on the west side of the timber, and exposed to 

 the prevailing winds, are uncertain in their re- 

 turns. Orchards may be too closely sheltered. 

 They must have plenty of air, but not the full 

 sweep of it as it pours out from the northwest. 



LOW HEAUS AND VARIETIES. 



We are fully satisfied that it is a great error to 

 prune up our trees, and henceforth our planting 

 sball be of trees with heads not exceeding a foot 

 from the ground. Such trees make a better 

 growth, bear correspondingly yourg, are not so 

 liible to have the fruit blown oft' by heavy win 's 

 are ea<^ier gathered, the trees require less care, 

 need no staking up. are never injured by the sun 

 scalding their trunks, are less trouble to culti- 

 vate from the fact that the branches so complete- 

 ly shade the ground under them that no weeds 

 can grow, and the falling leaves form a mulch 

 that protects the roots. The narrow strip that 

 grows less year after year can be cultivated 

 •without endangering the roots, as in » deeply 

 cultivated soil they run below the plow, though 

 one wo lid not plow over two and a half inches 

 deep iust enough to keep the soil open to admit 

 the air to the soil below. For the first five or 

 sis years the orchard can be planted to corn, 

 beans and other hoed crops, but never sown to 

 small grains. Some orchardists sow buckwheat 

 for the purpose of keeping the soil open, but the 

 crop is not h rvested. Time has not, as yet, 

 verified its value, though we see no objection to 

 it With low headed trees, from half to two- 

 thirds of the labor of cultivating the orchard is 

 saved, and the danger of barking the trunks by 

 the w'hitfle-trees and harrow obviated. It will 

 require time to get our people to forsake the old 

 beaten paths ana adopt new and useful modes m 

 their stead. A humbug like the Morus Multi- 

 caulis, Cnina tree corn, or the Rhohan potato, 

 Will travel like wild fire, and spread over the land 

 like the locusts ef Egypt, but a useful improve- 



ment travels slowly, but surely, to its destina- 

 tion. 



To Dr. Pennington, of WhiteFide county, is 

 due the first extended demonstration of low- 

 headed orchard I'lantirg, but unfortunately many 

 of (he Doctor's varieties were unsuited to the 

 climate, and during the severe winter of '54-'5, 

 were seriously injured. Much of this loss was 

 due to the want of shelter and the planting on 

 low or land running through the depressions of 

 the prairie swells. Hundreds of acres of orchards 

 have since been planted on this plan, and in most 

 cases many of these tender varieties have been 

 discarded. These orchards will soon begin to 

 tell on the supplies of fruit in our northern mar- 

 kets. To say what varieties do not do well on 

 theprairies, would not onlyrequire a large amount 

 of space, but involve difl'erence of opinion, and 

 we can benefit our readers to a greater extent to 

 inform them of such varieties whose value, like 

 the virtue of Caesar's wife, is above ,'uspicion. 

 Among th(5 summer varieties, there is no one of 

 greater value than the Keswick Co'Tn, the fa- 

 mous cooking apple of England. The tree is 

 hardy, a rapid grower, and remarkably early 

 coming into bearing. Two. year old trees headed 

 at the ground will often j n duce a bushel of ap- 

 ples the fourth year after planting. The fruit is 

 large and always fair ; is the first ready for tarts 

 and pies, and ripens gradually, lasting until late 

 in September. It is, also, a good drying apple. 

 It has a clear, sharp acid, cooks easy, and from 

 its uniform freedom from insects, is a great fa - 

 vorite. This may well be called the great coo - 

 ing apple of July, August and September. 



Early Pennock is another variety that has 

 stood the test ; is valuable both for eating and 

 cooking Benoni and Dutchess of Oldenburg, 

 will also be found valuable. AVilliams' Favorite 

 has dene very well thus far with us, but we are 

 not prepared to j.ut it in our select list. Hollan I 

 Pippin, with shelter, is too valuable to be left out, 

 its large s'ze, fine, smooth, round form and clear 

 acid, make it highly valuable for cooking and 

 drying. Summur Queen gives fair promise, and 

 those who olant largely would do well to include 

 it in their li?t. In the list ot fall and early win- 

 ter sorts, Farmeuse stands unrivaled for its leauty, 

 great productivevess and fine flavor. For the 

 train boy and the fruit stand, it has no equal in 

 its season Downing ruined the reputation of 

 his fruit for the West, by saying that "it is es- 

 pecially valuable in northern latitudes," more 

 especially Canada, where it is supposed to have 

 originated. W^inesap, Willow Twig, Yellow Bell- 

 flower Domine and Raules' Janet, have all proved 

 to be of the first value. In our own grounds we 

 have found Stannard, a fiuit originating some 

 thirty years since in Erie county. New York, tD 

 be of no small value ; in fact, we know of no 

 winter apple that will pay a better profit than 

 this, and we are now planting it largely. It is 

 in use from December to April, is rather coarse 

 grained, valuable for cooking and tolerable for 

 eating; the^ certainty of the crop and the im- 

 mense yield of large, fair-sized sound fruit, give 

 it no second position in the list of profitable ap- 

 ples for market. The tree is a sprawling, rapid 

 grower, aud not popular with nurserymen or 



