1862. 



THE ILLINOIS FARMER. 



11 



The Neglect of Fniit Trees. 



In traveling about the country this summer, 

 we hive been painfully impressed with the fact 

 that the majority of farmers sadly neglect their 

 fruit orchards. Where one orchard is properly 

 manatred, ten are shamefully neglected. Bad 

 culture is the rule ; good culture the exception. 

 "Bad culture," did we say? No culture would 

 be nearer the truth. Look at that orchard of 

 young trees set out six or seven years since. 

 There is not a thrifty, healthy looking tree among 

 them ! Many are dead, some are dying, and all 

 are sickly ai;d unproductive. It is a sad sight. 

 " Were the trees unhealthy when set out, or are 

 they poor varietif s, or is the climate too severe ?" 

 Not at, all. Other orchards in the neighborhood 

 are healthy, productive, and a source of profit to 

 their owners. It if a bad management ; the en- 

 tire absence of good culture. The trees were 

 stuck out in small holes dug in a wheat field, and 

 left to live or die, as it mi. ht chance. Since 

 then the field has been In grass or grain ; the or- 

 chard has received less culture than almost any 

 other part of the farm, from the idea probably 

 that the trees would take care of themselves. 

 This man is a subscriber to the Genesee Farmer, 

 but we are ashamed of him. We hope none of 

 his neighbors see him take the paper out of the 

 post office. Can't we persuade you, Fri( nd Fruit- 

 less to do something with that orchard? We 

 should prefer to see it cut up, root and b'anch ; 

 but if this is asking too much, di> cut out all the 

 dead and dying limbs ; put the plough into the 

 soil this fall and give it a good summer-fallowing 

 next season. You have a little manure to spare 

 — we may be mistaken on this point, inasmuch as 

 the dark pools in the barn yard indicate thai: it 

 is not very carefully— but if you could spare a 

 little, it would do the trees no harm. Suppose 

 you try a little ? At all events, do somettiing for 

 that orchard. Your corn looks well. It has been 

 properly cultivated. You plowed the land well 

 and deep, and the horse hoe has been freely used, 

 keeping the <^oil clean and mellow. The crop will 

 be g^od and does you credit. You cultivated 

 your potatoes well; the land is very clean and 

 you have a good crop. You put in your wheat 

 last fall on a good summer-fallow. You provided 

 what TuU calls a good " pasture " for the roots 

 to feed in, and your heart gladdened as the crop 

 grew and flouriirhed, and produced a bountiful 

 harvest. 



Can you not take a hint from these results? 

 Cultivate pour trees half as we 1 asyou cultivate 

 your corn, and your orchard would be a credit to 

 you. 



Fruit trees are set out by millions every year. 

 The nurserymen of this city alone send out each 

 year a million dollars' worth of fruit trees and 

 other nursery stock. As a rule, the trees sent 

 out are heathy and good ; and yet how small a 

 proportion ever live to bear fruit, or make profit- 

 able orchards ! The principal cause of this is the 

 want ff previous preparation of »he ground. 

 Farmers will take pains to prepare their land for 

 wheat ond other grain crops ; but fruit trees, in- 

 tended for a permanent orchard, and involving 

 considerable expense in their purchase, are set 



out, with little thought or care, on land which has 

 received no adequate preparation. Subsequent 

 culturr may do something towards correcting this 

 first grand mistake ; but it requires far less labor 

 to prepare the land right in the first place than 

 to do so after the trees are set out. 



Let all our readers, then, who intend to set out 

 fruit trees this fall, got the ground ready now. 

 Not a day should be lost. If the site intended 

 for the orchard is not entirely free from stagnant 

 water, it must be underdrained. To determine 

 this, dig a hole three feet deep, and if water re- 

 mains in it, it needs draining. If fa'l can be got 

 Jet the drains be cut four feet deep Then p'ow 

 the land deep and well, and if subsoiled all the 

 better. This cultivation of the whole surface 

 wiil be better than digging even the largest boles, 

 and will save much t'me in planting. 



If the soil is not rich enough, it is better to 

 manure now than to apply the manure in the hole 

 at the time time of planting. This, in fact, 

 should never be done. 



For the first few years after the trees are 

 planted cultivate nothing but hoed crops. The 

 use of tie plough and cultivator will keep the 

 soil mellow and moist. The difl'erence in the ap- 

 pearance of trees growing on land that is culti- 

 vated during the summer, and on that which is in 

 grass or grain, is moat striking — especially in the 

 case of peaches. 



It requires no particular skill to raise our or- 

 dinary ruits. Every farmer might have them in 

 abundance ; but he who hopes to be successful 

 must abandon the idea that fruit trees will flour- 

 ish in grass or grain. — Genesee Farmer. 



The Oonstitctional Convention. — The 

 Springfield correspondent of the St. Louis Re- 

 publican, in giving the law under which the 

 Constitutional Convention is called, says : 



By this act the Constitution framed will have 

 to be submitted to the people, and will be of no 

 force until ratified by the people. It has been 

 said by some that the Convention will have 

 power to adopt a Constitution without submit- 

 ting it to the people, if it shall so choose. With- 

 out saying anything in regard to the bad policy 

 of such a proceeding, we do not believe that the 

 Convention will possess any such power. At 

 ail events, there is no probability that such an 

 exercise of power will be attempted. The tal- 

 ented number of delegates who will have a seat 

 in the Convention, is a suflBcient guaranty that 

 the interests of the people will be well attend- 

 ed to. 



— " Why don't you wheel that barrow of 

 coals, Ned ?" said a miner to one of his sons; 

 "it is not a very hard job. There is an inclined 

 plane to relieve you." 



"Ah," replied Ned, "the plane may be inclin- 

 ed, but hang me if I am." 



