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196 



THE ILLINOIS FARMEK. 



July 



es. Orcliards that have been set the past 

 spring, can be cut back gay within two feet 

 of the ground, after the first hard frosts in 

 October. This we consider the best time 

 to prune for wood. The growth is then 

 comparatively complete for the season, and 

 the wound hardens at the surface and will 

 head over sound, whereas in the spring the 

 sap flows out and if the wound becomes 

 shaded, it will sour and the result will be a 

 rotten spot in the tree. 



We have often reverted to the fact that 

 newly set trees should not be disturbed by 

 cutting off branches and sprouts through the 

 summer. We always dread the man who 

 whips out his knife on every occasion, 

 and cuts and slashes as he goes. All 

 newly set trees should be encouraged to 

 make roots the first season, and to become 

 fully established ; to enable them to do this, 

 the growth of leaves should be encouraged, 

 and it matters not in this respect whether 

 the leaves are near the base or at the apex, 

 it is their number and vigor that send back 

 to the roots the elements for their extension. 

 In this connection we should not forget that 

 at the time of transplanting, that the tree 

 should undergo a severe heading back, but 

 this must be done before the leaves are de- 

 veloped ; after that, they must be let alone. 

 Nineteen out of twenty persons who set out 

 trees, injure them more or less by rubbing 

 off buds, cutting out suckers, and in form- 

 ing the tops. Keep off your knife until the 

 season's growth is complete, when you can 

 take off all superfluous growth and thin out 

 the branches to suit your taste, after that 

 you can rub off all water sprouts as they ap- 

 pear. 



July is generally a hard month on newly 

 set trees ; if they are found lagging at this 

 time the only way to save them is to treat 

 them to a thorough soaking of the roots and 

 a^heavy mulch of well rotted manure, straw 

 or corn stalks, but we prefer the manure. 

 One good wetting of the roots, followed with 

 the mulch, will, in moat eases, be suflScient. 

 We have found corn stalks a valuable mulch. 



in many respects superior to straw or other 

 litter. One advantage is that it remains in 

 place, is not filled with the seeds of weeds, 

 and in the decay materially enriches the soil. 

 It is, without doubt, the most valuable for 

 currants, goosberries, raspberries and grapes 

 of any substances yet used, and we would 

 advise every farmer to provide more or less 

 of them for this purpose. We find that the 

 ground under the cornstalks is more loose 

 and moist than under hay or straw, and that 

 we get a better growth. It is surprising 

 what a thin coating of stalks will have in 

 keeping down the weeds. 



In our orchard, among the shanghai trees, 

 we have allowed the suckers to have their 

 own way for the present, so as to shade the 

 trunks j this, we know, is not the proper 

 way to have the orchard look tidy, but as 

 we grow older we grow more miserly about 

 our fruits and stand less on good looks than 

 on full crops. If we leave our apple tree 

 heads into the ground, it does not follow 

 that trees with drooping or spreading heads, 

 like the May cherry, need not be so low, 

 and these we work about two feet from the 

 ground, while in the nursery the apples have 

 their branches a foot from the surface. The 

 plum and pear cannot well be too low, while 

 we like to see the peach with a clear stem a 

 foot high to enable us to get at the grubs. 



It is generally admitted that fruit grow- 

 ing on the prairies has not been over and 

 above successful. The fault is not in the 

 soil, for we have a most excellent one for the 

 growth of the trees, but in the sudden 

 changes of weather incident to our conti- 

 nental condition. If we have failed it is 

 because we have followed a practice suited 

 to a maratime climate and well sheltered lo- 

 cations, instead of to the dry hot summer 

 months, and sudden changes or heat and 

 cold that we must contend with. If fruits 

 thrive better with shelter, need we withhold 

 it ? If the roots do better in a moist, shad- 

 ed soil, is it good policy to expose the sur- 

 face to the fierce rays of the sun, to drink 

 up the moisture and parch up all the ele- 



