FILLING VACANCIES IN THE ORCHARD. 



93 



lated by the thousand, and now the whole country is 

 alive with them. Mr. Norton has the whole business 

 down to a system, and does not flood the market with 

 birds, but sells just enough to keep the hotels scantily 

 supplied, and thus keeps the price up. The birds mul- 

 tiply so readily that there is no danger of the nests being 

 depopulated. As they bring good prices, the man who 

 thought of the scheme is coining money, for while he is at 

 very little expense, his flock is increasing rapidly and bids 

 fair to bring him a fortune, as the intention is to supply 

 the eastern markets as soon as he can make the proper 

 arrangements for transporting the birds. 



Not Altogether Harmful. — Many say that the 

 sparrow will eat and destroy ripening grapes. A few 

 years ago I watched these birds and found that instead 

 of eating the fruit they were picking off insects from 

 the under side of the leaves; the real culprits were 

 robins ; these, however, were easily kept away by having 

 scraps of tin swinging near the vines. Last spring I 



suspected that the sparrows nearly ruined the early peas, 

 but of course, they were convicted on circumstantial 

 evidence ; we could not detect them nipping the young 

 vines, but we found them eaten off, and there were 

 numbers of sparrows among the peas. They showed 

 guilt in their actions. On the whole I think they are no 

 acquisition, and that we would be better off if they had 

 never been brought to this country, for in the cities they 

 are a nuisance, they do not sing, and they are veritable 

 little fighters. But they have come to stay, as they find 

 this land of plenty a good home, as do all foreigners 

 that come to our shores ; and I do think they cannot be 

 exterminated, any more than can the rabbits from 

 Australia. The State of Illinois has offered a bounty of 

 two cents a head for all dead sparrows, but with a climate 

 to suit them, and plenty to eat, the sparrows have the 

 best of the bargain, and the bounty is of little use as an 

 exterminator, for they multiply in spite of it. 



Scheucctadv O'., /V. V. E. W. L. 



FILLING VACANCIES IN THE ORCHARD. 



LIGHT is a giant destroyer of 

 pear trees. The mortality 

 from that cause and from ac- 

 cident ranges from five to 

 twelve per cent, per annum. 

 An orchard of mine contain- 

 ing 500 dwarf Bartlett and 

 Louise Bonne de Jersey, 

 planted in 1876, has had the vacancies set nearly 

 every spring since. 



Passing through it a few days ago, the skips seemed 

 about as numerous as ever. Quite a number of the 

 largest trees have died since the fruit was set last spring. 

 Some of the reset trees are now full-grown, and have 

 been bearing for several years. In fact, all trees of a 

 bearing size have borne a heavy crop this season. 



The soil is a hillside, southern and eastern slope, clay, 

 and not excessively rich. The first two years it was 

 planted to corn, then seeded to grass, and has not been 

 plowed since. The ground has been top-dressed with 

 wood-ashes and commercial fertilizer, and the trees 



have been mulched in winter with forest-leaves and in 

 summer with the weeds and grass mowed from between 

 the rows. In late years a circle has been spaded each 

 spring as wide as the branches extend, and commercial 

 fertilizer worked into the soil. 



Now the question is. How long shall I buy trees to fill 

 the vacancies ? Young trees planted in an old orchard 

 grow but slowly, and if set in rows by themselves would 

 be cared for more easily, and probably make a better 

 growth. But is it business-like to allow the ground of 

 an orchard to remain only partly filled ? It is like a 

 cornfield with a poor stand. 



The Bartletts were set i6xi6feetand the Louise Bonne 

 8xi6; none of the former have grown large enough 

 to crowd, although a few of the latter have in one 

 direction. 



Which plan will bring me the most dollars ? I am 

 inclined to the opinion that the trees are not too large 

 to allow small ones to grow in the gaps, and so I intend 

 to reset again this spring, and after that probably will 

 not repeat the process. 



Illi"oi^. T. E. Goodrich. 



