244 



THEY SA Y. 



consumer or the grower knows what high quality is. 

 Beauty, mellowness, juiciness ; these are the attributes 

 which usually sell the tree fruits. 



All Pruning should be completed during April, if not 

 before. The energies of spring and summer should be 

 directed to tilling. Remove all the old canes of raspber- 

 ries and blackberries, and thin out the new canes of cur- 

 rants and gooseberries to about a half dozen 



Resolve to Keep the Insects and Diseases in 

 check this year ; then resolve to keep the resolution. 

 The best surety that you will keep it is the securing of a 

 good outfit for the purpose ; insecticides, fungicides, and 

 one or two good pumps. The outfit need not be expen- 

 sive, and it will pay. 



A Handy Cane-Cutter. — The sketch shows a very 

 handy tool for cutting out the dead canes from thorny 

 berry bushes, etc. It is made from the point r 

 of an old cradle scythe united to a hard-wood II 

 handle about three feet long, with a leather N^' 

 loop tacked on six inches from the end. In 

 using it, the hand is passed through the loop 

 and around the hand. 



The Brigdon Peach is highly valued in 

 some of the fruit growing sections of Western 

 New York. It originated near Auburn, N. Y., 

 and was introduced a few years ago from 

 Smith's nursery, Geneva. Its friends rate it 

 even higher than the Crawford. 



If Obstacles Overcome you this year, ap- 

 ply to the experiment stations for aid. But 

 try to o\ ercome the obstacle first. 



Save Some of that Manure for the orchards. They 

 need it. 



The Rough Bark on old fruit trees is not designed as 

 a protection. Nature is always endeavoring to throw it 

 off, not to retain it. On the other hand, its removal 

 brings little direct benefit. The lodgements of a few in- 

 sects may be destroyed if it is taken oft, but the greatest 

 benefit derived is the publication of the fact that the 

 owner is tidy and thrifty. It is a significant fact that 

 the best orchards have fewest rough trees. 



The Old Apple Orchards. — "They are of no use, " 

 according to the verdict usually rendered as the axe is 

 laid at the roots of the old time-honored trees. But is 

 this really so? Why not help them to new life, new blood 

 and a renewal of vigor not impossible to their old age ? 

 We can not afford to do without them after all, for often 

 they will bear us fruit equal to, if not exceeding in merit 

 the much talked of new varieties. But how ? 



In the first place, we want to break up the tough old 

 sod about the roots and let in some of the blessed light 

 and air so necessary to our own well-being. Then we 

 want to give them plenty of enriching material — for they 

 . are well-nigh bloodless from long starvation — heaps and 

 heaps of manure. You need not be afraid of over-doing 

 that part of the treatment, for you can not if you try. 



Trim out all old and decayed branches, and give them 



a neat and tidy appearance. It will be like a miracle 

 when, in a season or two, the great rosy apples hang 

 gloriously, or lie in heaps once more — a sight much talked 

 of but not seen before by the youngsters of the family — 

 while the rich flavor of the old-time fruit is again enjoyed 

 by the older heads. 



It is a pity that so many of our old orchards have been 

 almost denuded of their tenants by the hasty conclusion 

 of some over-zealous wielder of the axe, who hated the 

 sight of the decaying trees which bore no fruit "worth 

 picking up," yet were starving from the grossest neglect. 

 Some rare old kinds have been completely exterminated 

 by this means, and those of a later planting, equally poor 

 as to fruit bearing qualities, are languishing under the 

 same vile treatment, or rather from lack of any treatment. 

 It is a grave mistake to allow an orchard to become an old ' 

 sod pasture, destroying the trees to gain a small amount 

 of pasturage or of hay it may afford. The ground must be 

 frequently stirred about the roots to insure ample crops 

 and good fruitage, while full manuring is indispensable. 



It is from high culture alone that we can ever hope for 

 large, perfect fruit and plenty of it. We must not be 

 over hasty in condemning our old apple orchards, because 

 of decay or non-productiveness, until we have thoroughly 

 assisted nature in reproducing such fruit as our fathers 

 and mothers used to eat under these self-same trees, or 

 some like them. 



It is a plea for the old orchards that I am making — a 

 plea for the new life, new vigor, and new yield which a 

 little care, some expense, and not a little good common 

 sense would, bring out of the patriarchs of old, left yet 

 standing, but half condemned.- — H. K., Oliio. 



Good Intentions. — About nineteen out of every 

 twenty persons owning or renting a place in the country, 

 or in some country village, start out in early spring 

 with a bundle of good intentions, which are to be ap- 

 plied vigorously on the little plot called the garden. 

 These nineteen have resolved to have a garden wherein 

 may be found vegetables of all kinds worthy the name ; 

 also borders of flowers that the passer-by may see that 

 the owners of these gardens have souls as well as stom- 

 achs, ideas as well as appetites. In the end the twen- 

 tieth man had the garden, the others did not ; he used 

 the active, they the neuter verb in their operations. It 

 will not do to say, ' ' I am to have a garden, " but that ' ' I 

 ivill have a garden." What are the necessities of a good 

 garden ? Location is first, and that must be favorable ; 

 it must be open to full sunlight and fresh air. The soil 

 must have in it the elements that enter into the desired 

 vegetables ; it must be dug deeply and thoroughly. In 

 using the spade, go to the bottom of the soil, whether a 

 few inches or a few feet, but no deeper. If hard pan 

 underlies the soil, and the surface is a dead level, it 

 must be drained, for, while plants cannot long subsist 

 without water, they are moderate in their desires, and 

 dread nothing so much as too much water. 



Manure is the next requisite in order, and it must be 

 applied liberally and intelligently. It must be in a 

 condition for the plant to assimilate, as, in the garden. 



