330 
apple-orchards.—NO. 3 . 
of the tree. Should either of these devices prove 
insufficient, or should the healing of the wounded 
parts follow too quickly, the operations may be re¬ 
peated in the same, or in the following season. 
The total removal of a ring of bark produces the 
desired effect, sooner, by a whole year, than a mere 
stricture upon it, although the pressure from the 
wire of itself, finally kills the bark underneath. Al¬ 
kaline, or ammoniacal preparations have also been 
applied to young trees, as well as to old ones, for 
the purpose of stimulating their growth and ac¬ 
celerating their fruitfulness, such as white-washing 
their trunks and branches, rubbing them with soap¬ 
suds, and spreading round them shell-lime, gypsum, 
charcoal, ashes, &c.; and, “human urine,” says 
Columella, “ which you have let grow old for six 
months, is well fitted for the shoots of young trees. 
If you apply it to vines, or to young apple-trees, 
there is nothing that contributes more to make them 
bear an abundance of fruit; nor does this only pro¬ 
duce a greater increase, but it also improves both 
the taste and the flavor of the wine, and of the ap¬ 
ples.” 
Apple-trees are generally fit for planting out in 
the orchard at about the age of seven years, at 
which time, if they have been properly treated in 
the nursery, they will be about an inch and a half 
in diameter at the middle of the stem. The par¬ 
ticular age, however, at which they should be re¬ 
moved to their final destination, after they have 
formed a good head, is not very important, provid¬ 
ed they do not much exceed the above-named size ; 
and the objection to a larger size, is the difficulty of 
taking them up with a due proportion of roots, so 
as to prevent them from receiving toogreat a check. 
If trees are to be purchased from a nursery, either 
as seedlings, or ready grafted, and the sorts cannot 
be relied upon, they should be inspected in the pre¬ 
vious summer while in leaf; and those selected 
which give the greatest promise of making good 
and healthy trees, and the most likely to be good 
bearers. They should have full and flourishing 
heads, and broad, roundish leaves, as such gene¬ 
rally bear the largest fruit, and the most abundant 
crops. In winter, such trees will present a larger 
and fuller bud than those the leaves of which are 
small and pointed; but though these are favorable 
indications of the size of the fruit, and the produc¬ 
tiveness of the tree, they are by no means so with 
regard to other qualities ; as the trees may be early 
or late bearers, and the fruit red, yellow, or green; 
and whether they will produce either good cider- 
apples, or those better adapted to the table, can only 
be known when they produce their first fruit. If 
they then prove not such as are desired, or there be 
too great a proportion of one sort, grafting or bud¬ 
ding in the head should be had recourse to. This 
will, it is true, protract the time of bearing a year 
or two ; but it is much better to submit to two or 
even three years’ delay, than for a hundred years 
to have bad fruit. The most proper time for plant¬ 
ing out, is soon after the trees have shed their 
leaves. They should be taken up with their late¬ 
ral roots at least two feet in length, and planted as 
soon as possible. In planting orchards, the ground 
for the space of at least six feet in diameter should 
be trenched two spades deep, the lowermost of 
which should be cast away, and the other wellbro- 
j ken with a spade or otherwise, and the place of the 
former supplied with turf, or a compost of stable- 
dung, a small portion of leaf-mould or charcoal, 
well mixed with a little shell-lime, wood-ashes, 
soda, or other alkaline substance. It is of some 
importance that the tree, when planted, should 
stand in the same position with regard to the sun, 
as that in which it grew in the nursery; and, in 
order to insure this, the south or north side of each 
tree should be marked before it is removed, and this 
might be done at the time of selection. Care should 
be taken to surround the roots with the finest part 
of the mould, and to plant the trees at precisely the 
same depth as that at which they before grew. The 
ragged or lacerated ends of the roots should be 
taken off with the knife; and the hole, after being 
duly prepared as above, opened wide enough 
to admit the longest of them. If the ground at the 
time of planting be dry, and water can be conve¬ 
niently procured two or three bucketfuls, applied to 
each of the trees, will be of essential service in se¬ 
curing its growth. The tree, being temporarily 
fixed in its proper position by a singlb stake, the 
hole should be nearly filled with mould, and the 
water poured upon it. After a few hours, the re¬ 
maining mould may be added, and well trodden 
down. If, in the ensuing spring, a thick dressing 
of a well-mixed compost of lime and earth be laid 
over the space that has been opened round each 
tree, and afterwards dug in, it will be highly bene¬ 
ficial to it; and digging or forking round the trees 
should be repeated for three or four years in suc¬ 
cession. After this period, it is probable that the 
leaves falling from the trees, will be nearly or quite 
adequate to the supply of all the organic or gaseous 
substances required for the perfection of their 
fruit; therefore, it is in the mechanical state, and to 
the inorganic constitution of the soil that we are to 
look for those conditions which are either favora¬ 
ble or unfavorable to the growth and productive¬ 
ness of such trees. It is not enough that the .soil 
be neither too open nor too retentive for the supply 
of a due degree of moisture ; it must also contain 
those inorganic or mineral substances which the 
tree and its fruit require. When the defects are 
known, the remedies are obvious. By draining and 
trenching only, a stiff soil may probably be ren¬ 
dered favorable to the production of fruit; and, if 
this operation fail to produce the desired effect, it is 
evident that mineral manures are wanting, which 
may be supplied by heavy dressings of lime, or 
eat-ashes, or both. If the soil be too porous, a 
eavy dressing of marl is the best remedy; and 
when this cannot be procured, clay, with lime, and 
peat or other ashes, will supply its place. 
The distance at which trees should be planted in 
an orchard must be from forty to sixty feet apart, 
according to the richness of the soil; for it should 
always be remembered that the roots extend far be¬ 
yond the branches; or another mode may be adopt¬ 
ed that will answer for the present generation and 
for posterity. This may be effected by planting 
what may be called principal trees, at the distances 
which their full growth will require, and placing 
between them, either as standards, or as dwarfs, 
supernumerary trees, to remain until the principal 
ones shall require them to be removed. The su¬ 
pernumeraries, in this case, will have a peculiar 
