Vol. LVI. No. 2452. 
NEW YORK, JANUARY 23, 1897. 
*1.00 PE It YEAR. 
ORCHARDING IN VERMONT AND MAINE. 
ORCHARD MONUMENTS TO DR. HOSKINS. 
Saved by the Russian Fruits. 
As a native of Maine, but for 30 years a resident of 
northeastern Vermont, I have had considerable op¬ 
portunity to study the characteristics, as to climate, 
soil, and other influences in relation to fruit-growing, 
of both these regions. These are, by no means, iden¬ 
tical, since Maine can almost be called a prairie state, 
while Vermont is noted for its great range of moun¬ 
tains, with their outlying ridges and terraces, and the 
considerable elevation of much of its arable surface. 
Some readers may be surprised at my calling Maine a 
prairie state ; but compared with the rest of New 
England, such is its appearance, as any one will see 
in crossing the State from Augusta to Bangor, and 
thence northward to the Canada line. In all its char¬ 
acteristics Maine is substantially a wooded plain or 
prairie. 
That which puts Maine into the same category with 
Vermont, so far as orcharding is concerned, is not the 
character of its 
surface, but of 
its climate. 
Maine extends 
northward near¬ 
ly twice as far as 
Vermont; but in 
climate, there is 
scarcely any dif¬ 
ference between 
Orleans County, 
in Vermont, and 
Aroostook Coun¬ 
ty, in Maine. 
They are both 
rich and fertile 
as regards soil ; 
well watered by 
rivers and small¬ 
er streams ; and 
both of them are 
proving them¬ 
selves capable of 
the almost un¬ 
limited produc¬ 
tion of many 
tree fruits, as 
such kinds are 
found, or pro¬ 
duced, as will 
b e thoroughly 
adapted to the 
environ men t. 
Until recently, 
such tree fruits have not been planted, or indeed, 
known by the fruit-growers of New England. Nearly 
all of our tree fruits have come to us in America from 
England and France ; countries of very moderate 
winter temperature compared with that of New Eng¬ 
land. It has been only the most hardy of these which 
have been found capable of thriving, even in southern 
New England ; and when these were carried into even 
the midland counties of Maine, New Hampshire and 
Vermont, they at once, or very soon, exhibited their 
lack of resistance against the winter climate of north¬ 
eastern America. 
In Lower Canada, the growing of tree fruits with¬ 
out winter protection has been looked on as impossi¬ 
ble, with here and there some local exceptions; an 
exceptional stray variety from northern Europe, or a 
native seedling ; one out of thousands, which showed 
accidental vigor against a climate that, not infre¬ 
quently, froze the mercury in the thermometers, and 
demonstrated that European makers of such instru¬ 
ments were, in modern slang, far too previous in their 
conclusions as to the position of zero. But now the 
whole face of the country is becoming changed by 
the aspect of new orchards, in almost every case by 
the planting and fruitage of what have been popularly 
styled the Ironclads. Sufficient time has now elapsed 
to show that, with these Russian tree fruits, we of 
the cold North may have orchards as extensive, 
thrifty, and as fruitful as any on the continent. The 
boon which this revelation has given to the people of 
our northern border is not yet appreciated as it must 
be in a few more years. Our whole Northern tier of 
States is becoming orchard territory ; more or less so, 
according to conditions other than those of climate. 
It is not in apples alone that this is becoming man¬ 
ifest. The Russian pears, plums and cherries have 
come to us along with the apples ; and in size, beauty, 
quality and productiveness, they are showing them¬ 
selves in nowise inferior to like fruits of more south¬ 
ern origin. From them, we shall grow many seed¬ 
lings, close bred or crossed, which will, in time, add 
varieties which will, in all likelihood, prove even 
better than anything in these lines which we have 
ever yet been able to produce. The cold North has 
indeed, been enfranchised in a direction apparently 
impossible, and certainly unexpected—hardly hoped 
for—by a few hard-working and patient people whose 
resolution was greater than their most sanguine 
hopes, when measured by results now manifesting 
themselves over a wide extent of country. 
My own connection with this remarkable movement 
has been largely what might be called an accidental 
by some, and perhaps, providential by others. Crip¬ 
pled by an accident which made the active practice of 
my profession impossible, I came to this region in 
pursuit of health, not once suspecting the direction 
in which my energies were to be turned. For now 30 
years, I have labored to solve this great problem. 
The few Russian apples then known in America prov¬ 
ing entirely successful, I naturally desired more of 
the same kind, and my agitation of the subject 
through the agricultural press may have, in some 
slight degree [In a very considerable degree, we 
should say.— Eds. j, promoted the first large and 
direct importation of Russian apples. The general 
experience with these having demonstrated their per¬ 
fect adaptation to the requirements of the situation, 
led to the natural desire for a larger and better 
selected importation of apples, which should include 
a large collection of longer-keeping sorts, and, also, 
of such other tree fruits as the Russian climate could 
afford us. This work was so carefully, intelligently 
and thoroughly carried out, that only time was re¬ 
quisite to demonstrate the vast change it would pro¬ 
duce upon fruit-growing in our northern tier of States 
and in Canada. Day by day, we have watched and 
worked for the fruition of our hopes and our trees ; 
until now we have demonstrated before our eyes that 
which had become the desire of our hearts. The people 
of the cold North are to be fruitless no longer. 
SUB-IRRIGATION FOR FOLIAGE PLANTS. 
Large beds of foliage plants often suffer from lack 
of water, because of the difficulty in applying the 
hose properly. An experiment in sub-irrigation at 
the Wisconsin Experiment Station last year appears 
to obviate this difficulty. A circular bed 22 feet in 
diameter was prepared by removing the top soil to 
a depth of 16 
inches, the sub¬ 
soil being com¬ 
pact red clay. 
Three-inch 
round tiles, in 
sections one foot 
long, were laid 
over the bottom 
of the excavated 
circle. A line of 
the tiles was 
laid across the 
center, the sec¬ 
tions being three 
inches apart. At 
right angles to 
this were placed 
branch lines, op¬ 
posite the spaces 
between the sec¬ 
tions of the first 
line, the sections 
of the branch 
lines being 
placed all close 
together. The 
outer ends of the 
branch lines,and 
one end of the 
main line, were 
then closed with 
bricks, a n d a t 
the other end of 
the main line a section of five-inch tile, 234 feet long, 
was set vertically, as an inlet to the system. The 
spaces between the sections in the main line were 
covered with pieces of tile, after which the joints 
were closed with cement. The tiles were then covered 
with well-enriched soil to the depth of 24 inches in 
the center, the surface gently rounding to the border. 
The bed was planted June 1, with one Ricinus in the 
center, surrounded by belts of cannas, Caladium escu- 
lentum, Coleus, and Geraniums. The first artificial 
irrigation was applied June 24, water being supplied 
until the soil was moist to the surface. The quantity 
of water required thoroughly to wet the surface was 
very large, about 50 barrels to each watering. The 
illustration, Fig. 27, shows the bed as it appeared 
August 6. Some of the Cannas then measured 934 
feet in height, and the Caladiums were also very large. 
The first cost of this tiling is quite expensive, but 
it is then expected to remain intact year after year. In 
localities having a sandy subsoil, it might be necessary 
to cement the excavation at the bottom, and a short 
distance up the sides, to prevent rapid waste of water. 
AN OUT-DOOR FOLIAGE BED S U B - 1 R R I G A T E D WITH TILE. Fig. 27. 
