138 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
Mat 
and, with an occasional light top-dressing of compost, 
must inevitably cut a heavy burden of grass, of fine 
and thick bottom, for many years to come. How many 
acres of land may be found, the whole country over, 
precisely in the condition of this field, where quite an 
outlay even, would prove a judicious and profitable in¬ 
vestment'?—the more profitable from the fact that, 
while in their cold and wet Condition, all the surface- 
wash of the surrounding uplands, often times extensive, 
is wholly lost; it might be made available by thorough 
underdraining, and would of itself keep the land so re¬ 
ceiving it highly productive. 
Orchards and their Cultivation.— There are 
two bearing orchards on idle farm. One, planted about 
twenty years ago, contains some five hundred trees, 
mostly of the Baldwin apple, a variety that flourishes 
best on his soil and location; and the other, ten or 
twelve years old, contains between three and four hun¬ 
dred trees of choice winter sweet apples. The ground 
upon which the Baldwin orchard is planted, has a south 
and southeast exposure, and was, originally, in a per¬ 
fectly wild and unsubdued state, covered with stones 
and shrub-oaks, pines and other bushes. Hundreds of 
tons of these stones were put into the ditches for drain- 
'ing the peat-meadow, towards which the orchard de¬ 
scends. After the obstructions to cultivation were re¬ 
moved from the ground, a light, free rich loam was 
found, resting upon a gravelly, and in some places, 
ledgy bottom. 
The sweet apple orchard has, I should say, an east¬ 
ern exposure, and, for skilful pruning, healthiness and 
vigor of the trees, presents an appearance far superior 
to”anything of the kind I had before seen. 
In reply to the inquiries of the Hon. John Lowell, 
several years since, Mr. Phinney says :— 111 Most of my 
trees were taken from the nursery in November, the 
roots placed in trenches, and covered with dirt until 
the following spring. This was done in order to avoid 
the necessity of setting them out before the ground had 
become dry and warm. If left in the nursery till 
spring they are seldom or never taken up till the sap 
has begun to flow. When removed after this takes 
place, the'check occasioned by the removal, if not fatal 
to the true, often injures its future growth. The best 
time to take up trees is unquestionably when the sap 
is least active. If taken up late in autumn, and the 
roots secured from sun and air, they may be kept with 
perfect safety until the middle of May, and planted out 
at this time with proper care, and as near the surface 
as possible, vegetation will commence almost instanta¬ 
neously; they will not require to be supported by stakes, 
and will grow nearly as much the first as in any future 
year.” 
While the trees were young and the branches small, 
and at the season when the sap is most freely flowing, 
and the growth most rapid, the operation of pruning 
has, mostly, been performed by Mr. Phinney person¬ 
ally, and the orchards now show the hand of skill and 
judgment in their training. Those branches which 
tended to shoot out horizontally, or nearly at right an¬ 
gles from the trunk, were left to grow; while those 
which inclined to grow more erect, or at an angle of 
45 degrees, were taken off—the whole operation being 
so managed as that no limb should shade any other 
limb, and at the same time an eye was kept to the 
proper and equal balance of the top. 
By this mode of pruning the tops are spread out 
horizontally from the trunk, thus admitting the sun to 
exert his genial influence in the perfecting and ripen¬ 
ing of all the fruit; with the further advantages that 
it is gathered with greater facility, and the limbs are 
Kauch less liable to split off from the trunk, when loaded 
with fruit, than those rising to an angle more acute. 
In the former case, the limb may bend and sway con¬ 
siderably, without straining very hard on the trunk, 
while in the latter, the strain commences almost as 
soon as the limb is inclined to bend with its load. 
Probably the principal cause of the remarkable vigor 
and healthiness of the trees, is to be found in the fact 
that the land is kept in constant cultivation, no grass 
or weeds being permitted to grow in the soil. It is 
not thought desirable to manure the orchards heavily, 
as by this means they may be forced too much; but the 
land receives a light dressing of compost each year, 
and here his crops of carrots, parsneps and other roots 
—of which he raises large quantities—his squashes, 
pumpkins, melons, &c., are mostly grown. Corn is 
also planted to some extent. 
The trees stand in straight rows, both ways, about 
two rods apart. The manure is plowed in, great care 
being used not to wound the trees above ground, and I 
noticed that no signs of injury to the bark were any 
where to be seen. No particular attention is paid to 
the roots; if one happens to come to the surface it is 
cut off, which only causes new fibres to shoot out with 
greater vigor. It is considered that root pruning, to 
some extent, is beneficial rather than otherwise. 
A few years since, the mice girdled quite a number 
of the trees badly, in the Baldwin orchard, and in order 
to save them, large scions were prepared and inserted 
in the bark below the wound and connected with the 
bark above, so that the sap might flow up from the 
roots into the top. The trees have done remarkably 
well and are good bearers; the scions having grown 
so as to form solid wood all round. In a few instances 
the roots were so badly mangled that four small trees 
were set out around the trunk, and the tops of them 
inserted into the bark above the wound. They have 
grown to a diameter of four to six inches, and support 
the original tree perfectly. 
A young orchard, with a northern exposure, has re¬ 
cently been set, of several hundred trees, at the dis¬ 
tance of fifty feet, each way, which is considered near 
enough. In a few years the ground will be shaded 
sufficiently, and as the land is designed to be under 
constant cultivation, the crops raised upon it will be 
more valuable. Between these are set peach trees, 
which come to bearing soon, and are out of the way 
before they will interfere with the apple orchard. The 
ground was taken up from a wild state, covered with 
stones and bushes, and, notwithstanding that two coats 
of the stones have been removed, the last plowing has 
brought up another, that of itself gives the field a most 
formidable appearance. In three or four years more 
they will all be removed, and a light, free and produc¬ 
tive soil obtained, well adapted to the raising of roots 
and vines. Besides these orchards, there is an abun¬ 
dant supply of other choice fruits, such as pears, plums, 
quinces, &c., and extensive graperies, which I should 
gladly notice more particularly did my limits permit. 
Breeding and Fattening Swine. —I have before 
remarked that Mr. P. is not, just now, doing much in 
the way of rearing swine; and of course I had not the 
opportunity of much personal inspection in this here¬ 
tofore important department of his farming. His long 
and extensive experience in this business, however, en¬ 
titles his opinions to much consideration; and a passing 
notice of them may not be without interest to some of 
the readers of the Cultivator. 
His stock of swine, for several years past, has num¬ 
bered about one hundred and fifty of all ages; and his 
slaughtered hogs have been celebrated, in Boston mar¬ 
ket, for their great weight and fine quality. Every 
attention has been paid to the manufacture of manure 
from this large stock, the pens being supplied liberally 
with peat-mud, and other materials for the purpose; 
in return he has received from this source some 500 
loads annually of excellent compost. 
