1852, 
THE CULTIVATOR, 
177 
Surfeit of Fruit Trees. 
The best growth, and the finest fruit, are always to be 
expected when the tree is furnished with the materials 
of nutriment in just the right proportion. If greatly 
deficient in any essential ingredient, the tree languishes 
from starvation. If any highly nutritive substance is in 
a large overdose, the tree may be surfeited or poisoned. 
We have seen a fine cherry tree as completely killed by 
embanking it heavily with hog manure, as any animal 
with a dose of arsenic. But in the eastern and middle 
states, this is a rare evil. It sometimes happens, indeed, 
that pear trees are rendered more liable to blight, and 
peaches to frost, by high manuring in low rich valleys. 
The great difficulty, however, throughout this region,is 
the starvation of fruit trees. There is not one case in a 
hundred, where better fruit, and more of it, would not 
be obtained by a deeper and a richer soil for the roots to 
run and feed in j or by the removal, by means of clean 
culture, of all weeds, grass, or other vegetable growth, 
which may rob the tree of. its full share of the riches of 
the soil. 
In large portions of the great fertile 11 West,” the 
case is quite different. The long and hot summers, in 
connexion with the severe frosts of the winters, render 
more caution necessary in the application of manure, the 
natural richness being often enough, without any manure. 
As applying to such localities, the following remarks, 
with which we have been favored by a correspondent at 
Jefferson Yalley, N. Y., will doubtless prove interesting. 
il A surfeit of trees manifests itself by the appearance 
of the leaves on the growing twigs. Instead of shooting 
out rank and large, they are thrown out in whorl-like 
clusters. The twigs which support them grow a few in¬ 
ches, and then often commence dying at their extremi¬ 
ties, having a black tip. If these twigs do not die in 
their whole growth, the leaves finally fall off. leaving a 
small stinted years growth, with its buds crowded all 
along its length, frequently not the sixteenth of an inch 
apart. 
11 Thus, by over feeding, one years growth is worse 
than lost, for several years will be required to establish 
a healthy action again. This disease frequently shows 
itself on grafts set in a large thrifty stock, when the top 
is all cut off at once, especially if the tree stands in a 
rich soil, and the season is a wet one, so as to dissolve a 
great amount of food. 
“ If any one doubts the correctness of this view, he 
can satisfy himself by a few weeks experiment in the 
month of June. A tree may be planted in front of a 
barn-yard, in any rich spot where it will receive the 
washings of manure. Every twig on it will soon take on 
a whorled appearance. Let the earth then be all re¬ 
moved from the roots, and its place supplied with yel¬ 
low loam, and in a few weeks more the twigs will shoot 
off, and take a more healthy appearance. I have tried 
the experiment on young pear trees, with unvarying re¬ 
sults. 
“ Another effect of surfeiting, is the splitting of the 
trunk, from root to branch. I lost dozens of the choic¬ 
est varieties of cherry trees, from this cause, in early 
life. But I soon discovered that cherry trees on thin 
soils never split, and that by removing the highly ma¬ 
nured soil from around their roots, they will remain 
sound. 
“ Old cherry trees cannot be surfeited, but old apple 
trees may be. I have seen an old apple orchard serious¬ 
ly injured by a heavy coat of manure spaded in. In 
August the whole orchard presented the appearance of 
having been nipped by frost; the tip of every twig hav¬ 
ing a black appearance, on the top of a cluster of mise¬ 
rable looking leaves. James Fountain. Jefferson Val¬ 
ley, N. Y., December 18, 1851. 
To Farmer’s Boys—A Hint. 
The writer of these remarks was once a farmers’ boy, 
and speaks from experience when he recommends all far¬ 
mers’ sons to keep a daily register of every thing inte¬ 
resting coming under their observation, relative to their 
business. The time of planting or sowing crops, with the 
results of late or early planting appended; the effects of 
any peculiar mode of manuring; the benefit or detriment 
from thick or thin sowing; the kind of seed; the time or 
manner of harvesting ; the results of draining, of deep or 
shallow plowing, and of numerous other matters, and es¬ 
pecially including the cost and profits of each crop, if ac¬ 
curately recorded, would not fail to yield a great deal of 
interest as well as usefulness. The time of the appear¬ 
ance of birds, insects, the flowering and fruiting of trees, 
or anything else in relation to nature and its productions, 
would assist very much the acquirement of knowledge on 
these subjects, if made a matter of record. I am sure it 
would be a delightful employment, both at the time, and 
by its examination afterwards. 
Now, all that is necessary is to get a small blank book, 
with a flexible leather cover, which may be had for a 
dime at any book or stationary store—and rule each page 
into two colums—the first for the record of planting, sow¬ 
ing, and all other operations during their earlier stages; 
and the second column for the registry of the results, di¬ 
rectly opposite, on the same page. By comparing these 
results with the operations which produced them, a great 
deal of valuable practical knowledge would soon be ob¬ 
tained. 
Another advantage might result from this practice. 
When any operation was deferred till too late, and loss 
was occasioned thereby, make a memorandum of this 
fact at the proper place in the second column, by the ex¬ 
amination of which, the second year, this difficulty might 
be avoided. Many failures occur from a want of season¬ 
able attention; such a journal would therefore leave an 
excellent memorandum book to refer to daily the second 
year, or any other year afterwards, to remind one of what 
must be done at the time. 
Would not this be worth a thousand times its cost, by 
way of making accurate, intelligent, practical, and suc¬ 
cessful farmers, of lads and young men in the country, 
besides improving their knowledge of writing? A Plow¬ 
man. 
Water in Beets. —According to Dr. Salisbury’s analy¬ 
sis, the fresh roots of the turnip-beet contain about 93 
per cent of water, or thirteen-fourteenths, and the fresh 
tops about 89 per cent. This is a larger proportion than 
is found in the parsnip or carrot. 
