Western Reserve chronicle. [volume] (Warren, Ohio) 1855-1921, 1855-09-05
From the Ohio Cultivator.l
THE CULTIVATION OF ORCHARDS

If we 90 into the unbroken forests OF
Ohio, we there find The most perfect speci.
mems Of full grown trees. U%nimpeded
by heritage Of any kind, these trees strike
their rouls deep into the earth, and draw
up in the sap all the salts and earth thai
are necessary to enable the leaves TO alb
sorb from the atmosphere the catbon Of
the wood. Ia the fall of the scar their
leaves, containing a large share of these
sal's and earlhs, fall TO the gseupd and
decay, thus preserving the fertility of the
soil. Ii now~th farmer cats the under
brush fromaa portion of The foresA and
sows grass seed underneath these large
treeSs, very socn they begin 70 decay, and
in a few years many Of Them are P'Ostra-
ted by the winds.
In this fac. which | have long observed,
nature teaches US a lesson as to the cult.
WALTON of fruit trees. She teaches US that
BY no possibility can the earth produce
two full crops-one Of trees and another
of grass, unless aided by an extra amount
of manure and cultivation. Where
young orchards are first planted, most
farmers are careful to pillow and manure
them and hoe around them, SO as to keep
down the grass and weeds until the young
trees are well started and thrifty. This
part of the cultivation of orchards is well
understood. But as soon as the trees get
to be ) or 6 inches in diameter, or so
large that the pillow would injuro their
roots in cropping, the land is usually seed
ed down with grass and pastured or mOw-
ed in consequence of this treatment, nine
Tennis of all the old orchards in the North.
ern States are stunned and messy, and
consequently are much less productive,
than they should be, ard the fruit is of
an inferior quality.
To remedy this difficulty and keep the
trees thrifty, there seems to be two meti-
o,s, one is to pasture the land closely with
calves or sheep, and frequently spread
manure around the trees. This is a good
method, but is less effectual than the 9TH
er mode, which is, 10 pasture with hogs,
and till the ground with pigs noses.-
This method [ have tried successfully for
ten or twelve years. The advantages of
such tillage are various: first it costs
nothing ; second, what is lost in grass is
more than gained in quantity and quality
OF the apples /; third, hogs loosen the
ground mosi effectually around and rear
the bodies of The trees, where neither plow
nor hoe can be used, and that without in
Jury to the roots of large trees. Around
guile small tr,es lows of stakes or stones
may be placed so as to prevent injury TO
the roots. This they perform mostly in
the fall, during The winter, and early in
the spring, when such cultivation is most
useful. This appears TO be almost the
only mode Of obtaining full grown orch
aids on lands which have a stiff soil, and
are inclined TO be grassy. On such soils
The apple tree fiourishes best. Fourth,
when the land is thus titled by hogs, the
fruit is much less liable 10 be INJURED by
spring frosts than when the land is cover
ed with grass. When the ground is bare
OF heritage, the heat of the earth radiates
strongly upward in a frosty night, aud
saves a large proportion of the fruit which
would otherwise be destroyed. Grass is
a good non-c conductor of heat, and hence
prevents the beneficial effect. Fifth, not
withstanding all the efforts of The hogs 10
root up and destroy the grass, during sum-
mer much grass will start up and afford
pasture for them, especially on such soils
as are most suitable for orchards. Sixth,
hogs drop a large quantity OF the best OF
manure over the surface of the soil, and
with a moderate quantity of other manure
occasionally applied, will keep an orch
ard at all times in thrifty bearing condi-
ton. At the present time such a thing as
an orchard with even sized trees which
have obtained their full growth, is a thing
rarely 10 be seen in Ohio, although many
have been planted 40 or 80 years.
Seventh, apples are a good substitute
for corn in feeding and fatiening oil
hogs. They make the best of pork
Hogs may be fed about nine months OF
the year upon apples mostly. The APP
pies begin to fall about the first of August
so as to supply much nourishment. A
large share of the apples which first DROP
from the trees are affected with worms
consequently these worms are effectually
destroyed by them, and the farther in.
crease of Insects injurious 10 the fruit i:
retarded. Also hogs destroy fish worm:
and the larvae of locusis and other inso CT:
injurious 10 trees. From about the frs
of August until the first of the following
May, hogs may be fed in so great a degre,
upon apples, that all farms having a stiff
soil, and where corn is raised with diff
Guilty, this method of the cultivation o
orchards and making pork is worthy o
particular attention, especially as ii doe
not interfere in the least with obtainin.
all the winter apples necessary. ii. ]
CANFIELD.
NahOning County, July, 1855.