M'arthur Democrat. (McArthur, Vinton County, Ohio) 1853-1865, 1859-04-14
A0ritdtnral.
From the Dollar Newspaper Philadelphia
Apple free Culture.

From the Dollar Newspaper vAia.
Apple Free Culture.
1t is coming to be a general com.
plant in 4 large portion ot cur Eas;-
crn States, that fruit trees, especially
apple, are greatly degenerating, And
it is certainly very obvious that there
has been q marked decrease in the
general size, as well as thrifty appeG-
rance OF the apple-trec, within the
last, say, twenty years. That this is
So, presume few will dispute. But
the question is, why is it, or why need
it be sol Ii we could tind the cause,
wo might, perhaps, devise q remedy.
And it is certainly matter OF much
importance; more, indeed, than for
mcrly, good fruit being in better de-
mand. And good orchards Of choice
fruit will well repay tho labor lequi-
red to make them SO as well, if not
better, than most other products Of
the soil. It has been q practice Of
late, with many among MS, by way Of
reforming somewhat, to dig large
holes, say, some six feet in diameter,
and us deep as possible, and fill with
rich compost, or something Of that
Mind, planting the trees therein. This
does very well 80 far as it goes, if well
secured against blowing over, or being
loosened 10y the winds while the earth
is yet soft around them; they will
seem for while to be getting along
finely. But trees that grow as they
ought will soon throw their roots far
beyond the distance named, and then
il the soil outside is not such rs is tit
ted for them, they cannot and will not
do well. The only way, in my view,
to produce q radical and lasting
change would b.. ii the ground is not
rich enough, make It 50. Prepare
the whole by manuring, loosening,
and enriching before the trees are
planted. Ii compost is necessary,
make the whole rich and mellow and
then plant your trees, and then they
will not need to stop growing as soon
us they get outside the holes that have
been dug. In my view, the greatest,
if not the only reason, why apple trees
do not thrive as well as formerly, is
lust this Our land has been, bv
constant cropping, deprived of its
original fertility, and has become
gradually more compact and sterile,
aud trees do not find the amount Of
nouriShment they require, or that they
used to get while the lands were new,
and because trees used to do well even
%iRieef %%Rieeff orchards were subjected TO the
same rotation Of grain crops that the
other parts Of the farm were. Many
think that now, with the same amount
Of manure that the other land gets,
the orchard will give Il good crop OF
corn or oats, besides the extra crop OF
fruit. But is not this asking too
much! Is it not reasonable to sup.
pose that to keep trees thrifty and to
canse them to bear good fruit, we must,
if we crop the land also, put moro
manure on our orchards than any
where else? Trees must exhaust the
soil as well as other crops. They
may not as much as some, and they
may more than some others. Be this
as it may, it is but reasonable to infer
that they draw most Of their nourish'
mcnt, both for the tree and fruit, from
the earth, and, therefore, if we will
insist on having two crops from the
same piece of land at the same time,
we should be willing to pay for the
extra crop by returning as we have
received. We are forced to make re-
turns for other crops. Why not for
thisl Am correct in my opinions,
or are there other causes which have
not mentioned 7 Who will answer Z
II there are others among the readers
Of the " Newspaper" whose opinions
differ from mine, let us have them; for
certainly it is high time something
was done to remove the evil, or we
will soon have to depend entirely up.
on our Western States to supply us
win one Of our greatest luxurie8.
p. n. Y. n.