The Buchanan County guardian. (Independence, Buchanan County, Iowa) 1858-1864, 1860-03-28


us are hard y and enduring; these are
now of proper size TO transplant. Then
let us all try again. Are the farmers of
Clayton county TO give up. because they
have lost S25 wear. for the last few
years, in the purchase of fruit trees ?
l hope and trust they will not 1t would
show want Of that genuine character
for which Americans have been celebra-
ted from the first.
Fortune smiled upon me, during those
years of calamity to fruit trees, and left
me the the best show for an orchard that
l have since seen in any part of the
West. / have nearly two hundred good,
sound trees, most of them bearing, that
have stood and thrived through all de-
grees of heat and cold, and still bid fair
to reward me for all my toll and expense,
a thousand-fold.
If can raise them with such success,
why cannot others do the same True,
| have lost many good and valuable trees,
but put others in their places, and will
continue to do SO as long as they die out,
during my lifetime. The soil where my
trees are set is dry, Burr Oak soil,
which | regard as the best, without ref
erence to exposure. Our prairie soil is
very rich, and grows apple trees very
fast, when they do grow, and the wood
of such trees is always soft and spongy,
and more liable to contain large guam
tity Of sap, which remains in the trunk
during winter, to be froZe by extreme
cold, and in this manner they often die
in the spring. To those who have such
a soil, and none other, l would recon-
mend them TO save all the dirt which
they throw out while digging their eel
lars and wells--the lower down the bet
ter the dirt-draw this into the field, an d
set the trees in it,
The soil ten feet below the surface has
more Of the tree bearing qualities about
it than the loose top alkaline soil of our
prairies and what is still more, an apple
tree will never bear, upon the prairies,
until its roots have penetrated the sub
soil below. | have seen trees upon rich
bottom land bloom and blossom like the
rose, but never bear. | have seen apple
trees set near house where the dirt has
been thrown when the cellar was dug,
grow and thrive, year after year-the
bark on the trunk looking bright. and
red-and producing beautiful fruit
while only a short distance from it, stood
trees growing on prairie soil-the bark
on the trunk looking black and dark.
with here and there small patches Of
moss-and producing litlle or no fruit.
Now l learn lesson from these observa-
tons, and when look at my own soil, !
see the same principle at work in rearing
my trees, for Burr Oak land is always a
thin soil. ! look over into Wisconsin,
among our neighbors in Grant county,
and find they not only send better,
brighter and more solid wheat TO market
than we do, blu! they succeed much bet
ter in raising apple trees. They are no
better farmers, nor have they secret in
raising fruit trees; the mystery is in the
soil. Their soil is thinner, aud has not
that loose, black appearance that ours has;
it is harder and more compact soil
even the gopher knows this, and comes
into our soil to burrow, where he knows
he can do double the amount Of work in
a given time than be can there.
Let our farmers, then. buy live trees
in the first place. And in order to tell
live tree from dead one they have
only to examine the limbs carefully; il
they are shriveled Or shrunk, and not
full and bright, let them alone, they will
never grow. Cut off limb here and
there with a sharp knife. so as to leave
a smooth surface behind, and if the tree
is alive the sap will Immediately glisten
in the sun if it does not, let them alone
also. If the trunk is killed or injured,
which is sometimes the case when the
limbs are perfectly good, it can easily be
told by iule inspection, for there will
always appear on the trunks of such
trees difference in the appearance and
color Of the bark, the difference com
mencing about SIX or sel en- inches from
the ground. After the live trees ale pur-
chased, let them be set out carefully,
leaving no cavity underneath the roots,
and if the dirt l have mentioned is not
handy lett be drawn around them some
time in the course Of the season, either
from holes dug on purpose to getit from
stone quarry, orany place where it can
be ha1--the more the better. In the
fall Of the year, wrap them with straw.
old rags, old gunny bags, or indeed any
thing to keep the sun and rabbits from
them for few years. Take these pre-
cautions (and it will pay in any country.
and in a few years we will all have plen-
ty of fine fruit, no matter where the
trees come from, what the kinds are, or
what the exposure is.
The following is list Of the kinds
which have hourished we'll with me, and
which | have seen flourishng we'll with
others: Red Astrican, Yellow Bellheur,
Golden Russell, Rawl's Jenette, Fulton
Apple, Saxon Apple, Fameuse, Red Har-
vest, Pound Sweeling. Dominic, Talmon
Sweeting, Early Red, Indiana Russell,
Fall Pippin, Vandever Pippin, Early
Joe, and Maiden's Blush. All these va
rieties can now be procured cheap and
on reasonable terms, and Of good size
for setting, at the nursery OF Messrs.
liorr d Beebee, of Dubuque. Mr.. Bee
bee, who has charge of the nursery, is a
man of honor and integrity. and is per-
haps the most experienced fruitgrower
IN the State. The same may also be
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