The Lambertville press. [volume] (Lambertville, N.J.) 1858-1???, 1860-09-19
Sept. 10
Aarlf0lt1lral.
Neglect Of Fruit Trees.


In travelling about the-country this
summer, we have been painfully i'm
pressed with the fact that a majority
ofthe farmers sadly neglect their fruit
orchards Where one orchard is prop
.erly managed, ten are shamefully neg
lected. Bad culture is the rule good
culture the exception Look at that
orchard of yonng trees, set out six or
seven years since There is not a
thrifty, healthy looking tree among
them Many are dead, some are dy-
ing, and all are sickly and unprodnc-
tive. It is sad sight. Were the
trees unhealthy when set out, or are
they poor varieties, or is the climate
severe +? Not at all. Other orchards
in the neighhorhood are healthy, pro-
dactive, and a source OF profit to their
owners 1t is bad management the
entire absence Of good culture. The
trees were stack out in snail holes dug
in wheat field, and left to live or die
as it might chance. Since then the
field has been in grass or grain the
orchard has received less culture than
almost any other part of the farm,
from the idea probably that the trees
would take care of themselves. This
man is subscriber to the G9neSee
Farmer, but we are ashamed of him.
Can't we persuade you friend frnitiess
to do something with your orchard !?
We should prefer TO see it cut up, root
and branch, but if this is asking too
much, do cut out all the dead anG dy-
ing limbs; put the pillow into the soil
this fall, and give it good summer
following next season. You have lit
tie manure to spare, Owe may be mis-
taken on this point, inasmuch as the
dark pools in your barn-yard Indicate
that it is not very carefully preseryed)
but if you could spare little, it would
do the trees no harm. Suppose you
try little At all events do some
thing for that orchard. Your corn
looks well. 1t has been properly cul-
tiyated You plowed the soil well
and deep, and the horseshoe was freely
used, keeping the soil clean and mel
low The crop will be good and does
you credit. You cultivate your po-
tatoes well the land is very clean and
you have q good crop You put in
your wheat last fall ona good sum-
mer fallow, and your heart gladdened
as the crop grew and fourished and
produced a beautiful harvest. Can
you not take hint from these results?
Cultivate your trees half as well as
you do your corn, and your orchard
would be credit to you.
Fruit trees are set out by millions
every year. The nurserymen Of this
city alone send out each year a mil
lion dollars worth of fruit trees and
other nursery stock. AS a rule the
trees sent out are healthy and good
and yet how small a proportion ever
live to bear fruit The principal
cause of this is the want of previous
preparation of the ground Farmers
will take pains to prepare their land
for wheat and other grain crops but
fruit trees intended for a permanent
orchard, and involving considerable
expense in their purchase, are set out,
with little thought or care, on land
which has received no adequate prep
aration. Subsequent culture may do
something toward correcting this first
and grand mistake, but it requires far
less labor to prepare the land right in
The first place than to do so after the
trees are set out.
Let all our readers, then, who in
tend to set out trees this fall, get the
ground ready now. Not day should
be lost If the site intended for the
orchard is not entirely free from stag
nant water, it must be underdrained
To determine this, dig a hole three
feet deep, and if water remains in it, it
needs draining Iffall cannot be got,
let the drains be cut four feet deep
Then pillow the land deep and well, and
if subsoiled all the better. The cult
walton of the whole surface, will be
better than digging even the largest
holes, and will save much time in plan
ting.
If the soil is not rich enough, it is
better 10 manure now than to apply
the manure in the hole at the time of
planting. This, in fact should never
be done.
For the first few years after the
trees are planted, cultivate nothing
but heed crops The use of the pillow
and cultivator will keep the ground
mellow and moist. The difference in
the appearance of trees growing on
land that is cultivated in the summer,
and on that which is in grass or grain
is most striking-especially in the
case Of peaches.
1t reqnires no particular skill to
raise our ordinary fruits. Every far
mer might have them in abundance.
But he who hopes to be successful,
must abandon the idea that trees will