The Wheeling daily register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1864-1878, 1869-01-08

That the newly Piaueeu
not aourish as well as those put up by
onr orandfathers, nearly oil are willing
to admit. If they come into bearing
earlier. and produce fruits of superior
o,aIitv. they are short-lived, and ex-
tremely liable to disease. The old trees
and the old tree planters were Ignorant
of many of the ills that have Defalien
those that have since occupied their
places. Many persons think that ell
matte changes have had much TO 10
with bringing about this decline ana
fall' in the prosperity of the orchard
but there is little that tends to sho"
that such is the case. Others VINO
came from the old apple regions OF the
East, think there are no soils here that
are adapted to successfully growing the
annie tree: but the truth is, the raising
of ample trees in the East has become
svsn more difficult than in the West.
For very many years, Maine furnish
ed a vast quantity of winter apples
that did much, not only to supply the
market of the Southern States, but in
California and the West Indies. Or
charding became so profitable that
many new trees were planted out to
take the place of the old trees that were
planted out seventy.fve years ago,
which bore as seedlings for long time,
and were then ensrafted with the Black
and Yellow Russet and the Rhode Isl
and Greening.
But these new orchards, as a rule, do
not flourish for several years past, ap-
ples from Michigan have come into
competition with those grown in the
valley ef the Kennebec; while old Con-
necticut and New Hampshire hard cider
drinkers have drawn much of their sup
ply from the same source. 1t is with
in the memory of the writer that apples
were so plenty in many parts of New
England that fair cooking apples could
be obtained for dune u bushel, while
cider went begging at seventy-fve cents
q barrel. Apples were then an import
ant article of food for mich COWS and
stock hogs. Vinegar from cider was the
only kind in use, while apple brandy
was distilled in large number of towns.
What is the matter that the new ap.
ple trees do not flourish as of yOre in
the old Pine Tree State, which was an
Apple Tree State as wellf There are
the same bleak winds, granite hills and
crystal streams as in the days when
Knox and Dearborn planted out their
cider orchards. We believe the rea-
son NAV be found in this: The old trees
were put on new land, from which the
forest had Just been cleared away,
while the new trees are put into old
worn out soils that have been cropped
from fifty to hundred years. The roots
of these young trees seek in vain for
sustenance in soil from which not only
the mineral salts but the vegetable
matter, has been distracted. We have
q Scripture Injunction not to put new
wine into old bottles and sound dis
cretion should teach us not to put new
ample trees into old land.
We have lately seen quite number
Of orchards set out i'll the West on lands
that have been sown to wheat till they
have failed to return anything like re-
crops. We believe the plan
TO be n bad one. There is good deal
If expense incurred in setting out and
tending for series of years al orchard
of apple trees, and Us it is intended to
furnish fruit for more than one gener-
alton, it is Important that it be put on
the best land that the farm affords. One
life is not long enough to make series
of experiments in orchard setting, after
several failures have been experienced.