St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1872-03-08
firm, 6mdrn and JnusrhnH.


FRUIT culture.
puINt,~ OF EAST WILTON TAENEI;> ,LI.I:.
Om Feb. ID. the club listened To
vcrN interesting lecture 10y Mr.. Abbott.
of Pennington. MIR. Nhhntt Is our
County Supervisor, and he opened his
lecture with some remarks upon school
books. He took the ground that our
text books are unnecessarily multiplied,
without being improved. He would
have scholars study only 80 much arth-
mctic. geography and spelling as they
would need in after life. and devote the
rest of their time to the study of ply 81
nlogN. natural philosophy. agricultural
chemistry and botany.
BY the study of ply >iology. they
might learn t" take proper care of this
body. the house in which they live. BY
thus learning the laws of health, three
fourth> of til" sickness might Ice pre-
vented. much money spent in doctors
bills might he saved. and many untimc-
~ deaths prevented.
BY the study of natural philosophy,
those natural laws pertaining to ma
rhimrrv of all kinds. to electricity and
to the power and capabilities of water
would he learned. This knowledge
would he of almost daily Use to the
farmer or mechanic.
by the study of agricultural chcmiS-
try. the composition of soils would he
learned and the best methods of culture
a>ccrtained. The time had come when
the farmer had got t" apply science to
his farming in order to succeed. and the
common schools ought to teach the
rudimcntS of scientific agriculture.
Botany would show them the way in
which plants grow and derive their
mouriShmcnt from the soil, and the
means ofpromoting their growth. Facts
that are very important that all should
know.
With these observations upon what
scholars should study to prepare them
for after usefulness and efficiency. he
proceeded to briefly consider the sub
.iect of Embarrassing. The best fertilizer
for apple trees, is swamp muck and
ashes, worked into the soil and used as
a mulch. Never put animal manure
about trees, unless you wish to injure
them.
Young trees that have been out of the
ground some time and appear dry. may
he restored to healthy appearance by
being buried in the ground, top and all,
for IL few days.
Last summer he visited Mr.. Francis
H. Sharpe. of w oOdStOck. New Bruins
wick. who is doing quite Il business,
raising apples and nursery trees. one
hundred miles further north than we are
i'll Wilton. He has Il Young orchard of
100 trees, only nine gears Old. from which
he gathered 30 barrels of apples last
wear. What is the secret of his success
He CRAFTS upon the golden crab apple
stock. He SONS the golden crab apple
seed about the Goth of May. i'll very rich
soil. The trees grow about II to , feet
the first year. The second year they
are grated, using cions nearly the size
of the stock. The third year they are
transplanted and in two or three years
they begin to bear. In this way he oh
tains larger and thrittier trees than by
the common method. He sets his trees
in his orchard one rod apart. He con-
SiderS that trees should he near enough
to afford protection to each other. The
varieties that Mr.. Sharpe csteems most
are the New Brunswick, the Peabody's
Greening. the Fameuse or Snow Ball,
Williams Favorite and Red Astrachan.
These are all very hardy varieties and
of superior quality, and succeed well in
that latitude.
Mr.. Sharpe raises abundance of plums
of excellent quality. and obtains Il crop
yearly. His method of management is
peculiar. He commences with the trees
when young and bends them to the
ground every autumn and retains them
there. Practicing this each winter, he
is able to treat his largest plum trees in
rs al, Il.