Vermont farmer. [volume] (Newport, Orleans County, Vt.) 1870-1877, 1873-01-31

ings in this way, than to suffer them to get
mixed through the manure heaps or scattered
over the barn-yard, where they will be car
ried to the fields and sown broadcast with
the manure. Some farmers think they util-
ize this refuse from the grain, and destroy
the foul seed if they carry it to the gristmill,
but it is apt to contain some seeds which are
unwholesome food for stock, and is very sure
to contain some which the milestone will not
crush
Storing scIons.
DEC. IA. have begun to pick up scions
to have ready for next springs use. From
this time till the buds swell l shall be in fre-
quent receipt Of new and choice varieties of
fruits from many parts of the country. l
know of no material so good for preserving
these as fresh moss from the woods or
swamps. My method is to tie each kind in
little bundle by itsOlf, attaching to it e
strip Of card with the name of the variety
written with soft pencil, and then to spread
these on layer Of damp moss placed on the
earth.Aoor of the cool room Of the cellar in
which l winter many of my half-hardy
plants. They are covered with another layer
of moss and a marble slab is laid upon the
whole. Here they incur no risk from drying
or from being scattered by rats. They re-
quire no attention during the winter, and
can make additions to my store without the
least trouble, and here they are preserved in
the most perfect manner. If do not get
them all put into the trees till June, find
the buds scarcely swelled.
Moisture Favorable 10 Borers.
My neighbors complain that they never
knew the borers so troublesome to their Or
chards as they have been the past season.
presume they are correct,-l have learned
to think twice before contradicting a popular
notion,-and think the fact is capable of
this explanation. The excessive moisture Of
the past season favored the operations Of
the young larvae We all know that the
mother insect usually deposits her eggs close
to the ground that if the cultivation has
been neglected, aud green herbage hugs the
collar of the tree, that part will be found
even on the hottest days throughout the sum-
mer moist and cool, and that it is under such
circumstances that there is the most danger
I . tho, bao hnat oh Iolc hat
if the trunk of tree inclines to one side, as it
leaves the ground its shaded under side offers
the insect favorite location. We have no.
ticed too, that when the portion Of bark con-
tanning near its surface, young insects, has
been exposed to the sun and air they are
liable to get dried out, often hindered in
their work and growth, and sometimes suf.
fering death.
These facts tend to show that whea .-,he
dead bark covering the young insect and the
chips with which it surrounds itself are main
tained in moist condition, as has been the
case during the continuous rains of the past
summer it enjoys the conditions which the
instinct Of the mother sought to provide for
it, and thrives with the least possibility Of
harm. So the borer furnishes us a motive
for clean cultivation Of orchards.
where Borers Breed.
had noticed land the concurrent testi.
mony of all my brother orchardists of whom
| I koJ ;,.,;-oJ -, .k, ,,,.t,ar oon6rnal th,
observation,) that the borers enter newly.
planted orchard on the side of an old or de-
caying one, and that young trees set to fill
up the open spaces of an old orchard are
pretty sure to fall prey to these pests
But until the other day had not clearly
understood why such should be the fact, mol
where the insects found indus in old trees
since | was certain it was not about the col
lar Of the trees as in the case Of young trees
with thin and tender bark.
Going over young orchard to give atten
tion to the borers, | came across piece o.
rotten wood lying on the ground, and pro
ceeding to knock it to pieces that it nigh
not be in the way of cultivation, was sur
prised to find it occupied by large number
of larDe in various stages of growth, which {
I careful examination satisfied me we're tn,
same as those had been taking from th
: young apple trees An old orchard had oc
cuped the site of the young one, and th
rotten wood was part Of an old apple stump
t This was a clue to solve the questions tina
had so long puzzled me. Then the bore
: thrives on rotten wood, even the backest an,
: softest, as well as on the liber aud alburnun
f Of the living tree, and every rotten spot abou
q the trees of an old orchard, every old stumI
e decaying in the ground, and every piece O
apple wood even, crumbling to pieces on tn
{ surface of the field or in the fence corner, al
Q fords it a breeding place. A full examIna
r ton in the premises confirms these sugges
G tons. l am ready to conclude that almos
= every piece Of such wood on the place teen
o with borers | can now understand why m
= orchards are so beset by the foe, even thoug
the old trees have been removed and seldom
! an insect in its perfect state is permitted t
: escape from the tree, The fact that the in
: sect breeds in such places furnishes an add
tional argument to support a iavorto maxim
Of mine in orcharding--that old orchard
: when removed, should be grubbed out by tn
roots rather than chopped off from the stump
and il has caused the appointment of
bonfire of old applo-wood, at lngleside, mex
May, which shall at once toast the enem
and celebrate my victory over him.
tCOHhHued Hsrt weskJ