Vermont farmer. [volume] (Newport, Orleans County, Vt.) 1870-1877, 1873-01-17

40 "VOueu hil-tOpes Tue circumstance tnhb IL
hes in the lee Of the broadcast part of the
lake completes a combination Of advantages
not to be found elsewhere in any great ex.
tent. So it happens that the tenderest va.
rieties Of apples and pears thrive equally as
well as the more hardy Sorts SO the Bald
win, which is certain to fail after few years
in most other locations in this vicinity, is
pronounced perfectly hardy, and SO, vari-
ETY. of the peach is as hardy as the plum and
scarcely ever fails to yield full crop.
The passenger over the Rutland aud Bur
lingtOn II. r., looking westward from the
station at Shelburn over mile Of level
meadow, will notice large orchard covering
slope, which inclines gently toward the
east. The place is now occupied by B. II.
VanVliet Esq, but the older portion Of tho
orchard was planted by Lyman Hall, Esq,
to whom belongs the credit Of first giving an
impetus to extensive orchard planting in this
town. In lS49, think, Mr.. Hall set six
hundred apple trees, mostly Baldwins aud
Greenings though his list included large
number OF sorts. Mr.. VanVliet has added
more recent paintings, till his number Of
trees is about 1900. Adjoining Mr.. Van
Vliets orchard on the west, and occupying
The summit Of the hill and its western slope,
are the orchards Of Lee Tracey, Esq. Mr..
Tracey commenced with 400 trees iu lS40,
and has since increased his number Of trees,
apples and pears, to about 1900. His sales
in 1871 amounted to about $4,000. This
was mainly the product of his orchard of
400 trees first planted; as his later plant.
ings have hardly come into bearing,
| Across the highway to the south from
Mr.. VanVliet's place is that of +. S. Row.
| ley, Esq Here are planted go trees. The
apple crop of the place in 1871, mostly fur
nlshed By 100 trees planted in 1858. was
5000.
| N. r. Miller, Esq, has some 700 trees
planted. 400 of these in bearing in 1877 |,
yielded $780, VIM. McNiel has about
400 trees OF which 100 were set in 1874.
II. +. Hurburt has 500. Robert j. White,
500. Rufus Rogers, 400. Geo. Saxtons
estate, 800. From one aud thrcc-fourths
acres in Greenings, planted with exba pre-.
paration some sixteen years ago, |. A. Col.
lamer realized in 1868 5000. He has lately
set 200 more trees. 81 trees, belonging to
l.. s. White, yielded, the seventh year from
setting, 100 barrels, and IN 1869 they pro-
duced 300 bbls, worth from SO to 81 per
barrel.
have mentioned only the largest or
chards OF Shelburn Point, and my figures
are not as precise as | wish they might be,
but they will convey some idea Of the extent
to which this interest has already attained
there, aud Of the profits which may be reap
lied from fruit-erowiDg, when engaged in
under favorable conditions and when con.
Quoted with thoroughness and enterprise.
have confined myself to the orchards of the
Point, though there are many other large
orchards in other parts Of the town, which
give promise of most excellent results.
Fruit Culture ON the Islands,
which, with the peninsula of Alburgh, form
the county of Grand Isle, motel though they
are in the markets of Burlington, Platts.
burgh, and Montreal for their fine fruit, i,
yet in its infancy. Good orchards are FIRE.
quont upon all the islands but their extent
is as yet, quite limited. This is due in some
measure to the insulated situation of the isl.
anders, aud to their want of the best facil.
tiles of communication with the mainland
and the larger markets. Yet the transit by
water to Montreal and Quebec is easy aud
diIect aud should the time ever come wher
our fruit will be shipped direct to Europ,
by way Of the St. Lawrence, as might un.
doubtedly be done to great advantage, fruit
growing on these islands will receive such
an impulse as will cause the advantages here
presented to be more fully improved. Tn,
soil of the islands, TO which | have already
alluded as well adapted to fruit trees, i,
much like that of Shelburn Point; indeed
they may be called continuation of the
same slate ridge, or shale hills, extending
northward through the lake in irregu
: lar undulatiOns, generally less prominent
, than in the Point, but sometimes rising, ever
. here, to a hight of one or two hundred fee
D above the water. Although the soil is most
+. ly slaty or clayey loan, it is diversified b,
{ small tracts of every character. A few
E small swamps and wet swales occur in tn,
{ hOllows between the swels but it is estimat
G ed that three-fourths of the area Of thos'
j Islands offers excellent sites for orchards
: Lying near the north end of the valley, they
o are more exposed TO the cold winds from th,
Q northwest, than are the fruit lands south o
= Burlington; and, though surrounded by wa
s ter, the channels of the lake are here rathe
c narrow, aud the depth Of water is much les
It than in the "broad lake. opposite that place
: so as to freeze over quite early in winter
h still the number of varieties Of apples an'
c pears which here prove practically hardy !
:; sufficiently large.
The FrWIt Grounds OF BeIJ. MaeOmbsr,
y Grand Isle
Z, deserve extended notice. Whether | visi
,. my friend in autumn, when his trees ar
5, bending under loads of the. choicest fruits
is when THE green and gold and crimson of hi
d apples and the gold and russell Of his pear
h are blended on every band with the purpl
e and scarlet and gold of his plums and tn
=. nurpla aud apha, oP b,s ,,ranna aud tho n;