Vermont farmer. [volume] (Newport, Orleans County, Vt.) 1870-1877, 1874-01-09

Ter inc TOP is killed, continue 10 spr0ut up
year after year. "No trouble" he says,
about roots winter-killing," and this is
true. Ask him if some trees in an orchard
of Seeding trees are more hardy and thrifty
than others, and seem adapted to this cli-
mate, and Withstand all the hard seasons,
and continue to bear good crops of fruit,
while others in the same ground, with the
same exposure and cultivation, die out, or
remain barren and unthrifty, and if he is not
exceedingly bigoted or stupid, he admits that
all this is true.
Now then, the case is as clear as mud that
when scions are cut from the hardest and
most productive Seeding trees, which it is
admitted are "all right" and grated ON
common Seeding apple roots, which "are
al,cays all right 6eIoto the surface we get
tree which is, to say the least, more hardy
and productive than an average Seeding.
Most Of the older orchards in the region
of country above alluded to are only seed
ling trees, and the people were heretofore
so little experienced with the standard varie-
ties Of grated fruit in their section as gen.
orally to be unable to make selection of
the varieties best adapted to the climate,
aud hence the mistakes and discouragemeuts
so common with them in their efforts to prop
agate choice varieties of grated trees 1t
is indeed discouraging to purchase and set
out lot of nice trees, and then have seven
eighths of them turn to dry brush the first
or second year. But we must remember
that certain varieties of trees are tender in
certain localities, and it is Of no more use
to try to grow them in the far North than
an orange tree, and also that small trees
need taking care Of during few years after
transplanting, and this is more of grass
country than fruit country, and if small
trees are set in grass ground, or grass and
weeds allowed to grow around them, the
grass will grow and the little trees will die
or become unthrlty and worthless. There
are some varieties of apple trees which sue.
cecd we'll here, and although only small or
chards Of the hardy grated trees have been
tried, there are some vigorous and produc-
tive young orchards even in this tOrleans)
county which pretty eftectually controvert
the theory that grated trees will not succeed
in Northern Vermont. Indeed the instances
are rare, | think, in which an orchard of
well chosen varieties Of grated trees, set in
good ground aud well taken care of, have
failed TO reward the owner with liberal crops
and good thrifty growth. ...
There are grated trees within my knowl.
edge which were transplanted five years ago,
which produced this year over one bushel
each Of nice, large fruit. Now if the plant
er who planted two or three trees had plant.
ed two or three hundred instead and har-
vested as many hundreds of bushels, is there
\ any doubt about the proftableness of the in-
vestment, with apples at 30 cents per BUSH
ell? The abundant crops Of apples which
grew almost spontaneously here when the
| land was new and trees were almost sure to
annually load down with fruit, is evidence
enough that We can grow our own apples
here, aud the amount of apples annually
transported from other sections to Northern
Vermont, which nearly every town in the
north part Of the state can count by the hun
dreds of barrels, is argument enough if any
were needed in favor of planting trees.
There is no more necessity for sending away
for our apples than for our potatoes, while
we can raise them for less than the cost of
transportation. The chief difficulty is in
obtaining an assortment Of long.keeping va.
ricties on account Of a tendency in these va
rieties to continue growing late in the sea.
son, thus falling to sufficiently ripen their
fruit. Hence the necessity of promoting the
growth early in the season by cultivation
and by stimulating fertilizers.
For most localities an assortment of keep
ing apples may now be had to furnish a very
acceptable quality of fruit the year round,
and new varieties are from time to time be-
ing slowly added to the list, 1t requiring time
and patient effort to test and sufficiently de-
velop these new fruits in respect to the three
important requisites, viz. hardness, good
quality of fruit, and productiveness the
last mentioned being by no means the least
important requisite, since upon this depends
the profit of the investment in orchard
planting. Any one who may know of
good, sound, healthy tree possessing these
qualities, and especially if growing in To-
cality specially unfavorable to fruit trees,
can do good service to his neighbors and the
public generally by bringing it to the notice
of nurserymen and other fruit-growers.
There are some such trees which have with
stood all the sudden changes of March and
October, and the rigors Of our northern win
ters during the last half century, invinCible
even by that terrible degree of cold which
chills the mercury, and still continue to grow
and blossom and bear fruit upon the frozen
peaks of Northern Vermont, and when or.
chards are propagated from scions cut from
such trees, there is something more than
guess work to back the assumption that they
will be hardy in this climate. We have CIV.
identity made some mistakes in our choice of
varieties OF fruit for the more unfavorable
portions of Northern New England and
Canada, and this has been caused in part by
the recommendations and discussions in the
agricultural papers published at a distance,
and which did not apply to our locality, and
were therefore calculated to mislead us and
induce us to adopt just those varieties which
We did not want, If instead of this our
people would make our own local papers the
medium through which to impart aud obtain