Vermont watchman and State journal. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1836-1883, 1876-09-20

The greater part were so tender they died in
nursery row but Of Seeding and grated trees
over ten thousand died after being set in orchard
Up to the time Of our getting seeds and scions
from Bangor, Maine we had set In orchard some
four or FIVE thousand trccs-all dead save one
tree and part Of one other, referred to above
With the introduction Of seeds and scions from
Maine, our prospects frightened the Duchess
Blue Pearmain and Red Astrachan being Of the
lot Of scions, and soon into bearing the Duchess
first, and best ever since, and the fact being told
the Duchess tree was in demand and set by thou
sands to good profit
And from the seed got at the same time, and at
the same place the scions were had, We grew the
Wealthy apple. in tree A. hardy ~ crab. And
indeed grown from seed obtained as crab seed,
and from later experiments have no doubt but it
came from genuine crab seed, rs have since
grown perfect crab trees from apple seeds, and
perfect apple trees from crab seed-tho majority
Of the seedlings from the Wealthy apple are per-
feet crabs in tree and fruit And the same is APP
plicable to Duchess seedlings though the Duchess,
Wealthy, and crab tree, stand in close proximity
which might account for the crossing without
either Of the originals being hybrids. Onr re-
verses have been great financial drawbacks, but
we never gave up in despair, but at each reverse
sought new varieties and better seeds till now
success has crowned us-and only n matter Of
time, and rich harvest is reaped, so Ear as the
apple is concerned But Of the pear am not
quite so sanguine-yet feel quite sure that out Of
The great number Of varieties we will find some
that will stand our climate We have over one
hundred varieties Of pears now in cultivation and
as many more tried and gone.
The cherry, we found, was not paying crop,
and it is mostly cleared ont, and something else
set in its place
The peach and cultivated plums were failures
Grapes paying success as are also the strawber-
ries, the black-cap raspberres, gooseberries and
currants
To sum up, with us fruit growing is a success,
and the owner Of land In the northwest that now
fails to plant in variety sufficient for all family de
mands is sluggard Our break-downs Of the
past are bridges over which he can pass without
fear Of failure The cost Of success We have met,
In poverty paid IT, that no one needs to pass
over our experience, run our risks or foot our bills
Of losses to get full supply Of fruit in great va
riety lasting the year through.
Among his various experiments, Mr.
Gideon was induced to try the crab stock"
so highly vaunted in northern Vermont, a
few years ago but, after few years of ap-
parent success, he discovered the supposed
power of conveying hardness in this way a
delusion and that all the apparent gain was
deceptive. lie now, instead of grating
upon crab-rooi, top-grafts his crab trees,
and receives the legitimate benefit of top
grating, whether on crab or other hardy
trees; which enables us to grow slightly ten
der varieties some distance farther north
than when root grated
His experience in mulching trees is given
as follows:
When we began our career we cultivated the
ground, but did not mulch any That year the
trees killed, some only in the root, others only
in the top, and others in the top and root bot
the root aud top happening to be tender. W,
soon discovered that some were so tender in tn,
top that no care could save them, but that other.
were sufficiently hardy in the top to stand, pro
yided they were on hardy roots, or If on tender
roots so protected that the full force Of the frost
could not reach them. Therefore we began the
process Of mulching. But when TO apply it was q
problem that experiment had to solve, and We
went at It with will to know, and so applied the
mulch at various seasons Of the year, often using
alternate trees, sometimes removed the mulch in
spring from some, and left it TO others the yeai
round. Those mulched in fall before any freeze
never bark-burst nor root killed, and thos,
around which the mulch was left the year ROUND
made best growth, and those killed worst tina
were mulched after the ground had froze hard
Jared even worse than those not mulched Mt all
side by side with them. The mulchng should b,
applied from two to six inches deep, according t.
coarseness, and the greater the circumference thu
better and any kind Of litter is good though
deem forest leaves and meadow muck (commoi
peat the best in their results, and the most last
ing One fall we had one thousand trees mulched
and did not lose one Of them, and one hundred
and sixty-eight not mulehed, and Lost nine tenth
Of them and in other seasons similar proportion