Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964, 1877-12-29
FARM, GARDEN AND HOUSEHOLD.
Profitable Apple Orchard.

We recently visited in Cayuga county,
n. Y, the fine apple orchard of G.. Lam
don, in the southern part of the county.
On approaching it from a distance, the
deep green color of the foliage was OBJ
served, indicative of thrifty growth, and
on entering it we found the trees bend
ing under the loads of fine fair fruit,
although orchards generally are nearly
barren. The trees are twenty-five years
old ; were planted thirty-six feet apart.
and the branches have now extended
nearly 30 as to meet. The ground being
mostly shaded by the trees. no crop is
cultivated beneath tlieir 81 lde, and the
grass which has spru = ;r,-Is kept grazed
with sheep. VIZ gte trees were
younger, the ground VAS kept cultivated,
and they grew vigorously but bore little.
A neighbor advised a new course of
management, including a thinning of
the dense heads by pruning. They
were trimmed early in the spring, or
thinned out from above, and not trimmed
mp from below, as is too often done.
The surface of the ground about them
was top-dressed with yard manure. The
top-dressing is repeated every two
years, and the pruning is performed an
nually, by the removal of the young
sprouts which may have sprung up
where the pruning was performed, and
which, if allowed to remain, would give
thick tops again. The orchard soon
began to bear heavily of fine large ap-
pies. On visiting it this year early in
September, we found the branches
bending under their loads Of fruit, al
though orchards generally through the
country are bearing but little, and some
are entirely barren. Sheep, which are
turned in early in Spring, and continued
till the growing fruit bends the branches
down within their reach, keep the
orchard nearly free from the coddling
moth. We found very few specimens
infested. AS the trees shade most of the
ground, grass is allowed to grow, and is
kept grazed short till after midsummer
usually till about the middle Of Au-
gust. The droppings of the sheep assist
in enriohing the ground.
The orchard contains about 120 trees,
and sixty or seventy sheep are pastured
init. The best sorts are the Baldwin and
Rhode Island Greening, The Northern
Spy succeeds well. Fall Pippins were
observed with heavy crops. The Rox-
bury Russet is Improbable. The Fall
Orange bears fine crops, which sell as
we'll as any, and would be selected as q
profitable sort, were it not the crop
needs picking when other early autumn
work is pressing. To show the effect Of
good treatment Mr.. Landon showed us
an old tree of the Fall Orange, which
We estimated sixty years old, from its
appearance and size of the trunk, A
few years ago it began to die, and was
attempt was made to renovate it. The
dead limbs, including about half the
top, were cut ont, and the ground was
we'll top-dressed with manure. In two
years, sixteen and half dollars worth
of fruit was taken from it. 1t is now
bearing large crop of fruit.
In the apple orchards through the
country there is usually n year of
abundance and year of scarcity in al
ternate seasons. Mr.. Landon's orchard
bears most profusely in the years Of
scarcity-probably because the treat
ment which first gave heavy crops
|
A few years ago his crop sold for five
hundred dollars the year previous to
the last he received six hundred dollars.
He expects his sales this year to be
about four hundred dollars. The orch
ard stands on ridge. where it appears
to have good natural drainage the soil
is not deep, and the roots thus coming
near the surface are more benefited by
the top-dressing than they would if on
deeper soils and extending to greater
, depth. Some excellent orchards in the
same county grow on deep soils, and are
, less affected by either cultivation or top
j dressing. Il Country Gentleman.
To Tell the Age ofFowIs.
If a hens spur is hard and the scales
on the legs are rough she is old, wheth-
er You see her head or not, but her head
will corroborate your observation. II
the under bill is so stiff that you cannot
bend it down and the comb thick and
rough leave her, no matter how fat and
plump, for some one less particular. A
young hen has only the rudiments of
spurs; the scales on the legs are smooth,
glossy and fresh colofed, whatever the
color may be, the claws tender and short,
the nails sharp, the under bill soft and
the comb thin and smooth.
An old turkey has rough scales on the
legs, callosities on the soles of the feet
and long, strong claws, a young one the
reverse of all these marks. When the
feathers are on the old turkey cock has
long tuft or beard, young one, but o
sprouting one, and when they are off,
: the smooth scales on the legs decide the
point, beside the difference in size of the
wattles of the neck and in the elastic
shoot upon the nose.
An old goose when alive is known by
the rough legs, the strength of the wings
particularly at the pinions, the thickness
nd''strength of the bill and fneness of
the feathers, and when plucked by the
legs the tenderness of the skin under the
wings, by the pinions and the bill and
the coarseness of the skin.
Ducks are distinguished by the same
means, but there is the difference that a
: duckling's bill is much longer in proper
tion to the breadth of the head than the
old ducks.
A young pigeon is discovered by its
pale color, smooth scales, tender, col
lapsed feet, and the yellow, long down
interspersed among its feathers. A
pigeon that can fly has always red.col-
ored legs and no down and is then too
) old for use as a squad.
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