The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1878-11-19
AGRICULTURAL.


Mr.. A. M. Brown thinks give injudicious
counsel when l advise heading-in fruit trees
to three or four feet. One of his reasons is
that in order to make fruit trees grow there
must be room enough under the branches to
admit horse (and suppose he would have
q plough or harrow attached to the horse)
without knocking off bark or tearing harness.
Now one of the many reasons for training
low is to prevent horse, plough and harrow
from ever getting under the branches of fruit
trees. There is no advantage in such plow-
ing or narrowing, unless you desire to de-
prive the trees of their fibrous roots. Or
chards thus maltreated are usually yearly
robbed of about all the elements necessary to
make healthy, vigorous growth of bark,
wood, broad, dark green foliage, and large,
fair fruit, by grass with its thousand rootlets.
Young trees struggling in grass, or with any
OF the cereals, are unable to compete for
their share OF plant food.
Mulching answers much better purpose
than blowing or hoeing under trees, which
breaks the fbrous rootlets and very much
retards growth. Let US learn of wise mother
Nature, who never ploughs, but mulches her
forests every autumn and suffers no grass or
weeds to grow beneath her thrifty branches.
Fruit trees suffer much for want OF mulching
to preserve an even temperature in summer,
and from sudden alterations of the weather
while in their torpid condition in winter and
spring. Therefore, add little manure
yearly, in the fall, and cover the soil with
mulch under the branches, as far as they ex-
tend, with chip-dirt, straw, leaves, grotten
wood, ETC., adding little every autumn, as
do the forests; thus the soil will grow mellow
and retain the moisture that otherwise
quickly evaporates, leaving the trees to suffer
In drought, and, in my opinion, causing the
cracking of pears and other fruit. Extremes
of temperature prove very disastrous to fruit
trees In summer and winter.
Mr.. Brown exclaims, 'What more insight
ly view could there possibly be on farm
than field or orchard of such scrubs %
Now, the fact is that if the branches of trees
start at four or eight feet they will have un-
slightly scrub tops unless judicously pruned
every year from infancy till in bearing con-
dition. Judging from what see while rid
ing, over the country, comparatively few
orchardists know what is necessary in order
to have beautifully formed trees, with open,
well-developed branches to let in light and
air. They let them run to waste, having six
to eight branches at each formation, thus
rendering them stunted scrubs; whereas
there should never be more than three
branches at each formation, and the forma-
tons should be two and half to three feet
apart, thus giving room tor the fruit to rpen
In light and air, otherwise it will be fiat,
insipid and Improbable. / have observed
that apple trees with long stems are usually
manured only when plowed, once in eight or
ten years, and pruned about as frequently,
with axe and rip-saw, and that thew are ant
to have "scrub'' tops filled with suckers.
When apples were grown for cider it mat.
tered not Il they did hang high; they could
be shaken down.
We have an orchard of Maine seedlings.
transplanted seven years ago and grated the
same spring. It is always better to graft
seedlings at the time of planting; they are
often stunted by having too much leaf sur.
face, which evaporates all their sap. If cut
back and grated they will be better balanced
and If any OF the fcions fail to grow, will be
10 better condition to regraft the next spring:
latent buds in the bark will always start and
keep the trees in healthy condition. This
has been my experience for many years. The
above orchard was grated In the stems.
three to four feet high; only one scion was
allowed to remain, having only three suit
ably distributed branches, which were trained
up at an angle of forty-6ve degrees, three feet
IN height and three more branches allowed
to form on each branch-thus giving six feet
before reaching the boughs. The orchard
Is now loaded with apples; every one who
locks at 1t exclaims, "What beautiful trees,
and how convenient to step into and gather
the fruit" Such trees are high enough for
all practical purposes; convenient to step
into without ladder to gather fruit, DESTROY
caterpillars and other insects; less likely to
suffer in gales OF wind; and FIVE bushels can
be picked from them to one from tall, uu-
slightly treeSv-AFred Smith, Kennebec Co..
Maine, in N, Y. Tribune.