The Middlebury register. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1850-1882, 1879-04-05

~ 49, 10 1'hc6h 'ftN "
so very few, than the local dealer can il
handling two or three times as many
We have less hesitation in stating thes,
facts than we should have Il we wcr,
taking orders for trees at this time.
What TO buy is a question that is re
ally harder TO answer than where Il
purchase. One thing is certain, tina
old standard varieties doing well in an,
locality, are much safer and.more prof
liable TO cultivate, as a rule, than nov
elites that may be sold by fine pictures
and exaggerated recommendations as t.
their hardness, isupcriority of flavor
etc.
Although some of these old varietie!
are a little tender when young, and
very hard winter soon after they are se'
out sometimes kills a large per cent
of them, still, as a whole, their chance,
of proving permanently profitable are
far greater than the newer kinds
There are localities where these besI
old varieties prove too tender to be
profitable, and.some of the Russian and
the best of the Hybrid Crabs may sue.
coed better, but at the best the latter
are inferior to the former in most local.
tiles away from the mountains.
Travelling agents generally represent
that Russians and Crabs are exempt
from the attacks of the borers. This is
entirely false, as we find these pests
give us quite as much trouble in these
as in the old standard kinds.
A limited number of the best kinds
of crab apples are desirable for can
ming and for jelly, but for orchard
planting the demand is too limited to
make them as profitable to raise fruit to
sell as old standard kinds, where we
can raise the latter.
A few of these varieties of Hybrid
Crabs are being produced that are re-
ally good as decent frnit, but these the
travelling agents seldom have, notwith-
standing their prating about selling the
latest novelty out. But ever these do
not promise to supersede. in their sea-
sons the Early Harvest, Primate, Por-
ter, Gravenstein, Fall Pippin, Fameuse,
H~ubbardston, Nonesuch, Baldwin,
Rhode Island Greening, Northern Spy,
Esopus Spitzenberg, Golden Russell,
and some other IL -fashioned varieties.
Occasionally a new variety can be adj
ded to the list of varieties we can cult
vate with pleasure and profit, but these
should be tried in small numbers and
in different locations carefully, before
we can say they are anything more than
promising.
Two of these comparatively new
kinds we think promise well for this
section, though both are open TO one OBJ
lection, they are liable to overbear, and
if the fruit is not thinned, a part of will
be small and imperfect, though our own
trees have produced enough perfect
fruit to make them very satisfactory.
These two kinds are Grimes Golden
Pippin, and Red Russct. The Pippin
is one of the finest desert apples we
raise, peculiar in shape, but handsome in
appearance. Like the Yellow Bellef1eur
and some other light colored varieties,
it must be picked and handled carefully
or it will show the small bruises made
by rough or careless handling-these
slight bruises turn dark colored and
very materially mar the beauty of the
fruit, and render it unsaleable in mar
ket, but for home use we consider it
very promising. The Red Russet is
better in quality with as than the Rox-
bury Russet, and a much greater bearer,
and although from overbearing much
of The fruit was small and imperfect,
still a much larger proportion was per-
lect last year than from our trees of
Roxbury Russet. The trees of both
these varieties promise to be hardy in
this section, the growth of the tree,
firmness and ripening of wood indica-
ting more than average qualities in
these respects.
1t would be hard to give any exact
list of varieties for all kinds of soils and
exposures, ven for a small neighbour.
hood. AS a rule the Baldwin and
Esopus Spitzenberg do best on dry
gravelly or slate soils, and on the hills
and ridges, while the Greetings and
Russets will usually do better than
these on heavier soils and lower lying
lands, though well drained lands are
indispensable for success with either,
and the hills and ridges generally prove
orchard lands than the valleys
and low grounds. Having selected the
location, it would be safe to plant what
was doing well and profitable in like
soils and exposures in the same neigh
borhood. One of the most profitable
varieties in the long run is The North
ern Spy. 1t Is very tardy in coming to
profitable bearing, but when il once
commences TO bear ii increases yearly
until hardly any variety exceeds it in
producing large crops of excellent, fair
fruit. 1t needs a nice rich soil and
good cultivation TO develope the tree
and fruit to the best condition, but it
well repays all extra care and expense.
Its bearing may be somewhat accelera-
ted by cutting back the upper and lead
ing shoots while young. If we should
set an orchard of one hundred trees
we should choose one half Northern
Spy. For want of time and space we
are obliged to defer some further sug-
gestions upon this subject TO a future
time.