The Middlebury register. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1850-1882, 1879-07-11
Fertilize the Fruit Trees.

tie, but their forsging ground Is limited
and to suppose that within this limited
space fooo can be found to sustain
growth and bear fruit for decades o
years, without any supply of the raw
| material, is unreasonable. No wonder
that so many of our orchards show moss
grown trunks, decayed branches ant
stunted fruit. Forest trees live ant
thrive by neglect, as the ground OF
which they stand is taxed with no othel
crop, and is yearly enriched by the
falling leaves, WHICH keep the trees wei
mulched, and furnish, when decom
posed, pabulum demanded for the
growth of the trees. Iudeed, fros
will rettore vigor and fertility to any
worn-out soil, as the roots penetrate
deeply in search of earthly GnOrganic)
food, and the leaves derive most of theil
nourishment (organic) from the air
AS all that forest trees produce is left to
fertilIze the soil on which they grow
there must be an accumulation of fer.
tilito. Not 50 in our fruit orchards
There the ground is taxed for the sup
port of three crops crop of grass,
grain or roots, a crop of wood, and n
crop of fruit, and the trees are so far
apart that the soil is little benefited by
by tho falling leaves, these being most
ly driven away by the winds. But l
need not dwell on the necessity of fur
nisbing food for the grass or other crops
which orchards are compelled to fur
nish, and at the same time make q good
growth of wood and yield all abun-
dance of fair fruit. This necessity is so
obvious that intelligent farmers apprc-
ciate 1t, II they do not practice accord
ing to their faith; and the slow, SLOW
emily farmers whose premises show neg
lect, probably do not read All agriultur-
al paper, and there is no use in talking
to thom.
Among wide-aA AXE frui--culturists
however, there is difference opinion
as to the best mode of keeping up the
fertilith of an orchard, and to this class
address myself, promising that my
conclusions, though drawn from long
personal experience, and not a limited
observation of the practices of others,
are not presumed to be infallible. The
trees for the first orchard set out was
from the late Judge Buel, then editing
the Albany Cultivator, and he told me
to keep the orchard under the plow
raising roots, but no grass or grain l
esteemed him as an oracle in all mat
ters pertaining TO horticulture, and ]
followed his prccepts. For a number
of years gave garden cultivation to
my orchard.plowing deeply and ferti-
lizing with strong nitrogenous manure
from the stables. The trees grew lux
uriantly, and soon began to yield splen-
did fruit, and an abundance of it; but
here and there limb would blight, ug-
ly cracks would appear between the
limbs and trunk, the plow bruised the
roots badly, and occasionally a tree
died. l concluded that either the ferti-
lizer was too rank with amonia, or that
the plow was too rough a surgical in
strument for root pruning, aud decided
TO stock the land with grass and trust
to top-drcssing with compost to keel
up the fertility. This checked the
! growth of wood, and diminished for &
time the size and quantity of fruit
Still this orchard does not look as vel
to-day as one afterwards started anC
seeded down TO grass the same year il
which the trees were planted. Boil
orchards are on similar soil, and have
been treated alike, except that the one
first started was kept under the plow
for the first ten or twelve years. Boil
have been top-dressed heavily. and
with few exceptions, annually, with {
compost of muck, with a motely mix
ture of barnyard manure, wood ashes
refuse salt, old plasner (mortar). bones
difiested in wood ashes, the sweeping
of woolen factory, and refuse sizing
from q paper mill, never rejeciieg
dead horse that was occasionally OF
fered. When this compost was shovel
ed over, and the offence was rank
smelling to heaven, / checked the smell
and at the same timo improved the com
post, by fire. sprinkling of gypsum.
With the application of this fertilizer
composed, as wi readily be seen, quit
largelh of saline materials, l have beel
able to cut two crops of grass annually
at the same time kept the trees in goo,
growing and bearing condition. Th
bark of the trees is smooth, the leave
are of dark green, the fruit fair, an
the trees every way healthy. atribu
ted the rasults largely to the abundanc
of inorganic material in the compost
with enough organic matter to kee
the surface light and porous. If muc
cannot be had conveniently, then
should substitute leaf mold from tn
forest. Indeed am inclined to believe
from my limited experience with lea
motd, that it is better than muck for tl
basis of the compost, as leaves, beside
making the soil light furnish the salt
of lime and potash quite literally.
cannot speak lao highly of wood asho
as fertilizer gar fruit trees. With I'll
physical condition of the soil all righ
am inclined to think that wood asht
alone VIII Keep an orchard In LOO
heart, as Thea contain all the element
required for growing wood and frui
except carbon and nitrogen, and thcs
ara furnished very freely by the air.
compost made of muck and wook asht
will keep the physical condition of Il
soil right, and also supply the chemici
! constituents for fruit. A liberal tol
dressing with such a compost annual
or blennially, will gradually restore Il
to the virgin condition in which II ";
when first reclaimed from the fores
fand every one knows that fruit tre'
luxuriatc in virgin soil. A good was
and at the same time gnod fertiliz'
for fruit trees, is made by mixing SO
snap and water in eqnall proportion f
old, and two-thirds water for youi
l trees, and rubbing it in thoroughly al
literally with aa old broom. This Kill
! insects, especially the bark louise, Civ
the bark good, healthy look, and iu
-nishes. potash in u very availipble for
for the growth of wook and fruit. ri
common practice of whitewashing fri
trees is Objectionable, as the lime sto
the abe pores of the bark, and imphd
the breathing and exudations ofthe.tr
- the bark of the tree operating very si
L ilarly to the skin of an aaimal. Whe
ever the pores of the skin are stopp
we expect disease. Soap and wal
keew the pores of the skin open a
clean, and operate on trees very sill
q laaily. A tree well soaped looks
much better for the operation as a dil
boy does when well washed. Ii IN
be added that soft soap is an antidote
the borer. 1t will not kill him WI
fairly entrenched In the free hut