The Penn's Grove record., 1899-07-14

There are many orchards w1ich are
giving almost no returns for the land
they occupy, but which might, by a
little well directed effort, be entirely
renovated and made to yield as large
a profit as any portion of the farm.
The chief cause Of the unfrnittuiness
of many orchards is that they would
have been cropped year after year,
without anything having been re
turned to the land in the shape of
plant food; andthe trees have become
almost starved to death. Torenoyate
such an orchard, first apply a good
coating of stable manure. II should
not simply be piled about the trunks
of the trees, but should be spread
evenly over the whole surface OF the
ground. It should then be plowed
under as soon as the land can be
worked and the soil then narrowed.
1t may then be left for several weeks,
when a liberal top dressing Of wood
ashes should be applied to furnish
potash, for potash constitutes a large
portion OF the wood and fruit of the
orchard. Some such crop as peas or
buckwheat should then be sown,
into which, later on, the hogs may
profitably be turned. If the bark OF
the trees has become rough and moss,
grown, the trunks should be scraped
with a dull hoe, and then washed
with r. solution of ashes, lime, whale
oil, soap and soda.
Liberal pruning should also be
done. But if this has been neglected
for years back, too many limbs should
not he removed in one season, as 1t
will cause a severe shock to the tree,
and may do more injury than good.
1t is best to distribute the pruning
over two or three years. Large limbs
should be cut ont only when absolute
ly necessary, and the wound should
be treated to a coat OF thick paint. In
pruning an old tree, endeayOr to leave
as much new growth as possible. The
tops should be well thinned out to
permit light and air to penetrate to
the centre of the tree. This colors
the fruit and largely prevents blight.
Spraying with insecticides and
fungicides should be thoroughly per-
formed. When an orchard is not too
old, but produces inferior fruit top
graft with scions of some good mar
ketnble sorts. This work should be
done as soon as the buds begin to
swell. Notwithstanding much that
has been written to the contrary, We
do not think it advisable to graft old
decaying trees. 1t is much better TO
cut them down, make frewood OF
them, and set out a profitable young
orchard in II new location. There are
some shy bearing varieties Of apples,
such as King Of Tompkins County,
which may be made much mole pro-
life by top-working them upou some
other thrifty stock, In grating, az
i'll pruning, the work should be DIS
tributed over several years.
Grating is a science which every
farmer should understand. 1t Is
quite simple if a few leading points
are carefully observed. The unds
upon the stock TO be grated should
be swelling, as This indicates Il free
flow of sap. The scjous should he
entirely dormant, but if they have be-
come shriveled they are worthless.
The limbs TO be grated should he
sawed off without iniuIiug the bark,
and the wedge-shaped scion should
fit evenly in the cleft, so that The
bark OF stock and scion comes fully IN
contact. The wound should be thinly
covered with good grating wax, We
place two scions in eECh large hnb,