The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1899-03-01
AGRICULTURAL.
The Planting OF the Apple Tree.

anu pains, out repaylng more IMAM
hundredfold for all the trouble they
cost. And of all fruits the apple stands
at the head. The writer was brought
up in an apple orchard. There was
one tree which grew beside the house,
the limbs reaching over the roof, and
when 1 was a boy and slept in the
chamber under the roof, could hear
the apples drop off on the roof in the
fall. Those were "wild apples" as
they are called, but they were as good
as any apples ever ate. Every farm
in Vermont ought to grow apples,
plenty of them; every farmers family
ought to have apples on the tables from
August till April. 1t makes such an
addition to the food to have plenty of
apples to eat. But it is to urge upon
farmers the planting and care of the
apple tree that l write. Let us note
few essential points in apple growing.
Attention must be paid to soil, va
rieties, insects, pruning, fertilizing and
cultivation. Picking and storing the
fruit also require care. This may look
like formidable list to the man who
has all the work on an ordinary farm
to do, often with insufficient help, and
many might be inclined to adopt 7. B.
Terry's plan. He cut down all his
trees, and has since bought all his APP
pies. He believes in attending to one
or two things and letting somebody
else do the other things. But on most
farms this would simply mean that
there would be few or no apples used,
and the only way for the family to have
plenty of apples is for the farmer to
grow them. The orchard mentioned
above was set about 100 years ago by
the writer's grandfather. 1 do not know
whether it was ever pruned thorough
ly or not; the forty-five years that l
knew it very little care was taken of it.
Most of the soil was we'll drained nat
urally, but one corner of the orchard
sloped down into wet soil with hard
pan near the top, and here the trees
never throve. In the mowings the ap-
pie trees came up like weeds, and in
pasture on a nearby farm so many ap-
pie trees came up that the owner made
practice of gathering them in the fall
for cider. This land lay upon a side
hill, but below in the valley apple
trees would not thrive. l used to
spread manure on the surface of the
ground in the fall, but there were al
ways two crops of orchard grass cut on
the most of it. Many of the trees bore
twenty bushels of apples once in two
years, and as the trees alternated in
bearing, we always had plenty of APP
Piles. We seldom used any for cider.
but fed all which were not used in the
family to the stock. We found that
boiled apples mixed with meal made
the very best of beef, and at one time
fattened number of COWS and young
cattle on boiled apples with meal and
soft corn.
But now the orchards require care.
The location must be suitable, or they
will not thrive. An unsuitable soil
may be made so by lack of drainage,
and that can be remedied, but it is of
little use to tell most farmers to drain
for this purpose. When family sets
out to grow apples, they will keep try.
ing till they either fail-6nding they
cannot succeed, or do grow them. The
greatest drawback to apple culture is
the long time it takes the tree TO get
into bearing, and the difficulty of get
ing the right kind of trees to start
with. Folks don't like to spend time
and money on doubtful experiment.
But it pays. Give the orchard the best
place you have for it, and remember
that if it is success, not only you but
it may be your children and grandchil-
dren will eat the fruit of it.. The old
orchard mentioned has some trees in it
nearly or quite 100 years old; in other
cases the trees have died and others
like them have come up from their
roots. In one case the third genera
ton of trees is now in bearing. In
that orchard each child called a tree
their own, and for years these trees
went by the names of the children of
that household. Now all those chill
dren have grown old and died, only one
being alive, but the grandchildren and
the great-grandchildren have enjoyed
those apples. So do not think of your
self alone in planting an orchard, but
think of others who may be glad for its
fruit.
Get good trees. Beware of the
"agent," the tree pedlar who has done
more harm than all the insect pests, done
it in score of ways. Still some of
thaae man have dona uNod and for