Historical Document · 1817
A View of the Management of Fruit Trees and the Management of Orchards and Cider
- cider-perry
Historical Document · 1817
; A VIEW . OF THE CULTIVATION FRUIT TREES, AND THE Management of Orchards and Cider ; WITH , ACCURATE DESCRIPTIONS or THE MOST ESTIMABLE VARIETIES OF NATIVE AND FOREIGN ; APPLES, PEARS, PEACHES, PLUMS, AND CHERRIES, CULTIVATED IN THE MIDDLE STATES OF ANERICA: ILLUSTRATED BY ° Cuts of two hundred kinds of Fruits of the natural size ; INTENDED TO EXPLAIN Some of the errors which exist relative to the origin, popular names, and character of many of our fruits; to identify them by accurate descriptions of their properties, and correct delineations of the full size and natural formation of each variety; and to ex- hibit a system of practice adapted to our climate, in the e é SUCCESSIVE STAGES OF A NURSERY, ORCHARD, AND CIDER ESTABLISHMENT. . —_a— BY WILLIAM COXE, Esq, Of Burlington, New Jersey. —~——— PHILADELPHIA: PUBLISHED BY M. CAREY AND GON. Nov. 1, 1817. —— D. Allinson, Printer. DISTRICT OF PENNSYLVANIA, TO WIT: RBrrrrkh Be it Remembered, That on the twenty-second day of Octo- $ SEAL ° ber, in the forty-second year of the independence of the Uni- 4 ” 2 ted States of America, A. D. 1817, M. CAREY & SON, of the 7-7’ B said District, have deposited in this office the title of a Book, the right whereof they claim as Proprietors, in the words following, to wit : “Al View of the Cultivation of Fruit Trees, and the Manage- ment of Orchards and Cider; with accurate descriptions of the most estimable varieties of native ond foreign Apples, Pears, Peaches, Plums, and Cherries, culti in the middle states of America: illustrated by Cuts of two hundred kinds of Fruits of the natural size ; intended to explain some of the errors which ex- : tst relative to the origin, y names, and character of many of our fruits; to identify them by accurate descriptions of their properties, and correct delineations of the full size and natural formation of each variety; and to exhibit a system of practice adapted to our climate, in the successive stages of a Nursery, Or- chard, and Cider Establishment. By William Coxe, Esq., of Bur- lington, New Jersey.” In conformity to the act of the Congress of the United States, inttthed « An act for the encouragement of Learning, by securing the copies of Maps, Charts, and Books, to the authors and proprietors of such copies, during the times therein mentioned.” And also to the Act entitled, “An Act eupple- mentary to an Act, entitled “ An Act for the Encouragement of Learning, by securing the copies of Maps, Charts, and Books, to the authors and pro- prietors of such copies, during the times therein mentioned, and extending the benefits thereof to the arts of designing, engraving, and etching histo- rical and other Prints.” D. CALDWELL, Clerk of the District of Pennsylvania. CONTENTS. ad 3493 Page Introductory observations, 5 Cuarrer I. Of the fitness of the climate of the United States for the cultiva- tion of the Apple, | 9 — IL Onthe management of a fruit nurse- ry; : 413 —— Ill. On ingrafting large trees, 18 — IV. On Stocks, 20 —— V. On the propagation of new varietics, 2 —— VI. On the duration of particular varicties,%& —— VIL. On the Sap, —— VIIL. On inoculating, or budding, —— [X. On the situation of orchards, —— X. On the planting and cultivation of or- chards, —— XI. On praning of orchards, —— XIL Of the caterpillar, —— XH Experiments on orchards, to ascer- tain the best mode of planting and cultivating, —— XIV. On the properties and management of cider, 58 —— XV. Of the concentration of cider by frost, 74 SRR £8 iv CONTENTS. —— XVI. On the nature and management of crab cider, 76 —— XVIE. Of Perry, 81 — XVIIL On fining cider, : 82 —— XIX. Of the buildings and machinery con- nected with a cider establishment, 85 — XX. Of distilleries of spirit from cider, 92 —— XXI. Of Stumming and cleansing casks, 97 . —— XXII. Of Vinegar, 98 —— XXIIL Of Apples, 400 — XXIV.—Pears, 174 —— XXV.—The Quince, 214 —— XXVI—Peaches, 215 —— XXVII.—Plums, 238 —— XXVIIt.—Apricots, 210 —— XXIX.—Wectarines, 248 —— XXX.—Cherries, 246 General Index, 254 A VIEW &c. INTRODUCTORY OBSERVATIONS. There is probably no part of Rural Economy, which combines in so great a degree the agreeable oc- cupation of the mind with active employment, as the cultivation of fruit-trees, with the other branches of an extensive Orchard establishment; to the man of wealth and leisure, it offers the means of: improving and adorning his estate; the scientifick Cultivator will find in it inexhaustible sources of intellectual occupation; while the practical farmer, whose views are limited to objects of certain profit, will be amply remunerated for every expenditure of labour or mo- ney, by the immediate comfort, and eventual emolu- ment, which will be derived from such an establish- ment. 4 -_— ——-. 6 INTRODUCTORY Notwithstanding the acknowledged fitness of our climate for the production of Apples and Cider of the most exquisite flavour, we are yet without any detail- ed system of practical management by a writer of our own Country:—the want of such a guide among a people characterized by their attachment to the agri- cultural life, and in many cases, suddenly transferred from the busy scenes of professional avocations to a country residence, has been frequently lamented :— the most successful managers in the art of cider ma- king, are too often averse from imparting to others what they believe to be profitable secrets of their bu- siness—many are incapable of clearly explaining what they sufficiently understand to practise with success, ‘while a greater number are restrained by diffidence, and by an apprehension of becoming objects of criti- cism or censure, should they venture to communicate to the public the result of their own experience, with the laudable intent of benefiting others. Having been for many years actively engaged in the rearing, planting, and cultivating fruit trees, on a scale more extensive than has been attempted by any other individual of this country, I have too often had occasion to regret the difficulty, and not unfrequent- ly the impossibility of obtaining from my own coun- trymen, information on which I could rely respecting the objects of mypursuit: in these moments of diffi-- OBSERVATIONS. 7 culty, I was compelled to apply for instruction to Eu- ropean writers, whose exertions entitle them to the gratitude of their own country and the confidence of ours—to such men as Marshall, Knight, and Buck- nall, I feel pleasure m acknowledging my obliga- tions ; the former acquired his knowledge from dili- gent inquiry and close observation, the two latter, from the practical management of thcir own estates, in the most celebrated cider district of England: their information is correct, their remarks are practical, and conveyed in clear and intelligible language; they ought to inspire confidence, and excite imitation on the subject of orchards and cider. The writers of France are almost silent on this subject: in compar- ison with their favourite object, the vineyard, it is by them believed to be of little national importance; they are however full and correct on the management of the garden fruits. These remarks are made with no view but to explain the motives which impelled me to at- tempt, in this comntry, something which may aid the active and enterprizing spirit of the American cultiva- tor, on subjects but little understood ; and as far as my information extends, but imperfectly discussed in any work professedly American. On a topick which has so often been discussed by men of science and information of other nations, ori- ginality cannot be expected: pretensions to it on the 8 INTRODUCTORY part of the writer of these sheets, would probably destroy that confidence which it is his wish to inspire ; —where writers differ, it will be his aim to select the opinions and practice best supported by facts, and the plain principles of common sense: in stating those opinions and facts, he will sometimes adopt the lan- guage of others, in preference to any form of expres- sion he might be able to devise.—As the great ob- ject of the writer is, to be useful to those who require information—it will be his aim to be correct, rather than scientifick, in order that he may be better un- derstood. CLIMATE. “9 CHAPTER IL. — Oe OF THE FITNESS OF THE CLIMATE OF THE UNITED STATES FOR THE CULTIVATION ' OF THE APPLE. It has long been the opinion of accurate judges, that the middle States possess a climate eminently favour- able to the production of the finer liquor and table ap- ples: it will probably be found, that the Mohawk river in New-York, and the James river in Virginia, are the limits of that district of country which produces apples of the due degree of richness and flavour for both purposes. It will not be denied, that apples grow well in the interior and elevated parts of the southern States, as well as in warm and favourable exposures in the northern and eastern States ; but it is not recol- lected, that any one variety of general reputation has been produced, beyond the limits here assigned for the fine apple country. That exquisite flavour for which the Newton Pippin, and Esopus Spitzenberg, are so lo CLIMATE. much admire, and which has given such high reputa- tion to the cider from the Hewes’s Crab, the white Crab, the Greyhouse, Winesap and Harrison, can only be found within the limits here described: hand- some and fair apples are found growing in the Dis- trict of Maine and Nova-Scotia, but they possess lit- tle more of the characteristick flavour of the finer ap- ples of the middle states, ‘than those produced on the hills of St. Domingo or the plains of Georgia: cold and heat are equally necessary to the production of a fine apple; neither must predominate in too great a degree. It is remarked by Knight in his treatise on the fruits of Hereford, that the flavour of the liquor for which particular orchards in that country are, cele- brated, is ascribed to their warm and favourable ex- posure in every instance which had come to his know- ledge. A writer of high reputation in our own coun- try, the late Chancellor Livingston, remarks, that the growth of trees in America compared with Europe, is as five to three ;—this fact will probably account satis- factorily for the revival of the reputation of several En- glish cider fruits, when transplanted to this country under the influence of a more genial climate. In trea- ting of this particular subject, it appears to me most correct, to adopt the rule of the sagacious and practi- cal Miller, that, “although Linneus has considered the apple, pear and quince, as belonging to one ge- nus, the distinction between them is founded in na- CLIMATE. iM ture, and they ought to be treated of separately” — I shall therefore adhere to that arrangement as the most simple and intelligible. Whether the numerous varieties of apples with which our country abounds, have proceeded from the dissemination of the seeds of apples brought here by our European ancestors, or have been produced by apples cultivated by the Aborigines before the dis- covery of America by the Europeans, is a question about which writers have differed, and will probably continue to differ—my own impressions are favoura- ble to the former opinion as the most correct; as foun- ded on that principle of vegetable nature, which es- tablishes, that varieties have a limit to their duration; and authorises a belief that none of the Indian orchards which have been discovered in America, are more an- cient than the first settlement of the Europeans on this continent. The original species of the apple, from which all the existing varieties have been obtained, is believed to be the Crab, or pyrus malus: when and how the various kinds distinguished by an almost infinite di- versity of size, colour, and flavour, have been obtain- ed, are facts which I have never seen explained satis- factorily; they are generally supposed to be the effect of cultivation :—it is sufficient for us to know, that by 12 CLIMATE. sowing the seeds of cultivated apples, we cannot rely with any degree of certainty on the reproduction of ‘the same kinds, but must depend on artificial modes of continuing the variety we are desirous of cultiva- ting, by means of the operations of ingrafting and inoculation. Lo . MANAGEMENT OF A NURSERY. 13 CHAPTERII. ED 2 ON THE MANAGEMENT OF A FRUIT NURSERY. The seeds generally used for this purpose, are ob- tained from the pomace of cider apples—they may be sown in autumn on rich ground, properly prepared by cultivation, and by the destruction of the seeds of weeds, either in broad cast, or in rows, and covered with fine earth; or they may be separated from the pomace, cleaned and dried, and preserved in a tight box or cask to be sown in the'spring: the latter mode may be adopted when nurseries are to be established in new or distant situations, the former is more easy and most generally praciised. During the first season, the young trees are to be kept free from weeds, and cultivated with the hoe: they will be fit for transplanting the following Spring; or as may sometimes be more convenient, in the 2 14 MANAGEMENT Autumn, after the fall of the leaf.—If natural fruit be the object of the cultivator, attention should be paid to the selection of seedling plants which have leaves large and thick, for such are most likely to produce a good variety of fruit—Where a species has been ameliorated by cultivation (eays Professor Davy) the seeds it affords, other circumstances being similar, produce more perfect and vigorous plants ; and in this way, the great improvements in the production of our fruits seem to have been effected.” ‘The same observ- ing writer also remarks “ that the seeds of plants ex- alted by cultivation, always furnish large and im- proved varieties, but the flavour, and even the colour _ of fruit, seems to be a matter of accident: thus a hun- dred seeds of the Golden Pippin, will always pro- duce fine large leaved apple trees, bearing fruit of a considerable size; but the taste and colour of the ap- ples from each will be different, and none will be the same in kind as those of the pippm itself: some will be sweet, some sour, some bitter, some mawkish, some aromatick ; some yellow, some green, some red, much more perfect than th crab, which produce OF A NURSERY. 15 er eighteen inches apart in the rows—the soil should be rich, for the vigour of a young tree is one of its most valuable properties; no cultivation or soil will effectually overcome the want of it: trees will seldom fail, even when removed to a soil of different charac- ter from the nursery wherein they were raised, if they have the benefit of good cultivation and good soil; these will produce a correspondent effect on the growth of the tree wherever raised: when young trees have been planted two years, they will be fit for in- grafting in the ground ; if the growth be vigorous and the soil rich, this may often be done in one year, but always in the spring: this mode of ingrafting is pre- ferable to all others for its simplicity, economy and certainty: the earth is removed with a hoe about an inch in depth from the stocks, which are then sawed off, so as to leave the top of the stump rather below the level of the ground around it— the stocks are then split, the cions inserted in the clefts, and the earth drawn up so as to cover the tops of the stocks about one or two inches; leaving one or two buds of each cion exposed—no composition or clay is neces-- sary in this operation, the covering of earth sufficient- ly protects the cions from the air and sun. The operation of budding is performed in the se- © cond growth, from the middle of June to the middle of August, of the second year after transplanting into the ve - MANAGEMENT nursery ; the stocks are then young and succulent, and the success pretty certain: when the stocks grow large and tall, the operation of budding is more difficult | and uncertain. In four years from the time of planting in the nur- sery, ina good soil, with good cultivation, the trees will have attained the height of from seven to eight feet; those of vigorous kinds will be taller, and will be fit for transplanting into the orchard. The cultiva- tion of a nursery is effected by ploughing and harrow- ing, each operation twice or thrice in the season, with ploughs and harrows of a small size, with a single horse :—the earth is first thrown from the trees, and then towards them, and the ground is also worked with a hoe between the trees to destroy the weeds ; the more the earth is stirred, and the cleaner the ground is kept, the faster will trees grow in every stage of their progress, from the seedling to the full grown tree. In pruning trees in the nursery, care should be used not to run them up too high; this weakens the stems, and throws the growth too much into the bran- ches, which must be thinned before their removal, at the risk of checking their growth—as frequently the consequence of the great size of the head, will be an irremediable curve in the stem, while in the nursery. OF 4 NURSERY. 7 Great attention is required to keep the roots free from suckers, as neglect on this point will produce in the tree a disposition to generate suckers, which will continue through the subsequent stages of its growth, when removed into the orchard. In taking up the trees from the nursery, no care should be spared to pre- serve the roots uninjured and of a large size: in the early years of my practice in the planting of or- chards, I frequently lost trees of fine and vigorous growth, from the injury sustained by the want of care in digging them up, or as it sometimes happened, in grubbing them up, with the loss of more than half their roots. ‘To persons desirous of possessing.fine trees, I would recommend a mode which I have a- dopted to a considerable extent with great success, of transplanting them from the nursery to an interme- diate plantation in the garden or field; and there cul- tivating them for two or three years, at about four feet apart, planting a hill of potatoes with manure in the space between every four trees, and paying attention during the whole time to the formation of the stems and branches.—This mode will be found to improve the growth of the roots, extending and strengthening the feeding shoots, and ensuring a rapid and vigorous growth when transplanted a second time into the or- chard : the product of the potatoes will repay the ex- pence of manuring and cultivation, four fold. 18 INGRAFTING. CHAPTERIII. ——ee ot ON INGRAFTING LARGE TREES. Few men are fortunate enough to possess only the best fruits, or those best adapted to the character of their land :—It frequently is’ desirable, both for profit and convenience, to change a portion of an orchard afler the trees have attained some considerable size : this can be effected by ingrafting the stocks if not too large; in that case, the cions may be inserted in three or four of the limbs; this multiplies the chances of success, and accelerates the progress of the tree. When trees of six or eight years old are ingrafted with cions from bearing trees, their growth will not be retarded more than two or ‘hree years, frequently not one: the cions should be cut in February, and placed in the earth with the upper ends uncovered, and in a cold situation, on the shady side of a fence or building, to check the vegetation until the proper sea- son for ingrafting, which will be at the time when the sap begins to flow vigorously. ING RAFTING. 19 The cions should be of the growth of the preceding year, cut from healthy bearing trees; they should be kept from water, which, by saturating the sap ves- sels, would prevent their imbibing the sap of the stocks into which they may be inserted. The usual cover for protecting the cions, is clay well tempered, and mixed with horse dung; an excellent substitute, which may be kept ready for use when a little soften- ed by heat, is a mixture of equal parts of tallow, bees-wax and rosin, spread on strips of linen or pa- per six inches long and about two inches wide; one of these strips must be wrapped round each stock, so as completely to cover the fissure at the sides and in the end ; this operation is neater than the mode usually adopted in this country, it is more convenient to the amateur of fine fruit, requiring but a few minutes pre- paration by warming the vessel, in which it should al- ways be preserved in readiness for use; it is much less disagreeable than clay, in the cold weather which sometimes prevails in the season of ingrafting; and if properly performed, is attended with equal success. As the graft enlarges, the bandage will gradually distend, till it decays and falls off; in the mean time, serving to protect the more delicate kinds of fruit against the decomposition or cracking of the clay, by the eeverity of the frost, or the heat of the sun. — 20 STOCKS. CHAPTER IV. > 6+ Ce ON STOCKS. It isthe opinion of the most judicious writers on the subject of Fruit trees,that the character of stocks has no influence on the consistence or flavour of the fruit; the office of the stock is supposed to be sub- servient to the branches : vigour and hardiness are the properties to be sought for in stocks; most of our fine cider apples possess this quality in an eminent de- gree; none more so than the Hewes’s Virginia crab, and the Harrison and Campfield apples of New-Jer- sey. Some growths of the apple are spreading both in the branches and roots, others send up straight branches, and have roots striking deep into the earth : consequently, the former are best adapted to shallow, the latter to deep soils. All stocks should be raised from seeds, and ne- ver from suckers; a practice which cannot be too se- STOCKS. ai verely condemned: it will inevitably produce trees disposed to generate suckers, which impoverish the parent tree, and are unsightly and troublesome in grounds; and if the theory be correct, as I believe it to be, that varieties have their respective periods -of duration, after which they languish and decline; trees raised from suckers will be found to possess the defects of the parent tree, of which they are the offspring. 22 NEW VARIETIES. CHAPTER V. ee? 4 ON THE PROPAGATION OF NEW VARIETIES, On this head, we are indebted to the accurate ob- servation of Mr. Knight, for a curious discovery in the natural history of fruit trees: each blossom of the apple, contains about twenty male and five female parts—a few days before the expansion of the blos- soms, he opened the petals and destroyed all the males, leaving the females uninjured: when the blos- soms were fully expanded, he impregnated them with farina taken from another tree with which he wished to cross the kind—all the impregnated fruits grew rapidly, some of the products partook of the proper- ties of the male, others of the female parent; and in some, both were blended: 1 have seen an exemplifi- cation of this principle of nature exhibited, in the mix- ture of the properties of a Newton Pippin and a Rus- . geting, from the accidental intermingling of the bran- ches of two trees growing in an orchard at Trenton NEW VARIETIES. 23 in this state: one end of each apple was strongly marked, externally, by the character of the Russet parent, the other equally resembled the Pippin—the flavour and juice of each end corresponded exactly with its external appearance. It is highly probable, that by this operation of nature, our orchards are con- tinually producing new varieties, in form, colour and flavour. I have somewhere met with an extract from an En. glish publication, in which it is stated, that an apple has been obtained from crossing the Siberian crab, remarkable for hardiness, with the Lulham Green, the product of which exceeds in flavour and strength, all cider apples known in that country. 24 DURATION OF CHAPTER VI. ——e 2 ON THE DURATION OF PARTICULAR VARIETIES. Writers of the highest reputation concur in the opin- ion, that the existence of every variety is limited to a certain period: no kind of apple now cultivated, is supposed to be more than two hundred years old— this term does not exceed the age of a healthy tree. It is the opinion of Mr. Knight, that all plants of this description, however they may be propagated, partake of the same life in some degree, although not affected by any incidental injuries to the parent after they are separated from it: the duration of varieties may be lengthened considerably by the influence of warmer climates, for all the old kinds succeed best in warm situations. The Stire apple of Hereford in England, is snppo- sed to have long passed the zenith of its perfection, PARTICULAR VARIETIES. . 25 and to be rapidly declining there; yet in the growth and vigour of at least one hundred of these trees plant- ed in my orchards, there appears to be no deficiency; on the contrary, they attract the notice of all who see them, for the extraordinary hixuriance, as well as beauty of their growth. The soil is a light but rich sandy loam, such as the English writers describe as best adapted to the cultivation of this apple. 26 . ON THE SAP. CHAPTER VIL. a tt Gee - ON THE SAP. We are informed by the intelligent Mr. Knight, who has with his usual accuracy investigated, in the economy of the apple tree, all the operations of this vi- tal fluid, that it is absorbed from the earth by the bark of the roots: that it ascends through the alburnum or sapwood of the root and trunk, and through this substance, and not through the bark, it is in the Spring conveyed to those buds which produce the annual shoots of the following summer. The sap is received by another species of vessel in the buds and annual shoots; and is impelled forward into the leaves by a new agent; when in the leaves, it is exposed to the air and light, and a decomposition takes place of some parts of the water it contains.—It is probable that new combinations here take place, into which the matter of light and heat may enter. The ON THE SAP. ‘ 27 sap is returned from the leaf through other vessels, into the inner bark; and as it passes downward, deposits the new matter which annually forms the brauches, the trunk, and.the roots. 28 INOCULATION. CHAPTER VIII. nell) 42> Gis ON INOCULATION, OR BUDDING. In the first volume of the transactions of the London Horticultural society, the following improved mode of inoculation is described by Mr. Knight. In the month of June, when the buds are in a proper state, the oper- ation is performed by employing two distinct ligatures to hold the buds in their places—one ligature is first placed above the bud inserted, and upon the transverse section through the bark, the other, the only office of which is to secure the bud, is applied in the usual way: as soon as the buds have attached themselves, the lower ligatures are taken off, but the others are suffered to remain—the passage of the sap upwards, is in consequence much obstructed, and the inserted buds begin to vegetate strongly in July.— When these afford shoots about four inches long, the upper liga- tures are taken off, to permit the excess of sap to pass on, the wood ripens well, and affords blossoms some- times for the succeeding Spring. INOCULATION. 29 It will be perceived, that instead of the usual mode of budding, after the commencement of the Autumnal flow of sap, and keeping the bud without shooting un- til the following Spring, when the top of the stock is cut off—this improved mode gains a season in point of maturity, if not of growth, and has the effect of in- grafting the preceding spring, in all cases where the bud sprouts in the proper time to form a strong shoot, capable of sustaining, without injury, the frost of the ensuing winter. so SITUATION OF 1 CHAPTER IX. — +o ON THE SITUATION OF ORCHARDS. A south east aspect, which admits the influence of the early morning Sun, and is protected from the perni- cious effects of northerly winds, will be found the best site for an orchard. The situation should be neither too high nor too low. Rich strong loams are the fit- est for the apple—a portion of calcareous matter mix- ed, either naturally or artificially with the soil, will be found useful, probably by its serving to correct the austerity, or to neutralize the acidity of many cider ap- ples. All dry rich lands will produce flourishing apple trees—in very wet, or very sandy land, their duration will be shorter; and the flavour of some apples will be found higher in strong than light soils: the Newton pippin is, unquestionably, a more highly flavoured fruit when produced on a stiff soil; while the Bell flower, the next in estimation as a dessert apple, at- tains its greatest perfection in both size and flavour, on rich light soils. ORCHARDS. 3} It is probable, that the celebrity of many orchards depends more on their exposure, and on the selection of fine varieties of fruit, than on any peculiarity of soil: as a rule for judging of the fitness of a soil for an or- chard, it will generally be found safe to take that which will produce fine wheat and clover, with as much of a south, or south east aspect, as can be had: the flavour of apples will be found, probably, to de- pend on the goodness of the soil and aspect combined :' many orchards flourish for a few years, but decline as soon as the roots penetrate the lower strata of the earth: a cold clay, or a quicksand, are frequently the basis of light soils; such land, however improved by manure or cultivation, can never be made fit for an orchard. Blowing sands, when bottomed on a dry substratum, and aided by marle or meadow mud, will be found capable of producing very fine apple trees:—good cultivation, and a system of high manuring, will al- ways remunerate the proprietor of an orchard, except it be planted on a quicksand, or cold clay; in such soils, no management can prevent an early decay. One of the most thrifty orchards I possess, was plan- ted ona blowing sand, on which 1 carted three thou- sand loads of mud on ten acres, at an expense of about twenty-five dollars per acre, exclusive of much other manure: on this land J have raised good wheat and $2 SITUATION. clover—of five rows of the winesap apple planted on it, upon the summit of a sandy knoll, eight years ago; not one has died out of near a hundred trees ; all abun- dant bearers of large and fair apples. CULTIVATION OF ORCHARDS. 53 CHAPTER X. eel 4 ON THE PLANTING AND CULTIVATION OF ORCHARDS. The first thing to be determined upon in the plan- ting of an orchard, is the proper distance of the trees: if a mere fruit plantation be the object, the distance may be small—if the cultivation of grain and grass be in view, the space between the trees must be wider: at thirty feet apart, an acre will contain forty-eight trees; at thirty-five feet, thirty-five trees; at forty feet, twenty-seven trees; and at fifty feet, about eighteen to the acre—these are the usual distances. In my own plantations, I have adopted the various distances ac- cording to the depth and character of the soil; about two thirds of the ground, comprizing about one hundred acres, are planted at 50 feet; on the remaining fifty acres, I have tried 30, 35, and 40 feet; and as far as - could be conveniently: done, I have planted the trees of smallest growth on the lightest soil: taking every 34 CULTIVATION OF circumstance into consideration, it will probably be found, that forty feet is the most eligible distance for a farm orchard.—It will admit sufficient sun and air, in our dry and warm climate; and until the trees shall be fully grown, will allow of a profitable application of the ground to the cultivation of grain and grass. Much trouble will be saved, and much accuracy in planting will be ensured, by marking the sites of trees by stakes, previous to digging the holes. In shallow soils, I would recommend making the holes of the depth of two spits of earth, scattering the lower spit at some distance; and supplying its place by an e- qual quantity of the neighbouring surface earth— the depth of the hole, must depend on that of the sub-soil. An eligible mode, which I have practiced with suc- cess in a large portion of my orchards, on the lighter soils, is to supply the place of the stratum of poor earth, by one or two loads of meadow mud, ditch banks, or good surface soil, laid round each tree after planting ; ploughing the ground for a fallow crop the next spring, when the mud has become completely pulverized by the frost: the size of the hole should be sufficiently large to admit a spade handle, when tid horizontally in the bottom; affording ample space for the expan- sion of the roots in loose rich earth, Well digested ORCHARDS. 35 compost is useful round newly planted trees, in stiff or cold soils—hoth lime, and fresh stable manure, I have found prejudicial in the dry and hot weather of sum- mer; the latter substance is also frequently a cover for moles and field mice, which are extremely injurious in winter, to trees of even six or eight years old in light soils. I have found great benefit from the application of every Kind of manure on the surface, and mixing it gradually by cultivation with the soil, as the best secu- rity agninst drought in summer, and vermin in winter. The proper season for planting, will be found to depend on a variety of circumstances—in light soils, the winter settles the earth round the roots, and best secures them against the drought of the following sea- son—it is a time of leisure to the farmer, and affords an early selection of trees from the nursery. In stiff or wet soils, I should give a preference to spring plant- ing, other circumstances being equal—I have planted at both seasons, and have generally found that care & attention ensured a correspondent success in the growth of my trees. In whatever season an orchard may be planted, too much attention cannot be given to extend the roots in every direction; to cut off all wounded parts, and more especially, not to plant too deep; this I believe is the commonerror of inexperienced planters: as a general rule, I would recommend that the tree be placed in the orchard with about three 36 CULTIVATION OF inches of earth over the upper tier of roots, which will make it about two inches deeper than it stood in the nursery; that the tree, after being partially covered, should be well shaken, to admit the finer particles of the earth among the fibrous roots, and that it be well settled, by treading the earth around it-—with these pre- cautions, I have never found the necessity of stakes. The tops of young trees should never be shortened, lest it should produce a growth of suckers: I would recommend in preference, that they be thinned, if found too heavy: if the trees have been long out of the ground, and the roots have become shrivelled at the time of planting, the labour of pouring a pail full of water round each tree, will be amply repaid in the success it will ensure in their growth, The looser the ground is kept for the first, and in- deed for several succeeding years, the more certain and more vigorous will be the growth of the orchard— in the luxuriance and colour of the foliage of contig- uous plantations, I have found every stage of cultiva- tion strongly marked: those orchards which have been two years under cultivation, exhibit a striking su- periority over those which have been but one year un- der the plough; while these, in their turn, surpass the fields in clover or in grain, both in the quantity and size of the fruit: when clover is sown in young orchards, I have been in the habit of digging the earth for about - ORCHARDS. - Sy three feet, at the root of each tree: A man will dig round one hundred trees in a day; the trifling loss of grass and labour, will be fully remunerated by the im- proved vigour of the tree. When the ground can be spared from cropping, four or five furrows on each side of a row, will be found a most eligible mode of promoting the growth of a young orchard. All fallow crops are most favourable to the growth of orchards, at every early stage of their cultivation— indian corn, potatoes and vines, are preferable to oats or barley; and these again are more favorable than winter grain: Buckwheat is among the most beneficial crops for the promotion of the autumnal growth of trees—Clover is by many farmers believed to be inju- rious to young trees; its tendency to check the growth of trees will be found, F believe, to be in proportion to the air and moisture which its greater or less vigorous growth may keep from the roots; light and heat, ap-’ pear as necessary to the roots as to the branches of trees—clover, while it occupies the ground, must pre- vent cultivation; so far I apprehend it will be found pernicious, but probably not in a greater degree than any other luxuriant and deeply rooted species of grass, absorbing the moisture, and exhausting the strength of the soil which covers the roots of small trees. In the ar. rangement of an orchard, both convenience and beauty will result from planting each kind in distinct contigu, 38 CULTIVATION OF ous rows. Some cultivators pay particular attention to continue in the orchard the aspect the tree main- tained in the nursery: I have sometimes adopted the practice, without much eonfidence in its efficacy; nor can I think it probable, that ‘trees growing im close rows, not much exposed, in the nursery, can by any habit so limited in its duration, be affected by any permanent contraction or rigidity of the bark, or sap vessels, which are the only effects-I have ever heard ascribed to the influence of aspect, on the stems of young trees. . The prevalent winds of our climate, are from the north-west: in light soils, their violence will sometimes give an inclination to newly planted trees to the south east: this may easily be remedied by setting up the trees while young; and when they have attained a large growth, it may be overcome in a great degree, by cutting off the leaning branches, and by freely pru- ning the leeward side of the tree. Moss is a plant produced by poverty and neglect ; it is very prejudicial to trees, and should be care- fully removed: this can be readily done, by rubbing the trees in damp weather with a bone, or the back of a knife; good cultivation will generally prevent the growth of moss—white-washing the stem, not only cleanses the tree of moss, but destroys many kinds of ORCHARDS. 39 lice very injurious to fruit trees; it is followed bya cleanliness in the bark after it has been dissolved by rain, and promotes the health and vigour of the tree whenever applied. # PRUNING OF CHAPTER XI. weed 4 Giew ON PRUNING OF ORCHARDS. There is no branch of the management of orchards less understood, or more unsxilfully performed, than the operation of pruning: a belief of its necessity is so general, that even the most careless will seldom omit it—such however, is the want of skill in many of the operators, that total neglect would be less prejudici- al, than their performance of it. If judiciously done, pruning promotes health and early fruitfulness: and will continue a tree in vigour, long after the common period of its duration. Nothing has contributed more to the imperfect knowledge of this operation, than the wordy and unintelligible systems which have been published respecting it: in a mere practical system, it is unnecessary to lay much stress on srood branches and fruit branches; which, however well understood by an observing intelligent gardener, can scarcely be eomprehended by the labourer, employed in the busi- ORCHARDS. 4l ness of pruning an orchard—from the rapidity of ve- getation, which is generally ascribed to the nature of our climate, excessive pruning is very apt to generate an infinite number of s