Beauty into this region. The latter is a beautiful dark-red apple. It is large and quite uniform in size. The quality is good-much better than the Ben Davis. The tree is a slow grower, but an early and good bearer. It blooms very late, and is rarely injured by late frosts. This is one of its best characteristics, and makes it especially valuable in this region. It is a late fall, or early winter, apple. I sent some specimens to Col. G. R. Brackett. U. S. Pomologist, last fall. He wrote me: "These are the finest specimens of this variety ever received by this department. It should be extensively grown in your region. All the specimens of apples you have sent us are very fine. Your region is certainly well suited to the production of fine apples.'

"The Yellow 'Newtown' or 'Albemarle Pippin' is the most famous apple in the world. When grown in perfection it is a large, handsome, yellow apple, with sometimes a pink cheek. It has a delightful perfume; is 'crisp and juicy, with a high and delicious flavor.' It can be grown in perfection only in rich, dark, loamy land, rather moist, but not in the least wet. The best 'cove' land is well suited to it. In such locations it makes a large tree which comes into bearing late, but is exceedingly productive when fully established. Three of the largest trees in my young orchard are of this variety. But although fifteen years old, they have borne but little. The trees should be carefully trimmed so as to let in air and light, and well sprayed to prevent any fungus diseases. When of the finest quality, it brings the highest prices-sometimes exceeding in price any other variety by as much as fifty or even one hundred per cent. The best market for it can be secured only in Europe or in some of the large Northern cities. It should be grown only by specialists, that is, by those who make fruit-growing a business, and give it intelligent and thorough attention. Whether one-year-old or two-year-old trees be planted, is a controverted point. When planting my orchard I used mainly one-year-old trees, with a considerable number of twoyear-olds, and a very few three-year-olds-the latter as a test. I believe the one-year trees are a little the best. Certain it is that the four largest trees in my orchard were but one year old when planted. The three-year-olds have been completely distanced. Subsequently, I planted some one-year-old trees in rough mountain land. So many of them being much injured by careless laborers, had to be replaced, that I believe on rough land, with average labor to care for them, two-year-old trees should be planted. They should be stocky and heavy rather than tall; a fault results from crowding in the nursery. The preparation of the tree before planting is of importance. It has long been held that in removing trees to be replanted, as much of the root should be saved as possible, and these all put back into the ground when the tree is planted, a proportionate amount of the top being removed. As nearly all are inclined to prefer a big tree to start with, very few trees under this system are cut back enough. A Mr. Stringfellow, of Texas, has of late years advocated a radical change in the method of planting out trees. After some careful experimenting, I have adopted his method with a good deal of modification. He advocates cutting the roots back, and the branches also close to the stem, thus converting the tree into a sort of club. When a tree is taken up, all its fibres and very small roots are destroyed. When replanted, nearly all the new growth of the roots will be at the ends of the

larger roots. If you take up such a tree after being planted a year, you will find a cluster of roots growing at the end of each root; and, if the roots are long, these fibres look like the little tuft of hair at the end of an elephant's tail. Now why should not this new growth of roots be brought back nearer the stem? It would give a much more compact and symmetrical development of the roots. It is claimed that this cutting back of the side roots strongly tends to the vigorous development of the downward growing roots. If this be so, it is, in the case of the apple tree, of great advantage, for this tree loves moisture. This is shown by the conduct of a seedling during the first year of its growth. It seems to spend most of its energy in driving a tap root as far as possible into the ground. It is thus building a pump for the future use of the tree. When a seedling is taken up to be root-grafted (and nearly all the trees in our orchards are propagated in this way), this long tap root is removed; and anything that will encourage its replacement is of advantage.

"I have found that cutting back the side roots to within two or three inches of the stem, and the branches to two or three buds, gives excellent results. One vigorous shoot on a newly-transplanted tree is worth a dozen puny ones. "The trees should be planted thirty-five feet apart. Between the rows, the temporary trees, or 'fillers,' should be planted. As these trees could remain a good many years before the ground would be needed by the permanent trees, they could bear a good deal of fruit; provided, early bearing and productive trees are selected. The Hoover is a good tree for this purpose. It bears a large, dark-crimson apple, very handsome, and a good seller. It is an early and abundant bearer, and a very late bloomer, and consequently rarely fails to bear. It is very slow of growth, short lived, and hence not suited for permanent planting. The Ben Davis and Rome Beauty are also well suited for this purpose.

CARE OF THE TREES.

"This should be considered under two heads-care of the land, and care of the trees per se. When an orchard is planted, the land should be set apart for the use of the trees. Not only should nothing be done to lessen its fertility, but everything practicable should be done to increase it. It will all be needed when the trees come into bearing. If crops are grown and removed, more than the fertility removed should be replaced.

"There is a good deal of discussion as to the extent to which orchards should be cultivated. But all intelligent horticulturists are agreed that young trees should be cultivated until well established; that is, until at least six or eight years old. After this the amount of cultivation must depend on circumstances. It may be granted that continued culture is the ideal system; but since this is with many of us impracticable, it is very gratifying to know that, with vigilance and good management, excellent results can be attained without it. Land that is sufficiently level and smooth to be cultivated with the use of labor-saving implements and without the danger of washing should be cultivated frequently, if not continuously. Leguminous crops, such as peas in summer and crimson clover in winter, should be grown and plowed

under to add fertility to the soil. If peas are plowed under in the latter part of the summer or early fall, a 'catch crop' of crimson clover or rye should be planted to take up and hold the nitrates of the soil, thus preventing leaching during the winter rains. Such 'catch crops' should be plowed under very early in the spring; say, as soon as growth begins in the trees. The leguminous plants are the best to grow in the orchard whether the trees are young or old, as they gather nitrogen from the air, adding greatly to its fertility; and the vegetable mould, which they furnish the soil, not only protects the trees against the vicissitudes of the season-especially against drought-but by decay it helps to dissolve other elements in the soil, and to render them more available for plant food.

"If the ground is so steep as to wash badly whilst cultivating the young trees to get them well established, stir the soil near the trees, gradually extending the area of culture as the roots extend, and leaving a strip of land between the rows uncultivated to help in holding the land. Fairly deep culture about the trees for several years is important, as the roots will instinctively avoid the plow, and being driven into the ground will cause the trees to be established more firmly. If the land is very fertile, but too rough to be plowed, good trees may be grown with a diligent use of mattocks or hoes. Dig the ground around them, at least twice a year, thoroughly with the mattock. This will, in a measure, take the place of plowing. Light hoes can be used to keep down the growth of grass and weeds. I have some fine young trees, now seven years old, which have been treated in this way. "When the orchard is not cultivated, how shall we prevent such a rank growth of vegetation as will injure the trees by taking up moisture and available fertility? We should ever bear in mind that there is a certain amount of fertility in the soil for use each year, and that if it is taken up by plants, what is thus absorbed will not be again available until the plants decay. Some advocate mowing the orchard frequently and leaving the vegetation to rot on the land. Others advocate pasturing it. I prefer the latter, because properly managed it steadily increases the fertility of the land. And it is not only less expensive, but may even be made a source of moderate revenue. But more than this, with a great deal of our steep, rough land, mowing is impracticable, for labor-saving machinery can not be used. Hogs with rings in their noses, or better still with their noses split so as to prevent rooting, can be used to a moderate extent; but sheep must be mainly relied on as they crop the vegetation more closely, and thus prevent the growth of filth.

"By proper management you can in a measure accomplish the impossible feat of eating your cake and keeping it too.' You should pasture your land so closely as to require considerable feed to be given to the stock even in summer, as the close pasturing is best for the trees. And by feeding bran and shorts with a moderate amount of cotton-seed meal to the sheep, you steadily add to the fertility of the land, as these feeds are worth two-thirds their cost as plant food, after being used by the stock.

"Mr. James Woodward, of Lockport, N.Y.,one of the most successful farmers in that State, has pastured part of his orchard in this way with sheep for twenty years; and this portion has yielded more apples and finer ones than the part not pastured.