164 TKANSACTIONS OF THE ILLINOIS 



invite the body-borers, which soon make their appearance, and the 

 tree is crippled for life. 



This can be done by heading low and inclining the tree to the 

 southwest, so the branches may serve to shield it from the sun's 

 rays. 



Then, again, to my mind, one of the worst drawbacks to our 

 orchards is, that they are planted too far apart, especially from north 

 to south. Nineteen years ago I planted out twenty apple trees. I 

 set 24x24 feet and my neighbors laughed at me for setting them so 

 close. Six years after I wished to enlarge my orchard, and not wish- 

 ing to break my rows the long way, that is, from north to south, I 

 planted the next two hundred twenty-four feet, east and west, by 

 thirty feet north and south. Now, the result was that ray 24x24 

 feet grew up, and soon shaded the ground. They commenced to 

 bear at six years after planting, and have done well, while those 

 24x30 feet have have not done half so well. I find the trees thirty 

 feet north and south are just right to let the heat of the sun pass 

 over one tree and shine on the roots of the next, and cause the 

 ground to become very hot, giving back a reflex heat, and in dry 

 weather sufficient to kill all vegetation on the south side of the 

 trees. Now, if those trees were near enough to each other, so one 

 could shade the roots of the other, and also protect the bodies from 

 the hot sun of summer and the extremes of winter, I am quite sure 

 it would be much better. Then, again, the warm sunshine directly 

 under the trees in the early spring, causes the earth to warm up and 

 starts the sap to flowing, which exposes the tree to the sudden 

 freezes incident to early spring, whereas, if the trees shaded the 

 ground entirely, they would retain the frost much longer and thus 

 retard the flow of sap. Hence, in my judgment, we should plant 

 our apple trees from sixteen to twenty feet north and south, by 

 twenty to thirty feet east and west — the kind of soil and variety 

 must govern to some extent. 



Then, again, another thing tending to the decline of orchards 

 is the indiscriminate planting of varieties, regardless of their sus- 

 ceptibility to disease. For instance, why do we plant a thin, small 

 leafed variety when we expect mildew and rust, whose first attacks 

 will destroy the foliage of the trees? Why plant such kinds as we 

 know are subject to blight, when there are many kinds that are not? 

 Why plant tall growing kinds, or train low growing kinds tall when 

 we may expect high winds? Why plant kinds without foliage when 

 blooming, when there are many that send out plenty of foliage 

 with bloom to protect it from spring frost? We should remember 

 that thin, small leaves indicate thin bark, while thick, large leaves 

 show thick, strong bark. 



iSo, in conclusion let me say, we should use as much judgment 

 in our orchard growing as we would in our stock breeding, or field 

 cultivation. When we learn to follow the dictations of nature we 



