328 TRANSACTIONS OF THE 



How badly are our trees injured, and how many of them will 

 again become vigorous and fruitful? is a question often asked by the 

 discouraged orchardist as he contemplates his dead and dying trees. 

 A year ago it was estimated that about fifty })er cent, of the apple 

 trees in our county were dead or dying. But we now find that many 

 that promised at that time to recover did not possess sufiicient 

 vitality to endure the low temperature of the past winter and the 

 protracted drouth of the present summer, and are now dead or show 

 the ''sere and yellow leaf," and sixty-five per cent, will be none too 

 large an estimate of the loss we have suffered. The thirty-five per 

 cent, of healthy trees that remain are principally those that have 

 been planted less than ten years, although we occasionally find a 

 tree, among all varieties, that is more healthy and fruitful than those 

 around it. This fact seems to show that the destruction is not 

 caused by an " inherent tenderness " of varieties, but by certain con- 

 ditions of soil or growth of the tree not yet fully understood. If 

 this estimate is correct, and I think it will not be questioned, the 

 importance of replanting our orchards will readily be seen. But, 

 asks the farmer, who wants to plant two or three hundred apple 

 trees for a family orchard with a view of marketing whatever sur- 

 plus there may be, what varieties and on what location shall I plant, 

 and how shall I cultivate to avoid the disasters of the past? One 

 tells me to plant on high, dry ridges, another on low, wet land ; and 

 again [ am told that nothing but the newly-introduced Russian 

 varieties will endure our Avorse than Russian winters ; while another 

 says plant those of our well-known varieties that have in years past 

 given the best results, and as nearly as possible supply the necessary 

 conditions of soil^ moisture and growth, and in a few years you will 

 have apples to eat and apples to sell. When doctors disagree who 

 shall decide? 



We generally find experienced fruit men unwilling to recom- 

 mend lists for planting, as they well know how greatly certain 

 varieties are affected by cultivation, soil and location, and that a 

 variety that does well in one orchard may be a failure in the next. 



After thirty years' experience in orcharding and testing two 

 hundred varieties of apples and carefully observing their habits, not 

 only on my own grounds, but in different sections of the west, I have 

 come to the conclusion that fifteen or twenty varieties are as many 

 as the ordinary farmer should plant. 



If I was to plant an orchard of two hundred trees next spring, 

 I should select a fiat, moist piece of land, capable of good surface 

 drainage — if tile-drained all the better — and jilant two rods apart. 

 Fifteen varieties, four summer, four fall and seven winter, will give 

 a succession for at least ten months. The following is the selection 

 I should make for a farmer's orchard : 



Summer — Five Red Astrachan, five Sops of Wine, five Benoni, 

 five Golden Sweet. 



