The Apple in Oregon. 131 



been cut or broken off by the lifting implements ; cover the trees with 

 moist cloths, straw, or hay, and convey to the site for planting with as 

 little delay as may be, at all times using great care not to expose the roots 

 to drying winds or frosts while out of the ground. Upon getting the 

 trees at place of planting, or the home, heel them in at once. If the trees 

 have been transported by rail or boat, see that all broken roots are 

 removed, and that fresh, clean, smooth cuts replace broken, bruised or 

 roughly made end wounds before they are heeled in. 



Heeling-in. — Dig a trench on the north side of a building, in the shade 

 of a grove, or on the north slope of a hill. Make the north side quite 

 steep; give the other side an easy slope; place the trees upon the sloping 

 side, one, two or three deep, with their neatly-trimmed roots close up to 

 the steep side or face of the trench, then cover them over with fine soil to 

 the depth of a few, or several inches, depending upon whether or not they 

 are to endure freezing weather while heeled-in. This treatment first of all 

 keeps the air from the roots, keeps them moist, and enables the wounds to 

 "callus," a process necessary to the perfect healing of the wounds and 

 the early and vigorous production of new rootlets. When once the trees 

 are rooted, pruned and heeled-in, they are in the best condition for await- 

 ing the time for the next step — planting. 



DISTANCE APART TO PLANT. 



Most of the local nurserymen advise planting the apple from thirty to 

 forty feet apart. Some of the larger growers, like the Olwell Brothers, 

 take the position that the trees in an apple orchard should be planted at 

 least thirty-six feet apart each way on the heavier soils. For the first few 

 years this seems like a useless waste of land. P.ut if the soil is such as an 

 apple orchard ought to be put upon, it will not be long before it will be 

 apparent that to successfully operate the implements of tillage, spraying, 

 and harvesting, the trees at thirty-six feet apart are close enough. Yet, 

 notwithstanding this position of many of the larger orchardists as well 'as 

 the eastern authorities, some of our most successful orchardists take 

 exception to these distances. 



Early apples and the varieties of rather dwarf stature do not need as 

 much room as those of more vigorous habit, or later maturity. Then, 

 again, trees grown on a deep, heavy, moist soil, where the season of 

 growth is long, need much more room than when grown upon light, shal- 

 low, dry soil, if it is permissible to put the apple upon such soils as the 

 the latter. Discussing the soils of the river bottom lands of the Willam- 

 ette Valley and the foothill lands of portions of Southern and Eastern 

 Oregon, where some most excellent apples are grown, the position is still 

 one that holds good in all sections equally well, for not all apples of 

 Western Oregon are grown on bottom lands, nor are all apples grown in 

 Southern Oregon and Eastern Oregon grown on bench lands. 



Other conditions being equal, dwarf-growing trees, shortage in water 

 supply, lightness of soil, and closeness of trees tend to induce early fruit- 

 fulness and maturity. But in the presence of ample water and deep, 

 fertile soil, trees may grow so vigorously as to cause branches to interlap, 

 thus rendering the tops a matted, bushy mass of fruitless wood, much of 

 which must be removed before the trees begin to bear, and in many 

 instances some of the trees themselves must be taken out before space 

 sufficient for ripening a good crop of well-colored fruit can be had. Such 

 conditions cause much loss in both time and labor, and the trees thus 

 grown yield an inferior product, all of which may be avoided by planting 

 the trees at such a distance as will allow ample space for füll growth and 

 the formation of an open head with free access to light and air. 



For Standards this would be not less than thirty-six feet on good soil, 

 and forty feet would probably be better. On lighter or shallower soils the 

 distance apart might be reduced to thirty or thirty-two feet. 



