794 ANNUAL REPORT OF THE Off. Doc. 



is at the outside and top of the tree. If they have a fair load the 

 limbs bend and unless thinned, break. Whereas, if the tree had had 

 proper pruning it would have borne much sooner and carried twice 

 the load of fruit without breaking a limb. Experiment v,'ith your- 

 self. Extending the arm at full length you can hang a 50 pound 

 weight at the elbow and hold it; but remove the weight further 

 from the body and you find when you reach the hand 25 pounds is 

 as much as you can hold, So with the tree when the fruit is dis- 

 tributed through the entire tree it will bear double the weight 

 without breaking. If you have a tree that makes too much wood 

 growth prune in June; this will develop fruit buds and check wood 

 growth. 



FERTILIZER. 



This is another important factor in the proper development of 

 the tree. Should the soil in which the orchard is to be planted be 

 very poor or deficient in plant food and humus, it would be well to 

 give a good covering of well rotted stable manure in the fall and 

 plow in. This will furnish the necessary humus and nitrogen and 

 sufficient phosphoric acid and potash for the early stages of the 

 orchard. When the principal function it has to perform is wood- 

 making, before setting the trees, harrow the ground thoroughly, as 

 cultivation is next to food and is an auxiliarv to it. When vou have 

 nothing else to do cultivate your orchard and if you are busy, cul- 

 tivate it anyway. It will pay you in the thrift of your trees. The 

 first few years you can put some hoed crop between your trees, such 

 as potatoes and fertilize them well with some complete manure^ and 

 that means one with at least 10 per cent, of potash; and while you 

 are feeding and cultivating your potatoes you will be feeding and 

 cultivating your trees and they will respond accordingly and the 

 potatoes will pay the bill. The more you will cultivate the more it 

 will pay and the better the growth of the trees. In my orchard of 

 6 to 8 years of age the trees run from G to 8-inch stem diameter 

 from 16 to 20 feet high and 20 feet across the tops. I have no trou- 

 ble of adding one inch stem diameter each year. Many people who 

 see my orchard remark if they would have such luck they would 

 plant. There is no luck about it. It is done by giving close atten- 

 tion to the minor details; little things that are trivial for most 

 people, by giving the proper food in sufficient quantities and keep- 

 ing the soil constantly stirred until about July vvhen 1 stop all culti- 

 vation to give the wood time to ripen and develop fruit buds. As 

 long as you continue cultivating, your trees will continue growing 

 and go into winter with too soft undevelox)ed or ripened wood, 

 when both buds and tree suffer from freezing. I have young apple 

 trees that arc 8 years old this coming spring that gave me over ^ 



