No. 6. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 463 



of trees. Start the second row and plant peach in the entire fur 

 row: the third furrow start with a plum or dwarf pear, and the 

 second tree plant an apple, plant alternately to the end of the row; 

 the fourth furrow should be planted exactly as the second, the fifth 

 row exactly as the first, and by this plan we have an orchard com- 

 posed of apples, plums or dwarf pear or both, and peach. The 

 small fruits can be planted in between every meeting three or four 

 rows, the fifteen foot and four or five the eighteen foot way, and 

 still allow room for thorough cultivation; we only miss three where 

 the tree stands. The plan is to eventually have, after the peach 

 and plum or dwarf pear have ceased to be profitable, a permanent 

 apple orchard, with trees 36 feet between the trunks, and the ground 

 upon which it stands has been profitable almost from the beginning, 

 or at least from the time it was one year old. 



The care of trees can hardly be explained fully unless it be in 

 the midst of the orchard; however, the kind of tree to be selected 

 for planting the orchard, in my opinion, for apple, should at all 

 times be two or three vears old, never older than three vears, and 

 preferably a good, vigorous two j'ear old. The roots should be cut 

 back to a uniform length, and all broken and bruised parts removed. 

 The top should be cut away, leaving only three or four limbs to 

 make the top; should th'ese be bruised and broken, I would cut back 

 to the main stem, in a two year old, and depend upon new wood for 

 the top. As a rule the habits of the tree should be considered, 

 and where a tree has a tendency to grow upward and compact, they 

 should be pruned accordingly, leaving the bud which is to make 

 the future limb on the inside or outside, entirely according to the 

 habits of the tree. No man can lay down a systematic rule for prun- 

 ing by itself, and the operator must see it several years hence, before 

 he is able to prune intelligently. 



After the tree is once well started it should be thoroughly culti- 

 vated and intelligently pruned every year until it is six years old at 

 least. Indeed, I believe it should be thoroughly cultivated and 

 pruned more or less during its natural life. The young tree should 

 be dug around and carefully examined for borers every spring and 

 fall, and then washed with caustic potash or whale oil soap, every 

 spring. If this advice is carried out the trees will be perfectly 

 healthy and smooth in the bark, unless they should be attacked 

 by the worst of all insect pests, the San eTos6 Scale. Fruit men 

 differ very much with the proper treatment for this pest. My ex- 

 perience has taught me that crude oil will kill the scale beyond 

 all question, but if the buds are the least bit advanced it may kill 

 the limb, and possibly the tree. With one year's experience, I 

 should not hesitate to recommend for this pest the lime, sulphur 

 and salt treatment, which I am well satisfied if properly applied 



