118 Appendix. 



llitse distances. K.irl Stackland. a most successful grower of the apple, says: 

 "An area will yiekl about so much good fruit, and it matters little whether the- 

 trees are twenty or forty feet apart, so far as the ultimate yield is concerned." 



The force of the positions taken upon this point depends primarily upon the 

 character of tlie soil and varieties grown. 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 latter. 

 But using these terms only in a comparative manner, which might he done when 

 discussing the soils of the river bottom lands of the "Willamette Valley and the 

 foothill lands of portions of Southern and Eastern Oregon, where some most ex- 

 cellent 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. 



(Generally speaking, the bottom lands of any section are deeper and moister 

 than the hills or table lands of the same section, but they are not always heavier, 

 as is particularly exemplified iilong the narrower river valleys, where the so- 

 called "bars" are nearly always composed of light drift or sedimentary soils. 

 However, the moisture-retaining power of these soils is equal to or greater than 

 that of the more clayey upland soils." The presence of moisture is the significant 

 factor. From the evidence that can be adduced from the apple-growing sections 

 of the State, it is very plain that trees of the same variety will often make twice 

 the growth in some localities that they do in others, though the size and appear- 

 ance of the fruit may be identical, with this difference : That the fruit on the 

 dwarfer trees is earlier, and consequently higher colored. Trees of Northern Spy 

 ;md Baldwin are often found upon the lower or heavier soils of the Willamette 

 Valley that never yield a fruit with highly colored cheeks, except in very unusual, 

 bright, warm autumns. In tact, if it were not for these unusual seasons one 

 would be tempted to question the title of the variety. And yet there are trees 

 of these varieties grown on the nearby hills wliich always produce fruit of high 

 color, thus showing that the trees on the heavier soil cannot mature their fruit 

 without a longer season, and this, due in a large part to the fact that the tree 

 devotes more time to vegetative functioning. Other conditions being equal, dwarf- 

 growing trees, sliortage in water supply, lightness of soil, and closeness of trees 

 tend to induce early fruitfulness 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 l)y planting the trees at such a distance as will allow 

 ample space for full 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. 



Ddiihle PlmtfiiKj — In order to bring all of the soil of the orchard into early 

 service, some of our best ori^hardists. especially in Eastern Oregon, recommend the 

 planting of two or more types of trees at the time of setting out the orchard. For 

 example : If the orchard is to be composed of standard varieties, set at f(jrty 

 feet apart, half way between the trees each way should be set trees of some early- 

 bearing varieties, as plums, cherries, summer and autumn apples and early pears. 



As the standard trees begin to liear. these "fillers." as they are commonly 

 termed, may be removed. The advantages claimed for this mode of planting is. 

 that the standards are protected by the fillers, which come to maturity earlier. 



