12 STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



Orcliardiiig. 



By J. Kirchgraber, Springfield, Mo. 



The above subject assigned me for a paper has been gone over 

 time and again, and 1 think our worthy Secretary selected the wrong 

 man to write about the above mentioned subject, for I am afraid of not 

 imparting much to benefit any one; but I can only fail in the attempt 

 of trying to give my observations, being a rather close observer of 

 everything pertaining to horticulture. For the past thirty years in this 

 State and especially in the Ozark region, the home of the Big Red 

 Apples, many things have come under my notice, particularly as regards 

 orchards. Now, what is orcharding? Is it simply to plant trees and 

 the thing is done"? If anyone construes it in that light he will make 

 a failure as an orchardist. For successful orcharding there are a num- 

 ber of very essential requisites. To begin with, a person engaged in 

 the business must have a love for the calling — not merely for the 

 money there is in it, although that commodity is what everybody is 

 after in any kind of business. Now, alter having decided to engage in 

 orcharding, the first thing to consider is the location of the orchard. 

 Most any land is good to plant trees on. True, some writers recom- 

 mend a northern exposure. While correct in the main, not all lands 

 fit for orcharding have that. My observations show tuat it makes no 

 material difference, so long as the land is high and not wet; for wet and 

 low lands are not fit to plant fruit-trees on. Even the rocky hill- 

 sides — hardly fit to grow any other kind of crop — will do for an orchard, 

 but it takes more work to plant and cultivate. There are thousands 

 of acres in this southwestern section of the State which will in the near 

 future be converted into productive orchards. The better the land, 

 however, the better the results. The selection of the trees is also an 

 important consideration. I prefer two-year-old trees to any other age, 

 and fall planting if possible, for trees planted then make a better growth 

 the first season than when planted in the spring. The work can be 

 done more satisfactorily. In planting don't be afraid of digging the 

 holes too deep; spread the roots out evenly; set the tree from three to 

 four inches deeper than it grew in- the nursery row; press the soil 

 firmly, for on this depends much of the successful orchard. Trees 

 properly planted should not fail to grow. Now a few words on prun- 

 ing young trees. Some planters don't prune their trees in setting out 

 and leave them just as dug from the nursery. This is all wrong, for in 

 digging the trees many roots are cut off, and in order to equalize, some 



