6 FRUIT GROWING FOR HOME USE IN THE GREAT PLAINS. 



such plantations will be located as are those now in existence (1) on 

 especially favorable sites where more or less water is available for 

 irrigation" in times of extreme drought and where hailstorms and 

 late spring frosts occur but rarely, or (2) they will be owned by men 

 with sufficient capital to enable them to resort to unusual and rela- 

 tively expensive methods of tiding the trees over such crises, or 

 (3) they will be developed gradually by the extension of small home 

 orchards as the owners gain experience and the conviction that their 

 location and personal qualifications warrant it. 



The matter of reasonably successful fruit culture in this region, at 

 least for home use, resolves itself largely into two questions: (1) 

 The selection of varieties adapted to the conditions, and (2) the appli- 

 cation of suitable methods of orchard maintenance. The primary 

 object of this paper is to discuss some of the factors that contribute 

 to these ends. 



CLIMATIC CONDITIONS. 



The rainfall and temperature conditions are the most important 

 climatic factors in connection with fruit growing. The seasonal and 

 annual precipitation in the Great Plains are shown by the broken 

 lines in figure 1. Hailstorms are serious in some sections and some- 

 times cause much damage to fruit and fruit trees. 



Of the temperature conditions that characterize the region under 

 discussion, late spring frosts are perhaps the most serious feature. 

 Injury to the fruit blossoms is rather frequent from this cause. 



The data collected in table 1, on page 7, will give the reader a 

 general conception of prevailing conditions as to precipitation and 

 range of temperature in this region: 



« In Bulletin 130 of the Bureau of Plant Industry, which is composed of papers pre- 

 sented at the second annual meeting of "The Cooperative Experiment Association of 

 the Great Plains Area," held at Manhattan, Kans., June 26-27, 1907, there occurs 

 one by Mr. J. E. Payne, superintendent of the substation of this Department at Akron, 

 Colo . , entitled ' ' Fruit Growing on the Plains . ' ' This article gives a general account of 

 fruit culture in this region and discusses, among other matters, several different meth- 

 ods of collecting and storing water for use on small areas of land . A number of diagrams 

 are used which aid very materially in giving clearness to the discussion. These meth- 

 ods are applicable in many locations in the region included in the present discussion. 

 The reader is referred to the bulletin mentioned for information relative to them. 

 [Cir. 51] 



