134 State Horticultural Society. 



HOGS HELP IN ORCHARDING. 



(By S. Y. Thornton, Blackwater, Mo.) 



When I was but a j^outh my father talked to me a great deal 

 about planting an apple orchard. He told me he thought I could 

 make it profitable and it would be a pleasant occupation. He told 

 me of a friend of his who had made quite a fortune raising 

 peaches. In conversation with this friend one day he said : "Yes, 

 I have been successful with my peach orchard, but I advise you 

 to plant winter apples; they will make you more money than I 

 ever made out of peaches." 



I thought a great deal about planting an orchard, but I had 

 no land of my own and no money to buy with, so I abandoned the 

 idea for the time. I rented some land and went to raising corn 

 and hogs. They grew and fattened well with my management and 

 were ready sale on the market, which encouraged me to raise more 

 of them and care for them better, and by so doing it was possible 

 for me to buy some land to plant an orchard on. I purchased Mis- 

 souri river hill land in Central Missouri that was strong enough to 

 raise 50 to 60 bushels of corn to the acre. After I planted my first 

 orchard I cared for it the very best way I knew how. I planted 

 corn between the apple tree rows and pumpkins in the tree rows. 

 I continued raising hogs, and the corn and pumpkins made the best 

 of feed for them. Of course, I did not have hogs in my orchard 

 while the trees were small. 



The pumpkin vines covered the ground completely along the 

 tree rows and kept it moist and mellow and my trees made a good 

 growth. I always cut the corn in the fall and hauled it out. When 

 the trees were three years old I sowed rye, which I let my hogs 

 run on until about the middle of May, when I plowed it under. 

 This crop of green rye turned under enriched the ground very 

 much, besides having made splendid winter pasture for my hogs. 

 I planted corn and pumpkins as before, but as the trees grew larger 

 I planted fewer rows of corn, leaving more room for my trees. I 

 never failed to raise good crops of corn, pumpkins and hogs and to 

 get a good growth on my trees each year. 



When the trees were five or six years old I sowed clover and 

 pastured with hogs. As the hogs could not keep the clover down, 

 I mowed it for hay, and in this way cleaned the orchard up nicely 



