TWENTY FIFTH ANNUAL MEETING. 179 



CARE AND CULTURE OF YOUNC ORCHARDS. 



BY PRKSfDENT MORRILL. 



The first requirement for successful orcharding is a suitable location, 

 but as this matter is to be treated in detail by others who are well quali- 

 fied, I shall only touch the matter lightly. In a general way, I would 

 say that what we call the seed fruits, like apples, pears, quinces, etc., do 

 best on heavy soils, containing lair proportions of clay, and will at the 

 same time do well on lower levels than the so-called stone fruits. Stone 

 fruits, such as the peach, plum, and cherry, flourish best and produce finer 

 fruit on high, dry, airy locations, even though the soil be quite light and 

 sandy; yet a fertile soil of the same texture is always preferable, the 

 I^each, especially, preferring high elevations and sharp slopes. 



Preparation of Soil. — After selecting a proper location for your orchard, 

 the next important step is the preparation of the soil. If we will listen 

 to Mr. Kellogg's plans for preparing soil for a crop of plants or trees we 

 can learn a most valuable lesson. The fact is that most of our plantings 

 are made on land hurriedly and improperly prepared. It must be thor- 

 oughly impressed upon us that no structure is safe and reliable unless 

 the fonndation is perfect. The foundation of a profitable orchard has 

 four big corner stones : (1) A suitable location on genial soil ; (2) a thor- 

 ough, careful preparation of the soil according to the needs of the fruit to 

 be set; (3) a careful selection of stock or trees for setting, as regards vari- 

 eties, age, vitality, etc.; (4) a thorough and proper system of cultivation, 

 pruning, spraying, etc. 



The building of a profitable orchard is like the erection of an expensive 

 building. If you fail to put in a proper foundation, or use most reliable 

 material, the structure is likely to fail, and it is a fact that a largemajority 

 of our Michigan orchards have one or more weak corners in their founda- 

 tions, and never can fully satisfy their owners. We see peach orchards set 

 on the borders of swamps, and in the cold, frosty valleys, and apple 

 orchards set on high sandy ridges. We see soil being prepared for setting 

 of orchards, in a slipshod manner. Hard clay soils, that would grow the 

 finest apples and pears if properly prepared, are plowed perhaps six inches 

 deep, the surface scratched down, and holes dug into the hard, retentive 

 subsoil, and the tree set there. This looks like a deliberate attempt to 

 murder the tree. 



At about this time each year fruitgrowers begin to hunt for the man 

 who will sell them trees for the least money. This often proves a fatal 

 mistake in the laying of the foundation. Why don't we hunt for the man 

 who has the best trees and the most profitable varieties, then allow him 

 a living price for his labor in producing a first-class foundation for us? 

 Who can tell why this is a common practice? Who, when he stops to 

 consider, can expect good results from such practice? Who here does 

 not know that a single hatful of fruit from a good tree will pay all the 

 difference betAveen a good tree and a cheap one? Who here has not seen 

 the disastrous results from improper selection of trees for an orchard? 



