May, 1920 



BETTER FRUIT 



Page 5 



Planting and Care of Prune Orchard Up to Bearing Age 



THE first essentials to be considered 

 in growing a prune orchard are 

 deep, fertile soil, good water drain- 

 age and good nursery stock, and then 

 with proper planting and care there is 

 no reason why success should not 

 crown the fruit of your labors. After 

 a suitable location has been found the 

 first thing to be considered is getting 

 the land ready for planting. Plow well 

 and deeply, say ten inches, and if the 

 land has been previously farmed use 

 the sub-soiler in connection with the 

 plowing so as to break up the hard pan, 

 for it cannot be done after the trees 

 are planted except at great damage to 

 the rooting system. 



There has been a great deal said in 

 regard to the different systems of set- 

 ting out orchards, but considering all 

 in all I prefer the square system, for 

 the orchard is easier cultivated — that 

 is, there are less rows to contend with 

 and it is easier to get around with a 

 team and wagon when it comes to gath- 

 ering the fruit. The method which I 

 prefer in orchard staking is by run- 

 ning control lines two to three hun- 

 dred feet apart and staking with a wire 

 between these lines. To get the best 

 results control lines should be run with 

 an instrument. If the planting is to be 

 very large establish a base line through 

 the planting and from this control line 

 should be run at right angles. In staking 

 it is very important that the wire 

 should be kept as nearly level as pos- 

 sible to give accurate results. On un- 

 even ground, it is necessary to drop a 

 plumbob from the wire to the ground 

 to locate the place of the stake. Rub- 

 ber tape is used to indicate on the wire 

 the distance apart the trees are to be 

 .set. ^\^len I set out my orchard I set 

 the trees twenty-two feet apart or 

 about 96 trees to the acre, but if I were 

 to set out another orchard I would set 

 the trees at least twenty-five feet apart. 

 This may seem a waste of land to the 

 new beginner, but as the orchard grows 

 older, one will readily see the need for 

 putting the trees this far apart. In my 

 orchard, at six years of age, I found 

 roots of trees of the opposite side of 

 the row overlapping. 



The selection of nursery stock is a 

 very important factor toward success. 

 Select one-year-old trees with good, 

 clean roots and plenty of them, and a 

 straight top from four to six feet high. 

 If you are not a judge of trees, go to a 

 reliable nurseryman, one who will 

 stand back of his stock. Do not get 

 your trees too early in the fall, for some 

 of the nurserymen start to dig before 

 the wood is mature, and the result is 

 that the trees will soursap and die, a 

 loss in time and money. As soon as you 

 get your stock from the nursery heel 

 in in good shape to prevent injury from 

 drying out or injury from frost, for it 

 must be remembered that the small root- 

 lets are very sensitive to cold or lack 

 of moisture. When you are planting 

 keep a damp sack over the roots of the 

 trees you are packing along, as this 

 will guard against any injury. 



By George Zimmerman 



Planting may be done at any time 

 after the trees are dug in the fall until 

 the buds show signs of activity in the 

 spring, but at no time when the ground 

 is wet enough to puddle or to pack 

 around the roots. I prefer the early 

 winter planting, as the soil has a chance 

 to settle before spring. Before plant- 

 ing take a sharp knife and cut off the 

 bruised ends of the roots where they 

 have been cut when taken up from the 

 nursery. This will insure the bruised 

 roots to heal over readily and be less 

 liable to disease infection. WTien you 

 are ready for planting take the planting 

 board (which is made by taking a one- 

 inch by four-inch piece four feet long, 

 cutting a notch in each end and one 

 in the center), place it so that the stake 

 which indicates where the tree is to be 

 set will be in the notch in the center 

 of the board and then place a stake in 

 each notch at the ends. Remove the 

 board and the center stake and you are 

 ready to dig the hole. When planting 

 dig a hole deep enough so that when 



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I*rime tree \\ ith its i-uvci-ing of blossoms. 



the top of the longest root going down- 

 ward rests on the bottom of the hole, 

 the tree will rest two or three inches 

 deeper than it did in the nursery. Very 

 great care should be taken so that the 

 soil is well worked between the roots 

 and that every root goes out naturally 

 from the tree stock. If this is not done 

 and the soil is thrown into the hole 

 carelessly the roots will all be crowded 

 together, which is very undesirable. 

 After the tree is planted head back to 

 about three feet and four inches, and 

 then with proper pruning in later years 

 the tree will be kept up so that cultiva- 

 tion will be done without great diffi- 

 culty. 



One of the greatest factors that has 

 to do with moulding out the prune 

 orchard is the cultivation given up to 

 the bearing age. I practice clean cul- 

 tivation and think it is the only cul- 

 tivation that .should be done in any or- 

 chard, especially during its formative 

 period. I will give here the method 

 that I use here in the Willamette Val- 

 ley. In different sections of the state 

 it will vary somewhat. Plow as early 

 in the spring as can be done without 

 injury to the physical condition of the 

 soil. I use the heavy harrow, disc and 

 roller if necessary in the early part of 

 the season, say May 1 or May 10. The 

 soil should be thoroughly worked down 

 by this time so as to prevent too rapid 

 drying out. After this I use the Kim- 

 ball light harrow or other tool. These 

 lighter tools are used to break capillar- 

 ity and to form a dust mulch to retain 

 the soil moisture. I use these tools up 

 to about July 1 ; after this time we have 

 very little rain to settle the soil and 

 start capillary action and to start the 

 weeds. Give your orchard a good start 

 by thorough cultivation the first years 

 of its life and you will have a healthier 

 orchard, for I have found by practical 

 experience that it is always the weaker 

 trees that succumb to disease. There 

 will be less resetting and your orchard 

 will bear at least one year earlier. 



Pruning may be done at any time 

 after the leaves have fallen until the 

 trees show signs of activity in the 

 spring. There are a great many dif- 

 ferent opinions as to the methods of 

 pruning a prune orchard, and they may 

 all lead to a reasonable degree of suc- 

 cess, but the following is a model that 

 I have pictured in my mind and toward 

 which I am constantly working. The 

 object of pruning is, first, to mould the 

 young trees as they grow into a uni- 

 form shape so as to produce the maxi- 

 mum amount of fruit without injury to 

 the tree; second, for the size of the 

 fruit; third, so that cultivation can be 

 done without great injury to the lower 

 branches and with a reasonable degree 

 of comfort. It is the tendency of the 

 prune tree to gradually droop down a 

 little from year to year after it starts 

 bearing. As previously stated, top the 

 tree at three feet four inches. The 

 first year the trees are planted every 

 bud along the stem has a tendency to 



Continued on page 33. 



