12 The Bulletin. 



fertility that produces the fruit is over and above that required to 

 grow the trees. There are few crops so exhaustive on land as a crop 

 of nursery stock, and no tillers of the soil know so well how to fer- 

 tilize the soil as do nurserymen. If trees continued to grow in the 

 orchard with the vigor they are made to do in the nursery there would 

 be a thousandfold greater returns from orchards than there are to-day. 

 From my experience and observation in horticulture I think it safe 

 to say that seventy-five per cent of all the trees that leave nurseries 

 die of starvation before they come to usefulness. Soil poverty de- 

 stroys more trees than all the pests and plagues put together. A soil 

 cropped to death with corn or cotton or tramped hard by the feet of 

 stock is a certain burying ground for the tender and well-favored tree 

 from the fertile soil of a nursery. The reason timber trees grow so 

 well in their native forests is that the fertile, spongy mould of the 

 forest floor affords an ideal home for the little seedlings till they get 

 big enough to fend for themselves. Soil for orchards should be as 

 nearly as possible like nature's model forest soil. Indeed, the best 

 soils for fruit trees are those just vacated by the forest primeval and 

 occupied by the orchard before they can be pre-empted by any other 

 agricultural tenant. Mountain coves are ideal for orchards. 



STUMPY AND STONY LAND FOR ORCHARDS. 



It is by no means necessary that a virgin soil should be cleared of 

 stumps and stones before planting the orchard trees. Unless a stump 

 is actually in the place where a tree should be set, it is not necessary 

 to go to the trouble and expense of having it removed. It is much 

 cheaper to let stumps rot out gradually, and while they are doing so 

 they are supplying humus to the growing fruit trees. Stony land is 

 not at all objectionable for commercial orcharding. On steep loca- 

 tions they, help very greatly to hold the rich soil from being washed 

 away. It is probably for this very reason that in many mountain 

 orchards the stony soils produce the best trees. Loose stones may be 

 placed to form shelf terraces below the trees, or they may be placed 

 in lines to form general terraces between each two rows of trees. 

 Unless the soil is very thin, stones may be considered as a benefit 

 rather than otherwise, because of the value they have to the land 

 in assisting drainage and in protecting soil moisture. It is notice- 

 able that fruit trees near rock piles or stone fences suffer little from 

 drought. 



NEW VS. OLD LAND. 



Where virgin soil from the forest cannot be obtained for orchard 

 planting, only rich land should be used. As an orchard will occupy 

 the ground for many years, very thorough preparation should be given 

 the soil before planting the trees. Never set trees on poor or dry 

 land, for if they do start they are so stunted that it is next to impossi- 



