IOI2 



Rural School Leaflet 



CULTURAL DIRECTIONS 



H. B. Knapp 



Soil. — While the apple has a decided preference for certain types of 

 soil, it will succeed moderately well on any soil that is rich, well drained, 



and retentive of 

 moisture. Perhaps 

 the ideal type would 

 be a light, loose clay 

 loam, but many of 

 our best orchards are 

 situated on either 

 heavier or lighter 

 soils. The land 

 chosen for the setting 

 of trees should have 

 been used for the 

 growing of some culti- 

 vated crop the year 

 previous. This crop 

 may have been corn, 

 potatoes, cabbage, 

 beans, or any crop of 

 like nature. Apple 

 trees should never be 

 sot in sod or in freshly 

 plowed sod ground, 

 but the land should 

 be worked until it is 

 loose and well pulver- 

 ized. Trees that are 

 set in sod are very 

 likely to suffer during 

 the hot, dry season of 

 the year because of 

 lack of moisture; and then- is nothing else that a young and growing 

 tree needs so much as moisture during the first year while it is becom- 

 ing established. 



Time of planting. — It would probably be best, considering all sections 

 of tiie State, to plant the trees in the spring of the year. Fall planting 

 is desirable provided the land is well drained and the trees are mature 

 when dug from the nursery row. If both these conditions are not pres- 

 ent, young trees are very likely to be injured by cold weather. Planting 



Good two-year trees 



