124 NEBRASKA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY 



those that are leasing orchards, and those that have them for lease, I took 

 it for granted that most of the men who had orchaids they would lease, 

 did not need any looking after. They are well able to, and they have 

 made their start by some other means, and so I want to discuss the mat- 

 ter along the line of the young man or the old one, or any one who is 

 going out to lease an orchard. Those in the audience who have orchards 

 to lease, I will leave it to them to discuss the other side of it, and I want 

 you to feel free to take exceptions to any statements about apples or or- 

 chards, or anything in this paper. 



The practice of leasing orchards is rather a new venture in Nebraska. 

 In making this statement the writer has not considered the fact that scores 

 of farms have been rented, upon which were standing orchards varying 

 in size from one to fifty acres, because in these cases the producing power 

 of the orchard was rarely, if ever, considered by the tenant, when he 

 signed the contract agreeing to cultivate the land. 



The object of leasing an orchard from the standpoint of the owner, is 

 in most cases to get a definite annual cash rental out of the orchard 

 which is an uncertain producer and a general nuisance to care for. 



F^'om the standpoint of the lessee, to be able to lease an orchard grown 

 and ready to bear, means a saving on the investment and gives an oppor- 

 tunity for an annual income. This income is the all important considera- 

 tion in leasing an orchard, and it depends upon a great many factors which 

 must be considered by the man who is expecting to lease an orchard, as to 

 a profitable investment. The writer does not presume to mention all of 

 the factors in this brief article, but will enumerate and give a brief dis- 

 cussion of a few which have come within his experience. 



We have a right to assume that any one who is sufficiently interested 

 in apple growing to lease an orchard for the purpose of producing a crop 

 of apples, intends to cultivate and care for the trees in accord with up-to- 

 date methods of orchard management. This being the case a discussion 

 of the various problems and considerations which apply will perhaps be of 

 as much interest as any phase of the subject the writer might discuss. 



The Selection of an Orchard — In choosing an orchard to lease for a 

 term of years, we must examine it from several points of view. First is 

 its location in relation to soil, annual rainfall and geographical position. 

 An orchard might be perfection in every other respect, but if it was not 

 located in a good apple producing section, on the right kind of soil, and 

 where there was plenty of moisture to put finish on the crop, the owner 

 could not run fast enough to lease it to any man who has had experience 

 in growing apples. It may take years of experience in the problems of 

 handling an orchard to demonstrate just where in Nebraska, the geographi- 

 cal line should be drawn. It would seem, however, that forty years of 

 experience in growing apples should be a good recommendation for east- 

 ern Nebraska, and the writer will be bold enough to state that other con- 

 ditions being equal the loess soil along the Missouri river would be the 

 best location for the selection of an orchard. Any of the land from Sioux 

 City to Kansas City will produce fruit, but in selecting an orchard to lease, 



