FOURTH ANNUAL YEAR BOOK — PART VIII. 551 



cellar when properly attended to. The trees should be planted about 

 twenty-four feet apart in the row north and south, and the rows thirty- 

 two feet asunder east and west. Twenty-five apple trees, ten years old, 

 when properly cared for, will bear several hundred bushels of apples. 

 That would be more than an ordinary family would use, so one does not 

 need a great number of trees. 



"What varieties shall I plant?" is a question often asked, though not 

 easily answered, except in a general way. People differ widely in their 

 likes and dislikes of flavor in fruits, so the selection must be largely a 

 personal matter for each planter to determine for himself. However, I 

 will name those which usually do the best in this State, and for that 

 reason are regarded as standard sorts, and will generally prove to be 

 the most satisfactory. 



The list I would recommend is as follows: Yellow Transparent. 

 Duchess of Oldenburg. Benoni, Wealthy, Fameuse, Grimes Golden. Jon- 

 athan. Genet, Roman Stem and Ben Davis. Probably you would not care 

 for all these varieties, but they are all good standard sorts, though there 

 are other varieties you may prefer and that will thrive and do well in 

 this country. 



Buy two or three year old trees from a reliable nurseryman, and the 

 nearer your home the better, for he will probably have the varieties 

 best suited to your locality. 



The depth to plant will depend somewhat on the nature of the soil, 

 the more looser the soil the deeper you can set the trees, usually three 

 to six inches deeper than they stood in the nursery will be deep enough 

 Set the tree as firmly as you would a fence post and you will not have 

 occasion to complain of dead trees, if you give them proper care after- 

 wards. Cultivate the ground as well as you would for a crop of corn 

 until the trees come into bearing, and I prefer to do so even when in 

 bearing. However, if the orchard is on a steep hillside, so that the soil 

 would wash, then sow to clover and cut the first crop every season and 

 remove it and allow the second one to remain for a mulch and to reseed 

 the ground. 



By cultivating the orchard you stimulate growth in the trees. Y^oi; 

 can raise an early crop of corn or potatoes that will pay you for the cul- 

 tivation and not rob the trees if you understand farming, and I take i^ 

 for granted that you do. After the early crop is removed you can sow 

 buckwheat, oats or barley in midsummer for a cover crop to protect the 

 roots from freezing and thawing in winter, or if you do not sow a cover 

 crop, spread manure over the ground about the trees and it will serve the 

 same purpose. It is well the first few years to give some protection to 

 the trees against mice and rabbits and to keep a watch that borers do 

 not get into the trees. Head the trees thirty to thirty-six inches from the 

 ground and give such pruning as will keep them in proper shape. 



No well regulated fruit plantation is considered complete without a 

 spraying outfit. The home orchard will only require a small, inexpf-n- 

 sive apparatus. Spraying to be effective, must be done intelligently; 

 haphazard work is of little value, if it does not do more injury than good. 

 Spraying is a preventive measure rather than a curative one. 



