8 JuLV, 1908.] Raising an Export Apple Orchard. 387 



deadly track of this disease can be traced in numerous orchards by the 

 presence of dead or dying trees between healthy and vigorous ones. 



After this is done peg out your plantation in rows parallel with the 

 slope, and 20 feet apart. Plough with a subsoiler attached to the depth 

 of a foot or more. Do not turn up any of the subsoil. 



Underground pipe drains should then, if funds permit, be put down 

 midway between every two rows of pegs, and carried into a main open 

 drain at the bottom. If this entails too great an expense, every second 

 drain could be put down, until such time as the grower can afford to 

 complete the operation. Without underground drainage growers cannot 

 expect to establish an orchard of strong, healthv trees of uniform size. 

 If not drained there will be numerous unprofitable trees throughout the 

 orchard ; such a leakage, in fact, that no business can sustain. 



The depth and frequency of the drains depend on the nature and depth 

 of the soil. In impervious and compact clays the pipes need only be 

 placed in them sufficiently deep to drain the surface soil, but must be 

 placed at such intervals as to insure this ; in the more or less porous subsoils 

 the drains may be deeper, and further apart. 



When properly tile drained, the period of growth is lengthened, the 

 winter temperature of the soil raised, moisture in summer maintained, and 

 fertility mcreased. A greater depth of sweet congenial .soil gives greater 

 area for root pasturage, and cultivating operations can be begun and com- 

 pleted much earlier than would be the case if the ground were not drained. 

 I regret that want of space prevents me in this article dealing fully with 

 the advantages to be gained by underground drainage, and unfortunately 

 there is no phase of fruit-growing so neglected, yet so important, by 

 orchardists. Few, indeed, are the orchards so advantageously placed as 

 to have a perfect natural drainage. 



After lying fallow throughout the summer the land should be again 

 ploughed in autumn, and reduced, by means of cultivators, to a state fit 

 for planting. The most convenient as well as the most economical, dis- 

 tance between trees is 20 feet. Having pegged out the ground make the 

 holes for the young trees deep enough to plant them the same depth as 

 they occupied in the nursery. In this operation the subsoil should not be 

 disturbed as it would then form a receptacle for soakage from the surround- 

 ing area, and in the retentive clay the water would remain and render the 

 soil sour and uncongenial for the young trees to establish themselves. The 

 medium in which the roots of trees feed, young or old, should not have 

 even a suspicion of stagnant w'ater therein. 



Raise the centre of the hole slightly, and down the slopes trace the 

 roots of the young tree as regularly as possible all round, keeping the 

 .strongest roots towards the weather side. Before doing this all injured 

 and bruised roots should be cut off upwards with a sharp knife. Fill in 

 with sweet well-mellowed soil, until the roots are well covered. Expel 

 the air by trampling with the flat of the foot, taking care not to injure the 

 roots. If the soil is poor, add now a couple of pounds of bonedust, or 

 superphosphate and bonedust, by sprinkling it over the trampled surface, 

 and complete filling the hole with the rest of the soil. The manure 

 should, on no account, come in direct contact with the roots. If farmyard 

 manure is available, either incorporate it well with the soil before filling in, 

 or use it as a mulch. 



The trees should now be tied to stakes to prevent wobbling with the 

 winds, and thereby straining or breaking the tender fibrous roots that will 

 shortly form. The bands with which the trees are tied should be soft 



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