LAYING OUT THE COMMERCIAL ORCHARD. 1 3 5 



Again a proper circulation of air is necessary in the orchard. 

 How many times when our trees are in full bloom in the chill of 

 May evenings, when the mercury in our thermometers is gradually 

 running down dangerously near the 32 mark, we anxiously watch 

 for a breeze to set in and start a current of air among our trees 

 and save us from the frost! In the heated days of summer, after 

 the showers, when the hot, moist air comes up from the ground 

 almost like steam, putting our fruits into just the condition to be 

 affected by many kinds of fungous growths, we long for an open 

 way for a favoring breeze that shall blow away the fungous spores 

 and cool down our fruits and save them from scalding. 



The larger portion of our state is more or less subject to long 

 periods of high winds during the late summer. These winds are 

 mostly from the southwest, and if our trees are exposed to the full 

 force of these winds our fruit is blown off when half grown, the 

 heated winds dry up the limbs, and further growth of fruit is 

 stopped, or the fruit prematurely ripened. 



Can we by any arrangement of our trees take advantage of the 

 necessary sunshine and air and avoid some of the evils produced 

 by the hot sun and high winds? I think we can do this to some ex- 

 tent by setting our trees close in the row, placing the rows some 

 distance apart and having the rows run in about the direction a pole 

 will give shadow when the sun is at its fiercest heat during the day, 

 which is nearly the direction of the prevailing winds, northeast and 

 southwest. 



Let the rows be laid out far enough apart to give ample room 

 between them for cultivating, especially needed after the trees are 

 of good size, as then we can cultivate without injury to the outer 

 branches. We shall need this room to pass through with teams, 

 to remove the fruit when picked, to run a barrel sprayer and to 

 gather up broken limbs and portions trimmed off, where trimming 

 may be needful. We need the open space for air passage and to 

 let the sunlight upon the lower branches. The direction of the rows 

 as suggested will divide the influence of the sun about equally, giv- 

 ing its rays to the east side during the forenoon, the top of the trees 

 receiving the two o'clock rays, while the afternoon sun colors our 

 fruit growing on the west side of the rows. 



I firmly believe that we are well on the road to a better and 

 hardier apple tree. Our advanced nurserymen are using crab 

 seedlings, when they can obtain them, for stocks; some of them 

 are raising stocks from crab seed of their own growing; and we 

 are eventually to have a longer lived and necessarily a larger grow- 



