OECHARDING IN MINNESOTA. 317 



ORCHARDING IN MINNESOTA. 



E. H. S. DARTT, OWATONNA. 



I planted my first orchard in Minnesota in 1869, and have kept 

 right at it ever since, and have probably planted more than 10,000 

 orchard trees, two-thirds of which are dead. About twenty-five 

 years ago I planted an orchard of 2,500 trees. It was mostly on a 

 northern slope. I put a windbreak on the south and west, that trees' 

 might protect each other. I planted them twelve feet apart each 

 way. Every fifth tree in every fifth row was Scotch pine, making 

 pines sixty feet apart all through the orchard. The holes were dug 

 the fall before, and trees were set very early. Some holes were half 

 full of ice. I think every pine grew and of 1,600 apple trees set that 

 year only four trees failed to grow. I set in this orchard about 800 

 Duchess, 800 Wealthy, 200 Tetofsky, 200 Haas and 50 trees each 

 of Orange, Maiden's Blush, Quaker Beauty and Minnesota crab ; 

 also a strong sprinkling of other varieties of apples and crabs. 



The winter of 1884-5 killed to the ground every Wealthy and 

 Haas and many of the other varieties. This is the reason why I 

 said the Wealthy was not hardy enough for Minnesota Most of 

 the dead trees were dug out and replaced largely with Duchess. 

 This was a sad mistake, for the Wealthy trees left soon sprouted 

 up and commenced to bear and are now the most profitable trees in 

 the orchard, while the Duchess, though profitable at first, are now 

 of little value for market purposes. ■ I have sold five bushels for a 

 dollar and hundreds of bushels have rotted on the ground 



Enough Duchess have died from sunscald and root-killing to 

 keep trees from crowding till about five years ago. I then com- 

 menced cutting out the pines to make room for apple trees, and 

 to cut Duchess where crowding other varieties. I am also top-graft- 

 ing alternate Duchess trees with Wealthy and Peter, which take 

 well on the Duchess as a stock. I have girdled this orchard with a 

 view of checking growth and producing fruit, but girdling is not 

 to be depended upon alone for thinning out the orchard — branches 

 should not interlock, and I recommend the liberal use of the axe. 



Next year will be the bearing year, and I shall remove the fruit 

 on a lot of my Duchess trees and girdle the first of July for fruit 

 the next year, for I know there is money in the Duchess when the 

 other fellows do not have any to sell. I do not know how much of 

 the $500 received the past season came as the result of girdling. 



