PLANTING APPLE TREES 445 



It is better to have the ground \vhere you set trees thoroughly 

 plowed and cultivated before setting, but not absolutely necessary ; 

 sometimes one wishes to set where the ground cannot be plowed. 

 Then dig large holes two and a half feet deep ; dig the holes in the 

 fall if possible so as to let frost and moisture into the ground; set 

 trees in spring and mulch heavily enough so the ground will not 

 dry out through the summer. Straw or well rotted manure makes 

 the best mulch, but strawy manure wnll answer. 



Set trees sixteen feet apart each way if you are going to keep 

 the ground in grass ; but if you cultivate sixteen by thirty is better. 

 Constant cultivation with plenty of manure is a success ; this has been 

 tried till it may be accepted as a fact. Constant cultivation without 

 manure is a failure. This has also been proven by careful experi- 

 ments. The "Somerville" orchard is a success with grass, mulch 

 and hogs. Mr. Kitchens, of Onandaga County, N. Y., who had an 

 exceptionally fine display of apples at New York state fair in 1901, 

 keeps his orchard in grass from the time it is set, does not prune, 

 sprays thoroughly, does not rob the orchard of the grass that grows 

 in it but puts into it, in addition to the mulch of the grass that grows 

 on the ground and the leaves that fall from the trees, all of the mulch 

 that he can spare for the purpose from his farm. He believes that 

 the ground wants to be kept moist and loose so the air and moisture 

 can penetrate to the roots, full of humus so it will stand drouth, 

 and says he can do all this by keeping his orchard in grass much 

 cheaper than he can by cultivation. 



There is also another advantage in grass in orchard ; the water 

 •does not run off in a heavy rain, carrying lots of the soil with it, but 

 soaks down into the subsoil to be used by the trees in a dry time — 

 a reserve of moisture. Currants, gooseberries and raspberries can 

 be grown between the rows when the orchard is small, especially 

 where they are heavily mulched. 



Fruit trees are apt to lean to the northeast, when the body will sun_ 

 scald. I once set out a two year old tree at an angle of forty-five de- 

 grees to the one o'clock sun. In two years time the tree was leaning 

 to the northeast. Larger trees will not turn over that way, and by 

 using larger trees and letting the limbs grow near the ground we 

 have never been bothered with our orchards sun-scalding or leaning 

 to the northeast. 



In 1884 I learned something about pruning large trees. S. W. 

 Ferris, of Bristow, Iowa, had three large apple trees of Perry 

 Russett that had large bushy tops. In June, 1883, he took a pair 

 of large pruning shears and brought the center tree into shape, using 



