STARTING AN ORCHARD — SIX YEARS EXPERIENCE, I,IOO TREES. 29 1 



vicinity of St. Paul or Minneapolis three apples that will produce 

 more money than the Duchess, Wealthy and Patten's Greening. 



In crabs I have the Orange, Whitney, Early Strawberry, Vir- 

 ginia, Martha and Minnesota. With me none of these have been 

 profitable for market. I am told that the Florence, Shields and 

 Lyman's Prolific will give the best early, medium and late crabs for 

 this locality. All are good crabs and prolific bearers. 



Now about how much to plant : Judging from what experience 

 I have had I think i.ooo or more trees will give quite a business 

 or a good living for an average family, while with less than that 

 number it would be difficult to make a living without depending on 

 some other vocation to help out. I used to think the plums in this 

 vicinity would be more profitable than the apple, but the last two 

 years with me it has been the reverse. 



In laying out my orchard I drove stakes to sight by and then 

 used the team and plow for marking the rows. On reaching the end 

 of the row, I returned with the plow in the same furrow, thus go- 

 ing twice in a row and throwing out the earth wider and deeper 

 than one could by going once in a place. I also found it easier to 

 make the rows straight and the same distance apart between all the 

 rows. In marking the cross row I also went twice in a row. This 

 plan aided considerably in digging the holes. 



If you make the rows 20x20 ft. each way it gives you about one 

 hundred and eight trees per acre, or 4,320 trees on forty acres. I 

 planted my orchard much too close. I believe better results will be 

 obtained with plums by not planting closer than 20x24 ft., espe- 

 cially with the spreading varieties, and apples not closer than 20x25 

 ft. for the upright growers and 25x30 ft. or even 30x30 ft. for the 

 more spreading kinds, like Hibernal and Lyman's Prolific. I un- 

 derstand some large orchards will be planted in 1904 west of Minne- 

 apolis, allowing only a sq. rod per tree, or 160 per acre. I think 

 this is too close. Such close planting with low heading will make it 

 very hard to use clean cultivation or even cultivate at all without 

 close pruning after the trees come into full bearing. 



On very rich soils it may do to have the holes as small as two 

 and a half feet in diameter and two feet deep, but I think a more 

 liberal hole will be better; and on poorer soils with stiff subsoils I 

 would not have a hole less than three feet in diameter and thirty 

 inches deep. In digging the holes on my land, which has a stiff clay 

 subsoil, I had all the soil, or top earth, placed one side of the hole and 

 on the same side with all the holes, and all the bottom earth thrown 

 out on the opposite side of all the holes. Then when I came to set 

 the trees, I had no difficulty in finding the best earth. In digging 



