ABOUT MY APPLES. 387 



ABOUT MY APPLES. 



W. L. PARKER, FARMINGTON. 



How thankful we should be that nature has provided for us our 

 beautiful trees, some that are pleasing to the eye as well as others 

 good for fruits, and it seems to be the mission of man to plant and 

 care for them and make home beautifnl and pleasant. I have often 

 thoug-ht what dreary places our homes would be without them, for 

 the cooling shade they give us from summer's heat and the protec- 

 tion from winter's cold. What can there be more pleasing to man 

 than a pleasant home surrounded by beautiful trees and fruits of 

 all kinds in abundance? 



My trees came through the winter of 1895-6 in good condition so 

 far as my observation went. When the blooming time came, the 

 trees blossomed profusely, it seemed there was not a place for a 

 single blossom more. What is there more beautiful in nature than 

 an apple tree in full bloom? The fruit set so thickly, the trees were 

 overloaded, and in consequence the most of our apples were under- 

 sized — or that was the case in my orchard and in this section of Da- 

 kota county. I have a good many trees that I set in 1893, that were 

 full of apples, so much so I picked off all but a few specimens of 

 each. 



Let me now give you a little of my observation and experience in 

 the work of apple growing. I have been for nearly twenty years 

 trying to learn how to grow apples, and I do not think I have made 

 much progress, but I have learned that two of the first and most im- 

 portant things is to select a good location on a soil that will retain 

 plenty of moisture to sustain the trees, and varieties that are adap- 

 ted to the location and soil. I find these are very important to suc- 

 cess. I prefer an elevated site with a northeast or east slope, as a 

 protection against frost and giving better air circulation. A soil of 

 rich loam with clay subsoil mixed with lime, I think, is one of the 

 best of soils for apple growing. The soil, of course, should be well 

 prepared before planting; it should be in as good condition as 

 would be proper for a corn crop. Too rich land will grow too much 

 wood, so it can not properly ripen up to withstand our cold win- 

 ters, and the trees take longer to fruit. 



I do not advise the planting of trees over two 3^ears old, for they 

 have better roots, are more easily transplanted and cost less, and at 

 five or six years old if properly cared for you have a better tree than 

 if you had planted a four or five year old — or that is my experience. 

 As to varieties, apples are so local in their habits that it is impos- 

 sible to recommend many varieties with safety, and the only way 

 seems to be to find out the kinds that do the best in your localitj- 

 and plant principally of them and a few other kinds for trial, and 

 when they get to bearing change by grafting such as do not prove 

 good. This is easily done by attending to it while the trees are yet 

 young. The selection of varieties is the most perplexing of all 

 questions in apple culture, judging from my own experience, but 1 

 do not know of any way to determine this but by actual experiment, 

 and unfortunately it takes time to do this. 



