800 ANNUAL REPORT 



Horticultural Reports from the beginning of the Society, and some 

 from other states of the Northwest. 



To begin with, to make orcharding pay, take as many good papers as 

 you can afford to, and keep informed on your business. Don't leave 

 out your State's papers on this subject. To get an orchard up to bear- 

 ing size in such a way a?; to profit by it after it begins to bear, is the 

 greater part of the work, so the most of this paper will be devoted to 

 that branch of the subject. 



LOCATION. 



First. Select your site. Anything is better than sand. The beat 

 soil, however, for our hardy apple trees, is a deep loam or porous clay 

 subsoil, a subsoil composed of yellow, red or blue clay, mixed with 

 either large or small limestone is one of the best. But as you already 

 have your land on which you are to plant and cannot escape using 

 such as you have, you can perhaps better its condi|tion. If the subsoil 

 be sandy or gravelly, dig a hole one foot deep and three to six across, 

 for each tree, and fill with rich loam and clay marl. If old boots, 

 shoes or bones be handy, cast them into the hole. Bones contain 

 much lime, either phosphate or carbonate, and both are important to 

 plant life and growth. Lime is a large constituent of the bark of apple, 

 trees. If your subsoil be a cold, retentive blue clay, that will hold 

 water and not more than three feet beneath the surface, you must 

 plow it in such manner as to get about four feet of good soil above the 

 clay, with a drain four to five feet below the surface. This drain may 

 be constructed by plowing from the place where the drain is wanted, 

 two or three times, then sink your plow down in the dead furrow as 

 deep as possible for two or three bouts. Shovel out the earth loosened 

 in the bottom of the dead furrow^ then dig a trench one spade wide. 

 You will now find yourself from four to five feet below your land sur- 

 face; fill the trench with broken stone and gravel. These drains should 

 be twenty-five feet apart. If preferred, tile can be used instead. Re- 

 member this, however. So prepare the ground that the tree will get 

 four feet at least of good, friable soil, above the underlying clay. Now 

 sow broadcast manure, lime and ashes. The drams should have descent 

 sufficient to prevent standing water. Now plow towards the drain 

 three or four times, making a ridge over it on which the trees are to 

 be planted. I have now described what I hold the best preparation 

 of ground for our two poorest fruit-tree soils. 



Next if your soil be a dry, clay ridge, or a timbered ridge, make a 

 large hole and fill as for sandy land. If a good loam soil on porous 



