438 Aira'UAL REPORT 



to be preferred, as trees of that age, if properly dug and trimmed, have 

 plenty of root for their support. 



LOCATION. 



A very important item in "orcharding" is the selection of a site. It 

 IS now pretty generally conceded that a northern or northeastern slope 

 is to be chosen if possible. This avoids, in a measure the repeated 

 freezing and thawing of early spring which has been so prominent a 

 cause of mortality in most orchards. But if a southern slope must be 

 taken these ill effects may be largely overcome by heavy mulching 

 around the trees before the thawing begins in the spring. Again, 

 choose the highest ground possible. All experience proves that the 

 hills and not the valleys are the best places to raise apples in Minne- 

 sota, as the temperature falls much lower in the valleys than on the 

 high grounds. 



Concerning the proper soil for apple trees, we cannot yet speak with 

 much assurance. In jSoriculture it is known, for instance, that the 

 cactus loves the sand, the helitrope flourishes in a moist black loam, 

 but who has yet ascertained the exact proportions of black loam, of 

 clay, and of sand, the precise amount of moisture and degree of fer- 

 tility in the soil best suited to the wants of the Wealthy or any other 

 variety ? But the soil usually preferred by planters for an orchard of 

 all varieties is, I believe, a rich loam with a liberal proportion of clay. 

 If the soil is already rich it will do as it is for young trees, but if weak 

 fertilizers should be used. If mainly sand a large hole should be dug 

 and filled with soil of a suitable quality in which to plant the tree; 

 this with proper fertilizing will overcome the lightness of the soil. 



SETTING. 



Before it freezes up in the fall it is well to dig the holes for the 

 trees, as the effect upon the soil of the freezing and thawing and ex- 

 posure to the air seems beneficial to the young trees. And in digging 

 the holes the question of distance must of course be settled. Many, in 

 planting orchards, stand the trees one rod apart each way, others two 

 rods. But most- varieties when given but one square rod of land will 

 in old age overreach their allotted bounds, and interlace their branches 

 with the neighboring trees, thus becoming much more subject to the 

 infectious blight, and dwarfing all the fruit on the lower branches. It 

 is better economy to strike a mien, some of the smaller varieties doing 

 well at twenty feet apart, others needing twenty-four feet, but few, if 

 a|iy, needing as much as thirty-three feet. 



