358 ANNUAL REPORT 



to be sure of something every year. And so it is with orchard- 

 ing. But don't go to the other extreme and have a very large 

 number of different kinds, for some will be quite sure to be of no 

 value. It is all right for experiment to try one or two trees of 

 fifty or a hundred kinds, but for profit I would recommend about 

 three varieties each of the earliest, autumn, early winter and 

 late winter sorts. In this way one will have apples to sell all 

 the season and they will not ripen all at ouce, thus giving time 

 to dispose of them. 



PLANTING. 



Having determined on location, varieties and the proportion 

 of each to plant, the trees are the next in order. Obtain trees 

 which are thrifty and well ripened in the fall and bury root and 

 branch for the winter, taking care that no straw is in the vicin- 

 ity to attract the mice. These trees should not be over four 

 years old and two to three years old are considered preferable by 

 some. The holes for the trees in the orchard should be about 

 twenty feet apart each way. Dig the holes in the fall and let the 

 frost act upon the soil in the winter. Make them good and large 

 and in the spring fill in again, setting the trees a trifle deeper 

 than they stood in the nursery. Lean the trunks a little to vv^ard 

 the direction from whence come the prevailing winds. Then in 

 a few years the tree will gradually straighten up and having be- 

 come thoroughly rooted can resist the strong winds, thus adding 

 much to the welfare and appearance of the orchard. 



While the tree is being started it will stand a considerable 

 amount of fertilizing, and especially in a dry soil the tree should 

 be pushed a little when it is young, otherwise it is liable to al- 

 ways remain stunted. This rapid growth should not have been 

 done in the nursery, however, because it lessens the ability of 

 the tree to stand transplanting. Care must be taken not to cul- 

 tivate or mulch the young orchard so late in the season as to 

 I)rotract the growth and not have time for the ripening of the 

 terminal buds before winter sets in. The tree should always 

 have a fine dressing spread around it for several feet, but none 

 banked up against it, for it is liable to heat and scald the trunk, 

 which has caused the death of many a tree. 



CULTIVATION. 



For the first six or seven years the land can and should be 

 planted to some kind of garden truck. Potatoes are good for 



