: ORCHARDS. 263 
"young trees could be laid Gut in their natural position and from 12 to 16 
inches deep. I think that a great many trees are lost by farmers because 
of their shallow planting. It is a well-known fact that the deeper we 
plant a tree the less it will grow the first year or two; but after it once 
gets started it will, ina few years, be way ahead of those planted shal- 
low. Three-year-old trees, I think, are the best, and in planting them I 
should slant them about 15 degrees toward the southwest, which will pro- 
tect the trunk from the hot rays of the sun, and cause the tree to get the 
heaviest topon the southwest side. I should plant the trees about 15 or 
20 feet apart each way, and branch them 12 or 16 inches from the ground; 
trim them as little as possible—one limb helps to protect another: 
While the trees are young, and the bark tender, they should be pro- 
tected from rabbits and mice, by wrapping them with tarred paper or 
some kind of cheap cloth; gunnysacking is about the best, and will last 
for years. 
The first few years some hoed crop or small fruit may be grown success- 
fully; care should be taken to keep up the vitality; and they should never 
be cultivated later than July 15. I should, in plowing and cultivating, 
work the ground gradually toward the trees, both ways. 
In a dry season, after cultivating is over,it is a good plan to mulch with 
some rotten hay, straw, chip dirt, or any other refuse, and apply it in 
liberal quantities. Do not put it against the tree, but leave about six 
inches of bare ground around the tree—let the mulching extend back three 
or four feet in every direction,and make it thick enough to hold the mois- 
ture in the ground. Ido not recommend watering except in a very dry 
season, when it would be wel] enough to turn a pail full.of water on the 
mulching. 
After the trees have commenced bearing, the orchard should be seeded 
down to clover and used as a hog pasture. If hogs or sheep are not de- 
sired in the orchard, the best way is to seed it down with mammoth 
clover, which keeps the ground loose and mellow. It should be mowed 
once each summer, put around the trees and used as a mulch. 
At the time of planting the orchard plant a wind-break, if it is 
not already protected by a natural grove. An evergreen windbreak 
should be secured, if possible, on account of its superiority in winter over 
any other kind, aad its beauty at all times of the year; but where ever- 
greens cannot be afforded or be grown, we have other trees, such as maple, 
soft and hard, box elder, willow, cottonwood, mulberry and others 
that will help to beautify the homes, and do good service to the orchard 
and buildings. 
Iam anxious and I hope to see the day, when by every farm house in 
Minnesota there will bea nice row of evergreens planted around a little 
orchard and fruit garden, thus creating a little paradise where the child- 
ren will spend hour after hour in peace and joy: and when childhood is 
past, and the children have wandered away from home, they then can 
stop and think back to the old Minnesota home, with its little orchard, 
that grew the best apples they ever tasted, and the strawberries that 
were better than any other—for no fruit is as good as that which grows in 
one’s own garden. 
As to varieties I will name a few, that from my own experience and 
careful observation are doing well in our part of the state. For summer 
