RENOVATING OLD ORCHARDS 



cate under what conditions it may pay to reno- 

 vate an old orchard, as well as those under 

 which It may not pay, and also how to go about 

 the problem. 



Necessary Qualities. — An apple orchard 

 must have certain qualifications in order to 

 make it worth while to spend the time and 

 money necessary to accomplish the desired re- 

 sults. These we may take up briefly under five 

 heads: (i) varieties, (2) age, (3) number or 

 " stand " of trees, (4) vigor and health of the 

 trees, and (5) soil, site, and location. The 

 discussion of these subjects in Chapters II and 

 III has equal application here, but we may per- 

 haps point out their specific application more 

 definitely in the case of the old neglected farm 

 orchard. 



( I ) Varieties should be desirable sorts. If 

 they are the best standard market varieties, as is 

 often the case, so much the better. Otherwise 

 little is gained by improving the tree and fruit. 

 Poor or unknown varieties have little or no 

 market value, except perhaps a very local one. 

 If the trees are not too old and are fairly vigor- 

 ous, poor varieties may sometimes be worked 

 over by top grafting to better varieties. Char- 

 acteristics which may make a variety undeslra- 



