The Canadian Horticulturi^ 



Vol. XXXV 



APRIL, 1912 



No. 



Small Fruits in the Orchard 



T. G 



THE growing of small fruits in the 

 orchard is a question much discuss- 

 ed by fruit growers who desire to 

 get a return from their land occupied 

 by an orchard, before that orchard will 

 return a dividend to them. In the case 

 of a peach orchard it is at least the third 

 year, in most cases the fourth year, and 

 in some the fifth year, before a return is 

 given above the outlay for that year. In 

 the apple .orchard it is proportionately 

 longer. The age at which any fruit tree 

 comes into profitable bearing depends 

 first on the years it requires to bring it 

 into bearing, which varies considerably 

 among the different classes of fruit, and 

 also among the varieties, and second on 

 the care and treatment which has been 

 given to the trees. We find that a per- 

 iod of from three to eight, and in some 

 cases more years, may elapse before we 

 can expect to get a profit from the or- 

 chard. It, therefore, becomes desirous 

 to many fruit growers to endeavor to 

 get a return from this land set to orchard 

 during the interval required by the or- 

 chard to come into profitable bearing. 

 This return may be secured by planting 

 small fruits or some other crop between 

 the tree rows. 



I^t me here say that it is the practice 

 among some of the best orchardists of 

 this country, but more particularly of the 

 country to the south of us, to leave the 

 land planted to fruit trees entirely de- 

 voted to the trees so planted. The rea- 

 sons for this are these: that when the 

 orchard is not inter-planted with small 

 fruits or other crops the orchard may be 

 given the very best care and treatment, 

 which usually is not, and cannot readily 

 be given in an orchard inter-planted. The 

 orchard, by the better care and treat- 

 ment thus given, can be brought into 

 bearing earlier, and will be a more pro- 

 fitable orchard in every way. Thus the 

 greater returns from the orchard in the 

 end will, in most cases, more than offset 

 the returns that might have been obtain- 

 ed by the intercropping. No matter 

 what is planted as an intercrop, it will 

 take from the land much of its fertility 

 and will not leave it in as good a condi- 

 tion as it might otherwise be in. On the 

 other hand, some men will give better 

 care to an orchard so inter-planted, as the 

 second crop will require the attention 

 that might not otherwise be given if 



Bunting, B.S.A., Experimental Farm, Ottawa 



there was not some revenue coming in 

 from the land. 



DO NOT CROWD THE TREES 



In interplanting an orchard great care 

 should be taken not to crowd the grow- 



Blossoma off, Calyces Open, Ready to Spray 



WTien spraying to prevent the ravages of the 

 codling moth, the object should he to deposit 

 poison inside the calyx, which, as the ai>ple 

 grows, closes and forms the "blossom" of the 

 mature apple. This poison catches the codling 

 worm as it starts to eat its way into the apple. 

 It is important to malce the spray application at 

 the stage of the blossom as here shown, other- 

 wise the application will be useless in combat- 

 ting the codling moth. 



ing trees. It should be remembered that 

 the trees at the close of the season will 

 be much larger than they were at the 

 beginning, and what may seem sufficient 

 room for them early in the spring, before 

 growth begins, may leave them later in 

 the summer badly crowded and interfer- 

 ing with the other crop. The first year 

 at least four feet on all sides of the trees 

 should be left clear and . where small 

 fruits are planted a greater distance 

 should be left ; for strawberries five feet, 

 raspberries and bush fruits, six to eight 

 feet or more. 



Of the small fruits which are very of- 

 ten planted in the orchard, the straw- 

 berry is one of the best to plant, because 



they seldom occupy the land for more 

 than three years and usually for only two 

 years ; and after that, unless the trees are 

 slow growing or very far apart it is well 

 to leave the land to the trees. In plant- 

 ing strawberries, if the tree rows are 

 from eighteen to twenty feet apart, three 

 rows of strawberries can be planted be- 

 tween the tree rows, leaving the rows of 

 strawberries four feet apart and five to 

 six feet from the tree row. Some grow- 

 ers will crowd in four rows when the 

 trees are the above distance apart, and 

 then very often the trees will suffer, es- 

 I>ecially the second year, from giving the 

 berries the proper cultivation and in har- 

 vesting the crop, so that the fourth row 

 would be much better if left out. If the 

 strawberry plantation is left for a sec- 

 ond crop in the third year, it will require 

 quite a lot of cultivation late in the sea- 

 son of the second year, and during this 

 time there should be very little cultivation 

 given close to the trees as it may cause 

 the trees to continue to grow late in the 

 season. 



OTHER SMALL FRUITS 



Where currants or gooseberries are 

 grown, two rows are sufficient to plant 

 between the tree rows, when the tree 

 rows are from eighteen to twenty feet 

 apart, as these bush fruits will occupy 

 the land for a considerable time, and do 

 not give much return before the third 

 season. Thus, if a third or fourth row 

 is planted, by the time they are in bear- 

 ing, the trees will be encroaching on 

 them, and both will suffer. Some bushes 

 can be planted, in the tree rows but here 

 as elsewhere the trees should be the first 

 consideration. 



Where raspberries or blackberries are 

 grown, only one row can be recommend- 

 ed to be planted where the trees are the 

 former distance, eighteen to twenty feet 

 apart. Many growers will plant more, 

 and crowd the trees, when interplanting, 

 but if they will consider what the orchard 

 and bush fruits will be like in a few 

 years in the future they would allow 

 plenty of room for their trees, as they 

 are to be the main crop and give the chief 

 reward for the money and effort ex- 

 pended. 



Another thing too often neglected is 

 the removal of the bush fruits as soon as 

 the space is required by the trees. It is a 

 mistake to leave the bush fruits in the 



