IN THE ORCHARD. 



245 



The Salome Apple — No. 2. 



L. W. 



The Salome originated with E. P. Hathaway, Ottawa, 111. The 

 tree is very hardy, productive, an early and an annual bearer. 

 Fruit : Size medium to large, about 3x3 inches ; form roundish, • 

 conical, somewhat lop-sided ; color bright red with stripes of darker 

 red and numerous small grey dots on a yellowish ground. When 

 karvested the skin is green, but during the winter it takes on the 

 coloring above described. Stem stout, three-quarters of an inch 

 long, .set in a deep uneven cavity ; calyx half closed, segments erect, 

 in a moderately deep, slightly plaited basin, having five distinct 

 prominences ; core large, open, sessil. Flesh : Color yellowish ; 

 texture firm, becoming tender towards spring, not very juicy; 

 flavor pleasant, subacid. Season : November to May. Quality : 

 Dessert or cooking, fair to good. Value : Promising for export. 

 Adaptation : Succeeds remarkably well in the county of Simcoe. 



Enriching the Orchard 



PROF. H. L. HUTT, ONT. AGRI. COLI^EGE, 

 GUEI.PH, 



What is the best crop to sow in the orchard 

 to enrich it ? My orchard is about 20 years 

 planted on excellent clay loam. It was in grass 

 for some years, till last season I plowed and 

 sowed to buckwheat. I did not reap the buck- 

 wheat, but allowed pigs and cattle to tramp it 

 down. I intend cultivating to keep grass from 

 growing. All the manure available was put 

 on. I thought of sowing it to peas and allow- 

 ing stock on it the same as last season. Would 

 you advise me to ? — (M. H. D. Silver, Sutton, 

 Ont. 



The plan you are adopting of raising 

 crops in the orchard and pasturing them off 

 with Stock is not the best one for the or- 

 chard. The plan adopted now by the best 

 orchardists is to give the orchard clean cul- 

 tivation until about the middle or end of 

 July, then seed down with a cover crop of 



some kind, preferably a leguminous one, if 

 the ground is in first-class condition. 



We found the red or mammoth clover, 

 sown at the rate of 20 pounds to the acre, 

 makes an excellent cover crop, but one of 

 the best crops tried yet is the hairy vetch, 

 sown at the rate of 40 pounds per acre. 

 This plant forms a low dense mass of vege- 

 tation, which does not interfere with the 

 harvesting of the apple crop in the fall, and 

 it is so hardy that it goes through the win- 

 ter in good condition. 



All such cover crops should be plowed 

 under first thing in the spring, or if the 

 hogs are allowed in the orchard they may 

 be turned in in the fall after the apple crop 

 is harvested, and what is left of the cover 

 crop can be plowed under in the spring. 



The Peach Orchard 



Iv. W. 



EARLY in June the peach grower may 

 count with some certainty on the 

 condition of his peach crop. Often a nip- 

 ping frost about the beginning destroys al- 

 most as many peaches as the intense cold of 

 winter, but when this is over, and what is 

 known as the " June drop " has thinned out 

 the superfluous young fruit, those remain- 

 ing may reasonably be expected to reach 

 maturity. 



This is the month for thinning peaches, 

 a job which takes considerable time, but 

 which in many cases pays splendid divi- 

 dends on account of the increased size of 

 the fruit that remains. Even the Alexan- 

 der, which has received so much abuse from 

 fruit growers during the past season be- 

 cause of its small size and poor quality, has 

 in consequence of careful thinning grown to. 

 double its usual size and brought almost 

 double its usual price. 



Thin the fruit until no two peaches touch 

 each other ; indeed, some advise thinning 

 until every peach stands 4 to 6 inches. from 

 every other peach. 



