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THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST 



April, 191 1 



Regarding the tools used in the above 

 operations, there are several orchard 

 plows facilitating the plowing close to 

 the trees, but the ordinary plow with a 

 set over beam is recommended, and the 

 surface tillage can be done satisfactorily 

 by means of the various disc and 

 smoothing harrows. Even the culti- 

 vator or spring-tooth harrow may be 

 used when their teeth are so arranged as 

 not to go deeper than say four inches. 



OBOPPING BETWEEN THE E0W8 



For the first few years vegetable or 

 small fruits, such as strawberries, may 

 be grown between the rows of trees. 

 The advantages of such a practice de- 

 pend largely upon the judgment of the 

 grower. He must decide what kind of 



crops will suit his purpose best and what 

 length of time they are going to occupy 

 the ground. Some crops take up the 

 water and food that the trees need, and 

 many would interfere with the care of 

 the orchard. In general, cropping be- 

 tween the rows is profitable, provided 

 following points are observed: ist, Three 

 feet of space must be left all around the 

 young planted trees and this space be in- 

 creased by a foot or so every year as the 

 trees grow. 2nd, The crops' should be a 

 hoed crop or crops, care of which bene- 

 fits the trees as well and in no way im- 

 poverish the soil. 3rd, This practice of 

 cropping should be discontinued after 

 eight or ten years and all the space given 

 up to the trees. 



Peach Culture 



J. W. Smith & Sons, Winona 



PEACHES require a well drained 

 soil. If the land is rolling 

 and well drained, naturally it 

 is not necessary to underdrain. 

 Put in a hoe crop, such as po- 

 tatoes, tomatoes, or roots of some kind, 

 which will leave the ground in good 

 shape. The following spring work your 

 ground up well, then mark your field 

 out by commencing at the base of the 

 field, stretch a wire or cord alonsj the 



grown the way you want them. I pre- 

 fer to have the main stem nipped back 

 eighteen inches above ground, and not 

 trimmed like a whip, but about ten 

 inches, as a tree makes a better collar 

 and root growth when their limbs are 

 left on. 



PLANTING 



In planting, we use a "T," putting 

 the trees down two inches deeper than 

 they were in the nursery, with two men 

 to dig the holes 

 and one man to 

 look after the 

 "T" and trim the 

 roots. If the roots 

 are long or bruis- 

 ed or broken, cut 

 off with a clean 

 slanting cut. Be 

 sure to dig the 

 holes large 

 enough. Place 

 your tree with the 

 heaviest side lean- 

 ing against pre- 

 vailing wind from 

 five to seven de- 

 grees. Shovel in 

 the earth with the 

 A Model Peach Orchard trimmer, holding 



This properly pruned and well cultivated Peach Orchard is the property of Messrn the tree m place, 

 J. W. Smith & Sons, Winona. See accompanying article for description. .ind t r a m D i n ff 



end, then use a pole the distance you 

 want your trees apart, and be very 

 exact, marking off the ground and line 

 at the same time, going across the base 

 of the field and up the side and across 

 the other end, coming back to starting 

 point measure off the other side. Then 

 with a man at each end of your line, 

 working towards each other staking 

 out, moving each time the distance you 

 want your trees apart, until you have 

 your field marked out. I consider twenty 

 feet each way a good distance for plant- 

 ing, or twenty-five by eighteen feet. 



When getting your trees, buy from 

 some reliable man near by, and order a 

 year before setting out; have them 



down the earth as it is thrown in, leave 

 two or three shovelsful of earth lying 

 loose around the tree to keep the 

 ground from baking or drying out. 



I prefer to trim the trees after they are 

 planted, for when the ground is ready 

 we don't want the trees lying around. 

 When all are planted we go along and 

 trim back to four limbs where possible, 

 with two buds to the limb. Have the limbs 

 well distributed over the tree and never 

 leave the limbs so that they forma crutch. 



The best varieties to plant are Yellow 

 •St. John, Leamington, Ely, Crawford, 

 Champion, New Prolific, Elberta, Yel- 

 low Rare Ripe, Niagara, Lemon Free, 

 Beers Smock and Smock. 



We prefer a cultivated hoe crop of 

 potatoes, tomatoes, or a crop of straw- 

 berries, but leave a good space between 

 berries and trees for cultivation. After 

 second year have the orchard so it can 

 be worked both ways and keep the 

 ground in as good condition as it would 

 be for a hoe crop. When the trees begin 

 to bear give lots of manure and ashes 

 alternately, but not together. In the 

 spring, as .soon as it is dry enough, 

 work away from trees with a disk or 

 shallow ploughing. Harrow or disk 

 every week or ten days until the last 

 of July, when the earth is worked back 

 for winter. We get the trees ready for 

 winter before picking comes on, with 

 the exception of water furrows, and 

 banking around each tree about six 

 inches deep and two feet all around the 

 trunk of trees, which is done any spare 

 time between picking and after the fruit 

 is off. Oats make a good cover crop, 

 as it grows well under the trees and 

 makes a good growth, which holds the 

 leaves and is easily ploughed down in 

 the spring. 



PRUNING 



In trimming the young orchard, cut 

 out all limbs that cross and thin out 

 centres so as to throw the growth to 

 the sides and not in the top. In mid 

 summer thin out all limbs that cross 

 cut back the centre main limbs to one 

 half to throw the growth to outside 

 limbs, which lets in the sun to rif)en 

 the wood and make the buds stronger 

 for winter. We do not trim our bear- 

 ing trees until after February, when the 

 severe weather is past. If buds are bad- 

 ly hurt we do not tl^in much, just head 

 back enough to let in sun and air. If 

 buds are good, thin out and head back 

 so as to get shape to tree and size to 

 fruit. 



I have been spraying for the past 

 twenty years with good results. I have 

 fourteen hundred Duchess pear trees 

 which I sprayed three times and con- 

 trolled the spot perfectly, while one tree 

 that was missed was black with the spot, 

 while with apples, plums, cherries and 

 grapes it was the same story — perfect 

 fruit when spra3'ed, almost unsalable 

 when spraying was neglected.— A. W. 

 Peart, Burlington, Ont. 



I had an old orchard of Greenings, 

 which of late years had been so wormy 

 and scaly that I had decided to pull them 

 out, in fact had cut out about eighty 

 trees, but thorough spraying is bringing 

 back early conditions, in fact, one tree 

 one hundred years old produced twenty 

 barrels of perfect fruit, while a five acre 

 orchard .seventeen years old in rough land 

 that could not be sprayed did not produce 

 a single barrel of good apples. Lime- 

 sulphur has given the apple trees in the 

 Niagara district a new lease of life. — L. 

 L. Woolverton, Grimsby. 



