228 



THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST 



RECLAIMING A BARREN ORCHARD. 



Cultivation and Spraying Effect a Most Wonderful Improvement. 



People ask if there is any help for the 

 old orchard. The problem of the renova- 

 tion may or may not be a simple one. The 

 mere statement of the conditions of an or- 

 chard would seem to suggest the solution. 

 Still there may be local causes for unfruit- 

 fulness that may not be apparent. Per- 

 haps the conditions may be such that reno- 

 vation is impracticable. These questions 

 have to be taken into account. 



A simple story of experience may have 

 its lesson. In my possession are several 

 small apple orchards, aggregating twenty 

 acres. The soil varies from a light drift- 

 ing sand to a somewhat heavy clay. The 

 lighter sand is leachy and the clay is tough 

 and cloddy. A small part of these or- 

 chards had been pruned, sprayed, tilled, 

 and fertilized in an experimental way for 

 several years, with very satisfactory re- 

 sults. Another part, before it came into 

 my possession, had been used for hay, pas- 

 ture, and various farm crops. Farm ma- 

 nures had sometimes been used, and the 

 soil — a moist, sandy loam — was considered 

 to be fairly good. The trees had received 

 little if any pruning, and they were very 

 thick and bore many dead branches. Al- 

 though most of the trees were twenty- 

 eight years old, the largest crop on the 

 three acres in this plot previous to the 

 adoption of the improved methods was 

 about thirty bushels, mostly culls. The 

 larger part of these orchards was covered 

 with grass and weeds, and while in this 

 condition many trees had been killed by 

 being girdled by mice. No manure had 

 been applied since the two were set. It 

 was supposed that the barrenness of the 



orchards was due mainly to the impover- 

 ished soil. 



In the spring of 1894, these orchards for 

 the first time were all brought under a uni- 

 form system of treatment, which has con- 

 tinued until the present time. The trees 

 have received moderate annual pruning, 

 and the heads have been retained as low 

 as possible, merely training high enough 

 to permit the teams to pass under the 

 limbs, the ends of the pendant branches 

 being cut back to the desired height. 

 Trees have also been removed when found 

 to be encroaching on those neighbors 

 which were designed to remain perman- 

 ently, and spraying mixtures have been 

 applied to keep the insects and fungous 

 diseases under control. The spraying is 

 done just before the flowers open and 

 twice after they fall, and the material used 

 is Bordeaux mixture and Paris green. 

 The soil has been shallowly plowed, and 

 well fitted as early in the season as condi- 

 tions would permit, and it has been thor- 

 oughly tilled until midsummer for the pur- 

 pose of conserving the moisture. 



Cover crops have been sown, although 

 not always with satisfactory results. The 

 simple statement of the bare outline of 

 these practices may make a little impres- 

 sion on the reader, but they are neverthe- 

 less the fundamental means of bringing 

 old orchards into profitable condition. 



Feed them by improving the soil. 



Keep them healthv. 



Prune. 



Save the moisture. 



Add humus to the soil by means of cover 

 crops. 



