THE FAILURE OF ORCHARDS, AND ITS REMEDY. 223 



of the open field. If, in addition to this, they be so neglect- 

 ed as to suffer from the attacks of mice, gophers, or rab- 

 bits, and to the inroads of animals of larger growth, so as to 

 be barked by mules or sheep, and browsed upon or broken 

 down by horned cattle, we need not wonder at the state- 

 ments that have been made regarding the impossibility of 

 growing orchards in the prairie. 



Another prominent peculiarity in the lands appropriated 

 to orcharding in the Western country consists in their gen 

 eral flatness. This necessitates their open exposure to the 

 winds, which sweep with great force across the plains ; and 

 when the dew-point is low, evaporation from all living tis- 

 sues is greatly increased, which causes the trees to dry 

 away fearfully. The same flatness of the laud favors the 

 accumulation of surface-water, which makes the ground 

 wet and clammy, requiring judicious efforts to effect suit- 

 able drainage over extensive tracts of country. It is emi- 

 nently important that such flat land, where the subsoil is of 

 a retentive character, should be thoroughly under-drained. 

 Under-draining, in many instances, is the only requirement 

 to insure the success of apple culture. 



When the land is very flat, if it has not been under- 

 drained, it will be well to plough it in lands, gathering the 

 furrows repeatedly on the same line, so as to ridge the sur- 

 face as high as possible where the trees are to stand, so that 

 the dead-furrows will make an open ditch for the water, 

 and the gather-furrows raise the roots of the trees "above 

 general water-level. These ridges and furrows should be 

 made in the direction of the slope of the natural surface, if 

 any can be detected ; otherwise the ditches must be made 

 deeper at one end than the other. It is rarely the case that 

 the surface-water will not find an outflow at one end or the 

 other of a ten-acre field. Towards this the ridges and fur- 

 rows should extend. Besides the foregoing considerations, 



