Things Needed by All Fruits Alike 



WHILE each kind of fruit requires special treatment, cer- 

 tain primary conditions are necessary for all. Methods 

 which produce these conditions with apples, for instance, 

 are equally good for the peach orchard or the strawberry patch. 

 That which is right for one fruit, within these limits, is right 

 for all. 



Of these conditions, the first to be considered is the getting 

 and keeping of plant food and of moisture, which requires 

 three-fourths of all the effort expended in orchard culture. 

 First, we shall consider the question of moisture of both too 

 much and too little water. 



TOO MUCH WATER 



A fruit tree will not yield if water stands about its roots 

 if it has "wet feet." There must be good drainage to lower 

 the level of stagnant water in the ground. This is understood 

 so generally that nearly every one avoids low or swampy lands, 

 or underdrains them thoroughly before setting out trees. 

 Because it provides quick natural drainage (ignoring the other 

 reasons), sloping land is better than level land for orchards. 



Good natural drainage is greatly to be desired, but seldom 

 is found. Even where it is markedly good, the use of tiles will 

 give results which warrant putting them in. Generally speak- 

 ing, only the highest, steepest land should be left without 

 drainage. Flat lands nearly always need underdraining, and 

 sloping or rolling land often has a close, hard subsoil which 

 keeps water standing near the surface, at the roots of the trees. 



While land may be dry enough in ordinary seasons, in the 

 wet season the extra amount and quality of fruit due to under- 

 draining often will exceed in value the entire cost of installing 

 the drainage. On hillsides, the underdrains frequently will 

 prevent washing. In any land, the space around a seepage 

 spot or spring may be the most fertile in the field, and the only 

 way to make this available is by draining. 



By giving each place the drainage it needs, you can make 

 conditions uniform throughout the orchard, adapting the 

 entire area to the same cultural methods. If some spots are 

 hard and sour, while others are loose and dry, they must be 

 given different fertilizers and cultivation. 



No matter how rich in plant food a soil may be, too much 

 water will render the food useless for trees. Wise folks may 

 say the land is too sour or too cold, or needs this or that. No 

 matter what the name of the trouble is, you cannot get fruit 

 from land that is too wet. Here are some of the reasons: 



Before plant food can be taken up by the roots, much of it 

 has to be prepared by bacteria. The best known of these are 

 the legume bacteria, without which the clovers, peas and 



