5^4 



FARM, ORCHARD, DAIRY AND GARDEN. 



Selection of Trees. — Varieties. — 

 Young trees are better for planting than 

 older ones; small ones are more easily- 

 handled, and are surer to grow than 

 larger ones. Two years trom the graft 

 or Dud is long enough for the apple to 

 remain in the nursery. This is true of 

 most varieties, but there are exceptions to 

 this, for some slow growing kinds require 

 a longer period to attain sufficient size. 

 The plants should be stocky and branch- 

 ed, and they should be taken up carefully, 

 so as to preserve the roots. 



Varieties are so numerous, and tastes 

 so diverse, that it is almost impossible to 

 make out a list of sorts that will be 

 acceptable to all, and besides this, it is 

 well known that the varieties which suc- 

 ceed in one locality may fail in another. 

 Every planter should endeavor to ascer- 

 tain what sorts have been tested and 

 approved in his own neighborhood. 

 Hardy and productive kinds, of second 

 quality, are more satisfactory than those 

 fruits of greater excellence, which have 

 not these prime qualities of the tree. It 

 is rare that we find all excellence united 

 in one individual. 



For the family orchard, it is best to 

 have a succession in the time of ripening. 

 The same is true of an orchard planted 

 for stock-feeding, but in the commercial 

 orchard, where a large quantity of fruit is 

 to be produced for shipping, it is found 

 best to plant only a few varieties, and 

 these should be productive, hardy, and of 

 . such a character as to bear transportation 

 . and to command a ready market, less re- 

 gard being had to the superior quality as 

 .table fruits than in the amateur and 

 family list. 



Apple Family. — Planting. — After the 

 ground has been prepared, it is ready to 

 mark off with the plow in two directions, 

 so that the intersections of the furrows 

 shall come at the stations for the trees. 

 This is the best way to dig the holes, for 

 the furrows may be made quite deep 

 enough. Indeed, it is not desirable to 

 set the trees deeply ; some even advocate 

 planting on the surface, and covering the 

 roots with a little mound of soil, as is 

 done when the trees are set on top of the 

 sod of prairie or meadow. The distance 

 between the trees will depend upon the 

 habit of the variety. Some will require 

 more space than others, but close plant- 



ing has many advocates, who advance 

 some cogent reasons for crowding the 

 trees, instead of the wide planting of 

 former years. A few of these may be 

 mentioned : In the first place, it is now 

 conceded that the land appropriated to 

 the orchard should be given up to the trees, 

 and not be used for other crops, therefore 

 there is less necessity for space between 

 them. In close planting, the whole 

 ground is shaded, and kept from the 

 baking influence of the sun, and thus 

 remains more loose and friable than 

 where exposed. The crowding of the 

 trees also protects them, in a great 

 degree, from the severity of the cold in 

 winter, and from the injury incident to 

 the sudden changes of our climate ; but 

 in exposed situations, this close planting 

 especially shelters them from the trying 

 winds. 



The planting should always be done 

 with the greatest care, the roots should 

 be spread out in their natural position, 

 the finest soil put next to the fibres, and 

 worked in among them with the fingers, 

 so as to be in immediate contact both 

 below and above them. When the roots 

 are well covered, slight pressure may be 

 made with the foot, especially toward the 

 end of the roots ; or, if the ground be 

 dry, a few quarts of water may be poured 

 upon it to settle the soil, and this should 

 be covered with more dry earth. All 

 that portion of the tree which was under- 

 ground in the nursery must be covered, 

 and, in fall planting, a little mound should 

 be heaped up against the stem, to keep 

 it from being swayed by the wind, as 

 well as to turn off the rains from the 

 roots. This mound may be removed in 

 the spring. 



Cultivation should be thoroughly kept 

 up in the young orchard for a few years, 

 and, at first, hard crops, such as corn or 

 potatoes, may be allowed among the 

 trees, but no grain or grass, nor any 

 weeds, should ever be permitted among 

 them. This cultivation may be continued 

 four or five years, until the trees are well 

 established, and begin to cover the 

 ground with their shade, when the spaces 

 between them will be so occupied by 

 their branches as no longer to admit the 

 horse and plow. The land may now be 

 laid down to clover, not for a hay crop, 

 but simply to cover the surface as a 



