No. 1.] RENOVATING OLD ORCHARDS. 407 



spaces in an oUl orchard, nor to plant young trees in the vacancies. 

 If the trees are along fences or odd corners, so that cultivation of the 

 soil will not be attempted, then the question of stand is less important, 

 and may, perhaps, be ignored altogether. But in an orchard there 

 ought to be a three-quarters stand at least to make it worth while to 

 take the matter up, except under the most favorable circumstances. 



3. The Varieties in the Orchard. — This is of less importance than 

 the two points already mentioned, yet it is a factor that is decidedly 

 worth considering and that has an important bearing on the cost of 

 the renovating process. It is, of course, possible to graft over the 

 trees, but this is both an expensive and a lengthy operation, and I 

 should condemn an orchard to the brush heap which needed to be 

 grafted far more quickly than one which already had the right varieties 

 in it. Of course the (juestion of varieties is very largely a personal one, 

 and need not be discussed here, but I should mean by "right" such 

 varieties as suited the grower and the markets for which he was pro- 

 ducing, preferably standard sorts, like Baldwin, Rhode Island Greening 

 and Roxbury Russet. 



4. The San Jose Scale. — I should certainly feel much less like 

 attempting to recover an old orchard which was infested with the 

 scale, or even which was near an infested orchard, than one which was 

 free from it and in a locality where it did not exist. I do not mean by 

 this that I should despair of recovering an orchard where the scale 

 was fairly plentiful, for I have known of a number of cases where such 

 orchards have been made thrifty and profitable. But it certainly does 

 add a very serious element to the situation, and it is going to recjuire 

 both time and money to eradicate it. 



The above, as I have said, are the main factors in deciding for or 

 against the renovation of an old orchard, yet perhaps I have omitted 

 the chief factor after all, and that is the man himself. If he has just 

 come into possession of the orchard, and is making an attempt to clean 

 up all along the line, I should have far more faith in the ultimate good 

 results of the matter than if he were author and finisher of the neglect 

 from which the orchard has suffered, even though he might have firmly 

 determined to "do the right thing by the orchard" from henceforth. 



Having finally decided that the orchard is worth while, the work of 

 renovating will fall naturally under the following heads: 1, cultivation; 

 2, pruning; 3, spraying; 4, fertihzing; 5, cover-crops; 6, grafting, — 

 arranged somewhat in the order of their importance, though of course 

 this will vary greatly with different orchards, and though all will be 

 needed to secure the best results. 



I have placed cultivation first because, though trees will often do 

 well in sod, if otherwise well cared for, and though it may sometimes 

 be necessary, even in attempting to revive an old orchard, to let the 

 trees stand in sod, yet, as a rule, to get them into satisfactory condition 

 cultivation is the prime requisite, and will do more than any other one 

 thing to start the orchard on the right road. It is usually difficult 



