XXXIII. ORCHARD CROPS 



OUR orchard crops embrace many fruits that are useful to man. 

 Some of the most important are the apple, pear, peach, plum, 

 nectarine, apricot, cherry, quince, olive, orange, lemon, lime, 

 guava, grape fruit, fig, date, banana, and pineapple. 



The Apple. The many varieties of apples have all probably 

 come from two wild species, native to southwestern Asia, one 

 giving us the common apple, and the other the crab apple. Apples 

 have been cultivated, and esteemed highly, from the most ancient 

 times, but many of our most highly prized varieties are of com- 

 paratively recent origin and development. The apple tree thrives 

 best in a deep, cool, moist loam, but it will grow well in almost 

 any soil in which lime is present. When this element is not 

 present, fertilizers containing it should be added to the soil. Apples 

 are grown extensively in Europe, Tasmania, New Zealand, and 

 North America, and especially in the United States. They are 

 extensively grown in North Carolina, Virginia, Pennsylvania, 

 the New England States, Missouri, Oklahoma, New Mexico, 

 Arkansas, Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, Kentucky, Oregon, and 

 Washington. 



Apple trees are usually propagated from seedlings by budding 

 and grafting, and it is from these sources that we derive our 

 choicest varieties of fruit. The young trees are usually set out 

 when they are two or three years old, in rows twenty to thirty 

 feet apart, and are carefully cultivated from time to time. The 

 trees must also be carefully pruned each year, and sprayed during 

 the growing season with poisonous fluids to keep the trees free 

 from insects and disease. 



When possible the orchard should be protected against the 

 ravages of rabbits by inclosing it with closely woven wire fenc- 

 ing. Some nurserymen either whitewash the trunks of the young 

 trees or place strips of wire gauze around the trees as an additional 

 protection. 



218 



