APPLES 



115 



Many purchasers of cleared land after 

 paying a large price have found that 

 only the surface had been cleared and 

 that the land could not be cultivated until 

 the roots were removed. Experienced 

 men would rather have the stumps where 

 they can be seen than have them cut off 

 and covered up. 



(Arranged by Wm. Wortliingtoa from Bureau 

 of Plant Industiy Bulletin i:39 by Harry 

 Thompson.) 



Clearing: in Irrieated Sections 



Since all our apple orchards in New- 

 Mexico must be irrigated, it is necessary 

 that before planting the trees the land 

 be prepared as much as possible in order 

 to facilitate irrigation. As a rule it is 

 best, if it is new land, and especially one 

 with sand hills all over it, to break it up 

 and plant it to some hoed crop the first 

 year. In this way one will get the land 

 in better shape for the trees the following 

 season. In the Rio Grande vallev sandv 



spots which have been leveled down are 

 usually very deficient in plant food, and 

 it may take two or three or even more 

 years to get the soil where these sand 

 hills were to be as fertile as the rest of 

 the land. The land to be used for an 

 orchard should be deeply plowed and 

 harrowed before planting. After the land 

 has been properly plowed comes the ques- 

 tion of how to lay it off in order to irri- 

 gate the young trees most economically 

 and to the best advantage. A very good 

 method is to plow out small ditches about 

 one or two feet wide at the bottom. Plant 

 the trees in the bottom of these ditches. 

 These ditches will serve for irrigating the 

 trees the first and even the second year, 

 without having to irrigate the middle be- 

 tween the trees. This is a very impor- 

 tant point to consider and especially so 

 where water is expensive, or where the 

 middles are not to be planted to crops. 

 F.\BIAX Garcia. 

 Santa Fe. N. M. 



Uncleared Sage Brush. Brush of This Size Usually Indicates a Deep Fertile Soil. 



