COST OF THE YOUNG ORCHARD 63 



a tree which very closely resembles his permanent tree in its 

 needs, which comes into bearing early, and which makes a small 

 tree (Fig. 27). This means that peaches make the best fillers 

 for peach orchards and apples for apple orchards. Many people 

 make light of this point but others consider it a decidedly practi- 

 cal one. Here is an illustration of the evil effects of mixing 

 species in setting an orchard: An apple orchard was set and 

 peaches were used for fillers. All went well until the peaches 

 were damaged severely one winter. Then it became desirable to 

 help the peaches to recover and the orchard was therefore given 

 an application of nitrate of soda, which brought them out in 

 good condition. But the apple trees did not need this extra 

 nitrogen. They were just coming nicely into bearing, but they at 

 once stopped producing fruit and began to produce wood. It 

 was years before they recovered from the extra stimulus and 

 went to bearing again. 



Now we may say that the owner was foolish; that he should 

 have done what was best for his permanent trees and let his 

 peach trees go. But it is human nature to try to take care of 

 what is producing a revenue and it is certainly a weak spot in 

 any system, whether it be orcharding or municipal politics, 

 which requires a man to do otherwise. 



Cost of the Young Orchard. It may be well to say a word 

 here in reference to the cost of establishing an orchard. Of 

 course this can be only suggestive, as expenses vary greatly with 

 different men and different sections and different years. The 

 following figures are from the writer's actual experience in 

 starting an orchard. They are by no means complete and leave 

 out many factors, such as interest and taxes, which ought to be 

 included. They may be helpful, however, and are introduced 

 merely with that hope and with the distinct realization by the 

 writer that they can be only suggestive. 



