20 Lessons in Fruit Growing. 



CHAPTER II 



TREE-FRUIT OR ORCHARD CULTURE 

 Section 1 — General Statements 



21. Orchard — Definition. Tree fruits are commonly 

 grown in orchards. An orchard is an in closure or planta- 

 tion of trees or large shrubs intended to produce fruits or 

 nuts. 



22. Orchard sites. Of the considerations previously 

 mentioned regarding the location of the fruit plantation 

 (6), those relating to freedom from frost and disastrous 

 winter freezing are perhaps most important in locatiug the 

 orchard. A site sufficiently elevated to give good air 

 drainage, and sloping if at all, away from the warmest sun- 

 shine, is most favorable for the orchard unless it is near a 

 large body of water. In the latter case the ground should 

 generally slope if at all, toward the water, regardless of 

 the direction. 



A young orchard should not, as a rule, be planted oa 

 ground from which an old orchard of the same kind of fruit 

 has recently been removed. 



23. The class and age of trees to buy. Fruit trees are 

 generally graded as first and second class, the first class 

 trees being straighter and more symmetrical than the sec- 

 ond, and commonly selling at a higher price. Unless one 

 can see the trees before purchasing, it is safer to order those 

 of the first class. Where both classes are equally healthy 

 and free from insects, however, the best-rooted second-class 

 trees of a given size will often give as good results in the 

 orchard as those of the first class, for the irregularities of 

 the stem and branches may be corrected by pruning. 



