48 MAKING HORTICULTURE PAY 



can be put to a larger variety of uses than any 

 other. Some varieties do better on one kind of 

 soil than other varieties will, but in general apples 

 will succeed well on almost all soils, where agri- 

 cultural crops are grown. A rather strong, loamy 

 soil, ranging between sandy and clayey soils, should 

 be given the preference, especially where the 

 ground is rather high. Some few varieties do well 

 on extremes, but these cases are rare. Soils rich 

 in humus are not desirable, since they are likely 

 to produce too much wood growth, but a reason- 

 able amount of humus is necessary. This is easiest 

 secured by plowing under a clover sod and by using 

 an annual cover crop of crimson clover, cow peas, 

 or vetches. In special cases the ground may be 

 allowed to stand in grass and mowed once or twice 

 a season, but generally this practice is not looked 

 upon with favor. Clean culture is the more de- 

 sirable way of managing the apple as a rule. 



Most standard varieties should be set 40 to 50 

 feet apart. Smaller growing standards may be set 

 as close as 30 feet, but usually this is not good prac- 

 tice, because the trees are likely to interfere with 

 one another. Such trees are used as fillers and 

 cut out when they begin to interfere with the per- 

 manent trees. By the term " filler " is meant a 

 quick-maturing variety of small growth which bears 

 for several years before the permanent trees come 

 into profitable bearing. The danger with fillers is 

 that they are too often allowed to stand after they 

 begin to interfere with the standards. 



Still smaller trees are used occasionally for filling 

 in between the fillers. These are known as dwarfs. 

 They have been grown more or less for 50 years, 

 but only recently have they attracted the attention 



