ORCHARD FRUITS 



51 



produce new wood. None of the gnarly living 

 twigs on the branches should be removed, because 

 these are the ones that bear the fruit. 



Frequently old orchards do not get sufficient 

 moisture in the summer. It is not usually safe to 

 plow deeply, because too many of t^e roots might 

 be injured. A shallow surface cultivation after 

 turning the sod is better than deeper stirring. After 

 the ground has been worked, applications of stable 

 manure and fertilizer may be given and cover crops 

 such as crimson clover sown toward midsummer. 

 The management of the orchard from then forward 

 will be the same as for trees that have been prop- 

 erly managed from the start. 



If the trees are of undesirable 

 varieties, or if for any other rea- 

 son the owner wishes to have dif- 

 ferent varieties, it is easier to use 

 them as stocks for grafting the 

 desired kinds than it is to plant 

 and care for the new trees. Old 

 trees cleft grafted will begin to 

 bear in three or four years> 

 FOLDING LADDER whereas even the quickest matur- 

 ing varieties of young trees 

 rarely bear at all before five years. The grafting 

 is a simple process which anyone can produce by 

 following the directions given elsewhere. If space 

 is limited and if only a few trees can be grown, two, 

 three, or more varieties may be grown on the one 

 tree. In fact, as curiosities, trees have been grown 

 with even more than 50 varieties upon the one 

 trunk. 



Details of orchard management will be found 

 under their various headings. 



