ORCHARDING ON NEW ENGLAND HILL FARMS 91 



the nerve to do this as soon as needed it is better not to set 

 them nearer than 40 feet apart. 



Cultivation should be given from the time the trees are 

 planted till the time of bearing, when it may be advisable 

 to sow clover, or some similar crop to enrich the soil ; but 

 an orchard (in my opinion) should not be kept in sod, 

 neither should the clover or similar crops be removed, but 

 should be grazed by calves or sheep, or mown and left to 

 decay under the trees. 



Prune the trees, when young, to the proper shape and, 

 as they grow, see to it that this shape is kept. 



Spraying the trees and thinning the fruit must both be 

 practiced if good fruit and healthy trees are to be grown. 



As to gathering the fruit, do not let it get overripe, and 

 do not pick it green. If picked green it will never color 

 nicely and the quality will be inferior ; if picked too ripe the 

 fruit will not keep well. If, during picking, the fruit is put 

 in heaps on the ground under the trees it should not be left 

 there more than a day or two, at the longest, for contact 

 with the ground will ruin its keeping qualities. While the 

 fruit is in heaps under the trees, keep it covered from the 

 sun. The sooner apples are placed where the temperature 

 can be kept from 32° to 35°, after being picked, the better 

 will they keep. 



Thus far in this paper I have spoken only of the apple, 

 as it is our most important fruit, and the one on which we 

 must place our chief hope of again making our hill farms 

 profitable through the growing of fruits ; but land that will 

 grow good apples will, with proper care and feeding, grow 

 any other fruit suited to our climate. Each must decide 

 for himself, according to nearness to market, what he will 

 grow, for with proper care and push any of our standard 

 fruits can be made to pay a fair return on the cost of culti- 

 vation. Success depends on the man. 



A noted strawberry grower, when asked what he ferti- 

 lized his strawberries with, replied, "Peas," and that he 

 could not grow them without peas. He said that he used 

 three kinds, "push, pluck and perseverence," and that un- 

 less a man had these he never could succeed in growing 

 strawberries. This applies with equal force in growing all 



