FRUIT GROWING 59 



Setting and caring for the orchard. For various 

 reasons which we shall not discuss here, the young or- 

 chard should be set on high, rolling land. After a site 

 has been chosen, the land should be prepared as thor- 

 oughly as for a corn crop. If it is not practical to plow 

 the ground, large holes, about four feet in diameter and 

 two feet deep, should be dug for places in which to set 

 the little trees. It is best to buy trees at least one or two 

 years old for planting. During this month the fruit 

 trees may be set. Follow the principles of planting dis- 

 cussed in Lesson 72, and mulch the trees well with strawy 

 manure as they go into the winter. 



Apple trees should be set about forty feet apart each 

 way, and peach trees from eighteen to twenty feet apart. 

 They may be set in squares or in triangles. The trian- 

 gular arrangement will give more trees to the acre. 



Just as the young forest described in Lesson 72 is 

 plowed in the spring, so should the young fruit orchard 

 be cultivated, if possible. After cultivating the fruit 

 orchard until the middle of June, it should then be sown 

 to a clover or cow pea crop, which would act as a winter 

 mulch for that season. Such care, together with the 

 pruning and spraying that is discussed later, will start 

 the young orchard well on the way to fruitfulness. 



The fruits. The trees may be divided into pome and 

 stone fruits. The apple, pear, and quince are called 

 pomes, because they contain a core in which are the 

 seeds. The cherry, plum, peach, prune, and apricot are 

 called stone or drupe fruits, because the seed is enclosed 

 in a hard stony shell. The grape is our only vine fruit. 



