302 THE POMES 



Propagation. It is commonly known that cultivated 

 varieties of apples seldom come true from seed. Seedlings 

 of large red apples may produce small yellow fruit. The 

 fruit grower desires to know definitely the kind of fruit 

 that he is to grow. To perpetuate standard varieties, 

 therefore, it is necessary to resort to some form of grafting. 

 In mild climates apples are usually propagated by budding 

 while in other less favorable sections they are propagated 

 somewhat more successfully by root grafting. 



Fig. 162. An ideal orchard site. The slope to the lake provides good soil and air 



drainage. 



Planting. Apples are grown upon various types of 

 soils, although a deep, open, well-drained clay loam is con- 

 sidered best. Orchards upon less favorable soils require 

 more careful management. When the soil is of a light, 

 sandy nature the trees come into bearing earlier and the 

 fruit is often more highly colored, but the trees are seldom 

 so long lived. 



Apple trees are set in the orchard at from one to three 

 years of age, the younger trees being preferred. The dis- 

 tance of planting varies with the variety and the locality. 

 Apple trees are usually planted from thirty to forty feet 



