18 The Fruit-Growers Guide-Book 



on poor or dry land, for if they do start they are so 

 stunted that it is next to impossible to ever get them to 

 make a satisfactory orchard. Lands which have been used 

 for grain crops for several years, without the addition of 

 plenty of manure, or green manuring crops, should not be 

 planted until the soil has been built up. Old pasture lands, 

 while possibly rich in fertility, should be in some culti- 

 vated crop for at least one season before planting to or- 

 chard, so as to get the soil into better tilth. It is always 

 cheaper and easier to prepare land for an orchard before 

 the trees are planted than afterwards. 



Before trees are set in an orchard the land should be 

 deeply and" thoroughly plowed and put into the best pos- 

 sible tilth. In soils that are excessively stony, or in which 

 it is very expensive to plow the entire area, a strip through 

 the field where the rows are to stand should be made, and 

 the soil worked deep. In case the soil is shallow, and un- 

 derlaid by a hardpan, it is always desirable that a subsoil 

 plow follow the furrow after the turning plow, so as to 

 break up the hardpan immediately under the trees, and let 

 the young roots penetrate as deep as possible, thereby in- 

 creasing their feeding area, and affording a better anchor- 

 age for the trees. 



Selecting a Site for the Orchard 



The site of the orchard has great influence on its fruit- 

 fulness, and in a commercial orchard the site needs due 

 consideration with reference to the surrounding condi- 

 tions, such as the slope of the land, and the direction it 

 faces, the nearness to a large body of water or high bluff 

 or mountain, etc. For the home orchard the site is often 

 predetermined, and the orchard has to be planted on what- 

 ever land is left after the house and lawn have been pro- 

 vided. 



For a commercial orchard it is always to be desired 

 that the orchard should be somewhat elevated over the 

 surrounding country, in order that free air drainage be 

 secured, and thereby reduce the tendency toward late 

 spring frosts. In many instances this will give material 



