io6 I'm: ("anaihan Hokiiclm.i urist. 



MAINTAIMNC 1 1 1 1- IliKril IIN |.\ olD ( )!<( 1 1.\ Kl )S. 



r sliould be kej)t in mind thai \sl- arc dealing with trees ilial liave occu- 

 I'ied the same ground for several years ; that have creamed the soil : 

 [ that have already trespassed upon and robbed their surrounding neigh- 

 l)ors, and that in turn have been robbed : and there is no escape from 

 '^ slow starvation if the trees are reasonably thick and nothing is done. 

 And first it should be remembered that, for the good of the trees and 

 of the land, and for the total value of the product, the amount of fruit 

 raised on a tree should not be large, and the cjuality should be of the best. 

 Bearing this in mind, some (|uestions arise. Is it not possible to prune the 

 orchard by the same rules which are ob.served -n trimming grape vines ? Our 

 grandfathers let their vines grow as they would, and they never produced any 

 really fine bunches of grapes. As soon as we learnt to control and direct the 

 growth of the vine the value of the fruit increased a hundred-fold, while the least 

 possible amount of fertility was removed from the land. It is not quite possible 

 that fertility might be conserved, and the quality of King apples, say, be 

 improved, by reducing the length of the liml)s upon which they grow? Is it true 

 that the nearer the total product of fruit is to the food supply of the tree the 

 better the results ? or, to state it in another form, Are the apples improved when 

 the material of which they are formed is transported eighty feet through root and 

 branch before they receive it? Is the soil of the orchard unnecessarily drawn 

 upon by growing too much timber? 



We assume that the fertility of the orchard lias been maintained up to the 

 time of its bearing. What I have said also implies that the trees have not been 

 unduly forced by manure, but have made a steady, healthy growth, and have come 

 into bearing early. Just as a heifer is simply kept growing, and great care is taken 

 not to overfeed or change the direction of her inbred tendencies while she is 

 young, and as she is more liberally fed when she begins to produce something, 

 and as she is fed moderately, liberally or very liberally, according as she respontls 

 to the food given, exactly so should the orchard be treated. The amount and 

 kind of food furnished to it should be studied as carefully as the rations of the 

 dairy-cow. What kind of fruit does the orchard want ? Like other plants, it is 

 likely to have enough of all kinds except potash, phosphoric acid and nitrogen. 

 How shall these be secured ? Would it be best to get the annual dressing of fertility 

 wanted by purchasing commercial fertilizers, or by thie purchase of cattle-food, 

 to secure the desired elements in the form of farm manures bv the help of 

 animals? 



If the orchard contains ten acres, it will carry one hundred sheep from .May 

 to October, provided one-fourth of their food be furnished to them in the form 

 of bran and cotton seed, or oat-meal. Om- hundred sheep, weighing eighty 

 jiounds each, will require for one fourth of their daily sustenance one-half pound 



