RENOVATING NEGLECTED ORCHARDS 



389 



springy hillsides which warm up in the late spring are not very- 

 desirable, but may be improved by proper drainage, whether of the 

 tile, open-ditch, or other form of construction. 



Orchards located on high ground, which are well protected from 

 prevailing winds and do not show such disadvantages as frost 

 pockets and poor drainage, are more satisfactory to renovate. 



3. Soil. Where the character of the soil is a sandy or gravelly 

 loam, the chances for success are much better than where the orchard 

 is located on either a 

 heavy clay or a light sand 

 soil. A good clay loam 

 is not very objectionable. 

 The test is the thrift of 

 the tree. Apple trees are 

 known to thrive on a great 

 diversity of soils if they 

 are well drained and well 

 managed ; therefore, if 

 the trees show signs of 

 thriftiness, it will usually 

 be worth while to renovate 

 if other conditions are 

 favorable. 



4. Age ami vigor of 

 the trees. Apple trees ex- 

 ceeding thirty or forty 

 years of age usually lack 

 vigor and are seldom worth 



renovating. Trees that have been robbed of their vigor by such 

 enemies as the San Jose scale, that have been repeatedly de- 

 foliated by leaf-eating insects, or that have many decayed spots or 

 dead limbs caused by a fungus, would probably not pay for the 

 expense of renovation. 



5. Vacancies in orchard. Where there are many vacancies in 

 an orchard, that is, in orchards where less than 60 per cent of 

 the trees remain, it will not pay to renovate. However, in some 

 orchards the trees are so closely planted that it becomes neces- 

 sary to remove a number of them. Under such circumstances a 



Fig. 172. Typical old high-headed New 



England apple trees 

 These trees are too high to renovate profitably 



