316 WESTERN FKUIT BOOK. 



Having selected the trees, the next points to he con- 

 sidered, are, — When, and how to plant them? Two very- 

 important questions, upon the answers to which much of 

 the success of the plantation inevitably depends. As to 

 situation, it may be said, generally, that whenever it is 

 possible, select an elevated position for the orchard ; 

 though no one should be discouraged, or deterred from 

 planting, even though he be located in the level bottom 

 lands of our rivers. Those who would establish large 

 orchards, with a view to profit from the sales of fruit, 

 should, by all means, be advised to select their sites in 

 elevated and hilly regions, on account of greater immu- 

 nity from frosts, the finer fruits that are produced with 

 the better circulation of the air, and a soil generally bet- 

 ter adapted to the purpose of fruit-growing. 



One special advantage of elevated positions for the 

 orchard, consists in the character of the soils that are 

 generally found in such situations — they are less rankly 

 fertile, and less productive of excessive wood-growths, 

 than the deep alluvials that prevail in the bottoms. This 

 appears to be a condition most favorable to the highest 

 development of the apple in its greatest beauty and per- 

 fection. Upon hills there is generally a more probable 

 immunity from the lichens, that so often disfigure the 

 fruits produced in the damper atmosphere of lower levels, 

 which is also less stirred by the winds. The very tex- 

 ture of the fruit, and its consequent keeping qualities, are 

 undoubtedly superior upon the thinner soils of the hill- 

 lands, than elsewhere. These are mere matters of obser- 

 vation, now cumulating and not to be gainsayed, but 

 rather spread out before the public, for the sake of guard- 

 ing them against mistakes in selecting the sites of large 

 commercial orchards, than with any desire to prejudice 

 the thousands in the country which are planted in the 

 other class of sites and soils, for the very good reason that 



