1905 FRUITS OF ONTARIO. T5 



obtained very cheaply. The windbreak should be planted at the same time as 

 the orchard ; it will then be effective by the time the trees come into bearing-. A 

 single row may be sufficient, although in very exposed places, a double row, with 

 the trees set alternately, is preferable. The trees should be at least six or eight 

 feet apart, and even ten or twelve feet is better when the trees grow up. The 

 trees should not be planted nearer than forty feet from the first row of apple trees, 

 as if planted too near, drifts of snow may cause injury in winter, and insects are 

 more troublesome in summer where there is not a good circulation of air. The 

 trees in the windbreak should be well cultivated, the same as the trees in the 

 orchard, until they become well established. Neglect of this is the main cause 

 of failure in setting out windbreaks. 



The Soil and its Preparation. 



The apple tree readily adapts itself to a great variety of soils, vet there are 

 certain kinds upon which it does much better than others. 1-ight sandy soils are 

 usually deficient in plant food, and are not retentive of it when fertilizers are 

 applied to them. The trees upon such soils may do fairly well for a time, but as 

 a rule they are less productive and shorter lived than on heavier soils. On the 

 other hand, heavy clay soils may contain plenty of plant food, but they are diffi- 

 cult to work, and unless very carefully managed bake so hard that the tree will 

 not thrive upon them. The ideal soil is a happy mean between these extremes, a 

 friable loam. It may be called a sandy or a clay loam, as either sand or clay pre- 

 dominates in its composition, and is all the better if of a limestone formation upon 

 an open subsoil. 



One of the first requisites in any orchard soil is good drainage. Fruit 

 trees will not thrive upon undrained soil. If the land is not naturally well drained, 

 it should be thoroughly underdrained. 



Good preparation of the soil previous to planting is very essential. Trees 

 set on unprepared soil are seriously handicapped at an important stage of their 

 'ife and often they never overcome it. Land which has been exhausted by grain 

 production is in poor condition for the growing- of trees, although it may be greatly 

 improved by growing and plowing down two or three crops, such as rye, clover, 

 or vetches, as a green manure. Probably no other crop leaves the ground in 

 better mechanical condition for the growth of trees than clover. Its roots pene- 

 trate the soil deeply and leave it well filled with vegetable matter or humus. 



There has been much diversity of opinion regarding the value of subsoiling 

 in preparing the land for trees. But there is little room for doubt that it is of 

 much benefit on land where the subsoil is hard and impervious to water. The 

 subsoiler should follow in the furrow of the ordinary plow, loosening the subsoil 

 as deeply as possible. Where this is not done, clover roots are the next best 

 thing as subsoilers. 



The preparation of the ground for planting should begin by a good deep 

 plowing in the fall, and it would be all the better if it could be ribbed up as is 

 now frequently done in preparing ground in the fall for spring seeding. This 

 insures good surface drainage and quick drying of the ground in the spring. All 

 that would then be required in the spring would be to harrow down the ridges and 

 loosen up the ground as deeply as possible with a spring tooth cultivator. 



Planting. 



' , Great care should be taken and good judgment shown in laying out the 

 orchard and in planting the trees. 



The proper distance apart for planting depends altogether upon the ultimate 

 size which the trees may attain, which in turn depends upon the variety, the soil. 



