January, 1911 



THE GARDEN MAGAZINE 



271 



Pruning Is done with a view to labor saving in 

 gathering the crop 



Holmes' farm it is the rule to attend to 

 the requirements of each tree individually, 

 to manure the ground and cultivate it, 

 to prune the tree and spray it as if that 

 were the only tree on the farm. And 

 the result? Sales of fruit as reported 

 last year, wonderful crops in the past 

 and a hopeful outlook for the future. 

 This outlook is so good that the pains- 

 taking owner has been offered $50,000 

 for the place. And after all, the soil is 

 only ordinary New England land. The 

 trees are what enhance its value. Others 

 may be made Hke it. In 1908, $2000 

 worth of apples were sold; in 1907, the 

 money they brought was $5369.50; in 

 1906, $1218; in 1905, $2368.02; in 1904, 

 $1993.88; in 1903, $12,155, etc. 



The owner is certain the returns might 

 have been made much larger had the 

 trees been cared for properly in all re- 

 spects, and a generous policy never deviated 

 from, admitting frankly that even under 

 his success there was still "room for im- 

 provement." The price offered Mr. 

 Holmes, $50,000, would seem to every- 

 day farmers to be extravagant for 100 

 acres of orchard, but upon analyzing the 

 purchase it is very modest. If the trees 

 are set 30 feet apart each way, an acre 

 contains 50 of them, and who would 

 hesitate to pay $10 for choice, well-grown, 

 bearing trees with the land thrown in? 

 To improve the farm and the future with 

 Little outlay is within the reach of every- 

 one who owns a place. It is through 

 planting choice, market apples. Mr. 

 Holmes says "This does not need to cost 

 a dollar, for the land may be cultivated 

 continually in paying crops that will 

 more than bear the expense, and benefit 

 the trees. Few, even of New England 

 farms, can be found, which could not 

 give up 5 or 10 acres that is suitable for 

 apples. Many places can be made into 

 little mines of wealth for their owners if 

 they will steadily pursue this policy, 

 and not forget it. In 20 years from 

 setting, an acre should pay the interest 

 on $5,000 or more. A number of acres 

 of this orchard paid a clear profit of $500 

 the past year. Wouldn't 10 acres pay 

 some interest and principal too? I have 

 80 acres of Greenings, 10 of Baldwins, 

 5 of Spys, and 5 of English Russets and 

 Tompkins King." 



Almost like a fable runs the story of Mr. 

 Holmes' orchard. Although the old farm 

 had been in the family so many years, 

 not until 1870 was much attention paid 

 to the apple. At that time 100 Spys, 

 Greenings and Baldwins were bought at 

 a cost of $10. Even in the beginning 

 great care was exercised to dig large holes 

 a year in advance of setting and to mix 

 well-rotted manure with the soil where 

 the trees were put. The land selected 

 has an eastern, southern and western 

 exposure. The trees began to bear at 

 about twelve years of age, with but a 

 part of the orchard always under culti- 

 vation. Portions cultivated one year 

 were left in grass the next, and later 

 cultivated again. This was carried on 

 for 25 years, when the entire orchard 

 was seeded and used for mowing and sheep 

 pasture. Until the trees were 20 years 

 old the crop was 500 to 1000 barrels 

 annually. Then the grass was partly 

 smothered by a good application of manure, 

 when the yield was suddenly increased 

 very largely. 



PRUNING FOR EFFICIENCY 



Pruning was recognized as an essential 

 from the start, and the effort was made to 

 keep the tree balanced, by cutting out 

 the cross limbs, suckers and dead wood. 

 The owner says: "Pruning is very nec- 

 essary to successful orcharding. Fruit 

 must have light to give finish, texture 

 and size. Not fewer than three main limbs 

 should branch from the trunk, and never 

 more than four. I do not consider thin- 

 ning of fruit practicable. It costs too 

 much. But the tree which has its branches 

 properly thinned and pruned can carry 

 and mature the fruit it sets, if it be fed 

 and cultivated as it should be. Large, 



fair apples cannot be grown by any tree, 

 however much it be thinned, if starved. 

 Under the head of feeding comes cultiva- 

 tion, for in dry seasons continued harrow- 

 ing provides a surface mulch of dry earth 

 which prohibits evaporation of the mois- 

 ture needed by the trees." Without 

 moisture the rootlets cannot appropriate 

 the plant food even when it is near 

 them. 



PROFITS IN INTENSIVE CULTURE 



Mr. Holmes relates a wonderful story 

 showing what care will do for trees. "In 

 the winter of 1007, fifty acres of Green- 

 ings were given a good mulch of yard 

 manure as far as the branches extended, 

 and as soon as frost was out I plowed 

 this in three inches deep. The ground 

 was then thoroughly pulverized with a 

 disk harrow and thereafter a springtooth 

 harrow was run over it every two weeks 

 until the middle of July, when I sowed a 

 bushel of buckwheat to the acre. Two 

 weeks before apple picking time, when the 

 buckwheat was in full bloom, it was rolled 

 with a low roller to break it down and 

 provide a soft cushion for windfalls and to 

 keep them clean. That autumn I picked 

 2500 barrels from the 50 acres I had taken 

 care of, and 600 barrels only from all 

 the rest of the orchard. 



"In the spring of 1908 I unwarily allowed 

 myself to be influenced, against my own 

 judgment, by statements of some of the 

 wise ones. They said the crop of the previ- 

 ous year was due to manure alone. As a 

 consequence I dropped one-half of the 

 50 acres and cultivated but 25, while 

 manuring the entire orchard. It was a 

 dry season. I cultivated the 25 acres 

 every 10 days until the middle of July, 

 when I seeded it to mammoth clover for 



High cultivation, with green cover crops to plow under, pays in improved general vigor of the trees and larger 



yields of fruit 



