THE HOME FRUIT GARDEN 



1 67 '/ 2 ' 



23% — •- 



60 



60 



■♦ — 23 3 '4 



-30- 



30 



30 



25 



20 •— 16'/ 4 



5 6 



133/4- 



Figure 2. — Suggested arrangement of a half-acre fruit and nut garden in northern 

 districts. Row A — Nos. 1 to 3, pecans. Row B — Nos. 1 to 4, apples; Nos. 5 

 and 6, pears. Row C — Nos. 1 to 3, plums; Nos. 4 to 8, peaches. Row D — 

 dewberries (Young and Boysen). Row E — raspberries (half row; one variety); 

 blackberries (half row; one variety). Row F — strawberries (two varieties). 

 Row G — bunch or muscadine grapes on a wire trellis, or on a fence used as a 

 trellis. Fruit and nut trees should be placed on the north side, if possible, to 

 avoid shading of small fruits. 



planting. Grapevines are usually cut back, leaving only one or two 

 buds. If fruit trees obtained from the nursery are unbranched whips, 

 they should be headed back to a height of 3 to 3% feet. If they have 

 several good-sized branches well spaced along the trunk, three or four 

 may be left. The branches should be spaced about a foot apart up 

 and down the trunk and pointing in different directions. 



Cultivation. — The cultivation of the home fruit garden is similar 

 to that of the vegetable garden for the first part of the season. After 

 about September 1 cultivation of fruit trees, vines, and bushes should 

 cease. Strawberries should be cultivated until the end of the growing 

 season. Under most conditions the same methods of maintaining the 

 fertility of the soil that are followed in a vegetable garden are success- 

 ful with fruit. Where stable manure is available, its liberal use gener- 

 ally gives excellent results. 



All berry plants should be given clean cultivation as are vegetables 

 unless there is an abundance of straw or other mulching material to 

 furnish a permanent mulch. Fruit lives may be cultivated for the 

 first 3 or 4 years if it is not possible to mulch them with straw or 

 strawy manure. Thereafter apples, pears, plums, cherries, and nuts 

 may be kept in sod. Peaches and grapes do best where they receive 

 some cultivation, but they can also be grown in grass and mulched 

 where cultivation cannot be given. Manure mulch will take care o( 

 the fertilizer requirements of the fruit plants. When manure is not 

 available, a fertilizer high in nitrogen should be used. 



