Campbell's 1902 Soil Culture Manual, 



67 



is ten feet high. At this point where the hand shows, the tree was cut off 

 when set in the spring of 1900. The growth during 1900 was not much, 

 though quite as much as might be expected the first year, the new limbs 

 averaging about ten inches. This photograph was taken August 23, 1901, 

 when the tree reached within eight inches of the top of the ten-foot pole. 

 October 1st, thirty-eight days later, this tree stood two inches above the 

 top of the pole. Elms are usually considered slow growth. This illustra- 

 tion is certainly a demonstration of two facts, that they will make remark- 

 able growth with plenty of moisture, and that moisture can be stored in. 

 sufficient quantities on the far western prairies to supply all necessary 

 needs of such trees. 



In the setting of trees or orchards in the more arid portions of this 

 belt, care should be taken not to get them too close together. A success- 

 ful growing of a tree depends upon ample pasturage of the root. In our 

 orchard at the Model Farm we set our cherries and peach trees 22 feet 

 each way, and our apples 22 by 32 feet. No crop of any kind or nature 

 should be grown in an orchard if you would secure the best results. It 

 may seem like a waste of ground to see little two-year old trees standing 

 V/2 to 3 feet high, with tops only 1 foot to 18 inches broad, 22 feet apart 

 each way; but when we note the immense growth of our trees the second 

 year we see it is not long before the entire space is utilized. Back of our 

 house where we live in Holdrege, Nebraska, is a cherry tree that now 

 measures 17^^ feet across from tip to tip of limbs. You can readily see 

 that in the 22-foot distances we only have feet left. Now if you expect the 

 trees to make this growth you must not interfere with the roots of the tree, 

 or in any way rob it of any of the moisture or plant food in the soil. Besides, 

 to plant a crop of any kind would make the cultivation much more inconven- 

 ient and expensive. A trip back to the old eastern states, even in Illinois, 

 and then on through Ohio and New York state, will disclose a radical change 

 in methods of handling orchards. The most profitable orchards in those 

 states, to-day, have no crops or grasses growing in them; while twenty years 

 ago it was a common practice to seed them down to grasses. If that kind 

 of treatment is desirable and profitable in the east where the rainfall is 

 more than abundant, it is much more desirable in the west. 



To more clearly bring out the marked contrast between ordinary care 

 and cultivation of orchards we secured cuts Nos. 15, 16, and 17 through the 

 kindness of Prof. Hillgard, of the California Agricultural College. Cut No. 

 15 represents a prune orchard in California that has received good care 

 and cultivation, trees are perfectly healthy and carrying a heavy crop of 

 fine well developed prunes. Cut No. 16 represents another prune orchard 

 adjoining No. 15 and separated only by a public highway. This orchard was 

 carelessly cultivated, as is common with men who know nothing of the 

 principles of storing water in the soil by cultivation, and is reported to 

 have remarked to the owner of No. 15 that it was a waste of time and 



