— 5— 



The best preparation for the apple orchard therefore 

 is deep plowing followed by careful cultivation with disc 

 and smoothing harrow. In the case of only a few trees 

 spade up the ground deeply and fine it with fork and 

 rake. 



It is usually preferable to set the trees in the spring 

 time, and this being true, the plowing should be done 

 the fall before. It would be much better to plan for the 

 orchard four or five vears or even loncfer before the trees 

 are to be set, but this is seldom done. If this method 

 were followed, crops which require the best of cultivating 

 could then be grown on the soil, thus putting it into good 

 condition for its future use. If the soil is poor, crops 

 which require the addition of manures should be grown. 

 Such soils can often be put into excellent condition for 

 apple trees by growing clover, cow peas, or some other 

 plant belonging to that family which, as we learned in 

 the last lesson, have the ability to gather nitrogen from 

 the air. This crop should not be harvested, but when 

 mature should be plowed under, thus adding considerable 

 vegetable matter which, when decayed in the soil, enables 

 the soil to retain a greater amount of moisture. With 

 the soil in good condition, the next thing to be done is 

 the setting of the trees. 



THE PLANTING. 



Before the trees are actually put into the ground it 

 is important that the best trees obtainable be chosen for 

 the planting. The life of the tree is so great and its 

 ability to pay handsome returns to the owner are so sure 

 that it is not economy for any one to place in the soil a 

 tree not already well started and in good condition. This 

 simply means that in buying the tree one must first be- 



