—2- , 



know that the farmer prepares his fields very carefully 

 before sowing the seed and then continues to cultivate 

 long after the plants are growing bravely. Fruit trees 

 are just as sensitive and respond just as quickly to good 

 care and intelligent treatment as does corn, oats or wheat, 

 but how seldom are they so well treated! It is within 

 the last ten years as an outside limit that any fruit grow- 

 ers in this State thought it worth while to till their or- 

 chard lands. They hadn't time and it wouldn't pay 

 anyway. These were some of the reasons given and it 

 has taken a long time to convince even a part of them 

 that it doesn't pay to do any other way. There are still 

 many who refuse to believe the evidence of their neigh- 

 bors' flourishing orchards and continue to let the weeds 

 almost hide their fruit trees. When these poor trees 

 once in several years make a great effort and give them a 

 fair crop of apples they laugh at the neighbor who goes 

 to the trouble of cultivating — and in the years when the 

 trees are too discouraged and weak to set fruit some flaw 

 in the weather is hunted up to account for it. But one 

 by one the little army of earnest growers who treat their 

 orchards well and expect to be repaid for it by a good 

 harvest is growing larger and the time is not far distant 

 when the man who does not believe in cultivating and 

 caring otherwise for orchards will do it anyway just be- 

 cause his neighbors all do. 



It is not possible in this little leaflet to go into all 

 the details connected with the successful growing of fruit 

 trees. We can only try to make it clear why certain 

 things must be done or not done, for there are a few 

 principles in the matter of orcharding that cannot be 

 overlooked if we are to get first-class results. These 

 principles can be best explained if we confine them to the 



