Horticuu'urk at High Attitudks 
5 
w'ih the result that many plants died due to improper setting, nor 
the same reason, the vegetable garden was not fall-plowed for the 
first tw^o or three years. Spring plowing left the soil in poor 
physical condition, so that it was very difficult to secure good 
stands in the case of some vegetables. 
Difficulty was also experienced in getting strawberry plants 
true to name, in getting true-to-name and disease-free seed pota- 
toes, etc. 
PLAN OF THE EXPERIMENTS 
Work was planned and has been carried out along four dif- 
ferent lines, as follows: 
(1) An orchard of about A-Vz acres was planted to apples, 
crab apples, plums and cherries with the idea of determining 
whether or not the hardier varieties may be expected to succeed 
under the conditions which prevail at Fort Lewis. 
(2) A small fruit plantation about one acre in extent and con- 
taining a considerable number of varieties was planted in order 
to find which varieties are best adapted to high altitude condi- 
tions. 
(3) The vegetable garden, which has varied in size from one 
to two acres, has been utilized in determining what kinds of veg- 
etables may be grown under the conditions, and, of these kinds, 
what varieties seem best adapted to the higher altitudes. Inci- 
dentally the garden furnished a supply of vegetables for the school 
dining hall. 
(4) A number of varieties of potatoes have been grown with 
a view to determining their behavior under the prevailing condi- 
tions, In this connection the hill selection method of saving seed 
has been followed. 
THE ORCHARD 
The orchard, consisting of about four and one-half acres, was 
planted in the spring of 1916. The planting comprised, originally, 
13 varieties of apples, 5 varieties of crab apples, 10 varieties of 
plums and 5 varieties of sour cherries. Ten trees of each variety 
w^ere planted in practically all cases. In replacing dead plum 
trees the second spring, trees of seven additional varieties of 
plums were used, three trees of each variety being set in the ma- 
jority of cases. 
It is too early yet to draw conclusions from the orchard work 
as the apple trees have not come into bearing, and a crop has not 
been obtained from the cherry and plum trees. A very few cherries 
and plums have matured but not enough to form any basis for 
conclusions. A few points in connection with the orchard work, 
however, may be of interest. 
