172 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
March 13 
PLANS FOR ORCHARD PLANTING. 
HOW THE TREES ARE PLACED. 
(Concluded.) 
The plan originated by Mr. Parker Earle, who is 
one of the leading western horticulturists, is shown 
at Fig. 83. He has planted several hundred acres of 
apples after this plan in the famous Pecos Valley of 
New Mexico, in company with the Stark Bros., of 
Missouri, where the trees come into bearing very 
early. They are 16 feet apart east and west by 20 
feet north and south, except that every sixth row is 
left out for an alley. There are 108 trees per acre. 
The intention is to cut out every other north and 
south row, thus leaving them as shown in the middle 
section of Fig. 83, 32 x 20 feet. There will then be 63 
trees per acre. One-half of these may be taken out 
later, if more space be needed, leaving at the rate of 
31% trees per acre, 42 feet apart. This will give 
ample space when the trees get to be very large ; but 
in that climate, and northward to Colorado. Utah 
and Idaho, the trees are so precocious, and bear so 
abundantly, that it is doubtful whether they ever 
attain size to need so much space. 
The Olden Plan. 
Who has not heard of the famous Olden Fruit Farm 
in southern Missouri ? I made three prolonged visits 
there to see it at different times of the year, and it is 
well worth seeing. The oldest parts of the apple 
orchards are just at good bearing age- It is planted 
mostly to apples and peaches, but there are a few 
pears, plums and small fruits. Each year, more are 
added ; last year, 960 acres had been planted. Mr. J. 
C. Evans and L. A. Goodman are the leading spirits 
of the company that owns and runs it. Their plan 
for apples is. 25 x 25 feet in plain squares, and all of 
one variety in a block, making 64 trees per acre. The 
trees have not come to the age that requires thinning 
by the ax, but they will do so in time, for apple trees 
grow to a very large size in that rich soil and agree¬ 
able climate. When it does come, they will take out 
every other diagonal row, leaving 32 trees per acre, 
37% feet apart the nearest way (diagonally), and 50 
feet east and west. While it may seem presumptuous 
for me to suggest an improvement on a plan so well 
matured, and by such eminently practical orchardists, 
and when it is true that the apple bears quite young 
and profusely in all that Ozark Mountain region, it 
does seem to me that it might be well to mix the 
varieties in the row, filling in each alternate diagonal 
row with the earliest-bearing varieties to be planted, 
and thus preparing for their removal and the reten¬ 
tion of those of a less precocious and more durable 
character. This modified plan I have depicted in the 
central section of Fig 84. 
Hale and Olden Plans for Peach Orchards. 
Their plan for peach orchards is to have the trees 
16% x 16% feet apart each way, and in plain squares, 
making 169 trees per acre. At convenient distances 
for the passage of wagons, roads are laid out, making 
a series of large blocks. The contour of the ground 
and intervening rocky hillsides or oak forests left 
standing, do not always permit them to be of regular 
size or shape. 
I hen, we have the great Hale peach orchards in 
Georgia and Connecticut, and who has not heard of 
them and of their stirring Yankee proprietor, Mr. J. 
H. Hale of Connecticut. He plants 13 x 13 feet, which 
seems extremely close, even for peach trees in Con¬ 
necticut. As I walked through them with Mr. Hale, 
I repeatedly expressed such an idea, but he refuted it 
as often, gave favorable statements from experience, 
and then he would say, “ There are the trees, do not 
they look thrifty enough ?” And I could not say but 
they did. But he feeds them like a lot of pigs in a 
pen. He prunes them back to bearing, paying and 
convenient size. He is not growing peach trees for 
fuel simply ; although they will go into the wood and 
brush piles whenever their day of usefulness is over, 
and others be planted in their stead. Streets are laid 
out through his Georgia orchard of 600 acres, both 
ways, cutting it into regular blocks 1,000 x 500 feet in 
size. There are 289 trees per acre, as may be seen in 
the upper part of Fig. 85. 
The Delaware and Maryland peach orchards are 
set wider than those mentioned. The trees grow 
to large size, and utilize the 16 to 20 feet space given 
them. The Michigan peach orchards are set some¬ 
what closer and those of the northern part of the 
peach belt along the lake are decidedly so. I have 
visited all of these sections and examined the orch¬ 
ards, finding the square or hexagonal styles the most 
popular. In Texas and California, I saw large, 
thrifty peach trees that needed as much space as any, 
and planted in the most exact manner, usually in 
squares or hexagons at from 18 to 24 feet apart. 
The pear, cherry, plum and prune (some plums are 
called prunes, especially in the Pacific States),,taking 
the country over, are all subject to the same condi¬ 
tions and variations of climate and soil as the apple 
and peach, and, like them, they can properly be 
planted in any of these styles mentioned, the dis¬ 
tances being changed to suit each. The pear, being 
an upright grower, as a rule, does not need so much 
room as the apple ; 20 feet apart is a common distance 
to plant standards, and 10 to 12 feet for dwarfs. The 
Keiffer, LeConte and Garber bear very early as stand¬ 
ards. and may be planted about 16 feet apart and 
thinned out as they crowd each other. 
The sour cherries need about 18 to 20 feet, while 
the larger-growing sweet varieties require fully 20 
feet, and in time, if they are not pruned back severely, 
40 or more feet when they attain their full size. 
(north.) 
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(south.) 
PARKER EARLE PLAN. Fio. 83. 
31>4 trees, 42 feet apart; 63 trees, 32 x 20 feet apart; 108 trees, 16x20 
feet apart, leaving out two rows for alleys. 
(north.) 
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(south.) 
OLDEN PLAN. Fig. 84. 
32 permanent trees, 37‘A feet apart. Modified Olden Plan: 64 trees, 
25 x 25 feet apart. Olden Plan Proper: 64 trees, 25x25 feet apart. 
(north.) 
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(south.) 
HALE AND OLDEN PLAN FOR PEACH ORCHARD. Fig. 85. 
Hale Plan: 289 trees per acre, 13 x 13 feet apart. 
Olden Plan: 169 trees per acre, 16>4 x 16*4 feet apart. 
Plum orchards should vary somewhat in closeness 
with the varieties planted. The great prune orchards 
of the Pacific slope are set with about 20 feet between 
the trees. The orchards of our native species require 
about the same room ; but the Japanese class is 
usually more upright in growth, and may be planted 
a little closer. 
Any of the plans described may be followed in 
planting any of the orchard fruits, and close plant¬ 
ing of early-bearing kinds is all right, provided they 
be fed, that pruning back be properly done, and the 
ax be laid at the root of the tree before it has crowded 
itself into an unprofitable condition, and likewise in¬ 
jured its neighbors. H. E. VAN.DEMAN. 
The Farmers’ Club. 
[Every query must be accompanied by the name and address of 
the writer to insure attention. Before asking a question please 
see whether it is not answered in our advertising columns. Ask 
only a few questions at one time. Put questions on a separate 
piece of paper.] 
Fertilizer Mixture for Celery. 
B. A. L., Ripley, N. I have a quantity of nitrate of soda, 
muriate of potash, and dry poultry manure on hand. Can I make 
a good fertilizer for growing celery and cabbage ? In what pro¬ 
portions should I use them, and how many pounds of the mixture 
should be used to the acre for each crop ? I want to raise the 
Golden Self-Blanching celery on the close crowded svstem, say, 
have rows 12 inches apart and plants six inches apart in the row. 
Ans. —You will need some form of phosphoric acid 
to make a complete fertilizer out of these materials. 
Crush the poultry manure as fine as possible, and 
mix, say, 800 pounds of it with 500 pounds of ground 
bone, 200 of dissolved bone black, and 250 pounds 
each of nitrate of soda and muriate. It may pay you 
to add 150 pounds more nitrate of soda. The poultry 
manure contains a little phosphoric acid, but the 
nitrate and muriate have none, so you must add 
something containing that substance. 
Values of Buckwheat and Ashes. 
J. W. T ., Pleasanton. Kan .— 1 . What is the value of buckwheat 
as a fertilizer when plowed under? 2. What is its value when 
ground as hog feed, mixed with corn, or alone? 3. What is the 
value of wood ashes around orchard fruit trees and grape vines? 
Ans — 1 . The only way to estimate the fertilizing 
values of various substances is by comparison. The 
value of stable manure is well understood. A ton of 
green clover is worth about as much as a ton of aver¬ 
age stable manure. A ton of buckwheat is worth 
about two-thirds as much, and its yield per acre will 
average about three-fourths as much as that of good 
clover. 2. Ground buckwheat has about 70 per cent 
of the feeding value of average corn. It will not be 
safe to feed too much of it to hogs. We would use 
about two parts buckwheat to five parts corn. 3 . 
Wood ashes supply potash and phosphoric acid, and 
are excellent for fruits of all sorts. 
“ Muriate and Bone ” for Peaches and Potatoes. 
T. O. 11 ., Shawomet, R. 1. How much muriate of potash and 
bone meal should be used on an acre of land for peaches? 2. 
Should they be plowed under, or harrowed in after plowing? 3. 
Will corn and potatoes do well with the same manuring. 4. How 
does hen manure analyze ? 
Ans. —1. We would mix at the rate of one part 
muriate to three parts bone, and use, at least, 400 
pounds per acre and as much more as we could 
afford. 2. Harrow in after plowing. 3. Potatoes 
need a different mixture—they require more soluble 
nitrogen than the bone furnishes and, also, more 
available phosphoric acid. To 1,000 pounds of the 
bone-and-potash mixture, you may add 200 pounds of 
nitrate of soda, 500 pounds of cotton-seed meal and 
300 pounds of dissolved rock, which would answer 
for potatoes. 4. Hen manure varies greatly in 
analysis, depending on the amount of moisture in it 
as well as the proportion of dirt and feathers. A 
fresh sample of fair quality, probably contains one 
per cent of nitrogen, one-half of one per cent of pot¬ 
ash and four-fifths of one per cent of phosphoric acid. 
Cotton-Seed Meal for Garden Crops. 
C. S. E, Tougaloo, Miss —What is the best fertilizer to use on 
wornout cotton land for cabbage and cucumbers? About how 
much should be used for each plant, and for each hill? What 
would we better use for tomatoes, and how much to a plant ? 
What kind of a fertilizer will cotton-seed meal be on wornout 
cotton land for general garden vegetables, or for sweet and 
white potatoes ? Will the cotton-seed meal a nswer for cabbage, 
cucumbers and tomatoes ? We cannot get good stable manure, 
but can get some manure from the cow yard. How will that do 
for cabbage and cucumbers, or for general garden ? 
Ans. —Cotton-seed meal is one of the best of quick¬ 
acting fertilizers for the garden, and I know of 
nothing which is its equal for stimulating a rapid 
plant growth, such as is wanted for cabbages and 
cucumbers, and, early in the season, for tomato vines. 
When the soil is moderately damp, the effect of its 
application can be seen very plainly within three days 
in the darkened color of the plants, and the increased 
growth will continue from four to six weeks after the 
application. It is not a lasting fertilizer, and moder¬ 
ate and repeated applications are more effective than 
are single applications for crops which grow through 
a great part of the summer. If applied in too large 
quantities, it will, sometimes, scorch very tender 
plants, and if left on the surface of the soil, much of 
its value is lost. The common practice among our best 
gardeners is to scatter it along the rows before plant¬ 
ing, using 200 to 400 pounds per acre, and following 
with a bull-tongue plow to mix it with a few inches of 
the soil. When mixed in this way, seed or young plants 
may be put out with perfect safety. Later, it may be 
used as a top-dressing in the same or even larger quan¬ 
tities, scattering it by the side of the row and follow¬ 
ing immediately with a cultivator to mix it with the 
soil and to cover it from the hot sun. It is by far our 
cheapest source of nitrogen, but as it also contains 
about two per cent of potash and three per cent of phos¬ 
phoric acid, it is far from being a one-sided fertilizer. 
Mississippi Experiment Station. s. m. tbAc*. ' 
