VoL. LX. No. 2677. 
NEW YORK, MAY 18, 1901. 
HH OLD ILLINOIS ORCHARD. 
WHAT SPBAYINS AND CULTIVATION DID. 
Some Reason for Failure. 
TREES ON TIMBER LAND.—The oldest apple 
trees in this orchard were planted about 35 years ago. 
Timber land was selected as. in those early days, it 
was supposed tc be best for all kinds of fruit trees; 
but later experience has demonstrated the fact that 
just as good orchards can be grown on prairie lands, 
and the trees will not be so liable to the root rot. At 
the same time these old apple trees were set, there 
were also planted pear, peach and cherry orchards. 
The pear orchard consisted of 500 trees of the differ¬ 
ent varieties recommended for commercial use, and 
according to the teachings and practices of those days 
was immediately seeded down as a preventive of the 
blight. But that dread disease seemed to have a firm 
hold of the trees from the start, and in less than five 
years there was not a pear tree left that was worth 
saving; they were cleared out, and apple trees plant¬ 
ed instead. The peach orchard consisted 
of 1,500 trees and the cherry orchard of 
500. They were both thoroughly cultivated 
for several years, and then they were seed¬ 
ed down to Timothy. For a few years after 
seeding they continued to be profitable; 
some seasons turning off from one to two 
tons to the acre of hay, and also a fair crop 
of fruit. But the trees gradually ceased to 
bear, and died out, until in 1885 the few 
remaining peach trees were grubbed out 
and replaced by apple trees, and two years 
later the cherry orchard suffered the same 
fate. In replacing the cherry orchard a few 
old snags were left, where they did not in¬ 
terfere with the replanting of the apple 
trees, thinking that they might bear a few 
cherries for home use the following Spring; 
but much to the owner’s surprise they have 
continued to live and bear good crops until 
the growth of the apple trees has forced 
their removal. A few are still living, and 
although they are nothing but mere out¬ 
side shells or sprouts from the old stumps 
they have never missed bearing a good crop 
of fruit from that season to the present, 
and force the conviction that, had they 
been cultivated and sprayed from the start, 
the old cherry orchard would have been 
living and thriving to-day. 
CROPBING THE ORCHARD.—The old 
original apple orchard, when first set out, 
was planted in small fruits, and this kind 
of cultivation was continued until the trees 
got too large, when it was seeded to Tim¬ 
othy. The trees continued to bear good crops for a 
few years after the orchard was seeded, but the fruit 
gradually got smaller and more worthless, until the 
owner concluded that they had passed their usefui- 
ness, and determined to grub them out. But it was 
discovered that the removal of an old, solid, well- 
rooted apple stump was an entirely different under¬ 
taking from the removal of those old peach and cherry 
stumps. It proved a slow and costly job, and not 
only that, but the young tree planted in its place 
would not start off and grow as it ought to. After 
spending considerable time and money in various 
projects it was learned that by taking a common 
or two-inch auger and welding a piece of iron on to 
the handle so as to make the whole thing about four 
feet long, then by boring under the stump and insert¬ 
ing a half-pound stick of dynamite, with about 18 
inches to two feet of fuse, the whole thing could be 
lifted, or loosened, so that a very little extra work 
would remove the stump. Not only that, but it made 
a hole that it took a half load of fresh earth to fill up, 
and the young tree replanted in that place would com¬ 
mence and grow from the start. This proved that 
there need be no fear of replanting an old orchard 
with young trees, if dynamite were used to remove the 
old stumps; provided that the young trees were fed 
and cultivated as they ought to be. The dynamite 
should be 60 per cent instead of 40 per cent—that 
commonly used. 
REVIVING OLD TREES.—In removing the un¬ 
profitable trees in one part of the old orchard it left 
three rows of old Winesaps in the center of a block of 
young trees, so that it was almost impossible to cul¬ 
tivate the young trees without including the old ones. 
It almost seemed a waste of time to leave these old 
trees, for they had borne no apples for six or eight 
years, and what little foliage they put out every 
Spring was small, and covered with a sooty-looking 
substance. Most of the trees had one or more limbs 
dead clear back to the main trunk, and a few were 
more than half gone in that way, but Spring was on 
us, work crowding, and their removal was deferred 
until we had more time. But the next Spring they 
came out with such a healthy set of foliage that their 
time limit was extended; the following season good 
foliage and a crop of apples, but too small for mar¬ 
ket; then two years that the crop had to be thinned 
in order to keep the trees from overbearing. 
RESULTS OF CULTIVATION.—Before this time 
the remainder of the old orchard had passed its prime, 
had long since ceased to bear any apples fit for mar¬ 
ket, and the trees would shed their leaves long before 
the proper time, going through half the season with 
bare limbs under a scorching sun, but the green hill¬ 
sides of Kentucky could not show a finer set of Blue 
grass than grew under those same old trees. But 
profiting from the lesson learned from the Winesaps, 
it was determined to give these old trees a dose of the 
same treatment. The ground had not been plowed for 
10 or 12 years, and the roots were only just under the 
surface, making it almost impossible to plow, and it 
was some time before a suitable implement could be 
found to tear up the sod without injuring too many 
roots. It is generally supposed that the roots of a 
tree extend outward about as far as the top, but the 
hired man in this orchard proved that was a wrong 
theory. Some of the long, slender roots were traced 
20 to 25 feet from the main body, and the end was not 
reached even at that distance. These trees, like the 
Winesaps, did not show any of the effects of cultiva¬ 
tion the first season, except retaining the foliage later, 
but the second season they came out with a healthy 
set of foliage that staid on all the season, and a good 
crop of apples. 
SPRAYING EXPERIENCE.—This orchard has been 
sprayed for a number of years, but with such varying 
success at first that the owner was almost discour¬ 
aged, and thought he would have to give it up. Com¬ 
mencing with Paris-green and water simply as an 
insecticide, he had gradually drifted into the use of 
the more complicated Bordeaux and Paris-green mix¬ 
ture used both at the same time as an insecticide and 
fungicide, for it seemed a waste of time to go through 
all the motions for only half the work. If you are 
spraying for the Apple worm why not add the Bor¬ 
deaux Mixture and spray for the scab at the same 
time? The spraying of this orchard has 
had for the owner all the fascination of the 
game to the young gambler. The suc¬ 
cesses, to the close observer, have been just 
enough to show that if we only knew how 
and when and where to use the spray we 
would be masters of the situation; the out¬ 
siders have seen nothing but the failures. 
For several years the Early Harvest apples 
in this orchard had been so scabby that 
they did not pay the expenses of shipping; 
but the first season that they were sprayed 
with Bordeaux Mixture they were as 
smooth as though they had been polished. 
For shipment they were sorted into two 
grades, size being the only difference, leav¬ 
ing five barrels of very small but perfect 
apples. More for curiosity than any 
thought of gain the five barrels were 
shipped along with the others, but branded 
No. 3. The commission man remarked 
when he made his returns, that “By keep¬ 
ing back the small apples until he closed 
out the others, they sold for almost as 
much as the larger sizes—they were so per¬ 
fect.” Previous to the year 1896 the spray¬ 
ing of this orchard had not been very sys¬ 
tematic as to time and number of spray¬ 
ings; some years it had been sprayed just 
as the blossoms fell, sometimes not until 
the apples had formed, and then other 
times not until the fruit had reached con¬ 
siderable size, but the season of 1896 it was 
determined to give it a thorough spraying 
just as the “books” called for. A tank 
holding 300 gallons was made at considerable expense, 
and the orchard was given its first spraying before 
the blossoms opened, another just as they fell, another 
a week or 10 days later, and another one still later, 
with the result that during the season it showed up 
with a crop of the wormiest lot of apples in that sec¬ 
tion of country. The trees were full of apples and 
still there were not enough to furnish each worm with 
a home of its own. It was claimed in those days that 
the moth lays its eggs in the maturing blossom of 
the apple just as the petals fall, and as soon as the 
caterpillar hatches it burrows into the apple. But 
this orchard that season must have developed a dif¬ 
ferent breed of worms, for they not only burrowed 
through the blossom end, but the sides as well, liter¬ 
ally turning those apples into city fiats. At gather¬ 
ing time those apples contained no worms, but they 
could not be classed as No. 1, although perfect in 
form, size and color, for they were bored through and 
through; they showed no signs of rot, just simply the 
holes. In examining the fruit along through the 
growing season, by cutting open, it was observed that 
AZALEA AMG^INA; FLOWERS ROSE-PURPLE. Fig. 140. 
See Rurat.isms, Page 3.58. 
II PKR YEAR. 
