The RURAL NEW-YORKER 
351 
dependable not only locally, but in more distant 
towns and cities, and trucks are sent to Mr. King’s 
packing house, by the merchant or wholesaler, from 
as far as a hundred miles. During the peach season 
last year fully SO per cent were sold right at the 
door of the packing-house. This is evidence that a 
good name is to be chosen, rather than the neces¬ 
sity of resorting to all kinds of methods to force the 
sale of a commonplace product. Perhaps fully one- 
fourth of the apples grown by Mr. Ring 
are sold directly from the orchard at 
picking time. 
Mr. Ring’s best sellers are Spy. Stay- 
man Winesap, Greening. Baldwin, Mc¬ 
Intosh Red and Jonathan. The latter 
variety has been used for filler, as well 
as for a permanent variety. Wealthy 
is a popular variety in Mr. Ring’s mar¬ 
ket. and although there have been ex¬ 
cessive plantings elsewhere, Mr. Ring 
considers his market has not yet 
reached the saturation point. 
The fine highly-colored apple of the 
Western market is placed at a dis¬ 
advantage in Mr. Ring’s town. This 
grower is optimistic about the future 
of the apple industry of the East, par¬ 
ticularly if the Eastern grower is care¬ 
ful as to quality and varieties. The 
writer accompanied Mr. Ring two days 
when making deliveries, and only saw 
one box of Western apples on displav 
in the stores served by Mr. Ring. The 
disappearance of the old farm orchard, 
in Mr. Ring’s opinion, is improving the 
market for better quality fruit. These 
old trees, whipped by every storm, 
unpruned and unsprayed, will within 
five years in many sections of the East 
be out of the question as even pro¬ 
ducers of stock for cider and vinegar. 
He is hopeful, and going ahead with 
larger plantings. 
The Spy is popular, and Mr. Ring 
finds that its high place among the 
good old standard varieties is sufficient 
to insure its place for many years to 
come. Mr. Ring’s confidence in the 
varieties planted is such that future 
orchard programs will be governed by 
the varieties already set, which have 
shown themselves well adapted to the 
soil, the climatic conditions and mar¬ 
kets of Northeastern Ohio. Of Mr. 
Ring’s orchards 125 acres are young, 
30 acres of which have been set with 
peach trees as fillers. There are 15 
acres of peaches, two acres of pears 
and two acres of cherries. 
The Ring farm -has an interesting 
history. First, it was a dairy and live 
stock farm. The fertility of the land 
had been carefully conserved, and the 
program of Mr. Ring’s late father 
Loren IW. Ring, was to increase the 
soil fertility. Twenty years ago the 
Ring farm was a typical dairy farm. There were 
20 cows in the herd. Some hogs were kept on 
the farm, potatoes were grown, there was an aver¬ 
age amount of fruit, and the surplus was marketed, 
as was the custom from most general farms. Mr. 
Ring was more interested in horticulture than other 
branches of farm activity. lie recognized the pos¬ 
sibilities of the country, and his judgment is fully 
justified. The rapid growth of the cities along the 
Lake Shore has proved that there is a continually 
growing market right at hand. There was a small 
orchard of two acres. Today this two acres uinjer 
modern methods, spraying, cultivation and pruning 
is acquitting itself more honorably than even in its 
earlier days. The story of the farm includes the 
gradual reduction in the size of the dairy herd, and 
the increased plantings of apples, and other fruits. 
Fifteen acres of apples were planted just 15 years 
ago. Between the years 1011 and 1916 40 acres 
were added to the orchard . 
The preparation for this orchard is peculiarly 
interesting. The orchard is located on one of the 
ridges sloping toward Lake Erie to the north. The 
soil was considered in fair condition. The pro¬ 
Turning Under Cover Crop of Rye and Vetch in Ring Orchard. Fig. 126 
Work of Tree Roots on Grave Stone. Fig. 125 
Getting Ready to Start the Spray. Fig. 127 
gram was to top-dress a clover sod with 10 or 12 
tons of stable manure to the acre. This coating 
of manure was applied as the mani/re was made. 
The sod was plowed under for potatoes, and the 
following Spring trees were set. The fields had 
been limed at least two or three times. The oi'iginal 
application was two tons of limestone, followed 
by one ton in a rotation. The orchard being lo¬ 
cated on a north ward slope, one would naturally 
question the necessity of tilling. Yet before the 
orchards were set the hillsides were thoroughly 
underdrained. The lines of tile are 50 ft. apart, 
and largely 3 in. and 4-in. tile was xxsed. r rixe tiling 
system is functioning perfectly. The peculiarity 
about the side-hill is the natural seepage of water 
from higher levels. This springy condition was such 
that had it xxot been for the tiling system, the. 
xxse of peach trees as filler over parts of the 
orchard would have been unsuccessful. xYgain, the 
apple trees would have suffered owing to excess 
moisture about the roots. The surplus water, 
however, has exceptional advantages as a source 
of moisture supply, although it is necessary to pro¬ 
vide underdrainage. This underdrainage insures 
firmer ground over which to draw the sprayers, 
and on which to use high-powered tractors and other 
tillage implements. 
Mi-. Ring considers his activities only in the light 
of an orchard development. He does not consider 
that he has as yet the orchard to which he aims, 
but his methods are pretty well established, and 
future programs of planting will be along lines 
worked out in the past years. The first principle 
is that of having the soil in a high state of fer¬ 
tility, followed by the planting of stock one or two 
years old, four to five feet in height. Stable manure 
is used around the young trees. Mr. Ring considers 
the application of a bushel and a half or two bushels 
of manure to each tree about the proper quantity. 
He has supplemented this with the use of chemi¬ 
cals when the supply of manure was insufficient to 
go around all the trees. He declares he would like 
to xxse manure all the time, but would advise its 
use until the ti*ees are five or six years of age. His 
use of nitrate of soda ranges from % lb. for a 
young tree up to 6 lbs. for the large trees in his 
orchard. Some potatoes were grown in part of the 
orchard mentioned, and in part of the orchard two 
crops of pumpkins were grown. These were 
marketed at the local canning factory. The yield 
was 10 to 12 tons to the acre, and the returns are 
$5 a ton. Rye and some rye and vetch have been 
xxsed between the trees with success. 
In 1922 and 1923 60 acres of orchard were set out 
on an additional acreage acquired by Mr. Ring. 
The practice of manuring the ti’ees on this 60-acre 
planting will be followed. Perhaps a quantity of 
manui'e must be bought, but Mr. Ring still keeps 
some live stock, and horses, although he makes i•.* 
effort to dairy as extensively as did his fatliei*. An 
interesting practice was followed on this new 
orchard. This was the use of Soy beans. Prefacing 
the planting of the orchard was the farming of the 
land for one l’otation. between the time of its pi • 
chase, and the years 1922 and 1923. Corn, oats and 
clover constituted the rotation. Two 
tons of lime were used to correct soil 
acidity, and as much as half a ton <>■ 
acid phosphate was used to restoi*e the 
phosphorus content of the soil. The 
orchard was planted following a hoed 
crop. This is Mr. Ring’s practice. Tbi 
makes a much more desirable condition 
in the soil, as cultivation during the 
Summer breaks up all the old sod. Mr. 
Ring does not adhere entirely to a set 
rule of planting after potatoes, for on 
part of bis plantings he followed with 
corn and the coming Spring he intends 
varying his px’ogram, and setting some 
orchard in Fall-plowed soil. 
For profitable fruit growing. Mr. 
Ring declares that the soil should be in 
as high condition of fertility as for 
corn growing or other lines of farming. 
Mr. Ring states that the cost of grow¬ 
ing an orchai’d and of producing a crop, 
and the expense incident to pruning, 
spraying. and cultivation, as well as 
the overhead expense, is great, and if 
one factor is neglected the earning ca¬ 
pacity of the orchard is reduced. The 
old idea that an orchard can be set on 
any worn-out field and succeed is a 
fallacy, for these orchards are not mak¬ 
ing growth unless fertility is added as 
the oi’chard grows, and this process is 
slow. Mr. Ring has all conditions ready 
as far as be can control before setting 
a tree. 
As evidence that fertility pays, Mr. 
Ring has picked from filler peach 
trees at the age of three years, a bushel 
and a half of peaches to the tree, 
and on some that were four year’s old, 
has picked as high as 3i/_. bushels. This 
yield was quite genei’al over the oi’¬ 
chard. The Spy, which is considered 
a variety which takes years to come 
into bearing, is doing well under Mr. 
Ring’s methods, fi’liere are Spy ti’ees 
fi’om which at the age of eight years, 
he has picked two bushels, and quite 
a number at 10 years, from which he 
lias picked three bushels to the tree. 
However, he does not wish to convey 
the impression that this yield prevails 
over the orchai’d. Wealthy, Yellow 
T ran spa rent, the Duchess and Jona¬ 
than have been used for fillers, and 
these have responded wonderfully to 
the practices employed b.v this grower. 
Mr. Ring was asked if land, in his opinion, could 
be got in too high state of fei’tility for peaches. 
He cited setting trees on land that would produce 
three tons of clover to the acre at two cuttings, 
and he declared that in his experience this soil 
was not too fertile for a peach orchai’d. A henyard, 
or land in a good state of fertility, to which is added 
heavy applications of nitrates, and with continued 
cultivation late in the season, would create a sappy 
condition in the peach tree and the chances then 
are against the survival of the tree during the 
Winter. 
Ohio. WALTER JACK. 
(Continued Next Week.) 
Spraying a Ten-Year-Old Apple Tree. Fig. 12S 
