
CASHMAN NURSERIES, 
TN Cor 
OWATONNA, MINNESOTA 
Orchard Planting 
CAN BE MADE TO PAY 
Years ago it was considered impossible to raise fruit 
with any degree of success in the Northwest and fruit 
raising did not meet with any great amount of favor 
from the early settlers. There were some of the pio- 
neers, however, who had a vision of more and better 
things for the Northwest and torged ahead with un- 
tiring energy. Many were the tailures of these early 
and ambitious fruit fanciers. They soon learned that 
varieties which did well in the eastern states, where 
the air is more moist and the growing season longer, 
were not suited to this section, where the air is dry, 
tthe winters long and severe and the summers hot. 
‘Today this has all changed. Extensive experiments 
by individuals and the state and tederal governments 
have brought out fruits of neariy every kind, except 
tropical fruits, that are not on!y hardy and bear well 
but in many cases the fruit is of a better quality than 
that grown in other parts. A survey made by the 
State of Minnesota for the five year pericd from 1916 
to 1920 brought out the fact that orchards that were 
properiy managed and cared for returned a net return 
per acre far in excess of what could possibly be ex- 
pected from the ordinary farm crops. in many of the 
better orchards under survey during this five year 
period the gross return averaged from three to five 
hundred dollars per acre. Fruit trees, like all farm 
crops, produce well or poorly according to the care 
they receive. 
FOLLOW GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS 
In setting out an orchard the best methods of plant- 
ing, pruning, spraying and care are fully covered un- 
der “General Information” and if carefully read and 
followed, the efforts of even the beginner will be 
crowned with success. Do not lose sight of the fact 
that even though an orchard is properly planted it 
must have care to bring the best results. 
AFTER PRUNING 
Very. much has been said about pruning by various 
authors. Judging from these and our own experience 
‘and observations, we would say: Looking at the 
health and vigor of a tree, the best time to prune is 
just before the sap begins to run, early in the spring. 
Summer pruning is done to check rank growth and 
promote fruitfulness. This should be done very cau- 
tiously. if at all, as too much pruning will harm the ° 
tree. When we are in a hurry to have a tree bear, 
we pinch off the bud on the end of the limbs a little 
in the summer. .Do not fear to prune the tree when 
it is young—that is, when it is not growing—and keep 
pruning as long as it lives. 
TO CONTROL BLIGHT 
It has been recently discovered that blight may be 
very effectively controlled by cutting out the blighting 
twigs as fast as they appear. The cut should be made 
well below the affected parts and the knife should be 
sterilized by dipping it in a five per cent solution of 
earbolic acid after cutting off each twig, so that the 
udisease may not be carried from one limb to another. 
This work must be done as soon as the disease ap- 
pears. and carried out persistently. It is also impor- 
tant that neighboring orchards be looked after or the 
disease will be continually carried back and the work 
prove unavailing. Birds, bees and other insects are 
the common earriers of the disease. Some varieties 
hardly ever blight and this should be remembered 
when selecting your trees. 
TO PROTECT THE ROOTS 
The roots of many trees, especially the apple are 
more tender than the tops. In winters of scanty snow- 
fall many trees will come through with enough life in 
their trunks and branches to open the buds and put 
-forth a few small leaves, but with their roots so seri- 
ously injured or killed outright as to ruin the trees. 
If we always had plenty of snow evenly on the surface, 
we would never have to think of' the roots. But, in 
order to make them safe in winters with light snow- 
fall, and in places where the snow blows off leavine 
bare ground, it is always best to cover the ground with 
a mulch of any convenient material extending from 
three to six feet out from the trunk of the tree. This 
does not have to be very thick as it is a matter of 
common observation that a small amount of litter will 
keep out a great deal of frost. Where there is litter 
of any kind about the trees, there will be danger of 
“mice nesting and girdling them, which can he pre- 
vented by the use of galvanized screening or by hilling 
up around the trunk as shown on Page 8. 
CULTIVATE THE ORCHARD 
There always has been and probably always will be 
a conflict of ideas on this question. There are really 
good points in both methods. In sod the land will 
stop washing and wasting in heavy rains, and the 

Page Eight 
roots of the apple will be protected by the grass from 
severe treezing. But, the trees will be much healthier, 
make a better growth, and stand drought better in 
cultivated ground. Where the land is level so that it 
does not wash badly we advise cultivation, with a good 
mulch put about each tree in November. Where so 
rolling as to make cultivation impossible, keep the 
land in clover, and use all the hay as mulch about 
the trees. In both cases, protect the trees from mice 
with wire screening. Do not take a crop of hay from 
the orchard, or allow a hoof of any kind in it. 
TO RENEW AN OLD ORCHARD 
There are hundreds of orchards in the country that 
are not doing their best, that indeed come very near 
doing their worst, that with a day’s work putting them 
into proper condition to start with, and a few hours 
each year put into spraying and pruning could be 
made to produce enough fine fruit for the family and 
a surplus for the market. 
The first thing to do is to cut out the surplus trees. 
There is no use trying to make apple or plum trees do 
their best after the branches begin to interlock. When 
this trouble begins, most people trim out the lower 
branches that are always the first to touch each other. 
This is the worst possible policy for it is simply post- 
poning the trouble, and cutting out the most valuable 
branches of the tree. The second and third sets of 
branches will soon take their places, and in their turn 
have to be cut out for the same reason, and so on until 
there is nothing left of the trees but tufts of branches 
way up in the air out of reach of spraying machinery, 
and breaking off with every high wind. 
The thing to do is to make a drive on the orchard 
and cut out every other tree, or every two trees leav- 
ing one. There is no more reason for mourning over 
them than there is over last year’s corn stalks that 
have borne their crops and done their duty. The next 
thing to do is to remove all dead branches in the trees 
that are left, sawing them off clean next to the collar, 
and painting over the wounds. There will no douht 
be quite a ‘good many live branches that are crossing 
each other and making trouble, and right here you 
want to go slow. If there are very many, don’t cut 
them all out in one vear, and give the tree such a 
shock as a man would: have if all his arms and legs 
were removed at one time. Better take three years to 
‘do this part of the job removing the most neeessary 
third of them the first year. You ean do it at any 
time after the leaves have fallen that. suits your con- 
venience, if you will take the trovhle to paint over the 
wounds to keep them from drying, checking - and 
_ rotting. 
SELECTING VARIETIES 
In selecting varieties for a new orchard one should 
not choose too many of the early summer ones which 
must be used up as soon as ripe or go to waste. In 
the description of the different fruits we list will be 
found the length of time they may be expected to keep 
under favorable conditions. 

SET SLIGHTLY 
DEEPER THAN 
STOOD IN «+ 
NURSERY ROW 



Trimmed Hedges 
PACK SOIL 
FIRMLY ABOUT” 
SET TOO 
SHALLOW 



gate 
: 
bole 
Cut Shrubs and Small Fruits Back Severely at 
Pianting Time 
