Show How to lat and Cultivate Apples There are several things expedient in j the outset in connection with the business busi-ness of commercial apple growing writes W L Bush In the Louisville I Home and Farm Be sure in selecting the site for an orchard that you take the very best land you have that is I I if the best land you have is rood for producing fruit trees To set out an I orchard on a rough piece of land entails en-tails too much work In order to keep up the orchard and should be avoided whenever it Is possible as the expense attached thereto will in most cases exceed ex-ceed the profit In preparing the ground for planting first plow the land and I I get it In a perfect state of cultivation cultiva-tion so far as possible being free from I grubs and other encumbrances then lay the ground off in rows north and I south east and west I would prefer the rows where the land is of good I quality to be 30 feet apart each allowing al-lowing 50 trees per acre Yet if the land is otherwise they may be set closer I the land produces a vigorous tree they will crowd each other when arranged closer than 30 feet the branches will intermingle with each other causing much inconvenience ingathering In-gathering and cultivating Bear this one fact in mind that 2500 trees are as many as any one man an well care for The next thing is the selection of fruit trees Dont fill your orchard with countless varieties There should not be over two varieties in your main 4 orchard or-chard Of course it is well enough to have a variety of summer and fall fruits for family consumption but no more Choose some good shipping variety for planting The Ben Davis Arkansas Arkan-sas Black Mammoth Blacktwig and Winesap are all excellent shipping apples ap-ples One generally plant fruit for theprofit to be aerlved therefrom so the less the variety the better it will be but be sure and select a good one The trees should be good thrifty whole roots as they w11 live longer grow thriftier and produce a better quality of fruit I is simply a waste of time t plant piece roots their vitality italy i-taly is too limited to gie them room on the farm Then another argument against them is that will only bear about three or four crops ot apples before be-fore they are dead In other words the orchard is dead when i ought to be in the prime if leThe le-The whole roots will bear just as quickly and not only that they will also serve the next generation Dig the holes deep and wide Dont cat tle roots back unless they be j broken or otherwise injured In placing the tree in the ground first put some fresh top soil in the bottom of the hole i making something like a cone then set i the tree with the heaviest branches to the southwest also lean the tree at an angle of 45 degrees to the southwest It will soon get straight and perhaps lean the other way from the fact that 1 a tree naturally grows faster on the north side I Spread the roots out well before throwing in the dirt making sure to I leave none turning up better cut them off c to plant in that way so for this reason dig the holes wide enough reaon I have so as to admit all the branches a observed some In planting get down on their knees placing the dirt around the roots with their hands This is wrong even though the poet says wrng Wide let its hollow bed be made There gently lay the roots and there Sift the dark mold with kindly care And press it oer them tenderly As round the sleeping infants feet We softly place the cradle sheet The first of these lines is wise and practical enough but experience has taught the professional fruit man differently dif-ferently in regard to the ending The ground should be packed firm around the roots either by tramping I with the feet or by using some amiable ami-able implement for tamping I The trees should be topped uniformly I would prefer a height of three feet but some like a longer trunk I In the spring after the young buds begin to grow go over the orchard and take oft all those on the body except ex-cept those at the top which are left to form the head I will be found easier to take them off then than when the wood begins to get hard By following this plan each year there will not be much necessity for trimming a the buds taken off while Injury to the young will not cause any injur tree and if this is done while the trees I are young all that will be necessary will be to take when the tree is grown wi I out the dead limbs and watersprouts I The cultivation of the orchard is another an-other important consideration Never let the orchard grow up in thorns and thistles like Solomons vineyard of the slothful > but cultivate as you wo lid a garden I would suggest that the first year the orchard be planted I In corn a the corn will protect the young trees from the hot summer sun which invariably kills quite a number of trees the first season I would plant so that the apple tree row will take up Just oneeighth of the corn rows running run-ning each way letting the apple tree answer to a hill of corn Plow thoroughly and weed the apple trees keeping them entirely free from vines and other things that often infest cornfield fest the cornfeld The trees should be gone over In June and September and given a thorough thor-ough washing with a solution of soft soap and turpentine This will not only give a bright glossy color to bark but will destroy the insects which often of-ten do great injury to the trees While thus going over watch for boll worms and kill them for they seldom fail to ruin the tree Be sure to wrap in the fall in order to insure protection against the rabbits which are numerous in most sections wrap with cornstalks screen wire or paper but remove all wrappings in the early spring However some say let the wrapping stay on that i will protect tect the tree from the sun but expe I ence teaches its removal I Beware of sowing the orchard in any kind of grain a i absorbs too much 1 strength from the soil thus depriving I the trees from their necessary support I would advise the cultivation of peas in the orchard after the first ea which are an excellent fertilizer of the soil I soilIt is a good idea to mulch the trees This is a good thing where the soil is thin but cultivation is better when the land is of good quality I mulching be resorted to dont fail to cultivate the space between the trees When the trees reach their prime do j not run the land in any kind of crop but turn the soil twice a year and keep I the ground in a good state of cultivation cultiva-tion It will add to your profits largely I the orchard is worth anything at all itIs worth the space it occupies without with-out raising another crop in addition The best time for planting that is in this latitude is the fall as the weather I is seldom so severe as to produce any injury Then the trees will grow faster when spring comes than those planted in the spring The apple is not a luxury as some claim but it is an actual necessity and no farmp should allow himself to be without i I |