Charles City intelligencer. [volume] (Charles City, Floyd County, Iowa) 1864-1866, 1866-04-05

udote iHtPfooeReeh.--ffot 70 ptdf he Trees and
take care Of them. Hardy Varieties.
/ Nothing renders the homestead more
attractive nor its inmates more con-
tented, cheerful and happy, than an
abundant supply of choice varieties Of
fruit during all seasons Of the year
especially fit is produced at home.
1t has been estimated by men of ex-
perience, that good apple orchard,
well located, with good varieties Of
hardy trees, well taken care Of, just
coming into full fruiting condition, will
pay the interest on from five hundred
to one thousand dollars per acre, for
twenty or thirty years. This would
appear to be sufficient inducement for
the outlay of some labor and money,
and the exercise of some patience and
care, to get an orchard established and
brought into bearing, after which the
principle labor will be in gathering
and marketing the fruit.
Select Northern and, Eastern slopes
of the highest land you have, for the
double purpose of avoiding as much as
possible, the late spring frosts on the
blossoms, and the early autumn frosts
upon the fruit also, to protect the
trees from the greatest intensity of the
suns rays during the middle and latter
part of the day, when thawing during
the latter part of winter and early
spring, also during the hot, dry wealth
er of summer.
The soil should be dry, which causes
the wood to become hard and solid be-
fore the cold freezing of winter. A
compact soil holds the trees firmly and
prevents their injury from the power
ful winds of summer when the trees arc
covered with foliage. Clay, i'm the
soil, is highly congenial to the growth
of the apple trees. 1t retards or pre-
vents the working of the gophers it
makes the soil compact and renders
the trees more productive when in
bearing. When any part of the land
] designed for an orchard is moist, it
should be underdrained. The mole
drain is good implement for this pur-
pose. When the moisture rises to the
surface, you generally find clay under
it; If your land is level, plow it into
ridges, set your trees on the ridge, leav-
ing dead burrows open to drain off the
surplus water. Most trees that pro-
duce acids in their fruit or seeds grow
and produce well in alkaline soils.
Bones, pounded lime rock, and clay,
are all congenial to their growth and
| fruitfulness. If the soil is sandy. DIG
a large hole, fill it in part with bones,
or pieces of lime rock and cover it
with clay. If it is black aud mucky,
strew it with Stacked lime, before and
after planting the trees. This will
neutralize the acid, and decompose the
vegetable matter in the soil.
Manure the field well all over. and
plow deep, the deeper the better be-
fore planting the trees cultivate the
young trees well in May and June,
but not after this induces q rapid
growth early in the season, and insures
maturity of the wood before cold weatk-
| er.
If the land selected for the orchard
is infested with gophers, use the spade
in every fresh gopher mound, and
drop small piece of potato contain
ing small quantity of strychnine in
to each gopher hole until they are al!
exterminated some distance beyond the
boundaries of the orchard. BEAD GO
piers make good manure for the trees.
II have seen orchards surrounded by
timber infested with rabbits, remain en-
\ tirely uninjured by them where the
| bodies of the trees received good
coat of whlte-wash made of good lime,
with a little salt added to make it ad-
hesiye this should be applied in the
/ fall
If the location is near the timber and
rabbits are abundant, keep couple
of long, slim-built brood cats, either
black brindle, maltees, all of one color
! In couple of years the rabbits will
be exterminated, and the catskins viii
! be valuable for robes. Cultivate
sweetcorn between the rows of trees,
and leave the small ears on the stock,
and shock. it and let it stand in the
orchard until spring, when it can be
used for fodder. This is said to be an
unfailing remedy. They prefer the
corn to the bark of the trees. The
! growing corn protects the bodies Of
the trees from blistering during the
hot weather, before the branches have
fgrown sufficiently to shade them.
Some persons plant currants or rasp-
berries about. two feet from the bodies,
, on the south side Of each tree, and let
, them remain until the branches Of the
) tree furnish sufficient shade, when they
should be removed.
Some orchards in compact soils sue
ceed well on high rolling land with
out timber protection, but the safer
rule is to have it, especially on the
north and west sides. Some plant four
or five rows of locust or forest trees
and cultivate them three or four years,
the same as the orchard, but the cheap
/ est, most efficient, and probably the
most profitable one would be, to plant
0 a row of cottonwood cuttings, exactly
0 half rodl 8 feet 3 inches apart
9 then plant hedge of wild plums
eight or ten feet from the cottonwoods
3 on the inside. Choice varieties of cui-
0 tivated plums may be grated into this
Q hedge with great success. After four
or five years growth, the tops Of the
q cottonwoods should be cut OF about
0 one third of the way down, that will
Q cause them to branch thickly and be-
. come good wind-breakers and the
B trunks to become sufficiently strong to
J hold the staples for wire fence. 5
! 1t is a substantial fence, when yon
plant the trees, high enough TO keep
0 ont unruly cattle and mules, and tight
Q enough to keep out sheep, without this
. protection it is of little use to plant
fruit trees hogs and poultry will not
injure apple trees after they are In