Buchanan County bulletin. [volume] (Independence, Iowa) 1869-1891, 1874-11-06
Setting Trees In Autumn.

nanswerto a query as to the policy
of setting apple trees in Central Iowa
in the fall Of the year, "Rural" says,
in the Chicago Tribune:
That will depend ON at least two
things: The condition of the soil,
and the condition of the trees. In
the first place, to succeed with autumn
setting the soil must be moist. To
take a tree from the nursery and plant
it in dry ground is but to insure its
death. The soil must be in a moist
condition; and this is not always the
case. In 1864 I set an orchard of
500 trees, inst as the ground was
freezing in December. and, the last
day of the setting, it was difficult to
break the crust, but the air during the
day was above the freezing point.
The trees were banked up about two
feet high against the stems with well
pulverized earth. The resultwas that
no tree was lost; and the growth was
vigorous the following season. In
June the mounds about the trees
were leveled down, and small guam
tity of manure added to serve as a
mulch. The trees were of all sizes,
from the two-year-old Of half an inch
in diameter to those of three inches
taken from an old nursery. None Of
them were cut back, only to form the
heads, and no thinning out of the
heads has been permitted since. In
the next place, trees two or three
years old that have been grown
thickly in the rows and then stimu-
lated with manure and high culture
are too tender to stand the first win
ter's exposure in the open ground,
and will be liable to be killed down
to the line of the earth-banking. In
planting apple trees, if l can get them
near at hand, would select four to
six-year-old trees-those one and a
half to two inches in diameter-rath-
er than smaller trees. am aware
that this is not othodox with the pro-
fession that prefer to sell small trees;
but, in practice, the older trees have
the advantage. They are less tender,
and again they are respected by cattle
and the rabbits; at least the owner
compels the stock to respect them,
while the little whip-like trees are left
to themselves. In shipping to long
distances there is no choice but to
take the small trees; but, now that
nurseries are near at hand in all of
our fruit growing districts, there is
no necessity to plant the small trees;
at least they should not be planted in
autumn.
We commit an error in planting
late in spring, as the early-planted
trees do the best. The ground set
ties about them firmly, and the roots
take an early start. At least over
half of our spring setting is done too
late, and large part of this setting
is lost by the dry periods that follow,
and only in a rainy season are they
saved. Great care in setting and
mulching may mitigate the disaster,
but cannot fully compensate for the
late setting. AS we go South the au-
tumn and milder winter weather are
favorable for fall setting, and it is
much better than the spring.
Ask Farmer B if we should set APP
pie trees in the fall and he will give
you a decided answer, and that an
swer is based, perhaps, on single
experiment. This kind Of advice
be taken with some allowance;
at least, we should know some Of the
conditions that made the experiment
a failure or a success. In teaching
the farmer we must avoid arbitrary
rules and rather give the rationale of
the process. The culture of the soil
and all the operations of the horti-
culturist should be based on the
science of rural economy, rather than
the haphazard whims or ill-digested
rules that may or may not be correct.
The farmer who depends on set of
rules is generally a poor farmer, and
will tell you that luck is everything;
while the man who reflects and has a
regard for cause and effect depends
on good management, and don't be-
lieve in luck.