The Tipton advertiser., 1877-05-17
ORCHARD CULTURE AND
MANAG EMENT.


kalOOsa, IAN. Is, 1877.
By HON. J. n. DIXON, OF MAHAsKA.
In preparing report on orchard
culture and management, we are not
| insensible of the dimensions of our
subject, or Of the difficulty of present
ing any thing really new or interest
ing, especially to those who have been
carefully studying the experience and
observation of the best orchardists of
of the State, as found i'm the annual
report of this society.
4 knowledge of successful orchard
culture has not been learned by any
one in single year, or in single les
son, SO many are the difficulties in the
way. So soon "a we learn to over
come one obstacle, some new, and If
possible more formidable enemy dis
putes our road to success.
First we had to learn what varieties
of apples were suited to our over fertile
soil, and would survive our dry, arctic
winter.
When We had partially learned this
lesson AM planted what were termed
hardy varieties, the gopher commence
ed grubbing them up, the borer to
bore them down, the mice.and rabbits
to giriling them. After these came
the canker worm ana codling moth,
the tent caterpiller and the caterpillar
without tents.
The greater and lesser leaf crumbler,
the leaf skeleton izer.
And still they come, insects un-
known and unnamed by the entomol-
ogists.
How to successfully combat all these
enemies, as well as what to plant an
how to plant, and how to caltiva te,
and most important of ALL how best
to protect oar orch trI. from the fatal
effects Of drou.h an col |, are lessons
we are trying to learn.
Still, in the face of all diilicaities,
fra.t growing in soithera Iowa is a
sueceSs. If we go back in retrospect
twenty years oar progress is indeed
encouraging.
The winter Of '55-6played havoc with
our orchards. Half, or more OF all the
orchards planted We're killed or bad ly
damaged: pablo sentiment on frui,
raising Was completely demoraiized;
the general conclusion was that apples
could not be profitab,y raised in Iowa
Bat there were few men like Wei
lington at Waterloo, that did not know
when they were defeated, or were too
obstinate to acknowledge it: these
men went to work to select varieties
wherever they could be found from
the wrecks of our orchards that had
survived those terrible winters, and
from these selections, and from other
varieties since added, as experience
has justified, we have to-day, As valu-
able list of choice applesas any State
in the Union; and instead OF here and
there in township n wreck ofan or
charl, nov almost every farm has its
orchard, and by those who have made
a stu ly of the calling, orchariing i.
con sidare1 about "a sure business n
hog raising. and the people of South
ern low lat lea It in all the older set
tied portions have an abundance o.
choice apples, not only for their own
use, bat thousands nf bushels to spare
to those less favored,
In one school district in this town.
ship, there are tweney-one thousand
apple trees in orchar Is. Some of these
orchards, four years planted last spring
bore considerable crops last fall, and
of as fine apples as ever gracel the
table of a king. One of them yielded
over four hundred bushels.
Coming more directly tony subject:
First, AS to what kinds to plant.
If for IA mercantile orchard, we don't
want many varieties, but those that
are hardy, good bearers, of good sized,
saiable apples.
I for family or amateur orchard, if
yol are willing to devote sufficient
ground AM attention, plant every
thing that is pleasant to the sight, and
good for food.
As to the location of an orchard, ! |
prefer rather level land think the
trees are not so likely to suffer from
lrouth, "a on quite rolling ground.
Ii had to take rolling land, W ould |
avoid southern or western slopes.
The best plan, in my experience, to
prepare the ground for planting, is to
plow it in lands the width you want |
your trees apart, trench blowing the
dead burrows, to the depth of Is or 20
inches. This preparation is better
done in the fall. Plant your trees in
the dead furrsw, planting by stakes at
right angles with the burrows. Ordina-
rily the furrow will be deep enough,
if not few shovels of dirt thrown out
of the way will make it so.
This plan has many advantages over
the common plan ofdigging holes with
the spade.
First, it is cheaper. Second, The
earth is completely mellowed beneath
and all around the future home of the
tree, and there is plenty of fine earth
on every side for covering the roots.
The trench plowiny enables the young
roots to more easily penetrate the sub
soil in search of moisture.
PLANTING.
Plant the trees six inches deeper
than you found them in the nursery.
The advantages of this deep planting
are: it prevents the blowing about of
the tree, and it is great security
against their dying out.
Corn is the best crop to cultivate in
an orchard. Let the stalks stand over
winter. Reserve strip five or six
feet wide on each side of the row of
trees, for their exclusive benefit. Cul-
I 20 This ~ rim xran hat MT l.,t.,