Ottumwa weekly courier. (Ottumwa, Wapello County, Iowa) 1872-1899, 1878-03-13

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THE FARM AND GARDEN
Planting Apple Orchards - Size q
; Irees-P1anting Potatoes-Selecl
i ing Seeds-ls II Economy?
Correspondence of Chicago Tribune.
As the season for planting orchard
is near at hand, few words regard
ing the distance at which to set apple
trees may not be out of place. WheI
, we planted our orchard, some fifteel
| years ago, although we had the ex
ample Of Rural Home" orchards, be
sides numerous others, we did no
Iprofit by what we should have known
but, instead, planted our trees twent.
feet apart each way. We now regre
that we had not planted only halt tn,
number, and set them forty feet. I
has long since become impossible t
plow the orchard, except between up
right growing varieties. We should
therefore, advise the planting Of al
|Apple trees, at least thirty, and, II
case OF wide branching sorts, likt
Minkler, Snow, ETC., forty feet. Tht
trees will look lonesome at first, bn1
in after years, when they begin t.
bear, the wisdom Of wide planting
will be apparent. h
i g}a SIZE OF TREES.
or late years great deal has been
said about planting small trees
There 10 . good reason for this. Mos
of the nurserymen dislike to handle
large trees, and they nearly all labor
toward trying to create . demand fol
the stock they have to sell. Another
good reason IL, that, when trees are
bought Of m agent, and are TO be de-
livored by him, he, or the nursery.
man, agrees to pay freight; and a
saving is thus made. twenty-five
years' experience in selling and plant
ing trees has convinced us that tree
from 4 to 6 years old is the most prof
liable for the farmer to plant. tits 90
large that he will naturally dig q
large hole for its roots, and he will
set 1t out with greater care and 1t is
SO large that he will not drive his
wagon or sulky -plow over it. Again,
1t begins to bear few apples by the
second or third year, and he says
"Now, this thing is going to pay, and
I must take care Of It." Right here
we desire to say that we have NO
stock of large trees to sell, hence we
do not give this advice from sinister
motives.
PLANTING POTATOES.
We presume that every well-regu-
lated farmer already has his seed
potatoes cut In pieces of suitable size,
and that the pieces are placed where
they will sprout and be ready for use
when the proper timo comes to plant.
We have made practice for several
years Of planting the seed in drills
made by plow, covering it with the
same implement, leaving the surface
rough until the sprouts begin to ap-
pear, then give 1t thorough harrow
ing to level the surface and stimulate
growth.
SELECTING SEED.
Too much care cannot be given to
selecting seed. Upon the integrity of
the seed depends in great measure
the profit Of growing crop. No one
has time to replant; and frequently,
particularly with small grain, 1t will
be too late, when the worthlessness of
the seed has been discovered, to plant
the second time. We should, there
fore, scrutinize carefully all seed that
is to be planted, and give it test be.
fore risking 1t in the field. If it will
not sprout under favorable condi-
tions in . warm room, it certainly
will not grow when sowed in the
open ground and exposed to the
changes and vicissitudes Of the wealth
er.
Is 1T ECONOMY?
Every day the number of men who
visit the agricultural implement deal
ers increases. There is q fascination
in looking at new machinery that is
hard to avoid. We have been greatly
interested in noting the remarks of
farmers while looking at new plows
or cultivators. Several men whom
we have met were unable to resist the
temptation, and have purchased new
plows. Said one of them to US, the
other day, "My old plow is pretty
good, but it needs q new shear, and
one handle is broken. It will only
last . year or two, and guess I'll get
q new one." He gave his note, due
in six months, with 10 per cent. inter-
est, for the new plow. It cost him
SIG but, If he had paid cash, he could
have bought it for $l350. We cx-
planned to him that this was not econ
omy; but he said his neighbors were
al buying new plows, and he did not
like to be behind the times. For our
part, we believe in taking care of and
repairing our tools, instead of run
ming in debt for new ones. 1t is the
duty of every farmer to use his old
implements, instead of running in
debt for new ones. If he is ont of
debt and has the cash, that is another
II after entirely.