The Dallas daily herald. [volume] (Dallas, Tex.) 1873-1887, 1880-12-09

a,,II iHu' was scarce Tor orcharding.
woula plant Il by r. which give, S09 t Il,
70 we acre; but If the orchard is large Va,
@oulu need TO make every sixth spscs fas
ieet Wider, so that you can drive ,broros
WIN wagon to carry in manure and his
out tue fruit. : should expect a ouinca o.
enaru 10 pay good rent on the land bv tins
touf.n year, and when in full bearing s6onlG
confidently count on from 800 to 900 h shall.
W the acre. have an orchard that has ~,
missed crop in eight years, and his vas,
mas averaged two bushels to IN, tras GO.
year. every
Peach trees are usually set l6I feet each
way or Ib) to the acre, but if ore mas nlentv
Vi isnd would recommend wider plantin,y
say 10 oy ~, and think tho fruit would bs
enough better to pay for it. ,DAm,on plums
VIII do well as close as peaches, or even a ro5
apart each way, rs they are UPRIGHT orow-
ers' do not speak of other varieties of
plum', because this is the only one | ever
grew ut profit. Pears | would plant IN bv
~ and apples 30 by 80; or if wa. intenIiny
10 NIL the orchard with peach trses. thea
peach to one apple. would plant S2 bv a.
| nave had good success in this way, the
peach trees bearing ana passing away before
Ina apple trees needed the room"
"Thore are probably many young farmers
contemplating planting an orchard, who
need instruction in detail as TO time and
manner Of planting, distance apart, pruning
&c. One OF the first questions asked ia
"ShAll plaot in the fall or spring ?" The
answer depends somewhat OH cireumstancss
II The land is well drained | thiuk most
var etles will do best planted in the fall. but
should not want to set trees on fat land in
heavy clay soil in autumn, for such a ,oil
becomes bed of mortar in ,haw, and tbe
trees are likely to be bent out of shane bv
the wind, or even thrown entirely out of the
ground by freezing and thawing. Witt
cherry, peach and pear trees | have had uni,
form good success from spring planting.
When trees are planted in tho fall ihs earth
should be hesped around them, and it ia
good plan to mulch with something to pre-
vent thawing too much; fat stones or sticks
of wood will answer, and will DO less likely
to harbor field mica than straw or corn.
stalks. If the lattor are used, do not put
them on until the ground Is frozen.
All my experience in orchardng is favor.
able to the planting oil young trees. would
plant one year from the bud or graft Of
peach, pear, and cherry; one year from the
cutting OF ounce, and a thrifty two-year
old apple. My reasons are that Young
tree ID less mulilated and disturbed by trans,
planting than an older one, and consequently
sooner RECEIVERS from the shock; it costa less
money, is essier handled and planted, and in
repeated trials side by side nave found that
a thrifty small tree would in tnree or four
years overake large one.
In digging holes for fruit trees, remove the
surface soil one spade deep aud place it 20
one side, and then take out one spade deem
of the subsoil aud place on tho opposite side.
THIS will make the hole deeper than An Or
ilnsry tree will need, and when you set the
tree you must cut down the edges of the hole
md thus MI tho bottom with good soil TO
The right depth. Then set your tree 80 that
i will stand about the same depth it did in
he nursery, and ill in the top soil, pressing
t firmly with the foot around tho roots, and
put your second spade of subsoil on tho sur
face. This gives mellow, rich bed Tor the
roots of your Il ee, and brings to the sur
face soil free from weed seed. IL also saves
halt the labor of digging the holes.
The pruning of an orchard require, as
much judgment as any operation of the
farm. 1t should begin whon the trees are
young and if properly attended to then, lit.
lle will be needed when they are older.
Trees should always be trimmed more or
less at trsnsplsnting, and il should DO done
with view to giving good shaped top.
La pruning one should always DO able 10
give reason for every cut BIO makes and
should constantly keep in mind tho OBJ.
ects to be accomplished. We prune trees
for several ressons: first that we may
have symmetrical well.bslanced
top; second, that we may prevent
oyerbearing by reducing the bearing wood
and fruit buds; thrC, that sun and air may
have free access; and lastly, that the brsnchc,
may not interfere with and chsfe one another.
II seems to me that if wo keep these plain
rules before us we shall have little difficulty
N pruniRg. We must anticipate what a
branch will be in few years, aud not merely
ook at 1t as it now is. There Is no mystery
involved in the successful growing of fruit,
but we must use good judgment and remem-
Dor that what is worth doing is worth doing
we'll"