The Bossier banner. [volume] (Bellevue, Bossier Parish, La.) 1859-1952, 1880-11-11

Starting an Orchard.

Al SoitiuS iCduy III du OICustlu, III 81
should be the proper location. Select
sloping rather than level, flat land.
Second-Order trees from the most
reliable nurserymen.
Third-Buy first-class trees, but of
medium size, with good roots. Beware
of the bark or scale louise. Ii you should
receive such tree you had better burn
it at the start.
Fourth-Pay extra and have your
trees packed in damp moss.
Fifth-What kinds to plant: They
should be selected from those known to
succeed in your locality. If you have
no experience you had better seek the
advice of good practical man near you.
Downing gives more then 3,406 names
and synonyms of apples, recorded and
described in his work on Fruits and
Fruit Trees" from which the American
Pathological Society have selected 1922
as the most desirable for general culti-
walton. Which may be reduced to thirty
or forty for this locality. or if for profit
perhaps ten or even less. But what shall
they be? Summer, autumn or winter
varieties? White or red in color? Sweet
or acid? Color will be referred to further
on under the head of profit.
would recommend planting largely
of sweet apples, of both autumn and
winter varieties. You will find now
that it is almost impossible to buy at any
price a barrel of first-class winter APP
pies. Sweet apples are of greater value
for making rich cider which, when clar-
flied and bottled. sells for a high price.
Sweet apples, and the cider made
from them, can be made into MARINA
lade, Originated in Pennsylvania and
sold by the old farmers in the Philadel-
phia markets as apple butter, formerly
used only by the farmers themselves,
to eat on bread instead of butter, the
butter being carried to market and sold;
hence the appropriateness of the name
is apparent for which the taste needs
but little cultivation to make it very
palatable table dish. It can be packed
in pals and shipped even to foreign
markets, where a trifle of royal favor
would give it cast and create for it a
good foreign demand, which would add
largely to the profit of the apple crop.
Sixth--The trees should be we'll pruned
before planting, take off all broken and
diseased roots and cut the tops off so as to
make them form low heads, as both the
trees and fruit will be less liable to in
jury from high winds. And the fruit
will be much easier to gather.
Seventh-The arrangement and plan
of an apple orchard: would plant the
trees at thirty feet apart each way,
which would take forty-eight trees to
the acre; then, between them at sixteen
feet, plant peaches, early Richmond
cherries, ounces or plums, which would
take III trees to the acre, or in all 165
trees to the acre. According to the old
mode of planting apple trees at forty
feet apart twenty-seven trees only go
on an acre.
Among the many advantages gained
by introducing the small growing trees,
aside from the great profit. is the econ
omy OF land and you can head trees low
so as to shade the trunks and the ground,
which is indispensable to successful
fruit-growing and then the farmer has
no inducement to SOW his orchard in
grass, as he cannot turn in his stock
without the certainty of having his or
chard destroyed, and l contend that
young fruit trees are not profitable food
for stock.
Eighth-Do not plant too deep; re-
member the apple tree depends
for its nourishment upon surface
roots. If you attempt to improve on
its natural habits by deep planting
(many do this with the idea to get. the
roots out of the way of the pillow striking
them) the tree will be apt to die, but if
it does grow it will form new surface
roots and the old root will decay and
die and leave the tree in an unhealthy
and diseased condition.
Ninth-At the time of planting make
a map of the orchard, number all the
trees from the same side, do not depend
on the labels, but have book and re-
cord by row and number every tree as
planted.
Tenth Occasionally we have a Sc
we're winter, when many fruit trees are
frozen and die. This should be guarded
against by planting belt of evergreen
trees for wind break ON the north, east
and west. Perhapsfor this purpose the
best tree is the Norway spruce, which
can be purchased very cheaply now in
quantity. would state that some va
rleties are more susceptible to freezing
than others. First on this list are
Sweet Bough, then Greetings and Bald
wins. The reason is obvious, the Sweet
Bough is rank grower and does not
sufficiently mature its wood, but take
the Smith Cider, which is slow grower,
but fully natures in wood and it hardly
ever is winter-killed. But bear in mind
there is more profit in one hundred trees
OF only one variety and less loss and
expense to market than one hundred
varieties, provided the one variety was
the kind that succeeded best in YOUR
locality. -Dauid C. Torhees, in N. =.
Times
A Hod-Carrier's Fortune and the