News and citizen. [volume] (Morrisville, Vt. ;) 1881-current, 1883-04-12
RENEWING OLD APPLE ORCHARDS
How ia Make Il New Orchard out of m
old one.

To remove old apple trees and replaC
: them with new ones is one Of the gres
mistakes of the day. We do not refe
to trees that have attained their nat1rg
age, but to those tat have become prc
matTely old, from inattcntion or abuse
or unfavorabIo circumstances. There !
much more vitality in old, ncglecte.
apple trees than is usually supposed
Sound trees are also capable of mucI
longer lease of life than they arc cred
tied with, under favorable circumstances
reaching nearly or quite a hundred
years. The average term of life, witt
good treatment, will fall but little below
this. Yet apple orchards begin total
i'll less than half that time. notwith-
standing the evil may be so easily rem
| eotIed. Our trees, instead OF failing at
half their natural age, may be made to
reach their full term of years. The
same may be done with trees of prema-
ture decay with hardly an exception,
thus doubling their usefulness, and
avoiding the expense of repIanting and
the delay of fruit-bearing in young or
chard.
The difficulty with these failing trees
is, that the decaying branches waste sap
which should go to the growing and
maintaining of new wood to replace the
Old. This is more certainly and easily
secured if the root power is what it
should be, the ground deep and sufli-
GENTLY porous to favor drainage, and il
the roots strike downward, instead of be-
ing forced to the surface by the imper-
vious subsoil. Old orchards in this con-
dition want, first of all. the water taken
out of the ground by understanding.
Then gradually remove the decrepit old
branches; taking two or three years to
do it where the top wants entire renOya-
ton. Where only a few large branches
are to be removed, the work may be
done III less time; in such case the shock
viii not be so great. These old trees, it
seems, are sensitive in this respect. We
learned this many years ago by a rather
dear experience. But we now see how
satisfactorily tree may be restored.
even when there is but little life left. It
is the half-dead branches that are the
life-suckers of the tree. When there is
not enough sap to sustain the whole of
branch, the eXtremities first suffer, and
so the heavy wood becomes a reservoir
of the sap, which all the while lessons
and retreats toward the base. If it is
not arrested the tree must perish. The
gradual decay OF trees begins at the tips,
with exceptions, as in the case of the
Spitzenbergs (Esopus), whose canIer
usually strikes the larger branches, and
nearer the centre than the extremities,
the branches maintaining their growth
and continuing to bear their fruit. This
happens years before the disease kills
the tree. But this can be managed sue
cessfulIy. as VIII appear hereafter.
The first thing to be done with a de
caying orchard, after the soil IS correct
ed, if it needs it, which it probably does
III the majority Of cases, is to note the
extent of the decay. If only quarter
or a third Of the smaller branches are
affected, remove these and Of course re-
move dead wood, whether large or small
and thin out little the remainder of
the branche@. This is an important
point in pruning that should never be
lost sight of. SO far the thing has been
very clear it is only the common, neces-
sary practice of thinning out branches.
The most difficult part is yet to come.
Some Of the larger branches are about
dead, and some seem dead. The point
is to ascertain the extent Of life, for yOu
are about to lay the AK to the root of
these branches, which is like thigh am
putatiOn. If there is considerable life
left, and the tree has but few of the
large divisions, You are laying the aX to
the tree itself by removing these. Where
there is but little life, branch is practi-
cally removed already, so far as the
shock from its excision) is concerned.
It's removal is not only harmless, but IS
benefit, as what little sap occupied the
base uselessly now goes to form new
wood, with an increase yearly of growth
\ new shoot having been started III
place of the old, giving thus current to
the sap, another main branch may be
removed the next year, and another the
year after, or, if they are numerous,
more than one year may be taken.