Idaho County free press. [volume] (Grangeville, Idaho Territory) 1886-current, 1889-01-18
TREATMENT OF TREES.
s,vpestions Concerning the Proper Man
agement of Orchards.

agement of Orchards.
The treatment which fruit trees
ebould receive must accord with cir
cumstances and with the character of
the soil. Generally, young trees should
be surrounded with cultivated and mel
low ground, because they are more
easily checked in growth than older
and larger trees, which send their
stronger roots deeper into the earth,
and are less affected by vegetable
Growth on the surface. A common error
Is in giving them circumscribed circle
of cultivation about the foot of the
stem, instead of broadcast culture. Re-
heated examination has proved that
both old and young trees have roots ex-
tending from them to "a distance quite
equal to the entire height of the trees,
and therefore their roots occupy a space
whose diameter is twice as great as the
height of the trees, and to receive the
benefit of cultivation, the surface rem
dered mellow should be CORRESPONDENCE
lv broad. The common mistake is seen
of dug circle at the foot of a tree
twelve feet high, not more than five
feet in diameter, when it should be at
least twice twelve, or twenty-tour feet
in diameter, in order to benefit the
whole of the roots. In one case only
twenty-five feet are cultivated; in the
other, 576-the former being less than
a twentieth part of the requirement.
Experiment has proved that the narrow
circle has produced no sensible benefit
in the increased growth of the tree,
while broadcast culture has given a de-
cided increase in growth.
There is no part of the management
OF fruit trees, and especially of young
ones, where there has been more COM
mon error than in the mistaken notion
Of the length of the roots. The question
whether grass should be permitted to
grow in an orchard must be the length
Of the annual shoots. Young trees, be-
fore they.begin to bear, should send out
their annual growth at least foot or
two in length; and after they boar, the
growth should be several inches, or
from six inches to foot. If the growth
standing in grass, the trees are obvi-
ously too feeble; and if young they
should receive at once broadcast culture;
or if old, either this or top-dressing
of manure. Unconditional rules, how
ever, can not be laid down while soils
vary so much in different localities.
The length of the annual growth must
be the guide, and the treatment vary
according to their pointings, and the
manure or fertilizer applied which is
found to be effective, often vary much
with locality. AS q general rule, which
may be liable to exception with very
rich soil, the only case in which grass
may be permitted to occupy orchards,
and especially of young trees, is where
the grass is kept constantly cropped
short with sheep, with more or less top
dressing with manure or where the
grass is cut equally short with the lawn
mower, and yearly top-dressing is given.
The owner will be able to Judge if this
Treatment is admissible by the rule al
ready given-the length of the annual
shoots. In some localities, superphos-
pilates have proved of much advantage,
while in others, with unlike soils, they
have not paid the expense. Wood-ashes
are more or less beneficial, in some in
stances greatly increasing the growth
Of the fruit as well as of the trees but
in some cases they have failed to pro-
iuoe any sensible effect. heterogeneous
fertilizers are often beneficial, but the
peach-growers in some parts of New
Jersey have found them positively detri-
mental. These facts all indicate the
necessity for each cultivator using his
own judgment and of deciding some of
The questions connected with fruit-grow-
ing from his own personal observation.
N. Y. Tribune.