The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1894-10-21
HINTS ON PLANTING ORCHARDS.

Prof. S. H. Bailey, horticulturist Of
Experiment Station, offers, in bulletin
No. So. some very timely suggestions
on the planting of fruit trees, from
!, which much of value to the inexper-
fenced orchardist can be gathered.
Preparation of Land.
The soil in which orchards are set,
says Prof Bailey, should always be in
a thorough state of cultivation; that
is, whether in sod or in hoed crops, the
land should be in good filth or fine me-
chanical condition fertile, and free
from hard or sour places and per-
nicio1s weeds. There are exceptions
to this rule in the case of certain
rocky or step lands upon which it is
desired to set apples; but for all or
chards which are planted directly for
commercial results, this advice has
few, if any, exceptions. 1t is generally
best to put the land into hoed crops
the season before the trees are set, as
potatoes or corn; although sod land, if
well fitted and naturally in good heart,
often gives excellent results when
turned over and set at once to or
chards. But most soils need the pre-
vious cultivation to bring them into
a mellow and uniform condition.
LdDuS WHICH nave nara anu lHlp6T-
yious subsoils should be plowed very
deep before trees are put upon them;
and in some cases, as for dwarf pears,
it may pay well to use the subsoil
plow. Lands which hold surface water
and which remain cold and ''sour"
long after rains, are unfit for orchards
because of poor drainage of air as
well as of water, and because the soil
is likely to be hard and cloddy. The
clay lands upon which pears and
plums thrive, give unusually good re-
suits If well underdrained.
When to Plant.
There is much difference of opinion
as to the relative merits of fall and
spring planting. Fall planting is gem
orally preferable to spring planting
upon thoroughly drained soils, par
ticularly for the hardy tree fruits, like
apples, pears and plums; and if the
ground is in good condition and the
stock well matured, peaches can
sometimes be set in October with sue
cess. The advantages of fall planting
are several. The trees become estab-
lished during the open weather of fall
and they usually make start in
spring before the ground is hard
enough to allow of spring planting.
This early start not only means a bet
is more important, trees which get a
very early hold upon the soil endure
the drouths of midsummer much bet
ter than trees planted in spring. Plant
ing is nearly always better done in the
settled weather and workable soil of
fall than in the capricious days and in
the hurry of springtime; and the or
chardist is free to begin cultivation at
time when he would otherwise be
planting his trees. Again, it is gen.
orally better to buy trees in the fall,
when the stock of varieties is full and
when the best trees are yet unsold;
these trees must be kept until planting
time, and it is about as cheap and
fully as safe to plant them directly as
to heel them in until spring.
In fall planting, however, it is i'm
portant to insist that the trees shall be
thoroughly well matured. In order to
move stock quickly, it is the practice
of some nurserynen to strip" the trees
before the growth is completed; that
is, the leaves are stripped off, the
growth stopped, and the trees are put
upon the market for September de-
liveries This process weakens the
trees, and I am satisfied that many
failures are attributable to this cause.
Such trees may die outright, especially
if set in the fall and a hard winter fol-
lows; or they may live to make
dwindling growth for the first few
years When the tree is fully matured,
some of the. leaves will still dold upon
the vigorous shoots, and these are
stripped off: but this stripping does no
harm, for the young growth is then
mature and it has a thick, strong,
brown appearance which is quite diff
ferent from the slender, soft and green
branches of early-stripped trees.
Distance Apart.
Trees are oftener set too close to-
gether than too far apart; in fact, the
latter error scarcely exists. Trees are
wide feeders; and the best results are
obtained when each tree stands far
enough from it's neighbors to allow it
to possess an individuality all its
own. An additional reason for sparse
planting has lately become important
the necessity of spraying for insect
and fungous pests; and for this reason,
as well as to allow of better cultiva-
ton, the outside rows should not be
set close to fences. The distance at
which trees may be set, depends much
upon the system of pruning. If head
ing-in is followed vigorously and sys
tematically, trees may be set a third
nearer than if allowed to take their
natural form. Heading-in should al
ways be practiced with dwarf pears,
and many of our best growers pursue
it with peaches, plums and ounces.
For myself, have always advised
thin planting as the safer rule for the
majority of cases. The following table
may be supposed to represent the out
side average limit for the planting of
orchards, when the trees are allowed
to take their natural form:
Apples, 40 #. each way.
Pears, standard, 20 to 25 it.
Pears, dwarf, II #. to 1 rod.
Ounces, rod.
Peaches, 20 fit.
Plums, 20 fit.
Apricots, 20 TT.
Grapes, 6xS to Sx10.
Curants, Axe to 6xS.
Blackberries, 4x7 to exc.
Raspberries, 3x6' to 5xS.
These are safe distances. In certain
cases, however, where the soil is
strong and the grower makes thorough
work of cultivating, pruning and fer
tilizing, these distances can be reduced
somewhat with profit, except in the
case of apples. These remarks will
also apply to the common question
whether it is good policy to plant
tween apples and pears. 1t all depends
upon the man. In general, I should
discourage it; but if the orchardist
gives the very best attention to fer
tilizing and cultivating, plantations
can be mixed with good results.
How to Plant Trees.
Plow the land and fit it we'll AS all
orchards should be put into cultivated
crops for the first two years, at least,
it will generally be found advisable to
plow the entire area before the or
chard is set, rather than to plow strips