The Monmouth inquirer., 1894-11-01
FRUIT GROWING 10 TlNss.



Fruit Trees
Zine upon line precept upon pre-
can't" saws Southern fruit grower,
riast be written regarding the proper
manner Of planting out fruit trees; not
tat there exists great diversity Of
opinion. but because so little heed IS
paid to the plain teachings of nature
ana common sense. s'The way father
or grandfather did it" is authority
for the majority, and they seek no fur
ther knowledge
Now the word moves, and many new
ana valuable methods have been de-
vised which insure the desired kind
and quality Of fruit, hasten maturity
and prevent decay THE non-progres-
sive orchardist sells his fruit for a
nominal figure. whenever he has any
to sell. which is not often, and IS con
tinually complaining because his or
chard doesn't pay 1t does pay for
all the labor bestowed upon it, but 1t
will not pay for what it does not re-
ceiye.
Any kind of a fruit tree is an enor-
nous feeder if it produces any amount
of fruit. Who can reasonably expect
to receive barrel upon barrel from any
gwen tree, year after year, when no.
thing is fed to it? As wei might the
owner expect to work week on the
memory of Sunday dinner.
Trees should be fed therefore, and
literally, too, if large crops of fine fruit
are expected from them.
The old-fashioned way Of crowding
trees in the space devoted to orchard
purposes is still persisted in. notwith-
standing the teachings of nature to the
contrary Trees are crowded in the
rows like dodgers in a tenement house,
and the results are as disastrous in
one case as in the other. Trees, Ike
human beings, need air and light. They
must have these or their lives do NOT
reach three score years and ten. Fruit
will not grow in the shade, and it is
beyond the power of any man to cause
it to do so.
'Tis true, when trees are young, a
proper space seems unreasonably large
there seems to be a waste, but there
really is none. 1t is questionable il
painting small crops. like strawberries,
melons, tomatoes, etc. is advisable,
even in the earlier stages of growth,
and it certainly is not unless liberal
quantity of some proper fertilizer is
applied AS the tree enlarges and
reaches out its arm-,ike branches, it
asks for more food; it also asks that
Gods sunlight may be permitted to
kiss it from topmost branch to root,
and unless this request is granted it
shoots sl1yward, bearing no fruit ex-
cept upon its highest branches, and
becomes liable to be attacked by nu-
merOus diseases.
Who has not noticed that tree,
standing solitary and alone, always
bears a liberal quantity of fruit? Who
has not noticed that such trees are in
variab,y healthy? Who has not re-
marked that if the entire orchard was
like this or that solitary tree, there
would be money in fruit-growing?
Must so plain lesson be unheeded?
Can we not learn so simple a lesson
without paying the immense price we
do for tuition? The number of trees
upon a given area does not determine
the value of the orchard If they are
iii excess of the proper number, they
certainly are, comparatively. of little
worth.
One argument used by those who
favor close planting is that the shade
thereby produced kills the grass and (
weeds which would steal the life-blood (
Of the tree This argument is born of
pure laziness, and # carried into eff
feet, as it too often is. the tree is de-
prived Of IT'S means of thrift, that its
.oafing owner may not blister his hands
or burn his neck in his efforts to keep
grass and weeds from choking his
trees.
In raising fruit trees for profit, the
following general principles should not
he overlooked: l. Effective drainage;
> Thorough preparation; 3. Liberal
fertilization: 4 Procuring best varie-
ties: ). intelligent cultivation; and
each viii afford the owner theme (
for constant study.
That fruit grow ng, as now prac-
tieed, is non-pay .ng, we are ready to
admit; that it may be made immensely !
profitable, we confidently assert. To
attain this desired object something
must be done besides blindly treading
in the footsteps of old ways and ex-
pecting nature to perform impossibL-
ifes.
The whole Southern country can be
made vast fruit-field Any and every |
man may literally ''sit under his own
vine and fig tree Millions can be an !
npalIy added to our materia. wealth.
There need be no poverty in such a
country. and there will be none in the
near future. when our almost bound
less resources are more fully developed
Use Phospbates in the Fall.
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