The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1896-09-28
RotctIon In Fruit Growing.

Rotation In Fruit GroWinE.
It is well for fruit growers to take hints
from natural processes as much as pos
sible. SAYS the American Cultivator. They
are all the time dealing with nature, and
succeed best in proportion as they follow
her methods. Those familiar with fores-
try know that when forests are left TO
themselves, whenever any growth. wheth
er deciduous or evergreen, is suddenly re-
moved, it is pretty certain to be succeeded
by some other than the growth that had
before occupied the land. This is ma
lures rotation. and under natural condi-
ton it maintains and even slowly increases
fertility by the accumulation OF veseta-
BILE matter on the surface soil
When we come TO fruit growing there are
new conditions to be considered The re-
moval Of the fruit, and especially the for
nation of its seed, takes from the soil far
more mineral fertilizer than does the
growth OF forest trees. What is still
worse most fruit orchards have been
planted on land that has long been crop
ped with grain, and its mineral fertility
exhausted. When the orchard Is planted
II is usually literally MANFRED with stable
manure. This supplies mainly nitrogen
GUS plant food which even most cultivated
soils have in sufficient abundance for the
needs of young trees. 1t is not advisable
that young fruit trees be encouraged to
grow very rapidly. If there be plentiful
supplies of the mineral fertilizers needed,
potash and phosphate, the trees Will bear
all the quicker for making a slow, yet
natural and vigorous growth. 1t will also
be a great preventive of injury by severe
cold The extra large sappy growth made
by too liberal supplies of plant food either
is killed back by freezing, or, If it es-
capes this it is the ready prey of fungus
and blights
But there is an economical aspect Of the
question of rotating different fruits on the
same ground that is well worthy of con-
sideration Such small fruits as the rasp-
berry, strawberry and blackberry require
to be alternated with the larger fruits ev-
cry few years. The strawberry bed is at
it's best the second year after setting.
After the third year 1t takes more labor
to keep the bed clean than to pillow it up
and make a new planting. The raspberry
plantation rarely lasts more than four or
five years at it's best. Some provision
ought to be made to get a new fruit crop
in paying condition on the same land. 1t
takes two, three or more years to have
peach trees or dwarf pear trees come into
bearing. If they are set out at the same
time with the strawberry or raspberry
plantation, the small fruit will fully pay
for the use of the land while the larger
fruit trees were coming into bearing. OF
course while these two crops of fruit
were growing in the same land, the trees
would, to some extent, lessen the crop OF
the strawberry or raspberry plants. But
it will be a great deal better than to let
the land produce nothing to sell until the
trees come into bearing.
1t Is a common practice in setting out
an apple orchard to set peach tree in
the center, between each square of four
apple trees In three years the peach
trees will begin to bear, and they Will
usually last ten or twelve years, much
more than paying all the cost of setting
and caring for the peach trees before She
peach trees will die out. In one case, we
know a farmer who set an apple orchard
of fifty acres, thus alternated with peach
trees. Long before the apple trees bore
! anything the peach trees had given him
a crop which sold for nearly 100000 more
than paying the expense Of both orchards
thus far. The farmers only regret was
that he had not planted the whole orchard
! exclusively with peach trees. Undoubted-
ly the larger and higher apple trees pro-
tected the peach trees, while both conf
bined secured the even distribution Of
snow over the ground in winter, which
is necessary to furnish moisture during
the summer.
There is every year increasing COMPETE
ton in fruit growing The farmer who
would succeed in this must grow differ
ent kinds, and grow them in close alter
nation, so as to keep the ground occu-
pied with trees, vines or bushes that will
produce profit. In this way, and also
by growing different varieties on the same
ground. he may lessen the cost of produc-
ing either Sometimes one may not bear
but with a sufficient variety under cuti-
walton one or another will every year give
him crop that can be sold with profit.