The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1898-12-06
APPLES IN NORTH CAROLINA

This i the subject Of bulletin No. lfS,
of North Carolina station. by Prof. W. /.
Massey. the noted horticulturi>t Of that
station. The soils and climate Of nearly
al Of North Carolina are wen adapted
10 the production Of apples. the noun
tainS and foot hills being especially 50;
but the people of the State have .cner-
ally pursued very u~nprocresSiyc methods
in apple glowing. Tho two chief mistakes
made by them are the planting Of seed
IinyS and Sle starvation Of the trees.
There are many people who still adhere
10 the mistaken notion that the best way
10 grow Il fruit tree is from the seed. Our
Western mountain country i 50 full Of
seedlings apples that the great dlflcuits
in marketing apples from there at present
i that there are not enough of apples or
one sort known in the markets to make
shipments Of any size. and this has lea
to the practice common there Of shipping
mixed lots IF all sorts. The great need
in the apple-growing section of TINS state
Is for orchards OF standard varieties
enough to make them IN item IN the mar
ket.
\ chemical analysis of the apple shows
that an acre of land producing 100 bush
els item bushels To the tree. forty trees
per acre.. will lose 81 pounds OF nitrogen,
s pounds phosIhoric acid and 4313 pounds
Of potash: while 4 crop of wheat produc-
ing 20 bushels per acre removes ohIE
- pounds nitrogen. > pounds Of phos-
phoric acid and > pounds of potash.
1t will be seen. then. that the draft on
the soil, especially i'll potash. is far heav-
Ter from Il crop Of apples than 4 crop OF
wheat. Farmers understand easily the
reason for applying fertilizers for the
..l,,+ NOV Int iel,ripa that thu orchard
needs no manuring, and when the trees
fail we are told that we cannot grow
fruit here az we formerly did" The real
reason is soil exhaustion. 1t has taken
a great deal of plant food to build up the
big tree. and supply its annual crop OF
leaves and fruit. and i'll most cases there
has been Il farm crop taken annually
from the land besides.
Buy one-year-old trees and head them
not mere than two feet from the ground.
The trees can be bought more cheaply al
that age. are easier to transplant, and are
less costly to transport. OF course II
one is going to leave the care of the
trees to ignorant labor. and is going TO
have them run plows through the or
chard. he had better have larger trees.
that they can be seen better than the
yearlingS. But whatever size trees YOU
buy. head them low. The only advantage
4 high-headed tree has is that a man can
get under it with L mule. which IS. after
all, no advantage at all, for there is no
use Of the mule being there after the
tree has gotten to a bearing size. as all
the feeding roots are out abOutsthe
spread Of the branches and there is lit
tie need for any cultivation near the
trunk. The tall tree gives the wind
greater leverage and IS more easily blown
down. 1t is more difficult to gather the
fruit from and is more liable to injury
from sun-scald. thar the low-headed one.
In fact this last is one Of the chief ad-
vantages of the lOW-headed tree. for there
is probably more damage done to apple
trees by sun-scald than by anything else
in this climate. There is 10 difficulty i'll
making the head as low as w choose if
the tree is Il yearling, but with older trees
it is sometimes hard to get Il head at the
proper place after the nurseryman has
started one higher up.
The preparation of the land before
planting an apple orchard is of the great
est Importance. for any lack of prepare
ton before planting can hardly be rene
died after the trees are set. If one does
not intend to prepare the land well, ma
I1uIt Ntll III t'i1tiN l Ntil, 1T IL Z
ter let the planting Of an orchard alone.
for there can be no profit in apple trees
treated as the great majority of them
are in this State. The chief point in the
preparation Of the land is deep blowing
of the soil. This IS especially needed on
our red clay uplands. where trees set
in shallow blowing are so apt to be
stuntcd by drouths. The land for the
orchard should be prepared early in the
fall by blowing as deeply as a pu1r OIL
horses can pull Il plow. and ehind this
team another team III same furr0W. with
a subsoil plow to break the clay still
deeper. till the whole lame is broken to
Il depth of fifteen inches. This deep prep
aration will be the best investment the
planter can make IN setting the orchard.
liant i'll the fall in North Carolina. III
rows thirty-tivc feet apart. and space the
trees thirty-fiye feet apart i'll the row, but
each row so that every tree
will come opposite the halfway mark be
tween trees III the two adjoining rows.
On very hilly land. make terraces follow
ing the level around the hill. and plant
on the terraces.
During the first seasons growth there
will be no need for the knife if the owner
keeps his eyes OF the trees and stops with
finger and rhuiab any growth starting
where it is not wanted. This is far bet
ter than letting branches grow and sap
the strength of the tree all summer. to
cut away III the fall. when the same
growth could nave been directed into the
proper channei by = little care and at
tention. The fall of the first season, that
is. the first fall, after the trees are plant
ed, they should have a proper pruning as
soon as the leaves fall ThorQ Is 4 rirht
and wrong way to make every cut in
pruning Il tree. and the primer should
know what he wishes to produce by max
ing the cut. Some varieties are inclined
to grow to erect, while others are in
clined to be of too dropping and spread
ing Il character. These should be pruned
differently. When we want to make the
head more spreading we prune to bud
on the outside of the limb. and when we
wan to correct the spreading habit. the
shoot is pruned to Il bud on the inside
of the limb. In general we will find
that this first fall pruning should be II