The Dupuyer acantha. [volume] (Dupuyer, Mont.) 1894-1904, 1899-04-13
FARM AND GARDEN.
MATTERS OF INTEREST TO
AGRICULTURISTS.
Some Up-to-Date Hints About Cul-
tivation Of the Soil and Yields
Observation-Disclosures. v~itlcuIturs and
Horticulture


wv A40obg ~ 0CIllhA OuL Oil
apple orchard, choose mostly winter
varieties. 1t has been generally said
that we must choose a high location
Tor our apple orchard, but this is not
80 important as to select land that has
been well-drained to a depth of at least
three feet. Flat lands will produce as
well as hills If they are kept from
standing water. Land that will pro-
duce good wheat will generally produce
good apples.
THE apple orchard must be well Gull
tivated. No one in Illinois does this
as well as it should be done, SO far as
my observation goes. Experience has
shown that corn should be cultivated
! at least three times during a season,
but there Is less information on how
often the orchard should be cultivated.
On our grounds at Champaign we Gull
t1vate about IL times during the sea-
son, and the work costs us about six
dollars per acre per season. We need
not expect very good results till we
learn to keep the soil of the orchard
in proper condition.
"Trees should be sprayed three or
four times during the season to pre-
vent scab and codling moth. These are
the most important pests. If the fruit
alone was injured by the apple scab the
fungus that does the injury would not
rank so high in badness, but it takes
the leaves also and that makes it the
worst enemy we have to combat. Some
f1mno tho tRnnd m 0nn01Inf NJ tho
presence Of this pest, are defoliated
weeks before the proper time for the
leaves to fall. The first application of
the fungicide and insecticide should be
just after the blossoms have fallen and
just as the leaves are unfolding.
H. Augustine.-Is it not a fact that
some of these manufactured soils, like,
for instance, sloughs that have been
drained, are unfit for apple orchards?
Prof. Burrill.-Yes, sir; and there
will always be some soils that will
not be fit for growing an apple or
chard.
Q.-Has not the foliage much to do
with developing the roots?
Prof. Burrill.-Everything.
HAAs AANA Az AoS0LIOh VI LIN
adaptation Of soils for orchards is an
important me We have heard farm
ers say that black prairie soil was too
rich for apple growing and l have
been inclined to think that there was
something in 1t. But now others say
that that is all nonsense. l know of
one orchardist that says his soil is as
rich &c INV in tho cfoto ond fhot ho has
also piled manure into it. He has a
good orchard. 1t may be that the
great trouble on prairie lands is that
the trees are killed by wet feet.
Prof. Burrill.-That brings to my
mind a point that I will speak of. We
have been taught that we must stop
cultivation of orchards early in the
season, If we would have our trees pre-
pared to endure a hard winter; that if
we continue cultivation, we will get a
spongy growth that will be unable to
resist the winters cold. 1 see in look
ing over some of our transactions that
Mr.. Friend does not believe that, and 1
think he may be right. 1t may be that
good soils that are kept in cultivation
the season through, so the growth will
not be checked at all, will be only
benefited by late cultivation. l do not
believe in late cultivation when there
has not been good cultivation all
through the season. The rich soils
may give us just as compact wood as
poor soils. l am sure, however, that
the treatment we should give those
soils is different from what should be
given upon the stony soils of New
England.
Mr.. Foster.-We naturally look to the
high ground for dry soil, but the dry
soil is not always found there; | have
sometimes found the wettest places on
high ground.
II. Augustine.-It is always advisable
to drain both low and high land.
Experience in Spraying.-At Green's
fruit farm we have found by the pres
ent years experience hat pears are
greatly benefited by spraying with Bor-
deaux mixture. The spray should be
applied three times: The first time at
once after the trees have blossomed
and the next time a few weeks there
after. The Seckel pear is particularly
inclined to be imperfect unless SPRAYED,
but where sprayed the Seckel was
smooth and beautiful. The blemishes
on other varieties of pears can be
largely removed by spraying and the
quality of the 'ruit is greatly increased.
In apple orchards, buyers do not care
to go far to see orchards that have not
been sprayed, knowing thai the fruit
of such orchards cannot be frst-class.
One spraying is not enough for apple
orchards, since frequent showers are
liable to occur at the season of the year
when spraying is done, which is at the
close of poisoning. We have also
sprayed our peach trees with partial
success, but the spraying not entirely
preventing the peach leaf curl. There
is no question whatever that the or
chardist must have a spraying equip.
ment in order to market the finest spe-
cimens of fruit.-Green's Fruit Grower
Facts on Alfalfa.
George L. Clothier, assistant botan-
list of the Kansas Experiment Station,
has been investigating alfalfa as