Western Kansas world. [volume] (WaKeeney, Kan.) 1885-current, 1904-12-10
1IR.
The Profitable Old Orchard.


Here and there is to be found
profitable old orchard. We are sorry
to say that many of the old orchards
about the country are anything but
profitable. In the main the people
that have the example of an old un-
productive orchard before them re-
gard it as an illustration of the un-
proftableness of orchards rather than
of the unskillfulness of the man that
happens to own it.
There is a belief with the amateur
orchardist that to plant a tree is the
chief effort required and that the ap-
pie tree is so hardy that it will sur
v1ve in spite of almost any condi
tions. The fact is that the man that
attempts to plant an orchard and keep
it alive for a lifetime has a great
many things against him. At a Mis-
souri, institute one speaker said: with
in four miles of our place there are
five twenty-acre orchards planted in
the spring of 1888. Three have been
IN timothy sod and moved. One has
been in clover and moved, and the
other is in weeds. These five or
chards have never paid the interest
on the land and under present treat
ment are not likely to do So"
The old orchard that is thrifty and
productive has had care, and it would
be interesting to study some of the
orchards of this kind and to INQUIRE
into their history. 1t would be found
that they had been cultivated, fer
tilted and pruned. 1t would be inter
estlng to inquire into the history of
the old ragged unproductive orchards.
The1r story would, however, be a
short one-"the short and simple an
nails of the poor" 1t would be found
that they had been left to care for
themselves, while the owner was get
ting all he could from the land in
other crops
The old productive orchard has
generally been cultivated for a good
many years. Often it has been
sprayed to keep off the fungi that
are so destructive to bark and leaf
When the caterpillars began to strip
of the foliage they were destroyed
Lastly, it was pruned. Some of the
old trees that are unproductive are
so because they carry too much wood
Hardy Plants.
In all parts of the country an eff
fort is being made to produce hardy
plants. In some cases this hardness
cold, in other parts of the country ii
means the ability to withstand drouth
and in yet other places the ability to
grow in spite of the fierce rays of the
summer sun. So the men that have
undertaken the task of developing
hardy plants have some extremely
hard problems to solve.
The work is being prosecuted alone
several lines. One is to select plants
from hardy plants and to continue tc
select those that show increased
hardness. Some progress is being
made in this line but not SO much
as the experimenters desire. Another
method is to cross very good va
riety with an inferior one that has
hardness in an extraordinary degree
Thus the wild crab apple, which grows
even north of the Canadian line in
Manitoba, is being crossed with the
finer varieties of apples a thousand
miles to the south. From this cross
seeds are planted and then selection
begins of the trees that bear the best
fruit and yet show hardness. In
either case it will be observed that
hardy variety must be selected as
starting point.
Already much has been accom-
piiSHeu anu ndTQy Vdr1etleS OF plants
are being grown much further north
than it was thought to be possible
twenty years ago. 1t is difficult, how
ever, to say just what constitutes
hardness in plants, and it frequently
happens that plant that seemed tc
be hardy at first proves not to be
hardy when given a longer trial.
In good many cases the apparent
ly increased hardness is due to late
ness of blooming in the spring, the
blossoms opening after the frosts
have passed. A variety that is late
in blooming can be grown much fur
ther north than one that opens early
Observations along this line give great
promise of success
Juvenile CIevernesc
The other day Charley was weighed