The Marshall republican., 1908-06-19
STARTING ORCHARDS.
Poor Orchard Comes from Neglect at
the Start.

An orchard neglected while young
will, at its best. be only a second-class
orchard. To get the young orchard
started right is important. The nv.
erage nan Justly feels that he must
economic In starting the young Or
chard. end too often economy leads TO
neglect. Though the process OF rear.
ing the orchard TO n productive stage
10 an expensive one, II IL worth doing
we'll. The buying Of poor trees, care
less D. PREPARATION Of the land for plant.
Ing. ct lack OF care after planting. 10
poor economy. The productive and
profitable old orchard is the one grown
we'll while young.
While raw land In not the most sat.
~isfactory upon which to set young
trees. Il often seems advisable to set
on such land without previous crop.
ping. The matter Of breaking the
land In by some previous method OF
cropping hardly seems important
enough to necessitate the loss OF one
or two years growth on the young or.
chard. With q little additional care the
young orchard a be successfully
crown On land It's first season under
water. These soils In our arid coun
tries are dry and require careful water.
ing. II tho raw land must be set. II
should be carefully prepared before
planting. As a rule. the sander soils
should be thoroughly watered before
an attempt is made to level them. Very
OTTER the higher spots settle most. and
II these knobs are pulled on before
Watering the same. soil must be moved
back after settling is complete. Wa.
ter should be worked onto these high
places as the first step In the prepare.
tIcn Of the land. Often the land 10
thoroughly watered before II Is plowed
When ready for the pillow. II should be
worked deeply and thoroughly. Some
oven advocate the use OF the subsoil
rlov In the space to be occupied by
the tree rows. This could surely do no
harm and may give the roots q better
chance TO penetrate the subsoil.
the next step Is carefully TO level
tie land. The young orchard should
never be planted on a poorly leveled
piece OF land. Leveling after the trees
are set is unsatisfactory and the or.
chard set on ha~lf-leveled land soon
shows Q lack OF uniformity which Il re-
quires years TO outgrow. Good level.
ing greatly reduces the labor OF water.
Ing and the per cent. Of trees lost In
setting.
Land which has been previously
farmed or cropped 10 the most salts
factory upon which to set young trees.
II the land has been we'll watered. II
In uniformly moist. will require the
minimum amount OF water to start the
youns trees. and all danger from fu.
turs setting II obviated. However.
this land will suffer quicker from v
Watering than the raw land. The
amount Of moisture already In the sub
soil retards the recovery from over
watering.
There II n %precaution to be taken
In the preparation Of all land for
planting to young trees. The earlier
II can BE- done the better. The land
plowed In the late spring takes water
too freely and the young trees often
suffer from overwhelming. The upper
part Of the soil becomes saturated
with water and drives out the air
and smothers the roots Of the young
tress. To avoid this dihiculty the land
should be prepared early and thor
oushly worked down or settled with
frequent winter and early spring cult
vations. This 70 especially necessary
In the case Of alfalfa land which 10 TO be
planted TO young trees. The disc har'
row end smoothing harrow are salts.
factory tools for this work.--O. b.
Whipple.