The silver messenger. (Challis, Idaho) 1890-1912, 1908-05-05
STARTING
Poor Orchard Comes from Neol.o,
the Start.

An orchard neglected wbno vo,,ua
wlli' AT It's best, be only a second-class
orchard. To get the young orcbard
started right is important. The az
erage hi justly feels that he mret
in starting the voung or
chard, and too often Leads r.
neglect. Though the process of rear
ing the orchard to a productive stage
Is an expensive one, It is worth doine
well The buying of poor trees. care.
ieSs separation of the land for nIant.
ing or lack of care after planting is
poor economy. The productive and
p~rontaole old orchard is the one grown
well While young.
WINE raw land is not the most sat.
lsfactory upon which to set vouno
trees, 1t often seems advisable tn SET
on such land without previous cron.
ping. The matter of breaking the
a n IN by some previous method OF
cropping hardly seems important
enough to necessitate the loss of one
OF TWO years growth on the Young or.
chard. With a little additional care tbe
young orchard can be successfully
grown On land its first season pndar
water. These soils in our arid conn.
tries are dry and require careful water.
ing. II the raw land must be SET Il
mould be carefully prepared before
planting. AS a rule, the sander soiIs
should be thoroughly watered before
an attempt is made to level them. Very
OTTER the higher spots settle most. and
IL these knobs are pulled off before
watering the same, soil must be moyed
PACK after settling is complete. Wa.
ter should be worked onto these high
places as the first step in the repar
non oil Inc land. Often the land is
thoroughly watered before it is plowed
When ready for the pillow, it should be
worked deeply and thoroughly. Some
even advocate the use of the subsoil
rlow in the space to be occupied by
the tree rows. This could surely do no
harm and may give the roots a better
chance TO penetrate the subsoil.
Inc 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
a1e set is unsatisfactory and the or.
chard set on h~alf-leveled land soon
shows a lack of uniformity which it re-
qulres years to outgrow. Good level .
greatly reduces the labor of water
ing and the per cent. of trees lost in
setting.
Land which has been previously
EARNED or cropped is the most salts
factory upon which to set young trees.
If the land has been well watered. if
Is uniformly moist, will require the
minimum amount of water to start the
young trees, and all danger from flu
setting is obviated. However.
his land will suffer quicker from V e
watering than the raw land. The
Of moisture already in the sub
soil retards the recovery from V
watering.
There is one precaution to be taken
n the preparation of all land for
planting to young trees. The earlier
t can be done the better. The land
lowed in the late spring takes water
90 freely and the young trees often
.uher from overwhelming. The upper
art of the soil becomes saturated
With water and drives out the air
md smothers the roots of the young
rees. To avoid this difficulty the land
ihould be prepared early and thor.
worked down or settled with
requent winter and early Spring cult.
This is especially necessary
n the case of alfalfa land which is to be
to young trees. The disc har.
and smoothing harrow are salts.
actory tools for this work.-O. B
,Vhipple.