The Greeley tribune., 1908-01-30
HOW TO DO IT.
GROWING OF FRUIT TREES A
DELICATE PROCESS.
Preparation of Soil Absolute Es-
sential, According to Testi-
mony of Expert o. B.
Whipple.

Ay Va AAKSAS W -
Whipple.
AS this section is gradually Degin.
ing to grow small orchards, the fol-
lowing advice from U. B. Whipple,
field agent, Western Slope Fruit In
vetigations. Colorado Agricultural
college, on the. preparation Of the
soil for the trees. and the later cul-
tivation is of value:
IAN orchard neglected while
young will, at Its best, be only =
second class orchard. To get the
young orchard started right Is impof-
tant. The average man justly feels
that ne must economic in starting
the young orchard. and too often
economy leads to neglect. Though
the process Of rearing the orchard to
. productive stage is an expensive
one, IL is worth doing we'll. The
buying of poor trees, careless prepar-
alton Of the land for planting, or
lack OF care after planting, is poor
economy. The productive and profit
able old orchard is the one grown
we'll while young. f3
''While raw land is not the most
satisfactory upon which to set young
trees. it often seems advisable to set
on such land without previous crop
ping. Tne matter of breaking the
land In by some previous method Of
cropping hardly sesms inppEtant,
enougl to necessftAts the loss Of 6fiS
or tWo years growth on the young
orchard. With little additional
care the young orchard can be sue
cessfully grown on land Its tirst sea-
son under water. These soils in our
arid countries are dry aDd require
careful watering. If the raw land
must be set, it should be carefully
prepared before planting AS rule,
the sander soils should be thorough
ly watered before an attempt is made
to level them. Very often the
higher spots settle most, and If these
knolls are pulled of before watering
the same, soil must be moved back
after settling is complete. Water
ck,1 I,A fn h ~
places as the lirst step in the prepara-
tion Of the land. Often the land is
thoroughly watsred before it is
plowed. When ready for the pillow.
1t should be worked onto these high
places as the first step in the prepa-
ration OF the land. Often the land
is thoroughly watered before 1t is
plowed When ready for the plow.
it should be worked deeply and
thoroughly. Some even advocate the
use of the suhsoil plow 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 subsotl.
''The next step is carefully to level
the land. The young orchard should
never be plantcd on poorly leveled
piece of land. Leveling after the
trees are set is unsatisfactory and
the orchard set on half-leveled land
soon shows a lack Of uniformity
which 1t requires years to outgrow.
Good leveling greatly reduces the
labor of watering and the per cent OF
trees lost In setting.
"Land which has been previously
farmed or cropped is the most salts
factory upon which to set young
trees. II the land has been we'll
watered, it is uniformly moist, will
require the minimum amonu6 Of
water to start the young trees, and
all danger from future settling is OBJ
waited. However, this land will
suffer quicker rom overwatering
than the raw land The amount Of
moisture already in tile subsoil re-
tards the recovery from overwater-
ing.
"There Is one precaution TO be
taken in the preparation of all land
for planting OF Young trees The
earlier 1t can be done tie better
The land plowed in late sprng takes
water too freely and the young trees
often suffer from overwateriag. The
upper part OF the soil becomes sat
urated with water which drives on.
the air aud smothers the roots > tle
Young trees. To avoid this ditiicn' y
the land should be prepared eaiiI
~ N,o,ouuhlv woYked down or set