Bismarck daily tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1881-1916, 1908-02-12
horticultural nofes
By Frank Simons

Location: Locate your fruit garden
as near the house as possible, so that
it will be easily accessible for pro
curing in their season a fresh supply
of fruit for each meal. Thus located
spare and idle moments may be spent
in cultivating and trimming and shap.
ing the tree SO as to cause it to grow
more to fruit than wood.
Fruit can be grown successfully and
profitably anywhere in North Dakota,
where grass grows. When you sell
fruit you sell water The higher,
drier and more rolling the location.
the wider apart your rows of trees
must be set, so as to give greater
space for catching, absorbing and
storing the necessary moisture
Plan: 1t is impossible to success
fully grow trees or fruit in the Mis-
souri, valley and divides by level cul-
ture. Uncle Sans tree claim law de-
manded that the trees should be plant
ed 4 feet apart each way. This caus.
ed the failure of the tree claims. The
early settler was too busy doing some
thing that brought him in the necessi.
ties OF life, to cultivate and hoe, the
tree at the right time. Grass and
weeds grow like magic in North Da-
kota. The cultivator rode over them
and could not root them out. Soon
the trees were stnding in dense
sod that sucked every drop of mois.
ture from the ground. How could
they live? If the law had provided
that the trees should be planted in
drills in long rows 20 feet apart, the
settler at, any time could have taken
his team and pillow and turned under
the grass and weeds. If some of the
weeds and grass still remained in the
row between the trees, the roots of
the trees could have secured moisture
and plant food, each side of the row
in the cultivated soil until they shaded
the ground sufficient to smother the
growth OF, the weeds and grass.
Laying out the fruit garden: Your
fruit garden should be long and mar
row, so as to be easily cultivated.
The width of the space between your
rows should be SO wide that the roots
of the full grown tree or bushes, will
not mingle between the rows. A little
space unoccupied by the roots of any
kind of vegetation must be left to
store moisture. This space will in
duce the tree to grow seeds, to seed
it, with its own kind-nature abhors
a vacuum. The wider this space the
more perfect and larger and better
quality your fruit will be. The rows
OF even our small fruits to be success
fully and proftably grown in our dry
climate must be Of sufficient width,
so the fruit grower can go between
the rows with a team and pillow and
pillow the space by turning a back fur
row between the rows
Stake out your fruit orchard in long
perfectly straight rows, north and
south, conforming to the section line,
SO feet apart, true and even distance
throughout, so no wide margin of un-
plowed land will remain at any place
along the rows of trees.
Preparing the ground: The second
fall before planting, as soon as the
crop is removed, back furrow between
the rows, so as to leave dead fur
row, exactly where the row of trees
are to be planted. Go back and forth
in the bottom of the dead furrow, rip
ping up the subsoil as deep as posi-
BILE. Every time the land is plowed
furrow the same way and rip up the
subscil in the bottom of the dead fur
row each time as deep as possible.
Always keeping in mind that the high
er the ridge between the rows and the
deeper the dead furrow where the
trees are to be plantd the better. This
is the secret of successful and profit
able fruit culture in the Missouri val
ley and divides. 1t insures you against
early and late frosts and winterkill-
ing. 1t holds back the blossoms in
the spring; hurrys the ripening of the
fruit before frost; prevents root kill
ing; causes the tree to mature its
wood and fruit and leaf buds; keeps
the body of the tree filled with mois-
ture at all times of the year. The first
killing frost, followed by bright sun
shine will not kill the well supplied
leaves; they will mature and drop ma
iurally, instead of hanging on all win.
ter. There will be no late growth.
Leaf-blight, fungus, parasite and in
sect pests will be unknown to these
healthy trees, which will be loaded
with large, perfect fruit. Subsoil in
North Dakota is rich enough, and gen
orally too rich to grow fruit. A sur.
plus Of plant food causes indigestion
and disease. If anyone doubts these
statements, let them go to nature;
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