The state herald., 1908-03-06
STARTING ORCHARDS.
Poor Orchard Comes from Neglect at
the Start.

An orchard neglected while young
will, at its best, be only second.class
orchard. To get the young orchard
started right is important. The av-
erage man justly feels that he must
economize in starting the young or.
chard, and too often economy leads to
neglect. Though the process of rear
Ing the orchard to a productive stage
Is an expensive one, 1t is worth doing
well. The buying of poor trees, care
less p' p'eparation of the land for plant.
ing, or lack of care after planting, is
poor economy. The productive and
profitable old orchard is the one grown
We'll while young.
While raw land is not the most sat
isfactory upon which to set young
trees, ii often seems advisable to set
on such land without previous crop.
ping. The matter of breaking tho
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.
N''HA'AH W iNH Il llNlIt iuhlNlOlldl care lHt
young orchard can be successfully
grown On land its first season under
water. These soils in our arid coun-
tries are dry and require careful water
Ing II the raw land must be set. II
should be carefully prepared before
planting. As 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 ;hese knobs are pulled off before
watering the same. soil must be moved
back after settling is complete. Wa
ter should he worked onto these high
places as the first step in the prepara-
tiun Of the land. Often the land is
thoroughly watered before It is plowed
When ready for the plow, II should be
worked deeply and thoroughly. Some
oven advocate the use of the subsoil
riow in the space TO be occupied by
the tree rows. This could surely do no
harm and may give the roots 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 oG land, Leveling after the trees
are get is unsatisfactory and the or,
chard set on halfleveled land soon
shows d lack Of uniformity which II re
duirCr years TO outgrow. Good level
ing greatly reduces the labor Of water
ing aid the per cent. Of trees lost In
setting
Land which has been previously
farmcd or cropped Is the most salts
factory upon which to set young trees
If the land has been well watered. II
II uniformly moist, will require the
minimum amount Of water to start the
young trees, and all danger from fu
ture setting is obyiated. However
this land will suffer quicker from over
wateriaB thnn the raw land. Tn,
amount of moisture already In the sub
coll retards the recovery from over
watering
There Is one prccaution TO be taken
In the preparation Of all land for
planting to young trees. The earlier
II can be done the better The land
liiowed IN the late spring takes water
too freely and the young trees often
suFcr from oyerwaterlng. The upper
rait Of the soil becomes saturated
with water and drives out the air
and smnihers the roots Of the young
uees. 10 avoid this difficulty the land
should be prepared early and thor
ouRhly worked down or settled with
frequent winter and early spring oulti'
ya;ions. This is especially necessary
In the case Of alfalfa land which Is To be
pllnled 10 young trees The disc har
row and smoothing harrow are salts
'acnry tools for this work.-o. B
whlnplc.