The Marion daily mirror. (Marion, Ohio) 1892-1912, 1909-01-27
COMMERCIAL APPLE GROWING.
Soil, Location and VarletiGs--Neces-
slty Of shelter-oive the Trees
Plenty Of Room-Points on
Prunine-Spray often.

that the soil must be adapted to the
business and that very good and very
poor locations may lie side by side.
Nearly every farm contains some
land that is adapted to apple grow
ing, although very few farms as a
whole would prove adapted to the in
dustry Soil and location are fully as
important factors as the climate. A
careful study Of the conditions sur
rounding the orchards that we're
planted in the early times has proved
to us that in selecting an orchard site
the most important things to consid-
er are the character Of the soil, ex.
posure and shelter, says a writer in
the Country Gentleman. Good, deep
soil, composed largely Of vegetable
matter, with sand and gravel or clay,
is ideal. The scarcity of timber that
formerly afforded windbreaks makes
It essential that we select northeast
ern, northern or eastern exposures or
slopes for an orchard On land that
affords a natural wind-break. or
where there is no protection from
timber-land or groves, double row
of evergreens may be used to adyant-
age as a wind-break.
After determining on the site OF
the proposed orchard, the next impor-
tant step is that of properly prepar-
ing the soil. The old saying that the
| hole should be the same size as the
| orchard" is a safe rule to follow and
means literally that we should care
fully fit the field at least one year
before the trees are to be planted. 1t
is a loss of time and money to plant
! trees on wet and undrained soil. We
/ have also learned that the selection
! Of the varieties best adapted to our
conditions in great measure means
! success or failure. The desire TO
/ plant too many varieties Of apples has
resulted in flooding our orchards with
undesirable fruit, in many instances
without regard to market demands,
! quality or profits The most profitable
commercial orchards in New York
state are those containing from one to
three varieties. Planting a few choice
varieties for home consumption o.
for home markets is a different pro-
position from commercial apple grow
ing.
For a commercial orchard in this
latitude there are three market ap-
pies that stand in a class by them
selves, the Baldwin, Northern Spy
and Greening-all great market ia
vorites that possess good keeping
qualities. The 2O-ounce Pippin and
the Tompkin's County Kings are eX-
cellent fall and early winter apples,
but they must be marketed in their
season regardless Of the market con-
ditions. Hardy varieties must be Sc
lected regardless of their beauty of
form or quality. 1t is a matter Of
cold dollars and cents and not OF sem
timent. Select the best trees that
can be found, and above all, select
them from the stock of some first
class nurseryman who sells good trees
instead of making panic prices to get
rid of a lot of old stock that has ac-
cumulated on his hands.
In setting out the trees, give them
plenty of room. l would set apple
trees 40 feet each way at least. If
you feel that you cannot afford to use
50 much land, plan to grow some
small fruit between the apple trees,
and by the time the apples are ready
to occupy the interspaces the small
fruit trees may be removed and give
them the whole of the field. We may
be able to grow corn stalks and trees
by close planting, but when 1t comes
to growing first-class crops of cor ]
and apples we shall find that it is
essential that the stalks and trees
have plenty of light, air and feeding
space for their roots. | believe that
there is but one way for trees to grow
to insure the greatest hardness. The
practice of low heading may be adap
ted to some sections of the ives
where the climatic conditions are no
the name as in this state.
While advocating pruning tree
higher than is the practice of many
| am by no means in favor of higl
training. The branches should afforC
protection TO the trunks during tn,
hot summer after the trees come in
to bearing My ideal tree is trained
high enough TO secure the growth o
the branches at right angles with tn
trunk, otherwise they will form wha
has been aptly termed malformeC
crotches, by the tendency of the low
er branches to am upright growth
Every tree should have a center shat
on which the branches should b.
! regularly distributed, never allowin,
number of branches to cluster to
gether on any one side to overbalanc
the top of the tree. Pruning is
necessary evil and more of it shoul'
be done. Summer pruning has ten
dency to check the growth of tn
wood, and in some instances is injur
ious to the tree.
) Spray by all means and spray often
1t has been the means of saving tn,
industry from ruin. Nothing will
pay better returns for the work ex