The citizen. (Honesdale, Pa.) 1908-1914, 1909-01-20
MONEY IN OLD ORCHARDS.
Profitable Fruit Croos From Run
Down Farms.

Down Farms.
A woman who owns, and manages |
large orchards in the centra' part Of
New York state furnishes interesting /
information which will be of interest
in all states where fruit is raised She
says:
'Svithin the last two months I've
had as many as twenty letters from
women asking for advice about in
vesting in fruit trees. Most of these
women are thinking Of investing In
farms or small country places where !
there are already what they term old.
run down orchards. They come to me
to find out IL they can ever make
those old trees bear.
According to my experience. all
apple tree in this climate has TO be
pretty far gone TO be ready for the ak
l mean, of course, when 1t is n good
variety. The trouble with the apple
trees which we sec on these old places
is that they need care and attention.
'They have been allowed TO stand
year after year with their roots COW
cred by sod. They are actually dying
of thirst and starvation. If one will
only study the difference in the color
Of the leaves Of trees growing in a
titled orchard and i'm one allowed 10
go TO grass in midsummer he will see
the signs of starvation and thirst.
ss'rIa t,.~& a
orchard is TO plow 1t up. If 1t has
been in sod for a number of years
there will be many roots near the sur
face. DO not be afraid OF hurting the
trees by cutting these roots with the
plow.
This plowing should he done early
in the spring and should he repeated
several times during the first season.
If the roots are so thick that you car
not plow, then chop up the sod with
~ disk harrow. If the land is tco
rough even for that. turn in hces.
Drop few grains of corn here and
there in crowbar holes and leave the
rest for the hogs.
Trees in such neglected orchards
always need pruning. This should b
done when the trees are dormant.
February is usually the best month.
IF tho tree has not been pruned for
/ several years. do not take out all the
/ useless wood at one time. Let some
/ of ii go over.
"Now. pruning is something that
should never be carelessly done. The
prunings should all be burned and the
ashes scattered about the roots of the
trees.
After this severe pruning you will
get n big crop of water sprouts in the
summer. Rub them off promptly
After this first pruning it will be nee
essary to prune n little every season.
"As a rule. there is enough plant
food in the soil if it is only put in
shape so that the trees can use it. If,
however. this should not be the case.
then fertilizer containing nitrogen
is the best tonic. A liberal dressing
of barnyard manure is the very best
way of supplying this nitrogen. Nj
trate of soda is also good.
81 have found it impossible to raise
good fruit without spray pump. If
YOU have never sprayed, begin by writ
ing to your state experimental sta
tion for its spraying bulletins. Don't
spray feebly. but do the job thor
ouEhly.
Trees may be healthy and blossom
year after year and no fruit be form
ed. This condition can be remedied
in two ways. One way is to graft
about every third tree in every third
row with pollen bearing variety.
The other and sometimes the more
convenient is to replant certain rows
with pollen bearers. When setting out
new orchards l always plant every
fourth row with pollen bearers.
Fortunately it is only in isolated
orchards of single variety that such
conditions prevail. In fruit growing
districts where several varieties arc
raised and bees are kept a total fail
ure is next to impossible. 1t is not
always necessary to keep bees, but il
will pay a fruit grower, especially il
new country, to be on the safe
side"