Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1910-11-25
The People of York Can Have it If
They Want it.
SOME VALUABLE EXPERT SUGGESTIONS
HOW TO SELECT, PLANT, PRUNE AND CARE FOR TREES
THAT WILL GIVE THE BEST AND MOST
PROFITABLE RESULTS

Our fruit trees are so hlSnly uoHieS-
ticated that they will not reproduce
themselves true to name. You can
plant an apple or peach seed and get
tree all right. but 80 times out OF
1OO II will be Of very inferior quality.
This is the reason why it is necessary
to resort to grating and budding
Seedlings are not worth the room they
take I'D. and don't let them cheat you
ont of enough ground to grow. Get
fruit trees from a reliable nursery
man. Don't order through 1rult
tree agent who comes around In the
spring with highly colored plates. Or
der directly from a nurseryman WhoHi
YOU know to be reliable.
Before ordering the trees select ana
nrepare the ground for the trees. IL
YOU want good fruit, you must plant
in good soil. If possible select ground
that will produce bale OF cotton per
acre Don't let any one persuade you
that such land is too valuable lor
fruit trees. Just remember that the
return in fruit will be in direct pro-
norton to the kind OF soil In WHICH
the trees are planted, and the care IN
planting, pruning, and care given the
trees. If you are married 10 cotloh
and don't intend to give anything eX-
cent cotton good soil and good treat
ment YOU had better let everything
else alone. An orchard OF apples OF
peaches in York county properly
planted and cared for will bring III
far better returns than cotton. 1 do
not mean to say that any farmer
should plant his whole farm in frult'
but he should at least grow enough
for his own use.
Select an elevated place for the
fruit trees, as they will not do we'll IN
low. wet Soils TO produce the pest
fruit. the orchard must be well drain
ed and tile drainage is the kind that
shouId be used. Some of the elevated
places need drainage as badly as low
places.
Select a northern exposure for the
orchard, as fruit trees on southern
exposure are much more naDle to
damage from early spring frosts than
those on the northern exposure. A
few davs warm weather in early spring
will bring out the buds and blossoms
on the southern exposure. and 1rost
comes along and nips them. Fruit
trees on a southern exposure will
sometimes bloom two weeks before
those on the northern exposure.
Before planting the trees. get the
ground in good condition. Break
deeply, and, if the soil is clay SOIL
subsoil it.
Do not try to put too many trees
on the ground. Give them plenty OF
room. They must have it in order 10
give good fruit. Set apples thirty feet
apart. peaches sixteen to twenty feet
apart. pears twenty to twenty-five feet
apart. etc.
Set the trees in rows. Do not plant
them out promiscuously. 1t gives
them a ragged appearance. Lay on
the rows and put a stake where each
tree is to be set.
out the trees when they arrive, heel
them in. Heeling-in consists of dig
ging a good deep hole and planting
all the trees in one bunch. Pack soil
around the roots tightly and let them
remain until you are ready to plant
them. Never allow the roots OF a
fruit tree to be exposed to the sun
and air for any length of time before
planting. If you do, you are very
greatly lessening the chances of that
tree for living after it is planted.
When ready to plant dig hole
wide and deep enough to allow the
roots to spread out in their natural
pOsition. Never crowd them. Cut of
any dead or bruised portions of roots
before planting. Put good top soil
around the roots and pack firmly.
A fruit tree should not be a long
bodied tree, but should begin to
branch near the ground This may
be brought about by what is known
as the heading back of the tree. The
heading back consists of cutting off
" after setting out. If it is an apple
tree it should be headed back to
within two or two and one-half feet
of the ground. The peach should be
headed back to within fifteen to
twenty-four G5 TO 24) inches. This
heading back will cause a great many
shoots to come out around the stem.
All except four or five of the healthiest
looking of these should be cut out.
throwing all the food to these. II
il is a peach, half of each one of these
shoots should be cut back during the
winter The cutting back OF these
shoots will bring forth shoots from
these shoots the next spring. Cut out
all but two or three of the healthi-
est of these. This system of prun-
ing will give a tree with an open CEN
ter, which is what you want. About
half OF the previous years growth
should be cut back from peach trees
while young About One-third Is the
proper amount after they begin to
get somewhat old. The apple branches
should be cut DacR ABOUT oHe-'iiI"
or one-fourth when the tree is young
but very little, if any. after they be-
gin bearing.
When you plant a young fruit tree
draw in your mind a perfectly shaped
tree and cut in such a way that this
picture will become a living reality.
Remember that any fruit tree should
be SO shaped that the sunshine may
touch all portions of it at one time
during the day This is necessary to
give good color and taste to the fruit.
But you are not through pruning
fruit tree as soon as you get it
properly shaped. 4 fruit tree should
he pruned every year but do not send
some ignorant person to do the work.
Any person who cuts limb from a
fruit tree without knowing why he