The Falls City tribune., 1910-08-19
forest HILL FRUIT FARM
THE RESULTS OF INTELLIGENT
FRUIT FARMING.
Forest Hill Orchards Attracting
Attention the Country over
This Years Crop.

What can be done in Nebraska
by men Of ability and intelll-
gence, who go into business Of
commercial orcharding to make
it win, is demonstrated by the
proprietor Of Forest Hill Fruit
Farm in Richardson county. The
Forest Hill Fruit Farm is located
about fourteen miles northeast OF
Falls City and three and one-half
miles from the Missouri river on
what is known as the Missouri
river bluffs. 1t is composed of
100 acres, seventy acres of which
is in bearing apple trees of the
following varieties: Wealthy, Jon
athan, Grimes Golden, Winesap,
Ben Davis and Gano.
Mr.. Henry c. Smith of Falls
City bought this tract of land
sixteen years ago for $40 per
acre for the purpose for which it
is now used. Before engaging IN
the business of commercial orch
arding, Mr.. Smith visited fruit
districts in a number Of the adj
joining states and talked with
the leading fruit growers regard
ing soil, location, varieties, etc.
lie recognized this location as
one of the best in the county, be-
ing central and near several of
the county's best apple markets.
The soil also seemed to be ideal
as fruit and trees in general grew
and did exceedingly we'll when
given any chance at all.
The piece of ground selected by
Mr.. Smith was covered with tim
ber, principally oak, and the
ground was ideal for orchard
planting, being rich in humus
from the decaying leaves, twigs
and roots, and in fine condition
to catch and retain moisture.
That his judgment in selecting
this location was right has been
proved by the bounteous crops
harvested for the last three years,
the tremendous crops maturing
this season that already has the
limbs of many of the trees bent
almost to the breaking point, and
the healthy and vigorous appear
ance of the trees.
When starting to develop this
property Mr.. Smith secured Mr..
j. G. Wileman to move onto the
place and take active charge OF
the work. 1t was rather discour-
aging for Mr.. Wileman and his
family for a few years as not
many of the neighbors had faith
in commercial fruit growing IN
Nebraska and instead of lending
encouragement they were prone
to criticise and laugh about the
apple orchard on the hill. Mr..
Wileman stuck, however, and Is
now partner of Mr.. Smith in
one of the best paying PROPOSE
tions in Richardson county.
The timber was cut down and
burned and the apple trees plant
ed Immediately. Planting was
often done in the afternoon where
heavy timber stood in the morn
ing. The stumps were then grad
ually taken out as time permitted.
Clean cultivation has been prac-
ticed in this orchard from the
start, at first with cultivators and
with a disk and harrow since
the stumps have all been remov-
ed. At the time of the writer s
visit to this orchard the space be-
tween the rows was perfectly
clean and fine soil mulch was
being maintained to conserve the
moisture.
Pruning and spraying, two es-
sentials to successful orcharding,
have been carefully looked after
in this orchard. The trees have
been carefully pruned from the
start and thorough spraying with
large power sprayer has been
practiced since the trees began to
bear. From three to five applica-
tions are given each year, depend
ing upon the amount of fungus
and insects present. The fourth
spraying this season was given
the first week in August. At this
time the fruit is almost perfectly
free from fungus marks and a
long search has to be made to
find a single wormy apple.
Paying crops have been gather
ed from this orchard each of the
past three seasons, and this year
the crop is estimated at 10000
bushels. The apples from this