The Guthrie daily leader. [volume] (Guthrie, Okla.) 1893-1996, 1911-01-22

(Exp sta. croular)
This Is the important point connected with
the planting Of orchard Failure to raise fruits
success. .uy ae frequently due to Lad orchard
sites than to any other one cause. By orchard site
it is not toreier to the locality or neighborhood
In which the orchard planted but 10 the specific To-
cation the part OF the farm, the hilltop, hillside or
valley, the case may be. leighborhoods vary very
much In the number OF good orchard sites they msy
furnish There occasional sections where practlc
ally all OF the land is well adapted to orchard trees
These are the rare fruit sections In such places II
will generally be found that fruit growing has re-
placed general farming being more prohtable.' AT
the other extreme there those localities where none
Of the land s adapted to fruit growing Neighborhoods
in which the land is generally OF swampy nature
usually belong to this class There are localities In
which the planting or orchard In any placels
waste time and trees, In neghborhoods which fail
into either of these divisions knowledge is not neces
sary in order to select an orchard site In ne great
bulk OF the country however, falls into an inte.medl-
ate division. part OF the land being suitable Tor or
chard planting and a portion unsuitable Wy
The character OF the surface soil appears to have
little or nothing to do with making good tree land
Good orchards will be found on all kinds OF SOILS,
from dense clays TO light sands 1t is certainly not
due to the richness OF the SOIL for many OF the Dest
orchard sections OF the United States have thin SOILS
which require constant feeding. In fact there Is only
thing which Is found constantly associated WIN
good orchard land and that Is open porous subso
The adaptability OF land for tree growth Is shown by
the character OF the soil fom one to six feet below
the surface II the land is satisfactory for four feet
down. usually this Ia deep enough for satisfactory tree
growth although six is better.
The average farmer knows but little about his
land below the bottom OF the furrow made by the pow
so that he is frequently but little better fitted to say
where his trees should be planted than some one who
has seen the land.
There are many ways OF becoming acquainted
with the subsoi One OF the best is by the use OF
shade The digging OF few holes five six feet
deep in different parts Of the farm viii reveal an
-stonishing amount OF information as to the character
OF the subsoil The number OF holes necessary TO
give satisfactory information as to the character OF
the underlying strata will vary. II 1t be found th!t
half dozen holes dug in certain five or ten acre
tract give practically the same result in each case u
may usually assumed that these indicate the general
character OF the subsoil. II on the OTHER hand the
verdict is variable more holes will have to be- dug
until the Its OF the different formations are shown
Where neither rocks stones present this work
may be done quickly and quite as satisfactorily with
Ia ground auger as with spade A homemade auger
usually quite satisfactory for this purpose as the
more expensive article purchased on the market Take
an old inch and half or two inch wood auger ana
have the local blacksmith weld 1t to the end OF six
inch wrought iron rod The welding OF short cross
piece at the top completes the device.
An open porous subsoIl nsures drainage and thus
promotes the establishment Of deep feeding roots Trees
with such root systems are not subject to the Vccls
situdes Of varying to the extent as those
Of shaower root system. There is q popular sup
position that the root system OF plant Is OF approx
mately the shape the trunk and branch system
above, the taller plants having the deeper roots, etc.
II this true 1t would that trees would have
deeper roots than shrubs or herDaceous plants Ihs
appears to be popular fallacy No definite rule can
plants varies with the character Of the soil Inn dense
soils the grass roots including the cloves. generally
show much greater capacity for going down than
tree roots. The writer has repeatedly found IN dig
gng In clay apple orchards seeded down to clover
that the clover roots would penetrate from five to SIX
feet below the surface when none OF the tree roots
would be deeper than two and half to three feet
The capacity penetrate impervious subsoils does not
depend the boring power OF the root tip All roots
have a boring power which is quite sufficient TO force
their way down in any ordinary subsoil. The reason
fnrt tho ohcnnp of
live in the denser soil owing to the lack of the neces-
sary air Thus IL will be found that soft mucky sub
soil is quite efficient barrier to root growth as
solid rock.
While the above statements true generally OF
all fruit trees there differences in the different
kinds of fruits Thus peaches head the list OF trees
which demand well drained deep SOIL The peach dis
tricts OF the United States largely thins sandy
d lands. Our native plums probably come next In de
string light open soil and subsoi 1t Is rather difficult
4 to classify them owing to their belonging to different
. species with different requirements Apples come next
), then pears, and lastly European plums. AS these las
D, be generally raised successfully In the middle
west tney OF little interest TO Oklahoma fruit frow
o ers Cherries are quite adaptable In the matter Q
i subsol but all the districts in which cherries mark
h. edy successful have light open sabsoils.
l. Grapes stand In class by themselves. Our ma
tive grapes grow largely by streams and In damp poor
y drained locations However practically all OF ou
cultivated grapes of New England species or Q
!. mixed New England and European species. They al
demand deep open soil.
70 factor In determining successful orchard sites Tn
exact part which of air play In orchard ecor
omy is not thoroughly understood 1t appears to
most important in the OF peaches and grapes II
Importance in the OF peaches is largely II nc
wholly due to the effect 1t has on fross. Frosts ar
h much more common In small valleys or pockets In tn
c. land than they hiltops or hillsides. At on
IL time the writer had his attention called to two peac
;. orchards on the Pacific coast They were located
one of the fruit valleys of that region and were
= adjoining fields The varites we're the same, but on
" OF the orchards located flat about fifteen fec
"a higher than the flat which the other was ocate'
The upper orchards had been profitable from the tim
II began to bear while the other orchard had alway
: been Improbable. Nearly every year a late eprin
- frost would kill the blossoms the lower orchar
" while the upper would escape So great di
g. ference in result with slight difference Id ai6tud
lis rare but the rule Is general that the higher the
the better the chance OF its escaping either mi
winter or spring injury. In the case OF grapes Il
- benefit OF air drainage appears to be largely due
the aid 1t gives the plant in resisting fungus disease
~ particularly black rot
SO far the only things that have been considered
. locating the orchard have been those connected WI
the welfare of the trees. There are others howeys