The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1911-10-31
Notes on Our Orchard

IuII OK SOou lucas. III hy
boyhood the orchards | frequenteo
finger in memory, and one can hardiy
realize how long the old apple
har lasted. One Of my earliest
membranes was attached TO the
dwelling OF my Observation-Disclosures:
This orchard was planted in 1923 ana
the city has grown out and taken IN
the land in residence lots and streets.
Rut here and there in the gardens
there are still a few Of those old APP
pie trees still living and bearing
fl Uit.
An apple orchard properly attend
ed to is q thing for generations and
should be of the most thorough
character. Then never plant trees
more han one year old. The earl
ings are mere switches with live buds
all over the stem, and you can cut
them back and start the head where
you want it-that is, only a few inches
from the ground.
In these days Of spraying we must
have loW-headed trees. A tall stem
to a tree is a decided disadvantage
in many respects. 1t exposes the
trunk too long to sun-scald; 1t fur
nishes leverage for the wind to blow
the tree over; it is unhandy to spray
tand we must spray if we are to grow
good fruit, and it is too unhandy to
gather the fruit from a tall tree.
If you plant three or fo~ur-year-old
trees, you have to accept the head
hat the nurseryman has started and
these are always too tall; for the
nurSeryman imagineS that every one
wants tall trees.
Then in the South always plant
trees in the fall, from November till
Christmas, for where the soil dOes not
freeze deeply the roots will be max
ing new fbres and feeding root hairs
in winter, all ready for the swelling
of the buds in spring.
Then in planting, prune the roots
we'll. The fine hafr-like roots are
worthless, for they have inevitably
dried up, and it is necessary for the
tree to make new fibres n new root
hairs, and it can do this better from
Il freshly, clean-cut surface than from
the old tried fibres. I trim all the
roots around about six inches from
The stem, cutting with a smooth cut
on the under side Of the root.
While yearling trees are best of any
kind, they are absolutely essential in
planting peach trees. a peach tree
two years from the quo is worthless
for planting, and ] would not plant
them it given to me free.
Another thing in planting is ram
ming every inch Of the soil as it is
put in. Never settle the soil round
"A tree by pouring water in the hole,
" LI1C lC 6ol Il CId1h LA Z
tn the air, but ram it tight to the
roots as it is filled in, as tight as
though you were setting a gate post.
Then head the little tree back. I
cut back to about twenty inches from
the ground, cutting just above a bud.
select three or four from this bud
down to form the main branches of
the tree and rub off all others.
The method -of training grapes
which Mr.. Creighton describes / know
from experience to be the best meth
cd. All grapes except the Scupper-
nong class should be pruned in March
in the South. IF pruned in the fall,
they are apt to start too early and
get frosted. On two occasions in
North Carolina grapes pruned in the
fall had the young shoots frozen off
while those that had not been pruned
had not sWelled a bud. AS to bleed
ing, the growth of the foliage will
soon stop that.
Horizontal arbors are better for
grapes Of any sort than the vertical
trelliSes. 1 had some years ago a
crap arbor over a garden walk.
The vines We're purposely left without
spraying. The grapes on the vertical
sides Of the arbor rotted badly, while
those overhead were not affected. I
have noticed the same result in the
low horizontal trellises that Mr. Crigh-
ton mentions. l once tried making an
overhead shelter about two and a half
feet wide on part Of a long vertical
trellis and the remainder Of the treIlis
was sprayed, while those under the
shelter We're not sprayed. There was
more rot on the sprayed portion than
on the part with the broad shelter.
On a horizontal trellis or arbor the
foliage gives the shelter and the fruit
hangs underneath.
a Garden Notes,
sowed my las spinach the 4th Of