The daily sentinel., 1912-07-05

preCiate the fact that Mr.. Herrick is
thoroughly familiar with his subject
His article follows:
Upon careful examination OF fruit
at fairs in the fall of the year one
can generally tell what kind of treat
ment the orchard received during the
year from which the fruit was col
lected. Ii is possible, however, to
gather first class show fruit from
neglected orchards but this is not the
rule. The time is at hand when our
fruit fairs are more representative
of the kind of orchards than we
maintain. And this is being more
emphasized by the fact that people
who win the prizes are those who
give much care and attention in car
ing for the orchard throughout the
year
The spring of the year is the
proper time to commence to think
about and prepare for .he fairs which
are to be held in the fall. If one
tries to grow exhibition fruit on all
of his trees the chances are that he
will have first class fruit for market
purposes. Competition is growing
keener and 1t is now necessary in
grow only the very best. In order to
do this, careful attention must be
paid to the various phases of orchard
management. Careful individual
study of each tree should be made to
ascertain its vitality, general condi-
tion, etc. The first thing to be con-
| sidered in the orchard is the sanitary
condition, such as proper drainage,
soil fertility, and the physical con-
dition Of the soil. One should see
that the soil contains plenty of
humus or decayed organic matter,
since without this element plant food
becomes unavailable. the soil does
not take moisture well and does not
hold it when it is applied.
One should. look carefully after
the pruning to see that the branches
are stock, capable of supporting
heavy load of fruit, allowing plenty
of sunlight to penetrate, securing the
proper spread and not allowing the
tree to grow too high. All these
will have much to do with securing
a better grade of fruit for the mar
llet and the fair. The trees may
require a very heavy thinning, this
to be done some time during the
latter part of June or the first of
July. Thinning facilitates selecting
and grading the fruit in the fall as
fewer culled and ununiform apples
will have to be handled. Such va
rieties as the Winesap and Missouri
Pippins should be thinned to about
eight or ten inches apart When
thinning, do not look at the apples
which have fallen 10 the ground. but
notice only those still remaining on
fg
located that 1t will not become limb
bruised caused either by limbs or by
wind. All wormy fruit should be
picked off and destroyed. All
doubles broken. as they often do not
obtain the proper size and give the
worms a better chance to enter on
the side
Fruit Jars should be patronized
by every orChardist and il should be
the aim of each TO display the repre-
tentative fruit of his orchard so that
the total selection would be a fair
representative of the locality. The
orchardist should spend but few
minutes in selecting show fruit but
should bear in mind during the whole
season that his object is to grow
the best fruit possible on every tree.
not only for show purposes but for
the market In way. every one
likes competition. especially If he
thinks he stands a show of winning,
and it should be the object of every
orchardist not only to win premiums
at the fairs. but to put upon the
market the very best product that
the market demands. Everyone likes
to see and hear of honest advertising
and there is not better way to do this
than TO grow show fruit that com