The Winslow mail., 1912-05-18
ALkALl BY IRRIGATION
Orchard Soils Often Become
Heavy and Alkaline.
Thousands of Trees Lost by Hard Wa
terina From Wells and Other
Causes-Open System in Prun-
ing Meets With Much Favor.

This theme might have been prop
erly labeled "The Fools Progress,
but happily some people can learn
things when house falls on them. l
had two orchards fall on me and have
come out of the debris with shattered
nerves, but with one eye open any
how and am seeing things. Solomon
was a wise man, writes George H.
West, in the Denver Field and Farm.
He had much domestic experience and
knew of the apple. Speaking of the
apple tree among the trees of the
wood he says: II sat down under his
shadow with great delight and his
fruit was sweet to my taste" Later
he says: Comfort me with apples
for | am sick Of love- Long before
ones orchard becomes a source of in
come to the tired soul and body and
empty pocket, the grower may well re-
verse this saying and cry out Comfort
me with love for | am sick of apples"
The Lord loves a good fighter and
eternal vigilance brings many things
besides liberty. The apple grower
fights from start to finish and we'll
earns his profits Who can say the
limit is yet reached on the net profits
from mature apple orchard under
the added wisdom of the years yet
before us? | am not an experienced
apple grower. No doubt most of those
men are doing their orchard and apple
work better and at less cost than
have been doing and have secured
better results. Such can pat them
selves on the back To others / may
prove horrible example but you need
not fall into the same holes l did
you can dig plenty of your own. Prob
ably it costs on the average 20 cents
a box to grow apples and 10 cents
more for harvesting, boxing and mar
keting-say so cents a box total Per-
haps $3.50 box is fair average price
for Jonathans and Winesaps and $125
for the Missouri pippin and $100 for
Ben Davis, carload lots, net f. o. b..
our stations. The margins show what
to grow.
We have lost many trees by our
own men leaving them in the original
nursery bundles and heeling them in
instead of opening and spreading them
out; also heeling them in pits with
upright instead of sloping sides. In
both cases they get air and dry out.
Much of our irrigated orchard lands
have become heavy and somewhat al
kaline and we have lost thousands OF
young trees by hard watering from
wells that were strongly alkaline In
replanting hereafter we plan to put
shovel or two of clear sand around
every young trees roots. Every year
we lose young trees from girdling by
the rabbits. We have tried blood on
the tree trunks and abandoned 1t.
Then axle grease was used-it kept off
the rabbits but drew the heat, dried
up the sap and killed the trees.
We believe in cross-fertilization and
our largest crop of apples came one
year when We had one hundred hives
of bees in the orchard. We now have
two hundred hives on one orchard and
the same number near the other one
w Y use WhtIl 1lloy DO NGAlCu Luc open
system in pruning, taking out the cen
ters of the young trees and where old.
er orchards are acquired we are doing
the same thing so far as insuring
symmetry and balance to the tree will
permit. Under this system the trees
bend every way from the center, easily
carrying their fruit We use no props
and rarely are picked from the tiff
and rarely find a limb broken. Most
of our apples are picked from the
ground
This plan of growing apple trees we
find in every way best for pollination,
air drainage, pruning, spraying and
harvesting. The low spreading trees
catch little wind and we have few
windfalls. Rubbing off the small
green water sprouts or suckers in
July by hand greatly lessons the cost
of pruning later. Also cutting the
ground suckers right back to the root
or tree trunk prevents them from
growing again.