The record., 1913-10-09
Starting an Apple Orchard.

side, because of the difficulties In
spraying, ulling and harvesting.
Broad, fiat bottom lauds above
river are often good, because the
river vdraws" tie frost and the land
is very easily worked.
The question of exposure is of
prime importance in the planting of
trees. In general, northern and
eastern slopes are more fertile than
southern or western slopes. A north
err or eastern slope is to be prefer
ed in this region because such ex-
posure aids in holding back the buds
in the sprng wh.n there is danger
of damage by fr r.ezing Where early
ripenirg fruits are wanted j, is prob
ably better to plant on land with
southern exposure. IL there hap
pens TO be a river flowing close by,
advantage should be taken of the
slope facing il regardless of the way
the land lies, unless it is altogether
too steep. Tbs river will serve TO
ward off the frost.
Apples thrive on a great variety
of soils but in general they seam to
do best on well drained clay loan.
Any land that will grow good crops
of corn or Irish potatoes is consid-
cred fit for an orchard provided the
location is such that the land will
drain readily. Trees cannot thrive
IN thin, badly worn soil or where an
impervious subsoil is near the sur
face. Such a soil is likely to hold
too mach moisture, thereby causing
the trees 10 be stun,ed and weakly.
II it is necessary to plant an orchard
in a soil that holds too much mois-
ture, provision should be made for
artificial drainage tefore the tees
are planted. Tile is the most salts
factory form of drainage to iastall,
even If the initial cost is little high.
Brush and stone drains are unsatis-
factory because they have to be
taken up and replaced too often in
order to keep them in good working
condition.
Soil containing abundant plant
food should be selected for the or
chard so as to insure hardy vigor-
Gus growth from the very start. 1t
is poor pract:ce to crop land for
several years. thereby exhausting
the soil of the plant food, and then
plant i, to fruit trees expecting them
to care for themselves. Kentucky
has many orchards started in just
this mtnner and in nearly every
case they have failed. Ii is best to
begin building up ths soil one or
two years previous TO the time Of
planting, by sowing some legumin-
Gus crop and turning il so as to
supply plenty of humus and moist
ure to the trees. Young growing
trees demand q large amount of
nitrogen and moisture in order to
make a thrifty growth, an little
work in building up a soil will be
we'll repaid in a short time.
Before locating an orchard for
commercial purposes it is well to go
into a community where apples are
already being grown commercially
because the markets in such region
are already well established. Tie
fact that there are no orchards in a
region should not prevent one from
going into the fruit growing business
provided be has the proper condi-
lions. For an orchard to be sue
cessful it should be located where
tAere is a good local market or
where the transportation fscilines
are good. Plant as close to a rail
road as possible SO as to avoid long
hauls and danger of bruising the
fruit before il reaches the market.
There are many fine fruit locations
to be found In Kentucky, close to
good markets and within easy haul
ing distance OF the railroads. The
land in many cases can be bought
very cheap and with a little time
and work il can be made valuable
for orchard purposes.
The Extension Department of the
Kentucky Experiment Station gives
free assistance where possible to all
kinds of agricultural enterprises.
J. II. CARMoDY,
Asst. Horticulturist, Kentucky Ex-
pertinent Station. Lexington. KY,