Western Carolina Democrat and French Broad hustler. [volume] (Hendersonville, N.C.) 1913-1915, 1914-02-26
now no MAKE OLD ORCHARDS
PRODUCTIVE AND PROFITABLE
Many Trees Forty Years Old win Bear
Fruit PrOftably-MethOds
Of Regeneration.
fBy 3. I. Perkins, Henderson Counts

(BY i. E0TK1nS, H0uu6TbOu COuuIS
Farm Demonstrator.)
Conditions have changed, Markets
have opened up and are demanding
apples, and are willing t. pay a good
price for them. TO meet this demand.
thousands Of acres of orchards have
and are being planted in many sec
tions Of the United States, but it viii
take time to bring these younger or
chards into bearing. Meanwhile many.
men are turning to these old general
farm orchards in the hope that In.
their rehabiIiment they may find profit
in meeting this demand. If these old
orchards can be rehabilitated they will
go q long way toward supplying the
market with neededfruit later when
the many acres OF newly planted trees
come into bearing, it may be no longer
profitable to maintain the old orchard
in competition with the younger and
better orchards. Just at the present
time, however, the opportunity to
make money. out of the g~eneral-farm
orchard Is good in many instances.
The old apple orchards, be it 20
trees or ZOO; may form an important
source of income on the general farm.
An effort should be made to make this
unit a productive one and so to reiuV-
mate and care for these old trees that
they will contribute as much as they
ore able. to the net farm Increase.
Out of a survey Of 1900 orchards
1t vas found that trees ranging from
80 to 40 years of age could be made
to produce a gross income ranging
from 1880 to $4,000 per acre.
Orchards it VIII Not Pay to RenOYate.
Those orchards which it will not pay
to spend much money or effort on may
be put into four classes.
Cd Orchard with less than SO per
cent of a stand of trees especially
when they are more than 40 years of
age.
CD Orchards with poor or undesir-
able varieties.
(3) Orchards on a poor or insult
able soil or in an unfaVorable site or
location.
(4 Orchards in which the trees
are badly diseased and show very few
signs of vigor.
When trees are older than 50 or 40
years the chances of successful reno
Walton are very much less. Older
trees should be in exceptionally good
condition il renovation is to be at
tempted, as it is much more difficult to
intuse vigor into old trees than into
younger mes
Poor Varieties.
1t susaIly will not pay to renovate (,
orchards composed largely of worth
less or very poor varieties. Nothing is
to be gained by increasing the yield or
grade of a variety which cannot read !
ily be sold in the open market at a
good price. When trees of such varl, /;
cites, however. are not too old, not
More than 80 years, and are in fairly
good Vigor, they often may be top
worked to advantage. The best meth
Cd of doing this is by grating in early
Under favorable conditions a
tree may be changed from a poor va
riety to a desirable one and made to
bear fruit in from 8 to 5 years.
1t costs considerably more to reno
vate a badly diseased orchard than !
one not so diseased. All disease must
be eradicated by destroying infected
parts and by spraying. Dead branches
and limbs must be removed and the
effect may be to- seriously and perma-
nently weaken the tree. Disease fire.
Quently stunts the growth to such an
extent as to make it impossible to re-
juvenate the tree. If vigor has been
lost, nc amount of stimulation will re- !
it. Good vigor, even though It
DC dormant, is absolutely essential in
tree if it is to be improved.
How to Renovate an Orchard.
Four steps must be taken in the I'M
provement of the general force or
These are: Pruning, fertilization
and spraying. J