The courier-index. (Marianna, Ark.) 1917-current, 1917-11-16
BEAT THE H.C. OF |.
BY RAISING FRUIT
Every Home in Arkansas Should Have
Enough Fruit Trees To Supply
Family With Preserves.
By ]. S Knox, Extension Division
University OF Arkansas.

4hCiS are uuHuTeuS OF homes In Ar
kansas where real fruit tree cannot
be found, and thousands of others
where the paintings are confined to
the fence corners or terraces. Such
should not be the case, but every farm
home, whether occupied by land own.
er or tenant, should have well kept
orchard of from one-half to one acre.
Only few trees OF each kind of fruit
will be needed to supply an abundance
of fruit for the family. There is
nothing nicer than being able to go
into your own orchard and gather a
basket of nice ripe fruit from your own
trees or vines.
The Best Place for an Orchard.
The location of the home orchard is
of great Importance. Since its OBJ
ject is to supply the home with fresh
fruits, 1t should be located as conven-
lent as possible to the home. 1t should
be remembered, however, that fruit
trees will not thrive in cold, wet soils,
and it may be best to sacrifice near
ness to the home for a more favorable
location. Your farm may not have
any very favorable places for an or
chard, but there are very few farms
where there isn't small area that
could be made TO produce fair crop
of fruit. Wherever possible, a gentle
slope should be selected for the or
chard, since such places are less like
n
water in the soil
Buy From Reliable Nurserymen.
Too much stress cannot be placed
on the importance of buying trees
from reliable nurserymen. No matter
how ideal the soil or the location, one
cannot succeed with poor trees. IN
buying fruit trees, by all means avoid
the so-called fruit tree agent, unless
you know him personally and know
that he represents a thoroughly reli
able nursery.
The time of ripening of the diff
ferent varieties should also be
given careful consideration, since by a
proper selection of this kind we can
have fruits ripening all along from
May to November. Generally speak
ing, one-year-old trees are preferable
because they are not so badly dam
aged in digging and since they can
be shaped more to your liking.
Plant Properly at Right Time.
Fruit trees may be planted at any
time from the first of December to the
first of March, but the early planting
is generally considered preferable be-
cause it gives the soil time to settle
about the roots of the young tree be-
fore the growing period sets in. The
holes for the trees should be dug
large enough to receive the roots of
the young trees without crowding
them. Before setting, cut off all
broken or mangled roots and cut back
the trees to correspond with the root
system that is left.
Must Care for the Trees.
It is impossible to grow fruit un-
less we devote considerable time to
the care of the trees. There are nu-
merous insects and diseases that are
always on hand to destroy the trees
as soon as they are planted, but for
tunately we have a remedy for most
of these. II you DO not intend to
prune. cultivate and spray your or.
chard then it is best not to plant one,
because It will serve only as breed
ing place for insects and diseases that
viii injqre your neishbor's orchard.
A barrel spray pump should be on
hand wherever home orchard z
planted. These pumps can be puf.
chased complete for about $500 to
$4,000, and one pump will be sufil-
cient to take care of several home or
chards. In order to get results from
spraying. the work must be done thor
oughly. Spraying is not difficult
operation nor Is 1t very expensive
compared 10 the returns which IL
brings.
II you are figuring on planting
home orchard. write to the Extension
Division. University of Arkansas. Fay
etteville, Ark, and let us help you In
the selection of varieties suited to
your section.