Mexico weekly ledger., 1921-08-04

/ business, but raise enough ior nome
use Missouri is said to produce the
finest favored fruit that is grown in
the Union, of such as grow well
here. / believe the time is near at
hand when a young family orchard
will be drawing card to the pros
pective purchaser Of farm for he
can build houses and barns; dig
wells, etc, in a short time with
money, but money will not put the
young bearing orchard on the farm.
1t will take time Who would let
double the cost of an orchard stand
between him and the purchased price
of farm with an orchard rather
than one without an orchard? 1t ap-
pears to me that poultry, dairy, gar
den and fruit are just as essential as
growing corn, oats and wheat in
quantities and selling it at 30c, 60c
and $l.00 per bushel~ and paying from
20O% to 4009o for needed articles
You can grow apples, peaches and
pears almost as cheaply per bushel
as grain when one will build or make
your farm for future generations,
when the others will deplete it.
We are no longer at point where
we can buy the four needed articles
cheaper than we can produce them
on the farm.
When driving through Audrain
county in any direction you can
see fine farms with large roomy
houses, big red barns, fine stock, etc,
and quite often we see the surround
ings bare and bleak, especially in the
prairie. Here it is without a shrub
berry, roses, etc, in the yard, and
often there are no shade trees, and,
should these be there, there will be
no orchard of any description, An
orchard is one of the essentials to
keep and encourage the girls and
boys to stay on the farm where they
could spend many happy hours
lounging under the graceful shade
trees, then scamper out to the orch
ard and get those luscious peaches
and big red apples as we older folks
have often done.
/ grew up on an eighty acre farm
and ten acres was in a fine bearing
orchard of one hundred varieties of
apples and many varieties of peaches
and | do not believe any thing will
hold the boys and girls on the farm
and make them love it more than a
fine orchard of all kinds of fruits.
What can your boys and girls prom
Use themselves by leaving the farm,
going to town and taking their
! chances over farm life? The fathers
and mothers must make farm life
more attractive than town life and
beautiful trees, shrubbery and large
orchards will do it. If | wanted to
win the affection of the little BOYS
and girls of the town / would use
fruit to do it with. Why not keep
the boys and girls on the farm with
the same attractions? We must have
more farm producers and less men
in our towns saying they have been
looking fer a job for week, and
) that rent is due with no money to
p pay it. Go to the farm and you can
have a job when you want it. II is
the most wholesome, healthy, happy,
contented life you can live.
One of the two immediate solu-
tions in my opinion is to go at once
and look after all trees of every de-
scription. Take any lone apple or
peach tree, manure it heavily, dig or
plow around it, rather shallow, saw
dead limbs off, close to body of the
tree, paint wounds with mixture of
ll/l2 paint and 1I12 crude carbolic
acid to be sure you do not transfer
the canker of the dead limbs to the
fresh wounds. Otherwise prune very
lightly of the big limbs, thin out
small limbs and cross-limbs to open
the head of the trees to the sunlight.
Make it safe by pruning too little
rather than too much. For growth
! prune when the trees are dormant;
for fruit, prune in June. If you have
valuable tree which is likely to
! split with load of fruit, bore a hole
directly thru the limbs, run a rod
thru each with alarge washer and
nut on each end and draw together.
By so doing you may save valuable
tree that might produce twenty-five
dollars worth of fruit before it dies.
Care for the small fruit for it re-
spends quickly. Prune the peach
back heavily, the year OF no fruit
early in spring as soon as you know
the fruit is killed-and prune lightly
during the years of fruiting. Worm
and care for all trees about the place
to the utmost They are raised and
very valuable and you can not afford
to lose and do without them until
young ones grow to bearing age
| This is one Of the solutions. | will
tell you the other in next weeks
paper
K. B. WILKERSoN
| A. B. Kori Of Fulton was in Mex
leo Friday on business.