Fruit orchard

“ From this fact we should take our start in every process of orchard, nursery, and garden cultivation of fruit-trees; and if philosophically employed it will, we will not say revolutionize, but materially modify the processes of cultivation peculiar to colder climates and poorer soils. In respect to esculent vegetables—cabbages, radishes, celery, rhubarb, lettuce, etc., this rank and rapid growth is beneficial, since it is not the fruit but the plant which we eat. ”

“ I do not fertilize my orchard; the soil is rich enough; water is what it needs. I pasture my orchard with hogs, and think it advisable, as they eat all the wormy fruit and destroy many insects by rooting; I find it pays. My trees are troubled with root aphis; my apples are bothered by codling-moth, gouger, and blue jays. I spray with London purple and lime, about 100 gallons of water to one pound of purple and six pounds of lime. I think Paris green would be better. ”

“ APPLE TREES IN THE COUNTY OF DUNDAS. BY JOHN CROIL, AULTSVILLE. The following suggestions by one of the Directors of the Fruit Growers’ Association, are taken from the Morrisburg Courier, and deserve careful attention from all fruit growers who have to contend with a climate similarly severe:
To any one of common observation, I think it must be evident that the cultivation of the orchard has not been a success among us. Old orchards, with few exceptions, are comparatively worthless, and their place is not being well supplied. ”

“ I prefer for commercial orchard Ben Davis and Missouri Pippin; add, for family orchard, Minkler. Discarded Lawver because it did not bear. I prefer side-hill, clay loam, with a north slope. Prefer trees without forks, and plant a little deeper than in the nursery. I cultivate with the plow and cultivator until they begin to bear. I plant a young orchard to corn, a bearing orchard to clover, and cease cropping when they begin to bear. Windbreaks are not essential. I wrap my trees with corn-stalks to protect from rabbits. I prune to improve the fruit, and think it beneficial. Never dry apples. ”

“ Fruit farming is divided between orchard fruits, with which vegetable farming is usually combined and those fruits which may be grown in fields on a large scale. In the one class are apples, pears, almonds, peaches, apricots, plums, cherries, grapes, figs, quinces, pomegranates and mulberries, in addition to walnut, pistacia, the edible pine and rhubarb, which grow wild in the northern and eastern highlands. ”

“ The planter of extensive commercial orchards, on the contrary, will need but a limited number of varieties, which should be selected with a view to the wants of the markets he intends to supply, as well as to the productiveness of the fruit, and its ability to bear transportation. While it is desirable to have but a few well selected varieties in such an orchard, it must be recollected that even when there is a general failure of the crop, there are always some sorts that bear fruit, and this is an argument against making the list too small. ”

“ If these directions make the prospect of fruit so distant as to discourage the planting of orchards, we will add, plant your orchard; and if you cannot wait for its healthful growth, plant also trees for immediate use, and serve them just as you please; manure them, cut them, get fruit at all hazards; only make up your minds that they will be short-lived and liable to blight and disease. ”

“ It wants good free soil, doing best where there is some lime in it. Farm yard refuse and ashes is its best manure. In planting an orchard it is best to arrange the same varieties together and those that will ripen at the same time, so as to save time when gathering the fruit for market. One of the best plans I know of to dispose of one's fruit is on the tree, or as is done on some parts of the Hunter, selling the produce of the trees for the season, then the buyer sends his own men to pick the fruits. An orange tree would sell for a few pounds per year ”

“ THE GROWING OF THE FRUIT PLANTS
Fruits should be counted a regular part of the home premises. There are few residence plots so small that fruits of some kind cannot be grown. If there is no opportunity for planting the orchard fruits by themselves at regular intervals, there are still boundaries to the place, and along these boundaries and scattered in the border masses, apples, pears, and other fruits may be planted. ”

“ Why should they, when learned pomologists are content to know as little as they? The trees are highly cultivated and closely side-pruned. The vigor of a tree, i. e. the rapidity with which it will grow, determines its favor. Sorts which take time, and require a longer treatment, are regarded with disfavor. Everything is sacrificed to rapid growth and early maturity.
Next, and proceeding in the same evil direction, comes the orchard cultivation. From what quarter have we, mostly, derived our opinions and practices in fruit cultivation? From French, English, and New England writers. ”

“ To secure a sufficient number of fruit-bearing shoots, and in right locations, and to throw sufficient sap into those shoots to enable them to mature the fruit. With a certain amount of pruning, you may double the quantity of fruit, or destroy half that the trees would have produced if not trained at all. One half of the fruit of any orchard depends upon correct pruning. It also has a great influence upon the quality of fruit. The cherry is almost the only fruit-tree that throws out nearly the right number of branches, and in the right places. ”

“ On account of its early and great fertility, the tree is of an inferior size, but loaded with fruit, the mellow pulp of which has a sub-acid taste, and an excellent flavour.
IV. Plantation along the North-side of the Orchard: or Espaliers consisting of fruit-bearing Shrubs.
Although this situation is, on the whole, less favourable to the growth and maturity of fruit, yet every industrious gardener will here also endeavour to cultivate quinces, medlar trees, hazel-nuts, &c. because their productions are subservient to many useful purposes in domestic economy. ”

“ The cultivation of apples should receive particular attention in the north central states, because they have great food value, are not perishable, can be shipped long distances, and the demand, both at home and abroad, is always greater than the supply. The home orchard, however, should contain many kinds of fruit, and the same general rules in regard to the care of the orchard apply to all of them. ”

“ The very best land for fruit-raising is that which has grown a forest upon its soil. To clear it costs on an average forty dollars per acre. An orchard near the mouth of the Clackamas is planted to one hundred and twenty-three varieties of apples, fourteen varieties of pears, twelve of plums, five of prunes, three of quinces, and three of grapes, besides the small fruits, and walnuts, butternuts, and almonds. ”

“ They afford greater facilities for examining the fruit while growing, and for picking it when ripe; the trees are not so much shaken by high winds, and the large kind of pears do not so easily blow off: the [Pg 450] facilities for making observations upon the wood and leaves, are also greater; and, as regards appearance alone, they are, when well managed, far more beautiful than standards. To those who wish to plant out large quantities for orchard cultivation, they would not, of course, be recommended ”

“ By his efforts an orchard was planted on almost every farm, and although the apples he sold could not compare with the highly-developed apples of the present, they were good, and demonstrated beyond a doubt what a glorious district this is for fruit. Most of the early orchards were planted too closely because of the scarcity of cleared land, and the trees were seldom pruned properly, but they yielded a store of apples that added a zest to the simple fare of the pioneers. ”

“ The almost universal practice is to have the fruit and vegetable gardens combined; and the flower garden may sometimes be conveniently placed in juxtaposition with them. When the fruit and vegetable gardens are combined, the smaller and choicer fruit trees only should be admitted, such larger-growing hardy fruits as apples, pears, plums, cherries, &c., being relegated to the orchard.
Ground possessing a gentle inclination towards the south is desirable for a garden. On such a slope effectual draining is easily accomplished, and the greatest possible benefit is derived from the sun’s rays. ”

“ Every cultivator of fruit must be a private nurseryman; he needs the same information, the same directions as if were a commercial gardener. He that designs planting an orchard ought to know the disposition of each variety of fruit-tree, that he may suit the circumstances of his soil, or provide for the peculiarities of a tree, as a farmer needs to know the peculiarities of the different breeds of hogs and cattle. ”

“ The hardier orchard-house fruits should now be moved outdoors under temporary awnings, to give the choicer fruits more space,—the roots being protected by plunging the pots. Mulch all newly-planted fruit trees, watering abundantly in dry weather.
Forcing.—Continue the preparation of succession beds and pits for cucumbers and melons. Sow; pot tomatoes and capsicums for succession. Pollinate tomatoes by hand to ensure early fruit on plants intended for outdoor culture. In the forcing-houses, from the variable state of the weather, considerable vigilance is required in giving air. ”

“ Their produce is often superior in flavour to that of the same kind of fruit grown on walls.
Orchard-house Trees.—Peaches, nectarines, apricots, figs and dessert plums, cherries, apples and pears are commonly cultivated in the orchard-house. Peaches and nectarines are generally planted out, while the rest are more commonly cultivated in pots. This allows of the hardier pot plants being removed out of doors while those planted out are in need of the room. ”

“ In every orchard, as soon as the fruit begins to show the smallest sign of ripeness, the owner keeps some of his family on guard day and night, until the last apricot, plum or pear is removed from the trees. ”

“ The cherries and plummes being ripe in the hot time of Summer, and the rest standing longer, are not so soone shaken as your better fruit: neither if they suffer losse, is your losse so great. Besides that, your fences and ditches will deuoure some of your fruit growing in or neere your hedges. And seeing the continuance of all these (except Nuts) is small, the care of them ought to be the lesse. And make no doubt but the fences of a large Orchard will containe a sufficient number of such kind of Fruit trees in the whole compasse. ”

“ When it is designed always to cultivate the ground, and land is plenty, set them fifty or sixty feet apart. You will be likely always to have fine fruit, and a crop on the land beside. Our recommendation to every one is to set out all orchards, of whatever fruit, so as to have them cover the whole ground when in maturity. Among apple-trees, dwarf pears, peaches, or quinces, may be set, which will be profitable before the apples need all the ground.
Bearing years.—A cultivator may have a part of his orchard bear one year, and the remainder the next, or he may have them all bear every year. ”

“ The increasing interest in fruit-growing all over the South makes it easy to interest the young women in horticulture. The school orchard of 5000 trees makes it possible to lay great stress on the practical side of fruit growing. ”

“ The fruit-buds seem to be unusually hardy, and often resist the impression of late spring frosts, while others are killed. In 1834, when our fruits were universally cut off by that destructive agent, a tree of the summer pearmain and another of the Vandeveer, matured a dozen or two apples, while not another tree in an orchard containing over five hundred, bore a solitary fruit. ”

“ Plantations, also, which were partially screened by rows and belts of evergreens produced twice to three times the quantity of fruit that was obtained from the same varieties fully exposed. Plants in orchards also escaped to a great degree, for the trees were in leaf when the destructive frost occurred, and thus gave partial protection. Strawberries are at home in a young orchard; the cultivation given the plants is good for the trees, and the slight shade of the young trees is no perceptible detriment to the plants or fruit. ”

“ Gooseberries, Raspberries, Strawberries and Currants ought to be found in every farmer’s garden. The trouble of cultivation is slight and the return of wholesome fruit very great. One woman can, for the most part, bestow all the attention which they need.
SPRING WORK IN THE ORCHARD. 1. There is a great deal more pruning done than is needful or healthful. Our hot summers and strong growth of wood make every leaf on the tree precious. Dead limbs should be taken out. Where the tree is really tangled with wood, thin out. ”

“ In this manner a variety of fruit may be perpetuated to all generations, if the laws of vegetable health be regarded in the process. Healthy buds, worked upon healthy stocks and planted in wholesome soil, will make healthy trees; and from these another generation may proceed, and from these another. By a due regard to vegetable physiology, the Newtown Pippin, and the Seckle Pear, may be eaten two thousand years hence, provided, always, that expounders of prophesy will allow us the use of the earth so long for orchard purposes. ”