ORCHARD MANAGEMENT.

Dunstan Times, Issue 1068, 13 October 1882, Page 4

ORCHARD MANAGEMENT.

The following hints, by a writer in an American exchange, are practical and to the po ; nt. Of course they must bo taken with allowance,and not followed blindly, no matter (what the circumstances are : In three years I improved the propod action of my fruit trees fiom 15 to 200 bushels by treating ihem in the following manner; -I first ieduced the top one-fonrth, then in the fall I ploughed the soil as well as I could, it being quite rocky, and turned a short furrow towards the trees. As I worked from them I lot the plough fall a little lower, and when between the trees I allowed the plough to run deep, so that the water would settle a wav from them in the spring. I hauled a fair quantity of coarse manure, pnlveiised it well, and marked out hills, manuring each hill I plant-d corn and beans, and harvested a nice crop of corn, beans, a. d pumpkins, which paid me to satisfaction. My trees began to grow very fast, and that fall 1 harvested seventy hnslnls of very good • pples. The following spring I manured for the third time ; planted it to potatoes, which grew very large, but rotted very badly. I made up the loss, however, by harvesting 200 bushels of large and natural fruir I changed the prod uc! ion of a yel ow bell flower tree from three-fourths of a bushel to 7 bushels, and sold them for Idol 25cents per bushel, which I thinka very good return for my lahom. From my experie ce I am of the opinion that most trees have too much top for the amount of roots, and a deficiency of nourishment tor producing a developed fruit. I like fail or win er pruning. Always cover the cut with grafting wax or th ck paint Af-er removing the limbs by thinning out the centre of the tree, it has a tendency to make it grow broad. Ton man\ varities are bad, and hardy stock is all that is needed.